Chapter 8: Till the Last Breath

Stay calm.

“Kieeeek!”

I’ve been in a chase with these creatures for quite some time now.

Physically, I have an advantage over the goblins in terms of running speed.

Within just a few strides, I manage to widen the distance between us.

But they’re scouts, skilled hunters trained to pursue and kill fleeing prey.

If I slow down even a little, they close the gap immediately.

When I move, they follow.

When the distance grows, I take a short rest; when they get closer, I run again.

This continued for about thirty minutes.

“Kirik! Kirik!”

These damn goblins…

I’m at my limit.

My entire body screams with pain with every step I take.

I have no strength left to keep running.

Have the goblins been waiting for this?

Tracking me until I’m too exhausted to continue, planning to slit my throat the moment I collapse…

No.

I’m not dying here, not like this.

Not after all I went through to get here.

A brief rest is interrupted by the goblins’ shrill cries.

There’s no escaping now.

I pull out my battered saw.

[Rusty Corpse Saw (4%)]

This dull saw blade is all I have left.

Along with a single clamp.

Meanwhile, there are seven goblins hunting me down.

[Courage (Morale)]

+ Defeated an enemy

+ Pursuing prey

+ Won in battle

Their morale is at its peak.

They won’t run away just because a few of them fall.

My last hope is that the orc warrior isn’t also on my trail.

I have no choice left.

Whether I like it or not, I must face these goblins.

Fight them.

And win.

Survive.

“Bring it on, you bastards!”

“Kiaaaah!”

Clutching the saw with both hands, I glared at the goblins.

They were charging down the steep path toward me at an incredible speed.

They’d pounce, and I’d strike back.

Typical of goblins, only one of them—the one in the back with a rusty pike—had any real armor.

The others wielded nothing but light clubs or crude daggers.

The handle of my saw was slick with sweat, slipping under my grip.

I’m losing my mind.

There’s no one here to help me, no way to struggle out of this.

All I have left in this desperate moment isn’t strength or skill, but a shred of luck.

Damn it.

Come what may.

“Aaaargh!”

Running isn’t an option anymore.

With my back against an ancient tree, I let out a scream of desperation.

Fighting is about morale.

If I don’t assert my dominance early on, this battle will be hard.

But the goblins show no sign of faltering at my shout.

They surround me, gradually closing the distance.

There may be seven goblins, but only three can charge at me at once.

If I’m lucky, I’ll survive.

If I’m not, I’ll die.

Just like the others who went ahead of me…

The goblin clung to my right arm, sinking its teeth into my forearm.

It seemed like it was trying to stop my movements, but…

Thud!

I slammed the goblin hanging from my arm onto the ground and took out the clamp with my left hand.

A blood-stained, iron clamp.

I gripped it in reverse like a dagger and drove it down toward the goblin’s eye.

“Kiaaaak!”

The clamp is sharp, like a spike when closed, but powerful enough to tear out nails when opened.

After plunging the clamp into the goblin’s eye, I twisted it half a turn with my wrist.

With a sickening crunch of tearing muscle, the goblin’s eyeball loosened.

I spread the clamp and forcibly yanked out the goblin’s eye.

Pop!

At the end of the eye dangled frayed nerves and tendons.

The clamp was so sharp that it didn’t even hold the shape properly.

But it seemed to be a shock to the goblin.

It forgot about biting my arm and rolled on the ground, clutching its face with both hands.

“Kiaaak! Kiiiaaaak!”

Meanwhile, I twisted the blade embedded in the corpse back and forth until I could pull it free.

Blood gushed out from the dead goblin’s body.

I killed goblin after goblin.

Fighting until my arm went numb and my breathing grew ragged.

Fighting until there were no goblins left to charge at me.

How long had I been fighting like that?

“Kiiieeek!”

The goblins started screeching and running away.

When one fled, fear spread to the others, and they too scattered in panic.

Maybe they were going to call for the orc warrior.

[In Retreat! (Morale)]

It may not seem like much, but a necromancer’s attacks weaken the enemy’s morale.

The horribly mutilated corpses, the dying comrades,

And the necromancer, drenched in blood, swinging the saw wildly.

“Huff… huff…”

I wanted to chase them down and finish them all off.

But my body was at its limit.

As much as I wanted to collapse and sleep, I couldn’t.

I had won the battle.

But I was still the one who had to run.

I’d bought myself enough time to escape before they brought back the orc warrior.

“Damn… bastards.”

Thud.

The saw blade wobbled unsteadily.

When I tried to move it, it fell right out of the handle.

Damn it. It did last a long time, though.

Leaving the broken saw behind, I began moving downward again.

Out of the goblins’ territory.

I stopped briefly at a stream to wet my throat.

After moving nonstop, without food or rest, I finally reached the edge of the valley.

There was no goblin hunting party in sight.

Exhausted, I collapsed onto the roadside where people passed.

Breathing was difficult.

My entire body was so drained that I couldn’t move.

Taking slow breaths, I closed my eyes.

In that bloody battlefield, images of Daro, Jian, and Somi’s final moments flashed before me like a painting.

It was something I couldn’t help.

Something… I couldn’t change.

“Hic…”

Hot tears trickled down my cheeks.

My comrades were dead, but I had survived.

In the end, I survived.