บท 63: Meat is not back on the menu
Traveling through the Chat Group is something that I have grown used to so it was no longer as jarring. The sudden shift of place was no longer something that confused me for a moment. So I was able to gather my bearings quickly and I was able to recognize my surroundings.
The place I found myself in was not exactly something to write home about. It was not the grand views of SAO nor was it as immaculate in its design. So that told me that this world was not some creation from a god or a madman with a plan. It was a natural place and everything around here was exactly as it was meant to be.
Which meant the sight before me was rather concerning. The sky was cloudy and dark. Not a hint of light was available for what must be miles. It was not like the clouds were storming either it just seemed like this world did not allow light to exist. Beyond the dark sky, the surrounding area was completely and utterly covered in fog. Which obviously made gathering more intelligence rather difficult.
The only thing I say for certain was I arrived in a forested area. That fact was even put into question as the trees around me were barely visible. The trees themselves were rather concerning as they fit the rather ominous mood this world was building.
Gnarled and with not a leaf in sight, not exactly a good example of a healthy forest and this was all the trees in sight not just a few. So yeah even if I did not know where we arrived I was fairly confident that it was somewhere bad.
The only positive point I could say about this place was there was an abundant amount of natural energy in the air. The energy itself was dyed in rather sinister intentions fitting the theme displayed so far but it was still an impressive amount of natural energy.
I could use this massive amount of energy to build a rather good base for us to use in this world. Even if I had to cleanse the miasma building up inside of that natural energy.
Ironically this world was designed for helping people cultivate Demonic Power. Which was another worrying notion as that was not something a regular place should help in. Hell, the underworld in Rias' world was not capable of helping devils cultivate their power they needed to gather energy from humans to slowly raise their capabilities.
All in all, what I could gather about this place pointed to bad things and I was not even surprised about that. The Chat Group would not send us on a nice simple journey. It did not want us to become the king of games or to dominate our peers in the world of go.
The Chat Group wanted us to be in conflict, I was not sure why that was but I knew that to be the case. I was not exactly going to dissect my all-powerful cheat, that might be a rather naive outlook to take but I was not willing to give up the Chat Group because I dug into its secrets.
It was only my unholy luck that allowed me to be here in the first place I was not willing to bet that something similar would happen again.
So I would rather concentrate on the present instead of sticking my nose where it did not belong. That thought might need to be changed later but that was a decision for later. The situation around me was rather concerning already I did not need to add to that.
The fog was heavy enough that I could not see very far but we arrived as a group so we were fairly close to each other.
Rias was still excited about being in a new world but she had a rather disappointed look on her face at the sight before her. I guess she was not sensitive enough to realize that this world would help her cultivate.
Ashley did not even waste a moment before she marched herself over to me. She may not have the same amount of experience in world travel but she still used it more than the other Chat members so she was able to gather her bearings quickly.
Thankfully she was not dressed in a duck costume, I don't know how I could face Pyrrha later if she actually decided to come dressed as a duck. I knew she would keep her word for the most part but there was still that thought in my head that Ashley would not give up the opportunity to rile up someone so well. So seeing her dressed as she usually was brought a small smile to my face.
Pyrrha was standing alert by herself. While Rias was looking around for anything that might catch her fancy Pyrrha was examining her surroundings looking for all the dangers in the area.
It fit the view I had of her as she has been systematically training to become the last line of defense Remnant had against the forces of darkness. Pyrrha herself might be a polite girl who only wanted to get along with others but her instincts were not something anyone could develop. She was born to be a fighter, no she was born to be a champion and her unrelenting efforts made that potential into a reality.
I knew Pyrrha was based off of Achilles but seeing her like this really brought that imagery to the front of my mind. She had other positive points beyond her skills. She was obviously rather beautiful with shiny red hair that was pulled into a tight ponytail.
Her emerald eyes a hauntingly familiar sight but the gaze behind those eyes was different enough to draw the differences. I was glad for that as I did not want to be reminded of the past every time I looked into Pyrrha's eyes. Not that I was planning on staring into her eyes too often.
Her body was athletic but had a soft sort of charm that was hard to combine. She had snu snu energy but she also had the sort of girl next door type of vibe. She was dressed in her iconic outfit even if the armor she wore did not really give her that much protection. She showed way too much skin for that to be effective.
