Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City

# Chapter 19: Under the Moonlight

"There's something about 300 meters to the right."

"Something there? What do you mean?"

I can hear the soft sound of something small stepping on the grass.

We're on the 6th floor, having just landed in the mountainous region. We had just infused our badges with magic power to check directions and were moving toward the portal.

"Barefoot... ah, these are goblins."

"Didn't you say you only had one skill? Is it a detection skill?"

"No, that's not it. My detection ability has improved due to the effect of my skill... but it's not a skill specifically for detection."

"You must have obtained quite a good skill."

"But I have to eat raw meat."

"Oh."

Lis, listening next to me, grimaced and frowned as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. Lis must have tasted Isolde's breast milk.

I'm so damn jealous.

"I have a hearing skill but I don't..."

"Then should we get a bit closer?"

Isolde's lips jutted out in a pout. From her perspective as someone who makes a living as a ranger with detection skills, I might seem annoying with my superior detection abilities despite not even having a dedicated detection skill.

But since we're in the same party, it should be used effectively.

"Ah, no need. I can sense the goblins' footsteps now."

"I'm not sure exactly how many there are. How many do you sense, Isolde?"

"About... 30 or so. Should we turn a bit to the left and go that way?"

When the number of goblins in a group exceeds 20, at least one elite specimen always appears. There's a high probability of a physically enhanced specimen like a Goblin Warrior and a low likelihood of a magic-using specimen like a Goblin Shaman.

"Wouldn't it be fine to fight them at this number?"

"Yoo Eon, have you ever fought against a goblin group before?"

"I haven't."

"Goblins are surprisingly tricky and annoying monsters. I'd rather not fight them."

If Lis says so, well, can't be helped. It would be best to go to the 8th floor without much combat.

"But... going left from here is a cliff path. If there's a goblin village up there, it could be even more dangerous."

Goblins are stupid, but from a hunter's perspective, they can be quite experienced. They build villages on cliffs and attack passing explorers by throwing stones from above, making one-sided attacks.

And, as is often the case, goblins are said to do terrible things to women. That's a horrific story.

"Gambling is not good. It's not too difficult, so let's break through the right path."

"Can't be helped."

Garond grasped the shield and mace he had been carrying on his back and took the lead. Having someone reliable is good, but his slow speed is a bit regrettable.

When we got to about 100 meters from the goblins, they also noticed our presence. This is what Garond meant about stealth being difficult. The disadvantage is that the benefit of a preemptive strike is lost.

But it's okay. I've been wanting to test my abilities anyway.

"Haaah..!"

As I replaced my left eyeball with the dire wolf's, exotic visual information began to flow in. The small but faintly glowing magic power of the goblins. I can't change both my arm and leg muscles to that of the alpha's.

Mobility is a major part of combat. Even with the muscle of a normal Dire Wolf, if I get caught, it's game over.

I transformed both legs completely with the alpha dire wolf's muscles and a normal dire wolf for my arms.

After replacing my lungs and heart, I took a deep breath.

'The magic power in my body has changed.'

Unintentionally, I can also change the type of blood flowing through my body. As the alpha's blood that I had drunk a bowlful of circulated throughout my body, the magic power different from humans enveloped my entire body.

"I'm going."

"Wait-"

Before Garond could finish his words, I rushed forward, crushing the grass with the powerful muscles of the dire wolf.

BOOM ㅡ !!!

About 100 meters ahead, I can see goblins with dark green skin. Thin, short arms and legs, eerily protruding noses and eyes. Bulging stomachs and disproportionately large heads.

Although I saw them only briefly as I flew past at tremendous speed, they still looked like shit. An appearance that truly invites violence.

"Hyah..!"

With strong leg power and leather boots reinforced with metal greaves, I first kicked the nearest one.

The plan was to throw its body into the center of the group to disrupt their formation and quickly reduce their numbers...

Splat

"What the hell."

I had intended for the goblin's body to fly and sweep away the others. But the goblin that took my kick immediately turned to ground meat, and...

BOOM!!!!!

With a huge bang, bones and flesh scattered into the air. The goblin's intestines rolling around the landscape fell from the sky in a shower. Finally, its head rolled onto the ground.

"K-keruruk!!!"

"Kyaaaaaak!!"

The roughly 30 goblins that had been gathered all ran away.

"This wasn't what I intended."

Even though goblin skin and bones are thin and less solid than humans', I didn't expect it to turn into ground meat with just one kick.

Beyond the wide bloodstain splattered across the grass like it had been hit by a truck, as I watched the backs of those who had abandoned their weapons and fled in a hurry, the party came running from behind.

"Whoa, what happened here?"

"Ugh, it completely burst!"

"I didn't mean to go this far..."

