The Goblin Pub was located in the bas.e.m.e.nt, specifically, three floors below the ground floor of the castle. There were two ways out from the Goblin Pub. However, one of these would lead to the outer gardens which were nowhere near the Reception Halls nor the Throne Hall, unless one had a gadget that allowed them to fly and sneak in through there.
And that was exactly what Ripcaller was suggesting until he realised something important. “Wait…if the magic portal was up just minutes ago and wasn’t affected by the Leyline magic…then how did Master enter so nonchalantly with us? Does it mean his portal magic was able to intervene against the magic barrier?” They all looked at Jin with the exception of Starfire who thought that the person in the half Panda Mask was a nobody.
“What? You want me to teleport you guys into the Throne Hall? Ehh, System can you do that?” Jin asked as if he was talking to himself again while holding onto a metal piece that shined, though Starfire just thought the Half Panda Mask guy was weird. He also seemed rather large for a Goblin. Did he maybe have Hobgoblin Ancestry.
“Negative, System does not have the coordinates to the Throne Hall. System was able to teleport the User to the goblins because the portal they were using had specific coordinates. Copying those coordinates was as easy as making pie.” The System answered through the phone speakers which alarmed Starfire.
“Relax, Starfire.” Slashreaver comforted her and asked Master Jin once more. “What about teleporting us up to the roof? Or drop us from the skies? It is definitely easier and faster to access the rooftop compared to climbing up the stairs, fighting Orcs throughout the place. The faster we get to our Liege, the safer he will be.” Slashreaver gave his opinion and the System gave an affirmative reply almost immediately.
“Ehh so I guess I will be fighting the Orcs as a distraction while you four proceed from the roof. But won’t the goblin guards be mistaking me for an intruder and fight against me as well?” Before any of the goblins could reply, the System butted in.
“User, the female goblin cannot be teleported. She is not a monster under User’s care.” The System stated it bluntly which made Starfire furious.
“How dare this metal thing call me a monster!” Starfire was just about to cast a fire magic spell on it but Slashreaver stopped her in time.
“Starfire! Princess! Please calm down. Master is a monster summoner, just like in the legends! He –” Before Slashreaver could add more, Starfire became even more furious.
“Master?! That Half Panda Mask Guy owns you? What happened to the Proud Slashreaver? Has the son of the Sword General stooped so low as to sign under some slavery contract?!” The way this conversation was going was not at all how the Goblin Trio imagined it. Starfire currently had an even deeper misunderstanding than before. Jin went forward and slapped her on her face which stunned everybody for a moment.
“I do not care who you are. I don’t know how you are used to handling things, but this whole thing is everything but normal. All I know is that we here saved your life and I expect you to repay that favour by shutting the hell up. This is not the time to quarrel. Every second spent here is a valuable second your King or should I say father is in danger. Stop behaving like a spoilt goblin!” Jin lectured her firmly before he turned to his own Goblins and started giving them orders.
“Ripcaller, Piercestriker and Slashreaver, you three strike from the skies. You, Starfire was it? Follow me. Mr Hot, Ms Cold, Que Er. Come to me.” Jin commanded as the System began teleporting the three goblins into the sky.
“Princess, stay strong and trust him as we trust him with our lives,” Slashreaver managed to say with the rest nodding their heads before the bodies were digitised and disappeared into thin air. Meanwhile, Mr Hot, Ms Cold and Que Er appeared right in front of Jin. Que Er, The Magpie Queen, had a half Magpie mask on her face instead of the Panda Mask, courtesy of the System.
Starfire squealed a little when she saw two uniquely shaped ants and a female looking humanoid kneeling in front of the Half Panda Mask guy. She tried to see if the female was a human but somehow no matter how she focused, it was blurred out.
“Mr Hot, Ms Cold. Assist the Goblin Trio. The exit is there. You can climb up the walls to get to them. Kill any Orcs along the way. Que Er, send a Magpie with them for communication purposes and assist me in protecting this lady Goblin.” Jin ordered the three and the ants to set out immediately.
