The messenger came several hours ter, well past midday. Natalie aeam, having not been doing much besides idly training and chatting while they waited, were ready t up at a moment's notid rush off.

  There were a number of ways to swiftly cre distahe most promi being the system of trains that linked Valhaur. Of course, there were more personal methods, though more expensive, like ented wagons or horseback. Fortunately, the roads in Tarenhelm were well maintained, so a wagon was feasible. Natalie did know how to ride, should it be necessary—for example, if they had o crher terrain—but it wasn't a skill required down in the dungeon, so her experieh horses was limited.

  Though Tarenhelm had solid roads, the ride was heless bumpy. The wagon rushed across the ground at a ridiculous speed, weaving past other traffic. A single horse pulled them, but their speed was more thanks to the wagon's entments than the animal at its head.

  Ihan five mihey'd arrived to the farmstead utack. The wagon screeched to a halt, and Natalie aeam piled out, withdrawing their ons and sing the se.

  They'd left behind the city proper, now in a sparser part of towrue outskirts—where farms domihe ndscape. She didn't take in the quaint little barn and farmhouse, though, and rather critically analyzed her surroundings as far as bat was ed.

  There were, indeed, goblins. Between twelve and fifteen of them that she could see—more than she'd expected. Three were crowded around a dead, abandoned mule, tearing into the creature with glee. Others were battering into the grain silo's door, trying to break it open. The barn doors were swung wide; there were likely moblins inside. In fact, by the screaming of various animals, there certainly were.

  But her was, of course, on the shattered windows of the farm and the door hanging on its hinges, broken into like the goblins were attempting with the grain silo. They had already breached the farmer's home.

  There was likely a pani with a better-secured door—perhaps a basement—that they had retreated into, standard practice for anyone vulnerable to motacks, but they also might not have been fast enough. Natalie knew she had to brace herself for the worst-case sario.

  There were, at least, no human corpses outside the farm.

  She didn't particurly like fighting humanoid monsters simply because it made her unfortable. That said, murderous, vicious creatures like goblins? Even if they were intelligent, which they weren't in any true sehey were also evil. She had no qualms about putting down disgusting things like them.

  They didn't have time to waste. She had no idea whether the farmer and his family were safe inside his house or if they had found some other means of escape, but every sed that passed otentially crucial. Having sed the situation, Natalie g her teammates to make sure they were ready—of course, they were—then gripped her hammer, nodded, and rushed forward.

  One of the goblins spotted their approach immediately. It pointed a green-skinned fi them and screeched, alerting its allies. The others stiffened and spun, stopping their various activities—whether it was feasting on the dead mule, breaking into the grain silo, or carrying various items into a growing pile at the side of the farm. The st of which was the oddest piece of the puzzle: the h behavior the Baron had mentioned.

  The raiding party saw their well-equipped group of five and immediately burst into a blood frenzy, every single one of them screaming wildly and rushing toward them, brandishing impromptu ons. Knives, axes, even a few with bows, who immediately started slinging poorly aimed arrows at them. Ny, no teamwork, just pure lust for killing. Like most dungeon monsters.

  So, the fight began.

  Natalie pulled out the [Capture Core] and summoned Malice as she ran. The wolfgirl materialized in an outline of pink motes of light, h for a sed before solidifying. Her head snapped side to side, long, flowing bck hair waving as she did, and she instantly took iuation—perhaps even faster than Natalie's initial critical gaze. Her e eyes locked for a quarter-sed to Natalie's.

  Thehrew her head back, let out a pierg howl of glee, and rushed forward.

  No questions. No crifications. Straight to killing.

  In the back of Natalie's mind, she took note of two things: First, how that dispy had served as a great reminder Malice was definitely not human, however little that should need reminding, but sed, that Malice's eagerness might be a problem. She hadn't even asked what was going on. Not that a goblin rushing them with obvious killing i needed an expnation, but anything Malice did was Natalie's responsibility. Her total ck of hesitation to ght to violence could be a problem.

  Just not here and right now. Killing was the goal.

  Natalie met the first goblin's approach with a two-handed swing of her hammer. Against a level ohe creature simply crumpled, a disgusting ch filling the air as it went flying sideways.

  But there was a whole swarm of them, and Natalie had strength, not speed. Of all enter types, their team was least suited to this—to fending off swarms. Only Ana had area-of-effect spells.

  That said, just because they were weakest to swarms didn't mearuggled. The smallest of the goblins were level ones, and those went down with little effort. Natalie smmed her hammer into them, Sofia thrust out and skewered, Jordan stabbed and darted, returning bow fire to the archers in the distance, and Ana whipped tentacles of bck shadows sg deep gouges in their flesh. Liz, of course, kept them healthy, fending for herself and repositioning as necessary.

  The stronger of the goblins were slightly more difficult, the level twos and threes, but there were only a few of them, and they were still no match for Natalie's squad. Especially since Liz's emp buff was greatly improved, a casg effect from [Divine Invigoration]—something Natalie had briefly tested at the inn's training yard, but which true bat was the better demonstrator for. Their team of five was strohan ever; a smattering of owos, and three were, while not pletely g in danger, hardly something Natalie aeam feared for their lives from. Especially when their st bat had been the dungeon literally venting its wrath in one of the most intense sarios she'd ever suffered through.

  While it was a frantic few minutes as they ed up the two dozen oppos—more piling out of the farmhouse windows and barn and seemingly from nowhere, screaming toward them—it ended without much true difficulty.

  Fighting surrounded by civilization rather than down in the dungeon's depths felt strangely bizarre. The bat itself was no different than any other, yet her surroundings made the situation feel nearly surreal.

  Finally, they killed the st goblin.

  Panting, Natalie checked in on everyone. A few scrapes, cuts, and bruises, as expected of any non-trivial fight. Liz's regeion effects would be ing everyone up shortly.

  Malice stood there, a huge, wolfish grin on her face exposing her sharp es. She gri their fallen ehen at Natalie. "See, this is what I was talking about, human. Call me out for this. It's what I live for."

  Natalie ignored her; she had bigger s. "The house," she said. "Let's go see if they're safe."

  Or even alive.