Achoo!
Hal sneezed even as he worked to stay in his trance. There were six more Goblin bodies strewn out on the ground. Priol and his new buddy were doing what they could.
It was enough. While these berserked goblins were acting so funnily it was actually pretty easy to survive. Using [Bone Domain] Hal infected the bodies with death magic and then sang their souls into compliance with [Soul Requiem]. This was no longer a long process, but it still made Hal sweat with the complexity of the deed.
At the end of it Hal had six more goblin skeletons. Eight skeletons in total, all were no taller than four feet high. They were all conscripted to stand guard with Priol at the six point of the group guarding Hal. With eight skeletons they could stand in two rows of four and any goblin that came close was dispatched easily.
Still Hal stayed in his trance and continued to raise skeletons. On the other hand the goblins, now a little under a hundred strong stood jeering and hissing in a circle around Hal's group. Occasionally a goblin would be pushed forward. At which point it would run forward towards some imagined weak point where upon the goblin would be slaughtered in some way depending on whether it had run at the barrel or goblin skellies.
The drawback of the trance state was that Hal could not allow any stray thoughts to distract him. However, after Hal had been on repeat raising goblin skeletons for twenty minutes he began to loose the trance just from pure inability to keep it going mentally.
Once the trance was lost it became impossible for Hal to create any more skeletons. Fortunately he had twenty or so goblins by that point. And once he could think clearly he became concerned.
'This isn't a real attack... Why don't they just mob us? ...'
Since this was a critical decision, Flo could not even present an encouraging note for fear that the gods watching would call interference.
Yet it was the fact that Flo did not say anything that eventually led Hal to believe that something really was wrong.
'This is only a distraction! They are attacking my servants!!'
Hal could not really know where the guy on top of the palanquin had gone, but he felt the fear deep in his stomach. The chances that the main group of goblins left was so remote it wasn't worth considering.
"I have to get back!"
Without any more hesitation Hal commanded his group to reform around him. Unfortunately for Hal, his most recent bone melding operations on the barrel skellies had made them top heavy. Their leg bones were too weak and fragile. They pushed the barrel of their torsos to high into the air causing a balance problem.
No sooner had Hal made a move than goblins suddenly became serious and attacked. A cry of rage started among them and then they all rushed to attack.
It was either a clever time to attack or a freak accident. Where Hal had been set to weather any amount of Goblins, now his barrel skeletons were in disarray. Two of them had outright fell over creating huge holes in his defense. For all their stupidity the goblins definitely knew to take advantage of their quarry and Hal found himself wounded and bleeding within moments of making his mistake.
Having to down one of the last three healing potions Hal was grateful that he had formed so many goblin warriors. It was all that saved him from outright dying. As it was Hal knew that he was screwed if he didn't make some hard decisions. Already some of the goblin skeletons had been hacked to pieces.
This wasn't a terrible outcome, because Hal knew that he could simply put them back together after the fight. However, this was only if there was enough time to do so.
"Calm down. You've lost the initiative without enough information you've lost. Take your time. Rushing right now will only get you killed"
Flo still remained silent as Hal talked to himself.
"I don't know if I rushed right now, if it would be beneficial at all. Most likely I will just be rushing to my death and then I wouldn't be of any help at all. Take your time, Hal."
Making a decision that sounded like the exact wrong thing to do in the face of his feelings, not to mention his adrenaline Hal once more sank into his trance. It took half an hour to do so this time, far after his barrel skellies had righted themselves and reestablished their defensive line. It was also after he had suffered a few more wounds and having used all his healing potions.
Once he was firmly in the trance and ready he committed to a decision that he had flirted with before and transformed his barrel skellies into crabs. To do this he needed far more bone. Each skelly needed three times as much bone, but as he reinforced the hallow crab shell he found that he needed close to for or five times as much bone.
This was mostly due to the fact that he decided to make the back of the crab into a mobile weapons platform. Like barnacles Hal fixed eight half goblin skeletons with only their back bone, ribs, arms, and head. The hips became fused to the crab.
Still Hal left the inside of the crab hollow for the slimes to proliferate, but he encapsulated them completely for added defense except for the back of the ridge that became where the lower and upper shells met. This was a weakness, but Hal still needed to make sure his slimes could grow. He didn't know, but thought that they needed some access to the air in order for them to properly reproduce and grow.