The clearing where the goblins had scattered in a panic was littered with their crude stone spears and wooden clubs. I wonder if the one that just died even knew what happened to it.

As I picked up its head, which had fallen with eyes still open, thick drops of blood dripped from its neck.

"Impressive. In my opinion, you could easily reach Gold rank."

"Was that your full power just now? It can't be, right?"

"It's hard to control my strength. I think I could probably hit even harder."

"There's a totem here. It seems they were about to create a shaman."

In the center, skulls of horned rabbits, Dire Wolves, and other animals not infused with magic power, like squirrels, were arranged in a messy circle.

In the middle, a human skull was attached to the end of a long wooden stick. It's said that when the goblins' ritual is complete, this wooden stick and skull would fuse to become a Goblin Shaman's staff.

"Have you seen it yourself?"

"Of course not. The scholars must have figured it all out."

Isolde says she also read about it in books. Yes, I'm a foreigner and haven't been here long, but there must be scholars who have been researching the labyrinth in this world for a long time.

Most information is out there. I just don't know it.

"That being said... it means a person died."

"Well, it's something you occasionally see during labyrinth exploration."

It's not a complete corpse, but it's a human skull. Seeing it in person for the first time is a really shocking sight.

"Phew..."

Calming my surprised heart, I returned my body to its normal state. These powerful goblin groups usually have a cave they use as a dwelling, and in about 30% of these caves, you can find living female prisoners.

"Can you tell if there's a cave nearby?"

"I don't have that ability. What about you, Isolde?"

"Shaman summoning rituals are done not too far from their dwellings. I can narrow the range to a 1km radius around here... but most likely, the cave is in the direction they fled."

This is my first time dealing with this, so I have no idea what to do. Should we find the cave and rescue potential prisoners? Or just continue on our way?

"Normally... I would have just continued on our path. But seeing you, Yoo Eon, it might be good to visit the cave."

"Me? Why?"

"If there are baby goblins, we can capture and sell them. It's not easy to tackle a goblin cave, though."

"Wait, isn't rescuing prisoners the first priority?"

"We don't even know if there are any. Baby goblins are definitely there, so that's why."

Well, our goal isn't necessarily the 8th floor. If we can make money, it doesn't matter whether it's on the 6th or 8th floor...

"Yoo Eon, I'll leave the decision to you. You have the greatest combat power in this party, after all."

"No need for such words. Let's go then."

Eventually, we decided to slightly change our direction to head where the goblins had fled. It would be good to capture babies and sell them. And even better if we could rescue prisoners.

The direction they fled was easy to determine since everyone was watching. It's a slight right turn from the portal direction, but not a problem.

Garond took the human skull that was hanging on the wooden stick, roughly dug the ground, and buried it. It was too brief to call a funeral, but at least we could do this much.

'Garond is praying too.'

He knelt on one knee next to where he buried the skull, put his fist on the ground, and mumbled something with his eyes closed.

He said it wasn't a particular religion, just a custom from where he lived.

"Garond seems to have a very upright character."

"If you don't want to be caught up in the madness of the labyrinth, this much is necessary."

After finishing the cleanup, we followed the fleeing goblins. The path was a bit rough due to the mountainous terrain, but the goblins' path was quite noticeable.

After walking along the path for just a few minutes, my detection caught those goblins again.

'There's a cave too.'

This confirms their dwelling.

"Should we go in right now?"

"The cave is dark anyway. It will soon be night, and the goblins' movements will become sluggish."

"So you're suggesting we go at night?"

"That's right."

That works fine for me. I tend to get stronger at night. The time had already passed 6 o'clock, and as the sun gradually set, the surroundings grew darker.

All the goblins making strange, incomprehensible noises in front of the cave have gone inside, leaving only two on guard as night fell.

They're guarding the cave entrance with crude torches.

"Lis. Can you take care of one of the guards?"

"Yes. I should kill the one that's farther away, right?"

"Yes. Yoo Eon, can you handle the other one?"

"Understood."

Lis raised her short bow and aimed at one of the goblins guarding the entrance.

Twang!

With the sound of the bowstring, an arrow pierced the temple of one goblin, and I immediately lunged forward and thrust my old sword into the neck of the other one.

In an instant, both goblins perished. The surroundings were as quiet as if nothing had happened, and I stretched my arms out wide, facing my chest toward the sky.

"Hey... what are you doing...?"

Lis whispered softly, looking at me from the side.

"I'm receiving the moonlight."

"Are you an idiot? Let's go quickly..."

"Yes..."

I'm a man who grows stronger in the moonlight.

…Really.

Translator's Chapter

Whenever I refer to the alpha dire wolf, I'll call it wolf until some other species pops up. Just a long name.

-Ruminas