The armor shined as they left the sanctuary of the woods. This was odd as they would have to fight the Bloodmoon tribe to get here. The enemy's formation was tightknit. Tarphus winced as he saw the formation. A rocket would have been nice to have right now.

However, now that he looked at them as they marched closer, he smiled cruelly. It seems the elves did fight them as the foe walked into the light. He saw many arrows on their shields. Their armor was broken in many places.

It seemed that they were now trying to take the hill to allow the enemy to gain a foothold near the town. This will not happen. Tarphus ordered his troops to hold fire until the foe came closer as right now they would only waste ammunition.

It seems like the goblins saw the trench. They laughed with glee as Tarphus's soldiers ready their weapons. Tarphus was tapped on his shoulder; as he turned, he saw the priest behind him. The priest then asked him. "Are you not going to show off your so-called prowess with those toys?"

Tarphus gritted his teeth and shouted at his troops, "Wait for it!" before turning towards the priest. "Do not insult me, my men, or our equipment. Or else-" explosions rang out from behind him as the goblins entered the minefield.

This brings a smile to his face as he turns toward the carnage. This is a signal to the town that they are engaging the enemy. This shuts the priest up… for now, Tarphus noticed that the priest scampered back to his luxurious chair, complaining about the noise of barbaric savages.

Tarphus then noticed the Tech-Priest staring at him. It was now that Tarphus felt that he had a frown on his face. This would not do. He needed to be calm and collected, if not for himself, then for his troops.

He then shook his head, forcing a smile onto his face; this was not the time to get emotional. He needed to be a commander for his troops. Not some emotional busy body, that role was taken by the priest.

The goblins were taken care of swiftly though they got through half of the mines. Tarphus looked over his soldiers. "They got to the halfway point. We must ensure that they do not get further, raise your weapons and offer prayers to the God-Emperor so we can smite the Xenos filth!"

This got a scoff from behind him; however, Tarphus did not care. He wanted no needed to defend the town from these things. The goblins charged again, without thought, though they were information because of the supposed safety that is provided.

The fools only made them an easy target just point and shoot at the formation, and it was almost a guaranteed hit. However, there was something off about them, 

The sheer determination in their eyes told him about the lengths that they would go to just to ensure their victory. There was no hesitation. They all charged at the trench though that determination helped allow this mad dash. It was their downfall.

They did not dive, nor did they try to maneuver. It was like Tarphus was facing a heavy armor unit from the kingdom as the goblins raised their shield. Tarphus smiled coldly as he saw the heavy weapons team chew through the goblins with such vigor.

He then stops as another group of goblins follow up behind the other, though they stopped… His eyes widened as they brought out bows. He yelled at his troops, "Focus on the archers!" as Tarphus opened fire at those same archers, he felt a sting in his shoulder after he killed a few of those bastards.

He looked down and saw that it was an arrow. He ripped it out immediately and kept firing at the goblins. He looked around as his magazine ran out of bullets. He noticed that Guile was patching up one of the weapons team.

"Priest, make yourself useful!" Tarphus looked up and around, noticing that the priest was not in his chair. Tarphus cursed under his breath, "That bastard." He laid down fire into the archers earning an arrow in his shoulder for the trouble.

He frowned as he noticed that the priest was fleeing, the coward, he will get his reward Tarphus swore it. Tarphus needed to calm himself. The coward will be punished later. However, it still stung.

Anger flared in Tarphus's mind. Did he not stand with his troops? Did he not suffer through hell to earn his power? What gave this priest the right to run with his tail between his legs? It made no sense to Tarphus. 

Even the thought of running brings him back to the challenge. But, first, the battle cries of the goblins turned into the roars of those damn beasts that he had fought tooth and nail. Then he heard the clear and horrible sound a revving of that accursed blade fear gripped him.

Tarphus shook out of it as an arrow hit his leg, causing him to fall. He blinked several times, tears in his wild eyes. He tried to calm himself, ripping out the arrow and applying the medkit so that he would not bleed out. The pain brought clarity to his muddled mind.

