Oh, so NOW you’re trying to run? I guess you are a bit smarter than the rest–Still slow, by all means, though.

  I grabbed the last goblin that still had the privilege of breathing, shutting my steel grasp directly around his small and fragile chest after he turned his back to me in an attempt to take off running.

  Now, the ugly little fellow was mindlessly contorting in my hold, screeching like a frog that was upset about being picked up.

  I don’t know if you’re trying to call for help, little guy, but I’m afraid that if it is the case… That they aren’t willing to reveal themselves for your sake. It’s understandable, I wouldn’t show up for you either.

  I brought the goblin closer to my maw, biting down on his head before chomping down on the rest of his body, leaving nothing of him behind.

  The flesh of those goblins had been very stringy and chewy–And their blood was very viscous. It was good that I didn’t need to eat them with human teeth and mouth. The experience would have been truly awful to go through.

  Anyway, apart from the goblins, there didn’t seem to be any other creatures nearby. It was a bit odd that the guards of this cave would be such weak, unimpressive beings, but I suppose that they are simply the only thing that was available, and besides, they were so loud that, as far as an alarm system went, they had done a pretty good job.

  I walked through winding tunnels, using the light from my eyes to navigate around, until there was no need for light anymore, as I stepped into a somewhat large room featuring a high ceiling, walls decorated with torn and weathered banners that had seemingly been scavenged from several places, a big carpet that had been sewn together from several other ones, a huge cauldron made of alluring steel–And lastly, a peculiar figure sitting in what was probably a very cool throne in their eyes.

  The throne looked quite shabby to me. It was built from bones for the most part. The building material definitely lent itself to creating something impressive, but… Well… I don’t know who built it, but they had the same skills as the children I used to monitor at Harvey’s Diner, and to be clear, none of those brats had been destined to become artistic talents.

  “Who are you? Thou who darest enter my domain?”

  …Great. I have to deal with some guy who thinks speaking like he’s some ancient one will make him sound more impressive. What sort of ancient being would have three stinky goblins as his guard dogs?

  Am I supposed to assume that he is responsible for the mutations? Even if he is… Am I meant to be impressed by that? The mutated creatures are weak beyond belief! There is nothing impressive about them. If anything, they are just pitiful.

  Not that I would take pity on any of them… They are the opposite of cute.

  Ugly and weak. There is nothing to like about them apart from the fact that they are made of food.

  I tilted my head to the side as I sized up the guy sitting on the throne. It was a goatman, but clearly not the same kind as the one I had seen previously in the woods. This one was much more humanoid in stature, thin, and shorter than me by a considerable amount–I would guess at least ten centimeters shorter, probably more than that.

  He had black, messy, and unkempt fur. His little beard was all shrivelled up as though the hair had been exposed to flames recently. His horns curved slightly, but one was missing its tip, having seemingly been broken off.

  In general, his horns were very weathered and beaten down–He looked like he had just come out of a fight in the woods as a whole, actually. One of his ears was missing a chunk as well.

  He even had the rectangular pupils of a goat. Despite these many animalistic traits, however, he still possessed five-fingered hands and regular legs with feet. No hooves or reversed joints were anywhere in sight with this fellow.

  Lastly, to really top off the look, he was wearing black robes with a faded symbol on the chest. It was impossible to actually tell what it was supposed to look like anymore, but considering the variety of banners and the weird, patchwork carpet. It was safe to say that the robes had come from a random place and didn’t actually mean anything about the man himself.

  All in all, he was a rather repulsive sight to the eyes. I didn’t even want to scratch the spot in between his horns.

  “S–S–Say… What’s up with the mu–mutants? How are you doing that? Is it–it a plague?”

  The man-goat stood up from his throne–He was probably closer to fifteen centimeters shorter, now that I could gauge better.

  “Thou answer my question with an interrogation? You must not know proper respect”

  “L–Listen, if you’re going to do–do this whole old speak r–routine. Th–Then, at least be consistent and don’t go using ‘you’ out of no–nowhere”

  The beastfolk stayed silent for a moment.

  “...Shit. I didn’t realise I said that… Aah… Screw this! Who the hell are you, bitch?! Did someone send you here? Is the crown after me? Is Beelmart after me?! Are you one of their assassins, foul creature?!”

  “Sending a monster who is also a woman after me?! How far can their evil go! The combination of two evils into a single vessel… Even I wouldn’t dare to commit such heresy!”

  “C–Calm down and answer my question, B–Buddy”

  He quite literally bleated like an actual goat, jumping back like I had done something–I did not do anything–And pointed at me.

  “Listen closely! The mutations occurred because of my communion with a devil from the deepest pits of hell! Step back before I call upon Baphomet and-”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  I used ‘Embodiment Of Negativity’ and roared at him. With Nara’s help, I had really perfected my screaming sound, and what came out of me was truly horrifying, a mixture of my own distorted screaming with that of several of my past victims, animal cries, the loud shattering of wood, and grinding steel, all combined into one, their pitch adapted to make up what sound like a singular noise.

  In all honesty, Nara was to be credited for the idea. I had made the adjustments myself, but it was she who had gotten the idea to use these particular sounds for the creative process.