I was not even sure why she wore that as the rest of the RWBY cast worse outfits that were stylish since they relied on their Aura to protect them.
Pyrrha's outfit was not even practical but I guess it was a matter of image. Her whole celebrity image was based on being this unbeatable champion so she had to dress that way to enhance that image.
It brought a frown to my face as that context meant that her outfit was not something she wanted to wear but something she was forced to wear to maintain a falsehood. She was that champion but she was also more than that not that anyone in her world wanted to face that truth. I could see why Pyrrha was able to fall so desperately in love with someone like Jaune Arc.
Not that Jaune did not have his good points but his actions in the first season were rather cowardly. I got why he acted like that but it did not mean it was the best first impression to have on a girl but Pyrrha still fell for him. He just needed to get over his insecurities about his place at Beacon before he could grow into a better version of himself.
There were parts of that season that showed his good nature, his willingness to humiliate himself to make Pyrrha feel better, and his willingness to reprimand Neptune about his cowardly nature because he was hurting a girl that Jaune himself liked.
Yet he did not rub that fact in Weiss' face he played out his part and let go of the girl he wanted to pursue for her best not his own. So he did have good moments even if the plot had to drag those moments out of him.
Pyrrha seemed to finish examining the surrounding area as she relaxed. She was clearly still alert but that serious and deadly look fell from her face replaced by a polite smile. It was clearly something she was used to doing and again it rubbed me the wrong way but that was her own business.
I already had enough monkeys in my circus and I did not need to push myself into another swamp. Even if the state she was currently in was rather disconcerting.
Ashley made it to my side and snuggled next to me without any hesitance. I gave her an indulgent smile her need for physical affection was something I had grown used to for a long time. It was not something I was against experiencing as I was also in need of physically affection.
Even if I usually dreaded anyone coming into physical contact with me. She was not the only one who I allowed to touch me but she was certainly the person who took advantage of that perk rather often.
"It has not been that long Ashley," I commented softly to the girl who was burying her face into my chest. She grunted and looked up at me with an irritable look on her face.
"Shut it recharging my batteries." She spoke out sourly before burying her face back into my chest. I rolled my eyes at her as I closed my arms around her. She might be being a brat again but I was used to that already.
Rias must have heard our conversation as she looked over at us with a pout on her face. Emotions flashed in her eyes that were obvious enough for someone like me to read. I was just thankful that Ashley currently had her face in my chest if she saw the look on Rias' face there might be a fight breaking out.
While Ashley may have Rias beat in viciousness I don't think she could take Rias. So Ashley would be upset for the rest of the trip and that was not something I wanted to deal with right off the bat.
Pyrrha was also looking over at us with a wary look in the depths of her eyes. That caution caused my brow to twitch but I was to blame for that sight and Ashley needling Pyrrha did not help dissolve that worry.
I could only hope that this mission was the finally block in the way of recovering my relationship with Pyrrha.
Beyond the worry in her eyes, she started to turn red at the sight of us. She was probably not blinded by our good looks. Her world was filled with people that were far too good looking for their own good. No, the reasons she was looking at us with red dyeing her face was probably because she was not used to such blatant displays of affection.
That or she wanted something like that for herself, those were the only reasons I could think of at the moment.
"The couple is really showing off already," Rias commented bitterly from the side. Her voice caused me to twitch again. I did not have the opportunity to tell Ashley what was going on and Rias' bitter tone was already clear. Hearing her that comment Ashley turned away from my chest with a bland look on her face.
She took one look at Rias before scoffing.
"What jealousy you don't got a relationship like us Magic Tits?" She spoke out coldly before snuggling back into my chest. I guess she just took that bitter comment as someone jealous of our relationship. Rias sputtered at the comment but not for the reason I expected.
"How did you even know who I was!? I could have been Hunter-san!" Rias seemed outraged that Ashley was able to call her out almost immediately. Her question caused me to raise an eyebrow. Ashley and Rias have never met before so how did she pin down who Rias was so quickly?
Again Ashley turned away from my chest while rolling her eyes. She shot Rias a condescending look before she blatantly looked at Rias' chest.
