VOLUME 2: CHAPTER 118 – LOST PATH
Status
Race Goblin
Level 48
Class King; Ruler
Possessed Skills Ruler of the Demon Children of Chaos; Defiant Soul; World Devouring Howl; Sword Mastery A-; Dominator; King’s Soul; Ruler’s Wisdom III; Household of the Gods; One-Eyed Snake’s Evil Eye; The King's Dance at the Edge of Death; Magic Manipulation; Soul of the Berserk King; Third Impact (The Third Chant); Instinct; Blessing of the Underworld Goddess
Divine Protection Goddess of the Underworld (Altesia)
Attributes Darkness; Death
Subordinate Beasts High Kobold Hasu (Lv77); Gastra (Lv20); Cynthia (Lv1); Orc King (Bui) (Lv82)
Abnormal Status Blessing of the One-Eyed Snake; Protection of the Twin-Headed Snake
The shaman, Gi Za Zakuend, stifled his yawn as he looked at the empty path ahead. He thought for sure the enemy would attack them, but no one came. That being the case, his attention naturally went to the demihumans traveling with him.
“I thought for sure they’d attack us instead of the king. Hmm… maybe they really are trying to run away,” Gi Za muttered.
Gi Za has been studying the araneae’s skill since they arrived at the araneae village. What properties does it have? How is it woven? Gi Za dragged Selena with him to ask those questions, and the araneae could not say no. Every one of them diligently answered his questions. Because of that Gi Za managed to spend his days immersed in his research. But now he was having some doubts about this expedition.
The king expected the enemy to run, but from Gi Za’s interactions with the araneae, there were unexpectedly few araneae who were as wise as Nikea. Most of them seemed to detest the goblins, finding them beneath them. The other demihumans probably felt the same. If so, then the centaurs would be most likely to attack than to run.
But contrary to Gi Za’s expectation, the enemy didn’t come. Perhaps they attacked the king’s horde instead, but there was nothing to worry about, as the king would easily be able to subjugate them.
There were roughly 80 goblins and demihumans following Gi Za. Gi Jii was his assistant, but the mission of delivering this horde to the centaurs’ doorsteps fell on him.
They had split the horde because there were just too many of them to easily traverse the forest, but in the end, there were still too many. Gi Za sighed.
The rizalat and the werewolves had already gone ahead as their mission was to keep the centaurs from running away.
Accompanying Gi Za were the shell tribe, the Papirsags led by Luther. Luther was not walking on his own legs and was instead riding on a beast, a turtle four times the size of a goblin.
The ancient beast warrior, Gi Gi Orudo, looked with envy at Luther’s mount. It was supposedly a turtle, but it moved quite fast. The ivies growing on its body seemed to be aiding its movements. Gi Za’s eyes dazzled as he looked with curiosity at those ivies.
Sensing his gaze, Luther moved up to the middle of the horde beside Gi Za.
“Is something the matter?” He bluntly asked.
Gi Za honestly nodded. “I’m interested in that turtle. Or more specifically, those ivies. Why is it helping the turtle move? Is it magic? A magic we goblins do not know of, or perhaps… a skill. If it’s none of these, then I would truly appreciate it if you could enlighten me! In fact, if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you could also tell me about the other demihumans or perhaps even the magic of the elves!”
Before Luther knew it, Gi Za had already climbed up his turtle.
Gi Za’s fervor for the unknown left Luther’s mouth open.
“H-How about you ask one at a time first,” Luther said.
“Alright,” Gi Za agreed.
If the generals act cordially toward each other, it’s only natural that the subordinates would follow suit, so it should come as no surprise when the curious goblins mustered their courage to strike up a conversation with the demihumans. At first, both parties were awkward, but gradually, the goblins and the demihumans warmed up to each other.
“What? Your beasts eat meat, while you eat grass!?” Dashka of Gaidga was shocked.
The demihumans apparently ate grass, while the beasts they tamed ate meat.
“Hey, is it true that goblins can see in the dark?” A demihuman asked.
“That’s right. In fact, it’s actually better for me to use my bow in the night than in the day. The chiefs don’t seem to care though. My concentration is still lacking,” Ru Rou of Ganra said.
The only one who seemed troubled was Gi Jii, who had to follow the demihuman of the mud-scaled tribe.
◆◆◇
The centaurs returned to their village defeated. When Daizos heard their report and found out that Dakinia had died, he went back to his room after calming down the others, then he quietly cried by himself.
“Chief!” A centaur yelled as he hurriedly entered Daizos’ room.
His house was being lent out to the elves, so the house he was using now was borrowed from another centaur. Daizos’ brows raised up when he heard the report of the centaur.
“Nikea came?” Daizos took his spear and exited his room to meet Nikea.
“…You dare show your face?” He said to Nikea..
Daizos’ anger was almost past its boiling point. It seemed like he was barely able to keep himself from thrusting his spear into her.
“I came to talk, but… I see. Since you didn’t come from your house, then that must mean….” Nikea said.
Despite arrows and Daizos’ spear being pointed at her, Nikea was as calm as spring rain.
“This is troubling. At this rate, the elves will be caught up in the war,” Nikea said.
“This is your fault!” Daizos yelled.
Contrast to Nikea’s composure, Daizous was fuming.
“I intended to talk about the elves at the meeting, but you had to go and invite some goblin! Because of you the meeting was a mess. Form an alliance to fight the humans? Bullshit! You should’ve known there’s no way we would fight with some goblin!” DAizos yelled.
“Why?” Nikea asked. “Do you intend to say that it’s because they’re savages?”
“Isn’t that obvious? Because of them…”
Daizos couldn’t say the words after that. That was probably because of his pride as chief. The one who ordered the centaurs to attack was none other than him, after all. Not to mention, blaming the goblins for their defeat would only shame the dead.
Somehow someway Daizos managed to calm his seething anger and thrust his spear into the ground.