  The beastfolk already seemed a bit erratic and jumpy. Thus, the fright worked quite well on him. I immediately sensed a spike of fear emanating from him. I ran across the room with long strides, the hydraulics, or whatever the name was, in my right arm activated as I punched directly for the goat’s center of mass.

  He already looked quite fragile, and by striking with a right hook, it should make it rather difficult for him to dodge the attack–What I had learned from knight training all those years ago was that areas like the chest or hips, which looked like prime spots for direct hits as they seemed harder to move, were actually not that great.

  When someone twisted their body even just a bit, a precise, direct attack could completely miss or lose most of its power, even if it landed. There weren’t really any spots of the body that were tremendously easier to hit than the rest.

  However, that was mostly about a direct attack that came in a straight line. Jabs, hooks, and sweeping kicks were much harder to dodge because they affected a much wider area, and typically forced the opponent to either block or move their feet to get out of the way.

  Considering that back then, I had always been stronger than my sparring partners, I hadn’t had to deal with much blocking. They knew well that I wasn’t the sort to hold back my hits and would thus prefer to dodge, but an enemy whose legs and feet were in motion was an enemy whose balance was vulnerable.

  As such, a swift, following attack while they were in motion, if it landed, was very likely to make them move in some way, be it just a few steps back, or throwing them to the ground, it didn’t matter.

  An opponent whose stance was unsteady was far less dangerous all of a sudden. From there, I would typically just keep pressing them until they gave up. Well… Until one did not, and I apparently went ‘too far’.

  I swear, how can anyone call themselves a knight instructor if they don’t even understand what a fight is all about? I don’t care if it's ‘sparring’, I am here to learn, and I won’t learn unless I fight for real. Doesn’t that make sense?

  …I bet my so-called victim liked the beating as well.

  My hydraulically-enhanced punch–Again, I don’t know if that is a correct way to describe it–Made contact with something, but it wasn’t the beastfolk’s body. I hit something I could not see, and within the short instant I was shattered through it, the horned man basically threw himself away.

  He quite literally rolled on the ground in a most disgraceful manner.

  Was that his idea of how to dodge?

  My fist swung through empty after I broke through what was certainly a barrier, which I couldn’t see because of magical inabilities. It seems like unlocking my kitchen did not help in this regard. I really was a spellcaster different from the rest.

  What do you say, Nara?

  It was a basic wall of regular mana. The casting of it was quite swift, however. It seems like this goatman is a fairly competent mage–In barriers, at least

  “Die, you wench!”

  He fired a mana bullet at me, which I dodged by just moving my head out of the way.

  That spell did not pack much power at all. Which is strange, the barrier was more refined than this when he had much less time to cast it, compared to the bullet

  Heh… Probably not used to casting offensive spells, I assume? He did say that he interacted with a devil. As far as I am aware, devil communion is a rather expensive activity. Not just in money and resources, but also greatly time-consuming, as devils are apparently very specific about how you try to summon them.

  If they don’t like something, they won’t show up.

  I don’t know that much about it, though. It isn’t a topic that is openly taught. I only heard some neat facts that might be nonsense.

  I lunged forward again, but hit yet another barrier. I broke through it by hitting its unseen surface with my elbow, but encountered another one just after as the caster moved to the other end of the room.

  Making some distance between us, like a real mage was supposed to do.

  “Ahah! You fool! You’ve fallen right into my trap!”

  I swear I am going to kill this guy slowly.

  “Beneath this carpet are several pre-prepared devil summoning arrays! The designs have been perfect for me after much trial and error! Behold! I can call upon devils to my aid!”

  Why does he feel the need to explain this aloud? Just do it.

  “Show yourself, o devil!”

  Part of the carpet was absolutely obliterated as something in the shape of a circle lit up underneath it, soon manifesting a silhouette–That of a grey-skinned figure with bat-like wings and small horns.

  “Devil, destroy my enemy!”

  “Heh?”

  “What is the matter, Devil? I have set up the array properly, we should be speaking the same language!”

  “Oh, I understand you perfectly, but what do you mean, ‘destroy my enemy’? I am an incubus, I don’t do direct fights–I mean, it’s not that incubi can’t fight, but in general-”

  “Come on, my enemy is a woman. Just… Seduce her or something”

  “Out of the blue? I am supposed to cause dreams before showing up so that it works out. Do you think I can just show up in anyone’s bedroom, and things just go my way?”

  “You are a devil…”

  “A lower devil”

  “You have been summoned by me! Do something at least!”

  “Alright, alright…”

  The incubus turned to face me, raising a brow as he saw a hunking figure of steel, not exactly what he was picturing when told about a woman, I would assume.

  His eyes glowed bright before his expression fell.

  “Absolutely fucking not! I am not getting close to this… Thing! I am not ranked high enough for this shit! I don’t care about the backlash, I am leaving!”

  The incubus disappeared into a flash of red light, leaving the man-goat stunned.

  “What the…”

  Meanwhile, I continued to shatter through the layers of barriers separating me from the beastfolk.

  “What did that devil see that made him so frightened?”

  The goat’s eyes glowed in a similar manner to that of the incubus, and just like the winged figure, his expression quickly turned ugly.

  With crazed eyes, he pulled out a dagger from his robes and stabbed himself in the palm.

  “I need… A stronger devil!”