"Like anyone but you would have such fat tits, face it Magic Tits the Chat Group got you pinned down." Ashley spoke out with a shit eating grin on her face. She was clearly taking joy in the position she placed Rias in. I blanched slightly as I tried to contain my own amusement.
Ashley's comment might have been crude and almost certainly rude but it was accurate. Rias had a pair of breasts that were rather obvious.
Rias took in Ashley's words before she started to deflate at a visible rate. She was looking at her own breasts as if they betrayed her. The sight was funny enough that I let out a snort.
Rias heard my snort and shot me a glare but I looked away quickly. I could only apologize in my head but the sight of her betrayed look was far too funny to hold back my amusement.
"Hunter-san they are being bullies!" Rias shouted out with a pout as she tried to bond with the other member of our group. Pyrrha took in her words with a polite smile on her face but I could see her lips twitching.
She might be a better person than Ashley and I but she still found the whole situation funny as well. The scene before her did wipe away some of that worry in the depths of her eyes.
Rias was complaining about Ashley's words but she was mainly trying to drag Pyrrha into the conversation. She was friendly enough that she could see that Pyrrha felt like she did not belong here.
I guess that scene was an okay way to break the ice. Not that I ever expected to break the ice like that.
"Sorry about that, Ashley is in a sour mood because she was expecting to eat Ragout Rabbit." I defended Ashley quickly so there was not too many bad feelings between them. I knew Rias would eventually forgive Ashley she was far too kind for her own good and she had a thing for broken birds.
Still, even if she would eventually forgive her it did not mean I could not help that process. Even if my reason was not totally true.
Ashley was in a sour mood at not getting to eat that rabbit but the major reason she reacted like that was because she wanted to poke fun at Rias. It was in her nature to be a bratty gremlin and I guess I should have just let things pass that way.
Rias would eventually grow used to her energy as Ashley really did not mean anything by her actions.
Rias heard my words and looked away with a pout on her face.
"Serves her right, she wanted to eat Mochi-chan." Rias muttered under her breath but it appeared that she felt better about Ashley's comment. She still did send glances at her own chest with a concerned look but that was not a can of worms I wanted to touch.
"I'm happy to meet you Hunter-san. Again I'm sorry about what happened before but I promise you I will make it up to you." I spoke out seriously to the girl who was standing by herself. Rias already attempted to drag her into the conversation but that signal seemed to fly over her head.
Still, it looked like she wanted to join the conversation even if she seemed like she had no idea how to go about that. So I decided to throw her another bone.
Hearing my voice Pyrrha was startled slightly as she was not expecting me to drag her into this conversation even if Rias already made an attempt at doing so.
She looked over at me with a guilty look on her face that caused me to raise an eyebrow.
"I already told you there was no reason to apologize we did not get off on the best foot and that was partially my fault." She spoke out with her voice getting lower at the end of her sentence.
She felt wary of me but it appeared she felt guilty for feeling that way. She knew the part she played in our unsteady relationship so she did not want to blame me even as she did blame me.
It was a strange state of being but I could understand it slightly. Conflicted feelings were my bread and butter after all.
"I still feel bad about it so I won't stop until I can bring a smile to your face," I spoke out with my own guilty look flashing on my face. Pyrrha again looked startled at my words and again that guilty look flashed on her face.
Rias was looking at me with another pout blooming on her face. Ashley pinched me and looked at me in exasperation. I shot her a confused look but she rolled her eyes at me.
"Phrasing, you really need to learn to phrase your words better," Ashley commented with a tone that conveyed she was used to dealing with whatever plight that was bugging her. I did not quite understand her but Rias was nodding along as if agreeing with her. Pyrrha was not looking at her own feet so I guess the both of them thought she was right.
Before I could get into that a screen flashed before me.
[Welcome to the City Of Sprites And Apparitions! The Four Saint Beasts are plotting a dastardly plot! They are planning on driving the human world into an endless riot as they infect humanity with insects that will drive humans to killing, raping, and pillaging everything in sight! They have just started their plot so there is still time to stop them, you must kill all four Saint Beasts so the Human Realm will remain safe!
