The small horde of goblins that intended to ambush the lonesome duo were now stunned and surprised by the sudden events. These goblins were more fearsome and ferocious than normal goblins. Even so, with their enhanced power and cruelty, they still stood against a foe that they deemed more vile, murderous, and beastly. Standing just over six feet tall, the Guild Master of Saiana village, Nana Xei, held her massive sword in the gleam of moonlight piercing through the trees. She wanted them to see her. Wanted them to soil themselves by her presence alone. This was her greatest strength, the ability to amass such an intimidating aura that accurately reflected her carnal desires.

The joy and high of a hunt. Down to her nature, she was born into a life of kill or be killed. Her development was purely instinct and survival. Her intelligence suffered, but her growth into a mass of flesh capable of demolishing any foe with brute strength and beautifully grotesque finesse. Caleb stood there with his sword ready, shaking to his very core. With the knowledge that she was his ally in all this, her aura never faded in the slightest. He swallowed his pride and acknowledged her presence.

"Don't be afraid, little cub. Just kill your share, and I won't be mad." Licking her canines, her tanned bronze skin shivered in anticipation of slaying these creatures. Flicking the blood off her blade, she assumed a low stance.

"These goblins still killed my students. I will make sure I get my share of their blood. That I vow!" Gripping his sword tightly, the conviction of avenging the fallen allowed Caleb to refocus his efforts.

"Let the hunt...BEGIN!"

With the roar of her voice, Nana counted at least thirty goblins, all carrying spears or a short sword on their side. None of them were shamans, chiefs, or hobgoblin. Leaving them easy pickings for her blade. With the initiative of their surprise, Nana leaped toward a small group of three standing still, just staring. Their hands shook violently; even after her blade cleaved through their bodies, their hands continued to spasm and shake until they didn't.

Caleb took no time to worry about Nana and rushed forward. Attacking a lone goblin that drew a dagger. It dashed backward to turn around and lead with a surprising uppercut with its blade. Stopping in his tracks, he kicked some snow into the goblin's face, making it miss its strike entirely. The opening left the goblin dead as his blade rammed through its throat. Having only a few gargling gasps of breath before the blade ripped through the rest of the creature's flesh. A large spray of blackish blood stained the pure white snow.

The putrid smell of goblins stank the air, but the smell of the iron in their blood only enhanced the anticipation of her feral side. Twirling her sword around to defend her back, a single goblin's spear shatters on the silver-white steel of her giant blade. With the momentum of turning, she grabbed the head of the creature that had attacked her. Its putrid head was held aloft by her hand. It cried in pain as the sounds of bones breaking and shattering under pressure, and so did the sound of the crunching sound of her grip shattering its head to pieces. The bloody pieces of the brains splattered over her hands and then onto the snow.

Caleb had dispatched two more goblins in a row with his sword. Cleaving them in half after parrying their strikes. The rest of the goblins charge, now recovered from the moment of stun. Their pack tactics, giving them the advantage of numbers, were soon quelled by Nana's intense might and Caleb's skillful technique. Their blades were drenched in the foul, inky substance. Cutting down the small horde to nothing but remnants that attempt to run away.

Without hesitation, Nana sprints past the few remaining goblins to block their escape. The remaining four shout and cry in their tongue. Caleb knew the language of goblins from his previous years of reading back home. Was able to understand their cries and pleads. The single thought of these goblins mimicking the adventurers who most likely did the same thing before these creatures did whatever vile stuff they did. This thought was shared by Caleb and Nana without a doubt. They understood the lengths that these evil creatures would go to. With no time to decide, Nana chops one of the goblins in half, sending its torso and entrails spiraling across the snow and hitting a tree before slumping into the snow. One attempts to flee, but Caleb quickly pierces its chest. Gasping for air, the creature witnesses the boy watching its life, leaving its body. Caleb rips his sword from its chest before driving it all the way into its mouth before taking its head, making sure it stays down.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The last two Goblins watch in horror as their allies fall like flies. Panicking, they attempt to flee, but their bodies hit the ground first before their decapitated heads do. A small moment of respite as the thirty goblins that were present are splattered across the entire field. The dark, inky blood of the creatures turned the snow dark red, and the many parts of their bodies littered the scene. Wiping his blade between his arm, Caleb takes a deep breath before sheathing his sword.

