Tale of Discovery

Chapter 334: Battle ; Formation

"Have we gotten close yet?" Opilio asks nervously after a while of treading through the forest.

During the whole time we have been walking, the voice didn't appear again, which is a bit unfortunate, as I am rather curious about the one who uttered the call for help and in what manner they did so.

"Yes, we're almost there," I respond while casting a glance at the four adventurers behind us.

Due to the environment, the girls have been having a slightly hard time following us, as a result of their clothes.

As for the guy, he is having no trouble walking, but is currently way less enthusiastic than he was before our duel. It seems that the mental damage he took from that is more than I expected.

"Alright, listen up," I say, "Soon, we will reach the location the monsters are. I don't know if this is the case for all monsters, but these ones seem to be allied and won't attack each other.

"So, the best way to deal with them would be for me to take the position of a vanguard and get rid of everything that comes by while the rest of you take down those that get past me."

Hearing my words, everyone takes a moment to consider a few things before ultimately agreeing with my strategy.

A short while later, we reach a section of the forest where there are way fewer trees in contrast to the area we just walked through.

Focusing my senses, I pinpoint the location of the goblins and skeletons, only to notice something odd while doing so.

Unlike yesterday, the goblins' occasional snarls and groans seem to make sense to me. Not just that, but I can pick up some words from them.

"Why here?" one of the goblins utters.

"Do not know," responds another.

I am somewhat struggling to figure out what they're saying, but the words are clear.

Currently, they are discussing the reason they have grouped up here, which is something worthy of suspicion.

Leaving that aside, why the heck am I able to understand goblin speech now? I didn't just learn the language overnight or something, did I?

That shouldn't be the case. Perhaps, it's related to the event from this morning, the one with the tree falling on two goblins and crushing them.

"Smell human!" one of the goblins suddenly exclaims as the rest get restless and start shouting simple words such as 'kill', 'eat', and 'breed'.

As for the skeletons nearby, I am unable to make out anything about them that would suggest they're intelligent beings capable of thinking like the goblins.

All they're doing is standing in place while carrying a weapon of sorts. I know it's not right to question this world's science, but how do these skeletons even function?

How are they able to move, hold weapons, and would they even be able to so much scratch a human with their strength which should purely stem from their bones.

Unlike humans and other creatures similar to them, skeletons don't have any muscles or anything other than bones for that matter.

Pushing my curiosity to the back of my head, I raise my right arm to signal to the four behind me to be prepared.

"On my lead," I state before dashing out into the area with a small number of trees.

The next moment, all the monsters present in the area notice my presence and turn to face me.

However, something catches my attention, distracting me from the monsters.

On the ground, there is a formation of symbols and shapes set down with some type of white powder.

A trap? Looks like I need to remain vigilant. Unless it's something like a seal or some form of transportation, I have confidence in my speed in getting away from danger to a certain extent.

'Hey, Satoru.'

[...]

'I know you can hear me.'

[What do you want?]

Sensing the blame and depression in his voice, I realize that not letting this fellow see for an extended period of time might just break him unlike the case with Ddraig.

Ddraig was able to deal with it easily and only found it a little boring at most, but this guy He might go through an existential crisis anytime.

'Sorry for not letting you see for so long. I have been a little busy.'

[Whatever.]

'Anyway, I need your assistance.'

[With what? Don't tell me you did something to my guild.]

'It is nothing like that. Here, watch for yourself.'

Having mentally said that, I link my vision with his.

"Hm?" I hum subconsciously as I shift my focus back to the monsters, only to find the goblins rushing in my direction - or, not.

Surprisingly, instead of rushing toward me, the goblins appear to be avoiding me as they go at those behind me from the sides.

[Goblins? And skeletons?]

'Yes. But, that's not important. That thing on the ground; do you recognize it?'

[That No, I have never seen anything like it before.]

Huh? Does that mean it wasn't a part of the 'game' he played?

'Alright, thanks. You can rest now.'

As I cut off the mental link between us, I look over at the monsters around me.

Despite the situation turning out different than I expected, it's not something I am unable to handle.

So, I get into a combat stance and prepare to rush at one of the goblins coming from the right, however, at this moment, one of the skeletons raises the weapon in its arm and opens its jaw.

Following this, a sharp cry reverberates all over the place as the skeleton's appearance begins to change.

In a matter of seconds, the yellowish-white bones have changed to a solid black color as the aura around it turns much more fierce to the point that I can sense a slight change in the atmosphere around the skeleton.

As for the two other skeletons, they simply raise their weapons and charge in my direction without any change in appearance whatsoever.

