I’m not Goblin Slayer Chapter 086

The night sky was adorned with stars. There were no clouds tonight, and the silver-white moonlight, unobstructed, poured down freely.

In the clearing, a blazing orange-red fire roared, and the wood in the bonfire crackled and popped.

The firelight stretched the shadows of the people gathered around the bonfire.

The warrior Liam used a dagger to poke the embers, setting up a grill. The wild rabbit on the fork, roasted by the flames, dripped oil into the bonfire, sparking and continuously emitting a fragrant, roasted aroma.

Gauss’s slightly tired eyes flickered with a hint of anticipation.

This might be the last night of this dungeon exploration trip.

According to the estimated progress, the dungeon should be thoroughly explored by tomorrow.

So, Lawrence suggested that they should recuperate tonight and have a bonfire feast, which could also be considered an early celebration for the successful conclusion of the dungeon exploration tomorrow. This dungeon exploration had been quite fruitful, and everyone found it hard to hide their joy.

After a busy day, delicious food, especially oily meat, was the best comfort.

Unfortunately, the trap set in the morning only caught one wild rabbit, just enough for everyone to share a bit and taste some meat.

Facing Lawrence’s suggestion, although Gauss felt a strange sense of déjà vu, like celebrating halfway through, he hesitated but didn’t want to spoil the mood.

By the fire, the priest apprentice Adrian couldn’t help but exclaim, “Lawrence, you really know how to enjoy yourself.”

The spices used for the roasted rabbit were kindly sponsored by Young Master Lawrence.

Good spices, it was well known, were not cheap.

Even as adventurers, they didn’t always splurge on spices for every meal.

“If you’re alive and can’t even enjoy basic gourmet food, then you’ve truly lived in this world in vain,” Lawrence waved his hand.

Gauss glanced at him.

His sweeping statement had offended quite a few people.

Even without mentioning others, just looking at those present, ordinary people from humble backgrounds probably accounted for at least half.

Many ordinary people were content just to eat their fill, let alone enjoy gourmet food.

At least his original body hadn’t had such conditions.

Besides the roasted rabbit, there was also some emergency food everyone had prepared. After all, the small amount of meat on the grill wasn’t enough for seven adventurers, all with appetites larger than ordinary people.

Gauss brought coarse wheat biscuits, dried meat strips, and meat paste.

Others also took out and heated their own food.

Gauss’s peripheral vision scanned the surroundings, taking in the food everyone carried.

Only the food the half-orc warrior Throck pulled out confused him.

Did this guy really eat black bread for several days in a row?

He watched him cool down boiled hot water as usual, then eat it with black bread.

Gauss raised an eyebrow, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Logically, with his strength, even if he only relied on the money saved from daily, he shouldn’t be reduced to eating only black bread, right?

Moreover, was the nutrition provided by black bread enough?

Did he just like to eat black bread, or was he poor?

Did people who loved black bread truly exist? Gauss found it hard to imagine. But if the reason was poverty, it was rare for an adventurer with decent strength to be in such a state, wasn’t it?

Throck quickly finished the food in his hands.

“Do you want a biscuit?” Gauss subtly moved his own food towards Throck.

He wasn’t being charitable for no reason.

During the past few days of dungeon exploration, Throck had instinctively stood in front of him, providing protection.

Although most of the time, those dangers couldn’t truly threaten him, as he had Mage Armor.

But it was still a kind gesture from the half-orc warrior.

“No, thanks. My bread is enough,” Throck shook his head.

“Take it.”

Gauss noticed that the cloth bag he used to store black bread was empty.

He handed his extra coarse wheat biscuits and a few meat strips to the other party.

“The exploration should end tomorrow. I brought these extra, and they’re not worth much.”

Throck hesitated for a moment, then wiped his hands on his clothes and took the food Gauss offered.

“Then, thank you.”

After thanking him, Throck tore the coarse wheat biscuits and meat strips into pieces and put them into his mouth, chewing.

Gauss watched him accept his kindness and felt relieved.

