“OOF!” Globcro lets out as he’s immediately winded, feeling a giant meaty arm punching into him. He recovers quickly and ripostes with a violent slash of his axe. Cleaving the bear’s head clean off, causing a massive “Thud!” To be heard as the corpse collapses over.
“Hey! For a blocker you're pretty shitty at protecting people, Dania!” Globcro shouts at Dania.
“Maybe you shouldn't be such a fuckin’ coward! It's just a goddamn bear!” Dania retorts, blocking an attack from multiple bears at a time, before intentionally moving her shields out of the way, causing the bears to slip in between. In a massive show of force, Dania then smashes both her shields together, crushing the bears into a mix of red paste and brown skin, all the bones in their bodies turned to utter mush. Dania lets out a violent war cry. “AHHH!!!” Before she charges forward again, into the pack of dire bears. Globcro turns his attention to his other allies, witnessing as Biff smashes a bear's head in so hard it's sickening to listen to. The bear's head, crushed beyond what could possibly be recoverable. Before Biff turns his attention to another bear, grabbing it and smashing its arms completely with two violent and disturbing punches. Globcro turns his attention to a different ally, as he sees that Biff is handling his portion easily. He's instantly rewarded with the horrific sight as G’nimag tears a bear open, before ripping out its stomach, just to see the poor creature struggle to handle the sudden intrusion and collapse backwards, organs spilling out. The onslaught of bears continued, Dania smashing bears in the face, allowing for Biff and G’nimag to efficiently and forcefully end the stunned beasts' lives. Along with an occasional axe chop from Globcro to a bear that somehow slipped through the cracks, it was going well. “Oh yeah the new guy, how's he doi-” Globcro thinks to himself as he turns to his final teammate, which he instantly rushed over to defend, only to witness as they're violently torn apart by 8 bears. The 8 beasts did not hesitate to tear off his allies arms and rip open his chest, clawing and biting his skin, completely eviscerating the orc.
“Guys! Wake the fuck up! He's getting fucking eaten alive over here!” Globcro shouts at the top of his lungs to get his allies to come to his aid, as he slashes at the bears, carving limbs and heads off with slight ease. However the overwhelming amount of bears that were let through by his now deceased ally, was way more than he could handle.
“Told you that chump was fucked! Get the fuck outta my way, I got this!” Biff shouts in a cold blooded, bloodthirsty voice, as he shoves Globcro out of the way and starts beating the large quantity of bears, with giant earthshaking punches. Dania turns her attention away from the bears in front of her, which ruthlessly claw at her, only to be knocked in the face by her massive war shields, which she then smashes the trio of bears between, before she shouts
“Heh, get the fuck outta here Biff you fuckin’ loser! I'll handle it!” Then she starts to run over.
“No! Dania, stay in your lane! Biff’s got this! Don't let any pass through! I'll pick up on… Whatever his name was’s slack!”
Globcro then shouts out in return, before slashing open another dire bear. Thankfully, this gauntlet ends shortly after, with Globcro’s three remaining allies all sprinting at full speed to kill the last remaining bear, which even as dumb as the beast may be, clearly understanding its inability to win, immediately retreats. Only to be met with a flung Axe, as Globcro strategically swings into its upcoming path. Cutting off the bear’s path. The bear turns to take a new path, only to be met with a full strength orcish fist, as Biff smashes it's face in, Dania, not wanting to let Biff get the last blow, crashes her shields into the beasts' legs, crushing them under the weight and causing the beast to cry out. Which is ignored completely as G'nimag guts the creature, breaking open its ribs, and pulling out its lungs. Globcro couldn't really handle the brutality, looking away, feeling immense displeasure. The sounds of the orcs grunting along with sickening tearing and crushing was all he could hear. He ignores the carnage and instead goes around the battlefield, and starts to cut the heads off of the bears, picking them up and putting them into sacks. He just needed a dozen heads to prove the job was complete, and there were plenty to choose from. He selectively chose the heads which were still somewhat recognizable, and not as… Mushy. After 90% of the job is finished, he hears the others butting heads and talking very loudly.
“The fuckin' humans are so pathetic man, these bears were nothin’.” Biff gloats, spitting some foreign blood from his mouth.
“Maybe cause I was doin’ all the goddamn work! You fuckin' loser!” Dania glares at Biff, only to receive just as harsh a glare in response. G'nimag shoves both of them onto the ground.
“You're both fuckin' pussies. You dumbasses killed half as many bears as I did. I'm not even gonna mention Globcro’s dumbass.” Somehow with that slight mention, the trio all seem to have all their aggression shifted. Towards Globcro.
“Yeah! Dumbass fuckin' Globcro! You didn't do shit! That other freak probably did more than you did. I mean, ‘fore his arms were ripped off.” Biff laughs heartlessly, not a single ounce of empathy.
“What was that kid’s name? D- No, uh, B-” Dania says, seemingly trying to recall, but is interrupted by G'nimag.
“The weak don't deserve to be remembered. Keep his filthy name out of all your mouths. Let's get the fuck outta here, Globcro get moving, and don't drop any of the heads.”
“Oh shut the hell up, without me you morons would all be just as dead as… Him. Throw a head in your bags and get moving, this is gonna take a while.” Globcro says in annoyance, in a commanding tone. Dania and Biff both fall in line with some murmuring, obviously not wanting to piss off Globcro. However G'nimag didn't back down.
“Don't get cocky, shit head. You don't deserve any more respect than the corpse over there. I respect your brother, not you. You're lucky I don't gut you right here. So called Strategist.”
