Goblin Kingdom

Chapter 299: Friend (3/3)

“You’ve done it now…!”

Standing on the bow of the rocking ark, Liuryuna drew cold sweat, but with this, she was certain of their victory. Gawain no longer had the power he had in the past. Being able to block that attack just now meant that they’ve won. The anti-magic barrier was temporarily broken, but it would return before long.

But then a goblin suddenly appeared on top of Gawain’s head. Immediately, a chill ran up her back. There was something terribly sinister coming come from that goblin. It was so sinister in fact that she couldn’t believe it was from this world.

She had never felt like this before, not even when when they were fighting with the old gods. That’s why Liuryuna’s face twisted into an unsightly appearance as she angrily commanded his death.

“Kill him!”

A mere goblin had made a god such as herself feel threatened. This was a humiliation she could never accept. The guns of the flying warships stirred up a barrage as though to reflect her emotions. Even the iron bullets they didn’t use against the ryuus were utilized as the seven warship unleashed everything on that goblin.

“Now!” Gawain said.

As soon as Gawain said that, his body weakly crashed to the surface.

“Understood!” Gi Za said.

Magic stones shattered and Gi Za flew from Gawain’s head. With gravity pulling down on him and the wind pressure, it seemed as though his body would be torn apart. For a moment he wondered if the wind would crush him despite having the Divine Protection of the God of Wind.

“OOoOoAAA!”

But Gi Za bellowed out a howl and filled his staff with the power of the wind as guided by the maddened wind spirit. Amidst the violent winds, he managed to adjust his posture and maneuver himself. The barrier of the flying warship has already been disabled by Gawain’s strongest attack. All that was left were the anti-aircraft barrage.

The fluctuation of probability, guided by the thousand hands of the goddess of fate, allowed Gi Za to be hit by a bullet.

“──GAH!?”

A water bullet just grazed past him, but it took with it one of his arms. Blood sprayed out of him and dyed his cheeks.

His posture broke, and the barrage continued.

A metal bullet exploded from up close, the fragments gouging out his guts.

“──!?”

Gi Za grit his molars in pain and the blood leaking from them were carried by the wind.

Despite that he didn’t forget his objective. He concentrated his winds at the end of his staff and measured the distance.

“Your honorable name is dignified, I pray unto you!”

Blood spurted out of his mouth, but Gi Za didn’t care one whiff as he focused all of his remaining strength into the end of his staff.

“O God of Winds! Become my spear!”

The mad spirit fought against the violent winds and transformed itself into a single spear, then Gi Za pointed the sharp tip of that spear and…

“──Fall!”

The spear of the mad spirit shot out from his staff, accurately piercing the engine area of the ark’s starboard, exposing the interiors, and causing the unsinkable ship to give rise to violent vibrations and black smoke, but still it did not fall.

Even with the metal forged by a god, and even with the full power of a mad spirit, Gi Za still failed to sink the ship, but──

“…Tch! The ark will not fall! That is the masterpiece of my older brother! And a weapon created by a god could never sink in the hands of a lowly monster!”

Though the ship had not sunk just yet, it was in the process of doing so.

──I’ve opened a path.

As his sight grew hazy, Gi Za maneuvered himself and entered the now open ark.

“How dare a filthy monster step foot in the ark!”

The imperial guards stationed to protect the royal family were immediately sent.

The monster army outside should calm down once they killed him.

That’s what Liuryuna thought when she sent the imperial guards, but when they got there, what they saw was a trail of blood leading to the engine room.

They gulped.

Even a goblin should die if it bled this much.

But for some reason, the creature went to the engine room.

That persistence, that obsession made them freeze in fear.

Along the way, its bloodstains stuck to the floor and flowed, as if it had been dragged along by something.

He must have crawled.

“It should be nearby, don’t let your guard down.”

The imperial guard gulped in response to his partner’s words.

Blood was sticking to the heavy door. As they slowly opened it, what they saw was a goblin on the verge of death with his back toward the wall and a magic stone in hand.

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…Your Majesty. I’ve finally caught up.

Go ahead and laugh. I don’t mind.

But I wanted to stand beside you.

Beside the man who gave me my name.

It’s not because I wanted authority or a lot of subordinates, no.

It’s embarrassing, I know, but in these last moments of my life, I…

Dreamed of that day we met.

We goblins could never have a bright future. The warriors fought as they desired, but even they were nothing more than food for the other monsters.

I ruled over the druids, but I knew that there was no future for us, so I despaired.

I left my father, but when I thought of dying just like that, I curled up.

Laugh.

It was a goblin as pathetic as that that lost to you.

But that was only a given.

Oh, but that final battle definitely made my heart throb…

I thought I’d die. I didn’t really mind, though. After all, no matter where we went, we would just eat each other until eventually our turn to be eaten came.

Even if I died, it just meant that you would die later, but you──

──I will build a nation. I will bring together all of the goblins and create a powerful nation. So follow me! I need your power!

Ah, I remember it clearly even now.

Just as you said, you built a nation.

A nation that contained not only us, but also the elves, the demihumans, and even the humans… They were all charmed by your dream.

I wonder if you remember the time when you fought the ogre lord.

I really thought my heart would stop.

When you resolved yourself for death, and when I saw that back, I thought to myself, I’m going to chase after that.

It was then that I swore, not to anyone, just to myself…

──Can you still fight, Gi Za?

Yes, my king. I can still fight.

I’ll fight as many times as you want.

But you’re our king, so I want a little reward.

I’ll take on all the dirty jobs. Because you’re too kind, and you’ll probably never tell your subordinates to die, but that’s okay, you just need to be the sun that shines brightly above us.

…My decision wasn’t wrong.

I will use the lives of my adorable subordinates to save Alrodena, and above all, you.

I don’t care if I have to be a demon. I’ll wear a ruthless mask if I have to.

And I’ll kill everyone whether they’re ryuus or gods. And if they get in the way of our kingdom, I’ll slay enemies and allies alike.

…You’re kind, that’s why you’ll always treat me the same.

That’s why…

A reward…

Actually…

I’ve always… wanted to stand beside you…

And──

“Become…… your…… friend”

The magic stone in Gi Za’s hand fell to the floor and shattered, and in the next moment, a storm of wind erupted within the ark. One of the old gods, the God of Wind, bestowed power upon the mad spirit, who in turn shared its power with Gi Za as it accompanied him through countless battles. That power transformed into a powerful wind that tore apart the ark from inside.

The only goblin that dared to stand beside the Goblin King passed away.

In exchange for his life, the ark fell.

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