Ch. 61..70

Chapter 61

Not seeing any faults in Maynard’s logic, Jack and Rydel chuckled at the ronin’s childlike confidence. Jack asked, "Okay, so we agree that something large might be coming in and out of the palace, but what? What would be so big this far into the mine?"

"How should I know? Ya two are the smart ones, so ya should figure that much out yourselves," joked Maynard.

Rydel laughed, "If you’re so confident in your answer, you must have some kind of idea, right?"

"Yeah, but why should I tell ya two so easily."

"Don’t pay him any more attention Captain. Most likely, he’s just guessing with the doors’ size as the main determinant. Let me guess, you think it’s ogres?" stated Jack.

Maynard answered, "And if it was? Why couldn’t it be ogres? They’re not too uncommon in these mountains and it’s normal for them to seek shelter underground."

"But ogres and goblins are like water and oil, they never blend well," said Rydel.

"Then what else could it be? Trolls? Trolls never dwell in caves and aren’t indigenous in this region," reasoned Maynard.

Jack flinched when he heard the other two bantering and zoned out for a second. He was thinking back to the hidden tomb he had discovered almost twenty-four hours ago. Disregarding the discussion between the two veterans, Jack spoke up, "We need to plan for trolls to interfere."

Startled by Jack’s decision to defend what both veterans agreed was the biggest reach Maynard had mentioned, Rydel responded, "Are you sure? Trolls?"

"Really?" asked Maynard, as he if regretted mentioning something as terrible as trolls.

’No, it was a good thing to mention,’ said Jack in the depths of everyone’s minds.

Following along, Maynard asked mentally, ’Why trolls? Aren’t ogres more likely?’

’No, it has to be trolls,’ repeated Jack. ’When we found that ancient hero’s tomb, I was able to see the fallen hero’s last moments. Take a wild guess what killed him?’

’Trolls?’ Rydel was curious yet cautious when Jack mentioned the ancient hero. ’Trolls? Really? This deep into the mine?’

’I have no clue why they were down here or how they got there, but that’s what killed that ancient hero. It could be something else too though, I mean how long ago was that hero killed?’ mentioned Jack. ’For all we know, those trolls are long gone or dead by now.’

’Hmm,’ Pondering the new information, Maynard’s eyes were closed as he focused all his brainpower on the subject. ’As long as nothing killed those trolls, they could still be alive ya know? Trolls have an incredible lifespan, unlike their ogre counterparts.’

’I don’t think there would be too many due to the trolls having fertility issues and their general lack of females, but they would alter our odds of success,’ said Rydel.

Jack asked, ’Then, in the case that there are trolls, what should we do?’

’First off, rescuing the survivors becomes the greatest priority,’ interjected Maynard.

’Why is that?’ asked Jack.

’Don’t you know how Trolls solved the... Oh, that’s more recent,’ said Rydel, with a flash unwillingness to say more. ’Trolls lack females and the few females they have struggle with fertility. This naturally limits how large a group of trolls can be. However, they found a slight loophole to this in the past few centuries.’

Catching onto the vibe of the conversation, Jack interrupted, ’Don’t tell me, that trolls would...’

’Yeah, that’s exactly what they do. They’re known to always try and capture any female alive instead of killing them. And then... well, you get the picture.’ Rydel finished Jack’s thoughts for him.

Jack clenched his fists tightly, thinking about how Slivia was the first one to be targeted out of the party. He set his mind to save Slivia no matter the cost because he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself otherwise.

’When do we start phase one?’ asked Maynard.

’I wish we could right now, but if I don’t get at least a couple hours of sleep I’ll be more of a burden than an asset,’ said Jack, cursing his own weakness.

’Then sleep for three hours. At that time, we’ll initiate phase one and prepare to launch phases two and three,’ stated Rydel. ’Will you be okay, kid? I know this means a lot to you, but you understand that emotions can easily get in the way of a mission’s success.’

Jack said nothing more. The young hero nodded his head and closed his eyes while leaning his head back against the wall behind him, giving himself up to exhaustion.

Maynard and Rydel stepped away from the slumbering adventurers. This gave them enough distance to chat quietly without disturbing the sleepers.

"Things just got a lot harder, didn’t they?" asked Maynard.

"You could say that again," confirmed Rydel. "I wonder if there are trolls that come in and out of the goblin palace, and if so, are they currently in or out?"

"Let’s hope the latter. If not, I have no clue what will happen."

"I worry for that kid the most," said Rydel.

"Really? Why’s that?" asked Maynard.

"If the trolls are in the goblin palace, where do you think they would be?"

Maynard went wide-eyed. "I didn’t think about that."

"Yeah, hopefully, the kid will be fine. If he encounters those things, I’m not sure any of us could save him in time."

"Ya got any ideas on how to face those things?"

"Not exactly. I wish you were right about the ogres, that wouldn’t change too much. Then we wouldn’t have to deal with a trolls extremely thick skin or their minor affinity with magic," mentioned Rydel.

"No kidding," sighed Maynard. "Ya think we bit off more than we can chew?"

A soft chuckle reverberated in the narrow passageway. "Of course, that’s what we do best. If we don’t take on these kinds of missions, then who else would be unlucky enough to get them?"

As three adventurers slept, Maynard and Rydel continued chatting, eventually discussing and sharing opinions or strategies for each other’s phases of the plan.

Of the sleepers, Brunar was the first to wake. The moment he opened his eyes, Brunar was back on his feet and chomping down on some dry meat rations for breakfast. Next came Jack, who awoke minutes after Brunar and had a similar morning routine.

Troni was fast asleep and showed no signs of waking, so Brunar took matters into his own hands. Shaking his fellow disciple awake Brunar mumbled, "Hey, get up before Master finds out. You know what he’ll do."

With more enthusiasm than expected, Troni rubbed the tiredness from his eyes as he yawned. In a couple of minutes, Troni was up and looking around the unchanged scenery of the cave.

"We’ve got ourselves a big day ahead of us today, so don’t hold back and stick to the plan." The party heard their captain’s announcement and turned to face him. Rydel continued, "You two will do exactly as your master says, no matter what it is. Do you understand?"

"Yessir," both young samurai nodded and bowed to Rydel in unison.

"Very good. I’ll be taking a head start since I’m needed at the palace. Maynard and I have already discussed the exact details while you were asleep so don’t worry yourself too much. If you stick to the plan, then you’ll make it out alive," said Rydel.

"Yessir."

Jack was glad that Rydel hadn’t mentioned the possible troll threat. It wasn’t something he wanted them to worry about or distract them. Thinking about it himself, Jack steadied his breathing and forced himself to remain calm.

Seeing Jack taking things seriously, Rydel smiled and said, "I imagine you need to leave too, right? You’ll need to infiltrate beforehand and get ready so you can enter the palace at a moment’s notice when the perfect opportunity presents itself."

"Will do captain," saluted Jack.

"How interesting, the last to leave camp are those in charge of the first phase," laughed Maynard.

"Also, keep in mind that the neurotoxins we were able to distribute among the guards should be well in effect right now. Typically, the neurotoxin’s effects of total paralysis last for more than a day, so this diluted dosage should have them slowed and twitching for the next few hours. Take advantage of this opportunity," emphasized Rydel.

"Always," answered Maynard with a nod. "Then we’ll see each other on the other side of those walls after we slaughter our way through the guards. And don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of potions and elixirs for us three thanks to ya sharing with us."

"Anything to accomplish the mission," replied Rydel with a smirk.

"And to ya Jack..." Maynard turned to say one last thing to Jack, but he was unable to find Jack anywhere. "He’s more anxious than I thought."

"Can you blame the kid?" mentioned Rydel. "Anyways, I’m off. Keep me in touch if you know what shows up."

Brunar and Troni were confused by Rydel’s not so subtle secrecy. However, when they asked their master about it, Maynard only faced Rydel and replied, "Same goes for ya, and happy hunting."

"Happy hunting," Rydel returned Maynard’s expression, which was a common phrase among association members as if saying, "good luck."

 

Chapter 62

After wishing the samurais "happy hunting," Rydel took off at top speed and became illusory.

"Now what Master?" asked Brunar.

"I think ya both know what’s next," answered Maynard. "Don’t get yourself killed and pay attention to your surroundings. The guards are poisoned right now but don’t let that get to your heads. This time we don’t know how many goblins we’ll face but we’ll be trying to hold them off till we get Jack’s signal. That’s when we go all out, got that?"

"Yes Master," the young samurais replied together.

"Good, now both of ya draw your swords and follow me." Maynard jumped out of the empty vein with a massive leap, not caring to use any stealth at all.

Brunar did the same as his master, jumping out of the vein with some heavy yells and grunts upon landing. Unlike his fellow disciple and his mentor, Troni leaped out quietly, landing behind the others to keep from becoming the main target.

The moment that all three had revealed themselves, a couple of goblin sentries caught glimpse of them. Those goblins were unsure of what these three figures were and why they dared approach the goblin city. They contacted their captains but were surprised by the news they received.

Among the goblin guards, there were rumors about a few outposts being destroyed. Not many believed them due to the rumors being less than a day old, but it spread like wildfire, nonetheless.

When the goblin sentries received a response describing the losses of many outposts, the sentries were startled. Then the sentries were enraged after hearing that the three samurai were behind it all, along with a few other intruders.

Not wasting any time, the sentries let out deep, gargled howls. The howls were easily heard by Maynard’s group, but they didn’t so much as flinch. Following the gargled howls, the sounds of dozens of gargled whines and cries pierced the air.

