Chapter 4: Blood, Blades, and Combat Relief

The pillager’s arming sword slashed the goblin’s neck in one stroke.

The severed head rolled and bumped into the foot of a resting goblin.

The goblin’s face turned pale.

Poor creatures.

“Kieek!”

They belatedly grabbed their weapons.

Amidst the panicking goblins, Daro’s sword moved swiftly.

He grabbed a goblin that had yet to stand up, thrust his sword into its throat, and reversed the grip to stab its chest repeatedly.

Blood flowed from the goblin’s body like water leaking from a punctured leather bag.

The goblins were slow to respond. It was a perfect ambush.

[Goblin Scout (Lv1, Goblin, Poor Equipment, Healthy)]

[In Confusion]

+ Resting with comrades

– A comrade is severely injured

– A comrade has died!

– Ambushed during combat

[Equipment]

Tattered Pants (Lower, 77%, Dirty)

Club (88%)

Most of the goblin scouts were armed with clubs, and only five were armed with scrap pikes.

As expected, their gear was nothing special.

I drew my saw-blade from its scabbard and charged forward.

A necromancer’s main weapon is the saw-blade.

Also known as the ‘saw sword,’ it’s a weapon that adds a serrated edge to a regular blade, like a rose cutter, but made for two-handed use.

Precision cutting isn’t possible, but it’s a tool meant for slicing up corpses on the battlefield anyway.

Necromancers use it to cut off enemies’ heads, sever limbs, and also to carve up the corpses lying on the ground.

Since it’s specialized for cutting through leather and bone, goblins, who are nearly unarmored, die quickly once caught by it.

“Die!”

I took advantage of the length of the two-handed sword and swung it upward from below.

When the tip of the blade touched the goblin’s lower abdomen, I pulled with force.

“Kreeek!”

A goblin caught on the end of the saw-blade let out a scream of pain.

Its belly ripped open, and blood and intestines spilled out.

The goblin staggered.

The saw-blade is a two-handed weapon.

Using its weight to my advantage, I swung with momentum and decapitated the goblin.

With a dull thud, the goblin’s head hit the ground.

Goblins aren’t very tall.

Compared to humans, their heads barely reach chest height.

For goblins, three humans standing in formation would look like a walking wall.

And if blades came raining down from that wall?

It’s a nightmare.

“Hah!”

Four goblins rushed toward Daro, who had pushed ahead first.

“Daro!”

“I’m fine!”

It’s a 4-on-1 fight, but he’s not being pushed back at all.

The secret is his armor.

He’s equipped with chainmail and custom pillager armor, a “standard” defense setup.

A few hits from clubs won’t hurt him.

The leader is fighting well on his own.

I should just focus on handling my own situation.

“Kick!”

When I kill one, the next one comes.

The advantage of goblins is their numbers, but without that, they’re nothing special.

“Hah!”

Jian is also effortlessly killing the goblins.

In Dungeon Overseer, Mystics were damage specialists.

They used a unique weapon called the ‘Psychic Glove,’ with the concept of absorbing energy from enemies and strengthening themselves through punches.

Jian’s punches emit strange shockwaves.

As a low-level Mystic, Jian doesn’t yet know how to use proper magic.

The basic magic of a Mystic is Force.

It’s a fundamental spell that generates shockwaves.

The shockwave crushes goblins’ innards and breaks their bones, like the martial art strikes in wuxia novels.

“Kick!”

One of Jian’s elbows lands a direct hit on a goblin.

With a loud *bang*, a powerful shockwave erupts.

The goblin’s head bursts like a watermelon.

Seeing this in reality, after watching it in pixelated graphics, feels surreal.

“Be careful!”

While we were forming a wall, Somi came running with her whip out.

When someone asked the developers, “What kind of explorer fights with a whip like Indiana Jones?”, the next update revealed it to be an artifact called the ‘Whip with a Will.’

It’s a weapon with a concept that has taken over its own identity.

Somi swings the whip like a fishing rod.

The ‘whip with a will’ wriggles like a snake, smashing the goblins’ heads.

As the goblins stumbled from the blows, Daro thrust his arming sword forward.

“Kek!”

A goblin collapsed, making a strange sound as a hole was pierced through its neck.

A party of four.

Four explorers.

There may be twenty goblins, but the explorers show exactly why they are explorers.

The goblins are being cut down without much resistance.

The goblins armed with scrap pikes try to provide support.

*Crack!*

With a sharp sound that split the air, Somi’s whip wrapped around the pikes and snapped them.

That move looks as fantastical as the Mystic’s shockwave.

It’s like the whip is actually a disguised tentacle.

“Jian! Move inside!”

Daro, smashing a goblin’s head with his buckler, gave the order.

He’s the party leader.

It’s also the decision of a pillager.

What better command is there in battle than a clear one?

As the goblins’ frontline collapsed, the morale of those fighting on the flanks plummeted.

[In retreat!]

Surrounded by enemies. Outnumbered. There’s no winning. Run away. If you want to live, run!

– A comrade is severely injured

– A comrade has died!

– Ambushed during combat

– Fleeing!

“Those bastards are running away!”

“We’re going after them!”

Jian ran out like a hunting dog and struck the back of the goblin’s head.

