Nova's body shivered uncontrollably as he ran towards his mother.
This was going worse faster than he could process.
With adrenaline coursing through his veins, Nova leaped into the air towards the goblin about to thrust its hips towards his mother's cunt.
He didn't have time to kill it with his dagger; he just wanted to stop it from doing something terrible to his mother.
So with desperation in his heart, Nova kicked the goblin in the head as hard as he could.
A sickening crunch was heard, and the creature flew to the side while hitting the wall in a heap.
Without missing a beat, Nova continued attacking the other three remaining goblins.
First, he sliced off the one on top of Alicia's back, leaving it a mess of blood and flesh, before stabbing the remaining two in their necks until they dropped dead beside her.
As soon as he managed to save his mother, Nova rushed over to the goblin he kicked away and stabbed its heart over and over again.
He was in a rage as he repeatedly plunged his dagger into the lifeless body while muttering, "Die, fucking die! Die!"
It was clear he went berserk with bloodlust from what he witnessed.
Alicia trembled on the ground, holding herself. Tears rolled down her face, and her breathing became erratic.
"Oh my God, what just happened? Why? Why are we here?" She mumbled between sobs.
Seeing his mother like this, Nova snapped out of his fury and calmed himself down.
The stench of death invaded his nose as the five corpses lay on the ground, and blood soaked into the soil.
Nova felt nauseated from it. Still, he put his feelings aside and rushed toward Alicia.
She was a mess; her face was stained with tears and dirt, her beautiful hair was disheveled, and her panties were destroyed beyond repair.
With an arm around her shoulder, Nova pulled Alicia into his embrace, holding her tight while whispering reassuring words to calm her down.
"It's all right, Mommy. It's fine now; those nasty things won't hurt you anymore."
Alicia whimpered and hugged her son close, clinging tightly to him like her life depended on it, crying in his arms while saying over and over again, "Why...? Why?"
Nova also had mixed feelings right now.
Although he managed to save his mother from a terrifying ordeal, the experience left its mark on both of their minds.
But at the same time, a sick thought crossed his mind.
Goblins were weak and easy enemies, which meant that there would be much worse than them in the future.
Still, Nova banished such thoughts for now, focusing on calming down his mother instead.
After a few minutes passed, Alicia seemed to have calmed down enough as she loosened her grip on Nova and pulled back enough so that she could look at his face.
"Are you hurt, my dear son?" She asked, concerned, while caressing her son's face.
It was smeared with blood that wasn't his own, but it didn't stop her from showing care and concern for her son.
Nova shook his head and answered, "No, I am all right, Mom. Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?"
"No, thanks to you coming on time. I am still fine and unharmed other than getting frightened for my life," Alicia replied, and she tried to reassure Nova with a weak smile.
Still, her legs were trembling due to the earlier ordeal, even with her son's arm wrapped around her back in support.
It was apparent that she needed a break before anything else, but Nova knew this wasn't the place for them to rest in.
They needed to get away from here at once, lest any other monsters found their way here, attracted by the smell of blood and flesh.
"We should go, Mom. It is not safe here," Nova declared as he helped his mother get back on her feet.
Then he picked up one of the goblins' primitive cloth wraps to cover her intimate part.
Afterward, he wrapped his hand around her waist and let Alicia use his shoulder as support for walking.
As they walked, Nova remembered how his mother mentioned sensing life forms from her new power.
"Mom, could you try sensing the area again, please? Just to be safe," he suggested in a whisper.
Alicia nodded slowly and closed her eyes as she concentrated on her new powers.
After a few seconds, she opened them again and replied in relief, "There doesn't seem to be anything else ahead of us anymore. But let's be careful."
They followed the tunnel that led deeper into the underground cave system.
After walking for what felt like forever, Nova and Alicia found themselves in front of a fork in the road.
Neither of them knew which way to go. They couldn't afford to get lost.
"Let's try going where there are signs of life. Goblins should know the way to the exit," Nova said after thinking for some time. "Even if it's dangerous, it's better to take a chance than wander aimlessly and end up lost. We won't last long in a place like this..."
Alicia bit her lips in hesitation and nodded her head after a short while.
Her first instinct was to avoid getting anywhere near a goblin, but she didn't want to become lost in the caves either.
So in the end, they decided to follow the faint traces of life to the right of where they were standing.
They didn't realize it at the time, but they were in fact walking in the darkness without any light sources whatsoever.
Somehow, Nova and Alicia were able to see their surroundings without any difficulty, but they didn't notice this yet.
A few minutes went by, and they were able to hear distant voices echoing from far away.
Nova turned toward his mother and whispered, "Mom, you should stay here and hide yourself while I scout ahead to see what's going on. Just give me a few moments, okay?"