The samurais looked ahead without hesitation. They didn’t approach with great speed, wanting the goblins to come and meet them on the battlefield.

On high alert, the goblin guards readied themselves and prepared for battle. The wall had a unique design; It was like someone had taken an inflated inner tube and cut it clean in half. There were two gates, the outer gate, and the inner gate, and within the confines of the wall were goblins scrambling to get in formation.

When Maynard’s party was about a quarter kilometer’s distance from the city entrance, the outer gate swung open. Thanks to Rydel’s investigating, Maynard had a decent idea of how many goblins there were living within the wall, but he was still amazed at the first wave of goblins that charged towards them.

"Are ya ready?" asked Maynard.

"Always!" yelled Brunar, throwing any thoughts of shrinking back to the wind while Troni gave a simple nod.

"Good, then show these pestros who’s boss!" Maynard showed a delighted smile to the approaching goblin hoard. "If ya encounter anyone above lv. 25, make it known! And if ya need to take a potion, just do it, no need for my permission."

The goblins had ugly expressions on their faces, and not because of their natural ugliness as cave goblins. Their expressions were a mix of discomfort, unease, and savagery. Within the past hour, they had all realized they were poisoned, but it was too late to make excuses and chicken out of orders.

Taking notice of the goblins’ strange movement patterns, Maynard’s blades began to glow red. "This is a thank you to Rydel, for weakening our enemies before things had even started!"

With a wickedly fast cross slash, a "Bloody cross" went airborne and connected with the goblin wave before it could break up and try to dodge the samurai’s attack.

"Aaaagghh!" the goblins hissed as over a dozen were made into mincemeat by the first attack of the battle.

Seeing Maynard’s overwhelming strength, the goblin captains leading the charge focused on Maynard, intent on stopping him from performing more destructive AoE (Area of Effect) attacks.

Happy to pull the attention of the more powerful foes, Maynard smiled wide and shouted, "Come! You’re fallen brethren failed to prove themselves worthy of my blade, and you’ll join them soon enough!"

Maynard ran further ahead, creating some distance between him and his students. That way the higher leveled goblin guards wouldn’t get much of an opportunity to attack Brunar or Troni without leaving an opening to strike.

The first collision happened when the three goblin captains banded together to face Maynard. Normally, two would charge him while the other would target the two weaker samurai but being poisoned and witnessing Maynard’s strength proved to them that they couldn’t afford to play around with the mature samurai.

Brunar’s single blade also began to glow red in anticipation of the many goblins before him. With Maynard showing off and attracting the big fish, why wouldn’t he want to prove his strength and carve into the wave of goblins?

Troni stood at the ready, still near Brunar in case he met someone too strong for him to handle.

Thanks to their master keeping the strongest goblins occupied and having no one to protect or split their attention, the young samurais faced the goblins with no fear and katanas at the ready. The bulk of the goblin guards were around lv. 15 and the occasional goblin guard was at least lv. 20.

The common goblin guards would bubble around Maynard and the captains, doing their best to avoid any collateral damage. In a matter of moments, they finally reached the two young samurai.

With the goblins fighting partial paralysis, they left many opening that trained swordsmen would easily take advantage of. A clash would only last one or two blows before a goblin would fall unless a goblin above lv. 20 met Troni, in which case it would last an additional two hits for Troni to redirect it towards Brunar for the killing blow. They avoided using any skills when possible, making sure to keep their stamina in check.

Maynard wasn’t having it so easy, unlike his disciples. The three goblin captains were clearly affected by the poison, but them being higher leveled and stronger also meant that they could more easily fight the partial paralysis. They didn’t leave Maynard too many openings and forced him to truly fight.

"Ya pestros! That the best ya got?" taunted Maynard, getting wilder and wilder as the 3 v. 1 continued.

The originally confident goblin captains were beginning to feel the pressure. They had assumed that they could at least hold Maynard back, if not slowly overwhelm him. But amidst their fight, Maynard would do something crazy like charge another "Bloody cross." When the captains would guard and prepare to receive it, Maynard would launch another airborne cross into the wave of goblins surrounding his students instead.

One goblin captain shouted in common, "Coward!"

Maynard laughed as he drank an elixir like it was a shot of his favorite brundy. "Hurry and call the other two captains. If ya don’t call them soon, ya won’t have the ability to cry for help."

Startled that Maynard knew about the two remaining captains still within the walls, another captain replied in broken common, "We no need them! We kill you now!"

All three captains readied an offensive stance as they surrounded Maynard, each one wielding a shortsword, which looked like a greatsword in their goblin sized hands. Letting out a screeching battle cry, the three shortswords glowed muddy green and swung sideways toward Maynard in unison.

Licking his smiling lips, Maynard chuckled as his katana glowed red in response. Maynard vanished from the center of the goblin captains, avoiding the three attacks completely.

Caught off guard, the captains were dazed by the change in the initiative, till one captain heard a whisper from behind him.

"Sudden death." Maynard slashed twice from behind the unlucky goblin captain, once across the upper thigh and once across the back of the neck.

The goblin captain had no time to respond or mutter a word as both his neck and left leg were cut cleanly through. After the blades exited the wound, the goblin captain’s left leg toppled to the ground. Losing support so suddenly, the rest of the captain’s body tumbled to the left, but his head fell to the right, completely severed from the captain’s torso.

"Ya going to call them or not?" taunted Maynard, who lunged at the remaining two captains without pause.

The remaining captains had fear in their eyes as they each retrieved a contact crystal and attempted to summon the remaining captains. As they did so, Maynard became more ferocious, not wanting to waste a single moment of weakness.

Busy warding off the strikes from Maynard, the goblin captains were unable to concentrate and contact the other two captains.

"Ya think I’m going to just let ya call them? Ya missed your chance the first time I asked," laughed Maynard, who was reveling in the thrill of battle.

 

Chapter 63

On the other side of the battlefield, Brunar and Troni were holding up well. They were starting to feel more pressured but the sudden "Bloody cross" from Maynard lessoned that.

The goblins had started to pay more attention to Maynard’s battle after the surprise attack. All the goblins were frightened when they saw one of the captains in three pieces by the wayside. Their morale was starting to be affected and they focused more on preserving their lives them immediately killing their opponents, playing into the adventurers’ plans.

"Brunar!"

Brunar slew a goblin before he turned around while delivering a crossbody slash to a now visible target.

The partially paralyzed lv. 20 goblin was caught off guard by the slash attack across its back and had no way to defend in time. Digging a few centimeters into the goblin’s flesh, Brunar quickly offed the goblin before he returned to face his side of the goblin encirclement.

"Thanks," said Troni while he cut off a goblin’s arm and kicked its torso back into the crowd.

"Master’s showing off again," mentioned Brunar.

"Yeah, so what? He always gets excited at times like this," replied Troni.

Brunar blew hot air from his nostrils as his blade began to glow. "I won’t let him steal all the limelight!"

Troni sighed and let Brunar do as he pleased. This was a common occurrence among the samurai party, so this casual conversation did nothing to impede the onslaught of goblins.

"Aaagghh!"

A sudden whine caught the goblins’ attention again as the goblin encirclement looked back at the captains that they respected and revered. What they saw was a big blow to their self-esteem.

One of the goblin captains had tried to hold back Rydel while the other did his best to contact the two remaining captains. But no opportunity was given. Instead, the captain with a contact crystal still in his hand screamed in pain as that same hand was sliced off at the wrist thanks to Maynard’s "Sudden death."

"I told ya, it’s too late!" berated Maynard. "Ya got to try harder than that!"

*****

In the outskirts of the palace, a figure would appear and disappear sporadically among the shadows. The lanky figure always stayed hidden, never revealing himself.

Keeping an eye on the palace’s outer walls, Rydel noticed the increase in commotion. He soon heard a voice in his mind.

’We’re doing well out here. One down, four to go.’

’Keep it up, you old demon,’ replied Rydel with a smile.

The hunter watched the palace guards as they became more uneasy. Soon enough, the palace doors swung open and a fresh batch of a few dozen guards ran towards the front gate.

Pushing the front gate shut, the two guards in the immediate vicinity didn’t notice the throwing knife that wedged itself on the ground exactly where the doors would meet.

Unable to closes the doors enough to lock it, the guards began to inspect the doors. But before they could find the knife blocking the door, there was a knife that slit each of the two guards’ throats. Their silent death went undiscovered as Rydel leaned them against the wall and tilted their leather helmets down to cover their eyes as if they were sleeping on the job.

Thanks to his nightly adventure before, he had already mapped out the best route towards the inner palace.

Rydel snatched his knife off the floor and crept into the outer walls of the palace. Thinking on his feet, he dashed across the corridor and into a small room. Once he was alone in the room, Rydel placed his hand on the floor and activated his "Predator sense" skill.

With "Predator sense" he would be able to feel the movements, smells, or sounds of anything in his immediate vicinity. Also, he could feel movements and vibrations further by focusing on a particular source, like how he was feeling all the vibrations in the stone floor.

Sensing a few targets, Rydel readied himself and took action. One guard walked past the door but was unsuspectedly pulled inside and silenced immediately.

Rydel resumed to dart through the hall with throwing knives at the ready. A couple more guards around the corner had knives lodged in their throats before they even noticed Rydel appear.

