Goblin Slayer tends not to deviate from what’s on its tin: slaying goblins. This season has featured some enjoyable exceptions, from High Elf Archer’s sister’s wedding to the various non-goblin jobs they’ve taken on. But this week we get back to the bread-and-butter. The princess has been kidnapped, and they’ll need to slay a lot of goblins to rescue her.
Sword Maiden and Noble Fencer, two women who have seen enough goblins in their lifetimes, see the Slayer’s party off, and when they reach the wagon the princess was riding, evidence indicates she was not maimed, so they believe she’s to be a sacrifice. Once the party reaches the fortified mountainside town, they sneak around it to reach the entrance to a dark and foreboding dungeon.
While Priestess notes that this is the first official dungeon of its kind she’s been in, the basics are the same: stay vigilant, keep count of how many goblins are around (lots) and make sure you have the tools you need to defeat them. Slayer advises restraint: no spells or potions unless absolutely necessary. They need to save their best for the boss.
Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman are fine hacking away at the goblins beside Slayer while Elf Archer shoots them and Priestess stands by. When she apologizes for not being that much help, they remind her a priestess, particularly a back-liner, shouldn’t have to swing a weapon. Her job is merely to stay safe and ready for when things get tough.
Goblin Slayer decides to use a gate scroll he must’ve borrowed from the temple to suck a bunch of goblins in and spit them out at a predetermined destination: in his case, the sky. That proves advantageous for the Hero’s Party, who were dispatched to investigate the object from the heavens that landed in the Holy Mount.
This object turns out to be very similar to The Thing from The Thing (my favorite version being John Carpenter’s remake): whatever it encounters first, it mimics. And that happens to be the goblins Slayer sucked into the gate scroll. This makes the monster easy pickings for the Hero’s Party, who are disgusted by the eldritch abomination before them but soon realize … it’s not that bright.
We also another instance of that sweet, sweet Hero Party’s battle theme, my favorite Suehiro Kenichiro piece in the series.
While the Hero’s Party fights atop the mount, the Slayer’s party descends in an elevator, and make their preparations. Archer hears at least 10 and possibly 20 goblins shifting around, and also smells incense, which Lizard Priest notes is needed for a ritual. The incense may be poison, so Priestess suggests casting Holy Light just as they rush out of the elevator.
Dwarf casts light across the ritual chamber, allowing Slayer to quickly assess the strength and composition of the enemy, and then he and Lizard get to slayin’. The Princess’ robes are a bit torn but she otherwise seems to have avoided having unspeakable things done to her. However, it’s not merely a Goblin Shaman who has her in his clutches, it’s a Goblin Priest, who is even able to cast Protection over the sacrifice altar.
As Slayer and Lizard continue carving through goblins and their blood splatters on Priestess, she realizes that throughout the chamber are strategically placed corpses of adventurers bleeding into specialized channels, all leading to the altar. It’s definitely a bloodletting ritual, with the Priestess as the main sacrifice.
Before the Goblin Priest can accomplish whatever he set out to do, Priestess puts an end to it by casting Purify, changing all of the spilled blood into water and casusing the Goblin Priest’s Protection veil to fall. Everything is going according to plan, with Priestess saving her miracles for when they were most needed.
With all his underlings slain, the Goblin Priest holds the Priestess up as a last-ditch hostage, only for Slayer to confidently stride up to him and kick him hard in he balls, then bash his head in with a goblin’s club. The Priestess is now safe, having endured a far briefer and less horrific ordeal than either the Sword Maiden or Noble Fencer. Hopefully she isn’t emotionally scarred for life, and this can be a teachable moment for her not to go rushing into adventures on her own.
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