Chapter 6: Eliyah’s Escape

Chapter 6: Eliyah's Escape

Not all fire bolts collided at the same time, but when the first did, it produced a loud explosive sound.

Then followed a series of other explosions, which caused a thick cloud of dust to rise. It blurred my vision a bit when a few rocks came flying and hit my eyes, but I didn't blink, not even once, even when sand made me teary.

I watched… I wanted to see the skinless body of the woman. I wanted to see her helpless expression. I wanted to see her burnt to a crisp… I wanted to see her messed up face…

So I didn't blink, not even once.

When the last fire bolt collided, the bright light filling the cave subsided, bringing the previous darkness once again, save for the insignificant bluish hue of the portal.

About a minute later, the cloud too had started to settle.

There were no movements, no sound of her heavy metal boots, and no scream of pain. Just heavy breathing.

'Did I kill her?' I couldn't help but question, still unsure.

The grin on my face remained for another minute, each second widening with assurance that she was dead… until I heard a loud clang.

It was her boots.

She was alive!

My attack had failed to hit—I assumed it thinking that next to no damage was done. But when the clouds cleared completely, I finally noticed… the thick metal armor that she wore was shattered to pieces except for the breastplate which had cracks all over.

Her clothes that stretched across the armor initially were also burnt, but not entirely.

Dust sat on her face as she gripped her left arm tightly.

She was injured!

There was confusion in her eyes as she stared at me.

It was as if she was asking herself... how could a goblin possess such strength?

I would otherwise not care what she thought, but at that moment, I was very curious.

Did she fear me?

Was she confused by my attack?

Would she get on her knees and beg me?

Was she going to run away?

All of these were winning situations for me. But I knew... I wouldn't be satisfied with just this much.

A weird fetish arose within me.

'I want to see her suffer more.'

Even now, I couldn't break free from the rope, but that didn't stop me from launching a few more fire bolts at her.

Stucky had mentioned earlier... I could only mimic for ten seconds. This meant, I had very little time.

『Original stats will be replaced in: 4s』

So I wasted not even a second to launch ten other bolts of fire.

I was confident that this would finish the job but...

It was foolish of me to think that she would fall for it twice.

The bolts of fire launched at the same time, head towards her. It was as if they had just one target in mind.

But then again, that just made it easier for her to dodge.

All she had to do was run to one side and distance herself from the explosion, as much as she could manage.

I realized this when I saw all the attacks missing.

They simply collided at a single spot, all while she had run all the way to the portal.

BOOM!

BOOM!

A series of explosions occurred one after the other as rocks kept shattering left and right, clouds of dust rising again.

It was almost similar to what had happened previously, the exception being that this time, the female had managed to escape.

I didn't specifically look at the cloud of dusts... they just appeared at the corner of my eyes.

What I actually saw was the female running.

My eyes could follow her movements. This meant that she had injured herself and was just that slow!

A grin sat on my face, a grin that she noticed before exiting the portal.

She turned briefly and then…

…exited.

And...

…silence lingered, that is until…

...I burst out laughing.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

My laughter was that of a maniac. The taste of this temporary victory... oh, how good it felt.

I couldn't describe it in words.

My fingers trembled, my nails trailing off the hard rocky ground and my teeth gnashing.

I could feel my eyeballs bulging, my jaw continuously hitting the hard ground.

"Did you see that, Stucky? Kek Kek Kek, she ran away from me."

"A powerless goblin whom she had killed so many times. Kek Kek Kek."

I didn't know why I started talking to Stucky. Was it because I now felt lonely?

I kept on laughing and talking about my victory. I was boasting to no one about the kill I had claimed. I was enjoying the moment… but… I was… lonely.

In the entire cave, only me and my shadow remained. Stucky too.

But I felt lonely. Too lonely.

In the end, my laughter too, came to an end as I silently watched the portal's blue hue flicker.

I turned towards my fallen kin and got so bored that I started calling out their names.

"Hikoro."

"Taiba."

"Gobro."

"Gibba."

"Glokri."

"Gabro."

"To-"

I got bored of that too.

I turned towards the portal and stared at it, for as long as I could.

I intended to wait for the humans to enter and kill me, to get reunited with my family…

…but, they didn't come.

An hour passed. Now two. I got tired of waiting…

I couldn't help but sigh again and again because I was left with the memories of the mage Gilbert. He liked Eliyah. I could tell.

I knew not all of his memories, but some part where he would secretly admire her and blush… oh well, he surely loved her.

But I simply skipped over those parts because… I didn't understand the concept of love yet.

I shook my head, taking a look at a few other things… including the knowledge that I gained.

It is a weird world outside. I can see humans riding weird monsters. I can see them using different things… maybe I'll learn about them later once I exit the portal…

"…"

I was going to sigh once again but then I recited what I just thought….

"I'll learn about them once I exit the portal?"

"Exit…"

"The portal…?"

My eyes opened wide as I stared at the portal once again.

Why hadn't I thought of that all this time?!

My grip tightened over the rope as I realized my shortsightedness of just waiting for the humans to appear.

"Fine," I muttered to myself before using my entire body as support, especially my head and belly, to stand up with the support of the wall after crawling all the way to the side.

"Let's exit!"

『Notice!

 Your awareness has increased!』