“Hey, strategy is knowing an Ally's strengths and weaknesses. Don't even think about trying anything. Enough of this petty shit, let's just go.” Globcro says before slowly walking away, being followed by Biff and Dania. Biff speaks quietly with Dania.
“You gotta admit ‘Globcro the Strategist’ is pretty dumb man… Like come on, Biff the Buffer is way cooler! It literally just makes sense man, like my name is Biff and I'm buff. It sounds right. Right man?”
Dania simply gives an unamused look and stays silent. The path they walk is dark, and unmarked. The field outcropping they were in, surrounded by deep forest. Globcro checks his hastily drawn map, and squints his eyes, trying to recognize the path he'd marked out to get here. He doesn't let the other orcs see his struggles, and continues through the woods, slashing branches out of his way, and intentionally dodging others, usually causing Biff to walk directly into a sturdy branch, which then causes Dania to trip. Or any other combination of the events. Globcro eventually gets into familiar territory, and they can see trees damaged from prior battles. From prior mercenary jobs. Just a little further they can see the road, commonly traveled upon by humans or merchants going to the human kingdom. If they were lucky, on occasion they could hitch a ride with a merchant all the way back, as they worked as mercenaries, not just any mercenaries however. Ones who served very closely to The King himself. The others quickly took the lead, as soon as they arrived at the road. Clearly trying to assert control, even though the appointed leader was Globcro. Globcro didn't pay this any mind. And eventually they make it back to the Human kingdom. Walking through the gates, the guards stop them for a moment, the others getting quite angry at this inconvenience, but Globcro simply walks forward and pulls out his signed parchment, allowing him to bring the orcs in his party into the city, as long as they don't cause harm to any law abiding citizens. The guard looks over Globcro repeatedly, archers with bows still drawn, and footmen with swords still out. Only for him to declare “You're free to pass. Cause no harm Orcs.” The slight, yet obvious discrimination clear in the guard's disgusted tone. The other orcs all seem smug, Biff even licking his lips threateningly, as humans are common in some of the more hated orcish clans. Although Biff hasn't ever eaten a human, it's clear he just wants to cause a bit of fear. Which doesn't seem to faze the guards, as they've seen the group many times now. G'nimag however, his blood covered armor, along with the entrails he pulls out of his sack, clearly causes some of the guards some unrest. Even though he keeps the organs contained in his bag. G'nimag also enjoyed seeing the humans in a fearful state. Which wasn't one he had to work for, as they walked the humans around them all immediately ran away and hid in terror. Globcro knew why. G'nimag was one of the most feared orcs, having slaughtered entire human villages, being stopped by none other than Globcro and his brother.
The party then arrives directly at the castle entrance. Which is promptly opened up, and they're greeted by a massive, ironclad knight. Along with a menacing aura.
“Have you finished the job?” The knight asked, in a deep bellowing voice, echoing off his metal armor which completely hides every part of his body.
“Yeah, right here look.” Biff says, before moving to pull something from his bag. In the flash of an eye, Biff's arm is slashed, only for Globcro to block the attack with his axe.
“He was not authorized to speak. Minimum punishment is death.” The Knight says in a deep voice, rage audible.
“Bro, calm down. We already lost one today, consider his debt paid in advance. Now, let me report to the big guy so I can get some sleep for God's sake.” Globcro shouts, actively defending Biff from further attacks. The Knight stops attacking, and says one word.
“Follow.” Before walking off inside the castle entrance, the three orc's behind immediately start walking, their eyes lifeless and their actions mindless. They don't whisper to each other, or even look any direction other than forward. Globcro however, is unaffected and simply proceeds forward as usual. Either unaware of the changes, or simply uncaring for them. They continue to the throne room, and see The King sitting on his throne, leaning back speaking to his advisor. He sits up as he sees Globcro and The Knight approaching.
“Ah, ahem! Ahem! Globcro, or whatever your name is. Did you finish your task? That nest has best be exterminated or else you will be… Knight! Kill him!” The King says seemingly excited from the escalation.
“Whoa whoa whoa, Stop I have all the heads you wanted to see! We exterminated the whole den, no bears left! Trust me, these goons took care of that!” Globcro says loudly, while fending off multiple ruthless attacks from The Knight, which only stops as The King raises his hand.
“Stop, allow him to show me.”
The Knight stops and returns to his calm pose, allowing Globcro to empty his bag onto the floor, many bear heads rolling around.
“Impressive work as always, Globcro… Once again I'm reminded why I keep you around. All in only a couple days, solid work. Your next assignment-” The King is interrupted, as Globcro interjects
“Hey! No! No more of these kill quests! We deserve a break! We've slaved away for months! Send this punk out there! I'm done with this shitty contract!” Globcro shouts, putting his foot down. Only to receive a blade to his neck, as The Knight threatens his life with his blade. A shine of rage inside The Knight’s eyes, or at least his helmet.
“I should have you executed right now for your heinous words! Most orc would be more than happy to slaughter a new foe each day! Yet you? You complain about it! Fine then! You wish your contract over? Then your allies shall be executed in your place. That will be the cost. Knight, kill them now!” The King shouts in a mocking tone, and the moment he finishes, The Knight's blade is swung towards Biff's neck, only for Globcro to swing his axe to disrupt the attack.
“Wait! No, don't kill them! Fine! Let's compromise! Maybe just one more job? I'll do this next one after that I'm done!”
