Brrraaa! Brrraaa!
Horns blared in the background as numerous weapons clashed against each other.
“Kill them all! Leave no loot behind!”
“Kill!” “Kill!” "Kill!"
Swinging their weapons with reckless abandon, the players pierced through the goblin warriors that approached them.
Graaakkk!
As the goblin warriors collapsed, more of them replaced their rank with a battle cry and a swift blade. The whites of their eyes were a dense network of yellow vessels, a characteristic of fury-driven, Angrean Goblins.
Clang! Slash!
The air around the battle was rife with deafening sounds, but high above, the noise of the battle dulled until only a soft voice drifted out.
“Pitiful.”
From above, the scene looked like a greenish-brown tide of goblins funnelling out of the settlement and attacking black spots of rallied guild players. With unmatched momentum, the black-dressed players gnawed away at the ever-shrinking line of goblins. Before too long, they might even hoist their Laughing Devil Guild’s flag inside the settlement in victory. But even that victory seemed tiny to the two men floating in the air.
“Agreed, but that's what makes them useful.”
Gula looked at Mercury with anticipation in his eyes.
“The Dread Fog has already gotten a hold of them, right? Don’t let them die too quickly, or she might catch on. She won’t be dumb, you know.”
Mercury nodded and was about to call Gula too afraid, but he froze when Gula spoke up a bit more.
“Too bad you let part of the plan escape right under your nose. Or else we wouldn’t even need—”
There was a blast of air as Mercury tried to kick at Gula; however, it narrowly missed as piggish snorts responded to the attack. Ultimately, Mercury said nothing more as the shadows lining his figure enveloped him and trickled away. He had already vanished from the sky in mere seconds, leaving Gula alone.
“Heh, she’s going to be furious.”
However, the next moment, Gula grimaced and looked coldly at the lone mountain on the island.
“I hope the backup plan works.”
“Kill!”
Garbal shouted as he began to draw symbols in the air. They would have been completed, too, if it weren’t for Novus tackling Garbal down and yelling at him.
“GARBAL!”
The yell jolted Garbal out of his momentary rage, enough for Novus to begin calming him down.
“You do that; we all lose. Think big picture!”
Novus’ harsh tone set tears in Garbal’s eyes and a quiver in his lips, but it wasn’t from Novus’ words. Garbal gnashed his words as he pointed through the tree line towards the cleared battlefield where numerous goblins died with each moment.
“I fight!”
Novus spoke like a general reprimanding his subordinate.
“We will! But not here. You die; they die with you! They die; we and more live. That’s how it works!”
Another awkward silence came over the group as Garbal battled wills with Novus, Adrianne waded through her own thoughts, and Percival refused to speak anymore. Then, finally, Garbal stopped resisting and bitterly spoke.
“Follow!”
Novus eased off Garbal, and the goblin led them to an inconspicuous side of the forest. Looking around briefly and digging in the ground, Garbal pulled aside a clump of dirt and revealed a roughly dug set of stairs. Likely, the stairs headed beneath the settlement.
“Emergency exit. Find Tham.”
In the next moment, Garbal’s eyes turned menacing.
“Kill Tham. End battle.”
Novus briefly hesitated, and, at that moment, Garbal took something out of his hair and inscribed symbols onto it with his mana. Then, burying the object into Novus’ hand, Garbal looked at Novus with a gaze that Novus knew all too well.
“I fight. Here.”
Novus knew it as the gaze of a warrior rushing to his death.
Novus bit his lip. If Garbal joined the battle, Novus doubted that it’d be stealthily. Novus didn’t know what plans Mercury had, but the goblin chief was likely vital in it if he targeted the goblin settlement directly with his famed Dread Fog. But the resolve in Garbal’s eyes made him concede anyway.
“Go. No magic, or else they’ll find you. Stay alive and out of sight.”
Percival and Adrianne were already walking into the descending passageway stairs as Novus gave a weary look to Garbal. Soon, the dirt that sealed the entrance made Novus’ figure disappear.
Garbal looked back towards the battlefield as he spotted early signs of battling and goblin corpses. Then, disgusted with himself, an ashamed Garbal turned his head away and sulked back to the tree line.
The secret passageway descended into a murky set of caverns that naturally snaked into various passages. Evidently, this pathway wasn’t the only one, and it required Adrianne’s Spirit Eyes to navigate.
The trip was silent until Adrianne finally let loose a question.
“Are all the goblins like Garbal?”
Novus responded curtly and looked like he didn’t want to delve into the topic.
“Generally, no. He’s an exception.”
