Chapter -23.
Lucien, whose attention had been distracted for a split second by one of the villagers' shouts, looked back at the goblin to deliver the final blow, only to be met with an unexpected trick from the goblin leader.
The moment Lucien turned his gaze back to the goblin leader, he felt his eyes close on their own as a large amount of dirt splashed onto his face.
"How could I be so careless?" Lucien thought to himself, simultaneously cursing in the back of his mind, as this small mistake could cost him his life. Just as despair began to set in, he heard a loud voice from behind him: "Lucien, duck down!" Without hesitation, Lucien immediately ducked, and in the next moment, he felt the air above his head being sliced through with a whooshing sound.
Thud.. Thud..
"You bastard... wait, why are you running away? Face me, you coward!" The loud voice rang out again. Lucien now recognized it; hearing what Gilbert had said made him realize that the goblin leader had chosen to save his life instead of attacking him to take him down.
Lucien could hear the heavy sound of footsteps disappearing into the distance; however, he couldn't do anything to stop it, as his eyes were blurry and filled with tears.
"Damn it... that bastard ran away." Lucien, now with his vision improving slightly, saw the silhouette of Gilbert approaching him with a tense expression on his face, cursing the goblin leader.
Meanwhile, the goblins, now leaderless and in a panic, began to scatter, with only a few still engaged in the fight. Lucien and Gilbert knew that there was only a slim chance of catching up to the goblin leader, let alone killing him. Instead of attempting the impossible, both of them rushed back toward the group of villagers to deal the final blow.
This time, instead of using his sword, Lucien grabbed his bow and began to target the goblins that were trying to escape. These scattering goblins could make their way toward the village and cause more damage alone than in a group.
The camp, once filled with the stench of blood and flesh, now looked like a charred and smoking ruin. The goblin camp was nothing but ashes and twisted metal; the fire had begun to spread to the surrounding trees, casting a fiery glow that illuminated the dark forest.
Looking at the half-burned corpses of goblins, the villagers wore satisfied smiles on their faces. However, at the same time, the wounds they had accumulated were too much to ignore. Many of the villagers looked battered and bruised from the battle, and a few had lost a hand or a leg, yet they still looked proud of the outcome of the fight.
Adam, the young boy who now looked like he had just matured years in just one battle, with slow steps approached Lucien and said, "mister Lucien shouldn't we go forward in search for more goblin's camp, there might be many more goblin camp ahead?"
Lucien hearing the young boy's determination smiled, as he felt that the future of the village was in safe hands with fighter like adam, willing to fight for the village continuously despite looking battered and bruised from the intense battle earlier, "we can't do that Adam, more than half of us require tending to their injuries which can be more lethal if they are left unattended for too long; so I feel the right decision we should take at this moment is head back to the village."
"He's right boy." a sudden heavy voice came from behind, it was Gilbert who looked stained in the greenish blood of the goblins, "we've done what we can here, but we must tend to our own first before we can deal with any other threats."
The young boy stared at Lucien and Gilbert for a moment, slowly realizing what they were trying to convey. A smile spread across his face as he nodded and said, "I understand. Let's head back then."
"That's right; we should do that," Lucien replied, ruffling Adam's hair for a moment before turning to look at Gilbert, who nodded in understanding.
Meanwhile, the villagers, with their adrenaline waning, began to gather around their injured comrade. Lucien, Gilbert, and Adam approached them. "Guys, congratulations to all of you for delivering the final blow to the goblins."
"What about that big guy who ran away earlier? Shouldn't we deal with him as well?" one of the villagers suddenly asked. Seeing the goblin leader, he felt that this monster alone could cause more damage to the village than these smaller goblins, who had already given them a tough fight.
Lucien wanted to respond to the query; however, before he could do so, Gilbert interrupted him. "I'll reply," he said in a whispering tone. Stepping forward among the group of villagers, he began to explain, "That big guy running away was an unfortunate event. However, as we all saw earlier, Lucien here almost dealt the final blow to him. If it weren't for that monster playing a petty trick... But since trickery is their main forte..." Gilbert continued his explanation, mixing compliments for Lucien and the villagers to divert their attention from the goblin leader.
With Gilbert's timely intervention and his skillful communication, he successfully managed to divert the group's attention. After a few hours of rest, tending to the wounded, and engaging in conversations with them, the hunting group began to make their way back toward the village, taking the same path they had come from. Meanwhile, the villagers helped each other navigate the difficult terrain, as some had lost their limbs and found it quite hard to walk on the stony path filled with rugged roads.
Lucien, Gilbert, and the villagers, exhausted and battle-worn, stumbled back into the village under the cloak of night. The flickering bonfire, around which a few villagers were keeping watch over the vicinity, alerted to the approaching figures. Grabbing their weapons immediately, they soon realized that the silhouettes belonged to their own people and rushed toward them without hesitation.
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