"FALL BACK! FALL BACK TO THE INNER CHAMBERS!"
The roar came from deeper in the cave. Satou's head whipped toward the sound. Through the dust and chaos he saw them — adult goblins, dozens of them, fleeing through the tunnels. Some carried weapons. Others dragged wounded comrades. All of them looked terrified.
Behind them came the sounds of pursuit. The heavy clank of armored boots on stone. Shouted orders in a language Satou's Goblin Translation skill didn't cover — the human tongue, sharp and commanding.
"Don't let any escape! Kill every last one!" a soldier barked.
"Check the side tunnels! They'll hide anywhere!" another called out.
"Mage squad — prepare another volley!"
Satou's mind raced. The humans were already inside the cave. The defenses had collapsed. The guard was dead. And from the sounds echoing through the tunnels, the goblins were being slaughtered.
'We're trapped.'
His body reminded him immediately — four hours from full recovery, mana still rebuilding, wounds still knitting under his skin. He had Regeneration working for him but he was far from battle-ready.
Another group of adult goblins rushed past, this time carrying someone between them. The old goblin elder. His long white beard was matted with blood, his body limp in the arms of his carriers. His eyes were closed, his breathing shallow.
"Move! We need to get him to safety — he's the only one who can—"
CRACK!
A spear of ice materialized from thin air and punched through the speaker's chest. The words cut off into a wet gurgle. The goblin crumpled. The elder tumbled from dying arms and hit the ground with a sickening thud.
The remaining carriers scattered, abandoning him where he fell.
Satou's breath caught. The old goblin — the one who had spoken of the prophecy, of the mark on his forehead, of the Goblin God they had waited centuries for — lay there in the dirt, bleeding and alone.
For a split second their eyes met.
The elder's lips moved. Satou couldn't hear the words over the chaos, but he could read them clearly.
"Run... child..."
A shadow fell over the shaman. A human soldier — tall, armored in steel plate that gleamed even through the smoke — stepped into view and raised his sword.
"Found some over here," the soldier called back down the tunnel.
A cold, commanding voice answered from deeper in the dark. "Kill them all. Leave nothing breathing."
Satou turned away. His jaw was clenched so hard his teeth ached. He couldn't watch. He couldn't afford to. His body hadn't fully recovered, the humans were far stronger than anything he'd faced before, and he had four small goblins depending on him staying alive.
'Think. Think!'
His mind tore through every escape route. Every scenario ended the same — him, Jessica, Kelvin, Goblin 1 and Goblin 2 dead on the cave floor.
His chest tightened. His breathing went shallow.
'Is this where I die again?'
He was on the edge of despair when something caught his eye.
Behind him, huddled against the cave wall, was a cluster of goblins — maybe twenty in total. Most were wounded, clutching bleeding arms or limping on broken legs. And there among them, propped against the stone, was the elder goblin. Still breathing. Barely conscious, his chest rising and falling in weak, ragged gasps — but alive. The two adult goblins beside him pressed a torn cloth hard against a gaping wound on his side.
Satou stared at them.
Then, like a spark in the darkness, an idea took shape.
'With them behind me... my chances jump from zero to maybe thirty percent. Not great. But it's something.'
His lips pulled into a grim smile.
"Better than zero."
He took a deep breath and started walking toward the group. Every step felt heavier than the last. Behind him, he heard small feet rushing to follow.
Jessica grabbed his arm. "Big brother, where are you going?"
"Stay here," Satou said firmly, gently pulling his arm free. He looked back at all four of them — Jessica, Kelvin, Goblin 1, Goblin 2 — and held the look long enough to mean something. "All four of you. Stay together and don't move from this spot. I'll be right back."
Jessica opened her mouth to argue.
"Stay. Here." His tone was quiet but flat.
She flinched. Then nodded, tears welling up. Kelvin pulled her back and wrapped his arms around her. Goblin 1 put a hand on Goblin 2's shoulder. All four of them watched him go.
Satou turned and approached the wounded group. Their eyes — yellow, bloodshot, full of pain and terror — tracked his every step. Some clutched makeshift weapons. Others pressed their palms against bleeding wounds. The air around them reeked of sweat and blood and fear.
He stopped a few feet away and raised his voice, pushing as much confidence into it as he could find.
"Listen to me. I know a way out. A way we all survive this."
Silence.
Then a scarred brute with a chipped tusk let out a harsh bark of laughter.
"You?" The goblin sneered, his voice dripping contempt. "A newborn? You think you can save us?"
A smaller goblin beside him spat on the ground. "We're being slaughtered by trained soldiers and mages and this runt thinks he has answers?"
"Go back to your nest, whelp!" a third shouted — and the laughter spread, bouncing off the cave walls.
"What does a newborn know about war?"
"He can barely walk straight!"
"We're all dying and this little shit wants to play hero!"
Satou's fists clenched at his sides. His pride screamed at him to hit back. He held it down.
'They're terrified. Lashing out because they feel powerless. Same as anyone would.'
Before he could respond, a sound cut through the noise.
A cough. Weak. But sharp enough to carry.
"Silence."
The voice was barely above a whisper. But it carried weight that a shout never could.
The laughter died instantly.
The elder goblin's eyes had cracked open, his gaze sharp and clear despite the pain carved into every line of his wrinkled face. He raised one trembling hand.
"Enough... you fools..."
Every goblin in the group bowed their head slightly. The elder's word was absolute — even now, bleeding against a cave wall with soldiers closing in from every direction.
His gaze shifted slowly to Satou. And his cracked lips curled into the faintest trace of a smile.
"You..." he rasped. "Come... closer, child."
Satou hesitated for only a moment. Then he stepped forward. The adult goblins parted reluctantly around him, their eyes burning with resentment — but they parted.