Chapter 22 The Ambush

The Minotaur glanced at her, shouting, and dropped both of his axes to the ground. Letting out a loud sigh, he retorted,

"No need for axes to kill you... wearing down knuckles on you is all Bill needs! You little monster! GRAH!"

After releasing a war cry, the Minotaur charged at the girl once again, this time throwing a straight fist in her direction. She swiftly assumed her stance and halted Bill's powerful punch by blocking it with both hands raised over her head. The impact was so forceful that it created a hole in the ground. However, the Minotaur wasted no time. He swiftly kicked the stunned girl in the stomach with his massive leg, leaving a bloody mark from the impact of his coffin bone on her firm abdominal muscles.

Suzuka hit the ground with great force, sliding back a few meters from the powerful kick. Her skin tore and began to bleed, but she paid no heed to the pain. She promptly got back up and sprinted toward the Minotaur at full speed. As she drew close, the Minotaur launched another punch, but Suzuka effortlessly dodged it and delivered a heel kick right to his jaw. The blow was so impactful that the Beast fell to one knee, his hand instinctively reaching for his jaw. Suzuka attempted another kick, but the beast swiftly blocked it with his other arm.

Undeterred, she continued her barrage of kicks, targeting the Beast's vital points one after another. The powerful strikes only fueled the beast's rage, causing him to unleash a frenzy of random fists and kick toward her. One of his attacks connected, sending her flying backward. In the heat of battle, the Minotaur failed to notice arrows flying towards his back, and four of them embedded deeply into his flesh. 

Experiencing pain in his back, the Beast bellowed. "Brahhh! Who dares to interrupt?! Show yourselves, cowards!"

However, no one showed up; only four more arrows were launched at him. Bill guarded his face with one arm and slowly walked towards his two huge axes. Two arrows hit his arm, while the other two missed. Small arrows merely annoyed such a large beast and didn't cause much damage. The Minotaur picked up his massive axe and prepared to defend himself against another arrow attack. Upon examining the poorly crafted arrows, he deduced the identity of his attackers.

"Stupid goblins... come forward, you cowards! Do you think you can kill Bill with mere sticks!?" he bellowed.

A Goblinman emerged from the shadows of the forest, clad in fine plate armor and wielding a shortsword in each hand. Around his neck hung a necklace adorned with a ruby plate, which once belonged to a seasoned adventurer he had slain. The Goblinman pointed one of his swords toward the Minotaur and began shouting in his native tongue. Humans couldn't understand his words, but the Minotaur, being no ordinary man, comprehended the Goblinman's intentions.

"Leave, beast! We outnumber you! Don't be a fool and depart... while you still can! These lands belong to us now."

Minotaur lowered his axe, surveyed the area, and addressed Goblinman:

"You, skin-eating pest! I know where your nest is! There are castle ruins nearby! No one leaves that place alive! All of you will end up face down on this damp ground. Once I'm done with you all, the nest is next. Your baby goblins and everyone else will be my dinner!"

While Minotaur and Goblinman argued, Suzuka pondered how to survive this situation.

"Goblins again? Are they the only inhabitants in this entire forest? First... I need to figure out how to escape this mess... think, goddamn it, think... Alright, firstly, I can't align myself with the Goblins. I don't understand their language, and they'll likely feast on my flesh if I surrender. If I help the Minotaur... maybe he'll reconsider my presence here... And if I run, who knows what awaits me in that forest? But for now, I'll just play dead."

After hearing what Minotaur had planned for the Goblin nest, he glanced to his right and left, raising both of his swords and pointing them at the Minotaur while shouting:

"Charge at this beast! Show no mercy, attack with all you've got, Goblins!"

At that signal, two Behemoths charged at the Minotaur from the left and right. Following their lead, 16 Goblins armed with daggers, 4 Orcs wielding wooden clubs, and an armored Goblinman, who was in charge, also rushed forward. The Minotaur blocked their assault with his axes, enduring a powerful blow from the two colossal beasts as they rammed into him. However, their charge only succeeded in breaking his already worn-out axes.

Soon after, Goblins and Orcs with Goblinman in the back surrounded Minotaur. Goblins stood from behind while big ones took the front. Bill got really mad when his axes broke and threw a punch at one of the Behemoths but they didn't wait and the other Behemoth grabbed Bill by the waist, holding him in place. Then another one barely dodged his punch and grabbed his hand trying to restrain him from moving.