Make your way to Maze Castle and insure that the plot from The Four Saint Beasts will never be achieved! If you wish you may invite someone from this world into the Chat Group but that is no longer a mandatory task. Good Luck Chat Members! ]
I looked over at the message with a thoughtful look on my face. There was nothing stoping us from using our full power here and the objective itself was rather minor so it should not be a long time.
I did not know for sure who these Saint Beasts were but the description was rinding a familiar tune to me I just had to figure out where I heard it before.
I suppose the fight between us and the Beasts might be rather difficult but with the combined might of Rias and myself, I did not find myself too worried about that.
The Chat Group would not send us to our deaths so easily and Fortuna would not allow something too bad to happen to me. So the task before us should be well within our limits.
"Alright so murder four bozos and we get to go home and Prince will get me that Rabbit," Ashley announced after she read the message before here. Figures that would be her take away from the situation before us. I mean she was not exactly off but it was a rather direct way to point out our destination.
While I was confident in taking out what ever foe we faced the place we were going to was called Maze Castle.
With a name like that, I expect that we would find ourself going around in circles for a rather long time. It was still not as long as the SAO mission but there were bound to be traps and long winding hallways in our future.
"No one is eating Mochi-chan," Rias announced with a pout on her face. Ashley and I both looked at her for a moment. The both of us were confused about why she was bringing up that rabbit before the situation dawned on me.
"Ashley meant that I would roll the Gacha again and get a new rabbit," I spoke out dully. Rias took in my words and seemed to remember the context from before. She was operating off of the instinct to protect her rabbit so I got it but it was still a bit foolish.
Ashley looked like she wanted to tease Rias, maybe she planned on threatening Mochi even though she had no intentions of pursuing the rabbit in Rias' clutches.
I gave her a hard look which she understood as she shot me a pout of her own. I rolled my eyes at the seemed to close the argument as she looked away with the pout still on her face.
Rias was still embarrassed about her own dumb action so she was not looking at us. Pyrrha did get a read on the situation between us and she was giving us another dry look but her lips were twitching.
"I know that I was just warning her in case she wanted to eat Mochi-chan after she ate the rabbit you got." She announced with her eyes not looking at us at all.
Again I rolled my eyes as that was not even remotely believable but if she wanted to pretend that was what she meant I was not going to fight her.
Ashley seemed even more amused by the dumb excuse but she let it pass for now. I was sure that Rias was going to be teased about this further down the line but Ashley must have felt like it was not time for that.
Pyrrha was looking at Rias with pity clear on her face but she did not pipe in to tell her no one believed her. She clearly felt like it would hurt Rias more to find out no one believed her.
I was about to drag Ashley off to tell her about Rias when the ground beneath our feet suddenly started to rumble.
I grabbed Ashley and jumped away. Pyrrha reacted before even me as she jumped away from the ground near us with her rifle out pointing at the rumbling ground.
Rias was already in the sky with her wings out and her hand filled with dark energy that wanted to devour everything before her.
The sight of the energy before caused me to short circuit for a second. Objectively I knew that the clan trait Rias was most famous for using was the Power Of Destruction but knowing that and seeing that thing was completely different.
That energy was never-ending in it's hunger and if allowed it would devour the entire universe and it would not be satisfied.
Beyond the sheer hunger of the energy it was conceptual energy and that was not something I was expecting from Rias. I knew that the Power Of Destruction was powerful but from what I have seen from Rias I did not think she could produce a conceptual attack.
I guess I was not giving her enough credit. I knew she was more powerful than she was in cannon but that sight was still enough to shock me.
I was going to have to get her something good as a present later as she taught me something really fucking powerful. I kind of felt bad about ripping her off as she was someone I considered a friend at this point but I copied it without really thinking.
I suppose I should give the Chat Group an explanation about my Alpha Stigma so I did not feel quite that bad about copying their moves.
Still, even if she knew about the Alpha Stigma I thought Rias would allow me to copy her move. She did fall pretty badly for me after all.
The rumbling ground burst open as hooded figures started to crawl themselves out of the ground. They were skinny and emancipated with pale green skin and glowing red eyes beneath hooded cloaks.
They looked like goblins pretending to be assassins.
As the numbers started to grow I started to get a little concerned about the sheer number of them. Well, I never thought this was going to be easy I might as well start mowing them down.
