I Became a Mythical Knight King

Chapter 23: Guerilla Warfare (3)

Goblin shaman Yukal sat on the roof of a large house near the village square, surveying his surroundings.

More than a hundred goblins were busily engaged in their tasks.

Those slaughtering humans.

Those cooking the slaughtered meat.

Those impregnating human women.

Those hacking at humans tied to posts, simply for amusement.

Yukal chewed on a freshly roasted finger as he watched the humans.

On the first day, they screamed, cried, and caused a commotion, but now, not anymore.

Even when humans were butchered right before their eyes, they merely trembled in fear without making much noise.

They had learned that those who screamed were the first to be eaten.

‘In the end, they’re all the same.’

Yukal had seen humans before.

Beyond the “barrier,” there were humans as well.

But they were different from the ones here.

The humans in this land were far more numerous.

Perhaps thanks to something they called the “fire of civilization,” they seemed to live in abundance. Many were noticeably plump, and though Yukal couldn’t fully grasp it, they appeared to have far more skills.

When he saw the stone walls and the endless rows of houses within them, he had even felt a sense of wonder.

But in the end, they were the same.

They died when stabbed and cried when hit.

Before overwhelming violence, they bowed their heads and trembled, no different from the humans Yukal had known before.

‘No, they’re even weaker.’

They were greater in number but weaker overall.

Yukal smirked.

It had been worth the effort to rouse the sluggish trolls who always complained about moving and lead the group here, the farthest point.

There were many women.

If they planted their seed abundantly, many offspring would be born.

Then they could dominate even more humans.

They could reproduce so prolifically that Yukal could command thousands, tens of thousands, of goblins.

If that were to happen.

If it became reality.

Yukal didn’t know much about the “light” or the “fire of civilization” that Kilakal, the leader of their horde, had mentioned, nor did he care to understand.

He simply wanted to expand his influence in the prosperous world they encountered after crossing the barrier.

And so Yukal imagined his future, leading countless goblins, and chuckled to himself.

The laughter, leaking from him involuntarily, couldn’t be stopped.

It was then.

Yukal suddenly stood up and looked toward the village entrance.

Something was rushing forward, shaking the ground.

Humans.

Humans on horseback.

There weren’t many of them.

Five.

But Yukal didn’t let his guard down.

Among humans, there were occasionally those who were exceptionally strong.

And such individuals often rode horses.

“Sound the alarm!”

When Yukal shouted, a nearby goblin pulled the rope, ringing the bell in the village square.

At the sound of the bell, goblins stopped what they were doing and turned toward the square.

And at that moment, the five riders rammed through the village gate.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, the village entrance shattered.

Startled by the deafening noise and impact, Yukal fell on his rear, staring at the dust-filled entrance.

He didn’t know what had just happened, but Yukal instinctively made a decision.

“Gather! Everyone, gather!”

The goblins, unsure of what was happening at the entrance, began to flock toward it.

And then, through the dust, the humans emerged, looking dismayed as they saw the goblins gathering from all over the village.

Yukal didn’t miss their expressions.

His shoulders, which had been hunched in shock, straightened as laughter returned to his lips.

“Attack! Capture them!”

A rough picture of the situation formed in his mind.

It was clear the humans hadn’t properly assessed the number of goblins in the village.

Thinking there were only a few, they had charged in with just five—no, now he saw there were six of them. Regardless, two of them were women.

But those women looked somewhat special.

They weren’t ordinary humans.

They held magical power.

One of them, in particular, had an extraordinary amount of it.

Yukal involuntarily swallowed.

If he could capture that woman—the one with the purple hair—and make her bear his offspring, he believed she would produce powerful progeny.

Perhaps even shamans like himself could be born.

Yukal’s yellow eyes gleamed with greed.

He didn’t even bother to hide his growing lust as he urged the goblins.

“Catch them! Make sure to catch them!”

“They’re escaping!”

