Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival [WN] - Chapter 24

Hobgoblin Battle – Part 2

 

(Yosh…)

 

The annoying numbness in my hand was almost gone, and I examined the hobgoblin as I moved my fingers to check them.

 

The hobgoblin found me in hiding. So, I assumed he had the [Night Vision] or [Detection] skill… but he didn’t notice me when I was in the tree, so perhaps it was the former.

 

It could also be the smell of blood, but since hobgoblin was covered in blood as well, I would consider that possibility unlikely. …But then, if they had night vision, they would have found me even if I had level 1 stealth.

 

[Hobgoblin]

 

[Magic Value: 54/68][Strength Value: 197/340]

 

[Total Combat Value: 96 (Body Enhancement: 111)] 5 down

 

If he were human, the wound on his neck would be fatal, but the bleeding has already stopped. However, since the wound was quite deep, its physical strength was cut in half, and its overall combat power was reduced due to its left eye being crushed.

 

Even so, its fighting strength was more than twice that of mine. Normally, I wouldn’t be able to beat him in a head-to-head fight, but there would be no more opportunities for a strong opponent to be handcuffed and unaccustomed to one eye.

 

“…Phew.”

 

I breathe in slowly and exhale to dispel the slightest bit of fear.

 

I decided to end it here with this one. I understood that running away was the wiser and right choice, but… you shall become my “food”.

 

His weapon of choice… a hatchet? It looked like a woodcutter’s axe, but when held by a large hobgoblin, it looked more like a hatchet.

 

The hobgoblin was a rank 2 Demon, so I assumed he possessed the [Axe Mastery] level 2 skill. Some high-ranked demons have [Intimidate] in their race skills, but if they didn’t intimidate me after all that noise, they probably didn’t have it in them.

 

The only other skills it might have would be defense and taijutsu. I heard that some goblin species could use the attribute Sorcery, but if they could use Sorcery, their fighting ability would be a little higher.

 

He seemed to have night vision, but I doubt he’d throw axes or stones at me with his one-eyed vision. On the other hand, if he did, it would give me an opening to attack. But for now, the alert for sorcery and remote attacks should be set to “Yes” as a minor risk.

 

“Guga…!”

 

The impatient hobgoblin, while wary of me, approached me with a rusty hatchet in his right hand, and I, holding a black knife, moved to his right, trying to get around the blind spot in his left eye, which had been crushed.

 

I no longer need to devote my attention to concealment. The most important thing to remember when you want to maintain your concealment is that if you try to maintain it, you could be distracted and your mobility would decrease, albeit only slightly. …If I survive, I should practice more.

 

Using all the physical strength I could muster and paying close attention to my footwork, I threw a knife from his blind spot, just as Castro had done.

 

“Gugaaa!”

 

The hobgoblin, realizing that something had been thrown at him, quickly catches the knife with his left arm.

 

This guy, unlike the bandit chief, was very bold. Although he was never a tricky opponent to begin with, I raised my guard against this guy up by a level.

 

“Guaaa!!!”

 

The hobgoblin that stepped into the field with great force swung his hatchet down, and I avoided it in his blind spot on the right side as if I were flying away from him.

 

If it had been accurate, I would have been slashed to death, but the hobgoblin, still unaccustomed to the one-eyed view, was unable to catch up with me as I fled to his blind spot.

 

“Gaaa!”

 

He still swings his hatchet at me blindly, trying to hit me in his blind spot.

 

I’d die if I even took a single blow. I let my frightened mind sink further into the depths of my heart and calmly continued to move around the blind spot.

 

I needed to settle this before he got used to his one-eyed vision. But if I wanted to defeat him, I would have to rely on [combat skills].

 

If I could not defeat him with a single blow, even a light counterattack would easily result in a fatal wound for me, especially if he intervened after I’d used my combat skills.

 

If I could destroy the remaining one eye, I would have a chance to win, but as expected, the hobgoblin was wary of that, and the knife I aimed at it was repelled.

 

Was there any other way…

 

(No… there was one…)

 

However, if I failed to accomplish this, I would be put in even more of a tight spot. But I decided that it would be better than rushing in recklessly.

 

“Gugaaaa!!”

 

As I tried to flee backwards into the darkness of the forest behind me, the hobgoblin was sure to spot me and chase after me.

 

My plan was to make him use his [night vision] skill.

 

Unlike my “color” night vision, normal night vision was a skill to “see” the “reflection” of magical elements in the atmosphere caused by wind and moving creatures by “strengthening” their eyes with magical power to enhance their eyesight.

 

I guess that rather than “seeing”, they “visualize” in their brains the information taken in from their eyesight, just as I “see” colors.

 

I learned from Viro that the reason humans could only acquire one level of [night vision] was because their basic sensing ability was lower than that of subhumans and demons.

 

As a demon, this one must be accustomed to using night vision regularly. That is why my “plan” should be effective.

 

As planned, I entered a dark forest that required night vision, and immediately using stealth, I concentrated on “Sorcery”.

 

“–“Tone”–“

 

I use the word Tone in a different “location” to activate the Dark Sorcery [Phantom Noise].

 

The rest would depend on image and magic control…and my sense of seeing the “color” of the magical element.

 

I absorbed only the dark magical elements that were present in the environment and dyed my own magical elements a dark colour. When I released the magic power to the designated place by controlling the magic power, the magic power decreased at once, and I felt unsteady on my feet.