Novus could feel the stares lingering on him as he slowly continued.
“The fact that he knows our language and not the guttural tones and grunts of the dialect-heavy goblin language is highly intelligent of him. How he learned it, I’ve no clue.”
Novus looked at Adrianne, who asked him about Garbal’s symbol magic earlier.
“No clue about the symbol magic either. That’s also unique to Garbal. Most goblins prefer elemental magic. More nature-based.”
For the next part, Novus shook his head and looked directly at Percival.
“His bravery is foolish. Dying for his people would only lead them to ruin after his death.”
Percival’s eyes unknowingly sparkled at the mention of Garbal’s bravery, and he let a comment slip from his mouth.
“A real hero of his people.”
Novus didn’t share the same certainty.
“An anomaly.”
Percival was hesitant to speak again, and Adrianne happened to reach a fork in the road.
“Left passage has the thick black fog. Right is almost clear of it.”
The party looked towards the left passageway and noticed the absence of the Moonglow Mushrooms lighting their way. That left the passageway seeming dark, murky, and ominous as it jutted upwards along multiple loose stones.
Novus didn’t hesitate to lead the charge as Percival commented beneath his breath.
“Certain death path it is.”
The group began climbing as Novus rushed them up. He had tried activating his crimson wings to fly up, but whatever was causing pains in his legs was also aggravating his entire body. Novus used the ascending time to inspect himself and was shocked at what he found.
The previous mana vessels in his body resembled prunes as the dried-up husks ached with each trace of mana that tried to pass. Let alone damaged; the mana vessels almost seemed crippled. If not for Novus’ delicate mana control, he might have already reeled in pain from pushing mana through them.
What happened?
His mana vessels were fine before he was crushed into the wall by Edna. Was it Edna’s strike that had caused this to him? Or had something else in between that time and now crippled his mana vessels?
The seething emotions inside Novus gently smouldered at the newfound realization. However, despite thinking arduously about what could have caused it, the only clue was Circe, Goibhniu and Edna. And they couldn’t simply be called when one was curious. Besides, Novus had other priorities as the group arrived at an entrance to another stairwell.
“If you do it one step at a time, we’ll be here all day. Ease off your soles and spring with the pads of your feet. Cover a couple of steps at a time.”
The odd snap in Novus’ voice returned as Adrianne and Percival frowned. Though initially clumsy, the group got used to the lowest-speed rhythm—Percival’s rhythm.
The party made quick headway as the glow of Garbal’s symbols illuminated the otherwise dreary steps. Crisp air began to sting their nose, and haggard breaths filled the silence. It was like the party was approaching death as the unseen Dread Fog attempted to erode the light symbols and made them flicker with each step.
“Can you hear that?”
Percival’s unsteady voice cracked as he tried to sound out the noise he had heard. Soon enough, Adrianne confirmed it too.
“Sounds like thumping. Like something heavy dropping on the padded floor.”
Ting. Thump. Tang.
The sounds of battle.
As the group climbed, the dull sounds grew more evident. Eventually, the group heard the outline of strange voices.
“H—, Ge—ay!”
Percival and Adrianne rested their hands on their weapons as they gradually began to hear the alarmed voices over the thumping and clanging.
“ACK! HELP!”
“Main tank down! Where are the healers? Start healing!”
“Take cover!”
The nouns used solely by players alerted the trio as they arrived at the dead end of the passageway. A blank wall revealed the noise through it, and Novus did not doubt that the room on the other side held a battle.
Novus took out the item Garbal had lightly inscribed with symbols, which burned in his hand as it waited to be released to fulfill its mission.
“Is everyone ready? There’s no doubt a battle on the other side. Be ready to get sucked into that room, and remember that we shift plans on the dragonfly.”
“Do we really have to go in there with a ton of players? Wouldn’t it make more sense to—”
Percival was quickly silenced with a stare from Novus.
“Fine.”
“If you die, I’ll see you at the temple.”
Pausing at Novus’ uninspiring words, Adrianne activated her abilities, and Percival readied his spear. Novus, too, drew his sword as he gently released the inscribed item. Gently, the item floated until it gently stuck to the ceiling and a set of racing lines crossed the underground escape passage.
“Close your eyes.”
Staring at the formations on the walls, Novus revealed a grin that wasn’t quite bloodthirsty but definitely not good-natured.
“Niem (Air)”
Adrianne and Percival lost their balance as the sounds around them were abruptly cut off.
Before the pair could question Novus, the bright lights of the formations blinded them, and an explosion threw them into the battling room and through the many blasted stones.
BOOM!