Wanting to create somewhat of a commotion in the outer palace, Rydel left those guards there for others to find and worry. Three more guards were silenced before he found the entrance to the inner palace. Not wasting a second, Rydel put his hand back on the floor and reactivated "Predator sense."

Unlucky for him, he felt two guards slowly walking down the corridor on the other side.

He planned to create a few problems within the outer palace before he hid away inside the inner palace. While investigating the inner palace with his "Predator sense," he was going to map out his next plan of attack from there.

However, if he were discovered entering the inner palace, then he’d be in trouble. The guards of the inner palace were stronger and had better armor. There weren’t as many, but they were more troublesome. If his original plan could work, some inner guards would need to go investigate in the outer palace, thinning the ranks and making it easier for Rydel to reach the throne room.

Thinking on his toes, Rydel hurried into a nearby closet of sorts. It was like a mix of a mini armory and a clothes rack.

He waited inside for a couple of minutes, giving any guards a chance to pass by. Rydel reluctantly used "Predator sense" again, leaving him with one last use for the day.

This time he was luckier. There were no guards present on the other side of the door to the inner palace, but a guard was rushing to the aid of his fallen comrade. Not giving that goblin guard a chance to act, Rydel bolted out of the closet and jabbed a knife into the back of the goblin guard’s neck.

As the guard drew his last breath, he tried to reach out towards Rydel, who quickly opened the doorway to the inner palace and slid in while closing it behind him.

Glad to have that over with Rydel dashed into the nearest empty room which he located with the previous "Predator sense." Rydel let out a deep breath as he collected his bearings and prepared for the palace to go into a frenzy.

Rydel was glad that the palace was lacking guards thanks to phase one going well. He sent out a message.

’Just entered the inner palace and the outer palace is about to get hectic.’

’Thanks, captain, I’ll start phase three shortly.’

Jack was near the outskirts of the palace but kept Bowser and himself hid in an alley. The resplendent bracer was active, making sure to cover them both.

When Jack had vanished that morning, Bowser wasn’t on his shoulder, but in his coat pocket. He discovered that lv. 1 companion mirroring wasn’t going to let Bowser become invisible, only illusory in appearance.

However, he fixed that soon after finding this alley to relax and wait for his turn to act. While waiting, Jack was checking the system notifications and his own stats. After quickly claiming the achievement [Find the goblin city] he was rewarded with fifteen skill points. Jack also noticed he now had an achievement specifically to save Slivia, which reminded him how serious this mission would be.

With thirty-three skill points to spend, Jack upgraded his companion mirroring to lv. 2 for twenty skill points. Ten skill points then went toward upgrading perception to lv. 2, leaving Jack with three skill points to spare.

With companion mirroring up to lv. 2, they tested Bowser’s invisibility. The fox was able to fully disappear that time, but the light didn’t bend around him as smoothly as it did with Jack. But they didn’t care about that because Bowser would only be using this to dash from one part of the city to the next. At high speeds, it was just as effective as Jack’s stagnant invisibility.

Also, Jack and Bowser were happy to reach lv. 15 while they waited for phase three to begin. The weathered jade would be wearing off within the next two hours, so this couldn’t have been any tighter. Jack was still tired due to having little sleep, but he felt it was worth the EXP.

Now at lv. 15, he was confident in Bowser’s ability to handle the distraction on his own. In his fire form, if he doubled in level like the first time, Bowser would be at lv. 30. And if Jack activated his companion bloodline skill and it went the same as last time, he’d reach lv. 18. It wasn’t as nice as Bowser, but three levels meant a lot for the current Jack.

’You know what to do boy, so go and let loose,’ said Jack while rubbing what he assumed was Bowser’s back.

’Yup, yup,’ said Bowser with excitement.

 

Chapter 64

Rushed footsteps could be heard throughout the walls of the inner palace and it was impossible to escape the worried murmurs of the guards and servants. Eventually, there was a hurried knock on a massive set of wooden doors.

"Enter and explain yourself," a feminine voice called out from the other side.

Quickly, the doors were pulled open from the inside and a goblin guard in studded leather armor entered the main hall. "Your highness, problems continue to escalate beyond our control."

"What do you mean, ’beyond our control?’ Just send more troops to face the invaders," barked the queen.

"Another problem has arisen, my queen," replied the guard, shrinking back like he was begging for mercy. "We’ve found many dead guards within the inner palace."

"What!?"

"Please, have mercy with this servant and his inability to serve you properly." The guard dropped to his knees and bowed his head as he pled. "We are beginning to investigate the dead bodies immediately but we’ve yet to find who it was that killed them."

The queen’s breathing was growing heavy, whether it was from worry or rage it was unclear. "Tell me, how did they die?"

Hearing the queen calm down, the guard let out a deep sigh. "They were all slain by a knife, either a slit across the throat or through the back of the neck."

"Hmm, it was probably that hunter. I was wondering where the rest had gone," deduced the queen. "So that hunter wants to play... It’s been a while since I’ve had a worthy playmate."

"Please my queen, just remain in here for the remainder of the investigation. We’re shorthanded due to the battle with the samurais, but we’ll soon scour the palace and find him. That we can guarantee."

"Oh, you can guarantee?" The queen started to chuckle lightly when she heard the guard’s promise. "If you can guarantee his capture so easily, then why aren’t you bringing him to me right now?"

"Your highness, we were so focused on preparing reinforcements against the samurai that we were careless and—"

"You’ve already promised it, so I expect to see you drag that hunter through these doors within the day. If you can’t fulfill your promise, then you’ll face the consequences," said queen, who was devilishly smiling behind the canopy.

"I—"

"Thank you for your bravery; I can’t wait to see how that hunter begs for mercy after you drag him to me."

The guard coughed and swallowed some saliva before he finally muttered, "Y-yes my queen." Shaky and nervous, that goblin guard turned and started to exit.

Suddenly, more footsteps were heard from the other side of the large wooden doors. Before the guards by the doors could react, the doors were swung open by what looked to be two goblin captains who immediately spoke up, "Pardon the intrusion your highness, but this is—"

"Never enter my throne room uninvited!" The lullaby, feminine voice somehow became hoarse and gravelly.

"Please your highness, this matter is very—"

"On your knees!" commanded the queen. "You are goblin captains but that is worth nothing before me. Rules are rules; on your knees!"

One captain quickly dropped to his knees and bowed his head, fully willing to submit at the drop of a hat. The other captain stepped forward to try and calm the enraged queen, "Please, we must hurry—"

"Hmph!" grunted the queen, interrupting the captain. "I said kneel, you worthless servant! At least one of you has a brain. You, you may speak." The queen didn’t point but everyone understood that she wanted the one standing to shut up and listen to the other obedient captain.

"Yes, your highness," said the second captain, still keeping his head to the floor in respect for the queen. "Another problem has presented itself within the city."

"I already know about the deaths in the outer palace," said the queen.

"Yes, but there is a third issue that has presented itself, and it’s by far the worst of them all," clarified the captain.

"The worst of them all? How so?" the queen had a trace of unease in her voice.

"A Hell-flame Fox has been spotted within the city."

That sentence brought a heavy silence to the room. The goblin captain waited a few seconds before he continued, "Currently, the large firefox is rampaging through the city. We have no way of deciphering its strength or its origin."

"Just like the legends..." whimpered the guard from before. He was shaken by the sudden entrance of the captains and even more so by the news they carried. "No one has ever survived hell’s flames..."

"My queen, we ask permission to leave the palace and confront this beast," the first captain spoke up, taking advantage of the silence.

The queen remained silent, pondering the situation heavily. She faced three very serious threats that seemed to escalate every time. Cursing her bad luck, she was reluctant to say anything.

"My queen, may we confront this beast?" repeated the first captain.

"Call for him," muttered the queen with reluctance.

"Him!?" Both captains were surprised to hear the queen asking for aid so quickly.

"Yes, call for him. We’ve underestimated these adventurers and we must do everything to defeat them. But facing Hell’s flames at the same time, our only chance at victory is to accept their aid. Contact him and hurry to the fox. Now hurry and begone. I have something I must do," commanded the queen, returning to her voice of a feminine dominatrix.

"Yes, your highness!"

The guard and the captains hurried off to their new duties, not so much as looking back into the main hall.

Behind the canopy, the queen anxiously twiddled her fingers on the throne’s arm. She barked, "Guards, bring me the contact crystal."

Without a word, the guards by the door hurried to the side of the room. There they each grabbed a side of this podium-like structure. It was similar to the stat analysis podium within the association building, but the gemstone was smoother, and the podium was intricately carved around the large, sapphire-like gem. It took a minute for them to carry it up to the throne, but it wasn’t too difficult for the guards.

"Thank you, now return to your posts. And face the wall; you are not allowed to see my beauty unveiled," commanded the queen.

The guards hurried back to their posts and did as the queen demanded, turning to face the cold wall.

Satisfied with their obedience, the queen stood up from her throne and walked towards the veil surrounding her. She parted it and revealed herself to the light in the room.

The queen was a shade lighter than the other goblins, and her shin was much smoother and softer than the rest. She had the same beady red eyes, but her face was slender and easy to fit in someone’s hand. Adorned with a black leather skirt, a loose crop top from the same leather, and a beautiful necklace of gold and jewels, the queen’s slim, tight body was the envy of every goblin woman; many goblin women also found her attractive and were unable to admit otherwise.

With a regretful sigh, the queen placed her hands on the podium and spoke aloud in Common. "My city is in danger and we request assistance."

