Chapter 13: Black Goblins

As we continued our journey, we found some tunnels 3 hours away from the land defiler’s position.

I marked all these things on my map to be sure.

Making sure that we don’t find ourselves attacked from behind, I peeked in the tunnels.

Hmm. Whawahahawa!?

I saw some shadows go in and out of the tunnels—small black creatures.

They resemble the goblin creature from the monster registry.

Those are green, though, and these guys are black.

Are they undead, maybe?

Are they friendly? We need to stay hidden because we don’t know their numbers. The book said their tunnels could accommodate up to 500 goblins.

I wonder if there are that many.

I moved along with my group of 35 slowly around the area.

Unfortunately, a lookout noticed us.

Black Goblin: “EEEEEEKKKKK!”

The alert scream of the black goblin was cut short after I threw a dagger at him.

Run! I ordered my men to run. What the hell is this!?

Volleys of arrows rain on us. Shields on your head!

We kept ourselves safe by hiding under our shields, but they won’t last long.

We can’t stay in the open. We went into one of the tunnels.

I hope this isn’t a mistake.

We slide down the small tunnels and end up in a small room. We need to relocate quickly.

Keep close. I ordered my men to form a tight circle while moving around.

An ambush could come from anywhere.

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There are holes in the wall. What's their purpose?

Suddenly, black goblins came out!

Wahh! I reflexively stabbed my spear into the hole, killing the newcomer. I had my men standby outside the pits to take down the goblins the moment they came out.

No blood comes out when we pierce them with our spears. Their bodies turn to ash after they're hit.

We kept moving while killing black goblins that kept popping up here and there.

Crazy. The hell is in this place. It’s like an old man’s maze.

After a few minutes of running around, we ended up in this spacious room.

There was a throne, and what I believe is that their king sat on it.

It raised its hand, and the attacks suddenly stopped. It spoke.

Black Goblin: “Hey there. I haven’t had visitors since the last century. The last guy was a skeleton like you.”

It must be some rogue skeleton warrior or dread knight.

He laughed loudly, picked up a black goblin, and ate it.

What? Undead eating undead?

Black Goblin: “You must be puzzled? These guys are nothing but the spawn of my spells. I learned how to turn ash into monsters. Amazing, is it not?”

I finally used my telepathy.

Idmon: “What is it that you want from us?”

Black Goblin: “Ohhhh, telepathy. You look smart. What I want is an exhilarating battle!”

Then, THUD! A loud sound echoed in the tunnels as he hit the ground with the handle of his battleaxe.

Black Goblin: “One on one. The winner shall take all.”

Idmon: “So be it.”

I positioned my brothers in my corner of the room. He posted his men in his corner of the room.

Takh: “By the way, the name is Takh. Now carry my name to your lord when you return to the underworld.”

He charged without warning.

I dodged his first charge and countered with an upward spear thrust. Aiming for his neck, he stepped back a little, so my hit ended on his body armor.

Takh: “Clever, clever.”

He then made a chant while tapping his battle axe. Chanting can also be heard from his minions.

He threw his battle axe towards me! I blocked it with my shield, but it approached immediately after the axe, causing me to kick with my feet.

I got thrown on the ground, and he started pounding on me.

.

Damn. I can’t keep this up forever. I dodged some of Takh's punches while the others hit my armor.

It’s just leather armor, so I can feel my bones cracking with each punch.

Damn you! I took one of his punches in the face.

I bit his arm. While holding him, I take one of the daggers hidden in my armor and stab it in his throat.

He jerked back as some blood spurted out.

Takh: “Fugah! Hehehe. You won’t go down easily, huh?”

This guy is still alive! Blood and pain. He’s surely not undead. What is he?

He made a crazy charge towards me. I use thrust to counter him. With this momentum, my spear will go through him.

But he made a sliding motion, and my spear missed and hit just above his shoulder.

His punch packed the momentum of his running and threw me up to the wall of this enormous room.

I can’t die here. Some of my bones started falling off. Some of my ribs are already broken.

I missed something crucial here.

I charged at him.

Takh: “Hahaha, gone crazy already?”

I used thrust again. He dodged and moved to make another punch, but I dropped my shield.

In my shield arm, I was already focusing a lot of N.E.

.

A wave of lightning came from my hand, electrocuting Takh.

Takh: “Gaugahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

He didn’t expect me to hide that spell behind the shield, so he was hit directly.

The monster registry said that goblins have incredibly weak resistance to magic.

Although this sub-species of goblin was interesting, it wasn't that strong. The knowledge that this could happen to monsters gave me some hope that a rare subspecies might evolve from my group.

Aghh, I'm fading.

I used a lot of N.E. in that spell. The spell roasted him. I fell right after because my health is dangerously low.

Bon was the last person I saw before I blacked out.

The concept of blacking out here is the soul of the undead partly leaving the vessel because there was not enough N.E. supporting it. (It's basically like sleeping.)

I mean, how could this happen now? Wouldn’t that mean death? I did not care anymore as the light faded away from my vision.