 

“Gaaaaa!!!”

 

The hobgoblin who was following me screamed and lunged at me, slamming his axe into me with his night vision.

 

He had level 2 [Axe Mastery] skills. If he took a proper bite, I, a child, would be torn to pieces with a single blow. But too bad for him–

 

Haa!

 

[Gaa…!?]

 

The blade was thrust unexpectedly from right beside him, and the attacked hobgoblin swung his arms around, confused, and blew me away from right beside him.

 

“…,”

 

I stood up in pain, having been blown away, and spat the blood that had collected in my cut mouth onto the ground.

 

Meanwhile, the hobgoblin did not attack me. No, he couldn’t attack me.

 

The hobgoblin’s face… an iron skewer was deeply pierced into its remaining right eye, completely robbing it of its sight.

 

The “me” that he slashed was my “humanoid illusion” made of dark magical elements. In a bright place, it would be obvious, but those who were accustomed to [night vision] would be fooled by it at first sight.

 

Dark magic element was made of formless particles. Therefore, I hypothesized that with magic and imagery, almost anything would be possible… I’m glad it worked out.

 

However, because this was both [Sorcery] and [Magic], it drained all of my remaining magical energy.

 

Feeling a bit of a hunger that was akin to magic depletion, I licked the hobgoblin’s blood that splashed onto my face with my tongue, and the smell of blood made me feel slightly high.

 

“Now then…”

 

“Guga…”

 

I muttered, and the hobgoblin that had stopped listening to my voice jerked and shook its body, roaring like a cornered beast.

 

I no longer had any magic power left in me to use in battle techniques or physical enhancements. I had no power to defeat him with a single blow. But you still had the strength to fight even though you were blind, right? 

 

Struggle to the end to live.

 

Until the end… until you die… I shall stay with you.

 

***

 

“Mina!!”

 

“…Ah, Sera-san!”

 

When Sera found Mina in the darkness, she slumped down in relief.

 

Sera had questioned Castro at the mansion, but he had only told her that he had left the child as a guard in the forest on the border of his domain.

 

Castro was from a slum, and the weight of his past sins had made him dislike those from the area.

 

She had no idea what had happened to him in the past, but she suspected that it was because of this that Castro despised and would not forgive those who betrayed their friends.

 

She was able to trust him in part because of this, but she never expected him to be so twisted that he would even attack a young child….

She had no idea he was so deranged that he could even hit a small child.

 

Moreover, the place where the house was located was a forest where goblins would wander.

 

Castro’s face turned pale when he learned that Mina, who was so unfamiliar with the world, was planning to bring food to the children in such a place, and that two people would be killed if she made a mistake.

 

So, to secure the two in a hurry, Sera and Castro, the two dark knights, hurriedly set out to search for them.

 

“Calm down, Mina, what happened?”

 

“Well, that’s the thing… I kept hearing multiple screams of demons coming from the forest, and I… I was so scared that I ran away, but I didn’t want to leave the child… and…”

 

Sera and Castro exchanged glances as they listened to the confession, wondering if the goblins were really out there.

 

“Okay, Castro, send her back and then come back with Viro. I will look for the child.”

 

“…Yes, ma’am.”

 

Leaving Mina in Castro’s care, Sera dashed off into the darkness, holding the slender knife she had hidden in her cuff in both hands.

 

The child Viro had brought with him might be able to take down a goblin or two. However, a young child who was conceited about himself would often get beaten back by a number of enemies they could not win against.

 

If the numbers were too great to win, she could just run away. But…what would happen if there was no way to escape? 

 

Mina heard the voices of several demons. If so, they had to be very close, and if they were screeching, they could have been in the midst of a battle. Who was fighting with whom? It was most likely the child that Viro had brought with him.

 

Why did Mina, who was so close, escape? And why didn’t the child escape? 

 

(No way…)

 

Castro said the child was a slum person based on her appearance. It would be difficult for a child who appeared to have lived in a slum…or even Sera or her son, who had been trained from an early age as a member of a dark clan, to take on an opponent they couldn’t beat in order to save someone else’s life.

 

If so, that child may no longer be alive.

 

In the worst-case scenario, Sera was daunted by the thought of showing the child’s corpse to Viro, who brought the child to her.

 

Sera, who had been racing noiselessly, changed direction when she smelled blood in the forest.

 

The trail of blood was soon found. But there was only the corpse of one goblin, no other demons, of which there were said to be more than one, and no sign of the child.

 

Sera followed the blood trail using her 4th level [Detection] skill. Then, she spotted something in the darkness beyond the forest–

 

(…something is out there.)

 

The sharp, killing intent emanating from beyond the darkness made her stop in her tracks.

 

This was not the kind of killing intent that a goblin would be able to produce. Was there a demon of at least rank 2…if not, rank 3?

 

Sera was a little ill-equipped to deal with a rank 3 or higher demon, but even so, she undauntedly readied her knife and stepped toward it.

 

“…this.”

 

There were three goblins lying on the ground, destroyed. And the corpse of a demon, clearly a hobgoblin, had countless wounds all over his body, as if to tell the tale of his fierce battle.

 

And…in front of the goblins and the hobgoblin corpse, a bloodied child with an ice-cold killing intent stood like a wounded beast with a knife at the ready.