In a heartbeat, the goblins lunged forward with shrill, inhuman cries—blades raised, eyes gleaming with vile anticipation.
They didn't know.
They couldn't know.
Beatriz moved.
No—she vanished.
One moment she was standing calmly before Elrick, her hand barely brushing the spear's shaft. The next, the ground cracked beneath her feet and she streaked forward like a divine bolt of judgment. Leaves exploded into the air behind her from the sheer force of acceleration.
The lead goblin hadn't even blinked before her spear impaled him mid-charge.
SHNK!
The blade didn't just pierce him—it erased him. The holy edge of the weapon tore clean through bone and flesh, bursting out his back in a violent spray of blackened blood. The goblin's body spasmed once, then crumpled as Beatriz flicked the spear sideways, launching his corpse like a discarded ragdoll into a nearby tree.
Another goblin leapt at her from behind.
Beatriz didn't even turn.
Her grip shifted, and the spear elongated mid-spin—stretching seamlessly from ten to fifteen feet with a faint pulse of light. The extended shaft whipped behind her in a circular arc, catching the ambusher mid-air.
CRACK!
The creature's ribs shattered instantly. Its body flung wide, hitting the ground with a sickening thud, twitching, then lying still.
Three more rushed her at once, flanking her from the front.
Beatriz's stance dropped low—unnaturally low, inhumanly flexible. Her armored legs bent like a coiled serpent preparing to strike.
Then—she spun.
Her spear sang through the air in a wide, whirling arc, the radiant tip trailing silver light. It cut through all three goblins at once, slicing through their torsos like parchment. Their upper halves slid off their lower bodies before they even realized they'd been cleaved.
The remaining goblins froze.
Their wicked grins vanished, replaced by something primal—terror.
One dropped his dagger and bolted.
He didn't make it three steps.
A spear tip extended—again—piercing through his back and out his chest in a blink.
She hadn't even moved.
She had willed the spear longer from afar, her fingers twitching as she adjusted its length like an extension of her own body.
Elrick stood motionless, staring at the mess of bodies and blood. He wasn't nauseated. Surprisingly… he felt fine.
Maybe it was the adrenaline.
Maybe it was the fact that goblins didn't feel human.
They were monsters. Threats.
"That was… insane," he whispered.
Curiosity crept in.
Can I check her stats?
He focused on her, imagining a character window but nothing came.
Elrick's brow furrowed.
I guess it's not one of those system or I'm not doing it right.
"The moment I saw her name and title, I knew it. These summons… they're from the game I was playing before I got pulled here."
Beatriz stood nearby, arms folded, her crimson eyes fixed on him—silent, cool, unreadable.
Elrick looked around at the twisted bodies and crimson-soaked soil. The forest was still now. Too still.
"…We should find a human town. Or a road. Anything," he said, trying to keep his voice steady.
Beatriz remained silent, her posture rigid and unflinching, the tip of her spear resting against the earth. A faint breeze tugged at the white cloth trailing from her armor, but she didn't move.
Then, with a quiet hiss of divine energy, the spear collapsed into its compact form across her back.
"I see smoke. One mile east."
Elrick tensed. "That could be a goblin camp… maybe where these ones came from." He hesitated. "But I guess we should check it out."
She raised a single gloved hand, pointing through the dense trees with mechanical precision.
"Stay close."
Without another word, she moved—silent, efficient, unstoppable.
Elrick exhaled and followed, stepping through the underbrush in her wake.
And as he trailed behind the woman who moved like a wrathful phantom, he couldn't shake the weight settling on his shoulders.
She was just like in the game—but this wasn't a screen, and she wasn't made of pixels and code anymore. She was real. Flesh, blood… and something more.
Would she hurt him?
Would she even be loyal to him as a summoned?
He didn't know.
But she felt ancient. Heavy with purpose. Forged by divine intent.
Something terrifying.
Something sacred.
And now, impossibly, she walked at his side—bound to him by a power he didn't understand.