Kuro no Maou

While hiding in the shade of a tree, Lily pointed towards a part on the rocky cliff.

“ooh, there are definitely goblins there.”

The main entrance seemed to be a cave of around 3m and around it were three more small entrances of about 1m. Neither of them is very big, but for goblins who are at most 1m in height, it is sufficient.

The goblins here seem to be the same type as the ones I faced during the maneuvering experiments.

The ones at that time were equipped with sturdy armour and sharp blades but the ones here are wearing just old rags and are equipped with what looks like weak handmade weapons.

The level of equipment was definitely low, but they seemed to be more than used to these weapons.

“I’m confirming this just in case but, it’s fine to kill all of them right?”

I had long lost any hesitation in killing living things including humans, but I didn’t feel like showing Lily a blood-filled scenery either.

Although I doubt Lily would have any reluctance towards killing considering she has been doing this for a long time, but still I decided to ask just in case.

If she got scared due to me over-killing the goblins, I would be pretty sad.

“Yes, if you leave even one goblin then another 30 would come, so you must properly exterminate them all.”

“Is, is that so? I see.”

I felt a really big gap seeing her say things like [extermination] as if they were cockroaches. (T/N: I think here Kurono is talking about Gap Moe probably. Google gap moe if you don’t know what it is.)

Is the pure cruelty special to only children, I wonder?

Well whatever. That’s one thing out of my mind at least. As asked, I’ll leave not a single one alive.

“All right. Well then I’m off!”

Without really trying to hide myself, I directly move towards the cave.

“——Load.”

This technique of creating multiple bullets before the start of battle so that I can fire consecutively was developed while I was crammed in that box while crossing to the Pandora continent. I had lots of free time after all.

The amount of bullets I can stock isn’t very big, but for now being able to concentrate 3 times my usual firepower on the first turn is enough.

“Blackening.”

I use it on the 1m long 4 wooden branches that I collected while coming here. I had carrying it underneath my armpits till now, now I can control them without touching them. I make the 4 black sticks stay behind me.

“—–alright.”

As I stand on top of a large boulder, I can clearly see the entrance of the cave. From here, I won’t miss any goblins either.

Roughly, 20 goblins can be seen out of which around 13 of them are armed. There are probably more of them hiding in the cave. And as I saw the goblins, at the same time the goblins near the entrance were also able to clearly see me.

Not wanting to welcome the human who suddenly appeared, the faces of those goblins that looked like a mix of frog and monkey quickly distorted and looked at me with hostilty.

“gyoaahhhh!!”

I don’t know whether it was a signal for its companions or just a war cry but with the the shout the goblin entered a fighting stance.

“That’s right! Come at me——-wait Lily!? Why are you here!?”

“?”

The moment I was about to fire my magic, I became aware of the white shadow flickering near my legs. I was sure she was in the forest waiting patiently, so why is she so nonchalantly coming to the front lines!?

But, now I can’t just run away while holding Lily either.

Lily has some experience in fighting monsters so it’s probably unnecessary to worry about her.

Aaagh! I’m still extremely worried!!

“Lily don’t leave my side. It’s dangerous!”

“Ok.”

Did she understand or not? Lily looks at me with a puzzled face.

I’m seriously worried but I don’t have time worry about it for now.

“Alright, let’s go!!”

Once again motivating myself, I face the goblins. Out of the 13 armed ones, 2 were equipped with bows. Maybe due to the noise, 4 more goblins with bows and 10 others also jumped out of the cave. The rest, all equipped with spears and swords, charge towards me.

“Rifle.”

First I’ll take out the long ranged ones. Before the six bow users could release even a single arrow, the fake full metal jacket bullets pierce through their heads.

Since I had them loaded in advance, I could fire all of them at the same time rather than one by one.

“Buckshot.”

The next aim was towards the ones charging straight towards me.

I had defeated the bow users in the time required for a single shot so the attack group had not yet reached close enough to me. That distance was approximately 10 meters. Perfect to finish with Buckshot.

The already loaded 4 buckshot were fired and immediately covered the whole area in front of me in the form of a barrage. Having neither shields nor the time to evade, it pierced through the bodies of the goblins.

The goblins in the front were completely annihilated on a level that it was impossible to know which of the bullets had been the fatal one. There were even some whose thin arms and legs had been blown away.

“gih, gieaaha!!”

Goblins who had avoided a fatal blow due to their companions becoming a shield for them raised a cry of anger and anguish and continued to charge towards me. Behind them were the ones who still unhurt, and again, more reinforcements appeared from the cave.

It seems they won’t retreat with just this, or maybe they don’t possess the intelligence to plan a retreat; either way, if they are coming then it’ll only help me save time so I’m glad actually.

“Gatling.”

Sticking out my right hand, I start using Gatling for sweeping fire.

Gatling automatically does the process of firing bullets so I am able to focus solely on creating bullets. This results in rapid firing faster than rifle.

But, using my right hand as a barrel, I can only fire in a straight direction from it with some slight aiming only. Thus it is effective against groups charging straight from the front. The opponent will indirectly get inside my range after all.

And so, without any means to defend against or avoid the bullets on the same level as Rifle, the goblins charging here one by one turned to minced meat.

This was not a battle but looked more like a one-sided massacre.

Nevertheless, the goblins kept on charging inside the kill zone of the black bullets.

Due to dead bodies of their companions slowing them down and my bullets flying all over, the distance between me and the goblins remained the same. When I thought that it was about time that I started moving towards the cave as well, it was at that moment.

“uoooooh!!!”

A load roar shook the surroundings. While firing the Gatling, I looked towards the source of that roar.

It was probably a part of the reinforcements coming out of the cave and had no difference in looks compared to other goblins. But the big hatchet held in its hand strangely stood out.

The goblins here mainly used handmade bows and spears which was definitely poor. Occasionally, there were some who held swords but those were also chipped and rusted without any signs of proper maintenance.

But that big hatchet alone still held sharpness and was releasing a shine even an amateur could see.

What it released was not just shine but also a darkish aura similar to my black magical energy.

The moment I thought that a troublesome one appeared, the goblin with the hatchet suddenly attacked its companions beside him with its weapon. With a short death cry, the neck of that goblin fell, clearly as if butter had been sliced with a knife.

“Oioi, that really is a dangerous guy.”

Even goblins noticed the abnormality and stopped their charge to look towards him.

In that short moment, the goblins near it one by one fell under the attack of that big hatchet and had their heads cut off.

“Kurono, that’s a cursed weapon! It’s dangerous!”

“Cursed weapon?”

Now that I remember, during the Maneuvering experiments, there were strange weapons which raised strength or allowed the use of magic without actually learning them, just by holding that weapon. Similar to how I used blackening on weapons, I thought weapons could also be attached with various magical effects.

But, there may be times when the magic attached may not always be a merit for the user as well. That must be the so called [Cursed Weapon].

Attacking all without discrimination of ally or enemy, it’s quite a simple to understand curse.

As I somewhat carelessly thought, I shot my Rifle towards the Goblin still swinging around that hatchet.

I had stopped Gatling, so the aim was perfect, and pierced through the head brilliantly, or that was how it was supposed to be.

“guaau!!”

With a slight swing, the bullet was deflected by the hatchet.

“Are you kidding me? What kind of reaction speed is that!?”

With its eyes completely gone white, the already ugly face became worse and turned to look towards me.

Ah, this is, it’s completely aiming for me now.

On top of it, its breathing became wilder than the time it appeared, it’s drooling continuously, and its white eyes are now starting to become bloodshot. Did my single shot irritate it that much; the goblin’s anger was clearly heating up.

This might be a little troublesome opponent.........