There was no response at first, but after a couple of minutes a pained, masculine voice sounded in her head. "What’s the problem? It must be bad if you’re contacting me."

"We’re being invaded, but too much is happening at once and we may not hold out till the end," replied the queen.

"Why so negative? It sounds like you’ve already accepted defeat."

The queen paused involuntarily as she forced herself to admit the situation more fully. "A party of adventurers is causing us problems. They’ve split up to attack the main gate and infiltrate my palace at the same time."

"Why not just call those ugly guests of yours? They should offer plenty of help to handle a single party," said the man.

"Most of them are gone to bring back more of their brethren, we’ve only got two with us right now," answered the queen.

"So, what else is there? For you to call the busy me, you better be facing a natural disaster or hell’s flames," stated the man, letting her hear his annoyance in his voice.

"That’s exactly what’s happening."

"What?" responded the man, caught off guard by her immediate answer.

"At this critical moment, a Hell-flame Fox has appeared within the walls of the city," explained the queen. "We’re already stretched thin to face these adventurers but facing hell’s flames might lead to our end. I beg for your assistance."

No answer came for some time as the queen waited patiently, staring intently at the crystal embedded in the podium. Finally, the man answered, "Sorry, but I can’t help you."

"What!?"

"I told you before that you grew too aggressive too fast and it would lead to your downfall, did I not?" said the man.

Struggling to keep herself from shouting back in anger, the queen was unable to reject the man’s statement. Not hearing a rejection, the man continued, "You got too aggressive before we were in a situation to better help you. Of course, this is simply due to how dire a situation you’re in. Are you sure it’s a Hell-flame Fox? They haven’t been spotted for so long."

"They say it’s a fox made of fire running rampant through my city, what else could that be?"

"How big is it, exactly?" asked the man.

"No clue, they just said it was a crazy firefox with an unknown level," answered the man, hoping her politeness could soften the man’s heart and change his decision.

"Oh," sighed the man. "Either way, you’re without our help for this one. If you can survive this, then we’ll be ready to move forward in about a month. If you don’t, well, then this is goodbye."

As the message cut out, the queen barked back at the man but could tell that the man’s contact crystal was no longer responding.

In her fury, she finally looked away from the crystal and noticed the guards’ peeking eyes whip around to return to the wall. "Was I not clear that you were unworthy of beholding my beauty?"

"Y-your highness, please have—"

Making use of the guards as an outlet for her sudden rise in anger, the queen lifted a hand as a ball of red flames began to dance in her palms. With a flick of her wrist, the flames split and blasted into the bodies of the goblin guards, staining the wall with soot and ash.

 

Chapter 65

Maynard had effectively drawn out the other two goblin captains and was in the middle of a 4 v. 1. He had consumed a few potions and elixirs already, so he was beginning to feel the side effects of consuming too many too soon. His muscles and skin that were constantly being healed grew sorer from each potion. Forcing himself through the pain and discomfort, Maynard continued his stand.

The goblin captains were at a loss when facing the obstinate samurai. They were giving it their all but were still unable to kill him. In the meantime, a couple of captains were near the point of fatigue from injuries and keeping up with the crazy ronin that seemed to be addicted to potions and elixirs.

"Master, how much longer?" Brunar shouted amidst the incoming goblin reinforcements.

The two young samurai were lucky to not need too many skills for the lower leveled guards, but anyone would grow tired after constantly hacking through muscle and bone with no end. Their countless hours of training and practice allowed them to hold strong in the face of over two dozen goblins. However, they were exhausted and would soon be desperate in front of the incoming reinforcements without using skills.

"Just wait! I’m sure—" yelled Maynard.

Suddenly, a fiery flash swept over part of the city, strong enough to be seen over the wall. The warm, red light washed over the battlefield for three seconds, warming the hearts of the samurais and sending chills down the goblins’ spines.

At first, all they saw was a pillar of flame, but terror clutched at the goblins’ heartstrings when a fox pounced into the air. The fox was made of living flames and was three times the size of any goblin. Even its eyes were made up of black hell flames.

Everyone present felt a primal sense of fear take them over. The goblins froze, their instincts telling them to run.

Brunar and Troni had already seen Bowser transform, but they weren’t ready to see such growth in the strength and size of the transformation. It took Brunar a second to shake his nerves and smile at the appearance of this powerful ally.

Troni was like the goblins, showing genuine fear. He wasn’t afraid of Bowser as Jack’s beast companion, but he struggled to accept having such a fearsome beast as an ally and not an enemy like in legend.

Maynard felt a tinge of fear, but it wasn’t enough to keep him from using this distraction to his benefit. Whilst the captains flinched at the sight of a Hell-flame Fox, Maynard used "Sudden death" in succession with "Blood thrust."

Before the weakly guarded captain could retaliate, the blood-red glow of Maynard’s blades passed through its gut. The captain stiffened and fell hard on the ground as Maynard removed his katana.

Suddenly, Maynard disappeared once again. Returning to their senses, another captain managed to block one katana while the other penetrated cleanly through its waist, from right to left. Avoiding death, the captain shrunk back away from its killer.

Not waiting for Maynard to attack again, the remaining two captains charged Maynard while the other did its best to tighten the leather armor around its torso in hopes to slow the blood flow.

"That all ya got?" laughed Maynard. "No more holding back!"

Brunar had already sliced a goblin guard’s throat by the time Maynard shouted his latest order. Yelling as he finally began to activate his skills, Brunar yelled with each swing of his katana. "It’s. About. Time!"

Troni refocused himself and did the same as Brunar, launching skill after skill into the now frightened reinforcements.

*****

"Man, how many rooms are there in the inner palace?" Rydel spoke to himself within the confines of a small dark room. He had exhausted his daily uses of "Predator sense" and was forced to hide and search the old-fashioned way. "What’s that?"

Rydel heard low thumps from the other side of the door. The thumps grew louder each time, until they sounded like they were deep, heavy footprints that shook the door as they passed by. It soon grew quieter as the footsteps passed in the direction Rydel had come from.

’Hey Maynard, they were inside...’ thought Rydel, doing his best to remain calm and steady his heartbeat.

’That’s what I was afraid of,’ replied Maynard.

’What are you talking about?’ asked Jack.

Rydel explained, ’The trolls, they were inside the palace. One just walked past where I was hiding and it probably about to exit the palace.’

’How many are there?’ asked Jack, wanting to plan accordingly.

’I have no clue kid, but I’m guessing there’s more than one,’ answered Rydel.

’Be careful, try not to get tangled with one before you accomplish your part of the mission captain,’ stated Jack.

’You don’t have to tell me twice,’ said Rydel.

’Hey Maynard, get ready to face a troll or two. You should be faring better against the goblins now, so hurry and finish them so you three and face the trolls.’ Jack laid out an impromptu plan.

’Ya got it,’ replied Maynard, accepting the idea immediately.

’Good luck,’ said Jack.

’Happy hunting,’ both Rydel and Maynard responded in unison.

Rydel took a few deep breaths and put his ear to the stone wall. He wasn’t able to use "Predator sense" anymore but his perception and hearing were good enough to hear if any towering footsteps were approaching him.

Not finding anything near him, he bolted into the hallway and dashed further into the inner palace.

*****

Jack was well hidden in the shadows of the outskirts of the outer palace, waiting for a good moment to enter. Unlike Rydel who heavily outweighed the average guard, Jack was under-leveled and was forced to use only stealth.

He was starting to grow impatient until Rydel warned them about the trolls. As soon as Jack heard that, he knew when he would have a chance to enter.

A few minutes passed before Jack saw the big doors burst open. The palace entrance was swung open explosively, actually damaging the hinges of the door and rendering them unable to fully close without repair.

Jack didn’t act immediately, he was busy examining the large, monstrous frame that had kicked open the door. The creature had purple-blue skin and was tall, yet stout. It wore a thick loincloth and had little fat to hide its rippling muscles. With a short face and a fat nose, the trolls sniffed the air.

Holding his breath and remaining still, Jack waited for the troll to step away from the door. It had a gib smile on its face when it saw the flame pillar in the distance of the city. Eager to find out what was happening, the troll entered the city in search of the Hell-flame Fox it had heard o much about.

’Bowser, time to switch locations. You’ve got a troll heading your way. Don’t fight him, just keep him busy and distracted.’ Jack’s telepathic tone showed some worry along with trust in Bowser’s abilities.

Just then, the pillar of fire disappeared and startled everyone unaware of Jack’s plan. ’Okay, Bowser distract troll.’

’Good boy. Let me know if you need help.’

’Yup, yup.’

Jack neared the opened door and found two goblin guards smashed into the wall by the wooden doors. Aware that they were dead in the first place, Jack hurried inside and hid in the first room he could find. ’Captain, I’m in. Any tips?’

’Get to the inner palace. If you head left of the entrance, you’ll reach another large door leading to the inner palace after passing seven rooms,’ answered Rydel.

’I went right, the left was swarming with guards,’ clarified Jack.

’Well, that’s not too bad kid. I went left and left a trail so right is probably less crowded now. But you’ll still need to get to this side of the inner palace. I just passed a dark stairwell that further down, almost like a dungeon. If I had to guess, that’s where they’re keeping any prisoners,’ explained Rydel.

’Looks like I better hurry. Thanks, Captain.’

’Stay alive kid and let me know if anything happens.’

Before Jack exited what looked to be a bedroom shared by a few guards, Jack retrieved a single vial filled with a clear liquid. He retrieved his sword and a small knife, dripping the Light-tailed Lizard neurotoxin across the blade. Jack then stored them and the empty vial, letting him resume his invisibility.

