Chapter 12 Goblin Commander
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I shot out from the shadows, legs pumping full speed. My Movement stat was three—thirty meters in a burst. The Goblin Commander stood thirty-five away. Just out of reach.
His head jerked toward me. A guttural howl tore from his throat, echoing down the stone. Intimidation. That was all. Not Demon Lord’s Word. Not Dragon’s Roar. Just noise. No way something like that was making me flinch.
A ripple of her Mana lashed out behind me—Charm shimmered across the Commander’s body as I lunged the last step and flicked Appraisal.
**Humanoid-type: Goblin Commander**
HP 80/80
Mana 15/15
Stamina 30/30
Physical Attack 30+15
Physical Defense 20
Magic Attack 3
Magic Defense 5
Speed 15
Movement 5
Status: none
Special: Command I / Regeneration I
Equipment: Commander’s Sword / Collar of Regeneration
…Damn it. Charm didn’t stick. Of course it didn’t. Regeneration I too—if we gave him even a minute, he’d claw back eight HP. We couldn’t afford to let him recover.
I dropped subtlety. Heavy Strike—go.
He’d shifted from that howling stance into a solid guard, sword angled across his body. Defensive Action. Doubling his defense just like in the old game system. Clever bastard.
Too bad it wouldn’t save him.
My Warhammer came down like I meant to split the dungeon floor itself. His blade caught it. Metal shrieked. The impact blasted down the shaft, cracking the sword straight down the middle as the hammer’s weight plowed through. Bone shattered in his left arm, flesh tearing, and the swing carried on to wreck his leg.
A hundred attack slamming into forty doubled defense—sixty damage, clean. He had maybe twenty HP left. One more hit would—
*CRACK!* Gunfire.
Her shots. While I was still locked in post-swing lag, some of the other Goblins had lunged, and she dropped them mid-air. Their bodies slapped the stone like dead meat.
She hadn’t used Charm again. That meant something. I trusted her instinct and threw myself sideways—
—just as fire erupted where I’d stood.
”—Goblin Wizard!!” I snarled.
Shit. A caster. Those were always the worst. Not because of the raw damage—they were glass cannons—but because of the damn burn status they inflicted. If that landed on her, she’d crumple. We hadn’t brought salve this run.
The Commander had bolted into the shadows already, claws scraping. Coward. Fine. He could wait. The Wizard dies first.
He stood about fifty meters out, clutching a crooked stick like it was a staff. Scraps of filthy cloth hung from him like fake robes. Real mages obsessed over gear, polishing every rune until it gleamed. This clown looked like cosplay.
Fifty meters—two full-breath sprints. He’d get at least one spell off. My stomach twisted, but I shoved the dread down and forced a shallow breath. Eyes forward. Legs tense. Go.
He raised his staff. Not fire—Stone Shot.
Three pebbles zipped out, five centimeters each. Weak power, low skill. Manageable.
I didn’t slow. Evasive Action. Just brushed each stone aside with my fingertips, deflecting them midair. The “Arrow-Dodging Technique” my old man drilled into me—if you could see them and your body kept up, you could swat them.
The Wizard’s jaw dropped. I bared my teeth in a grin.
Thirty meters gone. Then twenty. He still hadn’t queued his next spell.
A heavy pressure loomed behind me—probably the Warrior. Too slow.
Three sharp cracks split the air. Her gunfire. A howl strangled off behind me. Don’t underestimate my backline.
Two meters. Appraisal.
**Humanoid-type: Goblin Wizard**
HP 40/40
Mana 30/50
Stamina 10/10
Physical Attack 8
Physical Defense 9+1
Magic Attack 15+5
Magic Defense 10
Speed 8
Movement 2
Status: none
Special: Barrier
Equipment: Crude Wooden Staff / Tattered Cloth
Weak body. One clean hit and he’d go down.
Then the cry of the other Goblins echoed through the chamber—and murderous glee lit his eyes.
Explosion.
He dumped his remaining Mana in a flash. White-hot flame blossomed around him.
The blast hit me point-blank. Heat crushed against my skin like a wall. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
Her scream ripped the air behind me. Goblins howled in glee.
The Wizard turned toward her, licking his lips.
He actually thought I was dead.
Idiot.
I ignored the screaming pain of scorched flesh and brought the Warhammer down. The steel head glowed red as it crushed through his skull like a wrecking ball. Bone crumpled. His body folded and slumped, smoke curling from the corpse.
I turned, twitching from the adrenaline, to the Warrior. He froze, one step back.
Explosion had stung, but not enough—Magic Defense 40 had halved the damage. Barely ten percent of my HP gone. My cloth gear hadn’t even scorched. My skin was just red, like a bad sunburn.
Perfect. Time to patch up.
I thrust a hand and cast Energy Drain. Mana and vitality flooded in as the Warrior’s body shuddered. The ache faded.
A sharp crack from Lonisera blew his head apart before he could recover. His body hit the floor at her feet.
Silence.
The chamber was littered with desiccated husks. She must’ve been draining them mid-fight. Smart.
And there—the Commander. Eighty meters out. Running.
Three breaths. I could do it.
First breath. Thirty meters blurred away. Up ahead, he barked like he still had allies. He didn’t.
Second breath. Another thirty. He was fast—but then he froze, just for a heartbeat.
Her Mana shimmered across the air. Charm. Finally stuck.
Third breath. I closed the gap.
He stood there, wide-eyed.
Perfect.
No skill. Just raw momentum.
Eighty meters of sprint slammed through my Warhammer.
The impact drove his skull into the stone like a nail. Bone shards flew. Brain matter splattered. Copper stench hit the air. His body twitched, then went limp.
”Phew… Goblin Commander and his merry band, officially wiped.”