The King peered down at him with disgusted eyes, but a slight noise catches his attention. He leans down, as his advisor whispers something into his ear. An eyebrow is raised, then relaxed as The King sits back up in his throne.
“If you wish to end your contract and retain your orcish allies’ lives, Then two jobs more you shall do. We have heard word of a cyclops terrorizing a village in the east. Find this, ‘Cyclops’ and bring me his eye. Please, be careful to preserve the eye at all costs. Now, begone.” The King finishes, with a wave of his hand. And as he does, The Knight speaks one word.
“Leave.” Globcro’s orc allies then all immediately start leaving, retaining the same blank expressions. Globcro follows suit, of his own free will. As they reach the exit of the castle, and step outside, Globcro's allies all one by one shake their heads and blink away the foggy feeling they all shared. G'nimag is the first to awaken.
“What was that? A cyclops eye? That's the job? What was all that about quitting? Fuck, why is my head so goddamn foggy?” G'nimag rubs his forehead. Blocking the sunlight from his eyes, seemingly in a slight amount of pain. Afterwards both Biff and Dania also wake up from their haze. With Dania slightly before Biff. They both blink a bunch of times then look around.
“Wait, did we already go in? What happened? What's the next job?” Dania asked, looking at Globcro for answers, as this is not the first time this has happened.
“Wait wait! Let me guess… Uh… Killing a big guy! A-A Giant! Yeah that's gotta be it! A giant!” Biff said in excitement, almost childlike in nature.
“Job's a cyclops apparently, The King says we gotta keep the eyeball intact. So no crushing it, no cutting it open, none of that.” Globcro said monotonously, with little joy in voice, starting his way down and towards the exit to the city.
“Hey. Don't answer their questions and ignore mine, what was all that about only two jobs left? I thought this contract was voluntary? Why are you trying to get out?” G'nimag questions, seeming a little shaken. Which is odd as he was usually just as stoic as Globcro.
Dania looks like she's thinking, and Biff looks completely lost.
“Yo, what's he talking about?” Biff said, looking about as clueless as ever.
“You really hate killing that much? You wanna quit?” Dania asked, giving Globcro a confused look.
“Killing’s not the issue! You guys probably can't see it, but The King is quite literally just using us! He sends us to a specific place, and always makes us bring something back. 5 venom glands from the snakes, 45 giant spider eyes, 12 bear heads, an entire ghoul corpse, a barrel full of fucking slime?! And now he's asking for a Cyclops eye!” Globcro says, as they walk outside the city gate, which is immediately closed the second they step out, almost catching Biff off guard, nearly crushing him, however Globcro nonchalantly pulls him through at the last second.
“You think he's planning some bad shit? Why's your brother not stopping him then? He could wipe the floor with that old man.”
“I dunno man, maybe the same reason he can just say one fuckin' word and you morons fall in line instantly! Some strong goddamn magic! You think he was always just a glorified guard dog?” Globcro asks with anger in his voice.
“You're right, he's different. He's the King's guy now, and we're powerless to stop him.” G'nimag, a look of resignation covering his face.
“Can't we like, just kill The King or something, Globcro's bro should totally join us once he's dead! Right guys?” Biff looks to others for approval, Globcro doesn't even acknowledge him, nor does G'nimag. Dania just shrugs. The party keeps walking along the path, staying silent for a while. After a while the mood lightens, as Biff and Dania both chat while they walk. They come across some traveling humans, which run in terror, which normally Globcro would try to prevent, however he instead silently walks forward, paying no mind to any passerby or even his allies’ antics. He stays completely focused on continuing towards the village they were sent to. This extreme focus eventually starts rubbing off, G'nimag also seems to focus up, no longer joking along with Dania and Biff. Then Biff and Dania silently agree. The group all silently proceed, after a couple hours they arrive at the outskirts of the village. The buildings are quiet, the windows darkened. A few homes have opened front doors along with smashed windows. “Did the Cyclops really do all of this? I know they eat humans, but they usually don't do extra damage… Just enough to get a meal…” Globcro thinks to himself, stepping closer to one of the homes. He looks through the open door. There's blood on the floor.
“Globcro what're you doing? There's no way the cyclops is in there.” G'nimag says from outside the house, both Biff and Dania looking around, Dania looking closer at the window, while Biff is looking around the street.
“Just give me a moment, something seems off here. Watch the streets, could be an ambush… Maybe bandits. Could be orcs.” Globcro says as he walks back close enough to tell G'nimag, then back into the house.
In the dining room, the table is smashed from the center. He walks into the bedroom, a corpse lies on the floor. A human male, eyes open wide, blood stained all around him. Pierced through his clothing are multiple cuts, with a tinge of dark green around the wound openings. He closes the eyes of the deceased human, before leaving the house.
“Biff said he saw something, ready for the fight, Globcro?” G'nimag asked, seemingly unconcerned with the state of the village.
