Despite the goblins’ dissatisfaction, they grinded the entire night and leveled up. The strongest was now level 16, while the other two were a level behind. Outside the cave were five Nighthowls, four of which were recently subjugated. The weakest was level 17, but he was also the one leading the other four, which were a level above him.

Shiki, who had reverted to its original abysmal black color, walked towards me. “How big is our chance of success, Shiki?”

“Getting Bria out depends on how many emissaries we would be facing, my liege. But if your inquisition pertains to survival, then I guarantee your safety, my liege.”

I contemplated, heart racing. “Hmm. Not that great, huh. Not that we have a choice,” I said, more to myself than to others.

For the last time, I scanned my companions, hoping for some sort of Deus ex machina to appear, but to my disappointment, it remained the same. I sighed. “Shiki, lead us to where you’ve sensed Bria.”

“As you command, my liege,” Shiki put his greaves on his placart, making a crisp metallic sound.

***

We stood behind a big rock by the cliff, overlooking what seemed to be a cave. According to Shiki, he could sense a hint of Bria’s power in the cave on the middle of a cliff. Standing guard on the small rock barely hanging outside the cave were two adventurers wearing familiar brown and green leather armor. Racking my brain, I dug through my memory to recall where I had seen those armors before. I figured that would give us an inkling to who was behind this stupidity, or at least, how strong they were.

A few scenes popped up. I remembered seeing those armors a couple of times at Garr’s pub. Unlike most of Garr’s customers, they were quiet and were always murmuring, making an impression. I even caught them staring at us a couple of times, but I simply brushed it off knowing we were always being stared at. Damn it! We’re in deep trouble.

Those guys were more than a dozen, if my memory served me right. If they were all affiliated with each other and were at least level 20, then our chance of victory was very slim.

“Shiki, can you tell how many people are there?” I asked, hoping that Shiki had the same or similar skill as Bria.

“I do not have Bria’s surveying skill, my liege, but I could sense around half a dozen or more threats,” Shiki replied.

My stomach churned. Yep, they’re those guys.

“Can you tell what their levels are?” I followed.

“I can’t say for certain, my liege, but I am speculating around 23 on average,” he said with the helmet’s gaze fixed on the cave.

“Tsk. How should we go about this. We can’t face them head on. Plus, why the hell did they bring her in a cave on a cliff?!” I whined, frustrated. This is like chasing a snake in its hole. Damn it. Then, it hit me. “Shiki, I have a plan.”

I signaled the three goblins, each riding a Nighthowl, to circle around the end of the cliff and go to the other side. Back in the cave, we’ve already planned for different scenarios. Of course, it wasn’t comprehensive since we still had no idea who we were facing, but enough to communicate through a few signals.

As the three pairs of goblins and Nighthowls ran at the distance, Shiki faced me and asked, “What do you plan on doing, my liege?”

My lips curled upwards. “We’ll smoke the snakes.”

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“What do you mean by that, my liege? We’re not fighting Three-fang Vipers,” he replied, confused.

I chuckled. Sometimes, I forget that he lacks certain pragmatic skills. “We’ll attack them straight on. With that narrow cave, they probably aren’t prepared to fight with anybody. As long as we give them a strong enough attack, they should scramble to get out of that cave. If we can kill one or two during the first attack, then great. But our real chance is when they try to climb the cliff and escape. That’s when we’ll surprise attack them and take out as many as we can.” I paused and put my hand on my chin. “The problem is where they will go. This side or that side?”

Shiki nodded. “I assume that’s the reason you sent the goblins to the other side. I see. A praiseworthy plan indeed, my liege, but do you really have a strong enough attak to shake them?”

“Not me, Shiki. You!” I exclaimed while grinning like an idiot.

“But, I shan’t leave your side, my liege.”

As we were discussing, I noticed three black figures on the opposite side of the cliff. The goblins had arrived. That was fast. Hopefully the adventurers hadn’t sensed them. Giving the two guards a quick glance, I confirmed that we were still in the clear.

I stared at Shiki, Rihoku, and the Nighthowl that was left behind. “You won’t be, Shiki. Just shake them up and immediately come back here. You’re capable of that, right?” I told him. With our time together, I’d learned how to pull their strings for a bit. For Shiki, it was his pride as a samurai, or dead samurai, or whatever he was.

He simply nodded. Within a single blink, the black figure of an armor vanished. Immediately, my instincts told me to look towards the cave. True enough, a black line was quickly scaling the cliff. But before it was halfway near the cave, it made a cutting motion, and an ominous giant black slash headed towards the two adventurers guarding the cave.

The adventurers’ eyes widened, horror painted on their faces as they watched the forthcoming slash approach. But before the slash could reach and bisect their bodies, an invisible force suddenly appeared, momentarily shielding them from harm. That single moment was what they needed to jump out of harm’s way. However, Shiki’s attack wasn’t for naught. The invisible field visibly shattered as the slash hit the cliff, giving it a violent shake.

Tsk. We didn’t even get a single one. I thought. Then, a set of brown figures scurried out of the cave like ants escaping their hill during a storm. As they went, a few ramblings echoed on the valley.

“What the hell is happening?”

“We’re not supposed to be found out yet.”

“Which damn bastard dares to attack us?”

In the midst of brown climbing the cliff, my eyes caught a slight hint of silver. One of the adventurers was carrying a silver skinned female on his back.

Bria! I shouted inside my head. The next moment, Shiki appeared beside me.

“My apologies, my liege. I wasn’t able to take at least one of them down the grave,” Shiki reported, not a single sign of exhaustion.

“No. That was more than great, Shiki. They’re headed towards the other side. Let’s go. We have to snatch Bria,” I blurted without pausing.

He nodded, and I mounted Rihoku, who had gotten big enough to be used as a mount after reaching level 17. But we didn’t immediately take action. We simply stood there, waiting for the right moment to come.

On the other side of the cliff, the first two figures were about to reach the top. Using a skill that seemed to hollow some parts of the cliff, the two figures jumped towards the opposite side. But before they could actually land, they were snatched by razor sharp fangs. Blood spurted out of their bodies like a fountain watering the barren land. Usually, these Nighthowls, which weren’t even level 20 yet, wouldn’t be able to one-shot kill these adventurers. However, the adventurers were caught off guard in a very vulnerable position. Plus, the goblins made sure to give the caught adventurers a quick cut to the neck, hurrying the process.

The other guys a few meters below witnessed the scenes unfold. Needless to say, they became wary and slowed down their ascent. Since I had no means of relaying that to my slaves on the other side, the Nighthowls tried to snatch the next few that flew up, but the same trick didn’t work twice. Instead of digging their teeth on the adventurers’ flesh, they were sent flying and whimpering by heavy gusts of wind.

One after the other, the adventurers arrived at the top. Slowly, they circled the Nighthowls, each one unsheathing their weapons. Most were using swords, maces, and clubs, but two at the back, the one carrying Bria included, were armed with staves. Their armor was also different. As the others were wearing leather vests and pants, they were wearing robes.

The melee had completely encircled the Nighthowls, which were growling and baring their teeth. The goblins riding them had their daggers unsheathed. They stood still. The blood dripping from two of the goblins’ daggers was the only determinant that time didn’t freeze. One of the wizards said something, breaking the standstill. I couldn’t distinguish nor hear what he said, but I took a guess as the adventurers started to advance.

Not good. I brushed Rihoku’s jet black fur and shouted, “Shiki, Rihoku, Nighthowl, charge!”