I summoned my sacred gear quickly and placed Ashley on the ground. I looked over at the horde of goblin like things that were rising from the ground like an endless tide. I could release a couple of blasts from my rifle that would knock those numbers down immensely.
I may not be that experienced with my Sacred Gear but if I put minor amounts of mana into the rifle and let it build up in a feed back loop I should be able to send out controlled bursts.
I contemplated that for a moment before deciding against it. I was too close to the blast radius to be risking using it right now. I was not too concerned about my self but friendly fire was a rather big risk that I should not take just to get this over faster.
It was not like I was alone in this fight. Rias was in the sky ready to bombard the army before her and Pyrrha was in a tree with her own rifle out taking aim at the various monsters before her with a cold focused expression on her face.
The only reason they had not taken action just yet was because these goblins have not proven to be hostile just yet. Sure they looked like they were enemies but that was just based off of their looks and the nature of their entrance.
Rias and Pyrrha had a better moral standing than Ashley and I, they would not kill someone just because it was the more convenient option. Nor would they advocate for hostile actions against an unknown force right off the bat.
Even if they were willing to give these guys a chance to prove themselves they still prepared themselves for combat. They may be optimistic but they were not completely naive, they knew that when push came to shove you had to use violence.
It was a good mindset to have and I could not imagine someone like Izumi reacting well in this situation. Argo would be slightly better, she lived in a rather peaceful world for the most part but she had experienced a life and death world for a good long time.
Ashley was looking over at the horde before us with a contemplative look on her face. She took out a gun from her inventory but she had a frown on her face.
I could understand her concern. She was far more used to fighting in a melee and while the guns would be helpful there was no guarantee that they would be able to fight monsters. She did not have the same luck in the Gacha as I did. The items she got were certainly good but there was no equipment she could use to kill so she was stuck with mundane tools.
I transfigured the ground beneath me into a long silver spear. It was not the best metal for fighting but it would hold the enchantments better in comparison to steel and I did not know of the structure of any good magical metals.
So I enchanted the spear for durability, sharpness, and a piecing enhancement. It was not the greatest weapon but she was far more skilled with a spear than anyone could really be.
Demi-gods were broken like that as she seemed to have a buff for learning anything combat related. I learned that on the very first day of SAO but as the days built up her skills with a spear became something breath taking.
Seeing that level of growth I could understand how Heracles could take out monsters and myths that would rival gods themselves given enough time. Well if the lore of DXD or Fate was used.
"Here!" I shouted out at Ashley who was still looking over at her gun with a complex look on her face.
She turned around quickly at my voice and saw me throwing a spear over at her. She reacted with lighting fast reflexes and grasped the spear in a smooth motion as she spun it around her with a happy smile on her face.
She then faced the horde before her with a manic grin on her face. She was prepared for violence and she was getting excited at the prospect of blood shed. God, that manic grin really did things to me that were completely unreasonable.
"Thanks, I was not looking forward to shooting the crowd. Guns are cool but there is something far more personal about a bladed weapon." She spoke out with the same manic energy in her smile. I gave her an indulgent smile, I did not expect that reason but it fit her mentality just as well.
Pyrrha seemed to have enough as the horde started to march slowly towards us giggling creepily the entire time. She shot several rounds at the crowd.
I was honestly surprised as I expected Ashley and I to be the ones to make the first move. That surprise faded as none of the monsters fell down from being shot. For a moment I thought she missed her shots but that idea was baffling enough that I scraped it in a moment.
Pyrrha was someone that was so skilled that she was toted as literally invincible. You don't earn that kind of title and miss a shot that easy to take. She could shoot randomly and she was likely to hit something given the size of the crowd.
Then I saw small pits in front of the growing horde and I understood.
"Those were warning shots! State your purpose now or prepare for battle!" Pyrrha shouted out with a cold look on her face. I smiled lightly as that was something that fit my world view better.
Rias looked down at the horde with a similar expression on her face trying to convey unity to the horde of giggling creatures before us. Ashley pouted as she wanted to get right into the action now that she had a good weapon on her.
I was proud of her for a moment. She may want to inflict violence as quickly as possible but she chose to stand by the group's unspoken decision and that brought a smile to my face.
