The five goblins on the left charged simultaneously—axes, daggers, and arrows flying.
The humans barely had time to react before the right side exploded into motion.
The bulky goblin's club smashed into a soldier's shield with enough force to crack the wood. The two spear-wielders thrust in perfect tandem, one spear punching through a gap in armor while the other forced a soldier to stumble backward.
"Ambush! Both sides!" a soldier screamed.
The mages tried to react. One raised his staff—
CRACK!
Satou's stone shard smashed into the mage's hand, breaking fingers. The staff clattered to the ground, the spell fizzling.
The second mage began chanting, his voice rising urgently. "Flame Bur—"
An arrow sprouted from his throat. His eyes widened in shock as blood poured from the wound. He collapsed, the spell dying with him.
"Mages down! Mages down!" a soldier shouted, panic creeping into his voice.
The remaining six soldiers tried to form a defensive circle, shields raised, but the goblins didn't give them time.
The lean goblin with daggers darted in low, slashing at exposed legs and forcing soldiers to drop their guards. When they did, Gob's axe came crashing down from above.
The shaman in the right tunnel raised his staff. "Earth Bind!"
The ground beneath two soldiers turned to mud, their boots sinking. They flailed, off-balance.
The spear-wielders didn't waste the opening. Both spears thrust forward, finding gaps in armor. Both soldiers fell.
"What the hell?!" one of the remaining soldiers screamed, his voice breaking. "These are just goblins! They're supposed to be weak! Stupid!"
"Does this look stupid to you?!" another soldier roared back, desperately blocking an axe strike.
"Fall back! Regroup!" the last soldier with any authority shouted.
But the goblins had anticipated this.
As the humans tried to retreat toward the main tunnel, three goblin scouts dropped from hidden positions above, landing directly in their path. Arrows flew at point-blank range.
One soldier took an arrow to the eye and dropped instantly.
Another caught an arrow in the throat and staggered, blood pouring down his chest.
The last two soldiers, panicking now, broke formation and ran in opposite directions.
Gob tackled one from behind, his weight bringing the human crashing down. His axe rose and fell once.
The final soldier made it three steps before the bulky goblin's club caught him in the back of the head. He collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
Silence fell over the junction.
Ten humans dead. Not a single goblin lost.
For a moment, no one moved. Then Gob straightened, breathing hard, and stared at the carnage.
"That... actually worked," he said, sounding genuinely surprised.
Satou dropped down from his ledge. "Told you. Tactics beat charging in screaming."
One of the goblin warriors kicked a dead soldier's body. "They didn't even see it coming."
"Because they thought we were stupid," Satou said. He walked over to the first mage's corpse and crouched down. "Now let's not waste this opportunity."
He tore off a chunk of flesh and forced it into his mouth, chewing quickly despite the bile rising in his throat.
DING!
[Skill Acquired: Minor Mana Sense]
[Skill Acquired: Flame Spark]
Satou moved to the second human and started devouring him.
DING!
[Skill Acquired: Basic Swordsmanship]
[Skill Acquired: Shield Deflection]
Gob watched with a mixture of disgust and fascination. "You're really committed to this eating-the-enemy thing, aren't you?"
"Gets results," Satou said, wiping his mouth. "Now grab their weapons. We need every advantage we can get."
The goblins quickly looted the bodies—swords, daggers, a decent shield, even a mage's staff.
As they worked, one of the scouts spoke up. "You think the humans heard all this?"
"Definitely," Satou said. "Which means more are coming. We need to move. But..." He grinned. "Now they know we're not pushovers."
Gob snorted. "One ambush doesn't make us an army, whelp."
"No," Satou agreed. "But it makes them cautious. And cautious enemies make mistakes."
Deeper in the cave, a group of human soldiers regrouped at a command post—a widened chamber where supplies had been stacked and wounded were being tended.
A lieutenant paced back and forth, his face twisted in frustration.
"Report!" he barked.
A scout stumbled into the chamber, his armor scratched and dented. "Sir... Delta Squad... they're gone."
The lieutenant froze. "Gone? What do you mean 'gone'?"
"Dead, sir. All of them. Eight soldiers, two mages. We found their bodies at the junction."
"Impossible," another officer said, stepping forward. "That's ten trained soldiers. Against goblins. How?"
The scout swallowed hard. "It was... coordinated, sir. They hit Delta Squad from both sides simultaneously. Took out the mages first, then isolated and overwhelmed the soldiers. It was... tactical."
A long silence fell over the chamber.
"Tactical?" the lieutenant repeated slowly. "Goblins? The weakest, most unintelligent race in the known world?"
"That's what I saw, sir," the scout insisted. "They weren't just charging in blindly. They had positions. Covering fire. They even interrupted our mage's casting with ranged attacks."
One of the soldiers laughed nervously. "Come on. Goblins? They're barely smarter than animals. They breed fast and die faster. That's all they do."
"Then explain ten dead soldiers," the scout shot back.
The laughter died.
The lieutenant's jaw tightened. "This doesn't make sense. Goblins don't fight like this. They don't think like this."
"Maybe they've got a leader," the second officer suggested. "Someone organizing them."
"A goblin leader smart enough to outmaneuver trained soldiers?" The lieutenant shook his head. "That's... unprecedented."
"Sir, there's something else," the scout added hesitantly. "Before Delta Squad was wiped out, one of the survivors radioed in. He said... he said the goblins were making strange sounds before they attacked. Not the usual screeches and howls. It sounded almost like... communication. Coordinated signals."
The lieutenant's eyes narrowed. "Communication? You mean they were actually talking to each other?"
"I don't know what they were doing, sir," the scout said. "But whatever it was, it worked. They moved like a unit, not a mob."