He needed to keep up with his men and make sure that they continued to fire at the enemy no matter what. No losses yet, but those archers were more annoying than anything, but that changed, and he smiled cruelly as the archers started to move up, getting closer to his line.

Why they did this, Tarphus did not know. Finally, however, they got into firing range and allowed Tarphus with his squad to lay down fire into the ranks of the goblin archers. They were utterly decimated. The goblins squealed, crying out in pain and crawling towards the line.

Tarphus felt strange seeing the enemy struggle with all their might to get close to the trench. The ground was turning into mud as the grass was destroyed due to the mines. The blood of the goblins soaked the field, watering the bare ground. 

Tarphus smiled coldly as the filth died, but he was conflicted over why they did this. The goblins he knew on this world would flee at the tiniest of cuts. Even the Gretchin would escape in the face of overwhelming firepower or charge with a roar. These goblins fell squealing, but other than that, uttered no sound.

Tarphus got the conscripts and Gudo to go out and clear the corpses with him. The troops were to keep an eye out for the goblins that were sure to come. Tarphus was confident that the goblins would come again in another raid. He knew it and felt it.

After a few minutes, Tarphus led the clean-up squad back to the trench to prepare for the next wave. The soldiers were happy to see the foe break after seeing the discipline that the goblins showed. However, Tarphus was worried that he was able to do such a thing without getting attacked.

The Tech-Priest walked over to Tarphus and silently stood there, watching him silently. Tarphus offered his canteen to the Tech-Priest with a smile. "So, what are you thinking, my friend?" The Tech-Priest took the canteen, and a cable reached out, sucking a portion of the contents to taste it.

Neither of them spoke. Tarphus was looking out to the field, trying to find an enemy that was not there. However, he was disgruntled over their use of armor and formations. He was about to talk about it to the Tech-Priest but noticed that the armor was no longer on the bodies of the corpses. 

He did not know what to do; however, it was irrelevant to victory right now; the troops were in good spirits over the easy victory. So Tarphus will give them this to not ruin the good mood.

Though he noticed the air of contemplation in the tech priest's posture, Tarphus chuckled to himself over trying to identify what the thing was thinking.

The Tech-Priest monitored the Squad Captain before it. The human was strange, but it could respect this meat bag even if he believed in the Emperor and not the Omnissiah. Though as the Magos once said, "They are but two sides of the same coin."

Then the one ran; it knew where the coward ran; it was simply the coward who ran to the town. It desperately wanted to tear the traitor limb from limb. However, it would be better if the creature could be turned into something useful. 

It then got an idea, a servitor! Those were definitely helpful. However, it did not have the proper supplies to endure such an ordeal. Of course, the captain could tell the enemy no. The captain is more competent than the average guardsmen, but there was still some worry.

Nor could it tell the captain about such a thing because even though the captain might dislike this cult, he is still flesh, so he might aid them in describing it as inhumane. It is truly a pity that the captain was so amiable, but that is what it enjoyed about this captain.

The cult will be destroyed Omnissiah willing, and it will relish the destruction of this cult. However, that will have to wait until the captain is away. After all, was said and done, it was planning to "accidentally" shoot the cretin in the back. But, unfortunately, now that opportunity is out of its reach.

Tarphus looked over to the Tech-Priest and noticed the cable latched onto the canteen. He raised an eyebrow at this. The Tech-Priest looked down and noticed that the cable was still draining the canteen. It looked up to find the Squad Captain smiling.

"If I knew you liked water so much, I would have gotten more." Tarphus chuckled as the cable released its grasp on the canteen. He then left the Tech-Priest to its stewing so that he could help others with the maintenance of gear. Ari was on top of it, so he did not fear.

…

Over at the town, Werthine heard the explosions; he had a mage cast farsight and noticed that the goblins were taken care of. However, he frowned at the fleeing figure of the priest; he would be sure to punish that bastard later.

