As the sun passed its zenith and gradually began to sink toward the western mountains, the adventure party returned. They appeared on a hill a considerable distance from the village.
We staged it so that goblins and humans appeared to be fighting each other. We'd tied bundles of straw to the heels of roughly a hundred goblins with hemp rope, and thanks to that, enormous clouds of dust billowed up as though an intensely fierce battle were underway. Within the dust clouds, the humans used their trusty brass gongs and horns to blare military songs while the goblins shrieked and howled. The clamor of iron clashing against iron rang out thunderously.
Laura covered her mouth with her sleeve and spoke.
"The enemies are charging."
"They'll assume a battle is in full swing."
"Then shall we proceed to the next stage?"
I nodded in permission. At that, Laura issued orders to the monster corps. She couldn't transmit commands as instantaneously as I could — in my case, I could issue mental orders to any golems or fairies formally purchased within the dungeon — but she led the monsters using flags and other signals in her own way.
— Krrrrk!
— Kee-ru, kee-ru-rukk!
The goblins scrambled toward the village's main gate in a panic. They looked exactly like routed soldiers retreating in disarray after being blindsided by a sudden enemy appearance. Just as we'd arranged beforehand, the humans gave chase to the monster corps with ferocious zeal. Laura and I stood at one side of the village and watched the spectacle unfold.
"Whaaaah! The monsters are retreating!"
"Kill them! Get them!"
From the adventure party's perspective, the battlefield looked like this: monsters and villagers were locked in a heated exchange. While both sides were locked in fierce combat, the adventure party appeared behind the monster corps. The monsters, startled by the sudden arrival of enemy reinforcements, began to retreat.
"They've taken the bait."
The adventure party–vigilante squad joint force charged toward the retreating goblin unit. An army in the midst of retreat was the most tempting quarry. The adventure party, together with the village's pursuit force, intended to press the monster corps from both front and rear to bring the battle to a decisive end.
Except the monster corps wasn't retreating — it was charging directly at the adventure party.
And the villagers who appeared to be chasing the monsters had every intention of attacking the adventure party as well — something the adventurers had not the faintest clue about.
Laura and I murmured almost in unison.
"It's over."
"It's over."
On the plain before the village, the goblin unit and the adventure party clashed.
"Khahaha, the village kids put up a better fight than I expected!"
The moment he witnessed the battle raging at the village, Leaf gave the charge order without a moment's hesitation. Dust clouds obscured the view, but there was no doubt a fierce fight was underway. The deafening noise, the shouts, the screams — everything spoke of a blood-soaked war.
At a glance, the palisade had been breached. Leaf initially thought the village was at a disadvantage. His plan had been to join the fight quickly and execute the anvil-and-hammer tactic before the villagers were wiped out. But the moment his unit started moving, he saw goblins pouring out of the village, and his thinking changed.
'Evenly matched!'
The village was not at a disadvantage. Even though the palisade had been breached, they were still trading ground back and forth from inside the village walls. The monster unit must have suffered horrendous casualties punching through four layers of palisade. Under those circumstances, when Leaf's unit appeared behind them, the Demon Lord's army had panicked and issued a retreat order.
The situation had changed. There was no need for the village to serve as the anvil while they played the hammer. Instead, they would become the anvil, seizing the ankles of the retreating goblins. The villagers would become a massive hammer, smashing into the goblins' exposed rear!
Leaf shouted excitedly.
"Brothers, do you see!? Those goblin bastards are running with their tails on fire!"
"Yeah! We see them clear as day!"
"Those scrawny little shits won't know what hit 'em — our spears are more than enough!"
The adventurers and militia members roared their agreement. Some were already screaming battle cries.
The goblin unit and Leaf's unit — both sides charged toward each other. The distance between them shrank rapidly. From that point on, the number of warriors screaming war cries skyrocketed. They were burning away the terror of battle with raw fury.
Running set their hearts ablaze. War cries exhaled hot breath into the air. In that instant, the adventure party plunged onto a true battlefield.
"Let's die! Let's just die!"
"Huh! Huh! Huh!"
"We'll smash those bastards to bits!"
The goblins closed to within arm's reach. Along with them, the monstrous roar of monsters erupted.
— Grrrrrrrrrr!
─ Gah-look! Gah-look! Gah-ruhk!
Lift thrust the tip of his spear forward. It was a spear he'd acquired with sponsorship from some wealthy merchant back in the city. Longer than a short spear but shorter than a pike, it was a touch too short for facing a human army — but it was more than enough to stab through goblins, who were far smaller in stature than any human.
"Chaaarge!"
"Uwaaagh! Let's kill 'em!"
"Skee-yooohooo――!"
At Lift's grand signal, every member of the unit raised their spear. Muscular forearms, physiques that dwarfed the goblins by a wide margin, and chests and thighs thick as logs all held the spear shafts steady. At last, the two forces collided.
"Aaaaargh!"
A tremendous scream echoed across the plain. A powerful jolt — ku-ung — traveled up into Lift's grip. He had skewered two goblins on his spear tip at once. His palms stung. His running speed slowed. Even so, Lift planted his right foot hard and charged forward, and forward. With every step he took, another ku-ung, ku-ung shock rippled through the spear shaft. The goblin brats were rushing headlong into the sharp spear points like moths flying into a flame!
"Try and kill me, you sons of bitches!"
"Charge! Chaaarge! Don't stop! Don't you dare stop!"
"Hans, you bastard, keep running!"
