"Sir Kael! Wait for us!" Johan shouted, panting heavily. His chest heaved up and down as he struggled to believe that Kael’s running speed was beyond the limits of an ordinary human.
Kael showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever, a stark contrast to Johan and the other mercenaries, whose clothes were already drenched in sweat.
Although he knew Johan’s group was following him, Kael didn’t slow his pace in the slightest. Every second was precious; he couldn’t allow those Dark Magic followers to finish their massacre and sacrifice the lives of innocent people.
"?????????????? ???????? ?????? ??????, ?? ???????????? ?????????? ?????? ???????????????? ?????????? ????????," Kael thought, narrowing his eyes as he peered through the dense trees. However, his mind drifted back to the symbol he’d seen on the map earlier. "?????? ?????? ???????? ????????????, ?? ??????’?? ???????? ???????????????? ?????????? ???????? ???????????????????? ???? ?????? ????????. ?????????????????? ??????’?? ??????????."
Suddenly, clusters of glowing green mushrooms came into view, covering the branches and damp ground. Their strange scent filled the air, sharp and pungent like urine, yet somehow refreshing and soothing at the same time.
The moss-covered foliage around them looked faded and withered, as though it had recently been trampled or crushed beneath a massive crowd. Having experienced more than his fair share of battlefields, Kael immediately recognized that something was amiss.
Johan, running beside him, also frowned. "Sir Kael, it seems there’s some kind of settlement or large encampment nearby. But isn’t the southern village still quite far from here?"
Indeed. If these weren’t the traces of an ordinary human settlement, then the most likely possibility was a defensive fortress deliberately constructed to stop anyone attempting to sabotage their ritual.
Kael now fully understood the trap laid by the fake Mayor of Vex.
"That man already anticipated the possibility that Cherry’s group might become suspicious and turn against him," Kael muttered coldly. "By deliberately marking the destroyed villages with crosses while leaving the stronghold marked on the map... he intended to lure us down this seemingly safe route so we’d get bogged down here or even end up rotting as corpses!"
Their steps came to an abrupt halt when a massive wooden wall stretched out before them, its towering tree trunks sharpened to deadly points.
The wooden logs stood tall, thick, and sturdy. Watchtowers rose at several corners, their occupants surveying the surrounding area in every direction. The entire structure was dozens of times larger and more organized than an ordinary wild goblin camp.
Johan and his troops stopped as well. Their faces suddenly turned deathly pale.
"Oh, no... Sir Kael! This is a defensive fortress! We’re trapped in a dead end!"
"Look at that! Their preparations are far too thorough!" a soldier cried in panic. "How could ordinary goblins possibly have the intelligence to build a giant siege crossbow like the one on top of that tower?!" You are reading on g.com, the official source.
"This must be the work of the Dark Mages," Kael hissed, sweeping his gaze across the fortress. "They’re using forbidden magic to control the minds of these low-intelligence creatures and organize them into a fighting force."
Dozens of shabby buildings stood in the middle of the fortress, serving as dwellings for the monsters. However, what stood out most was the difference between these structures and several buildings at the rear.
Some of those buildings were far more magnificent, decorated with looted gold carvings, glittering objects, and piles of goblin skulls displayed as symbols of authority.
Toot-toot!
A goblin sentry atop a watchtower suddenly spotted them. It blew a massive goat-horn trumpet, its shrill sound echoing through the forest. The ground trembled faintly as the thunderous footsteps of hundreds of monsters approached, preparing to emerge.
Johan swallowed with difficulty. Throughout his mercenary career, he’d never encountered such a massive goblin population. Judging from what they could see, more than two hundred goblins were now pouring out through the wooden gate!
Unlike wild goblins, these monsters weren’t bare-chested. They wore fitted iron armor, protective helmets, and wooden shields reinforced with steel frames. At the front stood rows of burly, muscular goblins wielding longswords. They were arranged in neat formation, their terrifying grins and hungry snickers sending chills down the mercenaries’ spines.
In the second line, dozens of goblin archers prepared their longbows. What made the sight even more horrifying was that every archer’s left eye was blind and covered by burn scars, as though their master had deliberately blinded them to improve their focus when aiming with their right eyes. Despite their small stature, the muscles in their arms and legs were tightly defined, as tough as steel wires.
Then the ground shook even more violently. From the very back of the fortress emerged a gigantic creature, larger than an elephant and taller than a giraffe.
Its dull, brownish-green skin was covered in boils and battle scars. Its face was hideous and revolting, radiating an aura of terror.
The enormous creature pushed a massive military ballista with one hand, standing arrogantly as the commander of the rear ranks. It let out a deep growl that every goblin in front of it seemed to understand.
"A-an Orc...?!" one of Johan’s subordinates shrieked, his voice trembling violently. "How could there be an Orc in the middle of a goblin nest?!"
The mercenaries shuddered in fear. In this world, Orcs and Goblins were two distinct monster races with vastly different natures. Orcs, who prided themselves on their extraordinary physical strength, regarded Goblins as nothing more than worthless vermin. Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping . com.
In terms of combat strength, a mature Orc was equivalent to a hundred thick-boned goblins, or posed a threat on par with a two-star Knight of a kingdom.
Only a handful of warriors were capable of killing an Orc in a one-on-one duel. Those who accomplished such a feat would be awarded an honorary title: Orc Slayer, a formidable warrior capable of bringing down a giant monster with their own hands.
Throughout his life in this world, Kael had never fought an Orc. Nevertheless, his cold eyes remained fixed on the gigantic creature without the slightest trace of fear.
To him, a dim-witted Orc like this was nothing compared to the three-star Knight of the Vermilion Kingdom, a human-shaped monster who had killed his three precious companions and nearly sent Kael to his own grave.
Kael drew the hilt of his greatsword from the sheath on his back.
Shing!
The sharp metal gleamed beneath the dim light filtering through the forest.
He glanced at Johan beside him, his voice calm but firm. "Stay alert. They’ve been trained to use military formations, so don’t treat them like wild goblins hiding in the bushes."
Kael swung his sword, pointing toward the side of the fortress. "Johan, take your men around the left flank. Disrupt the formation of those one-eyed archers from the side. I’ll break through their lines and draw the attention of their entire front line."
Johan’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he listened to the order.
"Sir Kael! Have you gone mad?! You’re going to charge two hundred armed goblins and an Orc all by yourself?! If you die here, Captain Cherry won’t just cut out my tongue, she’ll skin me alive!"
"Damn it! Looks like we’re really unlucky to have gotten this mission, Vice Captain!" a soldier behind him rasped, tightening his grip on his spear.
Johan muttered a curse before staring at Kael’s back as the man began walking forward alone into the open field.
"May you rest in peace if this crazy plan fails, Sir Kael!" Johan shouted before turning around to command his troops. "Move quickly! Don’t let that madman’s sacrifice go to waste!"