Cautiously sneaking out of the room, Jack made his way into the hall. He crept past a few guards as he stayed near the wall. There wasn’t much difficulty to reach the massive door towards the inner palace but opening it and sneaking inside was different than just making it that far.

Noticing that there also seven doors before reaching the door to the right, Jack guessed that the palace design was mostly symmetrical. Jack wouldn’t bet that a second entrance to the dungeon was on this side of the palace, but it gave him an idea as to how far he was from the dungeon entrance Rydel had mentioned.

 

Chapter 66

Jack was thinking of how he could distract the two guards in charge of the entrance while keeping himself hidden. It was a difficult task and was taking him a moment to think.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the large door from the other side. While the two guards grabbed the door handles and slowly opened the passage, Jack crept closely toward the right of the swinging door. Jack saw a pair of goblin captains exiting the inner palace with an entourage of a dozen guards each.

They were speaking in goblin to their messaging crystals, making it impossible for Jack to understand. Either way, Jack stepped carefully through the gap between the captains and the guard holding the door open.

One of the captains turned around and faced Jack while he slid past. The captain took a few sniffs from its long, protruding nose as it stepped forward.

Not daring to speed up and make noise, Jack kept his pace and stepped further away from the goblin captain. Jack held his breath as he saw the captain extend its hand and grab hold of the guard holding the door open.

Unaware that the captain was telling the guard to take advantage of the outer palace’s bathhouse to bathe more regularly, Jack steadied his nerves and made a left towards the dungeon stairs that Rydel had mentioned.

*****

"What do you mean, you won’t help personally!?" shouted the goblin queen in Common, still hidden within the canopy of her throne.

Across from the canopied throne stood a towering figure with purple-blue skin. This troll was fatter than the one Jack saw exit the place, but its strength was obvious. Besides its loincloth, it wore a necklace made from the bones of various creatures. Looking carefully, one would notice that a couple of human bones were among those of wild beasts.

"I’ve already sent orders to both of the men I have available. You think I’m crazy enough to face hell’s flames personally? I’ll grab a few trophies before leaving this place and returning to my brethren. There, at least we won’t worry about a Hell-flame Fox," stated the troll, declaring his fear of the many tales of Hell-flame foxes.

"We had an agreement! I built this place so that you and your brethren could live here without worry and this is how you repay me?" argued the queen.

"You may be powerful compared to your subjects, but you’re barely my equal queenie," said the troll. "I’m ditching this hazard zone and I don’t think you’re capable of stopping me. Be grateful I offered the other two trolls as distractions so I could escape."

"And what about my people?" yelled the queen in anger.

"I don’t know about your people, but I’m sure I could take care of you," said the troll with a twisted grin.

"Begone already, if you’re betraying me now then just get out while you still can," yelled the queen in disgust.

"Fine, but you know us trolls can offer more protection than these pitiful goblin masses," persuaded the troll.

"Get out!"

Not daring to say more to the now livid goblin queen, the troll laughed as he turned and smashed his way through the closed doors of the main hall.

Busy worrying about other things, the queen ignored the trolls barbaric exit and took out a message crystal. "Split up, one of you go to the samurais and the other to the fox. If it’s not as large as the legends say, maybe we’re lucky and it’s just a young one. If so, capture it and bring it to me."

"Yes, my queen. We will do as you commanded," two goblin captains responded at once.

Hoping that this crisis would be survivable the queen sat down on her throne. She leaned deeply into the back support, trying to sink away from the troubles her goblin city was facing. Then her head twitched and looked into the corner of the room, where it was the most shaded and the walls were blackened from the queen’s outburst of anger towards her guards.

"You’ve come far for a human," said the queen, keeping her lullaby voice.

Stepping out of the dark corners, Rydel replied, "And you’re pretty sharp for a goblin."

"What is it you want? That girl? The other humans?" asked the queen.

"For the most part, yeah that’s what we want. But we’d prefer that this goblin city not be here. If we only took back the survivors, what happens when you and your people just keep capturing others?"

"That would be happening any longer," answered the queen.

"Oh? And why’s that?" asked Rydel.

"Because capturing you humans wasn’t for the benefit of my people. I assume you heard my conversation with that oversized oaf, correct?" Rydel nodded and the queen continued, "We only began taking captives to get on the good side of the trolls, but you already know that we no longer have an agreement."

"And the Royal Court?"

The queen showed an intriguing smile. "What about them? Surely you wouldn’t dare act against them, would you?"

"And what if I might?"

"Who are you with?" asked the queen, intrigued by Rydel’s confidence.

"We’re all with the association; those samurai, that girl, myself, and the other kid you tried to capture. You’ve already gotten us extremely mad from what you’ve done to us so far, and that doesn’t even include what you’ve done previously."

"Well, I’m willing to overlook your invasion of my city and my palace if you’re really with the association. We can part as acquaintances even." The queen kept her calm even though she had accidentally made enemies with the Adventurers Association. "Take the prisoners and leave, my city has a different crisis that we must face."

"Actually, that crisis isn’t any different." Rydel’s words caused the queen to shut up and listen carefully. "First off, I already know your big friend is on the way to claim a few trophies before he leaves. We can’t have him taking any of those prisoners, especially that girl. If he takes that girl, I’m afraid you’d be invoking the wrath of the association."

"Why so? She’s only lv. 13 and can’t be worth the sacrifices to face the trolls and me," argued the queen, hoping that Rydel wasn’t speaking the truth.

"To you, she’s not worth it. But to our latest member, she’s more than worth it."

"Latest member? Who is he?" asked the queen. She was hoping that this latest member had a recognizable name that would carry enough influence for her to stop the greedy troll.

"You’ve never heard of him, but you will soon enough. We got lucky and recruited a summoned hero, and he’s unlike anything you’ve ever heard of, that I can guarantee," stated Rydel as he confidently stepped up towards the raised throne.

Hesitant to accept Rydel’s words, the queen asked, "And what else are you saying? You said the crisis we face isn’t any different from your threat, why?"

Rydel laughed as he approached the throne. "Because that Hell-flame Fox attacking your city is that same hero’s beast companion."

Terror instantly invaded the queen’s muscles, locking them up as she realized the weight of Rydel’s statement. Facing the Adventurers Association directly was already like declaring suicide for her city and facing a Hell-flame Fox wasn’t any different. If the Adventurers Association got their hands on a summoned hero, the association’s strength would only grow as the hero grew.

The most frightening thing was if that same hero somehow got his hands on a Hell-flame Fox as a beast companion. If that statement were true, that hero would eventually become the most feared existence on the continent; only the Chaos Syndicate itself could fight for the title of being the most feared.

"Is what you say true?" There was a trace of fear in her voice as the queen asked the adventurer just outside of her canopy.

"Yes, in fact, he’s the same boy you tried to capture along with the girl." Rydel chuckled as he ripped the canopy open, exposing the queen to the light of the many azure crystals within the main hall.

She swallowed some saliva as she realized she had already made enemies of such a potential threat. "Surely he’s too weak to do anything right now. What’s stopping us from killing that boy now?"

"That would be me, those samurai, and that same Hell-flame Fox destroying your city. And if you somehow managed to kill him despite our efforts, the association would act out revenge for destroying their member with the greatest potential. If you go that far, there’s nowhere on this continent you could hide."

"Then what should I do next, what say you?" asked the queen.

"That depends, what outcome do you wish for your city to have?" clarified Rydel.

She thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I want my goblin city to remain intact and I want a guarantee that the association will bring us no further harm or investigation."

"Those are some high demands," replied Rydel. "That’s going to be hard to guarantee without your cooperation."

 

Chapter 67

Shuttling through the inner palace, Jack hurried through the corridors.

The guards should’ve been on high alert, but the announcement of a Hell-flame Fox appearing within the city was to scare most witless. Too distracted by the thoughts of imminent death and destruction, the guards in the inner palace weren’t too difficult for Jack to pass. As long as Jack was patient enough, he could sneak past without detection.

Eventually, Jack found himself standing in front of a dismal, low-lit staircase. The stone floor became more uneven with every step as if those who built it didn’t care enough to keep a standard of quality. Jack descended in hopes to find Slivia and other survivors in the dreary lower floor.

A foul odor further embedded itself in Jack’s nostrils with every step. It immediately induced a fit of dry heaving, forcing Jack to hold back his gag reflex. The scent of rotting meat and flesh was prevalent throughout the lower floor.

Doing his best to ignore the smell, Jack looked around the dimly lit dungeon. The only light came from small azure clusters in the middle of the ceiling and spread out every seven meters or so, and to Jack’s surprise, he didn’t find a single guard.

There was enough light for Jack to see the crudely made cells carved into the stone floor beneath the goblin queen’s castle. The rooms were blocked off by heavy, wooden slats that crossed each other horizontally like they were crossbeams used as prison bars.

Those cells surround Jack, forcing him to carefully look into each one to not possibly overlook Slivia.

Jack found that most cells in this part of the dungeon were empty, except for a couple rotting corpses that had been there for at least a few weeks. Not finding what he wanted, Jack pressed forward against the wishes of his nose.

The further into the dungeon he went, the more he longed to turn tail and leave. That hideous stench grew stronger with every step forward, almost overwhelming Jack’s senses.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a new scent intermingled with that of rotten flesh. It was alchemical and its source was fresher than the rotting flesh, strong enough to singe nose hairs if smelt to vigorously.

