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Chapter 102

It was a goblin shining in golden brilliance.

The size is the same as a normal goblin, and unlike the Goblin Emperor, it has not become gigantic.
This is probably the same logic as the Oni god, which is the final evolution of the Oni.

Enlargement is to negate weakness and show off power.
If that’s the case, it makes sense that if someone is strong enough, they will settle for what is natural.

「This is bad…」

「What do we do? You’re the leader, Orsted!?」

「…There’s no way out. We can’t escape.」

The typically silent Prakash spoke up?
We all, including myself, widened our eyes, sensing just how cornered the three of them must feel.

The Ultimate Goblin then surveyed its surroundings before sitting down on a rock.

Then, it snapped its fingers.
After a brief moment, the remaining eleven goblin emperors appeared, surrounding us.

「This is seriously bad…」

「So, what’s the plan, Orsted!?」

Orsted shrugged his shoulders as if he had given up.

「Dealing with just the goblin emperors will be quite challenging.」

「We know that! We’re asking for specific countermeasures… or rather, escape instructions!」

「Hey, Hikomaro?」

Orsted glanced at the Ultimate Goblin.

「Do you think you can escape from that after what happened?」

「…」

Abeno remained silent for a while, and Orsted patted his shoulder.

「That’s the answer. We’ll focus on the goblin emperors.」

「Huh?」

「…We’ll do our best to wipe them out. That way, the rest will have an easier time. Let’s do what we can and go down fighting.」

「…You mean a last stand?」

Prakash closed his eyelids, then opened them, simultaneously clenching his fists.
Aside from Abeno, they’re all pretty straightforward guys… not bad.

And then, once again, the Ultimate Goblin snapped its fingers.
Then, golden light radiated from the Ultimate Goblin’s body, being absorbed by the eleven Goblin Emperors.

「All the goblins… turned golden?」

「Most likely, it’s a strengthening skill from the commander.」

In a way, it could be called a golden blessing.
Then, the Ultimate Goblin pointed to four of the enhanced Goblin Emperors and then pointed at us.

The four Goblin Emperors advanced toward us.

「Are they implying we should have one-on-one duels with each?」

「Obviously, that’s what they mean.」

At that moment, the Goblin Emperors leaped.
Each of them charged straight towards their respective heroes.

「Fast!」

As Orsted said, their speed was significantly different from before.
Orsted managed to block the claw strike with his spear.

But Prakash took the claw strike to his shoulder, dragged down to the ground, and pinned underneath the goblin.

Ground fighting should have been Prakash’s domain as the strongest in hand-to-hand combat… but it wasn’t working.
The difference in strength couldn’t be compensated for with technique alone.

Orsted… was nearly evenly matched.
He needed to assist Prakash as soon as possible to avoid casualties.

And then…

「Well then, everyone… farewell.」

Abeno’s body dissolved into the air, turning into countless papers—origami cranes—flying up into the sky.
It seemed to be his unique escape method, a spell that even we didn’t know.

But seriously… he escaped in this situation?

I knew he was unreliable, but seriously, what was he thinking?
There are suspicions that he’s been meddling with Koharu-chan’s family, but undoubtedly, this was something he orchestrated.

Now, of course, the Goblin Emperors were leaping towards me…

「Senki Release.」

Like Lute, I could also handle Senjutsu.
In his case, he used countless inefficient body strengthening methods from various times and places during battle to dramatically increase his stats.

With his absurd number of tens or hundreds of thousands of MP and the conversion of atmospheric mana into MP through Senjutsu, his unreasonableness was justified.

Originally, Senjutsu is a bit of a religious concept, ultimately aiming to assimilate the soul into the atmosphere and self-deify, which is somewhat difficult to grasp.
In that sense, Lute’s technique of manipulating the flow of atmospheric mana is a very legitimate application of Senjutsu in combat.

In my case, it’s basically the same.

However, because my base MP is only about as much as an ordinary swordsman, the same technique as Lute’s is not very effective for me.
Well, there’s the advantage that I don’t have to worry about depletion as much, except for Berserker Mode-level MP consumption.

So, well… Like my master, I chose to use Senjutsu in a brute force manner.
Instead of internalizing it, I utilize it externally on my body as armor and weaponry.

In essence, I envelop my limbs and sword with refined Senki.
This results in a significant increase in attack and defense power.

I’ve also done various things like enhancing reflexes, improving motor skills, and increasing magical resistance, but basically, it’s like the ultimate brute-force spec.

So, when I swing my sword with this…

「Gyah!」

I cleave through the enhanced Goblin Emperor, then leap to where Prakash is.
I decapitate the Goblin Emperor who’s in a mounted position.

Then, another Goblin Emperor, who was supposed to fight Abeno, attacks me from behind.

It’s easy to dodge, but since I haven’t had much practical experience, I gather Senki into my armor as practice…

*Kiiiiinnnnn!*

A deafening sound rings out, but the armor remains unscathed.

Good…
The defense is perfect.

I can do it just like in practice.

「There, the third one.」

As Orsted pierces through the chest of the Goblin Emperor, it seems he has managed to defeat the Goblin Emperor he was facing alone.

「Cor…delia? You…?」

「I’m going to say something a little rude now… please don’t get mad, Orsted?」

「What…?」

「…Because You’re just getting in the way… Go watch from behind.」