VOLUME 2: CHAPTER 87 – IN THE ARMS OF THE NIGHT GODStatusRaceGoblinLevel20ClassKing; RulerPossessed SkillsRuler of the Demon Children of Chaos; Defiant Soul; World Devouring Howl; Swordsmanship A-; Dominator; King’s Soul; Ruler’s Wisdom III; Household of the Gods; One-Eyed Snake’s Evil Eye; The King's Dance at the Edge of Death; Magic Manipulation; Soul of the Berserk King; Third Impact (The Third Chant); Instinct; Blessing of the Underworld GoddessDivine ProtectionGoddess of the Underworld (Altesia)AttributesDarkness; DeathSubordinate BeastsHigh Kobold Hasu (Lv1); Gastra (Lv20); Cynthia (Lv20); Orc King (Bui) (Lv40)Abnormal StatusBlessing of the One-Eyed Snake; Protection of the Twin-Headed Snake

I turned around after crushing the rapier-using man.

The human territory. It’s just right there beyond the break of the forest. Focusing my heightened vision, I could see the carriage Reshia was riding. They seem to have stopped temporarily as the cavalry joined them.

I could just go there and kill everyone.

The hate seething from within me implored me to go, but…

—No.

My subordinates are still fighting in the forest. I need to help them first.

As for my feelings regarding Reshia, I should put them away for now.

Picking up my broken great sword, I headed to where Gi Ga and the others were.

◇◆◇

As dusk was approaching the human side huddled together in a room in the village to convene a war council.

Gowen had managed to endure Rashka’s attacks by himself, but while he did not incur any injuries, he was left severely fatigued. The man wasn’t young anymore. Rest would be needed to recuperate.

“Aging is such an unpleasant thing.”

But it wasn’t possible to rest and hold a war council at the same time.

“Yuan, you lead the main force. Take them along the road to run to the fief. Corseo is leading the cavalry. So long as you make it out of the forest, he will take care of the rest.”

“Understood.”

Corseo is an old soldier Gowen knew since back when he received his fief for the first time. He has taken command under Gowen over 10 times already in their long history together. As far as Gowen was concerned, Corseo was his most reliable subordinate.

Even the young Yuan found himself comforted the moment he heard Corseo’s name. Since a man like that was waiting for them, his only duty then would be to ensure that his men safely exit the forest.

Gowen turned to the adventurers. The person representing them was none other than the Herculean Wyatt.

“I would like you to come with us as protection for the wounded. Of course, I will properly compensate you,” Gowen said.

“…Alright. We’re going back anyway, so we might as well,” Wyatt replied.

Wyatt frowned for a moment when he heard the way Gowen phrased his request. “Protection for the wounded.” Gowen seemed to know adventurers well.

Adventurers were different from your run-of-the-mill gang; they had pride. So when someone requests them to protect the wounded, it becomes very difficult for them to reject. And it was precisely because Gowen knew that that he worded his request as such.

“Yuan, have the soldiers rest in turns. We’re leaving first thing in the morning tomorrow.”

“Do not let your guard down. The night is the hour of the monsters.”

“As you command.”

The hour of the Night God, Ya Jansu, is at hand.

If they can survive it, they might just make it out of this alive.

Yet even the twin moons seemed to mock them, as the two moons hid themselves from sight.

◇◆◇

Stifling my breath, I prowled through the darkness. When I neared the village, I stifled even the slightest breath I had left. I don’t know if these humans are planning to attack or retreat, but it doesn’t matter.

Whatever course of action they wish to take won’t affect my decision to slaughter them. There was no light from the moons tonight, as the two moons have hidden themselves, but the terrifying expression on my face was clearly smiling.

The actors of this raid tonight aren’t from the Gi Village, but from the four tribes. I am moving by myself with a horde centered around the forest hunters, the goblins of Ganra, along with Alashd of Paradua and Gi Zu. There’s also another horde centered around Rashka of Gaidga, but their roles will come only after the success of this attack.

After confirming from far away that there was fire lit in the village, I ordered the Ganra soldiers to position themselves around the village, south the upwind.

“Everyone is in position,” Gilmi said.

After gathering all the platoons that would be engaging in close combat in one place, we started.

“Fire!” Gilmi ordered, and the archers of Ganra all shot their bows simultaneously, while I led the charge across the fence of the village.

On the other side of the fence, I took a good look at the village.

We need to pay attention to the defensive measures placed around the village.

The fences at the western part of the village are in good health. They’ve been further reinforced after the orc battle. There are less fences in the southern and eastern parts of the village. And in the northern part, the fences there are still damaged from the orc war.

I did think of speeding up the repairs, but because of all the damage it received along with the impending trip to the Fortress of the Abyss, it never did get fully repaired. In fact, it’s been mostly left untouched.

That leaves the pitfalls.

Again, the western parts has the most pitfalls, while the pitfalls in the northern parts are mostly useless. There are almost no pitfalls left in the southern and eastern parts of the village.

With the defenses out of the way, all that’s left is the enemy themselves.

There are 300 enemy soldiers in the village itself, while the enemy cavalry is situated at the end of the forest to the east. It’s nighttime, however, so the enemy can’t make a move.

This makes the northern part a good place to attack. There are barely any obstacles there, so the only trouble we’ll have is with the humans themselves.

As for the east it’s a poor choice because of the cavalry waiting at the back.