These past few days, others had also offered to share their food with Throck, but he had stubbornly refused.

Perhaps it was the last night now, or perhaps seeing that the food in Gauss’s hand wasn’t particularly valuable, he finally accepted Gauss’s food this time.

“Throck, are you very short on money?” Gauss hesitated for a moment, then asked quietly.

“Yes.” Throck was silent for a moment, then nodded. “All my money is sent back to my family. I have more than ten siblings at home, and I’m the eldest.”

“After this exploration ends, it should be enough…”

“No, stop! Let’s talk about what happens after the exploration ends,” Gauss felt increasingly uneasy the more he listened and quickly interrupted him.

“Oh, okay,” Throck nodded, bewildered.

This small, hushed interlude didn’t attract the attention of the others by the bonfire who were busy with the roasted rabbit.

Gauss finished his own food.

He sat close to the fire for warmth, reviewing the events of the past few days.

Tonight was the fifth day of the dungeon exploration.

In the past five days, he had killed a total of 68 monsters.

An average of 13.4 monsters per day, which might not sound like much.

But considering there were seven people in the team, this number was actually very impressive.

He couldn’t expect his temporary teammates to cripple monsters and then let him deliver the final blow.

On one hand, he didn’t have that much influence, and on the other hand, it was simply not feasible.

Monsters weren’t soft persimmons to be manipulated at will.

So, Gauss was quite satisfied with this kill efficiency.

The main thing was that it was stable; he could count on a certain number of kills every day.

Compared to commissions that required a lot of time searching for monsters and traveling, the efficiency of killing monsters here was much higher.

Every day, he would wake up, wash, eat, organize his equipment, and then descend into the dungeon.

Although the process was tedious and oppressive, if it could continue, he would actually be willing to endure it.

Unfortunately, this exploration was also coming to an end, and he didn’t know when such an opportunity would arise again.

Such opportunities to explore undiscovered ancient civilization dungeons weren’t always available.

After the rabbit was roasted, everyone shared some, and a simple meal concluded.

Gauss watched as the others returned to their tents to rest.

He got up and added some wood to the bonfire. It was his turn to take the first watch tonight.

“Boom!”

After adding fuel, the flames surged, burning even brighter!

…

“Rumble rumble!!”

The deafening rolling sound behind them grew louder and louder!

“Clatter clatter!”

Urgent and rhythmic footsteps echoed rapidly in the downhill passage.

In the narrow passage, Gauss and the others ran swiftly, sweat dripping onto the ground with a patter, splashing tiny droplets of water!

“Sure enough, I shouldn’t have agreed to Lawrence’s ‘victory feast’ yesterday, celebrating halfway through, nor should I have asked Throck about being short on money.” Gauss, stuck in the middle of the team and constantly running, had his back soaked with sweat.

But hearing the booming sound getting closer behind him, he didn’t dare to stop.

The exploration earlier that day had started smoothly until they entered this narrow passage. Not long after they started, it was as if a hidden mechanism had been activated behind them. A huge rolling stone, two meters in diameter, fell and, using the gravitational potential energy of the downhill slope, relentlessly chased them.

This forced the team to keep running forward in the passage.

If they stopped, they would be crushed into meat paste.

“Are we close to the next exit?”

This downhill passage was terrifyingly long.

Under the oppressive force of the rolling stone, everyone squeezed every ounce of strength from their bodies, desperately accelerating their run.

“Almost!” Throck, at the very front, could already see faint light at the end of the passage.

“Run faster!!”

Lawrence, at the very back of the team, yelled forward at the top of his lungs.

He had initially thought the last position in the team was safe, but now he felt it was terrible.

If the rolling stone rolled over him, he would be the first to die.

As the team members desperately ran, the light at the end gradually grew larger!

“Boom boom!!”

Almost immediately after, as the group ran out of the passage and dove to the side, the huge rolling stone also rolled out of the passage.

Shattered stones flew out, striking at their feet.

It made everyone’s hearts pound with fear.

If they had been a step slower, they would have truly been crushed into meat paste by this massive stone.

