Inside a dark, narrow, damp cave.
A lonely light illuminated the path ahead, revealing slimy rock walls while the faint sound of dripping water echoed through the tunnels.
At the front walked a young man with black hair, his body covered in scars. A sword rested firmly in his right hand.
Behind him was a girl with ocean-blue hair, gripping his other hand tightly. It didn’t seem like fear—
but rather as if she were trying to hold him back.
Behind her walked a pink-haired girl. A dim flame floated above the tip of her staff, lighting the way for the group.
And at the very back was another young man with the same blue hair as the girl at the front.
He appeared to be a swordsman as well.
Sniff. Sniff.
“I can smell them,” the man in front whispered.
“Wait, Hale. We don’t know the layout of this cave yet,” the pink-haired girl said as she carefully scanned the darkness around them.
At the same time, the blue-haired girl tightened her grip on Hale’s hand.
“I can sense them too,” she said quietly.
“Quiet… dark… and it stinks…”
After saying that, the guy at the back shivered at his own words.
“Can you smell it too, Aliner?”
He lightly tapped the pink-haired girl’s shoulder.
Aliner instinctively covered her nose.
“Yeah… it reeks.”
Hale glanced back at the group with a crooked grin.
“What, already scared, Jukig?” he chuckled.
As if his pride had been struck, Jukig immediately protested.
“Hah—are you kidding me?! You think some cave like this could scare me?!”
Crack.
A small stone fell from above.
“AHHHH—!!”
Jukig instantly grabbed onto Aliner.
Aliner sighed.
“Haha—”
Hale laughed before turning toward the blue-haired girl beside him.
“Gripping me that tight?”
“Afraid you’ll lose me, Meryl~?”
Smack.
Meryl slapped the back of his head.
“You and that stupid habit of charging in first all the time.”
“If I don’t hold you back, it’s basically the same as letting you run straight into your own death!”
Hale rubbed the back of his head, grumbling.
“What did you say—?!”
Meryl grabbed one of his ears and twisted it.
“Ow—ow! That hurts!”
“I get it, I get it! I’m sorry!”
“Everyone.”
Aliner’s voice instantly froze the two of them.
“Do you hear that?”
Hale and Meryl went silent, listening carefully.
“We’re getting close…” Jukig whispered.
***
The painful screams of women echoed through the cavern.
Mixed with them were the sickening giggles of something… perverse.
***
The four of them stopped at the entrance of a large cavern.
And froze.
Green goblins.
More than a dozen young girls—
naked, terrified—
being brutally violated without mercy.
“OI. BASTARDS!”
Hale roared as he swung his sword forward.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”
The goblins stopped what they were doing and turned toward the voice.
Gawr.
Grrrr.
Rawww.
…
One by one, they began picking up their weapons.
Wooden clubs filled with crooked nails.
Rusty, chipped iron swords.
Crude knives made from jagged metal shards tied to wooden handles.
Everything looked rough.
Primitive.
Exactly the kind of weapons no one wanted to be hit by.
“COME AT US THEN, YOU ROTTEN FILTH!” Hale shouted.
The goblins roared together and charged.
***
Jukig scanned the cavern quickly, gripping his sword tightly.
Aliner raised her staff, preparing her magic.
Hale glanced left and right.
He stepped forward, ready to charge—
“Hale! Calm down!”
He turned toward the voice.
Meryl was glaring sharply at him.
“Heh… heh…” Hale scratched his head sheepishly.
“I’m still being careful.”
“Hale—!”
Aliner and Jukig shouted at the same time.
Meryl’s eyes widened as she looked behind him.
But Hale, still scratching his head, didn’t even turn around.
His sword flashed.
A goblin charging toward him was instantly cut in half.
“Alright…”
Hale’s expression hardened; he flicked the blade clean.
“Jukig, take the left flank. I’ll handle the right.”
“Got it!”
Jukig immediately rushed forward from the back line.