"If this was a recon force, they must number in the high hundreds in their nest. There was no way this would be possible of a party of fresh adventurers."

"This is more than one tribe." Nana points out.

"How can you tell?"

"If you look, notice the tattoos and tribal symbols they carry. There are some that vary different from each other. If I had to guess, they have decided to ally themselves with rival tribes for one large horde." Caleb takes a moment to examine the less disfigured corpses and acknowledges Nana's right. There is a total of five separate markings and symbols spread across the fallen.

"If five tribes rallied under a single Hobgoblin Shaman of this degree, there could very well be over five hundred goblins if they decided to reproduce in large quantities in the last year or so."

"Do you see any females? These are all males. They must have very few females in their nests. If they decided to share themselves with each other, they could probably produce about close to fifty offspring per year with limited females. Goblins only live for a few years before old age sets in, but females can live for longer by ten years."

"How long has their alliance lasted, you reckon? I have only lived in Saiana for a little over a year."

"Then, for a single year, they have allied themselves."

"A year? Not two? Not five?"

"Precisely. Goblins are stupid. Only when they face a massive threat do they tend to rally together but with only one or two tribes. If they have a Hobgoblin Shaman, it would be easier to lead them as one, but he must have a good reason to try to form such a massive force of undisciplined and selfish creatures all at once. One tribe of goblins attacked the village just a year ago. It was a single tribe that attacked, and they lost their Ogre. More than enough reason to make an alliance."

"Are you saying it was my fault? That if I didn't save those people, they wouldn't be mounting an entire army?"

"Right or wrong doesn't matter. Sooner or later, they would have allied to attack the village. I guess you just sped that up."

"Well, that's reassuring."

"The only problem is... Even after a year, they shouldn't be a massive force of five hundred or more. At best, it would be close to two hundred. Unless..." Nana pauses for a moment. A grim look upon her face as a disturbing thought reaches her mind.

"Do you know something?"

"Caleb, how much do you know about goblins?"

"Only what I read in books and what I learned from some villagers over the time I've been here. Why?"

"Do you know how the first goblins were born?"

"Well, the books said that a long-lived Demon decided to play God and experimented with dark magic. This Shaman used the fetus of a human woman and performed some ritual in some dark sacrifice. The woman was consumed by the ritual spell, and the fetus consumed its own mother and grew into a rapidly growing green creature. Becoming the first of many goblins that the Demon Shaman created from human fetuses. And now, because of his vile ritual, we have the blight of goblins in our world."

"That's more or less the truth."

"More or less?"

"The real truth is that... The Shaman used an elven woman for his ritual."

"An elven woman? What? Why was this never mentioned?"

"It was an Imperial human who published those books. I assumed they thought humans would get more sympathy if he changed it to humans and if multiple victims of humans were involved. Sick as it is, it worked."

"Wait... The Demon Shaman didn't use more than one?"

"That's the dark secret of the ritual. From a single elven woman, she gave birth to a hundred goblins in just a year before her body turned to nothing as the price of the spell. The reason why those little monsters live so little is because they take the years of the woman's life until they have none left and wither away."

"T-That's..."

"Horrific... I know."

"But what does this story have to do with their numbers?"

"If they rallied under one Hobgoblin Shaman, that means he has the ability to perform such an evil ritual: creating dozens from human women, over a hundred if it's an elf."

"But that would mean... Oh no..." Caleb's heart sinks. A terrible thought and a gut retching feeling makes him sick.

"There were two women in the party that was attacked... One made it back...the other wasn't among the dead that Hinnia said were she..."

"She...didn't say. Only two died that she knew of."

"We must find her fast, otherwise..."

"Don't say anymore... We need to find them now."

Grabbing their gear, they race into the night, not gaining any sleep or rest after the battle to run ahead of time to prevent a disaster. The unsettling discovery of the goblin's heritage created an unyielding tension that stained Caleb's mind. Praying that the worst has yet to come, hoping to stop it, Caleb and Nana begin to reach the last known location of the Scarlet Hunters.