Yeah, I'm ready. But be careful, there was a dead human in there. Fully intact, usually a cyclops doesn't leave humans intact. He had stab wounds, looked poisoned.” Globcro says, noticing some shifting on the distance, causing him to draw his axe. G'nimag immediately turns around as well, taking his blade out as well. Biff and Dania both prepare as well, with Dania standing in the front. A goblin walks out of a house in the distance, his face rotten and gross to look at, they see him wind up a throw, then suddenly a round awful smelling ball smashes against the ground in front of them. As their attention is on the vomit inducing gas. Without additional warning, Dania reacts quickly, raising her dual shields, stopping a green hued blade which had been thrown without warning, causing it to fall to the ground with a pathetic clink. Then in the blink of an eye, the blade is back in the goblin's hand. The goblin smiles, before the party’s collective attention is all drawn away, the house the goblin had emerged from can be seen cracking, an unsettling noise of stone and wood both splitting before pieces of rubble fire out from all directions. Dania blocks every piece she can, as Biff takes shelter behind. Globcro runs towards the pair, only to deflect an incoming attack as the scarred goblin throws another blade towards the party. The blade, which had only just been blocked, is already thrown out again, slicing through Biff's arm, as he's grazed by the attack. G'nimag pulls out his sword, he suddenly lunges forward and swipes his razor sharp blade out at the rotted goblin. His blade slashes the goblin with ease, however the goblin seems unharmed, a cloud of noxious smoke bursting in G'nimags face causing him to vomit involuntarily. G'nimag struggles to stop vomiting, even as he feels his chest tightening and blood forcefully exiting his mouth, along with bile. He feels his neck forcefully pulled, as Globcro tanks him free of the smoke's vicinity. Further ahead the goblin throws his blade again, along with another sickening bomb, the blade nearly hits G'nimag’s face directly, however Globcro smashes his axe into the blade just in time, causing it to redirect, and lodge directly into another's flesh. The Cyclops, which seems to be stretching, as if just waking up, feels the blade pierce into its arm. Before the blade disappears in the blink of an eye. The goblin lets out a sound, “Oh, oops.” Before he explodes into a cloud of visibly repulsive smoke. The party shifts their attention to the Cyclops, its eye glows eerily in a reddish hue, its eyebrow filled with immense anger. It smashes down a massive pair of fists onto Dania, who struggles to hold her shield steady, her legs buckling underneath the strength of the Cyclops. The Cyclops, the size of two buildings, its incredible amount of bulk, enough to crush anything in its wake. Dania feels herself being lowered down, barely repelling the fists, as she falls into her back, using her full strength to keep the shields up to prevent herself from being crushed. As she struggles, Biff attempts to lift the Cyclops' hands off her shields. Globcro looks momentarily at G'nimag before swiping his axe blade into the Cyclops' hands, cutting deep into its wrists. He then pulls his axe out only to chop hard back into its wrists once more. G'nimag, seemingly catching on, uses his razor sharp blade and with a swiping slash, using the cuts Globcro started, completely severs the Cyclops' hands. Dania can feel the weight difference, and quickly recovers. With assistance from Biff, who grabs a massive hand, and launches it at the Cyclops, allowing Dania to slide the other hand off her shields. The Cyclops reals in pain, but doesn't stop it's assault. Instead swinging it's stubby arms at the party in a sweeping motion. Dania rushes in the front and blocks the sweeping attack. Which leads the Cyclops to fire forward in a kick, into a stomp. Biff catches the foot spectacularly, and attempts to pull the Cyclops' forward, in an attempt to detach, or at least injure the Cyclops' leg. This gives Globcro and G'nimag a chance, which they do not hesitate to use. Globcro swings at the stationary leg, with massive ruthless chops. While G'nimag charges forward at the Cyclops', jumping forward and swiping his blade down into the Cyclops' gut. The blade is stopped momentarily, as the skin is hard, however G'nimag focuses and carves down with all the strength in his body. As Globcro completely severs the Cyclops' foot, G'nimag slices open its belly, causing blood to gush out violently, along with entrails. The Cyclops' retracts its arms and attempts to keep its entrails within its body, however G'nimag doesn't stop, even as he gasps for air he still continues to attack. He chops at various organs, severe bleeding causes the Cyclops to lose balance, as it loses consciousness briefly. Dania tries to move forward however, trips slightly.
“Recover, Dania! We've got it now, watch for the goblin!” Globcro says before him and Biff both rush to assist G'nimag. G'nimag is smashed back by a stubby bloody arm, as the Cyclops somehow musters up enough strength. G'nimag is winded heavily as his body hits the wall of a nearby house. He almost instantly passes out completely.
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“Biff It's just me and you! Protect me, I'm going for the head!” Globcro shouts, before rushing over to the side of the fallen Cyclops, which reels in pain, only to still swing bleeding, stubby arms at Globcro, like massive clubs. Biff jumps in the way, and catches its arms, holding them still. Globcro chops at the Cyclops’ neck, violent and painful strikes. He watches as blood shoots out, as he cuts through chunk after chunk of flesh. The Cyclops' tries to pull its arms back, however Biff squeezes them between his. Trapping the Cyclops' arms, and preventing any further movement, Biff gives a smug look, as he looks towards Globcro. Globcro cuts and cuts, piercing the thin neck bone, along with two more chops. With a final swipe down of his axe, he completely severs the Cyclops' head. The Cyclops' arms both fall limp, its lone eye losing all life, closing partially. Its head rolls slightly aside. Biff drops the arms to the ground, and sighs a breath of relief. Globcro also relaxes, putting his axe on his back, before leaning down with his hands on his knees. He breathes for a moment, Biff does as well. After a moment they both recover.
“Biff, watch for that goblin. Just in case.” Globcro orders, before he rushes over to G'nimag, who's collapsed by the side of a nearby house. Biff rushes to Dania, who's seemingly fine, having caught her breath. Globcro lifts up G’nimag and carefully puts him with his back against the wall. G’nimag blinks awake, putting his hand back on his blade immediately.
“I’m fine… Get back out there… Kill the fucker…” He says in a daze.
