Back to Back Battle - I

[*Alert!... Alert!... Alert!... Multiple hostile life forms are detected stampeding within the perimeter... estimated destination... your location.*]

[*Host is advised to either escape or prepare for contact...*]

"What!?..."

Upon hearing that, Ash abruptly stood up and prepared himself for what's to come. However, he's still indecisive on whether to run and escape or to fight.

He was thinking of running away and hide for the time being but stopped, calmed himself, and shook his head when he thought...

'I have to get rid of this kind of mentality... Erethel would be disappointed in me for being such a lame husband...'

As soon as he thought of that, he sighed and asks "How many are there?..."

[*Answering... the closest ones that are on your way are numbered six... the rest are scattered around the surrounding areas... there's also a high probability that the rest of these monsters will end up on your location either way.*]

Although he was shocked that more will come towards him, he set it aside and concentrated his thoughts towards the six hostiles that are the closest.

"If there are only six, I could probably take them but the problem is..."

[*... As of now, I couldn't identif-*]

"...I know, Wise..."

[*...*]

Ash just sighed since he already knew that Wise, as of now couldn't possibly analyze and identify the type of creatures there are.

"I just have to fight smart, not hard..."

Although he's worried since he doesn't know what's coming on his way, he gritted his teeth and steeled himself while tightly gripping the handle of his sword...

'I'm still inexperienced so I can't fight them in the open or I would get overwhelmed. It would be better if I can engage them in a place where there are lots of obstructions...'

He thought while glancing at his side where there are rows of huge trees.

"Which direction are they coming from?..."

[*Answering... Hostiles are detected and are coming from the East...*]

Ash just raised a brow upon hearing that and glanced in the eastern direction. And when he did, the corners of his lips curled upwards and thought...

'Just as I had thought... My luck is still playing its part...'

He knew that he didn't have that much time to dilly-dally around so he immediately dashed to the eastern direction towards the thicket.

"Huff... huff... Wise... huff... how... long... huff... till they get here?... huff"

Ash asks with heavy breathes while running within the dense forest intending to find the perfect spot to face the presumable monsters who intruded and that are on their way to him.

He thought of using and taking advantage of the difficult terrain and ambush them to avoid getting overwhelmed by their numbers.

[*Answering... Hostiles are detected about 45 meters away from you... They'll be on sight in approximately 3 minutes based on their speed...*]

---

Ash is currently hiding within the thick bushes waiting patiently but attentively for the presence of his supposed intruders. And indeed not long after, he could already hear their sounds...

*Rustle* *Rustle*

*Gree~* *Kreeke~*

*Rustle* *Rustle*

*Kreekeke~* *kree~*

[*... Here they come Host!...*]

As soon as he heard the monsters' sound, he took a deep breath attempting to calm his nerves down and focus all of his attention.

This will undoubtedly be his first life and death battle so any unnecessary distractions may cost him his life... at least that's what he believes.

Or it could be that he forgot that his wife is literally the strongest of all existence and could just revive him whenever.

Nonetheless, he didn't try and think of other things and prepares himself to engage any moment soon.

"Are those... Goblins?..."

Although the forest is densely packed with huge and thick trees and bushes and was barely illuminated by the shining moon within the blanketing darkness of the sky, Ash could still see the monsters' figures... although just barely.

Goblins can be immediately identified through their skin color and although he couldn't really tell since it's pretty dark within the forest, he could still see and describe their physical characteristics.

Short statured plump humanoid creatures wearing furry ragged clothes that barely cover their skin. They had large round eyes, pointy ears, and small protrusions on their heads that look like horns. They carry wooden clubs and rusty daggers and swords in their hands.

Since he usually watch animes and read fantasy novels in passing the time in his previous life, he knew what these little rascals are.

And with that knowledge coupled with what he's seeing now, he concluded that these monsters who intruded are called Goblins.

*Gree~* *Kreeke~*

*Kreekeke~* *kree~*

*Grekeee~* *Ke~*

'Ash' who's hiding in the bushes can see that the Goblins are moving at a constant pace towards his hideout while making gibberish sounds... or at least that is what it sounds like for him.

Peeking through and staying calmly in the bushes near them, Ash patiently waited for the perfect moment to strike.

He's keeping an eye on every action the Goblins made and already had the idea of engaging them in a guerilla tactic where he could pick them off one by one.

*Gree~* *Kreeke~*

*Kreekeke~* *kree~*

*Rustle* *Rustle*

Two meters away from him, a Goblin was trekking through the bushes near where Ash is hiding attentively surveying the area.

Ash immediately decided that this Goblin would be his first target among the rest of them since it's the closest to where he was.

He just has to kill it instantly and then hide again as soon as it gets close enough to his range.

Gripping the handle of his sword tightly, he waited and waited for the goblin to pass by him a bit when the system interface pops up in front of his eyes again.

[*Emergency Quest:

Duration: Until morning the next day

Description: Survive the night from the monster's onslaught.

Rewards:

*Will be calculated and generated based on the Host's performance and upon completion.*]

[*... Notice... You've received a new quest...*]

"Yeah, I'll take a look at that later..."

Ash ignore it since he could already hear the bushes rustling getting louder and louder, a sign that the Goblin is getting closer and closer...