Smoke curled off me as I exhaled. Like some gag manga scene.
”Hey—are you okay!? Are you hurt anywhere!?”
She practically threw herself at me, hands gripping my arms, eyes darting over every patch of red skin, every singed hair tip, going paler by the second.
”It’s fine. Just got a little roasted. A healing potion’ll fix it.”
”That’s not the point! That Explosion scared me out of my mind!!”
Kind of like a tiny animal yapping because it’s worried.
Showing her my body might calm her down, but stripping in the middle of a dungeon wasn’t exactly an option.
Besides, today was about getting her past the twentieth floor. No stopping just because I smelled like barbeque.
”Anyway, the worst trouble’s over. Let’s keep going.”
”Seriously?”
”I’m still higher level than you. Not that fragile.”
Before she could push to abort the run, I cut her off with math and facts.
She deflated, but at least stopped shaking.
”…Fine. I’ll stop freaking out for now.”
”That’s better. Now, sweep the room. If you see any chests, don’t touch them till I Appraisal them.”
”Fiiine…”
She trudged off, sulky—then paused.
”Wait. First, Mana Stones and the rest of the loot.”
”Oh—right!!”
She scampered back to help.
The Commander’s Collar of Regeneration alone would sell high, and the Wizard’s and Warrior’s drops could probably make a Goblin Killer weapon. Not enough to upgrade gear, but still a huge haul.
”No drops left behind. All right—now we can move on!”
Her voice was bright again. Maybe forced.
I couldn’t help wondering what I actually was to her. Her landlord? A convenient food source? …Someone she liked, maybe.
”In the middle of a dungeon, seriously? Like I’ve got the time for that.”
I muttered it and followed her out.
We still had ten-plus floors. She was only mid-teens in level, and these lower layers favored raw physical combat. Her whole build leaned on speed and evasion, which only paid off later.
I’d pushed her armor to the absolute limit to make up for it, but doubt still lingered.
Lonisera and all her gear were my original work. No guides. Just guesswork and hope they’d hold.
I buried the worry and kept going.
A few stray Goblins popped up; she shredded them, draining their life to top off as she went.
”A treasure chest.”
”A treasure chest.”
Right there, obnoxiously shiny. Rare type. High chance of Orichalcum-tier gear. Also high chance of trap. Last time, it had been a Monster House. We’d promised to skip them.
We’d promised. But—
”Oh no you don’t, you idiot.”
She was already drifting toward it like it had cast Charm on her. I caught her shoulder.
”It’s fine! There’s not always a lock or trap!”
”Appraisal says ‘trap chest.’ We’re skipping it.”
”If it’s a Monster House, I could get tons of EXP!”
”Not perfect. If it’s a one-shot trap, you die.”
”It’s fine! I’m lucky!!”
”Your Luck stat is higher than mine but that’s not how this works!!”
She strained forward. I braced. My physical attack could hold her, but if she used her speed—
”Let go! I want to get stronger!!”
”Then kill the boss! Way safer, way more EXP. Two bosses—this floor and the twentieth—and you’ll level up!”
”Nooo!!”
I dragged her bodily back. The chest sat there, almost… sulky.
I silently told it not to Mimic us out of spite—we’d come back with Trap Disarm—and pushed her along.
”Uuugh… EXP…”
”Still with that…”
We headed off, me half-shoving her forward.
”I’m so close to leveling…”
”The boss has minions. Take their EXP. If it’s a Monster House and it summons something, what then?”
One wrong touch and the thing might spit out monsters twenty levels above this floor. We’d nearly died to the Commander. The last thing I needed was a Goblin Paladin or General showing up.
”Really no?”
”Not unless we’re both level thirty. Anything less and without anti-Goblin gear, we’d get deleted.”
Monsters spiked hard after level ten—Sublimation. Class change, in the old game. Their stats shot through the roof, their patterns shifted, and tanks just got erased.
Everyone eventually switched to dodge-tanks. I’d watched it happen a hundred times.
”And here’s the boss door.”
Five meters tall, three wide, dark stone. Pressure leaked from the seams.
”Status?”
”HP and Mana full. Stamina a bit down, but fine!”
”Good enough.”
”What about you?”
”Down two Heavy Strikes. No big deal.”
”That skill is your lifeline! Ugh… just—ugh. Okay. Crouch.”
”…What? Why?”
”Just do it!”
Her tone brooked no argument.
I knelt—and froze when her hands cupped my face and her lips pressed to mine.
My eyes went wide. Hers were shut tight, face blazing red.
Warmth surged through me, curling deep, filling me with raw strength. After ten seconds, I pulled back.
Still dazed, I flicked open my status. My Stamina was full again.
”One of my Sex Sorcery skills—Vitality Transfer—unlocked just now. This should make things a bit easier for you, right?”
”Uh… what? Never heard of that.”
There’d been nothing like that in *Beyond the Deep Darkness*. Sure, flavor text mentioned transferring Mana, but never mid-fight recovery. This world really did love breaking its own rules.
”…Wait, what about you? Doesn’t it drain you?”
”I just convert Mana into vitality. Give it a bit and I recover.”
”That’s… ridiculously convenient.”
”Ah, but doing it in the middle of combat is impossible, okay?”
”No one’s asking you to go that far.”
Yeah—trying that mid-fight would get her killed five different ways.
A random thought flashed through me: if she ever went out of control, she’d probably turn into a perpetual motion engine.
Terrifying.
”Well then, now that we’re relaxed—”
”Let’s go.”
Together, we pushed the heavy doors open.
A wide circular chamber waited beyond. And at the far end, flanked by a Goblin Warrior and a Goblin Wizard, stood a single Goblin clad in light armor, sword in hand.
The floor 10 boss—Goblin Lord—was there.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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