One of the humans, carrying the special purple-haired woman on his back, shouted urgently as he began to gallop away.

But it was idiotic.

Instead of fleeing outright, they were cutting across the village.

“Idiots!”

Laughing gleefully, Yukal climbed down from the roof and mounted the wolf he had tamed since childhood.

“Don’t shoot arrows! We need them alive!”

As he spurred the wolf forward, the goblins laughed boisterously and followed behind him.

The swamp trolls, who had been lazily napping in broad daylight, stirred and shouted at the commotion, but Yukal paid them no mind.

He continued to run, dreaming of his own kingdom.

Before long, they were out of the village.

The humans remained just out of reach—close, but not quite caught.

But the gap was narrowing bit by bit.

Just a little more.

A little more.

An uphill path appeared.

A gentle hill came into view.

And suddenly, the distance widened.

As if they had been deliberately holding back until now, the humans’ speed increased dramatically.

Yukal was taken aback but he had no time to think further.

Something far more shocking was about to unfold.

“Rally!”

The human at the front shouted and then, light erupted.

Humans suddenly appeared on the hill.

What was this?

Had they been hiding?

An ambush?

That couldn’t be. If such a number of humans had been moving, they would surely have noticed—

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

A rain of arrows pouring down from the hill cut off Yukal’s thoughts.

He hastily swung his staff overhead, releasing mana to deflect the arrows, but only Yukal possessed such abilities.

“Kyaak!”

“Guh!”

The goblins at the front were struck by the arrows and fell.

The rain of arrows didn’t stop.

As another volley poured down, Yukal turned his back to flee, shouting.

“Retreat! It’s a trap! Retreat!”

But they couldn’t escape.

From behind them, radiant golden light appeared, accompanied by humans.

“For the glory of Camelot!”

“Uooooooooh!”

As a blonde-haired girl shouted, golden light surged again.

Blinded by the dazzling light, the goblins screamed and staggered, and the furious tide of spears bore down on them.

“Kyaak! Guh!”

Within moments, dozens of goblins were slaughtered en masse.

Yukal was flustered.

No, it was so utterly shocking that he couldn’t think straight.

This was impossible.

The humans on the hill were one thing, but what about the ones who suddenly appeared from behind?

What on earth were they?!

“Gah!”

“Chieftain!”

“Argh!”

Another volley of arrows rained down.

The spearmen blocking the path stood clustered together, their spears thrust forward, making it impossible to break through.

“Scatter! Scatter!”

Yukal jumped off his wolf.

Blending into the scattering goblins, he intended to slip away somehow.

But that was impossible too.

The moment he leapt off the wolf, a group charged at the flanking goblins trying to escape.

“Let’s go.”

Ten cavalrymen.

At the lead was a brown-haired woman who uttered the short command, raising her spear.

Yukal recalled the shockwave that had destroyed the village gate.

Cursing under his breath, he raised his staff, and that was the end of him.

Boom!

A massive shockwave obliterated over twenty goblins, scattering them like broken fragments.

The strategy to lure the majority of the goblins out of the village and annihilate them with a pincer attack was a resounding success.

Easily over eighty goblins were annihilated without significant losses.

Yoo Seong caught his breath and surveyed the surroundings.

Vanadain was descending the hill with his elite archers, while Kate was approaching with the orderly ranks of the spearmen.

Diana and the light cavalry glanced at Yoo Seong.

He caught his breath again.

Behind him, he felt Rene’s arms tightly encircling his waist.

Raising his sword, Yoo Seong let out a victorious roar that seemed to shake the heavens and earth but it didn’t last long.

Yoo Seong cut it short.

When he lowered his sword, the Camelot forces silenced themselves and turned to him. He gave them a glance, then murmured the command to retreat.

The reason for turning back instead of pressing the attack on the village was a deliberate choice.

Vanadain let out a bitter smile, and Kate wore a slightly stern expression instead of her usual gentle smile.