"Pests! Thinking you can hold down Bill!"

But before he could swing his free arm and free himself, four Orcs grabbed into it and started to hold it.

Then Goblinman signaled Goblins to attack Minotaur from the back.

"Attack! You know the plan! Make him bleed, boys!"

One after another Goblins crawled onto Minotaur like flees and started to stab him with daggers. After seeing the Minotaur getting swarmed by Goblins Suzuka thought to herself.

"Oh no! This looks bad! I should do something before they kill him."

But before she could think of anything Minotaur was already covered in his own blood. Without taking any more pain Minotaur headbutted Behemoth that was holding on to his arm and knocked him out cold. Right after that with his strong hand grip, he crushed two Orcs' heads before the other two let his arm go. Then he hammered Behemoth who was holding him by the waist with both of his arms and knee-kicked him at the same time, breaking his back. Without wasting time he shook off Goblins from his back and started to crush them one by one. Suzuka was amazed by the sight that he was able to free himself from that kind of situation.

"Wow! He's so strong... if our fight continued I would be the one on the ground. By the looks of it, he wasn't going all out against me. Looks like I won't need to help him after all."

But Goblinman didn't stand and watched, he took the opportunity and sneaked up Minotaur from the back while he wasn't looking. With a running slide, Goblinman slid between Minotaur's legs and cut him by the calves with a double backslash. Minotaur fell to his knees from the pain, he was at his last strength and too tired from losing too much blood.

Goblins didn't wait till he recovers and started to stab him again from all directions. There were still 8 goblins, 2 orcs, and one Goblinman left. Using his last strength Bill grabbed two more goblins and crushed them with his bare hands. But then Goblinman started to shout again.

"Back off! Let him bleed a little more! He can't get away now! Just a little time and he won't be able to lift a finger."

While heavy breathing, Minotaur looked at Goblinman and said, "You're not stupid like the rest... did you plan this all?"

With a cocky face, Goblinman answered, "I'm not a stupid brute like you, I think before I act hahaha! My simple plan worked and look at you now, mighty beast! Bested by a mare Goblin! How does that make you feel?"

As they talked, two remaining Orcs stood in front of Minotaur and lifted up their big wood club while waiting for the order to strike Bill down.

"So tell me mighty beast, before you die. How does it feel to be beaten by such a low-class monster?! hahaha! it must be humiliating."

Minotaur closed his eyes.

"Heh! Bested by a mare Goblin... does not matter to Bill... it's just a monster killing another monster... nothing new in this forest..."

"If you pledge your loyalty to us Goblins and do as we tell you, I may spare your life... And now, chose your words carefully beast, because you will not get another chance."

"Damn cowards... just do it already, don't have all day."

"Well then, mighty beast! Die in shame!"

Saying that he was about to give a signal to the Orcs but heard something whistling, then he saw how one Orc head split in half and the other one got a hole blown through his chest. Projectiles that killed them were throwing knives, Goblinman saw them when one of them split a rock and got stuck in it.

When he looked another way to see who it was he saw Suzuka standing and peering at them with another two knives in her hands. The last six Goblins started to run at her thinking they can kill her easily but they were wrong. She threw the last two knives knocking holes in two more Goblins killing them where they stand.

The other four got close to her and tried to stab her, but with a fast round-hound kick to the neck, Suzuka decapitated one of the Goblins' heads. She didn't stop there, with a quick thrust kick she crushed another one's chest. The other two Goblins tried to stab her from the sides but she stepped back, grabbed them by the blade, and hit Goblins to the head with dagger handles knocking them out for good. By doing so she cut both her palms deep but the pain wasn't a problem to her at that point. She just got angry as the pain was her trigger. Goblinman stood there and watched how his fellow Goblins got wiped in mere seconds, but when the last Goblin dropped to the ground he realized he was in big trouble.

"This can't be! This can't be! They are all dead! But... how could this be! I... I... I need to get out of here! Eahhh!"

When Suzuka started to walk towards Goblinman he started to run as fast as he can but she didn't hold back and used her box power. She reached out her hand in front with an open palm and said, "Gravity grip!"

Goblinman's plate armor started to get coated in a dark shadow and stopped him in place. Then she slowly started to curl her fingers into a fist, while blood was dripping from her wound, slowly crushing his plate armor with him inside. While she was crushing him to death she asked him, "So...!? How does it feel...!? To be bested by a mere human girl, Goblin?"