Chapter 153: Field

"Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-Shit...! Shit!" he cursed. His throat was so dry you couldn't even hear his voice. It was as though he whispered. With panic.

And one question remained... Should they fight? Seeing this, you might want to think Leader was a coward, but he wasn't.

Never in their whole life they attempted to pull that off. A fight against this many "shitty shitting shits," as the damage dealer would have it? Never did.

Even with that, it wasn't enough. And as soon as the hobgoblins showed up-that is to say, only three seconds after the last group of goblins, the Party was destroyed. Their spirit was. Literally.

"He...lp. ...I said... help. ...Someone..." Please, Leader. Help your team. Everyone except the damage dealer and me turned toward the leader for answers. He kept murmuring words to himself, alone, totally alone. The man's legs shook with his arms. His face was the palest.

His party members' words wouldn't even come out. They displayed signs of fear like their leader. The dread that washed over them all was real. And if they weren't dead yet by now, it was because the incoming monsters briefly paused. A roar of orcish, or a tongue that resembled it closely, echoed through the silence.

"No! Stop! Too easy!" it roared. I understood the orc tongue, and what the hobgoblin spoke sounded so similar that I could understand.

A hobgoblin. The leader came to realize that. In his panic, he stepped back and stumbled to the ground. The man's trembling lips still were speaking whispered words that no one understood.

The damage dealer was different. Yet another little fight went on.

Everything happened so quickly up till now. The damage dealer's longsword clashed against two spears and a sword— "Aaargh!" —his leg was stabbed through.

And that was it. At least he fought. Now that the surprise had fully settled in, their agony promised to be slow. Yup. Why even hurry? As slow and intense as the brave man's cries of agony when the bony spear slowly went off his leg.

The goblin that wielded the spear slowly aimed it back at the damage dealer. The man was down, surrounded by three green creatures. His expression only now was distorted in fear. Just as everyone else's.

Then again, the thunderous voice roared again. "...No!" A loud barbaric voice came from behind the goblin troops. A hobgoblin. The goblin stopped at once. Its superior was telling itself to stop. That much was clear by now.

I didn't have time to wonder how or why it asked that. The voice called again, switching back to the tongue resembling Orcish. Killing them off like this was too easy, it explained. I didn't understand every word, but I could fill in the blanks easily and understand. It would be far too easy for humans.

Anxiety reached its paroxysm. Every soul turned to this bigger fellow from behind. Goblins and monster-hunters alike. A goblin's intelligence was certainly lower a human's. They could speak, but with difficulty. A hobgoblin's intelligence was evolved, but not quite as evolved as a human's yet.

The first hobgoblin appeared with orders, and some goblin screeched its disapproval to its better. A 5-seconds argument went down. To settle the matter, the hobgoblin's broadsword slashed the dumb goblin down. No other goblin complained. The quick speech the bigger fellow was giving continued for a few more seconds, then he turned to the fearful humans.

If it mattered, the speech was about what the monsters had better do. And why they had better act that way. The humans were unfair. They massacre goblins and their betters for sport. Or to earn a living. Or to enslave them. Sending them off to their deaths was going too easy on the monster-hunters. Also, they did receive orders from the chieftain of their proud tribe. Thus, the goblins were subdued.

From behind the walls of trees all around, another big, thick-armed shadow was produced. And then it was another. And then... another. The monster-hunters could count four of the 6-feet tall "orcs."

I was the only "human" who kept my composure, then.

Roaring at us, all four seemed pretty excited. Another two proud warriors of the proud tribe of these dark woods showed up. A semblance of hierarchy fell on us: Hobgoblins were at the top, goblins second, and humans down below.

You could call them demi-orcs. They weren't as imposing as the orcs. A head shorter than them. Muscles-wise, they seemed pretty similar. Their physical strength was far beyond my boys' level. As monsters, or demi-humans, they weren't half-bad. The chilling they sent right through the prey's spine was that crippling.

Their thick necks and shoulders weren't either so off-putting. And same goes for the usual monster-like, and dreadful aura those kinds of creatures gave off. Well, they were about as tall as an averagely robust human. Just about as large, too.

True, they were obviously naturally way more muscular... and the way they dressed and armored themselves really yelled, "We're barbaric; you be afraid of us," but that's really as far as it went.

The priestess' complexion was white. Completely white. Like it had just been bleached or something. It was white and cold.

When I turned to her, she didn't even seem to notice me as she trembled all over. Somehow, even despite her trembling, she was totally frozen in place, with a clear word carved on her pale figure— Help.

In her right hand, she still held her chunky wooden staff. Her grip on it was very faint and fragile, though.

Wood hit the ground. As lightly as possible, lifting off the overwhelming heavy pressure that ruled over here. ...Only for a second, though.

The sorceress stood right there, being in about the same state as her fellow support, but she didn't hold onto her sorceress' wand anymore. She let it fall to the ground. Emptied of all passion for what was going down, heavily trembling too-like she was a dead leaf.

That's when it struck me. My humans clearly couldn't even try and resist. At first, I thought I'd see them off to their hopeless struggle before I helped them out of their predicament. I spent a lot of time with them. They were weak. And they shouldn't die stupidly. When I was weak, I was fortunate enough to be taught a lesson.

Back in the restaurant, I died because I was weak. It was the first time I felt like sharing something with someone. This lesson. I'd teach it to them, too.

But they already learned, it seemed to me.

Be it the two supports I'm just watching... the party leader who's about to break too... the slow, chunky tank that seems to have done the finest job at totally erasing his presence there despite the huge silhouette... or the damage dealer over there, bleeding out.

...When the damage dealer managed to summon the last bits of his strength, seized his sword's handle with difficulty... and swung it forward. One goblin fell. That talkative orc just told his troops a moment ago how humans weren't fair and how they killed their weak to enslave their strong.

Now he roared again.

"Aaarghhh!" the hobgoblin roared like one hundred tigers, madly stomping his foot on the ground. Everyone was subdued by it. In the human tongue, this time, he yelled. His accent was heavy. "They... kill our weak! Again! Cowards!"

Action settled right back in.

The spell of panic and anxiety was lifted off and the tank was the first to move. He'd just undone his Forming-Into-a-Protecting-Ball Jutsu, reached out to the wounded damage dealer with long arms, grabbed the man's collar, and threw him behind with surprising might.

The damage dealer was thrown, his ass dragging onto the ground. Next thing I knew, he was right next to the priestess. Not knowing what to do at all, she quickly crouched down and did what she did best. Chant healing spells.

Well, well, well. With that curious move they had just pulled, I wondered whether they would put up a fight or not in the end. I didn't wonder for long. After that move, things looked even deadlier for the human team.

Despite her assertive healing, the priestess' hands were still trembling like mad. And despite his brave act, the tank's condition wasn't looking so bright right now.

The first hobgoblin just broke into a sprint. His loud steps terrifyingly grew closer and closer with each Thud.

Going alongside him, the five other big monsters weren't so hurried, but they followed after the first.

So? What now? I was required on the field for once.