Curious about what the source may be and why such a scent was in a dungeon and not a laboratory, Jack pressed forward carefully.

It didn’t take him long to pass another half dozen cells with no success. His hopes were dwindling slightly, but Jack stayed levelheaded for the most part. As long as he knew Slivia was still possibly okay, Jack wouldn’t stop to blame himself.

Suddenly, Jack heard coughing from a distant cell. Eager to find a living being, Jack ran ahead and quickly removed his invisibility.

The coughing spasm didn’t stop, it got much worse the moment Jack appeared in front of the prison cell. Startled by Jack’s sudden appearance the figure inside the cell did its best to stop coughing.

Realizing that he probably did more harm than good by suddenly appearing without warning, he spoke quietly, "What is your name?"

There was no response at first, so Jack assumed that the figure might be too weak to do or say anything. "Here, eat this. It’ll help." Jack held out a portion of jerky rations through the gaps of the wooden cell bars.

Without hesitation, the miserable figure pounced forward and dove to grab hold of the food presented to it. Like a wild beast, it tore the jerky apart piece by piece with its mouth.

Jack quickly noticed that it was a human female in her twenties contained within the cell, but something was off. She was stripped naked and only wore an iron collar around her neck that was attached to the wall by a heavy chain. Her body was covered in bruises, particularly around her joints as if someone had grabbed hold of her with too much force.

"What’s your name?" Jack asked again.

There was no response from the girl, only a piercing gaze asking for more food. When she finished the scraps of dried meat Jack had already held out a second piece, which she snatched from him eagerly.

However, this again brought no response. For a third time, Jack held out a strip of dried meat. The girl lunged for the meat, but Jack pulled it back through the bars in protest. She wasn’t mad or startled by not getting her food. Instead, she looked at Jack differently.

Before Jack could understand what that look meant, the girl sensually crawled toward the bars of the cell. She turned her rear toward the wooden slats and pushed herself up against them like this was a normal occurrence for her.

Jack was dumbfounded by what was occurring in front of him. He had never personally seen a naked woman in his life, let alone have one act so daring in front of him. But the sight of this girl appalled him and filled him with disgust.

In her eyes, Jack saw no life or intelligence. It was like he was staring into the eyes of a farm animal waiting to be fed.

"You won’t get anywhere with her."

A weak voice came from the next cell over, pulling Jack’s attention away from the girl’s lifeless eyes. With a few steps, Jack walked over to the next cell and looked carefully inside.

In the back, a figure was propped up against the wall. It moved slightly and coughed to clear its throat before it said, "Who are you?"

"I’m Jack, with the association. Who are you?"

Jack heard the rattling of multiple chains, at least double the amount used to restrain the previous girl. The figure forced itself to its feet, struggling with every step it took forward. As its face came into the light, a clear image of an unshaven face came into view.

"My name’s Byron Balt..." He paused, taking a moment to catch his already weak breath. "If you can get me out, then I’ll get you anything you ask."

Jack’s ugly face returned to a pleasant smile, "Good, you’re still alive."

"What?" Byron was taken aback by Jack’s weird comment.

"I don’t know you, but I know your father. Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here," said Jack, glad to see a grin appear on Byron’s face. "How do I get you out of there?"

"You’ll need the keys, but that’s the hardest part," answered Byron. "I’ve only seen one key and it’s currently with the jailer."

"Okay, where can I find the jailer than?"

"You don’t understand." Byron’s grin disappeared as if it had never existed. "It’s hard to believe, but the jailer is a troll."

"Okay, but where is he?" repeated Jack, unfazed by Byron’s revelation.

"Umm," caught off guard by Jack’s casual tone regarding a troll, Byron took a moment to reply. "He left not too long ago. Not sure why by some goblins came to tell him something and they left together with a second troll following behind."

"How many trolls are there?"

"Down here I’ve seen a few but only two have been around for the past couple days," answered Byron.

"Are they the ones who caused that?" Jack pointed a finger to the incarcerated girl.

Byron took a deep breath before he answered in a pained voice, "Yes, yes they are. And that’s not the worst-case either." His eyes glanced at a few of the surrounding cells, indicating where Jack could find similar or worse cases.

Clenching his fists to the point where he nearly drew blood from with his fingernails, Jack took a few breaths to subside his anger. He looked Byron square in the eyes and said, "Have you seen a female cleric brought down here recently?"

Byron blinked and responded, "Yeah, she’s a little further up. She’s fairly new here so I don’t think they’ve—"

Jack ran towards further into the dungeon without finishing his conversation with Byron. He didn’t want to waste a single second until he knew Slivia was okay.

A few audible grunts and the occasional question would reach Jack’s ears, but he wouldn’t respond because none of them were Slivia. Carefully yet quickly examining the content of each cell he passed, Jack blew past eight cells before he stopped in his tracks.

There on the floor laid a girl whose blonde acted like a beacon. She was stripped like every other prisoner, but she only had a few small bruises and scrapes, most likely from their party’s journey and not from torture or anything else.

"Slivia," Jack spoke loudly, trying his best not to shout.

"Hmm..." She tossed and turned as she curled up to try to cover herself up. Slivia glanced up, her facial expression changing from a look of disgust to a look of surprise and relief. "Jack!"

Her lively shout caused Jack to loosen up a bit, finally feeling a little better now that his heart was at ease.

Chapter 68

The battlefield outside the city walls grew intense; slaughter was a common occurrence. Not holding anything back, the samurai let loose barrages of skills to carve their ways through the surrounding goblins.

Exhaustion was setting in for the young samurai as they began to use potions and elixirs without worry. As their muscle and regenerated tissues ached with every movement, the samurais were nearing their limit. Luckily, that end was in sight, when they could finally relax and finish their part of the plan.

"Careful ya two, we may have more trouble on the way."

Maynard’s voice felt like a sharp twist to the young samurais’ ears. Troni, who was the weakest and most exhausted of the two, asked, "What do you mean? What about the others distracting them?"

"There’s more to this city then ya realize; you’ll see that soon." Maynard didn’t say too much because he was occupied with the final two goblin captains. He held the advantage, but they changed tactics and focused solely on defending as if they were stalling for something else’s arrival.

The ronin would charge with various skills but the two captains always kept themselves close together to best counter Maynard’s "Sudden death." Not only did this prolong the battle, but it also forced Maynard to waste even more skills and MP.

Reluctant to waste more energy, Maynard tried his best to finish the fight without needing to consume yet another elixir. His body appeared perfectly fine on the outside but the opposite was true within his body. The constant potions brought his muscles, joints, and regenerated tissues excruciating pain whenever he swung one of his katana. Though his MP would rapidly refill with each elixir, his own body’s capacity to contain MP was weakened and he could now only hold two-thirds of his prior maximum MP.

"Oh! Humans, how tasty!"

A bellowing voice reverberated across the battlefield from the distance. Everyone in combat noticed a giant, fat figure emerged from the wall’s gate. Its purple-blue skin brought fear and disgust to the eyes of the samurai. While it carried a club that looked like a tree trunk, at the troll’s side were more goblin reinforcements.

"Master, what’s that!?" questioned Brunar whilst cleaving a guard in two.

Troni was stiff and almost stumbled at the sight of such frightening reinforcements.

"Fear not! I’ll take on that fat fellow and the other captain." Maynard immediately encouraged his disciples, making sure to keep them from facing anything too threatening.

The two captains currently engaged with Maynard laughed and yelled back at their opponent, taunting him in goblin.

Ignoring their laughs, Maynard allowed both of his katana to blow a deep red. Before the two captains could react, the ronin took advantage of their lapse in judgment to joke around on the battlefield. He disappeared and reappeared behind them both but keeping his attention on the one who taunted him first.

One captain put up his guard while the other attacked Maynard while he was undefended. They expected to trade a major blow for a major blow, wanting to guarantee victory with the help of reinforcements.

To their surprise, the second katana turned and faced the second goblin who had initiated an attack. Not caring to defend, Maynard activated his second trump card, "Blood bath."

In a seemingly impossible manner, Maynard’s katana each struck their target in a fraction of a second and swung back around for another strike, keeping them from guarding fully against him. The ronin swung each sword three times total; stunning with the first strike, injuring with the second, and killing with the third.

The goblin corpses fell to the ground in halves as Maynard caught his breath.

Maynard’s disciples were amazed by their master’s resolve and determination to fight until the end. They were inspired by him and accepted the responsibility to face reinforcements minus the troll and the new captain.

Amazed by his own attack, Maynard forced himself to smile as he pulled out another potion and two elixirs. He had taken the second goblin captain’s attack without fazing, but it was a great blow to his shoulder and would impede his second katana’s usage without healing.

Maynard was certain that he would’ve failed to kill both goblin captains without the help of Jack’s passive sword ability. Each movement with his swords was a hair faster and carried a fraction more weight. Also, it made it easier for his body to naturally accept them as part of him and force his way through enemies’ defenses. A good example of that was how Maynard accepted the strike from the goblin captain but was able to keep his attacks on target regardless.

"You look like fun. I always play with my food before I eat," the troll laughed in Common from a distance, walking towards the ronin.

The fresh goblin captain was about to rush in to aid his companions but slowed himself after better realizing what they were up against. Witnessing Maynard’s attack and determination struck fear in the captain; no one was more dangerous than a powerful man willing to do anything to win.

Across the battlefield, there was a pause while the reinforcements neared. The few remaining goblins around Troni and Brunar backed off, backing away towards their newly arriving comrades.