“Excuse me, Princess Starfire, what are you waiting for? Lead the way. You should know all kinds of secret passages and so on. Bring me there via the fastest route.” Jin commanded and Starfire grumbled at him before heading for the stairs.
“Who does he think he is? Does he think he has the ability to fight off these monstrous Orcs all by himself?” Starfire flew up the stairs with her hover spell and was not giving any quarters for the Panda Mask Guy to catch up. Yet, she was unconsciously hoping to scout ahead and eliminate the Orcs by surprise if possible to show that she was strong on her own.
What she did not expect was that The Panda Mask Guy was able to catch up by sprinting and jumping along the walls. “Can’t you hurry up? We already spent far too much time discussing things just now!” Jin complained as he moved ahead of her. Starfire became somewhat frustrated and continued to pour more mana into her hover spell to receive a speed boost.
Within less than a minute, they reached the main courtyard of the castle where the Princess saw the goblin guards losing a fight they were entirely unprepared for. The guards were still wearing the ceremonial uniforms for the Orc Ambassador visit instead of real armour. As a result they were at a significant disadvantage against the incoming Orc fighters who were armed to the teeth.
With the city still at peace and no alerts being sent out to the military camps, Jin figured that the Orcs must have most likely used something like the Trojan Horse technique from ancient Greeks before the fight started. That was also why most goblins were fully unprepared and died from the surprise attack.
“Que Er!” Jin shouted as he brandished his sword out and charged forward with a Lazy Panda Swipe ready. The Orc fighter that saw Jin coming forth, thinking it was just a puny nobody humanoid, raised his axe up high to smash Jin into bits. Boy, how wrong he was.
“BOOM!”
The Lazy Panda Swipe did not just kill the clueless Orc fighter. Its strength was so terrifying that the orc fighter exploded from the raw kinetic force with blood splashing all over its comrades and a shockwave ensued that caused many of the Orc Fighters to disperse before reaching to the demoralised goblin guards.
“REGROUP!” Starfire shouted with an amplified voice filled with mana. The goblins who heard the call immediately made their way towards their princess. Separately, Que Er summoned her Magpies to the battle. Her followers magically appeared on the trees and bushes of the Main Courtyard awaiting the commands from the Queen Magpie herself.
With a gentle swing of Que Er’s arm, all the Magpies immediately flew up to the sky which distracted the Orcs even more while Jin swung another Lazy Panda Swipe on to the group of the Orcs. Upon witnessing this, Starfire realised how wrong she was for doubting the strength of the person who the three Goblin Generals’ Sons had decided to call Master.
“Could it really be, that they were not forced to sign a contract? So does that mean they are following him out of their own free will… Maybe…he is really truly a hidden master rather than a slave that I initially thought…” Starfire mumbled to herself as she saw Jin blasting a few more Orcs away. They flew to the walls of the castle, remaining as permanent decorations for the interior stone walls.
“Starfire, here.” Que Er called her as she placed a Blue Magpie on Princess Starfire’s shoulder. “This should help you with your Mana regeneration and consumption.” The blue Magpie chirped and it immediately gave the female goblin mage sufficient power to summon a shield barrier that prevented further entry to the Orcs. It gave the goblins time to retreat to her side and regroup while Jin bullied the Orc Fighters.
In the meantime, the Goblin Trio was facing another challenge of their own. They initially managed to surprise the Orcs that used the roof as a vantage point to kill goblin guards from afar and to alert the situation to their commanders. Most were killed except for one Orc who clapped before appearing out of the shadows from the tower door beside the roof.
“So…the missing children of the Three Gob Gob Generals returned to their motherland and fell from the skies like heroes of the past.” An Orc covered in heavy black armour narrated sarcastically as he wore his helmet on and swung his signature halberd.
“That armour…that halberd…The Black Orc’s Lord General Nubwort…” Slashreaver went into a defensive stance immediately.
“The Black Disaster.” Piercestriker swung his spear in a similar fashion and aimed it at the Black Orc General upon mentioning his nickname.