The rest of the goblins became fodder to become normal goblin skeletons. Hal decided messing with the goblins natural build. He was sure that he could at least thicken up their bones and increase their height, but he decided to go against his desire to be perfect. Instead he left them as they were and marched towards his settlement.
It had been three hours.
As Hal approached keeping pace with his slow and lumbering barrel/crab skellies. Here there was utter devastation. All the trees within two hundred yards of the lake were all cut down and a massive encampment had been erected. There were no tents, instead what marked the goblin's stay were half butchered creatures. Hundreds of animals had been slain and most of their meat removed.
Three huge pots glowing red from heat were spread throughout the camp. And right next to these pots were corrals filled with caged creatures which he couldn't see because there were so many goblins mobbing the cages.
Although the more Hal looked the more Hal realized the unholy nature of what was happening. Each pen caged a different type of being crows, wolves, and woman. Half of the women were very obviously pregnant the other half were being force fed with whatever noxious substance was being made in the three cauldrons.
"Ugh, that is disgusting."
Floored, all Hal could do was halt his little army aghast.
"I was wrong. I should have come immediately."
Unable to feel anything but disgust right at this moment, he couldn't even work up any self pity.
Still Flo refused to comment and Hal had to kneel on one knee to throw up. But after he had eliminated the contents of his gut he drew himself up and for once entered his trance state in minutes.
In the next few moments his skeletons attacked. Instantly his voice cracked and while the sounds of his voice sounded nothing like the Wellerman he sang on. Calling all the dispossessed souls, Hal was surprised to find that there were far more souls within the range of his voice than expected.
As he sang for [Soul Requiem] a whole new world opened before him. Where before he had had to do his best to get sing one goblin soul into a skeleton, now a saw a spirit domain descend. This wasn't anything that Hal was doing. Instead it was literally a hell fed by the suffering of the souls within it. Living souls. It was the souls of those women who were the being tortured in their various pens which created the spirit domain.
Regardless it made [Soul Requiem] into something else. Ghostly screams began to shake the nascent domain as tens of souls heard Hal's song and were granted power by it.
Newly dead the souls really could not do much, but in the midst of Hal's skeleton rush the goblins froze as it seemed like the very air echoed with the banshee screams.
Hal only had about thirty skeletons all the rest had been fuel for the crabs and the skeletal archers on top. Fortunately the goblins had made no effort to clean up their kills. Which meant that there was plenty of material around for an enterprising necromancer to build an army.
It should have been some comfort, but the number of goblins was terrible. Now that he was within the camp Hal had no way of counting, but he was sure that there were thousands of goblins if not more.
'Where did all these goblins come from?'
Hal thought to himself and was surprised when Flo answered.
[The Lord here rampaged through four Lord territories, so not only is this four goblin camps worth from each of those territories, but he has been mass producing goblins using the women from the camps. You finally asked a question that I could answer!]
Flo said a little put out with Hal for not understanding what kind of questions he needed to ask.
'Flo! It is good to hear from you! But really, isn't this too much even with four goblin camps?'
[Don't underestimate the rate at which goblins can be grown.]
'Hgh? How fast could the goblins be what do you call it 'grown'?'
Again Hal asked a question while sitting down cross legged right amid all the fighting. He had to stay calm. Running around would just disrupt his trance.
[At the price of the woman's life span and health a baby goblin can be inseminated and birthed within an hour. Then the goblin can grow to adulthood within six hours. Of course the time can be delayed in order to produce a stronger goblin type.]
Emotionlessly the words scrolled out upon a pop up text.
Hal made no comment only continuing to push himself to use [Bone Realm] and [Soul Requiem].
[What? You don't care?]
Angry at Hal's emotionless response Flo sent out a text.
'Not now Flo, if I speak of my anger, if I express it the anger will leave me. Instead I am holding it, letting it grow until just the right moment.'
Explaining in a rational emotionless voice Hal sent a thought or two to Flo.
Soon, around Hal a sphere of bone grew and even sank into the mud little as the weight of it pushed through the slop. He did this because his skeletons were soon far enough away that they couldn't protect him as well.
Within the bone sphere he could not help his skeletons as much, but he also knew that the worst he could do at this time was to stay alive. While his goblin skeletons were not geniuses, they were completely capable of causing havoc. Plus he had run out of mana very quickly. Even if he did crawl out all he could really do was die.
From the sphere all he continued to do was sing [Soul Requiem] it might have been his imagination, but he felt like the power of the ability could passively strengthen the wandering souls. Of course this meant that his mana wasn't replenishing much at all, but this was a small price to pay for feeling like he could help in some small way.