*Kreekeke~* *kree~*

*Rustle* *Rustle*

When the closest Goblin passes by several inches from the bush where ash is hiding, it stopped for a moment and again, began looking around.

And with that, Ash didn't waste any more time seeing that the opportunity presented itself before him. He abruptly stood up and...

*Swiiiiiiish*

He brandished his sword towards the nape of the Goblin in front of him. While the Goblin was still on its place looking around, it seemed to notice something behind it but...

"Kree~?..."

*Slash!*

*Puchiiiiiii*

It was already too late for it to notice and possibly take action. Ash's sword's edge was already latched at its nape and cleanly sliced it off, decapitating the Goblin.

*Splurt* *Splurt*

*Thud* *Thud*

"Haaa.... first one..."

He turns his eyes towards the decapitated body of the Goblin he just killed and noticed that some parts of its body began disintegrating, albeit slowly, and turning to smoke. And a barely audible hissing sound can be heard from it...

*Hiss...*

"Oh, I've seen this one... they really turn to dust when they get killed but... why is it disintegrating so slow?..."

Keeping his eyes on the slowly disintegrating body of the decapitated Goblin, he recalled at the beginning of the Danmachi episode about the part where a white-haired kid, presumably the MC was running away from a horned monster.

That kid was later rescued by a golden-haired lady by slaying the horned beast. It was then Ash saw that the horned beast's body turning into black clouds of smoke.

Feeling a sense of accomplishment from successfully slaying the Goblin, the corners of his mouth curled upwards and he smiled.

His smile turned to laughter a short while after, forgetting that it's only the first Goblin out of the 6 in front of him. And sure enough...

"Whatever, at least I killed it... hahah-"

*KREEE!~* *KEE!~*

*GRREEEEEEE!* *KREE!~*

*GRAAAAAAR!*

"Hmm!?... OH CRAP!..."

With that, the plan he cooked up before he engaged in battle went up in smoke. He was discovered right in front of the five remaining Goblins who have angry and fierce faces... well, their face is hideous enough whether they're angry or not.

*GRAAAAAAR!*

*KREEE!~* *KEE!~*

*GRREEEEEEE!* *KREE!~*

Realizing that it's useless to continue with his plan, he gritted his teeth and gripping his sword as tight as he could while inwardly cursing himself for his stupidity...

'Now what!? you stupid man!...'

All the five remaining Goblins dashed towards him with fierce faces holding their weapons up high.

*GRAAAAAAR!*

*KREEE!~* *KEE!~*

Seeing them coming, he looked around trying to come up with an idea since he knew that he isn't a fighter... at least not yet. And the moment he gets surrounded and overwhelmed by their numbers, it would be his end.

"Hmm?..."

Seeing the huge and thick trees around them, Ash came up with an idea...

'It's no use hiding anymore... I'm going to lure them towards where there are trees where I could limit more of their movements...'

He dashed towards the nearest tree where he could take a good position while also keeping their movements minimally contained.

*KREEE!~* *KEE!~*

He was closely followed by a Goblin holding a rusty sword in its hand.

Ash, upon reaching the part where he intended to lure the Goblins, looked back and got into a stance since he knew that one of the remaining Goblins is hot on his tail...

*GRAAAAAAR!*

The Goblin pounced on him and waved its rusty sword towards Ash but he blocked it with his sword.

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

They exchanged a few more blows while the rest of the Goblin are still on their way towards Ash and the Goblin he exchanged a few blows with...

*Clang!*

*Slash!*

*Puchiiiiiii*

Ash knew that he couldn't afford to keep it longer and that he needed to slay it as soon as possible before the rest of its brethren gets to them.

So after blocking the Goblin's blow one more time, he immediately pulled back and made a 'Migi Kessa Giri' or a right downward diagonal cut from the opponent's right shoulder down to the left side of the opponent's hip.

*KREEE!~*

*Splurt* *Splurt*

*Thud*

*Hiss...*

It cleanly sliced through the Goblin's body, cleaving it into two. After that, Ash rubbed his forehead with his arm from the pouring sweat and said...

"Haaaa... Good thing I was able to train swordsmanship for a bit earlier..."

"Hmm?..."

His attention was redirected to the fallen Goblin's body... or at least to where it was supposed to be but he found out that it suddenly disappeared leaving a broken crystal in its place.

"Where did it go?... I thought it was supposed to slowly disintegrate... and when did it turn into a broken crystal?..."

[*Answering... Based on the system's current analysis, it seems that the monster's disintegration process is closely related to this crystal...*]

[*I'm suspecting that every monster had this crystal within their body and upon breaking it even for a tiny bit, the monster will immediately cease to exist and disintegrate...*]

"Oh~?... so that's their weakness hu-..."

[*Incoming!... behind you host!...*]

"Hmm?..."

Ash abruptly turned back to see what Wise got so worked up only to meet a blunt thing on his face...

*Bang!*

"Argh!..."

Ash fell down when he felt something blunt hit his face. In his mind, he assumed that it was one of the Goblins who got lucky and managed to catch him off guard.

*KREEE!~* *KEE!~*

*KREEEKEKE~* *KEKEKEEE~*

"Dammit!... I got careless!"