As soon as he returned to his base, he transferred his entire aether pool to the core before summoning no less than 20 goblin fighters and 15 goblin archers. For the last of them, he had to wait an hour to get the last point of aether needed. However, he now had the satisfaction of having a complete small army occupying all the available bonds in the aether core.
He led the group toward the village, leaving the fighter and the archer who were directly bound to him behind so as not to risk them in the coming battle. The sight of his troops marching in a long line through the forest warmed his heart. The feeling of power it brought to him exhilarated him to a point that surprised him.
When the village appeared, instead of remaining hidden under the forest canopy, he deployed the goblins in an orderly formation in front of the town. The fighters lined up in three compact lines to take advantage of their spear's reach, while the archers stretched out in a long line.
Tolir was thrilled by such a display of strength. Even though he suspected that this option would fail, he hoped that the village would surrender without a fight to such a power differential. In an effort to show that their opponent was rational and not just a bunch of goblin raiders, he stepped forward to stand out and exclaimed:
"People of Lafin! As you can see, behind me stands an army far superior in number and quality to anything you can throw at it. Neither your golems nor your modest fortifications offer you a chance against them. So, to avoid a useless fight between our two camps, I am ready to discuss the terms of your surrender! If within an hour, talks do not take place, we will be forced to assault!"
At the end of his speech, he observed the crowd of villagers who had gathered in front of the village to see the situation. The extent of their exclamation following his ultimatum satisfied him as he withdrew with his troops into the forest to await a possible response.
There he waited patiently for the hour to pass. He knew that his negotiation proposal would be refused, but he was preparing for the aftermath of the battle, where if he appeared to be reliable, the pacification of the village would be less complicated. Halfway through the time limit, he heard a commotion on one of his flanks where he discovered Alyn coming to meet him. After ordering his creatures to leave her alone, he asked her:
"What are you doing here?"
"Since you don't seem to want to include me in this story, I decided to impose myself!"
He got a little flustered, remembering his broken promise to warn her.
"It wasn't easy to get in touch since I'm not supposed to be here... It would have been suspicious, you know."
She laughed:
"I'm teasing you, I suspect that especially since my uncle caught me coming home last time and he forbade me to leave the house until the end of the week... Luckily with the commotion you caused, I was able to get away easily!"
"So, what do they think of my proposal?"
"To be honest, no one defends this idea, especially since they recognized you... For them you appear as a traitor..."
He had totally forgotten to take this aspect into account in his plan! Now that she had made it clear, it seemed so obvious to him, no one would trust someone who betrayed their hospitality... Ashamed, he did not interrupt Alyn who continued:
"Moreover, they are determined to fight, they are gathering the golems. However... I must warn you, they have started to distribute a vial to each of the inhabitants... In case they are defeated."
"What kind of vial?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.
"I don't know what's in it, but this is what it looks like."
She handed him a small glass vial sealed with a cork. Inside was a dark substance that didn't tell Tolir good news. He thought about what it might be before exclaiming:
"Don't tell me they're planning to kill themselves?! But this is madness! They wouldn't dare swallow that, would they?"
Alyn froze with fright, surprised by Tolir's revelation, not suspecting the contents of the vial... She recovered from the news before thinking about it for a moment to answer:
"I don't know... The locals don't respect Father Maurias much, but is it enough to not violate his orders in a crisis situation... I don't know. Especially since I doubt that they know his nature..."
"In that case, there's not a minute to lose, go back to the village and stop them from drinking it at all costs!"
She complied, running in the direction of the village. Out of range of her ears, Tolir screamed in frustration:
"Shit!"
He had not anticipated this sudden tragic turn of events. He thought that in the worst case scenario, he would be the one to take all the risks if his plan failed. He even thought of giving up his attack but in this case, he would betray his mission towards Zali... No, he had no choice because if he gave up now, he could never restart. After all, wouldn't it be the fault of the inhabitants to blindly entrust their faith to the Cult? It was better to trust Alyn and stick to his original goals. He would deal with this problem after the victory, because for the moment it was only one of many possible outcomes.
When the ultimatum was over and there was no news from the villagers, he redeployed his troops in front of the village. This time, he arranged his goblin fighters in three groups: one in the center with fifteen goblins and two on either side with five goblins each. Behind them the line of archer was ready. Facing them during their absence, the golem guards had placed themselves in a long line in which he counted eleven golems.
The two formations observed each other for a long minute. Seeing that his opponent refused to take the initiative, Tolir brought his archers into effective range, followed by the slightly retreated fighters. About fifty meters from the guards' position, the archers fired their first salvo. The golems raised their shields to protect them from the arrows. Only one hit its target, which took the shock without flinching.
This tactic did not change the attitude of the golems, who remained in their place. Tolir shrugged his shoulders as they did not want to fight, so be it. He ordered a second volley and then a third. None of them damaged the guards. He repeated the salvos again and again until the archers ran out of ammunition.
Frustrated by the lack of progress, he decided to engage the fighters after sending the archers back to replenish their arrows. The main group of fighters approached the guards. The latter without warning started to charge them during their approach phase.
Tolir's eyes widened as he understood his opponent's tactics. He was provoking him to use his archers in vain, and once this threat was over, he would engage in combat when he became impatient due to this failure. He had underestimated his opponent.
The fighters, disorganized by the impromptu charge, were fighting as best they could against an enemy superior in quality. More than supporting each other, the lances were clashing against each other and becoming a disadvantage in such a close fight. The first fighters began to fall.
If Tolir panicked at first, he realized that the fight was more imprecise than at first. Although the goblins were suffering heavy losses, the golems were losing several of their own in the battle. However, unable to stand idly by and intent on correcting his initial error, he ordered the two groups originally intended to envelop the opponent to reunite into one, which he placed twenty meters behind the fray.
After this reorganization, he ordered the surviving combatants to withdraw. Behind the line. In all, six goblins escaped the massacre while seven golems remained standing. With a quick calculation, Tolir realized that the ratio of the fight was unfavorable.
The guards, disappointed to see their prey escape, began to chase them, much to Tolir's delight. Recklessly advancing towards the new formation, the golems fell on the line, this time disorganized themselves. The goblins' spears, when used properly, proved to be terribly effective as their sword-wielding opponent had no way of breaking through.
When rare gaps were formed, a goblin who had survived occupied the vacant place, ensuring the stability of the formation. This time, tactically outmatched, the golems could only take a few unlucky goblins with them to their deaths. All fought to the last without ever considering retreat.
When the last guard fell, Tolir could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He had won the battle! But at what cost... He had planned to minimize his losses, but he had lost a large part of his goblin fighters, since only eight of them had survived. However, he considered this question secondary for the moment. Accompanied by the four most able fighters, he entered the village under the stunned eyes of the crowd.