“We got him, G’nimag.” Globcro says reassuringly, “Now get up, let's get that eye out and head back.” Globcro says, before lifting G’nimag up to his feet, who pushed his hands off,
“I got it, I don't need your help. Just get the head, I'll cut the eye out.” G’nimag orders, although it was exactly the same thing Globcro said, he chose not to argue, in order to stay on guard. He takes the head of the Cyclops, and meets G’nimag halfway. G’nimag carves around the eye with his razor sharp sword, easily extracting the eye, with the assistance of Biff, who pulls it out and holds it.
“Ugh, this things all gross and sticky… Can't we just tell him we killed the thing? Make your brother check.” Biff says, looking grossed out by the large eye in his arms.
“Don't be stupid, my psycho of a brother will kill us on the spot if we arrive empty handed. Suck it up and carry it. Swap with Dania if you need. Now let's get going, the sooner we finish this task, the sooner we can do the next and be done with this shit.”
“Damn, we're really gonna be quittin’? I thought we had fun together…” Biff says, having shifted the eye in his arms to a comfortable carrying position, the eye being around half his size. They head towards the city, the mood is much brighter. Even Globcro seems to play along this time around. The trek back is relaxing for the party, making it feel much faster, as they walk during sunset. Feeling a little less stressed, as Globcro pulls out his contact info once more, for the guards to look over. They look over, and before Globcro is even close enough for them to see the paper, they open the gates.
“Welcome back, Globcro and his team.” The guard says, a noticeable change, as he was typically quite cruel to them. The party seemed quite confused by this shift in tone towards them. Their walk towards the castle was normal, as it was now night, most humans were home and asleep, and the ones who were not were far too sketchy to say anything to a group of orcs. As they arrived at the castle entrance, they were greeted as always, by The Knight. He opens the door without question. Before speaking in a calm tone, almost freaky.
“Relax, let's go.” Then the party seems to feel a lot more relaxed, including Globcro. However, Globcro's relaxed state quickly returns to normal. The party follows The Knight to the throne room, where The King is sitting, with a pleased look on his face.
“Ah, you've returned, and with the eye of the Cyclops. Well done gentlemen. Please, just place it down there.” The King says, signaling to drop the eye where they stand. Which Biff does, without care.
“The kingdom appreciates your hard work. Now, as agreed I will give your final task. However, perhaps as a early reward, we allow you a break first? We can give you your final task in a few nights of rest.” The King asks them, in a kind tone. The bare minimum kindness was unnatural, alerting Globcro even more.
“What? A break?”
“Indeed. Even the most hardworking orc requires a break, trust me. Even your brother needs a ‘night on the town' every once in a while. You four have earned it, then once you're ready, you can do your final task and end your contract, or if you see fit, continue. However, all good decisions need a good night's rest of course. So, on your way Globcro. A room has been prepared for all four of you. Go on, show them to their rooms.” The King finishes, however before Globcro can get a word in he's pushed out of the room by The Knight. As soon as he's out of the room, he's separated from his team, and brought to a room. Then he's shoved inside forcefully by The Knight, causing him to stumble and fall forward. The door is promptly slammed shut. Globcro takes a moment to stand up, and observe his surroundings. “What is this, the royal suite?” He thought, as he looked around the room, which had a large comfortable looking bed, some dressers, and a bathroom with a bathtub with a curtain, with a fancy looking magic faucet. Globcro's confusion was amplified, “This shit is obvious, he's trying to convince me to stay in. Showing me all these luxuries. Well, it's not gonna work on me.” He thinks, “But… I may as well enjoy it just this once.” He decides, and turns the knob to the bath faucet. He hears nothing. So he turns it again. A puff of smoke in his face, causing him to cough, then the water starts flows out of the faucet, although the tub isn't even connected to anything. “Gross, geez, you'd expect the royal suite to be a bit cleaner than this? Did they fire all the housekeepers? And how does even work? These freaking rich people, fuckin’ magic bathtubs for God's sake…” He thinks to himself and he takes a bath, washing the blood and guts off himself. After relaxing for a while, he gets out. He steps out of the bath, and takes the towel on the wall, only to get a face full of smoke again, causing him to cough again. “Gross! Why is this dusty?!” He complains out loud, although no response is given. “Geez this room needs some air.” He thinks to himself, as he steps out into the room, then goes to open the window. A puff of smoke, which he waves away and coughs. “Okay! This is getting out of hand, this isn't dust is it? Fuck this, I'd rather sleep in a normal inn than this.” He decides and walks to the door to leave. He places his hand on the handle, only for his hand to be repelled back with force. He pokes the handle, only to see his finger touching a barrier around the handle. Globcro gives an unamused look, before he raises his leg, and launches a full strength kick at the door. To little surprise, the door launches off the hinges, and smashes against the wall of the hall. Globcro steps out of the room and looks around. A maid is standing at the end, cleaning, but the loud noise and smash of the door causes her to drop her broom and flee. Globcro shrugs and picks the door back up before very lazily putting it back in place. Then he walks down the hall, down some stairs, until he's at what seems like an entrance. Some guards stand by, which both immediately start panicking and pull out their swords.
“W-What are you doing out of your cell- room!” The first guard shouts, his verbal slip up very sloppily covered up by the other guard.
“Hey you're not supposed to be out here until tomorrow! Get back in your room! Or force is authorized!” The other guard shouts trying to sound threatening, although he's shaking.
