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It sat like a king on of a great throne. The arrogance shown in its posture suggested it was something above a High Goblin.

This one wasn’t black. It had red skin.

“A High Red Goblin…”

What we had initially assumed the Queen’s Knight Goblin was. He had also been dark red, but had evolved differently. As for this goblin in front of us, it was a unique being.

“So, I guess this one would have been the leader if the other wasn’t around.”

“Well then, crushing this one might solve our problem.”

What we had been fearing, was now that the Queen’s Knight Goblins was gone, the goblins were living without any leader at all. They would be very unpredictable then. They would be more desperate to survive.

The situation would be a little different if there were a leader. If this was a somewhat unified colony, then the loss of the head would create confusion. I still wasn’t sure how intelligent these monsters were, but it would surely make things easier for us.

“Alright, Daniela and I will support. Asagi, you get him.”

“Got it.”

The fight on the top floor began. With the demon armor sword in hand, I used Legs of the God Wolf to leap over the crowd of High Goblins and closed in on the High Red Goblin all at once.

“Haah!!”

There was no point in a drawn-out fight. I swung down in order to cut off his head and end the fight quickly. However, he dodged the attack with a speed that I had not predicted.

“Ghaghagahagahh!”

The High Red Goblin’s face twisted as it laughed. Was this the first time a monster had laughed at me? It was rare to see such expressiveness. …Maybe it’s because it was unique.

I used Legs of the God Wolf to swerve around him and swung at his back. However, this time his claws intercepted my attack. Damn it. How strong were they?

Just swinging my sword around wasn’t going to cut it. I had to take it by surprise, somehow. Perhaps this guy had been the leader before the Queen’s Knight Goblin showed up. It had a strength that suggested it.

“Grraagghh!!”

“Tsk…!”

I tried to jump back after my attack was blocked, but he launched a counter-attack before I could. I hadn’t struggled like this in a while. I managed to block them but could not find an opening to attack.

“You’re…persistent…!”

“Ggg…!?”

Dark blue energy coursed through the floor, and the ice magic, ‘Icicle Inverse’ caught him by surprise. The spears of ice shot out of the ground and pierced his feet. I see. While his claws were incredibly tough, his skin could be broken. I couldn’t help but grin.

“Grrrr…!”

Perhaps it saw my change of expression. The High Red Goblin ground its teeth with rage. I provoked it without trying to. That wasn’t like me.

However, I was also terribly angry after having so many attacks blocked by his claws. I was likely to die of stress if I didn’t lash out here.

“Now, let’s get things started!”

“Grrraaaghh!!”

I activated Jack of all Trades, Master of None, and ran the images through my brain, quickly rehearsing what I was about to do. Hmm. Hmm. Alright. It was certainly doable. Yes, I would do it.

“Frost Sword x 3!”

Three of the familiar ice swords appeared around me. They floated in the air and followed my movements. The High Red Goblin seemed wary of these swords that I didn’t need to touch. However, that wasn’t going to help him. I would not allow him to block my next attack.

“Eat this!”

The demon armor sword clanged against his claws, at the same time, the first floating ice sword attacked.

“Grraagh!?”

The blade slid beautifully into his ribs. Vibrant blood sprayed into the air and fell to the floor.

This was the way to kill this goblin. When fighting a veteran, I had no choice but to use surprise attacks.

“Haaahhh!!”

The High Red Goblin slowed down noticeably. And so I moved to his back again and swung down. My blade aimed for his neck. However, the goblin was desperate. And it tried with all its might to move out of the way. But the second ice sword wouldn’t let it.

“Grraagh!”

The goblin moved as if to roll forward, but one of its legs got pinned to the ground by the icy blade. Now, it’s movements were completely sealed. It then tried to use its arms to raise itself, but it could do nothing else.

“You’re finished…!”

I grabbed the last ice sword and pointed it at the High Red Goblin’s throat. It must have given up because it no longer struggled. It had once been so desperate to survive. We all were. And that’s why we fought and it had come to this.

And so, with the two swords in my hands, I severed the High Red Goblin’s head.

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