The girl I met all those years ago never would have allowed herself to take that step back. I was glad she was willing to let go her own instincts to prove unity.
Still, while she was currently standing by the unspoken unity she was pouting up a storm. The sight caused a teasing smile to bloom on my face.
She saw my smile and her pout furthered but she did not take any more action as she looked back at the horde with a cold smile emerging. She may be waiting right now but as soon as things became clear she was going to bolt for the horde as quickly as she could.
The horde took in Pyrrha's words but they did not seem that concerned with the threat that her words implied. No, they seemed to giggle and chatter loudly to themselves with excited energy.
Several of the hooded figures had some sort of liquid pouring down their hooded frames pooling at their feet. The liquid did not seem to be doing anything and my Alpha Stigma did not pick up any attack from it so I was curious about what that liquid was.
Seeing that her threat was not imposing any real tension on the horde Pyrrha shot again this time nailing one of the goblins right between its hooded eyes.
The monster fell with a meaty thud but again the horde before us did not seem concerned about that. I was surprised that she took lethal action that quickly but I guess the nature of the situation had her own instricts building up.
"That was your last warning!" Pyrrha shouted out once more clearly preparing herself for battle. She may have totted this as a last warning but she had already decided on her course of action seeing the horde not taking the death of one of their own seriously.
Before anything else could happen the goblin like things swarmed the dead one.
"Meat, meat, meat, meat!" A particular high voice caught my attention as the horde of monsters swarmed on one of their own.
"He's mine! I know his second cousin we are practically family!" Another high pitched voice emerged from the horde.
"I sold him three toes and he still has not paid me back!" I picked up another voice from the horde of incessant chanting of meat and food.
Then the horde started to pull apart the corpse before them. An arm ripped from its socket with green blood spraying from the corpse onto the crowd before it.
The sicking sound of snapping bones and tearing tendons emerged from the corpse as the horde descended upon it. Several fights seemed to break out between the monsters as they each wanted certain parts of the body. Other sneakier goblins grabbed small parts of the flesh and bone and ran from the scene with their spoils.
Objectively I knew that these things were monsters but I still did not expect them to immediately go after one of their own. We were clearly a threat but they ignored us to feast on the corpse that we oh so generously provided.
The way they fought over that one corpse was also rather concerning. I guess that the only positive point I could take away from the sight before me was that these things were fairly weak.
Pyrrha's bullets might be better than the ammunition that Ashley had but it was still not anything to write home about. That meant that these things did not have good defensive properties. That was good to know as any knowledge about the enemy was good.
Pyrrha blanched at the scene before her, she clearly did not expect that kind of reaction from her own actions. Still, that paling faded quickly as she clutched her rifle and took aim once more.
Rias saw that things were deteriorating and she gathered the Power Of Destruction in her hands once more. She did look at where everyone was as she did not want to friendly fire either.
I contemplated gathering my own bombardment of Destruction energy but decided against it. While the Power Of Destruction was powerful it was not needed in this context. The horde of goblin like creatures were not powerful enough to warrant such an attack.
Ashley was looking at the horde with a blood thirsty smile on her face. She was clearly not concerned about the monstrous nature of the creatures before us.
She did not care about their actions all she cared about was that the threat was not taken seriously. Which meant that she was now able to unleash her violence on these poor poor cannibalistic goblins.
They should have taken Pyrrha warnings and feasted on each other instead of bothering us. They were clearly willing to eat each other already they did not need to drag us into their business and now that we were in it there was no escaping their fate.
These Goblins were going to have a really really bad day and they had no one but themselves to blame for that.
" Big bang girl!" A larger goblin shouted out gathering the attention of the horde around it and Pyrrha. She gave the big Goblin a sour look as she did not want that nick name but she understood that the creature was talking to her.
Before she could respond the big goblin pointed at her aggressively.
"Big bang girl is a human, her and her friends are way tastier! We kill them first then we fight over da corpses!" The Goblin shouted out and his sentiment seemed to be accepted quickly by the horde.
They did not really look like they were particularly hard to convince so his simple argument was enough to get them to focus on the real issue.
"He's right! We roast da humans than we fight over corpses!" A shirl voice came out from the crowd increasing the sentiment of the big goblin.