“Look guys, that room is a bit too fancy for me, so I'm staying at a friend's place. I'm sure The King won't mind. Now, if you don't mind. Get out of my way.” Globcro says in a kind yet threatening tone. His immense size in comparison to the human guards, only adding to their fear. Globcro steps towards the door, only for the cowardly guards to stop him in an unexpected, and frankly annoying amount of bravery.
“No! Stand back orc! We received direct orders to keep you in your room until morning! Now return or violence will be our only option!” The first guard declares boldly. The other nodded to confirm their combined threat. Globcro gave them an annoyed look. Before reaching for his axe.
“Look, if you guys want to remain in one piece, get the hell out of my way. Just say I was in my room all night, see? Problem solved. I'll give you five seconds. Five… Four… Three… Two-” Globcro is interrupted by the guards' collective panicked begging. The contents of which Globcro didn't even bother to listen to as he just walked past the guards and outside. No other guards stopped him as he walked to a familiar inn. He pushed open the door, only to be greeted by a familiar face. That of which immediately acknowledged and greeted him.
“Ah, Globcro. You arrive at last. I was beginning to think The King had given you your final task already. Wait, where are your associates?” Tim said, in his usual casual yet formal way.
“The other guys are staying at the castle, but I can't sleep there, too stuffy. You got a room free?”
“Oh, of course, your requested room is free. Enjoy your rest.” Tim says in a kind tone, passing a key from under the desk.
“You want me to pay in the morning? Oh and I need a wake call just before sunrise if possible, I don't think they want me to have left my room.” Globcro says casually, as he takes the key.
“Oh, you need not worry about such a thing. No payment is required this time. Consider it a reward for your hard work. I shall wake you when the time comes. Now, enjoy your rest.” Tim says, bowing respectfully.
“Thanks Tim, I owe you one.” Globcro says as he walks off to his room, unlocks it and gets in bed. A familiar slightly uncomfortable experience that he'd gotten used to. He quickly falls asleep. A flash of light, a figure in the distance. Unfocused vision. Globcro is jolted awake as there's banging on his door.
“Good sir, it is the time you requested. Good morning. When you're ready, leave the key on the counter as you leave.” Tim says through the door before he can be heard walking away. Globcro stretches as he gets up, then leaves his room. Dropping off the key and acknowledging Tim as he leaves. He returns to the castle, the same way he came. As he enters the same door he left, he's greeted by the same two guards, alongside his allies. They don't acknowledge him, instead caught up on their usual antics. At least, what would be their usual antics outside the castle.
“Oh thank God you're back… The King is expecting you four at the throne room. Let's go.” The first knight says as he walks off. And to Globcro's shock, his team starts following, acting normally. None of them even acknowledge Globcro. Globcro follows behind them, until they arrive at the throne room. The Knight is absent. The King smiles and speaks.
“Ah, good morning you four! I assume you slept well! Now, I will give you all your task. A simple, easy task. We've heard word of a large amount of goblins gathering in the southwest forest. It should be easy for you four to exterminate them all, yes? Now get to it!” The King finishes his speech, and as he dismisses the party, the three in front of Globcro all turn around instantly without question, before casually walking out. Globcro stands stunned and confused for a moment, before he quickly rushes to catch up with his team. They all leave town, and start heading to their objective.
“Goblins? Heh, this'll be easy! Even you can handle this, Biff! Fuckin' loser!” Dania playfully insults, only for Biff to punch her shoulder.
“Keep your mouth shut dumbass! And besides, the real dumbass here is Globcro! He'll probably start crying after getting a little cut! This guy's a loser! Ain't that right, G'nimag!” Biff says in an obnoxiously loud way. Slapping G'nimag on the back. Only for G'nimag to shove him away.
“Keep your fuckin' hands off me or I'll cut em off. You morons as stupid as he is. Let's just get this job over with. At least what he would say! Yeah Globcro that's how you sound! You fuckin' idiot!” G'nimag starts laughing, and the other two join in immediately. Globcro looks at them in confusion. “What happened to them? Did yesterday just mean nothing to them? They're even dumber than before!” He thinks to himself, keeping quiet as he follows them. They arrive at a split in the road. A tower far in the distance, and a path that leads to a village. The group starts walking towards the village path. Globcro speaks up.
“Guys, shouldn't we check out that tower? They could be in there.”
“What? The tower? Dude, just stick to helping in battles. Goblins don't live in towers! Moron.” G'nimag responds, quickly shooting down Globcro's idea. The others then start joking and laughing at Globcro. Globcro tunes them out. “I know they didn't really respect me that much, but they were never this focused on the mission. Something is definitely wrong. Guess I should focus up then.” Globcro thinks to himself, and focuses. They arrive at the village, trees tower above, making the lighting very dim. The trio moves forward without any thought. Globcro looks around, paranoid and concerned. He then walks in front of the team to stop their movement, as they were mindlessly walking forward.
“Guys! We're clearly here! Could it hurt to show a little caution? Pay attention! Or we're gonna regret it! Geez, you guys are way dumber than usual!” Globcro snaps at the team, trying to keep his voice down, but clearly at a breaking point. The trio look at him, then each other. Then all burst into laughter.
“Oh shut up! They're goblins! Not trolls! Even if they do ambush us, it won't matter.” G'nimag says, before they all shove past him and keep walking. Globcro stands there completely stunned. His eyes almost don't even acknowledge the sight of a red pentagram appearing in front of him, candles all lighting, as if they were there the whole time. A crimson portal appears, and a figure slowly ascends from within it. He snaps out of his stunned state and shouts.
