Novice Reincarnator

I dispatched the third Lesser Goblin with the same level of ease as the second. I wouldn’t always be able to win by bringing a fight into a brawl, but it worked for me so far. The boss of the dungeon, a Goblin, was stronger than the inferior Lesser Goblins, but not by much.

An elaborate door stood at the end of the long stone corridor. I gulped at its appearance despite myself. The doors signaled the presence of a boss room. Once I defeated the Goblin inside, I would be able to leave this dungeon and finally be a qualified explorer.

Like the three foes before it, this fight would only end with either the Goblin’s death, or mine. If I wasn’t a Common Novice, then I could easily use my Class skills to clear this dungeon. Instead, the cold steel in my hand was all I had to rely on.

It would have been great if I reached level 3, but I would have to make do at level 2. I looked at my status one more time and mentally prepared myself. I wasn’t the human Asta Ashford who had never fought anyone in his life. I was the demon explorer Ash with three kills secured under my belt.

“Let’s do this.”

I pushed the ornate doors open. A strange vibration swept through the dungeon and suddenly, it was like I was in the middle of an earthquake. The world cracked like glass. That glass shattered, dropping the Goblin and I into darkness.

A transparent, blue screen popped up in my vision.

Warning. Dimensional Interference detected. Explorer’s entrance examination is suspended. Please evacuate to safety.

The darkness disappeared just as quickly as it came, leaving the Goblin and I in a strange cavern full of sparkling minerals. It was a dark place lit only by the faint glow of crystals.

“Yar? Yar!”

The Goblin looked around the cave in confusion. When it spotted me, it lifted its club and gave a war cry. I readied my daggers to fight back. A loud, grating sound like rocks scraping against each other echoed throughout the cavern.

“Wha–?”

Glowing crystals snapped together like magnets behind the charging Goblin to form a colossal humanoid figure. I didn’t have any time to react. One moment the Goblin was charging at me in fury. The next, a roar shook the dark cavern and a swift wind swept through my hair. A wet something splattered against my face.

It took me several seconds to realize that a heavy fist composed of tons of crystalline rocks had erased the charging Goblin from existence.

“I-Impossible…”

Two daggers clattered to the ground from my lifeless fingers. I couldn’t win. That colossal monster was on an entirely different level from me. I had to run away.

My trembling feet were rooted to the ground. Move! Move! Move! No matter how desperately I screamed to myself, my feet wouldn’t move.

“Ah…”

The pair of gleaming blue gems that served as eyes to the crystalline monster found my figure. The colossus took a step towards me and each step produced a loud thud.

My legs buckled and I fell on my butt. The pain in my rear woke up my frozen body. My feet kicked against the floor as I scrambled backwards on my butt. Death’s steady approach drew nearer at a far faster rate.

“Stay away!”

I yelled in hysteria. My heart pounded so loudly in my chest that I thought it was going to explode. Overwhelming terror drowned out my thoughts. Run! Run! Run! My mind repeated that command endlessly on a broken loop.

My back bumped into a wall and suddenly, I had nowhere left to retreat to. The colossal monster raised its fist in the air in preparation to end me like it had ended the Goblin in front of it.

Tears spilled down my cheeks. I wanted to live. This monster wouldn’t permit that. I wanted to live. I was too weak and powerless to change my fate. I wanted to live!

“Help me…”

I stopped halfway through my sentence. Ah, that was right. Leo couldn’t save me since I had left him behind to go to the Upper Realm. My hero was no longer by my side. The colossal monster brought its crystalline fist down on me.

Terror robbed me of my control over my body. A hot, wet liquid leaked uncontrollably from my crotch, wetting my thighs and forming a puddle under my butt.

My consciousness slipped away from me. The last thing I saw was a brilliant, snow white sword cut in between the colossal monster and me. A single white flash filled the world and then I knew no more.