NOVEL NEXT Chapter 35 - Episode 35: Gobtaro, I Won't Forget You
Episode 35: Gobtaro, I Won’t Forget You
This is a story from just before Zaus arrived.
Gobtaro, the goblin, sensed an immense power approaching.
“W-what’s this feeling!? Unbelievable power is closing in!”
The presence was coming from the sky.
“Harpy Squad! Let’s go check it out!”
The harpies, led by Harpie-chan, took to the sky.
However, within minutes, all the harpies were shot down.
“What’s going on!?”
And then, with a loud crash!
Before them appeared a rock giant over 30 meters tall.
“What’s that!?”
The giant’s head was like a cockpit of a robot, and the face of the hero, Cea, could be seen from its eyes.
He controlled the golem with a crystal the size of a watermelon.
“Ha-ha-ha! The extermination of pests begins!”
“That’s Hero Gob!!”
“Huh? Aren’t you the goblin from back then?”
Previously, the hero Cea had been beaten up by Gobtaro.
“This time, it won’t be like last time. I have this Ultimate Ultimate Rock Giant Golem!”
“Everyone, attack together! We must protect this square no matter what!”
The monsters launched a coordinated attack.
Goblin clubs, orc hammers, lizardman spears.
Each one attacked the rock giant golem simultaneously.
However, the monsters’ attacks had no effect at all.
“Not a single scratch! Oido’s hammer attacks don’t work!”
“My spear attacks are also deflected! What tough armor!”
“Ha-ha-ha! You weaklings! Do you think attacks can reach this Ultimate Ultimate Rock Giant Golem?! Your levels are less than 300, while this golem’s level is 999!”
In this story, level 999 is the maximum level.
In other words, this rock giant golem is the strongest being.
The monsters were sent flying by the golem’s attacks.
“If we pass through this square, the golem will reach the Demon Duke’s castle. Then there will be even more casualties. I’ll stop it here!”
“Gobtaro… you…”
“I love everyone. Zaus-sama, everyone in the castle, and humans too. I feel this way because Zaus-sama rules the Demon Duke’s territory. I want to repay Zaus-sama for that kindness.”
“Ugh…”
Rizamaru shed tears.
“Now, go, Gob. Inform Zaus-sama of this danger and then flee far away, out of reach of this rock giant golem’s hands.”
“Got it, Riz! Gobtaro won’t die!”
And so, Rizamaru headed towards the Demon Duke’s castle with his battered body.
The remaining Gobtaro launched a full-scale attack on the rock giant golem.
“This, this, this is it!! Gob!!”
However, such attacks were futile.
Gobtaro was on the brink of death from a headbutt by the rock giant golem.
“I-I’ll buy time! Time for Zaus-sama to escape!”
He attempted to heal himself with potions.
And then, he resorted to a strategy of insults while retreating.
“Hey! Useless hero! Come at me, Gob!”
He taunted the hero from behind the cover of trees.
“Hmph! Trash goblin! Skulking around!”
That was Gobtaro’s plan, but he couldn’t leave the square, so he was quickly caught.
“Hyaa-ha-ha! Now, what should I do with you?”
Cea held a grudge against Gobtaro.
So, he didn’t kill him immediately.
“Now then, I’ll take my time torturing you. Let’s start with your right arm.”
Saying that, the golem’s large fingers grabbed Gobtaro’s arm and snapped it.
“Aaahhh!!”
“Kukuku! Feels good, doesn’t it? My pain was nothing compared to this. Next, let’s go for your legs.”
“Ugyaaa!!”
Cea destroyed Gobtaro’s limbs.
Inside the room where the golem was controlled, there was also Hero’s childhood friend, the priestess Mishiri.
“Hey, Cea. Even though they’re monsters, let’s just finish them off. This is too cruel.”
“Hmph. You keep quiet. It was me who almost got killed by this guy. You don’t know the fear from back then, do you?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“It won’t clear my mind to kill him in an instant. I have to return his pain a hundredfold.”