In the end, only Yoo Seong, Rene, and Alphonse remained at the scene.

After catching his breath, Yoo Seong turned and asked, “Are you ready?”

“Yes, Successor,” Rene replied, nodding resolutely.

Yoo Seong nodded back and turned to face the village ahead.

Once more, he urged his horse forward, heading toward Philo Village.

About thirty goblins had been left behind in the village.

They weren’t guarding it intentionally—just goblins who had dawdled too long and missed the timing to follow Yukal.

“What’s going on?”

“Are they chasing humans?”

“More humans?”

“Do they have women too?”

“Horse meat?”

The goblins chattered among themselves, eagerly gazing in the direction Yukal had left.

Then one of them spoke.

“They’re coming.”

It was true.

Something was rushing toward them.

But it wasn’t Yukal.

Two humans on horseback.

And that was it.

There wasn’t a single goblin in sight.

“What’s happening?”

The goblins, bewildered by the unexpected situation, stood dumbfounded as Yoo Seong entered the village.

Once again, he rode straight across the village.

“What is it? What’s going on? What is that human doing?”

“Wait, weren’t there more of them earlier?”

“Why are there only two now?”

“Did the others get caught?”

“Ah, so that’s why Yukal and the others aren’t back yet.”

“Then what about this one?”

“Get him!”

The voice wasn’t that of a goblin.

It was the swamp trolls.

Awakened by the commotion, they bellowed in their grating voices, commanding the goblins.

Without further thought, the goblins charged at Yoo Seong and Rene as ordered.

Once again, Yoo Seong adjusted Alphonse’s speed, maintaining a tantalizing distance to lure them in.

Reaching the right location, he reversed course and summoned the forces of Camelot once more.

“Grah! Ack!”

“Kyaah!”

With fewer goblins this time, it took even less time to annihilate them.

The spearmen who crushed the thirty goblins reversed direction and marched toward the village entrance, leaving Yoo Seong to face the three swamp trolls who appeared late to the scene.

The swamp trolls were no different from Yukal.

They couldn’t comprehend the humans who suddenly appeared.

But unlike the goblins, the trolls didn’t waste time thinking.

With angry roars, they charged toward the forces of Camelot.

Yoo Seong gave the command.

“Light cavalry, assemble.”

The cavalry appeared from the trolls’ flanks.

Momentarily startled by the sudden appearance, the trolls slowed their charge, while Diana’s cavalry carried out their orders.

“Throw!”

At the short command, every cavalryman hurled oil jars handed to them by the elite archers at the trolls.

Drenched in oil, the trolls cursed and swung at the cavalry but to no avail.

Even as the cavalry escaped, the problem wasn’t their retreat—it was something else.

“Fireball!”

Rene hurled a fireball at the trolls.

At the same moment, Vanadain and the elite archers loosed flaming arrows at them.

Whoosh!

The fireball exploded, engulfing the trolls in roaring flames.

Due to their massive size, nearly every flame arrows hit their targets.

“Graargh! Ack!”

The trolls, writhing in flames, rolled on the ground in agony.

But the oil-fed fire refused to be extinguished easily.

“Graaagh!”

One of the three trolls managed to stand.

Amidst the flames, it howled in pain, trying to claw the fire from its face, only to scream louder.

It squinted through the flames and focused its sight.

The fire would eventually die.

The wounds would eventually heal.

That was all that mattered.

If it could just kill the humans before it…

Its thought was not entirely wrong.

But, just like Yukal and the goblins before it, the swamp troll could not achieve its goal.

From the front a golden aura blade slashed through the troll’s arm.

It severed its leg, then swiftly sliced through all four limbs, leaving it crumpled to the ground.

Through the fiery pain, the troll saw ahead.

It was a knight clad in black, wielding the golden aura blade.

And then, after another swift slash the swamp troll could think no more because its head fell from its body and rolled across the ground.