Many an evil spirit had waited around these goblins and the power of the Morrigan was all they needed to enact their rage. Hal stayed inside his little bone shield singing and occasionally repairing the sphere as it was attacked.
Eventually, after a few hours and half an hour of not being attacked Hal finally crawled from his defenses. When he did he found himself surrounded by what was left of his skeletons.
All five crab walkers were present, but severely damaged, and to his surprise there were fifty goblin skeletons.
"What? What happened? Why are there more goblin skeletons than I started with?"
(Master, I received enlightenment, from watching you play with the bones. I thought I could too! So I repaired and made my own soldiers.)
Priol said kneeling before his master.
"What??"
Hal said, dumbfounded.
He had thought that these goblins were pretty stupid, but Priol proved him wrong. Refusing to say any more Priol continued to kneel with his had bowed before Hal.
Finally sensing the mood he ordered.
"Rise Priol, you did well."
Slowly Priol righted himself and then spoke again.
"Master, come, the enemy Lord has been captured."
The Goblin lich, necromancer, death knight, that was Priol turned around as if to lead Hal somewhere. Still boggled by what the little skeleton had done Hal wondered what kind of being Priol was now.
Following Hal came to the only tent remaining. Inside was the human that Hal had seen sitting on his throne atop the palanquin. In his hand was a chain that led to the collar of a naked woman, who was so pregnant that she had to use both hands to support her belly.
It took a while, but eventually Hal realized that the woman was Harumi. She was so drugged that her eyes were half rolled back into her head and drool dribbled from the corner of her mouth.
"Ah, have you come to kill me yourself?"
The Lord said when Hal had entered the tent.
Unable to form a response, Hal just stood there and examined the situation trying to grasp what might have happened.
"I am not that bad! I didn't kill anyone! All the children are alive and your measly little defense force is only captured. No real harm done."
The man justified and then continued.
"Maybe some of the women have died, I don't know, but they are only women. You can find some more. Can you let me go?"
Finally the man pleaded for his life.
Suddenly Harumi groaned and squatting down she gave birth to a little goblin baby. It was tiny and barely larger than a clenched fist. What followed as a mind numbing as goblin baby after goblin baby slipped out from between Harumi's legs. Blood and feces mixed into the carpet with the babies.
By the time the last goblin had been birthed the first baby had already doubled in size and was crawling around.
"Don't worry about her! Just give her some more of the [Goblin Grease], she will heal right up and ready to continue birthing a goblin army for you. In fact I will work for you. I can make sure you have the largest army of any Lord! Please let me live."
This time the Lord fell down to his knees, but he was so careful that he didn't get any of the blood and excrement on his clothes.
Wanting to throw up Hal felt his gore rise, but he was unable to let out the bile in his stomach. Instead he felt his throat freeze while the acid burned its way up.
After singing for [Soul Requiem] for so long Hal had become sensitive to the local spirit domain, so even if he was not singing now he could see the banshees screaming throughout the tent. All of them were diving and tearing at the Goblin Lord as he knelt before Hal. But being spirits and fresh spirits they had no power over the living.
"Do you want freedom?"
Asked Hal. But he wasn't talking to the Lord, he was talking to the banshee screaming in his ears.
"Yes? ... Yes, yes! I want my freedom!!"
The Goblin Lord rose to his feet and cried out for confused at first and then more eagerly.
"Then come!"
Hal commanded as he used [Bone Realm] to create a bone in his hand. It was just a rib like any other rib that he had melded in the last two days, but this rib rapidly became unlike any other as the banshee rapidly possessed it.
There were exactly twenty nine banshees in the bone when Hal flicked it at the Goblin Lord. To his surprise it shot out of his hand and coming to a stop in front of the man it slow rotated as if hypnotizing the Lord.
In all reality it probably was actually mesmerizing him to some extent. At last it ceased it motion and holding itself cruelly above him it flashed and was gone.
Only it wasn't really gone, because it had penetrated through the Lord's eye. Slowly the body dropped to the floor and in the refuse there it came to a slow stop. Finally the rib came out of the body and flew back into Hal's hand where upon the bone curled upon itself and became a gruesome bracelet.
"Uhmmm, I am not into bracelets, though..."
However, the bracelet stayed on his wrist where the blood slowly absorbed into the bone before it became yellowed and brown.
Still Hal wasn't done talking.
"Why isn't it white like all the other bones?"