"I want her toes! I can sell them for da highest bidder!" A creepy voice shouted out from the crowd. Pyrrha appeared to hear that one as she looked around the crowd trying to pin point that particular voice.
The look on her face clearly showing that she was going to shoot that one first when things came to head.
"Meat, meat, meat! Looks like meats back on the menu boys!" A familiar voice chanted out which caused the horde to slowly chant out meat as well.
I twitch at the familiar words but I figure it had to be a coincidence. There was no way we arrived in the Lord Of The Rings. The mission description had no connection to anything I could recall about the plots of the books. So those words probably meant nothing as the Goblins before us looked nothing like Uruk-Hai.
"Hehehe, If they charge Big Bang Girl then they die first, more meat for me hehehe." A quiet voice emerged from the crowd.
It was only my enchanted hearing that allowed me to hear that particular comment. I already knew that these creatures were not as unified as they looked but comments like that were not a one off case.
It was clear that these things were only out for themselves and the other members of their race might as well be walking and talking food to them.
The horde started to charge at the tree that Pyrrha was standing on. She clearly expected it as she started to take shots at the Goblins that were trying to get to her.
While she was taking out a good amount of them she was using a rifle so she was not capable of mowing them down. If she was by herself they would soon reach her tree and try to drag her down.
Unfortunately for the creatures, she was not alone. Seeing the change Rias started to rain bolts of Destruction energy onto the horde beneath her. Each dark bolt of energy tore into the creatures below her and leaving empty holes in the monsters that caused them to bleed out if the first hit was not lethal enough.
The sight was something that was horrifying to look at as the Goblin's corpse started to leak blood over the ground quickly and desperately.
It was only moments but the air was already filling with the scent of blood. It filled the air with that sickening metallic scent but there was a hint of something else along with the blood. It was sort of like the scent of cut grass but wrong almost rotten. I suppose not every creature's blood would smell the same.
Ashley took the cue from the sudden shooting to charge into the crowd without a care in the world. Her spear immediately impaled one of their heads before they could even react. She then spun the spear with the Goblin still on the end of it. With another thrust, the creature was sent flying into the crowd with enough force to send a good chunk of those fuckers to tumble to the ground.
She then danced in the crowd with her spear flashing around her slashing, piercing, and throwing corpses around her with manic glee. She was clearly in her element as the green blood rained around her. I was used to seeing her in this state but she usually had a helmet on when she danced on the battlefield.
She was not wearing one now so I was able to see the bright manic smile on her face. Again the sight caused things to bloom in my stomach but now was not the time to think about that.
Even as the three girls tore into the horde it did not diminish them, no in fact the horde of monsters grew as more and more emerged from the ground. I don't know why so many of those fuckers were hiding underground but they popped up like fucking dandelions.
I had no doubts that eventually they would kill all of the Goblins as they were like wheat being harvested. It was just a matter of how long this was going to take. The problem was we were not able to do any big attacks.
Ashley was great and she could have Madara praising her for the amount of skill she was showcasing but while she was mowing them down it would be better if we could wipe out large chunks of them.
She was not using her Sacred Gear as she did not have good control of it so she would have large parts of the battlefield under her gravity. Pyrrha was not killing them all too quickly as she was taking a more cautious approach but it looked like she was gearing up to join Ashley in the horde to slash her way through those fuckers as well.
Rias was raining bolts down on them but if she did large blasts she would be more helpful but she did not want to risk friendly fire. Honestly, if we were by ourselves instead we would have a better shot at taking out the horde quickly but that was not what was happening.
We were too raw as a team. We had never fought together before so we did not know what would be too much for the others to handle. If we did large moves we were likely to have our teammates caught in the cross fire from inexperience.
It was not something I expected but it was a fairly obvious thing to pick up on now that I was observing.
We had to practice together later if we wanted to solve this issue but for now, it was fine. These things were not a big threat to any of us so it would make good practice for now.
Instead of charging into the horde with my sword by my side I started to create my own army. Animated golems emerged from the ground charging without a care of their own safety as they swung and fought with the Goblins. I was going for quantity over quality in this case so the golems were rather bare but they were still equipped with stone equipment.
