I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 99: Ultimate Magic Missile!

「Yaaaah！」

The Redcap Goblin drew its dagger and hacked directly at the neck of a clansman who had turned to flee.

Its blood-red eyes glared at the remaining clansmen who still looked at it.

They must not retreat! They must fight!

Unlike ordinary Goblins, the Redcap Goblin, upon witnessing that bloody scene, instead suppressed the unease in its heart.

The battle will within its bloodline was awakening, and its craving for human blood overcame its fear of death.

After it killed two cowardly clansmen, the collapsing tribe was temporarily stabilized.

The combat memories in its brain told it that as long as it could approach this spellcasting human, victory was not far off.

Perhaps, after bathing in the blood of this powerful human, it could even ascend to a stronger power level!

The desire ignited in its heart drove the Redcap Goblin to exert extreme pressure on its kin!

The Goblins, inspired by this, regrouped and launched their third charge.

「Goblin slain *4」

「Total Monster Kill Count: 210」

After three charges, and at the cost of 10 Goblins, another Goblin finally reached Gauss.

At this point, the number of adult Goblins from this village that had died at Gauss’s hands unknowingly reached 25.

Almost half their battle strength lost.

Facing the Goblin that had approached him—

Gauss didn’t even bother to draw his rapier.

He simply seized the moment and used the Unbreaking Staff, just discharged of magic, to smash at the enemy in front of him.

With 7 points in Strength, the rapier felt a bit light, but the metal scepter was just right.

Plus, the 20% attack power bonus from the 【Goblin Slayer】 Nemesis effect.

And the sturdy nature of the Unbreaking Staff.

All forces stacked together unleashed even greater might!

「Thud！」

The moment the tip of the staff struck the Goblin’s crown, time seemed to freeze for an instant.

「Bang!!!」

A wonderfully crisp sound echoed throughout the village.

The skull fractured at the point of impact, then split open like a watermelon exploding!

Its ugly head was shattered and exploded by the immense force, brain matter splattered outward!

Only a headless corpse remained, spasming as it collapsed to its knees,

Meanwhile, the spears of two or three other Goblins jabbed at Gauss but couldn’t go any further.

Their wooden spears couldn’t pierce Gauss’s sturdy armor.

The brutally savage scene that unfolded caused the surrounding Goblins to tremble with fear.

「Bang！」

「Bang！」

「Bang！」

But Gauss didn’t stop moving, striking while the momentum lasted.

The long staff in his hands slammed down on the little Goblin heads like a heavy hammer.

Each strike easily shattered their skulls.

「Goblin slain *4」

「Total Monster Kill Count: 214」

“Useful, really useful.”

Gauss discovered that after his strength had increased, the Unbreaking Staff felt much more natural to wield.

At a distance, it could cast Magic Missile.

Once the enemy got too close for spellcasting, it could seamlessly double as a melee weapon.

The only downside was that it wasn’t very elegant. Anyone who saw his current combat posture would think him a berserker. Who would imagine he was actually a mage?

Still, any weapon that could kill was a good weapon. As for how it was used—that didn’t matter much.

Gauss cleared out the nearby Goblins in an extremely short time,

Not far away, a red figure no longer bothered to hide itself.

It drew its dagger and stomped down fiercely on the ground, and with powerful hind leg strength, its not-so-tall body leapt high into the air.

Its physique was deceptively compact—only 1.3 meters tall—but harbored strength greater than that of a human brute.

The airborne Redcap, brimming with impact force, leapt in a slash from several meters away.

Gauss had actually noticed it long ago.

It had merely hidden cautiously behind its kin earlier. Now it finally crept close enough to launch its final assault?

But little did it know—this was exactly what Gauss had been waiting for.

He lowered his wrist, aiming the tip of the Unbreaking Staff at the airborne Redcap Goblin.

「Magic Missile！」

The moment magical energy gathered at the staff’s tip,

Gauss’s face broke into a smile.

A peculiar sensation of rapidly swelling magic suddenly emerged.

His luck wasn’t bad.

Of course, part of it was intentional.

He had stacked so many attacks before without triggering the 【Goblin Slayer】 title’s critical effect, and now it finally activated.

Since the target was a leader, the Magic Missile Gauss released was at full power, not diluted in the slightest.

Its already stronger-than-average fluctuations quickly magnified under the critical effect.

A 20% power boost, a Tier 1 Spell cast by a special-class Spellcaster, with Spell Mastery, critical effect, sub-core skill...

This strike—

Could be called the ultimate strike, fully buffed!

「Boom！」

The moment the large missile launched, the air itself seemed to be completely torn apart!

Wave after wave of shockwaves spread out along the missile's trajectory.

「Doom!!!」

The Redcap Goblin, with no place to dodge in midair, was struck squarely by the heavy large missile. In that instant, it was as if it had been smashed by a high-speed war hammer weighing hundreds of jin.

Before it could even be blasted away by the force, it exploded!

Quite literally, its skin split and burst on the spot.

