Ch 73
As Matt cautiously retreated deeper into the tunnel to distance himself from the goblins, Zara, Emily, and Yumiko had a different plan and boldly pushed past him. Before Matt could even muster the words to order them to retreat, Zara was already confronting the lead female goblin, her sword firmly gripped in her hand as she spoke with unwavering determination.
“Take another step forward, and none of you will live past the hour,” she warned, her voice echoing in the dim tunnel.
“Oh, are you his mates?” the lead female goblin sneered, her eyes narrowing. “It seems that we will need to kill-”
Yumiko didn’t wait for the female goblin to finish her taunt. She swiftly let loose an arrow that flew with precision, finding its mark in the right eye of the lead female goblin. At this, the remaining female goblins charged forward in a frenzy. Zara braced herself, focusing on holding them back with her sword, while Emily shouted threats to intimidate them, and Yumiko continued to pick off targets with her arrows.
Meanwhile, Elanor, Rose, and Greg surged forward to join the fray, and Matt found himself instinctively doing the same. In the end, even Tana’s group joined the battle, their combined efforts creating a formidable defense against the goblins in the narrow, shadowy confines of the tunnel.
At the sight of what they initially thought was only four goblins turning out to be twelve, the remaining goblins hesitated before switching to pleading for their lives. However, none of those with Matt seemed inclined to consider mercy, as the nineteen goblin women perished, and Matt earned a total of eight experience points from the skirmish. Meanwhile, the attention of those present shifted towards the man who had been engaged in sexual acts before their arrival, the unspoken question of what to do with him hanging heavily in the air. It was Tana who finally broke the awkward silence.
“We’re killing him, right?” she asked, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife.
“That is a rather dark thought,” retorted Greg, raising an eyebrow. “All he did was make the best out of a bad situation, and you want to kill him for it?”
“Yeah, I was just doing my best to survive,” the man chimed in, desperation lacing his voice as he clung to any potential lifeline. “I can even tell you more about how things work here.”
"How about you find something to cover yourself with first," suggested Eleanor with a note of irritation. "Unlike your former admirers, none of us are interested in seeing that."
At her words, the man seemed to realize his state of undress and hastily grabbed one of the linens, draping it over himself with a hint of embarrassment. Eleanor continued, her gaze steady.
"So, just how do things work here?" she inquired, annoyance evident in her tone.
"Um, well," he began, a bit flustered. "There are ten of us men, and each of us has around 40 goblin women that are ours to breed with. I usually go for—"
"We don't want to hear about how many goblin women you sleep with each day," interrupted Zara sharply. Her tone was cutting, leaving no room for argument. "Knowing there are 400 goblin women here is useful information, but if you start mixing that with the perverted lifestyle you've been living, then I'll join Tana in voting to just end your miserable existence."
"Sorry, sorry, you're right," he stammered, a look of genuine contrition on his face. "The last few weeks—or however long we've been in this world—have been a blur."
"Don't worry about details like that," Eleanor replied reassuringly. "None of us have really kept a close eye on the time in this group, but it's been a few weeks since you were taken by the goblins. What we need to know more than anything is what they're planning."
"Why would they tell me anything?" he questioned, his voice laced with frustration. "All they want from me is breeding, and as long as I comply, they take care of all my needs."
"What happens if you don't do what they want?" Greg inquired, concern etched on his face.
"Well," he hesitated, "there were only a few of us who refused, and I doubt any of them are still resisting now. Life is a lot better when we just do what they ask, as they'll get what they want either way."
"Are all goblins rapists?" Emily scoffed, her disbelief evident. "Really, from what Matt has shared, weren't most of these women forced to breed nonstop before? Why flee if you were just going to end up doing the same thing after escaping?"
"Because through breeding, we can build an army to take over and rule those who see us as nothing more than creatures to be caged and used at their leisure," answered a sweet voice that sent a shiver running up Matt’s spine. "I must say, I never thought we would see you again after you escaped following your act of freeing us."
Standing now in a shadow that Matt’s group had failed to check was the very goblin woman who had once tricked him into freeing her. The smug look on her face was unmistakable as she watched Yumiko pull back and fire an arrow, only for it to be effortlessly batted out of the air, as if it were nothing. It was clear she had reached a whole new level of power as she continued to speak.
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"Now, I must say that, seeing as you've killed so many of our breeders, I should force you to replace them with some of your own. I am thinking that leaving three of the women here to birth human children, who will remain even after all of you vanish, would be adequate."
"Excuse you," retorted Tana sharply. "I don’t think—"
"Don’t worry, you don’t need to think," interrupted the voice with a sneer. "Just spread your legs and let a child take root in you as we treat you like a queen until the time comes for you to leave us. I will even promise to help you reach at least level 7 and share what we know about the system we live under."
"Not going to happen," Matt responded firmly. "We came here to—"
"Slaughter us and free the men we have shown to paradise so that they can return to hell," the voice continued, dripping with sarcasm. "Really, I know that you are strong and resourceful enough that fighting you will be costly, but letting you escape would end with our ruin if we didn’t have hostages. Heck, I will even let any of the women who volunteer pick the father, as long as they want to pick you, that is."
