Chapter 59: The Clan’s Savior

One of the humans stepped forward.

“Wait!”

I turned toward the voice.

The man was a human soldier with a broad frame and a weathered face.

His dark hair was cut short, and a thin scar ran from the edge of his left eyebrow toward his temple. He wore battered steel armor over a dark leather tunic, with a sword secured at his waist and a shield strapped to his back.

He kept his hands visible as he approached, although the tension in his shoulders made it clear that he remained prepared to defend himself.

His gaze briefly shifted to Thors before returning to me.

“You’ve already won the fight,” he said carefully. “Let him go, and we’ll honor his words.”

I raised my head, staring at him over the edge of the Doom Axe.

“Are you threatening me?”

“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “I’m asking you to honor the agreement. Thors promised that if you defeated him, we would leave your clan alone. You have beaten him. There’s no reason for this to continue.”

I tightened my grip on the weapon.

“Honor and humans don’t go together very well, do they?”

The soldier’s expression tightened, but he didn’t react angrily to the insult.

“If you kill him, we’ll have no choice but to attack you and the members of your clan. I don’t want that any more than you do. More of our people will die, and so will more of yours. We’ve already lost enough today.” He glanced at the unconscious dwarf again before looking me in the eyes. “So I humbly ask that you spare him.”

I hesitated.

Thors wasn’t dead.

I hadn’t received any notification from the system confirming a kill, which meant there was a good chance he would recover if his injuries weren’t fatal. Once he did, there was no guarantee he would honor the agreement.

He had already attempted to kill me after pretending to surrender, so trusting him to keep his word seemed foolish.

Killing him now would remove that threat permanently.

However, I couldn’t ignore the humans surrounding the clearing.

They outnumbered us, and most of the goblins who remained were nowhere near strong enough to fight trained warriors.

Orgrun was seriously injured, and my own mana was almost completely depleted.

I could barely keep myself standing, let alone fight another group of enemies.

Even if I managed to defeat a few more of them, the cost would be too high.

I looked toward the goblins.

Their attention was fixed on me, and I could see the uncertainty in their faces.

Another battle could leave the clan with more dead than it could afford.

I slowly lowered the Doom Axe.

“All right,” I said, keeping my voice firm. “You take him, and you leave.”

The soldier released a breath he seemed to have been holding.

“Thank you.”

He gestured to the other warriors, several of whom immediately moved toward Thors.

They approached cautiously, keeping their eyes on me as they reached the fallen dwarf.

Two of them took hold of his arms while another secured his legs, and together they lifted his unconscious body from the ground.

Thors’s head lolled to one side as they carried him away.

He didn’t move, and I couldn’t tell whether he was merely unconscious or in a more serious condition. Either way, the humans seemed determined to get him out of the clearing before anything else happened.

The soldier lingered for a moment.

He gave me a look that held both gratitude and caution. Perhaps he was thankful that I had allowed them to leave without further bloodshed, but he also understood that I was not a goblin they could easily intimidate anymore.

I nodded in acknowledgment, though I didn’t loosen my grip on the Doom Axe.

He returned the gesture before turning away.

The warriors soon began withdrawing from the clan’s territory, carrying Thors with them.

Some supported their injured companions, while others kept watch over the surroundings as they retreated. None attempted to provoke the goblins or challenge my decision.

I watched them until the last of them disappeared from sight.

Only then did I allow myself to breathe a sigh of relief.

The clearing had fallen quiet, and the tension that had hung over the clan throughout the fight finally began to ease. We had survived. Orgrun was still alive, the humans were leaving, and the immediate threat to the clan had passed.

I turned toward the goblins watching me.

They were staring as though I had descended from the heavens to save them. Some looked at me with open admiration, while others bowed their heads or whispered among themselves.

Talia stood among them, looking relieved, though the concern on her face returned when she noticed how unsteadily I was standing.

I couldn’t blame them for their reaction.

I had defeated Thors, the dwarf who had beaten their chief and threatened to slaughter the entire clan. For the moment, I had become the person who stood between them and destruction.

In their eyes, I might as well have been their god.

The thought almost made me laugh, but I didn’t have the energy for it.

My fingers began to loosen around the Doom Axe, and the weapon suddenly felt much heavier than before. The strength that had carried me through the fight was fading, leaving the pain and exhaustion I had been ignoring to catch up with me all at once.

My knees weakened.

I had pushed my body beyond its limits, relying on sheer determination to keep moving. Now that the danger had passed, the pain I had ignored came rushing back.

I could no longer pretend I had anything left to give

I tried to take another step, but my legs refused to cooperate. The clearing tilted before my eyes, and I felt myself losing my balance.

I had won.

That was the last thought that crossed my mind before exhaustion finally overwhelmed me, and I collapsed onto the ground.

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