“Kick!”

Then came a clean throw.

Jian mounted the goblin in what’s called the mount position.

Jian’s hands began pressing down firmly on the goblin’s eye sockets.

The goblin screamed in terror.

But Jian, with ruthless persistence, continued to press on the goblin’s face.

*Crack.*

With the sound of bones breaking, the goblin’s nose caved in.

The goblin ended up looking like Voldemort.

Jian rubbed his Psychic Gloves together as if in prayer.

*Bzzz…*

White sparks flew from the gloves, generating an intense energy reaction.

Then, as he pushed his palms forward like casting a spell…

*Boom!*

The ground shook as if an earthquake had hit, and a powerful shockwave spread across the ground.

The fleeing goblins stumbled, losing their balance.

So satisfying.

“Come here, you bastards!”

Not picking off those goblins now would be a waste.

I plunged my saw blade into the stomachs of the fallen goblins.

Even a quick stab left a gaping wound thanks to the serrated blade, causing fatal injuries.

Daro was also busy delivering fatalities to the fallen goblins with his arming sword.

As we killed goblin after goblin, I felt a swelling sense of excitement.

For the first time in a long while, I’d found a proper party.

On top of that, we were killing goblins and racking up experience points.

This battle was beyond joyful—it was emotional.

There were no goblins left alive.

We hunted down and killed all twenty.

Two tried to escape, but once the pillager and the dungeon seeker decided to chase them down, they were quickly caught.

Those two quickly ended up looking like Voldemort.

Daro had cut off their noses to count the goblins he’d killed.

“Is anyone hurt?”

As I was slicing off the nose of a goblin corpse with its head bashed in, Somi wandered around the group with a face like she was about to cry.

The seeker lantern from her Dungeon Seeker shone red this time.

That lantern could also heal injured party members.

[Somi (Lv 2, Human, Ordinary Equipment, Healthy)]

[Ordinary Mood (Healthy)]

+ Victory in battle

+ Exploring an unfamiliar area

– Witnessed something horrific during exploration

・Acquired trait: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

It says her mood is ordinary.

But she seems a bit off.

Still, after confirming no one was injured, Somi gave a shy smile and walked around.

After the fight, we took a brief rest.

“Um, Jian… My thighs are aching from all that running earlier. Do you have any medicine?”

“Hm. Sounds like muscle pain. Come over here for a moment.”

When Jian gestured, Somi followed him innocently.

Jian took off his outer coat and began stretching out his arms and legs.

“W-What are you doing?”

“This is a special set of exercises passed down among Mystics. It’s called ‘Combat Relief Stretching.’ It loosens up tense muscles and refreshes the body.”

Jian’s body was incredibly flexible.

In contrast, Somi…

“Ow! Ow!”

“Not bending easily, huh?”

“Wait! Wait a second! You can’t just push with force!”

“If you can’t loosen the muscles yourself, shouldn’t someone help you?”

I’m not exactly sure what those two are doing.

But one thing is certain: Jian is folding Somi like a piece of paper…

“Kyahhh!”

“You’re overreacting.”

“I’m going to die! Stop! Stop!”

Somi’s pitiful screams echoed.

Meanwhile, Daro sat comfortably by himself, writing the adventure log.

Writing the log is the duty of the party leader.

It’s to record what happened during the exploration and how we dealt with it.

Once the battle scenes are described and the number of goblins killed is noted, it’s done.

If the kill count is decent, the expedition will give you pocket money for snacks.

And the evidence of those kills is the bag of noses.

Daro entrusted me, the necromancer, with the bag of noses.

It’s a nasty item that gets soggy from blood when carried on the side, but I have no complaints.

Honestly, that fight earlier felt like I got away with doing nothing.

Our party balance is excellent.

Daro blocks the goblins up front.

Jian and I slice and beat them to death from the sides.

Somi uses her whip and heals from the back.

The roles are clear, and the equipment is good.

The leader is experienced, so there’s no fumbling around.

I’ve never had such a good party before.

At this point, you might wonder what exactly the necromancer’s role is.

What does a necromancer do?

Exactly what you see.

Nothing.

After the fight, I dismantle corpses, loot the spoils, and sometimes read inscriptions.

But if you have a dungeon seeker in the party?

Then I don’t even need to read.

It’s a free ride.

In Japanese, it’s sushi.

Since falling into the roguelike world, it’s the first time I’ve tasted something this sweet.

“Feeling better?”

“No! It hurts way more than before!”

Jian subtly asked if I wanted to join in the ‘combat relief stretching,’ but I made an excuse about dissecting a corpse and escaped.

Good decision, right?

“Hmm. That’s strange.”

Jian tilted his head as if there was no way it could hurt.

“I’m bending here and here, like this! Of course, it hurts!”

Somi flailed her limbs in protest, showing just how much pain she was in.

Jian watched her closely and, as if something dawned on him, clapped his hands together.

“I guess I made a mistake.”

Not like that.

“Let’s do it properly this time.”

More like that.

Sensing someone next to me, I glanced over and saw Daro crouching beside me, asking, “Which one is the goblin’s spine?”

Feeling a bit sorry for him, I pretended to show him.

In the distance, Somi’s screams were much louder than before.