Werthine looked at the mage with a cold glare, and he bowed his head. Then, Werthine spoke to the mage, "Send a memory stone to the church of Gatrix… and to the clan of Killigan. This year's meeting will be a sight to behold."

Werthine chuckled calmly after that. He nodded at the discipline of the boy's troops and the effectiveness of the weapons. However, he was slightly disturbed by the actions of the goblins. They were uniform in their movements, he checked if they were undead, and that was not the case.

This did not bode well for the assault. Werthine was nervous for the students but felt happy as the hill that Tarphus dug into overlooked the combat zone. With his weapons, Tarphus could aid the defense of the town.

Werthine smiled smugly at the enemy; now that they were closer, the mage could use farsight on the enemy, though he had to be careful about it as they had shamans that could do some damage to the mage's psyche.

The mage's sight was drawn to the forest, riddled with the corpses of dead hobs and goblins. The two were forced to pause as they saw the wood elves amongst the corpses, feasting bloodily to their horror. 

One of the elves looked discreetly at them and smiled with blood smearing their face, the elf with a bewitched, no pleasured smile on its face. It beckoned them with a come hither motion; that rapturous smirk on its face disturbed Werthine more than the scene around it.

He quickly had the mage focus on the goblins, as to spare themselves from that horrible sight. The goblins were now close, very close; however, they had just finished running the gauntlet that Tarphus constructed.

Werthine nodded at that; there were many goblins left, much less the other creatures behind them; however, time was needed. So, when Tarphus bought him, Werthine set up siege equipment, and the students helped set up extra fortifications.

But there was a sense of foreboding that set upon Werthine. Something was tickling the back of his mind that these goblins were… wrong. The summons from the boy was happy. First, however, Werthine noted that the armor of the goblins was breaking down rapidly after the bodies were moved.

Tarphus looked troubled about something which pleased Werthine; he was perceptive, which gave Werthine hope over the boy's future. Though the boy would need to survive first, it was then that the mage noticed something odd about the enemy. They had so many more magical capabilities than a typical surge.

There were so many shamans that the mage had a difficult time dodging their notice. Furthermore, the fact that they had so many magical armors was unsettling. Werthine was deeply troubled by this new event; however, he was confident in the students and Tarphus.

…

Dimitir was surprised at the sound of thunder even though it was sunny out. Professor Writhe glared at a nearby hill from where the sound came from. Then there was the sound of more thunder, but now Dimitir saw that it was, in fact, an explosion, nay multiple explosions.

Dimitir could not see it very well, so he pulled out his spyglass; he paused as his hand hung over it. It was a gift that Tarphus gave to him oh so long ago. He picked it up and used it to see what was going on.

Dimitir was amazed at how efficient the so-called battle was, more akin to a massacre than what he was told. Dimitir started to sweat as he watched the horror as the goblins retreated and were gunned down.

Christepher walked up to him and commented with a sneer, "What has you so startled Juggy, have you lost your nerve?" Dimitir was still watching as a few moments after the last goblin fell, he saw a few of the soldiers get out of the trench and start removing bodies.

He felt sick, one of their number left to the side and threw up their lunch, the rest though he could not be sure he swore that they were laughing! As if the fact that they slaughtered these monsters was just a casual deal that a child could do.

He looked over to his professor's eyes wide; the professor just nodded solemnly. "The goblins will arrive in a few hours. Get ready." It was one hour later that the goblin forces crested over the horizon.

Writhe looked over at his students and shouted, "Get into your squads. Remember, five a squad will gain the maximum bonus to power." Dimitir nodded. He was right beside his squad, though it was painful choosing someone other than Tarphus to fill the last slot.

However, he could not turn back time. All he could do was keep moving forward; his team was ready, and so was he. This was a team of two mages, a healer, a rogue, and him. The team was those who he knew and trusted, though only the healer was of a noble station. The rest were commoners that were on his side… for now.

