Chapter 31

With a bang, the headless ogre's huge body collapsed, the ground trembling as well. The other three ogres, not understanding what had happened, stopped in their tracks, and then they saw a man wearing gray-blue warrior cloth, wooden clogs on his feet, his hair tied in a ponytail, a grass stalk in his mouth, one hand holding the sheath of a long sword, arms crossed, walking slowly from the nearby woods toward them.

Being able to kill an ogre in one strike, the newcomer's strength must be formidable; all the Goblins present, including David and William, watched the approaching man warily.

Under everyone's wary gaze, the man remained calm and composed, as if he were not walking before an army but taking a leisurely stroll.

When the ponytail-wearing man drew near, William made out his features: his facial features were upright and resolute, his face angular, his nose bridge straight and high, and between his two slender, thick sword-brows lay a wide brow.

William's heart jumped greatly, for in his previous life he had once seen a portrait of this man in the Adventurers' Guild—a figure whose strength was not inferior to that of the hero who defeated the Demon King, the Sword God Bahamut.

"But why would such a Sword God appear here?" William wondered.

"Right! In my past life, the last of the goblin attack on Bigen Village was repelled by a passing strong warrior—could it be Bahamut?! But the time between his appearance to repel the goblins and now is at least half a day; after my rebirth, why do some things differ from my previous life?"

While William was pondering, Bahamut walked up to David and William and said to the Goblin Army before them:

"I'm not one who enjoys slaughter; why don't you leave your leader as a hostage and then each of you return whence you came?"

The Goblin Chief, though he didn't understand the man's words, guessed they were not pleasant, and with his anger clouding his mind, he swore to kill David and William, so he ordered the remaining three ogres: "Huhu-la! Huhu-la!"

The three ogres stared at the corpse of their fallen comrade, hesitated a moment, then, limited by their low intelligence, obeyed the Goblin Chief's command, raised their clubs, and charged at Bahamut.

Bahamut poked his ear with his pinky, showing an annoyed expression, and said: "Geez, you're not listening to anyone at all."

Immediately, Bahamut, holding the longsword's sheath, swung his hand toward the heads of the three charging ogres.

"Pa! Pa! Pa!"

The three sounds rang out almost simultaneously; the three ogres' heads burst open, blue blood raining down and dyeing David, William, and the surrounding Goblins blue once again.

Whether by luck or some special technique, not a single drop of the ogres' blue blood touched Bahamut's body.

David gaped, speechless with shock; William, though mentally prepared for the opponent's identity, was still deeply shaken.

"Damn, he never drew his sword from start to finish, yet with just the sheath he blasted the heads of those three ogres apart from a distance!"

Everyone present was shocked again, and a deathly silence-like fear spread through the Goblin Army.

The Goblin Chief, frightened out of his anger, realized even if he were stupid that this terrifying human male before him was not something his half-strength army could handle; he immediately shouted to the four Goblins carrying the palanquin: "Jila! Jila! (Retreat! Retreat quickly!)"

The Goblin Chief's shout was like a fuse igniting fear; the four Goblins bearing the palanquin almost simultaneously dropped their poles and, together with the other Goblin soldiers, turned and fled.

The Goblin Army collapsed like a mountain; in an instant, over two hundred Goblin soldiers fled in all directions into the woods,

The Goblin Chief, slammed hard to the ground, cursed: "Ha xi xi! Hu xi xi! (A bunch of ungrateful wretches! A bunch of cowards!)"

Seeing the Goblins scattering, William instantly realized it was bad and shouted to Bahamut: "We can't let them escape like this! Otherwise other villages will surely suffer!"

A well-trained Goblin Army with strict discipline, and an equal number of scattered fugitive Goblins merely seeking to survive—it is obvious which poses a greater threat to ordinary folk.

Bahamut needed no reminder from William; at the moment William shouted, Bahamut finally switched the hand holding the sheath from right to left, assuming a bent-over stance to draw his sword.

