Rodel spoke with a clarity sharper than ever before.
Overcome with emotion, Sisuel hugged Rodel’s chained legs and started sobbing. “Cousin! I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have mocked you earlier! Cousin!”
“Heh. A condemned man trying to bargain with me?”
Tian didn’t even look at him. He casually chopped off one of Sisuel’s legs and tossed it onto the grill.
Though paralyzed and unable to feel pain, the sight was brutal. Sisuel fainted instantly from sheer terror.
A twisted smile curled on Rodel’s face. “Listen. Let him go. When the time comes, my family will send plenty of people to rescue me.”
“Are you out of your mind? What kind of nonsense is that?”
Tian stared at him coldly.
He was convinced Rodel had finally lost his mind.
Rodel suddenly burst out, manic. “Lost my mind? Lost my mind? When that happens, you can kill even more people! Devour the strong! Slaughter them all! I’ll help you!”
“You’re serious?”
Tian still sounded skeptical.
Rodel threw his head back and laughed wildly. “They all deserve to die! Every last one of them! All this time, they never sent troops to save me—just this useless trash. They brought it on themselves! And as for her—if I get the chance, I’ll help you kill her too!”
“Fine. I believe you. Come here, feed—feed—feed. Heal this guy first.”
Tian agreed immediately.
He ordered Eveleya to treat Sisuel’s leg.
Then he walked to the fire, picked up the roasted leg, and tossed it in front of Rodel as if feeding a dog.
“Here’s your reward.”
A flash of killing intent flickered in Rodel’s eyes—something sharp and focused, unlike his usual broken look—before quickly vanishing.
He immediately grabbed the leg and tore into it. “Delicious! Absolutely delicious!”
“Boss… aren’t we just letting trouble come back? Our location’s exposed now.”
Leah couldn’t help but worry aloud.
Tian raised a hand to cut her off. “You don’t trust me?”
“I understand.”
Leah said no more.
In the end, a few goblins carried the unconscious Sisuel out and dumped him in the forest, leaving him behind.
,,,
Bright Town.
Everyone knew Sisuel’s group had gone to exterminate the goblins.
They were all waiting for good news.
Inside the tavern, people drank and chatted.
Someone joked, “It’s been ages with no news. Maybe they got wiped out. Haha.”
“I’d sooner believe a goblin got the better of me than that they all died.”
“Hey, it was just a joke. Low chance, but you never know.”
“Two diamond-rank parties—if they lose, we might as well pack up and leave town.”
No one actually believed it.
Goblins were still goblins, even with high-tier variants.
They couldn’t possibly cause any real trouble.
For hundreds of years, Goblin Kings had been killed time and again.
The impression of goblins as weak was deeply ingrained in human minds.
The wandering hero added, “Don’t think the Sword Saint losing means anything. She lost to herself. A bunch of goblins? Diamond-rank adventurers handle them easily. I know I do.”
“BANG!”
The tavern door was violently shoved open.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
A bald man in simple leather armor burst in, panting. “It’s over! They’re finished!”
“What’s over?! Calm down!”
The tavern owner cursed—he’d just fixed that door!
The bald man gasped for air. “I just saw Sisuel come back—missing a leg, looking like a wreck! He rode out of town on a warhorse, heading straight for the capital!”
“What?!”
Everyone’s expression changed at once.
Sisuel of the Blizzard Heroes! A young noble genius.
He lost?!
Even the tavern owner was in disbelief. “Blizzard Formation can hold off an army of thousands. It’s pitch black out—are you sure you didn’t see wrong?”
“No mistake! I even went up and asked what happened!”
The bald man took a deep breath. “He said they’re all dead. Those goblins are monsters—don’t go near them. Then he rode off like the devil was after him.”
In that instant,
The entire tavern fell silent.
Goblins like that were beyond their imagination.
Now, they finally understood why the Sword Saint had fallen.
The wandering hero couldn’t help exclaiming, “The Gray Hat party got wiped out too? Old man Grul had some real skill, didn’t he?”
“Only he made it back alive. The rest are probably dead.”
The bald man said, unsure.
At that moment, the Goblin Slayer’s figure entered the tavern. She spoke coldly, “Correct. They’re all dead. Only Sisuel survived.”
“Goblin Slayer?! You were in that fight too?!”
Everyone lit up with excitement. Finally, a survivor who could give details.
The Goblin Slayer nodded. “I ran into them by chance. Unfortunately, I arrived too late. By the time I got there, almost everyone was dead. Only Sisuel was left.”
She didn’t know why Tian let him go, but for now, this was the story she’d tell.
The wandering hero asked, “Then… what about the goblins?”
“I killed them all.”
The Goblin Slayer said calmly.
The room froze for a few seconds.
Then someone started clapping. Soon the whole tavern erupted in applause.
“Ma’am, drink whatever you want tonight—it’s on the house!”