Gobtaro had multiple compound fractures. Blood flowed from his mouth.
“B-but… Isn’t it enough already?”
“Tch! Well, you’re right. I guess it’s time to finish him off.”
The golem dropped Gobtaro to the ground.
“Now then. I’ll crush you with a flick. Like a bug. It’s a fitting death for a small fry monster.”
The golem’s large foot crushed Gobtaro.
“N-noo!! Squish!! Squishh… Squish…”
Through the crystal controlling the golem, the hero could feel the sensation from its massive body.
He sensed that something was wrong.
“Why am I not touching the ground??”
No matter how hard he pushed, his foot never touched the ground.
“What’s going on?”
That foot was being supported by one person.
In Gobtaro’s blurred vision, he vaguely saw a familiar back.
Wearing a black cape…
“Z-Zaus-sama…”
“You fool. Didn’t I tell you to run at times like this?”
Gobtaro shed tears.
I feel a strange mix of happiness and pain, so I don’t really understand the sensation.
“Why… didn’t you run away?”
“You fool.”
With just a little force from Zaus, the massive body of the rock giant golem flew about 20 meters. The screams of the hero echoed in the sky.
“Aaargh!!”
Zaus held out his hand to Gobtaro.
“There’s no way I’d leave my subordinates behind and run. Highest-level Extra Recovery Heal.”
Gobtaro’s wounds were completely healed.
“Protecting subordinates is also the duty of a ruler.”
“Zaus-sama!”
Gobtaro burst into tears and hugged Zaus.
“Uwaaaah! Zaus-samaaa! Gob!!”
“There, there. You did well.”
“Zaus-samaaa!!”
“You idiot. You really pushed it.”
“Zaus-samaa. I-I wanted to protect everyone, Gob.”
“Yeah, I heard from Rizamaru.”
“Zaus-sama. Zaus-samaaa!!”
He must have thought he would never see him again. Overwhelmed with emotion, Gobtaro buried his face in Zaus’s chest.
“Let’s… let’s escape together, Gob. Sniff.”
“Why do we need to escape?”
“B-because… t-that guy is ridiculously strong, Gob.”
The rock giant golem appeared before Zaus.
“Oh~ So you’re the Demon Duke Zaus?”
“That’s right. Quite a big one for a hero, aren’t you?”
(He’s riding the Ultimate Ultimate Rock Giant Golem. This is a rideable endgame content obtained after defeating the Demon Lord. It seems like there are some serious bugs in the story alteration. Oh well, it’s fortunate that I had various measures in place. One should never underestimate a hero.)
“Hmph. I killed your father, Demon Duke Gozack, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. My father was a tyrannical demon noble. He bullied his subordinates, treated humans as slaves. He deserved to die.”
“Hehe. Evil will perish.”
“Interesting theory.”
“You’re evil too.”
“Yeah. I’m a Demon Duke. The ruler of evil.”
“Then die.”
The rock giant golem threw a punch with tremendous speed.
“Uwaaaah! Zaus-samaa! Run, Gob!!”
“Hyah-ha! Dieeee!”
Bam!!
That was a strange contact sound.
“Die! Die! Dieee!!”
A barrage of punches.
Bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam!!
Gobtaro was so terrified that he kept his eyes closed.
He cautiously opened his eyes at the sound of the impact on his body.
There, he saw Zaus blocking all the attacks with just one hand.
“Z-Zaus-sama!?”
“You only run when you can’t win.”
Hero Cea scattered sweat.
“You bastard?! Why aren’t my attacks working?! And you, Zaus! You’re hiding your stats!!”
It was a concealment spell.
The stats were obscured by a black mist.
“This doesn’t make sense!! The level of the Ultimate Ultimate Rock Giant Golem is 999! Why aren’t my attacks working?!”
Even so, Zaus remained composed.
He blocked the rock giant golem’s barrage with one hand. And he did it while looking elsewhere.
“What’s going on?! What’s your level?!”
In this story, level 999 is the maximum.