The sound of the sword returning to its sheath rang out; Bahamut still kept his drawing pose, William never saw a blade flash, but he felt a sharp pain in his eyes, and immediately the over two hundred fleeing Goblins, together with the trees around them, were all cut in half at the waist—tree trunks split into two, revealing smooth growth rings, and the over two hundred Goblins also showed smooth wounds, their blue blood staining the entire southeastern forest of Bigen Village blue.

David and William were stunned; even the Goblin Chief, who had been sitting on the ground cursing his subordinates moments before, stopped his swearing and swallowed the words on his lips; over two hundred Goblins were slain in a single stroke by that terrifying human male, leaving only him alive.

"Hey, tie him up; I have a few questions for him later."

Bahamut pointed at the Goblin Chief and said to David and William; David took a rope from the remaining Goblin Army supplies, approached the chief, who dared not resist, and obediently held out his hands for David to bind him.

If he weren't lacking four hands to tie himself up, he would wish to bind himself quickly just to feel a bit safer.

After binding the Goblin Chief, David approached Bahamut, who was calmly holding a grass stalk, and extended his hand to introduce himself: "I'm David, a silver-rank adventurer of Bigen Village, and this is my son William. Thank you for your rescue; may I know your esteemed name?"

Bahamut didn't mind David's blue ogre blood, shook his hand, realized it wasn't this person, then let go and said casually: "No need for formalities; I'm just passing through. What happened here?"

Seeing Bahamut unwilling to give his name, David, being tactful, didn't press further; after all, as a lowly silver-rank adventurer, he had no standing to seek acquaintance with such a powerhouse, so he replied:

"My son and his companions set up reconnaissance traps in the Magic Forest, then discovered the Goblin Army's trail......"

David recounted to Bahamut how he and William's few children had set up reconnaissance traps, found slimes, later used defensive traps to check the Goblin Army and help villagers evacuate, and fought alongside a group of Elite Goblin; hearing this, Bahamut, who had been relaxed, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at William.

Bahamut, while David and William were inattentive, suddenly placed his palm on William's shoulder; David startled, thinking he might mean harm to his son, but then realized that with such strength Bahamut wouldn't need a sneak attack to harm them, so he asked:

"May I ask if there's anything wrong with my son William?"

Bahamut frowned, thinking it wasn't this brat, and then frankly told the two: "I was originally far away from here, but suddenly sensed demonic magic in this direction and rushed over; who would have thought I'd see no demons, only you two and a Goblin horde."

It turned out he had sensed demonic magic; William's doubt about Bahamut appearing earlier than in his past life was finally resolved, and he felt glad that he had previously used the 【Devour】 skill to cleanse the demonic power of Kusara left within him, otherwise, unable to speak of his Rebirth and not being understood like his father David, he would surely have been unable to explain himself.

Upon hearing that Bahamut had sensed demonic magic, David also felt a jolt; he looked at his son William with a hint of doubt, knowing William carried demonic magic within him, yet Bahamut hadn't detected it just now—could it be related to William having left earlier and then returned stronger to support him?

David suspected his son was a Reincarnated Person and had obtained some confirmation; thus he had mentally prepared himself for the strange secret on William's body, intending to ask him thoroughly after the matter ended.

"I see; if you had come earlier it would have been better, but although the village is burned down, at least the villagers are safe, which is a fortunate misfortune."

Upon hearing that, William seemed to think of something and said to Bahamut: "Um, could you please help put out the village's great fire? I'd be deeply grateful."

Bahamut raised an eyebrow again; though his left hand gripped the sheath and his right the hilt, he once more made the motion to draw his sword, the grass stalk in his mouth swaying as he spoke: "【Swift Wind Cut】."

A violent gale accompanied the sword flash, instantly extinguishing the blaze that had covered half of Bigen Village, and at the same time blew away the roofs of some poorly constructed houses, leaving no trace.

William and David widened their eyes, again unable to speak from astonishment, while Bahamut, after sheathing his blade, said to William: "Little brat, you seemed to already know I could put out the village's fire, huh? Do you know me?"

Upon those words, David suddenly had a thought: that his son William had known this powerhouse before his Rebirth.