(Veil pov)
It only took seven hours for the sun to set, which is barely any time at all when compared to his time in hell. Just remembering being left alone in an empty abyss with nothing but his own thoughts made Veil shudder. Floating there, feeling nothing, the loss of his senses—it was worse than any physical pain he had ever felt. So yes, for now, all he could do was play the part of a toy, plaything, or even just a pawn of that dreaded goddess.
He had to end the lives of these ghoulish green goblins. It was him or them. He did not know why they had to die. He did not care that they had to die. They just did.
He spoke out quietly to no one, or maybe just to comfort himself: "After this, I can just take a nap in some city and rest peacefully." Veil held the rock in his hand even more firmly as he walked to the entrance of the cave. There were two goblins there. He moved without thinking and jumped on one of them, stomping his foot on its small, feeble, child-sized body. Eventually, he just stomped on its skull over and over again, even after the blood, the goblin's screams—maybe cries for help of some sort—even after he heard the sound of its skull cracking. Veil hated doing this, as it hurt his foot, and also, doing this brought memories for Veil: when he was in tenth grade, he got into a fight with two classmates. He broke one of their arms, but he was left bruised. No one touched him again after that—only an insane person can win a 2 vs. 1. Who would talk to someone like that? He was left alone all of high school after that. These memories caused Veil to stomp on the goblin's skull harder and harder, even after its death. Perhaps the memory came back because, at that moment, he was also stomping on someone. He stepped on Tony's hand repeatedly. Tony was not able to use his hand for 18 months after that. He even lost his full-ride scholarship.
(Goblin POV)
The sight of his comrade's head being crushed horrified the other goblin who was guarding the cave. It froze out of fear. It had slain many beasts and humans, yet it had never seen such a vicious monster—someone who had slain another beast so violently for seemingly no reason at all. No emotion on his face: not pleasure, joy, fear, or even guilt. It was as if he saw their lives as nothing more than stepping stones to his rise. The goblin pissed its pants, literally. It feared Veil more than Veil feared it.
Veil pov)
Veil turned his attention to the other goblin, the one with a dagger, shaking in fear. He grabbed this one by the neck and lifted it up. The green beast was obviously in fear, but Veil had no reason to go out of his way to make its death easier. It was trying to stab him; however, Veil had lifted it up with some distance between them, so all its short little arms could do was flail or attempt to cut his arm. However, neither stopped Veil. If anything, its futile attempts just made him squeeze harder. The goblin's last thought: "What a truly vicious monster. May my comrades beat him."
This goblin he killed was smart, intelligent—almost human. Too bad it was in his way, or he might have let it live. But it doesn't matter, as long as he isn't in hell. It felt fear, warmth for its comrades, and even hate for Veil himself. Maybe in this story, he was the villain, but such a meaningless thing meant nothing.
Veil dropped the goblin's body. It hit the ground very hard, and he picked up the dagger that fell out of its green hands. After grabbing the dagger, Veil cut its throat to make sure it was dead. Finally, Veil slid down into the dark goblin cave, having taken out the guards. He hoped that he hadn't alerted more of them. If they were still asleep, it would make his job a hell of a lot easier.
Eventually, Veil made it all the way down. It was pretty dark in here.
[Your favorite mischievous goddess has gifted you night vision lvl 1]
Veil was shocked at the sight he saw: not 20, or even 50, but 60 goblins there were archers, swordsmen, spearmen, and even shield users.
Veil almost shat himself seeing this. It would terrify anyone. He even dropped his usually calm expression, wondering, "Will I go back to hell? Will I spend my eternity suffering? No, impossible, no." Tears were streaming down Veil's eyes as he looked at the goblins.
Veil was afraid of few things—effort, exhaustion, pain, and sloth. Hell, the first three he could overcome, but hell he could not. It was a terrible place where he truly lost himself. He even thought about dying. Unfortunately, death isn't an option in hell.
In the end, he had to fight and play in this sick so-called goddess's game. After all, he hadn't even met any of the main cast yet or even a human. He could not die, not yet. He put in the work for once. Yet, he had to do this. Fuck. Fuck it all. Let's just get this done with. A soft laugh escaped Veil: "Let's get this over with. I got naps to take."
Forced Quest Updated
Quest: Kill 60 goblins Progress: (0/60)
Reward: Skill: Universal Language (Passive), skill: lethargy (mentality, passive), item: (1-star artifact—Nodachi) "Lost Blade of Até"
Penalty: Death
TIME LIMIT: 16 hours
In truth, Veil was panicking inside. He was terrified, but such an emotion was ineffective right now. So he just had to fight. The tears in his eyes from seconds ago were proof enough of just how terrified he truly was. Knowing he had to fight 60 goblins, he was practically asking to get sent back to hell. Unfortunately, that bitch of a goddess is making him do this. God, he wishes he could just slit her throat and go home to his family on Earth. Maybe he couldn't even go home; he hadn't known how long ago that was. Hell had made identifying time impossible.
(Random goblin POV)
This strange man was inside their tribe's home, and the blood on him could only mean Griyku and Hiurkgh were dead. Griyku was a clever strategist and even a shaman candidate. Truly, this man was vicious. Luckily, young Uyugi was waiting for her father Griyku to return and alerted the tribe leader of the strange sounds she heard, or else their clan might have truly lost to this evil human.