"Get ready, this is the last wave," announced Maynard before he chugged the potion and elixirs all at once.

Brunar did the same, fighting the urge to collapse in fatigue. Troni only drank the potion as he didn’t think he could take any more internal torture beyond that.

The goblin captain ordered against his desires, having all available goblins surround the two young samurai while he partnered with the troll to face the savage ronin.

Obeying orders, the goblin guards finally ran forward as the final wave of goblins. The captain rushed Maynard before the troll was able to reach him, wanting to test how much strength the spent samurai had left in the tank.

Lifting both katana above his head to block the captain’s strike, Maynard demonstrated monstrous will power. Only his focus on the mission and his genuine desire to conquer any challenge obstructing him kept him up and defending.

With a little over half his usual MP available after exhausting it all with his "Blood bath" skill and forcibly recovering MP again, Maynard finally was forced on the defensive.

The goblin captain wanting to be proud of itself but couldn’t bring itself to be proud of overpowering Maynard after remembering how Maynard had killed five other captains in succession. Such a track record was terrifying, keeping the last captain from letting his guard down and showing an all-out offense.

Soon the troll reached them and swung its club with abandon. Its attack wouldn’t always differentiate between friend or foe, simply following Maynard wherever he went.

Angered by the troll’s arrogance, the goblin kept its harsh words to itself. Though the goblin was at lv. 31 and was a higher level than the lv. 28 troll, the troll still outclassed him in terms of strength.

Maynard typically wouldn’t need to struggle facing such opponents but killing the previous captains while sending AoE attacks to the goblin swarm had taken a great toll on him. His body was on the brink of physically collapse and his mind was pushed beyond exhaustion. Right now, the best he could do would be to stall in hopes of somehow receiving aid to finish the fight.

’Hey, I could use some help.’ Maynard struggled to send a mental message while defending himself and evading the powerful swings of the troll’s club.

’Give me some time,’ replied Rydel, sounding too busy to address Maynard’s plea.

Maynard wasn’t expecting a response from Jack so he just grinned and bore the pressure of the situation. Accepting the blows from his two newest opponents, Maynard forced a laugh to taunt them.

The troll grunted, enjoying the thrill of a challenge. Before it was only allowed to play with a couple of the captives and all of them were far weaker than the blood-covered samurai.

Unsure how it would all end, the goblin captain kept himself levelheaded and focused on surviving. If he could survive this samurai’s katana, he might be recognized as the strongest captain. With that in mind, the captain struck strategically and avoided the troll at all cost.

Troni and Brunar were worse for wear and wouldn’t last for much longer. They continued to face the goblins without hesitation, dwindling the goblins numbers with each swing.

"Your strong, I admit that. Try this!" yelled the troll.

Out of nowhere, the troll’s club began to glow blue as it drove towards Maynard’s head.’’

Understanding the potential threat of that attack, Maynard didn’t dare to take it head-on and jumped back to avoid it instead. Sadly, the goblin captain was there waiting for him with a shortsword in mid-swing.

Doing his best to deflect the shortsword, Maynard managed to dodge the club that created a small crater in the hard cave floor. He did, however, receive a small cut on his shoulder, exactly where the late captain had left a serious injury.

Since it was freshly healed and sore, the slash of the shortsword was very effective and weakened Maynard’s left arm wielding.

Anxious to get this over with, Maynard grit his teeth and keep himself focused on the long battle before him.

 

Chapter 69

In the middle of the city, Bowser had already destroyed many homes and decimated dozens of goblins. He had relocated twice already to prolong the confrontment of any who dared try to stop him.

At first, Bowser understood that he might struggle to face any captains if they banded together against him. After his onslaught and Maynard’s killing, however, Jack and Bowser had reached lv. 17 and were nearing lv. 18. With Bowser’s level doubled in his flame form, he was confident in a fight with any guards.

Bowser continued his destruction of the city undisturbed until he felt a dagger pierce his flame body from behind. Looking back, he found a goblin captain dashing towards him and a troll with rippling muscles charging at full speed.

Thanks to his level boost Bowser could recognize these two as a lv. 32 captain and a lv. 33 troll warrior.

Immediately Bowser sent a message to Jack, ’Me... attacked... What... now?’

The message wasn’t the clearest, but it was still understandable thanks to Bowser’s simple words. A reply that was equally unclear returned, ’Fight... if... confident...’

Thinking to himself Bowser felt that the fight would be possible. The only thing making Bowser question his ability to fight would be his endurance; how much longer he could maintain his flame body transformation.

Self-righteous shouts in goblin sounded out as the goblin captain was the first to arrive Bowser to attack.

Bowser easily dodged the first swings of the small goblin, but he wasn’t able to avoid the full speed tackle of the troll only slightly smaller than himself.

The fox was pushed harshly into the surrounding buildings, showing that the troll didn’t care for the lives of the goblin citizens. Only victory was on the troll’s mind; the pride of defeating a legendary existence like a Hell-flame Fox. Grunting war cries, the troll lifted its club over its head to deliver a heavy blow to the fox underneath him.

Not giving the troll a chance to act so freely, Bowser’s tail reached around whipped the troll across the face, forcing it to tumble off the top of Bowser. Quickly returning to his feet, the fox dashed toward the goblin captain at full speed.

Feeling the troll’s strength, Bowser knew that he had underestimated it. He had no clue that trolls, in general, were strong for their level. Then again, a Hell-flame Fox was naturally near the top of the list when it came to comparing strength to those of the same level.

Bowser was swiftly at the side of the goblin captain and slashing toward it with his claws.

The captain acted unexpectedly and swung its shortsword to meet Bowser’s attack head-on.

Claw met blade as the two pushed each other back. Bowser proved stronger, being pushed back only one step compared to five steps back from the captain.

The troll lunged forward, using the goblin captain’s actions as a distraction. Forcing Bowser back four steps and bruising his paw, the troll continued its charge with its club swinging. Suddenly, the thick club was thrown directly at the startled Bowser, as if it were a follow-up attack in a combo for an arcade fighting game.

Stunned by the flying tree trunk threatening Bowser while he tried to regain his footing, another slash was felt across Bowser’s legs. Bowser realized that the goblin captain and troll had a shocking level of teamwork for a makeshift party.

Bowser didn’t want to run because transforming back to normal and then back into a firefox might waste too much energy now that he was in combat.

The eyes of the firefox, which appeared to be made from black flames, began to show streaks of bright red flame. Bowser opened his mouth towards the charging duo as he jumped back.

The two enemies launched attacks, throwing their club and another dagger, but Bowser’s attack swallowed them up. With a dark red flash, a heatwave passed over the town with Bowser as the source. From Bowser’s open mouth, a monstrous wave of hungry red flames erupted forth. Easily swallowing and destroying the weapons, the red flames quickly reached the goblin-troll duo.

Encompassed by unbearable heat, both the troll and the goblin felt their skin immediately evaporate. Muscles and connective tissue were the next things to disappear as their bodies were burnt away layer by layer in a single moment. All that remained were charred skeletons that collapsed to the ground.

Every living thing within twenty meters of Bowser disappeared, leaving behind only bones to prove their past existence. The blast of red flames continued for about fifty meters, leaving nothing behind of the buildings or goblins, aside from the skeletons of the high leveled goblin captain and the troll.

As the flame subsided, Bowser had already shrunken back to his normal self. He had used up all the energy he had within that attack, still not being strong enough to fully make use of his bloodline’s strength. The fox hobbled forward and hid within the large skeleton of the former troll, closing his eyes to rest and recover.

*****

In the depths of the palace dungeon, Jack was feeling relieved to find Slivia alive and well.

"Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?" asked Jack through the thick wooden slats that made up the cell’s bars.

Slivia was up against the wood, anxiously grabbing one of Jack’s hands. "It’s you... You’re really here."

"Of course it’s me, silly." Jack chuckled lightly when he saw the genuine surprise in Slivia’s eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." she said weakly, revealing her mental exhaustion.

"Here, you can have this back." Jack took off his cloak and pushed it through the bars.

Slivia took it eagerly and was about to thank Jack when she remembered that she was standing completely naked in front of him. She quickly pulled back and turned to the side as she swung the cloak over her. Feeling better but still embarrassed, Slivia neared Jack again with a bright red face. "Thanks, Jack."

The lighting wasn’t the best, but Jack could still see the blush on Slivia’s face. Though he hadn’t focused on her nudity or commented on it, like any man he naturally noticed his full self before focusing on the surprise and joy in her face.

"How long have you been in here?" asked Jack, hoping to brush past the awkwardness.

"Only a half a day; I’m lucky you showed up while you did. If you showed up tomorrow..." her voice cut off, not saying another word. Slivia’s eyes paused on a cell across from her.

Jack noticed her lingering eyes and asked, "Who’s in there?"

"She..." Slivia stammered, "She was in my last party, but now... she’s not the same."

Thinking back to the first girl he found in a cell, Jack imagined what Slivia was thinking. Putting his hand over hers between the bars, Jack said, "I’m just glad you’re okay."

Hesitant respond, Slivia felt his warm touch soften her worries. "Thanks, Jack."

"Now we’ve got to get you out of here. The jailer’s a troll, right? He probably left to go help handle everything else, so don’t worry."

Just then Jack heard Maynard’s call for help. Unable to do anything or offer any aid himself, Jack let Rydel reply instead. But soon after that, he received a message from Bowser. It was choppy like they were almost out of range, but Jack quickly let Bowser do as he feels based on his confidence in a fight.

