“Dong! Dong! Dong!”
The heavy footsteps of metal war boots echoed through the dark main passage of the cave, urgent and resolute like the beating of war drums.
Shi Hanfeng became a streak of silver lightning, ignoring the scattered threats lurking in the side tunnels, and charged toward the depths of the main passage where the clash of metal and the sharp screeches of Goblins grew clearer.
At the end of the narrow tunnel, it connected to an unimaginably vast underground cavern.
Rather than a nest, it was more like a grand hall brutally carved out by savage force.
The sight entered his eyes, and even though he had prepared himself mentally, Shi Hanfeng’s brow furrowed beneath his faceplate.
As he expected, the fate of this White Porcelain Squad that took on the mission wasn’t good.
Several human corpses lay scattered on the cold, damp ground in twisted postures, their deaths miserable.
Some had their throats torn open by crude weapons, others were pierced by crooked short arrows, their blood staining the rocks beneath them, congealing into dark brown stains.
Despair and agony were frozen in their final expressions.
At the center of the hall, the final battle continued—or rather, it was a one-sided, hopeless defense.
A blond-haired Nun in a tattered white habit, clutching a standard longsword, was pressed against the uneven rock wall, desperately swinging her sword.
She was covered in blood, her habit torn in many places, revealing gruesome wounds beneath, with fresh blood slowly seeping out and dyeing the white fabric a glaring red.
Her breathing was as ragged as a broken bellows, each inhale shuddering with pain. Blood and dust marred her pale face, but in those blue eyes, a stubborn, unextinguished flame burned, even though it was shrouded in deep despair.
She was spent, her sword arm slow and weak, her footing unstable, only staying upright by leaning against the rock wall.
Surrounding her were more than a dozen howling Goblins, circling like hyenas scenting blood, probing and lunging at the dying prey, sapping her final strength and will.
Behind them, several Goblins with short bows aimed their arrows.
At the rear of the Goblin pack, a hunched Shaman held a twisted bone staff, colorful feathers stuck in its head, its body smeared with strange oils. It chanted and waved its staff, cruel and cunning light flickering in its murky eyes.
“God, please save me!”
The desperate prayer almost slipped from her lips, but stubbornness kept her biting down.
She couldn’t show weakness to these evils.
But she was so afraid. Why had her first official team adventure become like this?
Everyone had tried so hard…
But she knew she couldn’t last much longer.
Her vision was blurring, her arm heavy as lead.
Her teammates had been ambushed upon entering, casualties piling up in an instant—leaving her alone, barely holding on.
The shadow of death loomed, and she thought of her distant family, her heart filled with unwillingness and fear.
Her vision blurred again, her arm weighed down.
‘Am I really going to die here… by these filthy creatures…?’
As darkness began to swallow her mind, her arm unable to rise, even the prayer in her heart fading—
“Boom!!!”
A thunderous roar exploded!
A silver figure, unstoppable, crashed into the battlefield.
Like a ray of light tearing through darkness, it illuminated the abyss of despair.
The two outermost Goblins didn’t even have time to scream before the charging armored Knight struck them, sending them flying into a distant rock wall.
The silver figure didn’t slow, instantly cutting into the Goblin circle, stopping precisely before the collapsing Nun.
His broad, silver-white back stood like an unbreakable bulwark, shielding her completely.
The Nun’s dazed gaze struggled to focus, staring in disbelief at the figure that seemed to descend from the heavens.
Against the cave firelight, his entire suit of armor glowed with a gentle yet powerful radiance, its form both elegant and holy, carrying an indescribable sense of authority.
‘So dazzling…Is it the Goddess…did she hear my prayer? Did she send her Knight…?’
In her dazed mind, scenes from romance novels—ones she’d secretly read before bed and been scolded for wasting time—flashed by.
A maiden in despair, always rescued by a shining Knight…
The overwhelming impact and unreal sensation, mixed with the joy of being saved, crashed through her nerves like a tidal wave.
Her tense nerves relaxed, exhaustion and a sense of safety surged over her, drowning her consciousness.
“You…”
She could barely stay upright, using her sword for support, but her lips curled in a peaceful smile, her words dreamy.
“Are you…my…light…?”
The Goblins, enraged, abandoned the Nun and swung their stone axes at the intruding tin can with even greater fury.
However, Shi Hanfeng moved faster.
His arm, clad in metal, shot up like lightning, the Wufeng Sword tracing a precise, chilling arc.
Pshht!
The sword tip pierced the Goblin’s throat, then withdrew in a flash, severing windpipe and artery.
The Goblin’s massive body froze, the stone axe falling from its grip, hands clutching its spurting neck as it collapsed.
At the same time, at the back of the Goblin pack, the hunched Shaman raised its bone staff!
Two ghostly green flames ignited in the skull’s eye sockets at the tip of the staff.
“@#¥%……!”
With a shrill, inhuman scream, a ball of searing flame shot toward Shi Hanfeng’s chest.
Facing the treacherous spell, Shi Hanfeng didn’t even try to dodge.
He only lowered his head slightly, his cold gaze flicking to the incoming fireball.
Buzz!
At the instant the fireball struck his chestplate, a gentle yet sturdy pale green glow materialized out of thin air, standing like a loyal guardian outside the armor, firmly blocking the fireball.
The fireball hit the glow and vanished with only a faint ripple.
[Life Shield] passively triggered.
“Is this all you’ve got?”
A deep, metallic laugh came from beneath the faceplate.
Shi Hanfeng spun, his gaze locking onto the stunned Goblin Shaman whose spell had failed.
Time to clear the field.
His free left hand lifted, palm down, pressing toward the ground.
“All unclean things, return to dust.”
A deep, magnetic voice declared the end.