They hadn’t expected the first thrilling crisis of this dungeon exploration to be caused by a stone.

“Bang!”

As the team members lay on the ground, gasping for breath, the huge rolling stone fell into a central groove in the room.

“Thump!!”

A massive, heavy stone door also dropped down from the passage they came from, blocking their retreat.

They were used to this.

This wasn’t the first time this had happened.

So, what kind of monster would appear?

The gasping group lying on the ground blinked and suddenly realized something was wrong.

The ceiling above them seemed incredibly high, easily over ten meters.

They glanced sideways at the entire room. Unlike the previous small rooms, which were only a few dozen square meters, this one was exceptionally spacious, looking like a small plaza at first glance.

“Something’s wrong here! Everyone, be careful!”

The hearts of the team members, who had just experienced a life-or-death moment, which had just calmed down, couldn’t help but race again.

This place looked abnormal.

It was unlike any other room they had encountered before.

“Rumble rumble!”

As everyone uneasily got up.

The ground began to tremble.

Those who hadn’t fully gotten up quickly used their hands and feet to brace themselves on the ground, maintaining their balance.

Their gaze turned towards the end of the room, the direction from which the tremor originated.

A stone cage was slowly squeezing out from a tall rock wall.

“Bang!!!”

After the stone cage squeezed out, it shattered like an eggshell, and amidst the dust, a sound of carapace friction echoed.

A tall, humanoid monster finally stepped out of the shadows! Appearing before everyone!

It was about two and a half meters tall, covered in a hard, brownish-brown chitinous exoskeleton that gleamed with a metallic luster. It had four scythe-like forelimbs and a pair of even stronger and more powerful hind limbs.

Its huge, grotesque praying mantis head had a pair of red-glowing compound eyes and a serrated, blade-like mandible.

“It’s a Sliclean Mantis Man!!”

Seeing its appearance, Lawrence’s pupils suddenly constricted, and he gasped.

For no other reason, the mantis man before them was a Challenge Rating 1 monster, a deadly enemy for their seven-person team!

Gauss swallowed hard.

Even from a distance, he felt an astonishingly powerful aura emanating from it.

It was as if they were facing a tall, terrifying hunter, and they were the locked-on prey.

Suddenly, the mantis man’s long, jointed hind limbs, which resembled a locust’s, bent downwards. The next moment, its hind limbs coiled and sprang, its joints popping crisply, propelling its body forward at high speed.

“Thud!”

“Thud!”

“Thud!”

In the spacious room, the sound of each of its leaps was exceptionally clear.

With a few blinks, its brown shadow-like form flew past. When it reached the center of the room, it violently pushed off the ground, using the jumping force to easily leap onto the massive stone sphere in the center of the room and stand there, looking down at the seven people.

Gauss gripped his bone staff. He could feel the cold, emotionless killing intent emanating from those compound eyes.

“Be careful!”

Everyone slowly spread out.

Holding their weapons, they cautiously watched the mantis man.

It had to be said, the pressure it exerted on the team was truly immense.

Whether it was its exaggerated tall stature or its swift jumping speed just now, everything indicated that this was an extremely terrifying opponent, even a killing machine capable of easily slaughtering ordinary people.

The ranger apprentice Bianca’s longbow string vibrated, drawn taut. The next moment, it suddenly released, and a sharp long arrow spun at an incredibly terrifying speed towards the mantis man.

“Whoosh!!”

With the skill’s enhancement, this arrow’s speed was at least twice that of an arrow shot by a normal archer.

The arrow tore through the air, forming a black streak, its target directly the mantis man on the giant stone!

The mantis man’s compound eyes glowed red!

In an instant, its lower limbs sank slightly, and its body seemed to briefly flicker sideways.

“Swish!!”

The arrow was dodged, grazing its body as it continued to fly into the distance, finally embedding itself in the rock face and breaking.

Unharmed!

Gauss swallowed.

It was also thanks to Bianca’s attack that he deeply felt the agility within its body, which was completely inconsistent with its large size.