The tavern owner said excitedly.
He too had suffered at the hands of goblins. Now, at last, the scourge seemed gone.
Everyone quietly marveled. “As expected of the Goblin Slayer. A true professional. Can you tell us more?”
“Nothing special. Just one Variant, two Hero-ranks, and a few hundred Greater goblins.”
The Goblin Slayer spoke while accepting a mug from the owner.
She slightly lifted her visor and downed it in one gulp.
Everyone was stunned again. “My god—so many Greater goblins! No wonder Sisuel’s group lost. And there was a Variant too!”
While everyone was immersed in alcohol and celebration,
A swarm of pitch-black bats flew in from outside, hanging upside down from the ceiling.
People scattered in panic, grabbing weapons as drinks spilled everywhere.
The faint-hearted ran outside, screaming.
It wasn’t that the men were afraid of bats.
It was because these bats were actually people—or rather, vampires!
It was the Coldblood Mercenary Corps!
From the ceiling, a black bat with blood-red fangs spoke in the human tongue. “Goblin Slayer, you said there were hundreds of Greater goblins. Then the tribe leader can’t possibly be just a Variant.
Did you find their lair? Goblins hide very well.”
Hearing that, everyone snapped back to reality.
Right—hundreds of Greater goblins meant there had to be thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of lower-tier goblins!
The leader had to be an Overlord-level monster!
If the bat could see her face, the Goblin Slayer’s cold glare would have sent a chill down its spine.
She hadn’t expected more troublemakers tonight.
But then she smirked inwardly. “Heh… Darling, I think you can handle these guys, right?”
She answered aloud, “I didn’t find the lair. After killing them, I came straight back.”
“Is that so? Then rest easy—the lair-hunting job is ours now. Care to team up?”
The red-fanged bat asked again.
The wandering hero was incredulous. “Even the Coldblood Mercenary Corps needs backup? Now I’m really curious about these goblins.”
“Join us then?”
The red-fanged bat turned to him.
The wandering hero gave an awkward laugh. “Nah. I’m here to slay dragons. No interest in goblins, and I’m not doing this for bounty money.”
“I don’t like working at night.”
The Goblin Slayer said flatly, then left the tavern.
The red-fanged bat sounded disappointed. “Too bad. We can only operate at night—otherwise Grul and the others wouldn’t have died so easily. Move out, my kin.”
“Screeeech!!!”
The swarm of bats flapped away, heading toward the Corrupted Forest.
,,,
At that moment, a heavily armored knight rode into Bright Town on a warhorse.
After asking around, he found the room where the Sword Saint was staying.
The door was tightly shut. Though night had just fallen, the lights were already out.
The knight sighed, slipped a letter under the door, and turned to leave.
,,,
High above the Corrupted Forest, the bats—vampires—owned the night.
Their vision was sharp and their reflexes lightning-fast.
Their sense of smell was uncanny. It didn’t take long before they caught the thick scent of blood.
It was the battlefield from earlier—dozens of kilometers away, on the far side of the river—where bloodstains had been deliberately left uncleaned.
The bats hung upside down on trees, inspecting the traces.
“Captain, what do you think? Doesn’t look like there’s a big tribe around here.”
One bat asked.
The red-fanged bat sniffed carefully, then its eyes glowed with an eerie red light. “Back up. This is bait they left on purpose!”
Following the blood scent, they soon returned to the riverbank.
They circled around the waterfall.
The red-fanged bat grinned. “The scent ends here—they’re definitely inside! Go!”
With that, the swarm plunged straight through the waterfall.
Sure enough, they spotted two Greater Goblins on patrol nearby.
“Bats?”
“Ignore them. Stay alert.”
The two Greater Goblins muttered and paid no attention.
Why would monsters care about a bunch of bats?
It was a common sight.
The red-fanged bat led them deeper into the cave—straight to the living quarters.
Inside, goblins were snoring soundly.
The smell was overwhelming.
The bats didn’t rush to attack; they quietly scouted the entire cave.
The red-fanged bat was surprised. “Only this many goblins? And just one Variant?”
“Did we get the wrong place? This looks like a mid-sized tribe at best,”
The squad members exchanged puzzled glances.
But the red-fanged bat was sure. “No mistake. So many Greater goblins—just like the Goblin Slayer said. Attack! Drink your fill—drink deep!”
“Goblin blood tastes awful, but it’s packed with nutrients!”
One bat said, then silently crawled onto a sleeping goblin.
Its thin fangs gently pierced the skin—like an ant bite. If the goblin slept too soundly, it wouldn’t even notice.
In just ten seconds, the once muscular Greater Goblin shriveled into a desiccated corpse.
The red-fanged bat was enjoying himself too. “Tonight, we feast!”
The Coldblood Mercenary Corps had killed many powerful foes like this—silently, in the dead of night.