Blood, internal organs, shattered bones, brain matter, eyeballs, muscle tissue, and even its most prized red pointed cap were all blown into fragments, raining down like a downpour!

「Goblin slain *1」

「Total Monster Kill Count: 215」

Instant kill!

Gauss looked at the result of his strike and nodded.

He was very satisfied with the power of what could now be called his ultimate strike.

Though it was a bit like using a cannon to kill a mosquito, its power was clearly visible.

It was indeed strong. Even that Mantis Hunter back then probably wouldn’t have survived this blow.

However, upon closer thought, he realized that was wishful thinking—Mantis Hunter didn’t benefit from the 【Goblin Slayer】 title’s bonus, so the power wouldn’t have been this exaggerated.

Of course, with his current strength, he probably could still kill it—he’d just need one or two more Magic Missiles.

Clearing his mind—

Gauss turned his gaze to the remaining Goblins.

Having lost their leader, the Redcap, they seemed completely stunned.

Bathed in a rain of blood, their steps grew even heavier.

Seeing the Goblin tribe’s morale plummet, Gauss knew he had to speed things up.

Without their leader, the Goblins would quickly scatter.

More than twenty Goblins remained. If they fled in different directions, it would be troublesome.

Planting the Unbreaking Staff into the ground, he drew his rapier.

When it came to speed, it had the advantage.

With one large stride, he reached several Goblins.

Under the effect of Lv2 【Swordsmanship Basics】, the rapier in his hand moved with unmatched finesse.

To kill ordinary Goblins didn’t require elaborate sword techniques. The most basic sword forms sufficed.

What mattered most was speed, precision, and ruthlessness.

Flicking his wrist several times, the rapier in his hand left behind multiple afterimages in the air!

「Swish！」

「Slash！」

Gauss’s footwork was swift.

Following his movements were the slender strikes of the rapier, precisely hitting Goblin vitals.

Each movement brought a silver gleam that trailed his body like a shadow.

It was almost like a dance.

Occasionally, a Goblin would resist, only to watch in despair as their weapons were mysteriously blocked. Then, as the sharp sword light flashed, darkness consumed their vision forever.

Without a leader, the Goblins were no more than a disorderly mob to Gauss.

「Goblin slain *1」

「Goblin slain *1」

「Goblin slain *1」

Amidst the splatter of murky blood, kill notifications kept flashing before Gauss’s eyes.

In just a few minutes, he had eliminated the remaining combat-capable Goblins.

Then he looked down at the reddish-brown footprints on the ground leading toward the short wall.

Gauss narrowed his eyes.

He leapt onto the short wall.

Sure enough, in the distance, he saw several Goblins fleeing toward the forest.

Among them were Goblin Infants who had not appeared until now from the village.

These small creatures, only several dozen centimeters tall, moved with surprising speed.

Gauss jumped off the short wall, sensing the surplus of stamina and magical energy still within him.

Activating the skill 【Enhanced Jump】, he sped up and gave chase.

He was already faster than Goblins; with the skill’s bonus, his speed surged even more.

It didn’t take long before he caught up with the fleeing Goblins.

「Swish！」

The rapier struck a Goblin from behind.

Then the second, the third!

Even if it weren’t a mission requirement, he would still exterminate every last Goblin.

In the end, all the adult Goblins died by his hand.

Before him stood seven or eight Goblin Infants of varying sizes.

At this stage, the Goblin Infants had already developed rudimentary intelligence.

Their eyes glared at Gauss, filled with hatred.

Especially the one in front—tallest among them, already approaching 80 centimeters. Beneath its lowered head, its eyes brimmed with hatred so intense it seemed almost tangible.

Perhaps, in its eyes, Gauss—who had shattered their peaceful daily life and slaughtered their blood kin—was no different from a demonic fiend.

Gauss met its gaze.

Under his stare, it slowly knelt down and repeatedly kowtowed before him.

“Looks like you’re smarter than the others,” Gauss said sternly.

This was the first time a Goblin had knelt and begged for mercy before him.

Such humanlike behavior might have been learned from captured humans in their tribe—but it also showed that it possessed intelligence above that of most Goblins.

Had Gauss never arrived, perhaps in a few years, with its stronger physique and higher intellect, it might have reached the elite stage and brought disaster to the region.

“Unfortunately,”

Gauss casually swung his sword.

Precisely and swiftly beheading the small head bowing before him.

Its intelligence was still lacking; it couldn’t hide the emotions in its eyes.

Of course, even if it hadn’t shown such deep hatred, Gauss would not have spared it.

The remaining Goblin Infants, amid a series of sharp cries, met the same end.

Staring at a ground strewn with palm-sized little heads,

Gauss’s expression grew solemn.

That solemnity didn’t stem from exterminating Goblin Infants.

Rather, it was the sudden realization that perhaps the enmity between monsters and humans was rooted and deepened in such bloody encounters. Had he let these Goblin Infants go, perhaps years later, one of them would have become a Goblin Elite filled with hatred for humanity—seizing any chance to do as today, and massacre a human village.