“Guys! What the fu- G-Get the fuck back here! There's a fuckin' demon!” Globcro says, stuttering from the shock of the sudden event. His team all laugh, and ignore him, but the sound of the portal closing causes them all to snap around. They all look stunned, looking for a moment at the new presence. A red skinned demon with long pink hair, and black markings covering his upper body. The only clothing being a pair of purple blood stained pants. Dania rushes in, charging with her dual shields. The demon remains still. As she is about to smash the demon between her shields, the demon moves suddenly, sliding between her shields in an unnatural way, his body seemingly bending out of the way. Her shields smash together, however the movement from the demon causes her to slip. She smashes her shields together, before losing her balance, hitting her head on the top of her shields. A violent snap is heard, Dania’s head is turned further than what seemed possible. She falls over, and smashes her head hard against the ground, in a sickening manner. The team stands in utter disbelief, Dania's body spasms, before stopping and staying utterly still. A rage fills Biff's eyes. He rushes at the demon, and throws a full force punch, aiming directly for the demon's chest. His fist meets flesh, and punches hard into its chest. Biff blinks, only to see a goblin in between his fist and the demon's chest. He throws his other arm quickly at the demon's head, only to smash into the head of a goblin, one which was wearing a helmet, Biff's arm thrust bed with immense pain, as his bone had been completely broken by the intense reverberations. The body of the goblin falls, and disintegrates into ash. Biff attempts to punch again and again, each time finding his target in another unsuspecting goblin. As Biff attempts a violent assault on the demon, G'nimag and Globcro try to rush in to assist, only to be interrupted. Goblins pour out of the buildings, and all rush at them. G'nimag cleaves through many goblins with each attack, and Globcro does the same. However, goblins slip past them. Biff feels a sharp pain in his leg. Then another in his ankle. He grits his teeth and sweeps his foot violently, knocking several goblins away. A sharp pain in his back, as a goblin jumps onto him. He reaches an arm around to yank the goblin away, only to be met with a blade to his wrist. Then his ankle is sliced open, then the same on his other ankle. He shouts in pain. G'nimag and Globcro both attempt to rush towards him, only to be threatened by what seemed like hundreds of goblins each. Biff falls over, crushing the body of a few goblins. Before he can even move, ten blades, twenty blades, he is stabbed and carved repeatedly, his body is chopped and sliced and carved and cut, blood gushes out of hundreds of wounds. He pulls his fist up to try and knock the goblins away, only for a pair of goblins holding each of his limbs down. He screams in agony, as he feels every limb being cut at differing speeds. His right hand, sawed off, his left hand cut then pulled violently, his skin tearing in horrific manner, his legs sliced up beyond recognition. He throws up from the pain, vomit forcing it's way out, onto his chest which had been carved open, revealing his organs, which were not safe from the same treatment his limbs had received. He couldn't see anymore, as his eyes were stabbed then a pair of disgusting green hands jammed their way inside to tear them out. Biff screamed as long as he could before he was completely gutted and all life left his body. G'nimag had wide eyes, he looked like he was trembling. He grabbed a goblin and tore it in half. The pierces multiple more and swiping his blade to fling the goblins off his blade.
G'nimag looks the demon in his eyes, the demon glares back at him. G'nimag immediately screams in complete terror. A noise never heard before by Globcro, or anyone G'nimag had ever known. G'nimag punched the few remaining goblins and started to sprint away, screaming in utter fear. The demon, in the blink of an eye, with movement so uncanny it made Globcro's mind quiver in horror, appeared behind G'nimag. He pulled his fist back, and forced his hand forward.
“No… Don’t kill…” Piercing through his chest, and punching out the front. G'nimag looks down and sees the demon's hand, holding his heart.
“Me…” The demon crushes the organ in his hand, before he moves his arm back and flings G'nimags body away. G'nimag’s body flies against the wall of a stone house, and splatters. His entire body exploded from the impact. In a twist of fate, G'nimag's skeleton seemingly survived the throw, only to fall to the ground, shattering into multiple pieces, then turning to ash and blowing away.
Globcro tries to scream out in terror, but his voice is completely wiped away. His mind is blank. Filled with screaming and utter terror. He can't move his body. The demon turns his attention to Globcro, and starts walking towards him. He walks slowly, step by step. Each step makes Globcro's trembling stronger. Globcro's eyes are wide in fear. Looking directly at the demon. The demon steps closer, a maniacal laugh, followed by the surviving goblins laughing as well. Globcro's fear peaks, he screams as loud as he can. Louder than he had ever screamed in his life. Louder than he had ever heard anything scream in his life. The demon throws his clawed hand at Globcro. Globcro stops breathing, his body seemingly preparing for the inevitable. As he feels the claws slash against his face. Suddenly, everything goes white. The feeling of the claws on his face disappears, along with every other sense he has. His body goes numb. Then suddenly, he's staring at a wall. It's night, and the demon is nowhere to be seen. Globcro tries to regain his sense of self, tries to swallow his fear. However he's unable to. He screams. He screams as loud as he can, the terror of the moment he just experienced, filling him. He screams as loud as he can. And for a full minute, he screams as loud as he can. After the minute ends, he stops screaming. He blinks, feeling light headed. He looks around. “W-What? I'm- Am I still alive? Where am I? Where am I? Where am I!!!?” His mind screams, his confusion and fear remaining still. In this dazed state, he spots something.
