They frantically pumped their legs and ran.
It was too far.
It was not enough.
At this moment, they heard horses from behind them.
Enri was extremely fit, so much so that she was turned off by it. Even so, her heart was pounding and her breathing was in disarray. Fear drove her to look behind, and there she glimpsed something she could not believe was there ― despair.
“No way…”
Over a hundred mounted knights had appeared from behind them. They must have been hiding in the blind spots of the observation deck, sticking close to the walls. They had only emerged because they were sure nobody else was going to come out.
It was a long distance from the village to the forest. However, there was a huge difference between the speeds of horses and humans.
Maybe Agu and Britta could flee. But it was impossible for the children. They would be overtaken.
The knights held gleaming objects in their hands. There was no doubt they were planning to cut them down from behind. Although Nemu was running at the head of the column, it was doubtful if she would be able to escape.
“Enri, keep running!”
Nfirea suddenly halted in place.
“Enfi!”
“I’ll buy us some time!”
“Are you crazy? Don’t think this will be like last time when Lupusregina-san saved you!”
“Just run!”
Nfirea’s angry shout was directed at Enri, who had stopped as well.
“If you want to buy time, I have a better way!”
Enri withdrew the battered old horn from her pocket.
It could only summon 19 goblins. Although there weren’t a lot of them, each one was still quite strong. It should be enough to buy some time.
“Idiot! There’s so many of them! You won’t even be able to get 20 people!”
She couldn’t argue against Nfirea’s reasoning. They would definitely be outflanked. However, not blowing the horn would be even more stupid.
“Isn’t it the same with you?!”
Enri no longer had time to waste on talking. She placed the horn to her lips.
―Goblin-sans! Please help me!
What rang out was a basso profundo note that made the very land tremble.
Enri blinked at what she had done. In the past, when she had summoned Jugem and the others, all she had gotten was a soft poot. All she should have gotten was the noise a shabby child’s toy would have made.
“En-Enri…”
The panicked Nfirea’s line of sight went past Enri, looking at something beyond her. Enri’s eyes followed Nfirea’s to behind her.
The mounted knights were about to catch up with them, and they should have had all the freedom in the world to do it, but for some reason they were pulling on their reins to halt their horses. Due to the sudden stop, some had even fallen off their mounts.
Enri looked behind them, and―
“―Eh? Ehhhhhh?!”
Many items in YGGDRASIL could receive custom names. However, a very few were exceptions to the rule. Those included dropped artifact items.
One such artifact was the Horn of the Goblin General.
The horn was a small and plain item, but there was a curious quirk about it.
It could only summon 19 goblins. These 19 goblins were trash mobs that weren’t even worthy as a YGGDRASIL player’s opponents. So why would such an item be given the grandiose name of
“General”? It wouldn’t have been odd just to call it a “Goblin Horn”.
Many players in YGGDRASIL thought that way. In the end, none of them could justify a name like this, and they left it at that.
However, there was a reason for that name.
And that reason was―
Jugem swung the magic greatsword he had taken from the Giant of the East. The strike that he had made with all his strength was blocked by his opponent. However, he couldn’t fully neutralize the force of the blow, and it broke his balance. Normally, Jugem would have immediately followed up, but the other soldiers harrying him would not let him do so.
They flanked Jugem from both sides, in order to cover the soldier who had left himself open.
Clicking his tongue, Jugem weaved the sword through the air like an extension of his own body, neatly parrying the two sword strokes that came at him.
“…This goblin’s pretty good. He’s actually forcing the three of us back at once.”
“What an unbelievable fellow. I didn’t know goblins could be this strong.”
Jugem could sense that his opponents weren’t at their limit yet, which made him worry.
If he fought these soldiers one on one, he could win. If he fought two at once it would be a matter of luck. Three at once meant he would most likely lose. And now―
There was still another soldier circling behind him. Jugem took a small step back.
―Against four people at once, all he could do was die.
His first few opponents had been some weak soldiers, which he broke through easily.
The brave warriors of Carne Village advanced inexorably toward the Kingdom’s battle-lines in a wedge formation.
But then, strong opponents had started appearing, as though they had entered a different area. Their equipment was of a high standard. They must have been the elite troops of the enemy army.
Although they weren’t far from the enemy camp, they had not taken that many losses yet.
However ― it was still hard.
He turned his attention away from the four of them and surreptitiously observed his surroundings.
The goblins under him had slowly been overwhelmed by superior numbers.
He was stronger and tougher than his opponents… but on the flip side, those were his only two advantages ― much like the ogres. All they could do was watch their opponents retreat after taking a single blow.
There were already several martyrs for Carne Village. Even though the goblins had taken the brunt of the attacks on the leading edges of the wedge, the enemies’ numbers were far too oppressive, and it was impossible to endure all their attacks. Invariably, a few people would make it in, and invariably, someone would end up embracing the ground.
It was a reckless strategy, and this outcome was only to be expected.
However, Jugem wanted to believe that this might not be the case.
And in this moment―
The sword struck him, causing a flesh wound.
“Cheh!”
Jugem swung his greatsword, opening up a gap.
“You guys, who are you? Not ordinary farmers, I’ll bet.”
Jugem was level 12. With that in mind, his current opponent was roughly level 10, or maybe 11. The other three might be level 9.