Things have really become a mess when those unusual people appeared, charming our Chieftain and causing an all-out assault with their surprise attack. Now everyone is fighting to push back the enemy except for me….

  Cause of my recklessness I nearly bit off the Chieftain’s arm and now I doubt he could trust me to join in the fight…. Even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to do much without risking my hunger. Especially without a source of food to keep me sane.

  A-at least he gave me the task of protecting our youngest from harm. Still…I wish I could do more…

  That was when I felt a tug at my leg fur, looking down I could see the little one that all of us adore grabbing my attention. I bent down so I could hear what they had to say.

  “Mr. Cook, will Mr. Vlad and the others be alright?” they asked.

  It was a simple innocent question, one that I found hard to answer. In my own personal opinion, I wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out. We weren’t exactly at top form considering it wasn’t that long ago since our last battle though I think that scary butler of his barely broken a sweat. But, looking at their eyes I couldn’t help but lie.

  “I-I think so, they all are very strong.”

  That seemed to have brightened up their spirits. “Yeah, they all are very strong and cool! Especially Mr. Vlad!!”

  Just hearing their excitement was enough to calm my anxieties. That’s right, the chieftain gave me the important task of keeping this little goblin safe! “Y-you’re right, so I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

  They nodded back, looking back at the fights before us. From the fan lady’s side most of them had been blown to the sky, being held up by those weird shadows from the scary butler. The rest of them were pushed to the side with the wind keeping them from moving very far. The only one that seemed to be able to move freely was the butler.

  It seems he kept himself moving by having some shadows move him around instead. Th-that’s crazy. Whoever heard of such manipulation of Mana and in constant movement like that?! I-I swear I think he was enjoying himself though it was hard to tell with his face obscured like that.

  J-just call it a feeling I got from the chill crawling on my back.

  As for the Chieftain and his Minotaur, it seemed to be a close call. That’s surprising, if nothing else that human didn’t look all that strong. Then again, maybe they’re both more exhausted than we thought.

  “I’m worried about Mr. Damian.” The young one started to express.

  Right, before they went all out the Chieftain had ordered us all to run the second that Bear man showed off some kind of new ability. I still wonder what that was all about. I can’t imagine this ‘Emotional Damage’ that has him all freaked out would be enough to cause a lot of damage.

  Then again, there was that explosion earlier with that weird pink energy flying around. Maybe it was caused by that ‘Emotional Damage’ then. Still, V wasn’t the only one concerned. I wanted to check on them if only to see if there was something I could help with. But I needed to protect the little one.

  ….

  It should be fine so long as they came with me…. right?

  “O-ok then want to check on him really quick?” I asked the young goblin, who immediately nodded.

  So we took the opportunity while everyone was distracted and snuck back to the kingdom entrance. The closer we got, the louder the sounds of explosive battle were getting. That just made my anxiety grow, but I couldn’t back down now. Besides, it’s got to be less scary than that butler…

  When the gates came into view I was taken back by the sight before me! I take back any skepticism I had about this ‘Emotional Damage’. The chieftain was right to retreat from this battle!

  There were large craters all around the battlefield! At first, I had thought it was because of the enemy’s attack but I was quickly proven wrong when a stray blast of pink energy crashed the ground and instantly created a new crater. And the source of that attack was from the Bear Beastman. He had a look of bliss on his face that made the fur on my back stand.

  Each time that pink energy was used I could feel a lingering effect of affection from it. You would think that it wouldn’t be that bad but for some reason it felt like I was being suffocated by said affection.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Is….is this what the chieftain had to go through?!

  My arms reflexively wrapped my body, as if my own instincts were warning me to survive. It’s no wonder he always freaks out whenever I see him go for a hug.

  I couldn’t help but look at the young V and see their reaction. I couldn’t believe it; they were reacting more positively to it. Their eyes were just filled with wonder and excitement just like how they and the Chieftain reacted to the strange way our enemies had moved.

  Then again, kids do tend to be braver then most of us adults. For that I’m a bit jealous, cause right now I’m regretting taking us to see them. I couldn’t even imagine getting near all…. that.

  “H-he should be able to take care of things here. Don’t you think?” I asked the young goblin. Hoping and praying that they would agree.

  Unfortunately, that was not the case.

  “No way, Mr. Damian is having a hard time fighting the bad guy, see?” They pointed, trying to get me to see.

  I don’t know what they’re talking about. With all of those explosions, surely this ‘Power Mace’ must be str-

  Huh?

