The Big Bang System - Chapter 36

With combat out of the question Angela would have to find another way of dealing with the goblins, and she knows just the way to do it. She had seen a documentary about how bats were being forced out of their caves using large amounts of smoke. Since there was no other exit to the cave, if they created enough smoke then the entire tunnel would be filled with it (though the amount of smoke needed would be tremendous).

Before starting the plan suitable preparations are needed. First, it is important to have a large enough stock of dry shrubbery or wood to create enough smoke. After the stockpile is created there needs to be some way of ensuring that the smoke goes in the desired direction and, as there was no wind in the void, it would have to be an artificial way.

Burning small amounts of different materials Angela finds that wood produces the most smoke for how much anima it costs and so she starts creating large piles of it, stacking the planks in neat one meter high jenga towers.

As for the artificial airflow the easiest method outside of having warriors wave large leaves (though it would be a rather comical sight) would, once again, be through runes. Similar to how she made the blast rune, Angela sets up a slightly different testing area and starts experimenting with different rune combinations.

Though there are many failures a couple are reserved as they might be useful later such as a rune made from air (aur) and power (strn) which causes an incredibly strong wind, capable of cutting through almost a meter of solid stone but quickly dissipates. Such a rune has a large restriction due to its friendly fire but its power is similar to a hand grenade and would be useful against enemies that are resistant to fire.

After many attempts she creates one with the desired effect. It isn’t a strong force, merely a light breeze, but the duration and direction is easy to control; ideal for keeping a continuous airflow. Of course, this plan would not be able to kill all of the goblins, some may make it out of the tunnel but the ones that do will be disoriented and weak, a much easier target for the warriors.

Once again a group is formed, although with a different pupose, this time it is for containment rather than a direct attack. The fires are set and the smoke quickly floods into the tunnels, spreading out to block the oxygen from going in and out.

After a period of time the sound of coughing comes from the tunnel and a few goblins rush out, only to be caught unaware and quickly dispatched. Angela feels guilty at this, though not as guilty as she expected. It was sort of like squishing bugs; sure you feel a little bad about it but its the natural thing to do.

Soon the goblins are coming out in groups of ten and twenty but it makes no difference, they are defenseless against the sharp blades. Despite the increasing death count Angela still feels very little guilt which actually makes her feel even worse. The conflict between what she has been taught to believe as right and what she currently feels causes her to wonder whether she herself is losing many of the feelings that make her human.

Eventually the groups stop coming, dozens upon dozens of corpses are scattered around; though they are a mere fraction of the number still inside the cave. By now angela is starting to feel a little horrified, she has caused this, it is her doing.

As they move deeper into the cave, the rune held out in front of them to clear the smoke, the feeling of repulsion grows stronger and stronger as the number of corpses increase in volume. Finally they reach the antechamber just before the large spiral room from before and Angela’s spirit loses its last legs and collapses due to the horrific scene.

Bodies litter the room, piled on top of each other in their attempt to escape. The thing that really broke her though, was that there were actually child goblins amongst the bodies, some still clinging to their mothers.

The dam breaks and Angela collapses, sobbing, into Lenara. Though startled Lenara quickly reacts, comforting Angela despite her lack of understanding. Coming from the perspective of a hive mind killing was just a natural part of life, a trading of resources for a strategic position. Instead she gently strokes Angela’s hair and after issuing a couple of commands to her warriors, leads her out of the cave.

To the people who have said that my MC is too sheltered… screw you, she is a teenage girl not a psychopath.

studies have shown that around 3% of people without psychopathic tendencies would be able to kill another being in an apocalyptic scenario, never mind multiple.

just had to get that out of my system… anyhoo more happy stuff coming up