“Meryl, Aliner!”
Both of them turned toward him.
“Rescue the victims.”
With that, Hale let out a fierce roar and charged forward, cutting down the goblins in his path.
***
“…break the unbroken, steel or crystal…”
Aliner hurriedly chanted.
Snap.
The section of chain she aimed her palm at snapped clean in two.
“Thank you!”
The chained girl burst into tears, clutching the red marks left by the shackles on her wrists.
Aliner gave a quick nod and moved on to the next person.
***
Meryl narrowed her eyes.
Where she held her palm in midair, the section of chain began glowing bright red.
Immediately—
she froze that spot solid.
Her hand trembled slightly, the air around the frozen metal beginning to warp.
Meryl gritted her teeth.
Snap.
***
Hale swung his sword to the left.
Swing.
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A charging goblin split clean in two.
He turned right—
another one fell.
A goblin leapt at him from the side—
too close.
Hale grabbed it by the throat and lifted it off the ground.
“GRAHHH!”
He hurled the goblin straight into the charging group behind it.
***
A goblin lunged at Jukig from the right, sword raised high.
Swoosh.
Clang.
Jukig raised his blade and parried the strike.
With his left hand, he pulled a dagger from his back.
Schlk.
The dagger plunged straight into the goblin’s throat.
Another goblin rushed him from the left.
This time Jukig blocked the attack with the dagger—
then cut the creature down with his sword.
***
Before long, the goblins were all dead.
Meryl and Aliner worked quickly to free the last few girls
Hale had his arm slung over Jukig’s shoulder as the two of them caught their breath.
Even exhausted—
they couldn’t hide their laughter.
…
“Alright, I’ll go help them,” Jukig said, pushing Hale’s arm off his shoulder.
“Yeah, go ahead,” Hale replied with a grin.
***
Jukig ran toward the girls still bound in chains.
The kidnapped victims trembled violently, their bodies shaking with fear.
“Don’t worry. You’re safe now.”
“Just remember our crew name—
Blood Debt.”
With that, he raised his sword.
Cleng.
Cleng.
Ching.
Another chain snapped apart.
***
“Aliner?”
Meryl placed a hand on Aliner’s shoulder.
“Huh?” Aliner turned around.
“What about the Goblin King?”
“Goblin King?”
“Oh—shit.”
Aliner’s eyes widened.
Meryl frowned and drew a sharp breath.
She immediately turned toward Hale.
“Hale!”
Hale was stretching his arms lazily.
“Huh? Miss me already?” he called back with a playful smile.
“There’s still a Goblin King!”
She cupped her hands around her mouth as she shouted.
Hale narrowed his eyes.
“Goblin King…” he muttered.
Suddenly—
GRRRRR!
A deep roar echoed through the cavern.
All four of them turned.
A massive goblin crawled out from a narrow tunnel.
One hand gripped the cave wall—
Crack.
Stone fractured beneath its fingers.
In its other hand it carried a spear—
No.
More like a giant sharpened wooden pillar.
Thick muscles wrapped around its arms and legs.
Its neck was enormous, dense with raw strength.
GAWRRRR!
“Then we’ll kill it!” Hale shouted, charging straight at the Goblin King.
“Hale!”
Before the word fully left her mouth, Meryl was already sprinting after him.
“Wait—Meryl!” Aliner shouted, snapping out of her shock.
“MERYL!!!”
Jukig ran after her.
The Goblin King lifted its massive spear, preparing to throw.
“If you throw that… what will you have left to fight me with?” Hale smirked to himself as he charged forward.
Gawww!
Hale glanced to the side.
A surviving goblin lunged at him with a knife.
Schlk.
The blade stabbed into Hale’s left shoulder.
Without hesitation—
Hale split the goblin in half.
“HALEEEE!!!”
Meryl’s scream made Hale look back toward the Goblin King.
The giant spear—
was already in the air.
