Chapter 44: Skirmish

One hobgoblin ran out of the woods and started to run towards us. The demonic beast is far away, and an average goblin is too tiny to see from that distance. So, if I can see a figure from that distance, it is not a goblin but a hobgoblin.

"It is close enough where if you aim at its lower body, you can hit it. Or you can try adjusting the sight, but that is too tough for someone like you." I see I can hit it from here, my weapon said. So I will do as he says: point, aim, and shoot! A loud bang was heard with the sound of metal sliding against metal.

I could hear a sound from the monster and then a soft thud from the distance. The saying is true: the bigger you are, the harder you fall. If I could hear a thud from that distance, then he would have had to fall pretty hard.

"Nice one! You're pretty good with that stick that shoots," Kanazawa said. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. I know the weapon is not happy being called a stick, but I can't help laughing. I once called him a stick, not knowing what he was.

I heard running behind my back, but I just had a feeling it was Layla. She was surprised to see me standing up and pointing my weapon at the woods. She was about to speak, but I interrupted her. I told her that there were hobgoblins in the woods. She readied herself, blade drawn for action.

"That is odd. I thought after I shot that would make the demonic beasts come towards me." I said, talking to both Layla and Kanazawa.

"It isn't that odd. You mentioned that the goblins have been acting rambunctious lately. They might have a king or two directing them." Layla said. Oh boy, a king or two? What if they have five? I will keep that to myself until I can confirm that they are acting differently from usual.

I did not mention they were acting rambunctiously. I told Layla and Jael that they were acting like an army or like a small nation. They had been using tactics humans would use. If they are acting like humans, then I must relay a possibility to them. There is a possibility of five or more kings ruling them.

Then, with five kings, each one of them has generals. Then, those generals have their workers. This situation could be a lot worse than I had predicted. I hate to think about it, but they may have a Great Disaster demonic beast working with them. If that is the case, then goblins are the least of our worries.

I was lost in thought and overlooked one demonic beast by the dead hobgoblin. I was looking at it this whole time. I would have seen a figure beside it. Dang, they are using human tactics. A human tactic that is common in fights with bandits is using the dead as cover. They use the dead as cover to get closer to their target.

I readied my weapon, aimed, and shot another round. I fired but missed. I noticed it dived when it heard the loud bang. Damn, I might be getting nervous. Calm yourself, damn it! Focus on the enemy. I could tell it was peeking its head up to see my movements. I shall make it look like I am not paying attention.

I drew a card from my deck, charged a random card, and drew a new card from my deck.

Mana 0/10 -> 1/10

With that act, the demonic beast grew confident and inched closer by crawling. Did waving my hand in the air look enough like a distraction? It is still cautious of me. I fiddled with something that had a number on it. It was now in the position where the triangle was pointed at the number 2.

I pointed my weapon again and found that the look of it was different. I had to lean backward to get a good look between the standing metal pieces. When the demonic beast was in my line of sight, I fired off another shot. This time, I waited for a few seconds after my bang to see if it was dead or not.

After a few seconds of nothing, I lowered my weapon to get a better look. There was no head movement and no ruffling in any bushes. So, I can assume it is dead. I started to walk towards the demonic beasts with Kanazawa beside me and Layla behind me. We inched closer until we were 10 spear lengths away.

"Adjust the sights again, the thing you were messing with, and point me at it. Then fire off a round or two; we used to do this back in Vietnam. I want to make sure the bastard is dead and not playing dead." The Type 56 weapon said.

I did what was suggested, and to everyone's surprise, after the loud bang, a whimper was heard from the hobgoblin that was crawling toward us.

"You scared me when you made another loud bang. You save us, though. The demonic beast was playing dead this whole time." Layla said, shaking from the unexpected loud bang.