"You guys stay here and deal with the goblins, or at least keep them occupied until I deal with that thing," I instruct in a firm tone.

"Understood, go!" Opilio exclaims nervously as he brandishes his sword.

Releasing a small sigh, I lean forth before dashing toward the closest skeleton and slashing my arm vertically through its ribs, easily destroying them.

After this, I swing my leg at the skeleton's torso, striking it with enough force to break the whole thing down as a gust of wind spreads around.

Not stopping, even if for a moment, I move on to the other 'normal' skeleton and insert my fingers into its mouth and eye sockets before crushing it.

This doesn't 'kill' the skeleton, but only causes it to stagger. Nevertheless, I already expected this as I follow up with a jab at its chest imbued with an overwhelming force that blows the skeleton's body away, resulting in it crashing against a tree and breaking into small pieces.

At this moment, another sharp cry resounds within my ears as the dark skeleton makes a move.

Unlike the other two skeletons, this one's movements are much faster as it quickly reaches me and raises the broken sword in its hand.

Seeing its vulnerable state, I pack some force into my arms as I quickly punch the center of its chest.

To my surprise, the punch only blows the skeleton away a few meters with a few cracks appearing on its bones.

"Interesting" I mutter while smiling.

Even if the punch from just now wasn't anything more than a casual strike with a bit of force, it would be more than enough to finish off a group of 'normal' skeletons.

Yet, this thing was able to withstand it with only slight damage to its ribs.

Just as I am beginning to prepare to dash at the dark skeleton, something surprising happens.

A small dark green figure rushes past while letting out a cry with its arm raised, "Fight!"

Shortly, two more small figures dash past me as they cry out the same thing as the first one did.

Watching the three goblins attack the dark skeleton, a few questions pop up in my head, but I set them aside for the moment as I focus on the battle and rush at the skeleton.

Expectedly, the three goblins' strength is incomparable to that of the dark skeleton's, as it easily blows all three of them away with a single swing of its broken sword.

Seeing this, I casually dodge one of the bodies as I close the distance between me and the skeleton in a moment and throw a jab at its skull.

[Welcome!]

All of a sudden, a loud voice that seems to belong to a woman resounds within my head as the skeleton in front of me suddenly turns into dark dust and disperses.

"Mr. Vincent!" I hear Opilio exclaim behind me, to which I respond by turning around to face him.

Upon doing so, I notice that the goblins beside them have dropped to the ground and are lying there motionlessly.

Among them are a few that appear to be unscathed, which makes me wonder why they would be on the ground if that's the case.

Opilio wipes the sweat on his forehead away as he walks toward me, while the other four, who are exhausted, trod after him.

At this moment, I sense something odd in the ground as a shiver runs down my spine.

"Stop!" I exclaim, but I was a little too late, as the moment the girl giving off the holy vibe steps into the formation, a bright light surges from the white powder on the ground.

Unexpectedly, I feel no change in anything, but that only lasts for a moment, as the next thing I know, something pulls my body down as my vision goes dark.

--

What's going on

As I slowly regain my clarity, I notice that I am falling.

Opening my tightly shut eyes, I look around at my surroundings.

A ravine - That's the impression I got from the stone walls and the depth of whatever it is I am falling into.

Moments pass by, and I suddenly sense the ground being not too far away.

And so, I brace for impact as I practically plunge into the ground, resulting in a huge crater and long cracks all over it.

Perhaps it's due to my absurd parameters, but I took absolutely no damage from the fall.

Leaving that aside, where am I? What was that formation and why did it activate only when that girl stepped in? Considering my current situation, could that formation really have been one that transported those stepping into it elsewhere? Am I somewhere that's impossible to leave or something?

Curiously, I change my profile from 'Origo' to 'Overlord'.

In the blink of an eye, my form changes to that of a skeleton as my clothes change to the black majestic-looking garb.

"Gate," I mutter the name of the spell I used to get to the forest, after which the familiar circular portal appears.

So I can get out of here any time I want to. That's good. Now, I can explore this place while being at ease.

Hold on Where is Aurora?

Even after looking around for a while, I am unable to find her.

Aside from that, where are the rest? Did they all get transported somewhere as I did? If so, did they fall from such height too? I doubt any of them could survive something like that

My train of thoughts suddenly gets interrupted by a bestial roar not too far away.

Looking over in the direction the roar resounded from, I find a giant hideous-looking bear fighting against an oversized rabbit.

As I watch the battle unfold, numerous thoughts pass through my head Just where have I been transported to?