  Upon a closer look, I was surprised to see that the enemy had almost no scratch on him despite taking in the brunt of those destructive pink energies! In fact, he seemed to be enveloped by dark red flames. They definitely don’t look like ordinary fire to me.

  Meanwhile, I finally noticed that Damian himself was starting to slow down. Sure, his expression was filled with that suffocating affection that I’ve been starting to learn to dread. But his breathing was becoming more rapid, a sign that he was starting to get exhausted. Does using this unusual energy tire him out faster?

  As I got into my own thoughts, I heard the enemy speak for the first time I got here.

  “Got to say, you’re a lot stronger than I made you out to be. Even if that ability of yours is a bit confusing. Though-”

  The Tiger man gripped his two-handed mace tightly as the dark red flames intensified. “I can see that it is all too new to you. It’s untrained and out of control. You’ll burn yourself out before long. As for me, my flames can burn as brightly as I please!”

  In order to prove his point, the intensifying flames started to move on their own. They all gathered into one focal point of the spiky end of his mace. It was so bright I could feel the heat of it all from here.

  Damian on the other hand was just starting to come to his senses. His expression was returning to his more stoic look at the same time the pink energy withdrew. He looked so exhausted that I wouldn’t put it past him to pass out any second.

  And yet, he brought his fists up in a fighting stance. Despite it all he wanted to continue this battle.

  “…. Got to…. help Vladdy….”

  That was what I managed to pick up what he said.

  The enemy Arnold smirked in response. “Got to respect your devotion to your leader. Too bad you have to follow such an evil creature. That’s a waste of loyalty there.”

  My eyes widened in shock; how dare he make such comment!

  “That’s rude! I thought you were cool Mr. Tiger!! Mr. Vlad is way more awesome than you!!”

  V was mad, they stuck their tongue at him to show their disproval which I agreed. All three of us were furious with his comment with Damian’s energy shifting to red to portray his current emotion.

  Now I had to ask myself, what am I doing? I extended my claws out.

  “…. V, I need you to do me a favor.”

  Despite their current mood they listened to what I had to say.

  “Think you can find me some food as fast as possible? I’m going to teach that man a lesson.”

  They nodded and quickly ran to gather some nourishment. I checked to make sure the left-over scraps I had from my earlier emergency hunt were secured and took a portion and devoured it. I unfortunately didn’t have time to properly clean off the blood so I had a bit of it on my lips, making me look more barbaric than I would have liked.

  I activated my Gnoll Feast as my claws extended and sharpened. My eyes went bloodshot as they glared at their prey. Within the next moment, I had found myself already pouncing right at him with the feeling of shredding him on my mind.

  Already I could feel my hunger starting to take over as my claws went in to dig into his skin. But it was a lot tougher than I thought. I only managed to pierce the surface layer of the skin of his arm.

  “I was wondering when you were going to join in.~”

  With a simple swing of his arm, he threw me back towards Damian. I managed to land safely on the ground and quickly took the rest of my scraps and devoured them before I lost my state of mind.

  The Bear Beastman said nothing as he glanced at me. He merely focused on whatever energy he had left into his fist.

  I readied for another hunt. But our prey had already come rushing in and before I knew it, I saw the spikes coming down on me. Instinctively, I grabbed it with my bare claws as I howled from the pain of several holes being made from it all.

  The sight of my own blood made my appetite rise further! It made me want to see how his blood would flow out of his body.

  I..

  “Mr. Chef I got you some food! There was an old tree close by and they had a whole lot of those mushrooms you were eating. Here!”

  The second V threw the handful of Red Meat Mushrooms my entire focus had shifted as I ripped one of my claws and grabbed as much as I could as I shoved them all in my jaws!

  My senses returned to me as I pulled back and ignored my own dripping blood as I pounced to the sky, taking the Tiger Beastman’s attention towards me. Just as I wanted him to.

  That gave way for Damian to utilize his powered-up fist to go in for the punch!

  “Come now, I may not be the smartest but even I know a bluff as obvious as that.”

  Our enemy immediately shifted his focus back to Damian as he readied to block his attack with his spiky mace. But I used that opportunity to begin slashing the air down below, not to claw my enemy’s flesh but to fling my dripping blood right at his face!

  “ARG! Damn it!!”

  That blinded him. Now all that was left was for me and Damian to combine our two attacks together an-

  {“We need to retreat now!”}