I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 13: On the Brink of Disaster

At this moment, the battle in another location had already reached a critical juncture.

Although four goblin corpses lay on the ground, Bell—the main combatant—was sprawled on the earth, moaning in pain.

His right Achilles tendon was shredded, the flesh mangled as if a gaping hole had been gouged out.

Panting heavily, Mia looked anxiously toward Bell.

When she saw two goblins sneaking up on Bell, her face turned pale, and she tried to move toward him to stop them from attacking.

But blocking her path was a goblin significantly larger than its kin—unlike the childlike stature of its fellows, it stood two meters tall, muscular and thickly built, with a vicious face bristling with sharp tusks that exuded menace.

It wielded a crude black iron cleaver—the blade wide and roughly forged—and was clad in ill-fitting leather armor.

If the other goblins were cannon fodder, this one was the elite leading them.

Larger in size than ordinary goblins, with stronger muscles and better equipment, it held a clear advantage in a face-to-face confrontation with low-level adventurers.

The goblin wielding the cleaver swung it at Mia, the blade cutting through the air with a chilling whistle.

In her panic, Mia only had time to parry straight ahead with her daggers.

“Boom!”

At the impact of weapon against weapon, a spark seemed to flare in the darkness.

Then Mia was blasted backward by a tremendous force.

Gauss saw it all and felt a surge of anxiety.

Mia, who used twin daggers, was clearly preparing a career path toward agile and stealthy classes like rangers or rogues.

On top of that, her small frame naturally placed her at a disadvantage when confronting a large cleaver-wielding goblin.

Plus, she was desperate to save Bell, her mind scattered.

“Damn it! The mission description said they were all ordinary goblins!” Gauss cursed inwardly.

According to his memory, within the vast numbers of goblins in this world, elite individuals with distinct roles like large goblins, goblin shamans, or two-headed goblins did exist—but they were rare compared to the norm.

That goblin, seeming like a leader, might have concealed itself in the oppressive night or emerged only after the fight began, so Gauss hadn’t noticed it before.

But now it was evidently a special individual showing signs of evolving toward a “large goblin” archetype.

Its power might be far from that of a true large goblin, but it still greatly surpassed its smaller kin!

Perhaps to a seasoned professional this was just a run-of-the-mill monster, about as hard to kill as a regular goblin.

But for bottom-tier adventurers with no professional training, this was a terrifying presence capable of wiping out their team.

Under its strong leadership, the goblins fought with greater aggression. No wonder, despite four goblins already down, the rest still fought on with unity.

Three goblins pinned down three villagers.

The other two slithered around Bell like sinister snakes, waiting to strike a lethal blow.

The large goblin suppressed the only one still capable of fighting—Mia.

But it was obvious to the naked eye that a significant power gap existed between them.

Mia’s endurance thus far likely wasn’t due to skill, but because she was a human female, and the goblin wanted to capture her whole.

Gauss watched it all, his mind racing.

Mia and the villagers were pinned by their opponents, and Bell was injured—combat-ineffective.

The two goblins by Bell were clearly scheming; Bell, writhing in pain, brandished his longsword, but no longer held calm—he was merely expending his dwindling strength.

Once he ran out of energy, the goblins would pounce to end him.

The battle would completely tip in the goblins’ favor.

Gauss struggled to rise from the ground.

If this fight collapsed, neither he nor Hailier would survive.

But as soon as he stood, a wave of dizziness hit him—like a low-blood-sugar faint—and the world began to spin.

Many people might experience that if they stop mid-run: starting again becomes exponentially harder.

For Gauss, he had just endured a fight more exhausting than any marathon, so the effect was even worse.

He also noticed a downside of the quasi-“bullet-time” state his mind had entered—it amplified his reflexes and combat ability, but his body couldn’t keep up with his overclocked brain, causing extreme strain and damage that he hadn’t realized during battle.

Now, his thighs felt leaden, every movement accompanied by a deep ache, tiny wounds rubbing against his leather armor sending jolts of pain through him.

He was in far worse shape than he had expected.

“Hiss—hah—”

He felt like every muscle in his body was alien; standing in place, his calves shook relentlessly, urging him to collapse.

Mia, having been knocked down, crawled up and saw Gauss barely able to stand.

Her last thread of hope shattered.

She, too, was at the point of collapse—repeated thrusts had strained her calf and arm muscles.

“Whomp! Whomp! Whomp!”

The hulking goblin gave her no time to recover, stepping forward swiftly and slashing its cleaver repeatedly.

Each blow made her trembling dagger-parrying hands shake more violently.

Gauss inhaled deeply.

Right now, everyone seemed pushed to the edge of a cliff—the line to death approaching.

But it wasn’t an entirely hopeless situation!

There was still hope.

Clenching his teeth against intense pain, he looked at Hailier, who was similarly drained, perched on a tree stump.

They were all grasshoppers on the same thread. They must give every ounce of strength.

He pointed toward the two goblins feinting around Bell and mustered his voice to shout at her.

“Hailier, do exactly as before—create an opening for me again!”

“Please!”

Even as her hands started trembling, the determination in his jade-green eyes was unwavering.

That resolve seemed to travel through the air and reach Hailier.

Although she couldn’t fathom how creating another chance to kill one ordinary goblin would help, she chose to unconditionally trust Gauss.

Because his blood-soaked heroism had won her trust just moments ago.

Even though they had only been teammates for less than two days, and she couldn’t know what Gauss was thinking.

She inhaled deeply, calming her breath, then nodded to Gauss; her chestnut hair plastered with sweat on her forehead.

She swept aside the sweaty strands, her trembling arm extracting an arrow from the quiver on her back.

The fletching rested lightly against the bowstring; she didn’t draw yet, but looked at Gauss to signal readiness.

Her strength was nearly gone—likely she would collapse after this next draw.

Gauss staggered as he picked up a dagger.

He drove his painfully aching, stiff, rock‑like thigh and began shuffling toward Bell.

One step, two steps…

What was he doing?

The large goblin fighting Mia noticed Gauss’s halting advance.

A flicker of confusion flashed in its eyes.

It had rudimentary child‑level reasoning, yet couldn’t understand what threat that unsteady human approaching its two subordinates posed.

It withdrew its gaze, no longer paying attention to the non‑threatening Gauss.

“Roar!”

It roared angrily at Mia—her stubborn resistance had irritated it.

Like a child losing interest in a toy, its eyes narrowed, and its gaze toward Mia hardened.