Eliminating the Goblin Threat

Chapter 27: Eliminating the Goblin Threat

Steam billowed from the scales around the direwolf's throat. Then, heat erupted like water bursting through a dam, distorting the air around it. Blistering temperatures slammed into the goblin camp. Nearby corrupted plants instantly dehydrated and withered.

The goblins fared far worse. Those caught in the flames contorted in agony. The rest scattered in panicked chaos.

Field was reminded of pouring hot water on anthills as a child.

The fiery pillar swept back and forth across the camp. Goblins ignited by the flames shrieked in torment. More were hit directly, instantly reduced to piles of charred ash. The survivors, unwilling to simply wait for death, hurled javelins and stones in futile desperation.

"Raaaagh!"

The goblin chieftain, leading seven or eight loyalists wielding spears, charged directly at Field.

*Whoosh!*

The leading goblin crumpled without a sound. Intestines and shredded organs spilled from a massive wound in its abdomen. The arrow that killed it was embedded deep in a large rock behind it, the fletching still quivering. Ashina, disdaining to command the wolf, drew arrows from her quiver. She rapidly fired her bow, picking off the charging goblins one by one.

The goblins barely had time to consider fleeing before silvery streaks of death found them all.

Soon, every goblin in the camp was dead. The earth was baked dry and cracked, littered with pale gray ash.

"These goblins had armor. They couldn't have made it themselves. Something worth exploring must be nearby." Field remained focused, though his mini-map showed no resources. He picked up a piece of rusted, unrecognizable metal. "This looks like something from the Royal Guard... too bad it's rotted beyond salvage. Not even scrap dealers would want it."

The intricate and ornate fleur-de-lis pattern, barely visible, marked it as a royal shoulder guard. The goblins had worn it like a helmet.

Field flicked it with his finger. Rust flaked off, showering the ground.

"Right. What was I expecting? This armor is rusted to dust. Worthless." He tossed the junk aside disdainfully and continued searching the camp. This era held no concept of antiques.

"Milord, I suspect their nest is nearby. There were no young in the camp. That's strange."

"Search carefully. Finding treasure is secondary. This goblin nest must be eradicated completely." Field's expression was grave. He couldn't risk leaving behind a group of monsters nursing hatred. Spare the root, invite the shoot.

Ashina tilted her head. She felt Field was unusually wary of goblins, weak as they were. But the lord had commanded. She began a meticulous search nearby. As predicted, a careful sweep revealed goblin young hidden in a burrow not far from the camp.

Field ripped away the thorny vines blocking the entrance and stooped to enter.

The opening was small, but inside the space was surprisingly roomy, crammed with junk – especially large piles of armor and weapons, all hopelessly ruined. The pungent odor of rust, feces, and urine filled the air, though Field had grown indifferent; the stench of corruption was no better.

"Waa! Waa!"

Dozens of goblin young, weasel-sized, huddled together, covering the floor. At least a hundred. Unfound, they could have replenished the tribe's numbers within a month. Imprisoned near them were two grotesquely mutated does. Unsurprisingly, these does were the goblins' biological mothers.

Goblins had no females; they reproduced using other creatures, and reproduced swiftly.

"Huh? Species immune to the death mist?" Field's eyes lit up. He approached the does, but seeing the cluster of mouths and eyes growing from one doe's spine, his hope faded. "Corrupted creatures. Just the non-aggressive kind."

Ashina covered a laugh. "Such peculiar goblins are rare indeed. Immunity to the death mist isn't granted lightly."

She was right. Otherwise, the Empire would have long reclaimed the vast Northern Province. "Something's wrong. These goblins can reproduce *using* corrupted creatures?" Field suddenly grasped the implication, sucking in a sharp breath. Corrupted creatures were everywhere. If goblins captured large numbers of female corrupted creatures, it posed a massive threat to Nightfall Territory.

"That *is* a problem. We'll need to be vigilant against goblins from now on."

Ashina drew her longsword from her back. The direwolf was too large to fit. They'd have to do this themselves.

"Let's do it together. Faster this way." Field picked up a rusted, spiked mace from the ground. Like playing whack-a-mole, he smashed every young goblin flat, reducing them to "pancakes." He then dispatched the two corrupted does with heavy blows, sending them all to hell.

After inventorying the loot in the burrow, Field found himself with a cave full of worthless, rusted armor. Hauling it away would be backbreaking and pointless. He left it. A locked ironwood chest, however, caught his eye.

"See a key?" Field scanned the area.

Ashina winked playfully. "Of course, Milord."

Her slender hand reached out, effortlessly wrenching off the iron lock along with the corrupted moss clinging to it.

*Alright, you win!*

Field took a deep breath, cautiously and slowly opening the lid. He silently prayed it wasn't a trap-triggered bomb or a mimic chest.

Fortunately, his paranoid fantasy didn't materialize. The first things he saw were two banners. One was a faded, worn Griffon standard. The other, unfamiliar to Field, featured a strange pattern of eyes and a hexagram – likely the sigil of some noble house. Like the Ross family banner, an abstract rose made of symbols and lines. Field wouldn't use that banner either; it looked too... gay.

Beneath the banners stood several sealed, thin, cylindrical wooden cases.

Carefully prying open a lid with his dagger, Field saw a rolled parchment inside.

Ashina's eyes sparkled, her wolf ears perking up. "Feels like we found something interesting! Long-buried royal secrets? Or treasure maps hidden by some noble!"

Field was equally intrigued. The old Griffon banner and royal armor clearly indicated this was gear left behind by Imperial forces. The documents inside surely held fascinating information.

Gently tipping out the parchment scroll, Field saw the flame motif adorning it and felt a sudden jolt of recognition.

Ashina glanced at it and her expression fell. "I feel magic flowing from it. I don't think it's a treasure map."

Sure enough, upon unrolling it, the surface was covered in incomprehensible symbols.

It was a magic scroll!

"No wonder it felt familiar. My sister attended the mage academy. The magic scrolls she brought home to show off looked exactly like this." Saying this, Field, itching to try it, targeted the corpse of a corrupted doe and tore open the scroll.