Chapter 11: Despair (1): Swift Death

Chapter 11: Despair (1): Swift Death

『Strength: 10』 ↑5

『Agility: 9』 ↑5

『Stat Points(s): 15』 ↓10

I could feel another change. The muscles in my lower and upper limbs twitched as I added the Stat points to strength and agility.

I could feel strength surging in.

I didn't think much about it though, as my kin started marching towards me, only a few.

They were ready to attack me. If not for the Elder, they would have definitely rushed and died.

"Stop!" he shouted, snapping the goblins out of their revengeful mindset for a moment.

I had readied myself to kill them. I had already formed a fist with my right hand while my left hand was in a claw-like position, ready to pierce their bodies.

A tiny bit of excitement and tension had built up, all of which vanished in an instant.

"Don't be hasty!" said the elder.

I had heard these words previously too.

When the humans would come to attack, the goblins would rush towards them out of instinct.

It is only the Elder who would try to stop others.

However, he too would fall victim to his instincts.

At the moment, however, his voice was loud and enough to force everyone to stop in their tracks.

Everyone turned towards the elder. I did too.

He was an old, scrawny goblin who, no matter what, never used any support in walking.

He was wise and had experience. He was older than any other goblin here.

I noticed him walking towards me. His steps weren't heavy, nor was he scary, but each time he grew closer, I could feel my heart palpitate.

I don't know if it was out of respect or what, but I couldn't dare to look at his face. Maybe due to guilt, I couldn't meet his eyes.

"Gubzo," he said, pausing behind Gobia.

He looked at her, the bodies beyond her, and finally at me.

I could feel his gaze.

"Did you kill them?" he asked.

When he asked the question, I raised my head almost instantly.

My gaze fell into his eyes…

The pupils were glowing with a yellow-golden light.

[Notice!]

[Elder Gobta has used the skill Affirmation Lv.2]

[—> The skill will detect any lies that you say.]

My breath, my heart, and my mind… everything was going out of control. But I held on to the thin thread tightly.

I remained calm.

I gripped my heart, engaging my mind. My heart calmed my lungs, and my lungs calmed me.

"No."

The elder's eyes stopped glowing.

I calmed down because what I said wasn't a lie.

I wasn't the one who killed them!

It was the female… Eliyah who did it.

I just watched them die and maybe… just to complete the mission, ate a few parts, but that's all.

The elder turned around, almost satisfied with my answer as he shouted, "Did you all hear that? He didn't kill them! He's telling the truth!"

Every goblin here knew about the elder's judgment.

He would catch the lies easily…

Though unconvinced, they simply nodded and decided to decrease their hostility.

However, Gobia was still unconvinced.

She raised her head, her face filled with tears as she spotted… just one expression on my face.

At that moment, I couldn't stop the grin from stretching across my face. My breath came out in slow, measured huffs as I felt her gaze on me.

She saw me smile and that was enough to make her scream and question me for the second time.

Mother's intuition, I would say. Or something anyone would do if they noticed this smile…

It was a slip-up from my side.

"He's lying!" she howled. "A part of his head is missing! Look at it! LOOK AT IT!"

She snatched Gaka's severed head from the ground, holding it up for all to see. Blood trailed down her arms as she turned it slightly, revealing the hollowed skull.

"It's as if… as if…"

The elder froze.

"…as if someone ate it?"

The jagged edges of the broken skull, the claw marks raking across its surface, the hollow sockets where the eyes once were—it was unmistakable.

All eyes fell on me.

"Look!" she raised Gaka's head, just a little as she displayed it to everyone, the elder specifically.

However, everyone was quiet.

She thought they didn't believe her, so she tried to say it again and again.

"I'm not lying!"

"Look!"

"Trust me!"

"Look!"

She knew that the elder had the ability to tell lies from truth apart, but at that moment, even she started doubting the elder and perhaps… doubted herself.

Not giving in, she tried to repeat herself once again, but then, she noticed… the wave of emotions on everyone's face.

Shock.

Confusion.

Despair.

Panic.

Horror.

Helplessness.

Fear.

Their eyes were wide open, their jaws quivering, their bodies trembling as they all stared in one direction—behind Gobia.

At me.

They looked at me.

Gobia…

Air rustled. And she looked at me; she dared to—

The atmosphere froze.

The goblin elders, the children, the females, the slaves, all looked at me with one, undeniable emotion in their eyes.

Fear.

Fear for their lives, fear that came from the very depths of their souls.

Was my expression that scary?

Or was it my eyes?

Maybe, my teeth?

They looked at me with fear, their instincts seeming to scream. They trembled, their eyes bulging, detached from any kind of common sense they, they, they—!!!

Seemed to fear something.

Green blood splattered.

Gobia had never felt something like this.

The world had slowed.

Her vision felt strange.

In the face of intense danger, one's mind flashes through all its memories while slowing the perception of time.

One's mind rummaged through all the useful information, trying to find a way out of the situation.

This was also how more experienced creatures survived.

But no matter how experienced one was, what did it amount to in the face of death?

Her pupils constricted, diminished to a pinhole... Pinhole? What was that?

I didn't know.

But what I knew was... everything she seemed to feel at this moment. Her emotions, her pain, her view.

It felt strange... Too strange...

I could predict what the dead would feel. That was because I had seen too many memories of the dead.

Those that were of others, and those that were of mine.

And so, I could easily know what she would be seeing at this moment.

Her vision painted green due to the blood, and through it, she saw blurred figures of the goblins around us, their faces laced with fear. It was due to the altitude her hair gained after being lobbed off.

She was seeing those poor goblins, rooted in their place, some even soiling themselves. And then, through those green-colored eyes, she must also be seeing me—my upper body that was cleanly cut by the very same attack that turned her into a headless corpse.

She must be seeing my pitiful upper body, and my expression that finally showed fear. She must be seeing my bloody coiled organs producing a wet sound as they hit the ground, spilled from my body.

And she must be seeing the monster, who had killed both of us without me even realizing.

The Monster called

Human.

『Your Awareness Increases』

Haa...

F*ck. Not this again.

Well...

I bet she must not be seeing this.

『You have died』