"Athena don't do this!" William shouted as a response to Athena's order to the goblin.
The parent goblin didn't hesitate any more and charged at William then threw a swing at him.
William dodged the goblin's swing by gently moving farther back out of the range of the attack …F*ck! What exactly is wrong with her all of a sudden?
William dodged as he thought …Or is she testing me? They keep on saying I'm a demon so maybe she wants to know my stand when it comes to innocent lives? Maybe she wants to make sure I won't turn out to be a psycho who murders a kid that mistakenly steps on my feet? Hmm, that makes sense. Haha, if that's the case then I'm making the right decision to only not hurt this goblin. You almost got me this time, Athena…
William shot a glance at her with smiling eyes.
For the next two hours, William only dodged the goblin's attacks and occasionally disarmed it.
"Huff…Huff…" William gasped for air as he weakly dodged the goblin's jump attack. Even the goblin's speed had reduced compared to before.
The goblin child at the side with Athena remained there with tears rolling down its eyes and snot coming down from its nose. It understood the situation it was in.
Athena wore a normal expression. She knew this battle would go on and William wouldn't try to harm the goblin but she gave William a period of grace, hoping he would change and obey her order, but for about two hours now, all was to no avail.
Athena bit her lip in frustration and screamed at the goblin, "Don't you want to go home safely?!"
She grabbed the neck of the goblin child again and tightened her grip around its neck.
"Athena, no!" William knew just how strong Athena was from the punches she occasionally gave him. Her strength could almost be compared to that of a knight that had awakened their blessing.
"Gaaaa…" The goblin child let out a sorrowful cry.
Athena facepalmed herself and let out a sigh, "Ugh, at least I tried!"
Wooosh!
At Athena's last words, a heavy gust of wind divided William and the parent goblin and slammed them against the two opposite walls.
*Boom*
"Arrgh!" "Kaakc!" William and the goblin cried out in pain upon impact with the walls.
Athena's eyes glowed blue. She didn't bother to use her wand and said some incoherent words that were hard to understand.
Suddenly, the summoning circle shone bright and a towering humanoid creature between 8 and 9 feet tall emerged from the circle.
William's eyes widened upon seeing this. He felt an immense amount of trepidation.
The creature's skin was greenish black and had a thick and well-defined chest, arms, and legs. Its face was of normal size for a monster of that stature; its nose was short and its eyes had an emerald glint in them while its mouth had two sharp teeth about 2 inches each protruding upwards at the edges of the lower part of its mouth. It had long, black and scanty hair resting above its shoulders. Its lower body, arms, and legs were covered with brown and dirty fur armor.
「Master, according to the available information, that creature is a Grade-4 monster: Orc.」
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
William felt his head pound fiercely …I-Isn't this going overboard for a common test of character? W-Wait, d-don't tell me she's really planning to kill me?!
William had the idea that Athena was just testing him, now that he was sure that those were never her intentions, he didn't hesitate to scream, "Heeeelp! Someone! Anyone! Gilde! Athena's trying to–"
Bam!
Athena slammed him on the wall with so much force it almost caved in.
"Ack!" William almost coughed his lungs out. His mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood. Fear gripped him once again. Magic was too formidable.
Athena said some foreign, incoherent words like before and then said, "I have made the walls sound-proof and have fortified them so the vibrations won't disturb the manor and attract unwanted visitors. You can never escape and no one will come to your aid."
Athena then took out a tiny pin that held one of her two side ponytails and pricked her finger till it drew a tiny amount of blood.
Beads of sweat rolled down William's face and he said with horror-filled eyes, "Athena, whatever you're about to do… please… think about Allison or your other siblings like Selene. I know you care about your family. I don't want to die! Please! Allison was my wife in my previous world, we devoted our lives to each other, please don't kill me. I still want to see Allison."
Athena scoffed and said, "William, just because I've stayed with you for about a week you think you know me? Well, you're right but you're missing a mark. I only care about expanding my wisdom. I need to be in heaven to conduct my research but I'm being inconvenienced. You were created to solve this issue.
"I'm offering you the best solution to break through your weak and miserable shackles but you're acting like… you. Too weak to make a decision and shape your future with your bare hands. Too miserable to take a step forward. That's probably why she left you to rot. Heh, I'm sure you never moved on. It's hard to even think someone like Allison would choose a good for nothing like you."
William was surprised to hear the words that came out of Athena's mouth. The fear he felt was immediately overshadowed by rage, "SHUT UP! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY YEARS I SPENT SEARCHING FOR HER?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH BECAUSE OF IT?! YOU CAN NEVER EVEN PICTURE WHAT I AND ALLISON HAD TOGETHER YOU F*CKIN' CRUEL, ANNOYING, FLAT-CHESTED B*TCH GODDESS! I'VE DIED ONCE AND HAD ALMOST BEEN KILLED TWICE ALREADY IN THIS FUCKIN' UNIVERSE! ALL BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH I LOVE HER! SHE CHOSE ME BECAUSE OF I AM WHO I AM! TO HELL WITH YOU AND YOUR F*CKIN' STUPID WISDOM!"
Countless veins appeared on Athena's face and neck. She took out a tiny knife and cut her finger where she pricked herself to draw tiny blood; making the blood flow more than before. She threw the blood at the orc, landing on its lip.
The orc licked the blood with its black tongue and immediately, a surge of energy exploded in the room.
"Urrrkk! Urrrrk! Uuuuuuurrrrrrkkkk!" The orc's muscles fattened up and thickened. Its body bloated and thick blue veins appeared all over its skin. It grew taller, adding 1 more foot. Its two sharp protruding teeth grew longer and it roared ferociously. The emerald glint in its eyes had turned red.
William's voice was filled with fear and terror as he asked rhetorically, "What the- What the heck is happening?"
「Master, it appears the Grade-4 monster: Orc, has evolved to a Grade-5 monster: Orc Barbarian; due to ingestion of the blood of a the Goddess, Athena.」
Athena let go of the goblin child and walked to the door of the underground storage room then turned to look at William with a shadow covering her eyes and face filled with veins. She said in a low tone before walking up the stairs, "You're lucky gods aren't allowed to kill humans. Eat that foolish boy alive. Let him experience true pain before he dies."
Thump! Thump!
William's heart pounded. The air around him that kept him plastered on the wall released.
He fell to the ground and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Athena please don't do this! Don't do this! Athena! I'm sorry!"
Athena shut the wooden door before locking it from the other side and sealing it to the wall with magic.
The goblin child was hiding behind the parent in a corner.
The orc roared and marched towards William.
"ATHENA! ATHENA! F***CK!" William picked up his sword again.
…How do I win against this?! F*CK! Think! Nova doesn't have this monster's analysis so she can't predict his movements, talk less of finding a counter.
William understood his defense was useless against such a giant monster.
"Uuuuuuurrrrrrkkkk!" The orc charged at William and slashed down with its massive fists.
William evaded to the side and slashed the side of the orc's lower leg in the process but it only left a dent.
…My sword can't cut it and it's not as agile as the goblin. It's fast but I suspect because it just underwent sudden growth it isn't used to its body… William deduced his opponent's first weakness but couldn't see a way to utilize this information because his stats were lacking in comparison.
The orc roared and slashed at where William was, but the latter just gnashed his teeth and used his remaining strength to evade.
He was fatigued from the 2-hour bout with the goblin already. He was using his mental strength to push through.