Battle's End

The human soldiers moved in groups of three, covering one another as they efficiently cleared out every green figure still standing.

Goblin leader Skullcracker stared at the hellish scene before him, his heart and courage shattered.

The last of his courage vanished. All he wanted now was to flee!

He used his hand axe to knock aside a spear that had stabbed at him from nowhere, retreating in panic as he tried to blend into the chaotic melee and slip away.

However, Richter and Brendan had already fixed their eyes on his inlaid armor and conspicuously oversized helmet.

"Kill him!" Brendan growled. He hacked down a goblin trying to block his path, then strode after Skullcracker.

Richter also moved in from the other side. His longsword was like a venomous snake, precisely piercing the throat of a goblin guard who tried to protect his leader.

Terrified out of his wits, Skullcracker turned and tried to run deeper into the darkness.

But a cold flash of swordlight attacked from the side, and he barely raised his axe to block it.

With a resounding clang, the immense force numbed his arm and sent him staggering backward. The cavalry helmet on his head was knocked askew.

Before he could steady himself, Brendan had arrived. The old knight was highly experienced and gave him no chance to catch his breath. His sword dipped, then shot forward in a swift thrust that pierced straight through Skullcracker's lower abdomen.

"Gah!" Skullcracker let out a shrill, agonized scream. Excruciating pain swept through his entire body, and the hand axe fell from his grasp with a clatter.

He lowered his head in disbelief and stared at the blade that had pierced his body. His eyes were filled with despair and unwillingness to accept his fate.

Brendan yanked out his longsword, bringing a gush of scalding blood with it.

Skullcracker staggered and collapsed to his knees, his vitality rapidly draining away with his blood.

The last thing he saw was the sight of the goblins around him breaking down completely and scattering in flight, while the human Lord, as imposing as a god of war, pulled his longsword from the body of his final trusted follower.

In the chaos, only a handful of quick-witted goblins, or those positioned farther back, managed to escape the slaughter by sheer luck. They vanished desperately into the dark mountain wilderness, not even daring to look back.

Silence soon returned to the hillside. Only the heavy stench of blood and the goblin corpses strewn across the ground announced the battle's final outcome.

The battle was over, and the soldiers began silently clearing the field. In truth, there was hardly anything to clear.

The goblins' crude, worthless weapons and equipment did not interest them at all. Nor was there anything like an adventurers' guild in this world; goblin ears and scalps had no value.

Karl stood atop the slope, the night wind brushing against his bloodstained cheeks.

He suddenly recalled the "Black Tooth Cave" mentioned in the system's intelligence.

Goblins were poor, but as a tribe that had occupied the area for many years, they might have some savings or other useful items hidden in their lair.

"Brendan, Richter!" Karl ordered. "Gather the men. Search the forest to the northeast in groups of three, carrying torches, and find the goblins' cave. Stay alert. If you encounter resistance, kill without exception!"

"Yes!" The two immediately accepted the order.

Soon, dozens of moving points of torchlight appeared in the dark forest, like fireflies searching for prey.

The search did not last long. One group of soldiers discovered a pitch-black cave entrance beneath a concealed crack in the mountainside, emitting a heavy stench of musk and decay.

Nearby were some crude, fanglike stone spikes. This was presumably where the name "Black Tooth" came from.

Upon receiving the news, Karl immediately led a squad of elite soldiers to the cave entrance.

He took a deep breath and raised his torch. With Brendan and Roland guarding his left and right, he bent down and entered the cave first.

The cave was far wider and deeper than he had imagined, clearly expanded and excavated over many years.

The passage was narrow at first, but soon opened up enough for several people to walk abreast.

A nauseating mixture of odors filled the air.

Feces, rotting food, mold, and an indescribable body odor belonging to humanoid creatures.

The walls were covered in grime and scratch marks. The ground was uneven, with gnawed-clean bones and broken scraps scattered everywhere.

Along the way, they encountered many goblins hiding in side tunnels and crevices.

Most were old goblins, frail and incapable of fighting. There were also female goblins clutching trembling young goblins, and even several obviously goblin-human hybrids with even more grotesque appearances.

The soldiers executed them without the slightest hesitation or sympathy.

In the Northern Territory, everyone knew of the goblins' cruelty and the danger they posed.

They frequently attacked remote villages and looted food. Even more horrifyingly, they had a habit of abducting human women.

Goblins were essentially a dwarfed and degenerated branch of humanity, altered by ancient magic and environmental mutations. They were not reproductively isolated from ordinary humans.

To human women, being abducted by goblins was a nightmare more terrifying than death. They were often reduced to breeding tools, because the relatively larger bodies of human women allowed them to give birth to more goblin offspring at once.

As Karl advanced, he secretly prayed that they would not find any abducted women deep inside the cave. The mere thought of such a scene made his blood run cold.

After clearing their way forward, they finally reached a relatively spacious cavern that seemed to be where the goblins gathered.

The torchlight drove back the darkness in the depths, but what it illuminated made Karl's heart sink.

What he had most dreaded seeing had happened after all.

In a corner of the cavern, leaning against the cold stone wall, five emaciated human women who were almost naked had their hands and feet bound by crude iron chains!

They huddled together. The moment the firelight appeared, they screamed in terror and desperately shrank backward, their eyes filled with the numbness and fear born of prolonged torment.

But when they saw that those who had arrived were human soldiers rather than goblins, their fear was instantly replaced by incredible delight.

A faint glimmer of light reignited in their despairing eyes.

"Don't be afraid. We're human." Karl softened his voice as much as possible.

The soldiers immediately stepped forward and laboriously smashed open the heavy, rusted chains with their weapons and tools.

Once the chains fell away, a woman who appeared somewhat older and seemed to have retained a little of her sanity trembled and asked in a hoarse voice that was almost impossible to hear, "Lord... Lord? Has the kingdom... has the kingdom reclaimed the Northern Territory? Are you the kingdom's army?"

Karl's heart ached. He stepped forward and did his best to make his voice sound firm and reassuring. "Yes. I am Karl Von Schmidt, the newly appointed Carnford Frontier Lord of the Goldflower Kingdom. The goblins who attacked you have been wiped out by us. You're... free."

"Free..."

"We're... free..."

"Waaah..."

At the word "free," the five women froze for a moment. Then immense grief, injustice, and the overwhelming joy of surviving a catastrophe erupted all at once!

They embraced one another and burst into tears, their sobs echoing through the cave and breaking the heart.

The suffering contained in those sobs was enough to move even the hardest of soldiers.