From his palm, vivid green light spread like a living thing, rippling outward like a stone thrown into a calm lake, or countless phantom plant tendrils twisting with chilling, lifeless energy, racing across the hall!
“Screee—–!”
All Goblins caught in the green light—ordinary and Shaman alike—let out shrill, warped screams!
Their scrawny, ugly bodies were drained of life by invisible force, skin shriveling, muscles withering, the malice in their eyes fading and dying as if a thousand years passed in a blink.
In a single breath, every remaining Goblin—including the once-arrogant Shaman—became a dried husk, then collapsed, shattering on the ground with brittle cracks.
In a single breath, the noisy, death-filled hall was left empty.
Over a dozen Goblins, including the Shaman, wiped out in one move.
Only the crackle of the campfire and the Nun’s ragged breathing remained.
At the moment she had despaired and prepared for the end, this silver Knight, radiant with holiness and authority, descended like a divine weapon, turning the hopeless battle in an instant.
It all happened too quickly, too unreal, like a fleeting dream.
She stared at the silver Knight’s upright back, at the glowing holy runes flowing on his armor, her heart filled with the dizziness of survival and an indescribable excitement.
In that moment, the girl found her own salvation.
“Are you…the Knight sent by the Goddess…to guide me…?”
She used her last strength to whisper, then darkness claimed her and she collapsed, unconscious.
“What nonsense? Got your brain knocked loose?”
Shi Hanfeng shook his sword, as if flicking off nonexistent filth, then walked over to the exhausted, unconscious Nun.
He crouched, extending his right hand. A gentle, pure emerald light blossomed from his palm, several faint, illusory white flowers swirling and blooming within.
[Wish of the White Flower]
Warm life energy, like a sweet spring, softly rained over the Nun.
Her gruesome wounds closed and vanished at visible speed, not even scars remaining.
Her face regained color, her breathing steady and deep. Only her exhausted spirit kept her in a deep sleep.
“All done.”
Shi Hanfeng muttered, preparing to lift the last survivor and leave this cursed place.
But then, a sudden change occurred!
At the edge of his vision, a translucent prompt box popped up without warning.
[Special Destiny Node detected—]
[External will detected…Analyzing…]
[Analysis complete: Challenger intervention forcibly altered the ‘Goblin God’s’ dice result (Great Success → Great Failure)…]
[The ‘Goblin God’ expresses high attention and strong dissatisfaction…]
[By the principle of equivalence and the spirit of chaotic entertainment…Limited-time challenge initiated!]
[Challenge Name: Game with the God]
“What the hell?”
Shi Hanfeng froze, his expression stunned beneath the helmet.
In the air before him, light twisted, and a massive dice made of green energy materialized.
It spun wildly, then froze.
Facing up were three clear, black dots wreathed in green fire.
[Rule Declaration:]
[According to the points of the Green Dice of the God (3), you will face three waves of Goblins.]
[Before each wave, the Goblin God will roll again, generating different Goblins based on the result.]
[Challenge Location: Current hall.]
[Reward: Complete all waves to obtain [Destiny Points] x5000, [Fate Experience] x200.]
[Penalty: Rejecting or failing the challenge results in immediate forced return to your original world. If you re-enter this or any world under Goblin God’s influence, you will be marked by ‘Goblin God’s Malice.’ Mutant Goblins, Elite Goblins, or even Goblin Demon Gods may randomly spawn wherever you are.]
Shi Hanfeng’s movements halted, his brow arching under the helmet.
He looked at the unconscious blonde Nun, then at the floating, ominous green-flamed “3” dice, and finally at the cold rule text.
“Heh.”
A short laugh escaped the helmet.
Good grief. No wonder all the small fry he’d fought felt like grinding in a retirement game.
So this was waiting for him.
He’d felt a familiar vibe from this broken world from the start.
Dice?
Goblin God?
He’d disliked it from the beginning!
He never thought they’d meet this way…
His gaze returned to the unconscious Nun, studying her familiar face and the longsword she still gripped tightly even in sleep.
Understanding dawned.
It’s you, YoRHa No. 2 Type B! (bushi)
No wonder he couldn’t find the Goblin Slayer or the Sword Saintess earlier—
Looks like it wasn’t their absence, just that he’d arrived too soon.
This girl before him was the pre-nightmare, pre-Sword Saintess golden card—
Cough, at this point, still just a Maiden of the Sword.
A good woman in the original work, tragically ruined by the malicious dice of the gods. No wonder such a hidden event would trigger.
Shi Hanfeng had always felt regret over the Sword Saintess’s fate.
Her strength, her kindness, her unwavering resolve even after blindness—all made her a flawless woman.
Now, with a chance to rewrite that regret, his fighting spirit surged.
Not only could he crush the god’s disgusting minions, he could also reap rich rewards and save a regret?
If he didn’t accept, was he even human?
“All right then,”
Shi Hanfeng murmured, a hint of excitement in his voice.
“If you want to play…”
He lifted his head sharply, as if his gaze could pierce the cave walls to meet the watching, twisted god.
He raised the Wufeng Sword, its tip pointed at the lingering green dice in the void.
“—Then I’ll play with you to the end!”
As his words fell, the green dice in the air responded, spinning wildly once more!
The first wave was coming!
Shi Hanfeng took a deep breath, swiftly lifted the unconscious Nun, and laid her in a sheltered corner at the hall’s edge, ensuring she’d be safe from the coming battle.
With that done, he strode back to the center.
The silver armor gleamed coldly in the dim light. He restored [Life Shield] to full with his spirit, slinging the Wufeng Sword over his shoulder with a relaxed pose—but every muscle was ready, a predator about to pounce.
He fixed his gaze on the empty space ahead, heavy with invisible pressure, and waited.
Waited for the God’s dice to roll again, and for the arrival of the first ‘surprise’ wave.