A loud noise echoed throughout the cave, warning of something, but what? I had no idea, so I stood there without reacting.
At the same time, I noticed that my fellow creatures were also unresponsive and some of them couldn't take their eyes off me. The noise only sounded once, but from where we were standing, we could hear a loud noise outside, as if people were running in all directions.
We were left confused when the commander entered the room shouting
- Get out now!!!
Despite his violent order, the others just stared at me without reacting. That's when I remembered my role as leader. I immediately let out a loud scream before running outside and giving the signal to the others.
We all ran towards the exit of the cave and the further we went the brighter the end became. We made our way to the exit and there we found ourselves in a gigantic room several storeys high. A huge pit whose walls were home to countless small caves linked to each other by small bridges. The place was very well lit and, just like us, we could also see several other small goblins coming out of these different holes, running across the bridges.
Looking around, I noticed that at the very bottom, there was a goblin hitting two large plates, so I got the message straight away.
Setting an example for the others, I started running across the bridges to get down to the bottom as quickly as possible and eat like everyone before us.
Several goblins were pushing a large pot and spilling its contents into a small pit that ran through the cave. Sauce, meat and other ingredients were channelled into this pit, like a river of soup. The sauce flowed into the pit and everyone was free to help themselves as they wished.
Some threw themselves into it, others bent over to drink it, others used their hands, others even ran inside to get at the meat and other ingredients. But I stayed on the sidelines in front of such a disgusting spectacle.
- Yuck! Damn it! I think I've had the worst reincarnation in history. And then, where does this meat come from? And why is it served this way. I want to puke just looking at them...
I was making an incredible effort not to vomit in front of this tasteless spectacle. No, really, very bad taste.
Meanwhile, one of them jumped out of the water with a big piece of meat. He walked over to me and handed it to me on one knee. I was surprised by his action. I had no desire to eat that shit, but as I looked around, I saw that there were others like me who were being served the same way.
- I see. There are several groups and each group has its own leader. And so it's normal for servants to serve their leaders. If I refuse then it will be frowned upon.
I took the meat and ate it straight away with ferocity and vulgarity. It wasn't cooked properly so you really had to put your teeth into it. When I'd finished eating it, I threw the bone on the ground and another member of my group rushed towards me with another piece of meat. I also ate it with the same rapacity and it was never-ending.
Meat, vegetables, soup, the mix, everything was brought to me and before I knew it, it was war in the soup. Each side wanted to serve the best morsels to their leaders and it quickly ended up in a battle in the soup and for the soup.
- The bastards even kill each other in the soup. The soup is already tinged with blood. Now I understand. That's why the first thing we did was make weapons.
In their quarrels, one of my subordinates poked another's eye out to bring me a really disgusting vegetable. He was proud of it too. I took the vegetable and ate it to my subordinate's great delight.
While I was eating my disgusting vegetable, a knife sprang up from nowhere and stuck itself in the head of my subordinate right next to me. He fell to the ground, bleeding to death.
I watched her agonise to death before turning my gaze to the culprit of this crime. It was the leader of another group. The act didn't seem so ordinary, even in the midst of all this chaos, because everyone had stopped to watch us. All eyes were now on me.
- It's just like last time. They're waiting to see how I react. If I don't do something as leader of a group, then I'll be the cunning one of all the groups and the members of my group will suffer, right? It's starting to get a bit much. The bastard should have left me alone.
I removed the knife from my subordinate's head before facing him and moving towards him. Confident, he snatched the knife from the hand of one of his subordinates before charging at me, laughing and shouting his joy and rage.
I did the same, charging at him in turn. A duel ensued between us with a violent exchange of stab wounds. From my point of view, it was a very violent exchange but in reality, it looked like a small duel between two runts who were jumping around a bit and although the knife blows were violent to the point of producing sparks and the duel was well-paced out.
But after a well-paced exchange that ended in a draw, we each distanced ourselves from the other. We stared at each other and he became more serious. We kept staring at each other, watching for the slightest opportunity when the other came at me again.
Without trying to stop him, I threw my first knife at his face and he pushed it away with his own before shouting again without suspecting that it was only a diversion to take him by surprise with the second knife, which went deep into his throat.
Without giving him time to react, I lunged at him, grabbed my knife and pushed it through his neck to the back of his head. He let out a cry of pain and grief as he bled out in excruciating agony before dying in front of everyone's stunned eyes.
After this act, I withdrew my knife and retrieved the one I had thrown at him in addition to his own before returning to my family in victory. The latter let out cries of victory and borderline Machiavellian laughter, while the others remained impassive. Dinner resumed without further ado. After picking up two new weapons I decided to give them to those who didn't have any or who had low-quality ones.
