Chapter 74：The Goblin King (IV): Blood Soaked Answers

QUEST COMPLETE

[Your settlement is under attack from a contingent of goblin wolf riders. / Time Limit: 40 minutes/ Reward: Random Scout tower skill tome with five uses, 100% settlement Exp progression.]

[Congratulations! Your settlement has leveled up to 5, construction is now a bit faster, population limit increased from 30-50]

[Scout Tower Skill tome (Eagle Eye): increase the range of sight of any scout or tool within the scout tower by 500 meters. Skill levels up with tower/ can be taught 5 times]

Rezar dismissed the notification screen as he sat down with his back against the cove wall, the screams of the hobgoblin echoing out from a tunnel at by his side as Lenore put to work all her years of being a skilled forewoman to a mine, and for all intents and purposes the warden to a prison. It was funny really, but even Priest had praises for her torturing skills, though he did all that with a hint of apprehension in his eyes, almost as if he had experienced it firsthand.

While he waited, Rezar bought four more blueprints for the scout tower, he already knew where he was going to place them, but this was so he could place them in strategic locations. At the moment his territory was shaped like an omega symbol, the ends of it opening up into the sea with two distinct cliffs that served as gates of sorts. He was going to build one on both cliffs, so that the scouts would have eyes to the south of the territory, which was actually west, and north west, and south west. He would place another south, which went deeper into the Bahrenburg wild lands. But if he had to use the way his territory was shaped, that would be east, and the direction Jason had gone scouting.

The north was to the canyons of Toromont, the dividing line of the Bahrenburg Frontier filled with the most ferocious of monsters. And then the final one would face east towards the forest and the goblins. That seems to be the direction the most danger was coming from so Rezar would keep half of his focus there whilst splitting the remaining half for the other directions. He felt as if he was a small fish in a shark's playground, this lands that he's come to be a part of was currently being contested for, and this was not part of what Priest had told him.

The idea had been this was a wild land that had no one in power or contesting for it, all of the fighting was on the other side, so there should never have been any sort of problem and he would have been able to develop with ease, but it looks like that plan was no longer viable. He would have to fight for his place in the wild lands, especially if he truly plans to go after Roland and the noble family he's a part of.

"You seem deep in thought, want to share what's go our fearless leader so wrapped up in his own mind." Lenore said as she came out of the tunnel, using one and to fling the Hob-goblin to the ground, he was covered with blood from head to toe, all the nail on his four fingers and toes were missing, along with a few teeth. But the damage went beyond that, the skin on his entire right arm had been peeled off, exposing the tissue beneath, all bloodied and raw. Rezar turned to look up at Lenore and said.

"First of all, I don't have to tell you anything. Secondly how long or rather how far did you have to go before he started spilling his guts out?" Rezar asked with pensive look on his face.

"Literally when I started spilling his guts out, but given that's what I went after first, I'll say he didn't last a minute." Rezar heard what she said and looked back at the Hob-goblin to see that he was clutching his stomach tightly as blood spilled in between his fingers.

"Then why did you go after other parts of his body?" Rezar asked.

"I had to verify that what he was telling me was true, and before you ask; I confirmed when I took the second finger, which should be about two and a half minute into the torture, safe to say he talks really fast." Lenore said as she pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her bloodied hands. Rezar shrugged his shoulders and went up to the Hob-goblin, should he kill him then this hobgoblin would not be reincarnating, that would be it for him, and the intense look of fear on his face was more than enough to show he feared the outcome of Rezar taking action.

[Black Bolt]

The hobgoblin was already at the end of his rope, the attack swiftly took his life, and as for the topic of Rezar taking away his chance of reincarnation; he didn't give a shit about that. This hobgoblin was an enemy, yes he was defenseless, yes he was tortured, and killing him would have let him move on to the next life, giving him a second chance. But his conscience was clear, its kill or be killed, and that hobgoblin would not have hesitated to kill him if he was in Rezar's shoes.

He was no stranger to the morality of death and killing someone, and even more so when in a world like this, every time Rezar decides to make a move, then that means someone is dead for real. That would weigh heavily in the minds of most people but not Rezar, he had a line he wouldn't cross, and that's not to kill indiscriminately or to kill innocents. But that's as far as he would go, if you're his enemy, and you so much as spit on him, he'll kill you without question, he was a fucking Necromancer, people like that are not the good guys, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be the bad guys either. This should make him more like an Anti-hero.

"What did you get from him?" Rezar asked as he sat back down and raised the Hob-goblin back to life as a zombie.

"Well there is a goblin king, he's a player participating in a worldwide event. Apparent the four frontiers of Bahrenburg are now claimable lands, and the players with the help of the uploads, depending on where your alliance lie, would build new powers and nations etc. basically it's a strategy/kingdom building event for the players, and we've landed smack dab in the middle of it.

The Goblin King has been operating within the forest for close to a year now, he's united 38 goblin tribes and settlements into one massive city. He has six generals, with that mage being one of them, and he has an army that approximately 6, 000 thousand strong, with each of the generals heading a division. The general we just face is a hob-goblin call Tetum, he's the general in command of the mounted goblin division, basically a mixture of a Calvary and shock troops due to how agile and versatile they are. They're also mainly responsible for scouting out new territories and forces.

If what he says is to be believed, it wouldn't take too long for them to regroup and come hunting for us. The town that serves as a base for the Mounted Goblin Division is roughly 2 miles from where we had our battle. They regroup and might even ask for reinforcements from other divisions. But it would take a while for those to get here." Lenore said as she looked at Rezar who looked back at her and asked.

"So a Preemptive strike then?" she nodded her head and said.

"Yes that's what I would suggest, but I believe guerrilla warfare would be in our favor. We should hit them hard and then retreat, there are players there too, which means an endless source of bodies for you to resurrect. There should be more planning put into it, but I believe that's what we should do." Rezar nodded his head as he got back up to his feet, and said to Lenore.

"Get me Priest and Gynaika, let's get this done."