"What’s wrong, Jack?" asked Slivia, curious about Jack’s weird silence and his serious facial expression.

"Nothing’s wrong; the plan’s going as we expected. There are some bumps thanks to the trolls, but we’ll take care of it," said Jack. He wanted to encourage her and not let her worry about anything.

All of a sudden, heavy footsteps could be heard from a distance. Jack looked towards the stairs he just came from and Slivia’s face shrunk as she said, "Jack, get out of here. That’s him—"

"Shhh," Jack reached through the bars and placed a finger to her lips. "Don’t say anything."

Before she could respond, Jack had vanished from her sight, startling her greatly.

Jack repositioned himself against the cell across from Slivia, slowly walking towards the stairs to get a good view of the giant entering the dungeon.

Like Jack expected, a purple-blue skinned troll dressed like a troll captain from "A Hero’s Tale" descended the stairs. The troll wore a smug face, looking at the various cells in front of him. With a perverse smile, the troll stomped across the dungeon towards Slivia’s cell.

Jack was glad he was invisible because he wouldn’t want Slivia to see him so worried. Jack was already at lv. 17 but he knew that a common troll captain in-game ranged from lv. 30 to lv. 40. He had zero confidence in facing that perverted giant head-on. Yet Jack had a feeling that, based on how everyone else was doing, he wasn’t going to get much help.

 

Chapter 70

Trying his best to keep calm, Jack carefully followed the troll from behind.

As the troll neared Slivia’s cell, she backed away to the dark corners of the cell. Slivia tried to hide Jack’s black cloak in the darkness behind her. She didn’t need to act scared; Slivia was already plenty frightened.

The troll saw the fear in her eyes and chuckled in Common. "I guess your friends are busy storming the city, did you know that?"

Slivia looked down, not answering anything with sound or change of expression. She was avoiding eye contact at all costs.

"Why so quiet? Is that any way to treat your benefactor? We were nice and gave you a day to think about your options. Have you decided yet?" asked the troll, still not getting any kind of response from Slivia. "I’ve been kind enough; I think I deserve a response. Do I need to come in and ask nicely?"

"What are they doing?" Slivia kept averting her eyes, but she immediately answered after the troll’s friendly threat.

"Those samurai have charged the city gate. I’m sure they’ve killed dozens of gobbies by now, but they’ll find it hard to face that idiot Torbun. At least Torbun is finally up and doing something instead of lazing around all day. From what I’ve heard, the strongest samurai was barely able to stand after facing so many enemies." The Troll showed a delighted expression as he verbally painted a picture of the battlefield.

"How do you know?" Slivia asked with a shaky voice.

"I heard from the queen herself and heard the captain’s report," chuckled the troll. "There’s also someone that infiltrated the castle and killed a few guards. The gobbies upstairs are all running like chickens with their heads cut off, scrambling to find their mysterious killer. That’s probably just your stealthy captain trying to assassinate the queen; am I right?"

Slivia didn’t respond immediately, taking a moment to digest the situation outside the dungeon. She verified that a lot of killing had happened by checking her level and noticing her advancement to lv. 14. After a few seconds, she blinked and asked, "Then why aren’t you out there helping them? Aren’t you the strongest?"

Laughing heartily at Slivia’s terror driven compliment, the troll continued, "That’s very true, but something much worse has presented itself. Right now, out of nowhere, a Hell-flame Fox has appeared inside the city walls. It may be a child fox according to reports about its size, but I’m not taking any chances. I’ll be leaving shortly, and I don’t plan to come back."

Hearing that, Slivia felt noticeably better. The troll was confused to see that Slivia was calmer after his mention of the Hell-flame Fox. "Don’t worry, I’m here to protect you so the fox can’t get you."

The muscles in Slivia’s body turned to ice when she heard the troll’s comment. "What-what do mean? You said you’re leaving."

"We are leaving," laughed the troll. "I’ll be taking you and another lucky pet with me. I’ve worked too hard to leave here empty-handed and you’re in much better hands with me that those devilish hell flames."

Shivers of fear crept into Slivia’s motionless body. "But-but I have twenty-four hours to decide. What would the queen say?"

"The queen?" laughed the troll. "What can the queen do to me? She’s only lv. 34, besides, she’ll be busy facing her assassin to stop us from fleeing. Come on, we need to hurry out of here." The troll motioned for Slivia to step forward with his hand.

She remained frozen place, unable to even turn her head. When no response came, the troll sighed, "Hurry up and get over here; there’s not much time left."

Slivia stayed in her place, remembering everything she witnessed this same troll did to her former party member just hours earlier. Unwilling to accept such a fate, she instinctively shrunk back further into the dark corner, as if trying to escape into the darkness.

"Come on now, it’s not that bad. I’ll take care of you and protect you like a good master would, my pet. I can’t have you dying on me. You’re not like the other’s here, you’re more valuable than that," stated the troll who was leaning into the wooden bars of Slivia’s cell.

The troll’s comments only urged her to further into the dark corner of the cell. Seeing the ineffectiveness of his words, the troll sighed again, "Do I need to come in and get you, or are you going to be obedient to your master? You know full well how we train disobedient pets."

It was then that true terror struck Slivia’s heart. The very fiber of her being was trembling at the thought of the trolls’ special training methods.

Suddenly, a third weak, yet confident voice called out from down the hall, "Oh, so the might troll captain is scared?"

The troll’s playful attitude instantly burned away into embers of rage. "What did you say!?"

"You heard me," replied the weak voice, coming from a cell eight doors down. "You act so high and mighty, but you turn tail and run the moment a real threat appears. Some captain you are."

Storming towards Byron’s cell, the troll shouted, "Your words mean nothing here! Look at you, on the verge of death, just waiting for your life to pass away with time."

"That’s why you’re a coward," laughed Byron. His actions were crazed as if the misery he faced had finally pushed his brain beyond the tipping point. "I remember your words, don’t you? You said you wouldn’t leave this place till after you’ve seen me dead. Well, here I am, still alive!"

The troll’s rage stifled momentarily as it remembered its previous threats. It chuckled, "Is that what this is about?"

"OF course!" laughed Byron. "You’re a coward! Afraid to kill me because the queen wants me for a ransom, and you’re too afraid to stick around and see your plans through to the end."

"Who’s afraid of the queen?" stated the troll. Popping noises echoed through the dungeon as the troll tightly clenched its fist. The fist emitted a blue glow as it smashed through the heavy wooden bars of Byron’s cell.

Debris flew in every which way and some flew towards Byron, who closed his eyes and forcibly accepted the impact of the broken pieces of flying lumber.

"Say it again to my face if you’re a true man," grunted the troll, who was now on his knees and beginning to crawl into Byron’s cell.

Byron’s voice boomed as he replied without hesitation, "Chraat is the most cowardly troll captain in all of Kartonia!"

Enraged by Byron’s blatant taunt, Chraat cocked his fist back to squish the pesky human prisoner as easily as he had busted through the cell door.

Suddenly, the troll captain felt a slash against his calf. Forcing himself back out of the cell, Chraat noticed an unfamiliar figure store a sword and vanish instantly.

Chraat grunted loudly as he got back on his feet and began to sniff around the dungeon. In normal conditions, the troll captain’s sense of smell would be able to roughly guide him towards an invisible enemy. Thanks to the overwhelming stench of rotten flesh, however, Chraat’s superior sense of smell was rendered useless.

"Coward! Show yourself and fight like a man!" yelled the troll captain.

Jack was ecstatic to have successfully landed that blow on the powerful troll captain. That entire time he was a nervous wreck. Not only had his emotions almost gotten the better of him while Chraat was explaining the situation on the battlefield, Jack almost struck out when the troll threatened to forcibly take Slivia away.

If Byron hadn’t intervened and created a perfect opportunity to sneak attack, Jack might’ve attacked recklessly. Jack felt a little more confident now that he had cleanly hit the troll with his poisoned blade.

"Jack, be careful!" Slivia shouted at the top of her lungs, now at the front of her cell peering through the bars with a cloak around her.

"You! You knew he was here!" yelled Chraat. He took a few steps toward Slivia, threatening her to not interfere.

Amid his threat, Chraat felt his right leg, the same leg that was cut, start to grow numb and limp. He dropped to one knee and groaned as he tried to forcibly use his leg.

Not wanting to waste a single opportunity to increase his chances of victory, Jack snuck through the gap between Chraat and the opening in Byron’s cell. It was difficult for him to quickly maneuver in that tight space, but Jack managed to barely stay on his feet. He quickly shuffled behind the debris Chraat created and sped towards Byron.

Once he was at Byron’s side, Jack took out three potions and three elixirs, placing them behind Byron.

Byron felt the glass bottles suddenly appear against his back. He reached back and immediately recognized the familiar shapes of round potion bottles and hourglass-like elixir bottles.

Without saying a word, Byron understood the invisible Jack’s plan. Byron continued his charade and laughed loudly at the kneeling troll, "If only I had my sword, then I could teach a weakling like you a lesson!"

"Shut up!" barked Chraat, who was unwilling to move aimlessly with an invisible threat loose, especially after realizing he had been poisoned.

Jack caught the hint and for a moment reappeared near Byron behind a pile of debris leaning against the wall. He then disappeared, leaving only a katana with a red hilt where he once was.

Smiling wide, Byron fell over in a laughing fit, appearing insane in every sense.