"I am not hindering my potential by having children," Matt replied, his voice steady. "That is why goblins are so weak as a race; your children are always stealing your fates before having their fates stolen by their children. Perhaps if a few of your kind could hold off on breeding until after they reach D rank, your species could rise above the tactic of breeding armies destined to be slaughtered."
"It appears that you know more than you should, yet less than you could," replied the tiny goblin woman, her voice crackling like dry leaves. "Indeed, anyone who acts as a breeder is destined never to reach their full potential. However, with each child, a new possibility is born. So, what does it truly mean if I must sacrifice my own potential to create 100 more possibilities, and then they can give rise to 1,000 more, and so forth? In time, my modest potential will generate a possibility that will transform into reality, and that will mark the moment when goblins will genuinely rise to prominence."
Matt could sense that the diminutive goblin woman genuinely believed in her assertions, but his instincts told him she was mistaken. In fact, he felt the opposite was true; with each passing generation, the potential of their kind seemed to diminish rather than increase. While she might be correct in saying that if she had 100 children, their potential could be greater than hers, it was likely only a doubling, not 100 times what she possessed. The caveat was that when the fathers were human, the other half of their potential would be borrowed from the human race as a whole. Considering it this way, Matt could comprehend a logical perspective where the goblin race as a whole could gain potential. Even so, these were merely his thoughts, and he had no concrete evidence or reason to believe they were entirely accurate. Still, these musings sparked an idea in his mind as he prepared to respond.
"I don’t think you understand as much as you believe you do about how potential works. Not that I claim to know everything, but if what you're saying were true, goblins would have become major players by now, not just fodder."
"What do you know? You've only just begun living under the system and haven't even unlocked a status screen yet. We've existed within this framework for as long as any of us can remember."
"I have a patron who has shared enough information—"
"Tread carefully," Tempormr's voice whispered ominously in Matt's ear, as the world around him, including his own body, seemed to freeze in place. "The goblins here are part of an experiment conducted by another, someone you are not yet prepared to provoke by disrupting their work. I won't reveal their ultimate goal, as it remains a mystery even to me, but I do know that ensuring they breed continuously is crucial to what they are attempting to discover."
"Enough information for what?" pressed the diminutive goblin woman, her voice sharp and insistent, after the world had resumed its motion and Matt stood frozen for a few seconds, unsure of how to proceed. "Tell me what you know now!"
"I know nothing," Matt replied, acknowledging the chaotic swirl of his thoughts. "I have simply been told things that I choose to accept because I have no real alternative in the matter. One of these things is that my patron has forbidden me from fathering a child until I have reached my full potential. I believe that the key to any children I might have reaching their full potential is for me to do the same, yet none of the goblins have achieved this."
"Other than the goblin king," interjected the tiny goblin woman with a knowing nod. "Fine, I will let you leave if you help me in deposing him and fixing the messes he has made for our kind."
"I will gladly kill him, but I promise nothing more," replied Matt. "I can't even promise that if I reach level 9 before doing so, as my patron plans to pull me out of this world when I reach that point."
"That must be nice, but it should be fine since our so-called king is only a level 12 goblin, and no one else has surpassed level 9. You've already proven that you could handle them when you were much weaker than you are now, so such a force should be nothing to you."
"And yet, here you stand, with no fear," Matt countered. "So, tell me, what makes your force greater than mine?"
"Nothing," the tiny goblin woman replied with a sly grin, "but while we were speaking, all but a few of us have already made our escape. I believe I can slip away through paths that would be difficult for you to follow."
"Hold on, what?" the captive man almost shouted, still only wrapped in a linen cloth. "Are you saying that I am being abandoned?"
"Only if we are forced to," replied the tiny goblin woman, with a tone of determination. "We are survivors, not fools."
"How many level 9s should I expect?" Matt inquired, choosing to ignore the heated exchange between the other two. "Also, I will need a guide, as the path you used to escape last time has collapsed."
"I know, who do you think collapsed it?" the tiny goblin woman chimed in, a hint of pride in its voice. "Still, if all you need is a guide, I will happily volunteer to lead your group, even if you decide to kill me after I show you the way there."
Matt paused, contemplating his next move, when Tempormr abruptly ordered him to accept the situation and disregard the other female goblins. Matt considered pushing back, but he realized that refusal would likely infuriate Tempormr. With many questions still lingering in his mind, Matt reluctantly agreed.
"Fine," he said, "I'll take you with us and let you guide us along a path that will make reaching the goblin king easier, without having to battle every other goblin we encounter."
The tiny goblin woman seemed taken aback by his response, but it was Emily's reaction that was most dramatic. She turned to Matt, her voice rising in disbelief.
"Absolutely not! We are not trusting a goblin to lead us straight into a death trap!"
"The decision has been made by his patron," the tiny goblin woman interjected calmly. "My name is Kal, and since it seems we'll be working together for some time, I'd like to know all of your names as well."