The group turned to him with discomfort in their eyes. He knew this and cursed himself; they were worried. He was, too, so he could not blame them. However, being worried would not help them in the long run, so he joked with them and promised that he would buy them a drink if they lived.

He did not trust the healer yet. She was new and inexperienced, which could be horrible for the group later on during the battle. Though he had no choice due to him needing a placeholder to help the group.

They looked at the oncoming goblins with dread in their eyes as there were so many of them, they started to set up their siege equipment, but they were destroyed by the town's trebuchets. This was hard to siege town, but they had numbers, and to the defenders' horror, they had ladders, hundreds of them.

… 

The Goblins set up camp outside of the town's siege equipment range, so they could do nothing. The Noble Orc was furious with how slow everything was going; everything was going so well at first, but now…

The wind picked up around him, and he felt a knife at his neck. Still, he relaxed slightly when he heard the effeminate tone, one that he recognized. "I greet you, Mr. Would-be King. The enemy that you so desperately wanted is right there for the taking. I hope that you will receive my final gift so that your triumph will be guaranteed."

The knife withdrew from the Orc's neck. He did not know what to think as he turned around and spoke. "Your offering of slaves was excellent, the armor great and weapons mighty. So now you bring more things?"

The curiosity in the Orc's eyes was almost palpable as it looked on the tall willowy form. It held a strange mask that covered its face, "coward," the Orc thought. But the sheer amount of colors on display whenever it moved was odd, like a mobile rainbow that roared to life when it moved.

Not to say that it was not colorful when it was standing still; however, the Orc saw when it moved once, and compared to that, this was just a pale imitation. However, it knew better than to speak about that to the chaotic entity before it.

The creature laughed maniacally, wringing its hands together as it spoke to the Orc, "I would suggest taking the hill as a sign that you will never fail." It walked around the Orc. A finger trailing its shoulders and grasping under its chin every once and a while.

The Orc frowned, "A hill is insignificant to the battle, why would you-" The thing chuckled as if the Orc had amused it. "Oh, no no no, Hehehe, please go on about a supposed insignificant hill, hehehe."

This angered the Orc. "Why are you laughing? There was no joke in my words!" The thing stops behind the Orc walking its fingers along said orcs shoulder. It then cocked its head, eyes gleaming with mirth. 

"Oh my, it was only a suggestion, one that might prove useful. In fact, if you do it, then I can guarantee more of my gifts. though I wish I could care about a mound of dirt, it is the ones on it that are required to be destroyed for even more gifts."

Greed clouded the mind of the Orc, the gifts were tremendous already, and still, it had yet to get the next one. Then, as it was about to bring up this fact, it heard a chuckle, "I have not forgotten about that gift. I promised you to look to your left young one, and behold your prize!"

The Orc turned and saw a large suit of armor that stood like a giant wall of metal; the Orc took a step back at the feeling of pure malice coming from the suit. "Do you like it? I went the extra mile and had it tailored for you by my master. Are you not proud?" 

The Orc suddenly felt a chill sweep through its mind, and a smile replaced the grimace of fear that gripped its face. "I love your gift. I will wear it into battle tomorrow." The thing hummed sweetly into the Orc's ear.

"What about that hill? They embarrassed you, did they not?" The Orc smiled dumbly, then frowned. "Yes, they did, did they not? So why was I hesitant to take revenge… was-" the thing then spoke again, fingers trailing along the shoulders of the Orc.

"Then, after your triumphant return, your people will recognize you, and they will be singing your name, worshiping you. All the while, you will gain some new gifts from my master. What do you have to lose?"

The Orc nodded with its eyes glazed over. The thing stepped back and bowed before disappearing. The Orc blinked a couple of times, then smiled, "Yes, that embarrassment shall be erased by my hand, using this armor! Hahahaha!"

The thing in a tree nearby chuckled as it whispered, "Oh yes, it was funny, too bad that you will be laughing about it only when you die. It is such a shame too, and cheers to the fool; I hope my master will enjoy seeing them suffer. As well as the pig achieving its goal."