Anything to Survive in Hell: From Weakling to Tyrant-Chapter 24 Goblins

Using the entire daytime like that, I was able to finish the training quite satisfactorily.

"Kereuk...!"

Bimzi, his expression grim, held his spear and stood at attention. He was practically a guard with impeccable military discipline.

"Hehehe! Recruit Bimzi! Today, you have completed your first training exceptionally well! I, Demon King Knull Belial, commend you for it! Salute!"

"Kerereung, Kereuk!"

Immediately, Bimzi assumed the present-spear stance!

It was a movement I’d created, drawing on memories of present arms at a military guard post. The intelligent Bimzi mastered it in mere hours.

He was certainly a smart kid. Was the goblin race naturally intelligent? Or did he understand better because my domination magic was working? I didn’t know for sure, but he was capable of this much.

If I kept training him, it was clear I would see dramatically significant results.

"Good. Rest."

"Kureuk."

"Today’s training is over. Bimzi. From now on, when you fight, you must use that spear. That’s how you’ll catch bigger bastards than yourself."

"Kereuk?"

Bimzi tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

Honestly, training for just one day couldn’t dramatically change anything. This bastard Bimzi would clearly abandon his spear and charge forward if a battle order was given. Then he would fight using his claws and teeth.

Right now, Bimzi was merely imitating the movements I taught him, without understanding the purpose of spear arts.

"I must suppress that instinct through continuous training."

That was training.

Training was precisely that.

Let’s continue training him consistently. A daily routine had been set. I would train in the morning, then go out for hunting and fruit gathering before noon, and return.

"Anyway, Bimzi! Let’s go gather fruits!"

"Kereuk-kereuk!"

It would get dark soon. It was a bit late for hunting. Let’s just gather some fruits and lightly roast their skins with demonkind breath to eat them.

Then, once the sun set, I would meditate a bit and then sleep.

After that day, we made a few more spears. Since they were consumables, it was best to make them in advance whenever possible.

After equipping ourselves with spears, I officially began spear arts training with Bimzi, and he came to understand the spear in his own way. After explaining it to death, he seemed to grasp the concept of stabbing enemies with a spear.

"Hmm."

Indeed, when we went hunting for a lizard, he didn’t immediately rush out but took a stance as if to stab it with his spear. However, he couldn’t utilize the goblin’s agility at all. Bimzi merely waited for my command in front of the lizard.

In the end, the lizard escaped, and Bimzi stared endlessly at its retreating figure, his spear aimed.

"So it was."

Right now, the thought of having to move according to my orders seemed to be stronger. He didn’t seem capable of fighting autonomously using a spear yet.

"Then, Bimzi. Let’s go hunting with this spear again today."

"Kereuk-kereuk."

Still, if we kept practicing, it should work out. Today, too, I left the dungeon with Bimzi to engage in real combat.

"Living here for a while, I’m getting used to it."

"Kereuk."

Bimzi was by my side. There were no disgusting bugs that had tormented me in the military. At first, I had been completely terrified, but I hadn’t seen any strong monsters capable of threatening me yet.

Ah, I had seen a fairy, hadn’t I?

I was still being cautious, but since it hadn’t appeared at all, I was getting used to it.

It was while I was walking like that.

"Kek...!"

Suddenly, Bimzi grabbed my clothes collar and stopped. What else could it be? I immediately hid myself and Bimzi behind a nearby tree.

Bimzi pointed his hand in that direction.

Looking there... Hmm?

A goblin was moving at a fairly fast pace. The goblin, running like that, vanished in an instant.

"What kind of goblin is that?"

"Kereuk?"

This was the second goblin I had seen since coming here.

Of course, there must be other goblins. I wondered if I should follow, but since it was running, I didn’t feel like carelessly provoking it.

"Hmm."

Should I try to tail that goblin? If I was lucky, I might find out its habitat. If I knew their location, I could devise an operation or whatever to increase my subordinates.

"Bimzi. Then, tailing... Oh!"

"Kereuk...?!"

"Duck!"

I immediately grabbed Bimzi’s head, pushed it down, and lowered my body.

It appeared.

The fairy.

A fairy was flying in from that direction.

A fairy with beautiful butterfly wings, looking just like a doll. It was truly a Tinkerbell, literally. It was moving right in front of us now... so unless it suddenly changed direction, we wouldn’t be discovered.

Was that goblin just now fleeing from that fairy? It was fortunate that I didn’t move carelessly. If we had caused a commotion and become the fairy’s target, it could have become dangerous.

I observed the fairy flying away. I caught a glimpse of its face... it was truly cute, like a doll.

Anyway, the fairy soon disappeared.

"Haah. Fuck, every time something like that pops out, I’m so anxious I feel like I’m going to die."

"Anyway, Bimzi. Let’s try following that goblin from earlier. Can you track it by smell?"

"Kereuk-kereureung."