So they were capable of taking out the goblins without any real issue. Still, they were not completely invincible I was losing a golem for every five kills of goblins. It was acceptable but the slaughter of the creatures seemed to spur more and more of them to crawl out of the ground.
It was honestly getting rather concerning as even with an army and some rather powerful attacks these things appeared to be endless. The scent of that rotten cut grass became more and more prevalent and it was causing my nose to itch.
As the scent increased something was bugging me but I could not quite put it to words. I looked around but I could not figure out what was bugging me. There was no magic being cast as far as I was aware. These fuckers just seemed to endlessly come out of the ground.
Ashley was still happily slaughtering the creatures. The blood coating her did not seem to bother her too much but I could see her nose twitching as well. She may like the carnage but the smell was getting to her as well.
Rias was still throwing bolt after bolt but there was sweat building on her brow. She was powerful there was no doubt about that but she did not have the endless reserves that her Brother had. So she was not capable of pouring out endless attacks on the crowd before her.
Pyrrha had abandoned snipping as was in the midsts of the horde mowing down as many as she could get her hands on. She did not have the same graceful dance that Ashley had when she was dealing death.
No, Pyrrha really showed off her polished skills as every thrust, slash, and stab was put out with almost mechanical precision.
While Ashley was a wild fire blooming in front of you Pyrrha was a surgical swipe at the diseased ridden flesh. It was beautiful in a completely different way. I was really going to have to check my priorities about what I found attractive. If I could find beauty in the violence before me there was clearly something wrong with me.
So I looked away from the two of them with a frown on my face. Like I said even if we were killing these fuckers quickly they still came out like they were endless.
That one look away from the dance of violence before me was enough to tell me what was going on. The bodies lying on the floor seemed to dissolve into the ground. The green neon blood soaked into the ground and hissing as another of the fuckers sprouted out of the ground.
They were not crawling out of the ground they were born out of it. They were like weeds infecting the ground near them and with their death they released spores that produced more of them.
Seeing the process with my own eyes I was able to finally understand why there was so many of them.
They were like the Orcs from Warhammer but lamer. They were far weaker and eventually the energy in their bodies would fade and they would stop reproducing.
The barren forest around us had already been nearly consumed by the fuckers before me.
The ground did not have enough nutrition to sustain them.
That was why they were so desperate for meat. They needed more energy and if they consumed us they would gain enough energy to spread away from the place they were currently stuck at.
While this was good news to learn the surrounding had enough energy to have them sprouting for months on end at the rate we were going. So it was not that helpful with our current tactics.
"Stop! When you kill these guys they just dissolve and reproduce more of them! You have to use fire or completely eliminate them from existence instead of tearing them limb from limb!" I shouted out as I switched my army from attack to containing the fuckers before me.
Rias looked over at me as my voice echoed out. She then took a look at the battlefield and saw what I saw so she started to completely erase them instead of just taking chunks out of them.
Pyrrha also heard what I said and had a frown on her face but she took out a different canister of bullets from her inventory and hopped back into a tree. She started to shoot out again and I could see what she was doing. The bullet hit the Goblins and they seemed to catch on fire as soon as the bullet made contact.
I guess she was using fire dust ammunition now.
Finally, Ashley looked around her with a pout on her face. She quickly realized what I saw and she was not happy that her fun got cut short. She then brought out a flame thrower from her inventory with a less enthusiastic smile on her face. She may want to tear them limb from limb but she was also fine with burning her foes alive as well.
My golems took a rather good chunk of my mana but I was still able to cast Fiendfyre. Tom was a sick fool but he taught me quite a lot in our little bout and I was able to control the flame far better than he ever would be capable off.
Flames crackled and the air was filled with the scent of burning grass but I could already see the difference. Within moments the near endless horde before us was getting smaller and smaller. The creatures seemed to realize that we saw through their trick as they started to scramble to escape but my Golems were able to contain them.
As the surroundings filled with the sound of monsters begging for their lives as they were burned alive, I paused for a moment. I knew this was the best way to take care of them but it felt odd to be satisfied with burning my foes alive.
-----
An apology for not posting for a while. I had a good back log anyways.
The Goblins are mainly oc monsters. They got nothing to do with the world they are in.
The world had monsters that looked like what I was talking about but the abilities is on me.
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