The Princess is, to quote Saruman, “alive and unspoiled,” thank goodness. She is however extremely weak and thoroughly terrified, so a gentle hug from the Priestess means a lot. Unfortunately, the party lets their guard down, and Slayer notices too...
The Princess is, to quote Saruman, “alive and unspoiled,” thank goodness. She is however extremely weak and thoroughly terrified, so a gentle hug from the Priestess means a lot. Unfortunately, the party lets their guard down, and Slayer notices too late that the Goblin Priest isn’t dead yet, but sacrifices himself to summon the hand of a Greater Demon.
This isn’t ideal, as the hand unleashes a horrible blizzard, and if there’s one thing the Lizard Priest can’t abide, it’s the bitter cold. Slayer shields him as much as he can, while the Dwarf Shaman puts up a crude ice wall, but then the hand moves, smashing the wall and sending everyone flying. Elf Archer gets the worst of it, hitting the back wall hard.
After taking some potions, everyone regroups. Slayer uses his rope to snag the blind hand, while Priestess opens the elevator shaft. Lizard Priest summons a scythe which Archer fires like an arrow at the hand, knocking it off balance. When Slayer pulls it into the shaft, Priestess creates a barrier with Protection. When it starts smashing against it, Priestess’ mettle is tested.
Ultimately, she is able to prevail, as the barrier holds out enough to activate the elevator and smash the hand into goo—the proverbial hammer-and-anvil tactic, this time employed by Priestess. With the threat once again eliminated, the party kills the remaining goblin stragglers and limps back up to the surface, only to find dozens of goblin reinforcements awaiting them.
It doesn’t look good for our people, but Slayer had a plan: he asked for the Sword Maiden to aid them, and she arrives just in time with a huge force of warriors and mages from the capital, along with an adorable giant white alligator she presumably rode there.
While her hand trembles, she manages to kill most of the goblins with lightning from the heavens, while the army mops up the rest. Priestess, who had taken Slayer’s sleeve, lets it go, as she wishes she could have protected Slayer this time and vows to do so next time.
We learn that some revolutionaries were plotting to overthrow the king by having the princess kidnapped and letting the goblin priest sacrifice her to summon a demon that would then merge with the otherworldly “thing”.
However, just about every part of their plan failed, as the “thing” was influenced by airborne teleported goblins first, while the princess is alive and safe and the demon dealt with. They are then taken out by a force led by the “Knight of Diamonds”, whoever he is.
Slayer and his party return home, where Priestess learns that the Princess became a devotee of the Earth Mother. However, she didn’t join a nunnery; she remains in the order of succession, but was inspired by a certain cleric who rescued her: the Priestess.
This brings tears to Priestess’ eyes, and Archer is happy for her. She’s come a long way in the year and a half since she was exactly where the princess was when they rescued her: innocent, weak, and foolish. She still has a long way to go, but is not longer any of those things, thanks to her friends and Goblin Slayer.
As for Slayer himself, he returns to the farm and is warmly welcomed home by Cow Girl. While Sword Maiden, Noble Fencer, and Priestess will continue along the high road, he stands by his choice to do the necessary dirty work to keep the innocent safe: slaying goblins. It’s what he was built for, and it’s what he intends to keep doing, over and over again.
That might be a road that will never end, but he’s willing to walk it. What he might fail to realize is that plenty of people, including the Maiden and Priestess as well as the Elf Archer, Lizard Priest, and Dwarf Shaman, are just as willing to walk that road right beside him. And they’ll always be stronger together, raging against that endless wave of dastardly little green blighters.