The adventurer–militia combined unit moved like a rolling wall of stone. The goblins crashed against them without pause — ku-ung, ku-ung — but were swept aside like foam smashing against a boulder. For goblins, a heavy infantry charge was every bit as devastating as a knightly cavalry rush.
Goblins wore, at best, leather armor — and even that left most of their bodies bare. Humans, on the other hand, wore quality cloth armor with chainmail over it. They couldn't afford to cover every inch in expensive chainmail, but their upper bodies and thighs were properly protected.
A few goblins managed to push through the forest of spears and swung their clubs. But it was nearly impossible to land a lethal blow through chainmail. Of the seventy-three soldiers in the unit, only eight were killed during the charge — the unlucky few. The remaining sixty-five heavy infantry pressed on without hesitation. By the time their running speed had completely died and the charge ground to a halt, over a hundred goblins had been wiped out in the blink of an eye.
"Get in there, boys! Tie them up close!"
"Don't fight alone — fight together! Hey! Hans! You, you bastard, do you wanna die?!"
The unit quickly formed a tight phalanx.
Those who had charged too far ahead in their excitement found themselves surrounded by goblins. Like deer caught by a pack of hyenas, they had no choice but to be gnawed to death by goblin teeth all over their bodies. The remaining number was sixty. They formed a square formation and calmly stabbed at the goblins.
"Kahaha! I told you, this is easy as pie!"
"Sync your breathing. Huhh! Thrust! Hahh! Pull back!"
"Hwooph! Hwooop! Hwooph!"
The militia, who had spent their entire lives protecting the village from goblin raids, proved especially effective. They knew better than anyone that as long as they avoided being surrounded by goblins, they could stay out of serious danger.
Just as the frenzy of the charge began to settle slightly—
"Hwooph! Hwooph…?"
A man among the adventure party's officers furrowed his brow. Keeping his eyes locked straight ahead, he spoke to Leaf, who stood beside him swinging his spear in tandem.
"Captain! Hwooph! Something's off!"
"Hub! What the hell, man! Stop yapping and stab!"
"There are too many goblins!"
His brain, which had been fully absorbed in killing goblins up until now, finally kicked back into gear.
…Too many goblins?
Leaf's gaze widened for an instant. Not just the goblins charging from the front—those beside them, behind them, and beyond that all flooded into his field of vision. The man was right. There were far too many of them. They had to have killed several hundred during the first charge, yet the green-skinned monsters still swarmed in disgusting numbers.
Wait. They should have thinned out during the street fighting in the village?
A rough estimate put the goblin count at around three hundred. It didn't add up. Before clashing with the adventure party, the goblin force should have just fought a grueling siege. A four-hundred-strong unit should have been reduced to roughly two hundred at minimum.
What was going on—had the Demon Lord bastards mobilized even more goblins? As several thoughts flashed through his mind, his companions shouted out.
"Hey! This is weird! Why are the village folks spilling out from both sides!?"
"Those goblin bastards aren't hitting them from behind—they're trying to link up with us!"
"Those cowardly sons of bitches!"
His companions cursed with rough anger, yet faithfully continued thrusting and pulling back their spears. Leaf mechanically mimicked their motions. His mind was flooded with what they had just yelled.
The village folks aren't striking the goblins from behind?
Leaf whipped his head around to survey the battlefield.
Sure enough, the villagers were simply passing by the goblins on either side. From both flanks, the villagers were closing in to encircle both the goblin forces and the adventuring party.
'What the hell? What are they playing at?'
They'd rather fight alongside the adventuring party than face the goblins alone — understandable, given how overwhelmingly powerful the party was. But right now, the goblins were showing their backs outright to the villagers. Was there any reason not to bash in the head of prey that had turned its back on you? Were the villagers really that cowardly?
More to the point — why were the goblin bastards putting up such a stubborn fight if they were supposedly retreating?
"……!"
Leaf understood. And he was horrified. Only a single answer could explain the bizarre phenomenon unfolding before him — the villagers had betrayed them!
"Son of a bitch!"
Leaf cursed without thinking. That was it. For reasons he couldn't fathom, the villagers had thrown their lot in with the Demon Lord's army. The goblins weren't retreating at all — they were attacking head-on, and the villagers were moving to flank the adventuring party from both sides.
The tide had turned. The situation that had seemed so favorable until now had suddenly flipped into its polar opposite. They weren't the ones wielding the anvil and hammer — the goblins had become the anvil, holding the adventuring party in place, while the villagers were the hammer, trying to smash them to pieces!
Leaf screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Retreat! Fall back! Retreat!"
"Huh? Captain, retreat? What do you mean……"
"Shut up and fall back! Damn it! There's no time to explain, move!"
Leaf broke from the formation and bolted toward the rear. His companions screamed. Some cursed at him. But Leaf didn't care.
This was the last moment. The adventuring party had fallen into a trap — a perfect one. But the villagers hadn't encircled them yet. It was only a matter of time, but still — not yet! If they missed this golden opportunity, the party would be surrounded by the goblins to the front and the villagers on both flanks, and wiped out entirely.
They had to run before that happened!
"Hah!"
But after only a short while, Leaf had no choice but to halt. The adventurers who had blindly followed him in flight stopped as well. They too had begun to sense that something terrible was unfolding.
Blocking the rear of the party — the direction they had been trying to flee — stood roughly a hundred humans.
These were none other than the villages at the far eastern end — the ones Leaf had deemed traitor villages. The combined people of two villages.