A goblin, he blinks rapidly. A feeling he had never felt before. Tears come through his eyes, he squeezes his axe harder than ever before. He felt rage. No amount of anger he had felt before. Not annoyance, not frustration. Rage. He squeezes his axe’s grip hard. Before he runs full speed at the goblin. The goblin screams in response and runs away, another one beside it. Globcro runs at the pair of goblins, rage filling his blood. His eyes wide for a new reason. The goblins turn a corner. His blood boils and he shouts as loud as he can.
“Get the fuck back here! I'm going to fucking kill you! I'm going to rip your fucking heads off! I'm going to rip you half! I'm going to eat you alive!” He shouts in pure unadulterated rage. His voice, loud and deep. However as he turns the corner he finds the pair of goblins dead.
Above them, two figures. A small girl and presumably a human man in phantom thief attire.
The young girl winces in fear, her eyes grow wide.
“No! This monster’s too big! Luck, save me!” The girl says in terrified, yet somehow still quiet voice. The man she referred to as Luck then steps in front of her, wielding a strange looking weapon. A crossbow, utilizing cards.
“Back foul beast! You shall not lay a hand upon her! Nano, we shall slay this horrific monster together! Fire!” Luck says, with a smug look on his strange looking, flat face. Globcro comes to his senses.
“No! Stop, I won't hurt you! I was after the goblins! Don't shoot! I don't want to hurt you! I work for The King!” Globcro says, Dropping his axe. Putting his hands up to try and signal peace.
“Oh? Your tricks shall not work on us! Nano, fire! He is plotting against us, this I am sure!” Luck says, and prepares to fire his weapon, only for the girl, referred to as Nano, to put a hand on his sleeve. Causing the man to lose his focus.
“Uh-huh, what? Nano? What is it?” Luck says in a whisper. Leaning down to listen to the girl. She speaks to him, before he lowers his weapon. The girl speaks quietly to him, but Globcro isn't able to make it out. Then the girl steps forward. Only for the man to put a hand in front of her.
“Nano, stay back. I will ask him,” The man whispers to the girl then continues in a louder tone, “You say you were here to slay these ‘goblins’ right? If they are goblins then what are you? Are you friendly?” Luck asks, keeping his weapon out, only slightly lowered.
“I'm an orc. My name's Globcro. I work for The King. I won't hurt either of you, yes I'm friendly. I swear.” Globcro pleads. The girl doesn't even look the slightest bit afraid anymore. Instead looking at Globcro's face. This gaze makes Globcro remember the wound on his face. The slash, incredibly painful. The adrenaline rush from earlier, completely subsided. He falls to his knees then collapses from exhaustion. He passes out. He sleeps, a vague feeling of peace as he dreams. He blinks his eyes open, still asleep, in a state of delirium. The pair he had seen just moments ago. Carrying him. His body is placed down in a bed. The girl, Nano, gets close, her hands on his face. She puts her hands on his wound.
“Ow! Holy shit what hell are you doing!” Globcro shouts as he’s jolted awake by the uncomfortable feeling of his wound being filled. He squirms from the feeling, but the flat faced man, Luck, holds him in place with surprising strength for his form. He gives up his struggles, as Nano finishes, rubbing a weird slimy substance on his face, covering the wound and seemingly sealing it. Afterwards she moves back, and Luck stops holding him down. They speak quietly to each other. Globcro sits up. The pair stare him down, before Luck goes to speak.
“Have you recovered? Nano here has sealed up your wounds.”
“Yeah… I guess I’m fine now. How did she do that? How’d she do that? You guys sorcerers or something?”
“Sorcery? No, wait perhaps. Nano, how did you do that?”
“...I just did it… I wanted to heal you, and it worked somehow…”
“Guess it wasn’t magic, cause magic usually doesn’t hurt that much… You guys said your names were Nano and Luck right? You her father or brother or…?”
“...He’s my goon…” Nano says, and Luck reacts with a shocked looking face, at least that’s what it seems, then it looks… Proud…
“Yes yes! We are allies, we teamed up in order to slay the evil monsters, oh my mistake, the goblins. We are searching for her father currently, think of me as her guardian for the time being.” Luck says, and Nano nods.
“Slaying evil huh? Well if that’s your goal, maybe we could team up? I don’t really know anything about what’s going on, but I definitely have someone I’d like to kill. The most evil you’ll ever see, I’m sure. And these goblins don’t deserve even a second of life. You guys in?”
Luck looks at Nano, who simply nods.
“Alright, we’ll allow you to join us, however, don’t even think about laying a finger on Nano! Or you’ll lose your whole arm! Is that clear, orc?” Luck said, with a very angry expression.
“Yeah! Yeah, geez. I told you I’m not gonna hurt you guys,” Globcro says, to reassure the pair of what he assumes are humans, “ I’d much rather hurt goblins than you guys. I fuckin’ hate goblins…” He grits his teeth in anger, feeling the same rage as earlier, but he shakes his head and allows it to dissipate.
“...We gotta find a base… Do you think this place is good…?” Nano says, looking between Globcro and Luck.
“Where are we?” Globcro asks
“Oh, here? It seemed to be an abandoned home of one of the prior residents of this city. Nano And I simply opened the door, as it was unlocked. I locked the door, so this location should be quite safe.”
“Alright, this’ll be our base then. Now, that nap was nice and all, but I think I’d like to get some rest, it's been a long day for me.”
“Sleep then, we shall go out and slay more fiends.”
“...Enjoy your rest…: The duo then left the room, as Globcro felt his eyes close. His task, still unfinished.