Flying straight toward him.
It wasn’t slowing down.
Hale froze.
“Meryl—NO!”
VROOSH.
…
Everything seemed to slow down.
Meryl leapt forward and shoved Hale aside.
From Hale’s perspective—
he only saw a flash of her blue hair.
The spear struck through her.
Blood sprayed into the air.
His eyes widened.
Thud.
Hale turned.
The spear had torn through Meryl’s thigh—
ripping her left leg clean from her body.
“MERYL!”
Aliner rushed forward, grabbing the severed leg and pressing it beneath Meryl’s pelvis.
Jukig dropped to her side.
“Sis, hang on! I’m here—I’m right here!”
Then the pain hit.
Meryl looked at Jukig, her face slowly twisted in agony as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“AHHHHH—!”
“AHHH—!”
…
Hale clenched his teeth.
His breathing grew heavy.
Slowly—
he turned toward the Goblin King.
His eyes were wide.
Madness burned inside them.
“You’ll… fucking… PAY FOR THIS!!”
He charged again.
“Hale!” Jukig shouted.
“Go!” Aliner waved sharply.
“I’ve got her!”
Jukig hesitated for only a moment.
Then his eyes hardened.
He nodded—
and ran.
Aliner raised both hands over Meryl’s wound.
“Forgive the broken one, return what they have lost.
Share a part of mine, mend their own mistake…”
A faint green glow formed in her palms, flowing slowly into the torn flesh.
Her chanting echoed through the cavern—
mixing with Meryl’s screams of pain.
***
“ARGHHHH!”
Hale swung his sword to the left, gathering all his strength.
GAWRH!
The Goblin King raised its left arm high, clenching its massive fist.
Like a gigantic hammer of flesh, it slammed downward.
Using the momentum of his sprint, Hale dropped to his knees and slid across the dirt.
BOOM.
The blow missed.
Hale slid behind it.
His eyes widened as he swung.
Swing.
Splash.
The Goblin’s left foot was severed at the ankle.
THUD!
The creature collapsed to one knee, roaring in pain.
It turned around, eyes wide—
then interlocked its hands together, forming a massive club.
Both arms rose high—
Schlk.
GAWRRRR!
Jukig stood on the creature’s massive back.
His sword had pierced straight through its thick muscles.
He twisted the blade.
The Goblin roared again.
“ARRGH!!!”
Hale launched himself forward.
Slice.
He landed—
then immediately sprinted back toward Meryl.
Behind him,
the Goblin King’s head slowly slid from its neck.
THUD!
Its enormous body crashed to the ground.
***
Meryl was still sobbing.
Bone.
Blood vessels.
Muscle.
Slowly rejoined.
Hale dropped to his knees beside her.
“I’m here!”
Meryl turned her face away, avoiding his eyes. Tears clung to her lashes.
…
Hale looked at her with deep regret.
He swallowed.
Slowly, his hand rose—
reaching toward her cheek.
Meryl clenched her fists.
Then suddenly—
she began hitting him.
Over and over.
“Why?! Why didn’t you listen to me?!”
“What if I lost you instead?!” Meryl cried.
Hale lowered his head.
He didn’t block her blows.
He didn’t argue.
His teeth were clenched tightly.
…
Finally, her fists stopped.
Seeing Hale like that—
her face twisted in pain.
She broke down completely.
Throwing herself into his arms.
Her arms wrapped tightly around him—
as if.
She never wanted to lose him again.
Hale slowly lifted his arms and hugged her back.
…
Only then did Jukig run over, seeing Meryl’s leg was fully healed—
he let out a breath of relief.
“Thank you… Aliner…”
“It’s my fault…” Aliner said quietly, her expression darkening.
“I was the one who formed this group…”
“…and I couldn’t keep everyone safe.”
***
The cave was filled with the smell of blood.
Droplets of water still seeped from the cracks.
Silence had never felt this loud before…