Hmm… Looks like it’s settled then.

◇◆◇

The scout leader, Yuan, was a young soldier trained by Gowen himself. He was born a commoner, but with hard work, he managed to hone his skills to a shocking degree. In fact, he was actually the second strongest soldier in this expedition.

The village defense was weakest to the north. It was so weak it was basically asking the enemy to attack there, what with only a strip of broken fences and a handful of pitfalls left. It was almost as if a war had occurred here in the past, and the only defenses they were seeing now are the remnants of that war.

The defense was weakest to the north, then it was only natural that the most number of soldiers be placed there.

—The enemy monsters are intelligent.

Just as Gowen had advised him, Yuan did not see the monsters as your typical bunch. Instead, he treated this battle as if he were fighting against a sly human general.

The largely undefended north, the fortified west, the weakly defended south, and the closest to the human territory, the east.

The enemy would surely attack in the night. The soldiers were thoroughly briefed on that. And more than likely, the enemy would come from the south.

This village used to be their home. There’s no way they wouldn’t know of its weaknesses. Which is why Yuan decided to light the most watch fires in the south along with a respectable number of spearmen, especially the elite. And with large shields lined up on the ground, there was more than enough defense should the enemy choose to attack there.

As for the West, there was plenty of defense left, so Yuan decided to leave the adventurers and the injured there.

In the end, this whole battle was a question of probability. A guessing game, so to speak, of where the enemy would most likely attack.

Yuan might have 300 soldiers under his command, but with the soldiers sleeping in turn, he could allocate only 150 of that 300. Moreover, there were four directions that needed to be defended. If he were to evenly spread that, he’d end up allocating 40 soldiers on the front and the back, making it likely that the enemy just might manage to make it to the headquarters, where Gowen was resting.

Yuan was someone whose status did not permit him to reach the position he had today. The debt he owed to Gowen was past that of mere gratitude or respect, so he wanted to overcome this ordeal tonight and pay back the favor he regularly receives from Gowen.

“Enemy attack in the south!”

“They’ve come! Don’t panic! Focus on defending!”

Yuan headed south as soon as he heard that the enemy was attacking there to take command.

The soldiers to the west were mostly injured and couldn’t be moved. The north couldn’t be left unmanned lest they make it too easy to attack, so…

“Wake up the soldiers! Have the soldiers stationed in the east to move to the south! We’ll bring the battle to them!”

They had the advantage yet.

They could still wipe out the goblins.

◇◆◇

The watch fires are moving.

Looks like Gilmi did their job well.

I watched as the soldiers moved south to defend, then I called out to my subordinates behind me.

“We’re going! Eliminate the enemy!”

I had left my broken great sword to the old goblin. What I’m using now is the same long sword the humans used. It’s in good condition, but the lack of weight makes it hard to get used to. I really need a great sword.

“GURUuuoOOOAaa!”

I cried out with my World Devouring Howl, causing the humans to cower, while the goblins’ morale shot up. But that’s not all, this howl is also a sign, a sign for Gaidga’s Rashka to make his move.

The south looked easy to attack, so we intentionally used it to divert their attention.

The north is undefended by default, so the enemy would obviously focus their soldiers there, leaving only the east and the south.

We could just go ahead and attack the south, but we’d end up with too many casualties. More importantly, this attack is a surprise attack. What we needed to hurt wasn’t the body but the mind.

We should keep our losses to a minimum, while maximizing the damage dealt.

If we attack from the east, there’s a chance the cavalry might take us from behind, but it won’t be a problem if we leave before they arrive.

And so, just like that, we attacked from the east.

◇◆◇

When Yuan arrived at the southern part of the village, the goblins’ arrows shooting from the forest were easily blocked by the spearmen’s shields.

“They’re not coming out to fight at all,” a commanding officer said.

Yuan heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. Even better if they don’t come, he thought.

“Don’t let your guard down!” Yuan said as if to rebuke the cowardice welling up from within him. Then he strained his eyes as he looked up ahead the forest.

It was then that a soldier suddenly screamed.

“Te enemy is attacking from the east!”

“What!?”

Yuan’s eyes opened wide with shock. At the same time, he grit his teeth.

“Damn, we’ve been had! Third Platoon, return to your post to the east!” Yuan ordered to the reinforcements that were originally stationed in the east.

“It’s fine! We can still recover!” Yuan said to encourage his faltering men as he looked into the dark of the forest once more, but then another report came in: The enemy is attacking from the west!

“That’s not good… There are only injured soldiers stationed in the west… Is this a diversion?” Yuan began to suspect, but the arrows from the forest never stopped.

“Have the soldiers who just woke up head west!”

When Yuan realized he’d fallen behind, a sense of shame pervaded him. A monster had actually gotten one over him. Then fire appeared from the east.

“That’s really bad. They brought fire too! Someone send an escort for Master Go—”

“GURUuUuUoOOaAAaA!”

Just when Yuan was about to give order, a howl suddenly resounded, causing his body to stiffen. That voice belonged to none other than that goblin king that attacked before.

That thing had to be stopped. Fear tainted Yuan’s thoughts, and he rashly ordered.

“Second Platoon, Fifth Platoon! Subjugate the enemy king. Go! Sixth Platoon protect this place with your life!”

Unsheathing his own sword, Yuan led the soldiers.

“What!?”

But then a raging mad beast appeared in sight.

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