Bimzi affirmed.

The fairy also flew off in a slightly different direction. If we went around a bit, we should be able to track the goblin.

"Kereuk."

Bimzi, having gone just ahead, began to crawl on all fours, his nose pressed to the floor. Seeing him track with his nose to the ground like this, his olfaction must be good, but perhaps not as good as a dog’s.

I gripped my spear tightly and guarded Bimzi.

It was while we were tracking for quite some time.

—Kereuk! Kerururuk!

—Kureuk! Kekureuk! Kurureung!

—Keryaaak! Keryak!

"Hmm?"

"What’s that sound?"

Suddenly, noisy sounds began to emanate from that direction. Listening closely, it sounded like goblins fiercely howling.

"Bimzi?"

"Kereuk...!"

Bimzi, showing signs of agitation.

Up ahead.

There were numerous goblins.

"Bimzi. Don’t get caught. Advance while hidden."

Immediately, I began to crawl with Bimzi, slowly creeping towards the source of the sound. Even as we slowly pushed through bushes and vines, the goblins’ fierce howls did not cease.

And when we finally pushed through the last bush.

"Kerururuk! Kereuk!"

"Keraaaak!"

"Kurururuk!"

I witnessed something truly astonishing.

Numerous goblins. More than a dozen goblins were gathered in one place, engaged in a brutal gang fight. They bit each other, clawed, climbed on top, and beat the living shit out of each other. Blood splattered everywhere. It was as if a war was being waged.

...!

Bimzi, covering his mouth with his hand, trembled and stared blankly at the scene.

And it was... the same for me.

"Kerururuk! Kerururuk!"

"Kekuraaaak!"

"Kurururuk!"

The fiercely fighting goblins.

Battle.

Struggle.

Was it a battle between goblin tribes? Were they fighting to the death for territory, to survive, to secure more fruits and prey?

Grandeur.

Magnificence.

Such emotions were being felt.

And I gazed at the grand and magnificent scene of battle, as if possessed.

"Kerururuk!"

"Kerereung! Kerereung!"

It felt like watching a documentary. In that documentary, the predators of the savanna had neither mercy nor pity.

A mother gazelle, still alive, her lower body torn away, her intestines being devoured. And her young, cruelly ripped apart before her very eyes.

Neither the mercy of ending its suffering instantly, nor the pity of not needing to show a mother her child being torn to pieces. For a wild hyena, none of that existed.

Simply to survive!

To eat!

They hunted with all their might, tore apart, and devoured!

It was utterly cruel, but that was the wild...!

The goblins were doing just that! Biting, tearing open bellies with their hands, ripping out intestines! The goblins were fighting so fiercely right now!

Thrill.

Only thrill could be felt. Bimzi, who was crawling beside me, covering his mouth, felt the same. We remained hidden in the bushes, observing the scene of that war.

It was then.

Suddenly.

Suddenly, a fairy appeared. A fairy. A winged sprite. It was the one I saw earlier—could it be the same one? Now, that fairy descended as if to grace the chaotic goblin battlefield.

"Ke, kereuk?!"

"Kereuk!"

"Kerurururuk!"

With that, the war ended.

The goblin who witnessed the fairy tried to flee in utter panic. Dragging its injured body, bleeding profusely, it still tried to escape.

But it was too late.

That tiny fairy. The moment it flapped its wings, scattering something like powder and stirring up a breeze.

"Kerururu..."

"Kyerung... Kyerung-kyerung..."

"Gurureung..."

The goblins exposed to that powder began to stagger aimlessly in all directions, swaying like drunken middle-aged men.

The bleeding goblins, en masse.

"Kya-hahahahahahahat!"

And then, a cruel laugh erupted. If nothing else, I knew this: the fairy was enjoying itself, having turned the goblins into that state.

—Hwi-cheong-hwi-cheong.

Did it perhaps put them into a state of hypnosis?

The goblins staggered and walked to random locations. How long did the duration last? In a remote area like this, moving around in such a drunken state... they would be killed quickly!

So that was it!

So that was why Bimzi feared the fairy so much! Of course! If you fell under such magic, it was as good as dying! Spitting fire or flinging ice weren’t the only killing magic! That kind of thing was also undeniably killing magic!

And so, the fairy, having scattered the goblins, began to fly off somewhere again. It clearly laughed. As if playing a prank, it left the goblins in that state and departed as if it had lost interest! One should never associate with such a dangerous bastard!

I absolutely had to bolt in the opposite direction from that bastard!

"Bu, Bimzi. Let’s go."

"Kereuk..."

As I turned my body again to go somewhere else.

"Ke, keruruk... Keruruk..."

I saw one of the drunken goblins, its eyes rolled back, staggering and walking. It seemed our paths had crossed. Should I avoid it like this... no.

"Bimzi. Let’s go after that bastard."

"Kereuk."

"Good!"

"Let’s chase it down and subdue it!"