The arrow shot by Bianca after activating her skill was extremely fast; in terms of speed alone, it wasn’t much inferior to his Magic Missile.

This meant that the mantis man could react to Bianca’s arrow and could also perceive his Magic Missile!

“Spread out!”

Gauss suddenly observed the mantis man’s power-up squatting motion again.

He quickly reminded his teammates to spread out their formation.

Everyone quickly dispersed.

As soon as Gauss finished speaking, the mantis man sprang out, flying again, and with a few leaps, heavily slammed into the ground where everyone had originally been.

“Thump!!”

This sound also simultaneously struck the hearts of the team members.

So fast.

For a moment, uneasiness filled their hearts.

“Damn monster!”

The two warriors’ hands, gripping their weapons and shields, trembled slightly, but they didn’t forget their duty.

They raised their shields towards the mantis man, both shouting loudly to attract aggro.

Indeed, after noticing the movements of the two “little guys” not far away, the mantis man twisted its head, its compound eyes staring coldly at them.

Its lower limbs sank, and its figure appeared in front of Liam the next instant.

So fast!

The mantis scythe in its hand danced a circle in the air.

“Whoosh!”

Liam’s shield, held in front, was directly slapped aside by a sub-limb. Immediately after, the main forelimb fiercely raked with a claw strike, and Liam was sent flying by the claw strike.

“Pfft!!!”

Liam, who flew back two or three meters and rolled twice, his face suddenly turned pale, losing all color.

“Cough, cough!”

Liam’s mouth overflowed with blood, and he looked at the tall silhouette of the mantis man, his pupils wide with shock!

With just one strike, the warrior in the team was directly incapacitated!

“Magic Missile!”

Taking advantage of the brief moment the mantis man stood still, Gauss finally locked onto its figure.

If the target was too far or moved too fast, it would be difficult to lock on. Fortunately, the mantis man had to pause for a moment when attacking.

A cerulean missile shot out from the tip of his staff!

The mantis man, which was originally preparing to launch a second attack to finish off Liam, felt a threatening attack fluctuation coming from its side and had to twist its body.

Its flexible sub-limb slashed across the trajectory of the Magic Missile!

“Bang!!!”

The moment the Magic Missile contacted the sharp claw, a heavy force was immediately applied to the mantis man’s forelimb.

“Click, click, click!”

Compared to the arrow, this Magic Missile was closer and more sudden.

“Thump!!”

The mantis man staggered backward, forced back a few steps.

But before the Magic Missile exploded, it still used a quick claw strike to slightly deflect the Magic Missile’s flight path.

And using that small space, its body jumped a distance in the opposite direction.

The deflected Magic Missile exploded in the air, creating a loud sound.

“Its claws are so tough? Or perhaps my magic quality isn’t high enough?” Gauss captured the scene of the brief contact.

“But it also can’t just take my missile head-on, and it needs a certain amount of time to squat and charge before a long-distance jump, while short-distance displacements require less reaction time.”

Gauss noticed that the mantis man’s sub-limb was trembling, and he silently analyzed.

After being knocked back a few meters, the mantis man’s gaze locked onto Gauss from afar.

However, at this moment, except for the priest who was preparing to seize the opportunity to rescue Liam, the other members, who had already formed a proper formation, finally provided support.

Although the mantis man’s surprise attack was too fast just now, causing everyone except Gauss to be unable to help Liam immediately, now, they had to restrain it!

They couldn’t let it continue to single-target strike the team.

Almost every member of the team didn’t have the strength to face it one-on-one.

“Touch of Frost!”

A blue ghostly bone hand flew out, attempting to grasp the mantis man’s sub-limb and infuse it with the energy of undead corrosion.

“Thud!”

The bone hand was too slow.

It was dodged by the mantis man taking a few steps back before it could even hit.

As long as it focused, with its developed leg muscles, it could dodge most attacks from low-level adventurers.

At the same time, its gaze remained tightly fixed on Gauss.

It seemed to believe that in this team, only he could pose a threat to it.