- You, take the one of the other who died. As for you, take this one and swap yours with this one.
Three of my subordinates already had good, sharp knives. They were happy about it, I think.
While the soup was getting small and tinged with blood, the gong sounded once again and everyone calmed down. The commander was in the upper room, addressing the youngest.
- If you've finished eating or not, then head for the hunt.Those who are late or haven't caught anything will have nothing to eat.
After that, he jumped off the bridge to land at the bottom before starting to run, showing us the way. Everyone started running after him down the stairs to the cave he'd entered.
I, who was still at the bottom, received a notification.
"Quest: Pest Elimination! Do you want to accept this quest?"
- Pest elimination? What does that mean?
* Pest control quest oh I wonder what kind of quest it is. Maybe we'll find out very soon, but while our dear little hero is on the move with his goblin troop, why don't we take a look elsewhere to make sure we're always well-informed and on time. On that note, I'll take you into the great forest, which is quite well lit by the twilight of course. I wonder if there's a hidden reason for this, but one thing's for sure: an equally exciting battle was taking place in real time in this forest.
* The chivalrous Arcadia had just perforated the head of a goblin under her feet, while her companion with a large axe had just sliced through a row of six goblins in one blow. At the same time, the old magician also moved closer to Arcadia with his two index fingers joined before shouting Ô ciel dévoile la vérité et punis le mensonge. A soft little sparkle sprang from his little fingers, travelling through the forest in the blink of an eye before disappearing.
* Immediately, all the goblins hiding in the trees or at the foot of these, a good twenty of them, were paralysed by a lightning spell and unable to move. Those in the trees fell headfirst, but before they even reached the ground, they were all eliminated by kunai and shuriken from the young ninja in the group, who leapt from tree to tree launching her attacks.
* Huh? What are kunai and shuriken? Well, they're ninja weapons. The kunai looks like a small double-edged pocket knife with a pointed tip and the shurikens are like iron stars. That's all there is to it.
* As I was saying, the battle was violent and one-sided. Taking advantage of the mage's attack, Arcadia launched an attack by extending her sword and giving it a half-moon curve to pierce a dozen or so enemy skewers between the trees. At the same time, a hidden goblin who had resisted the spell came out of hiding with an arrow but was immediately pierced by a spear in the back. He turned to see the elf in the group behind him before falling out of the tree. Walking under the same tree, the elf retrieved his spear and tore it from the body of the falling goblin, which then crashed to the ground.
* The elf then waved his spear to rid it of blood as he walked towards four other sword-wielding goblins facing him. He responded to their attack with a single thrust of his spear, severing the heads of all four in one fell swoop. At the same time, Arcadia had punctured another who was hiding behind a tree in the back. The fat man in the armour finished off the rest with his axe.
* Well, well, well, the least we can say is that they're having a ball at their jobs. Let's hope that this luck will accompany them throughout their quests. After exterminating all these pests, the small group set off up the trail until they found their target's cave. Two goblins were standing guard, so Arcadia ordered the ninja to eliminate them. The ninja hid well in the trees and at one point leapt above the trees with a great leap before throwing ten kunai which were planted on the bodies of the two guards who died instantly.
* The alert could not be given as Arcadia had hoped. After a brief look around, they all approached the entrance to the cave. Arcadia and the man with the big axe were of the opinion that they should all go in together, but the elf and the old mage suggested something else, so after a brief discussion, they finally agreed on what to do.
- So this is the cave of those damn bugs! We'll be happy to clean it up. Arcadia pronounced with determination.
- If they're all as weak as those we've already come across, then it'll be a piece of cake. added the indifferent elf.
- Well, they're just goblins. They don't have enough brains to have humans. But let's be careful, you never know. Pronounced the old mage, stroking his beard.
- They're just little demons, we'll make a mud...atchoum. said the elf, cutting himself off.
- Bless you. Pronounced the mage.
- Good. Let's go!
* Added our dear Arcadia, who led the way, followed by the little ninja who was following in his footsteps. But as they resumed their advance, the elf, who had coughed, noticed blood in his hand. He wiped his nose and also saw traces of blood on the piece of cloth, but not making a big deal of it, he followed the others without further ado.
*The group had just entered the goblins' lair. One thing's for sure, the confrontation is now inevitable. So, did you enjoy this chapter? In any case, I sense something that will soon turn our dear hero's story upside down. This chapter closes by revealing the shadow of a threat. But little did our hero know at the time that he would soon be faced with a choice that would determine his fate and that of the whole world.