It had already been a while since the Deep Ones and Zombies had so much work to do. Transporting all the foodstuff, weapons, armour and back into Gold’s home instance while the gold to the Deep One’s treasury.
The Half Ghoul Lord Derek wished he could do something more, but for the moment, he obeyed the orders from Gold. Even Mr Derpy was a little restless seeing how much work his minions were doing. That was when Derek had begun talking to Derpy for the first time and became rather good friends. They both agreed that their minions and could do something more meaningful in the future.
Meanwhile, the goblins reached the trading town of Wecha in no time. The sun had yet to rise, and the guards obviously were unaware of the situation in Uote and Youi town.
Wyrstriker had ordered Iwen to circle around the city while Flame Ripper located the main guard quarters of Wecha. “Not a very favourable spot to hit.” Flame Ripper said as they noticed how packed the trading town was. The location of the guard quarters made it very convenient for the rats to escape into the minor districts and slums.
“You sure it’s a trading town? It appears more like a maximum security prison.” Dread Reaver asked as he had discovered a remarkable number of humans in chains who were working even though it was the middle of the night, tolling through the goods that were transported from the various towns. Demon Rat guards were whipping the slaves to make them work harder and faster, which did not make the situation any better.
“The Demon Rats will scatter no matter what unless we trap them by burning the entire place into bits of ashes.” The Wyvern Knight added and Flame Ripper concurred.
“This might prove to be a difficult war if the capital is in the same situation as what we see here. No matter how much we try to eradicate these rats, it will not matter unless the farming inhabitants decide to rise up against them as well.” Flame Ripper replied.
“Heh, not to mention those outposts that Meomi found? I believe the rat issue will not end for at least several years. They don’t seem to be as straightforward as the orcs.” Wyrstriker commented.
“Hmm…then I guess the Demon Rats here occupied the previous occupants of the Guard Quarters rather than building a new one like in those smaller towns.” Flame Ripper said as he was contemplating whether to hit the guard quarters and risk the possible deaths of the enslaved townsfolk.
“As much as I want to destroy those rats and don’t get me wrong, I’m itching to do so, our orders, erm I mean- your orders were to help fan the fire of resistance. Don’t you think we should take another approach rather than hitting their guard quarters?” Dread Reaver asked as he shared the sentiments with Flame Ripper.
“Hahaha, why think so much? This was meant as a surprise attack. We might not get an opportunity if we wait around. Just attack from the front gates.” Wyrstriker answered, and even Iwen agreed to a simplistic plan of his partner. “They have walls for a reason. We are attacking them because we want to kill the Demon Rats. Then clearly, we should let the Demon Rats come at us.”
“Won’t you think the Demon Rats will use the inhabitants as fodders first?” Flame Ripper questioned.
“That is possible but look at it the other way, we can put them down, and they will be part of Jin’s helpers, right?” Wyrstriker argued, and the other two chuckled but shook their heads.
“I think Master Jin only wants capable monsters. Having normal humans isn’t really part of the list for his dungeon making.”
“But even Jin and the other cultivators started out as just humans. If those humans can also train as hard as them, they could become worthy cultivators one day. It’s better than living as a slave.”
“Technically…speaking we ARE slaves to the System. So I guess you are right, killing them will just put them in a nicer environment. Hahahaha!” Dread Reaver injected which the other two goblins laughed bitterly to.
“At the very least, we were not treated as slaves. Jin had proven time and time again that he wants to improve our lives and not just control them. Although there might be some things, I personally might not have agreed with, like him subjugating the Orcs at first. But, his outcome is usually rational and rather realistic.” Flame Ripper added.
“Fine, let’s just hope we are not making a mistake by sending these slaves to another master,” Dreadreaver replied.
“So, kill all on sight?” Wyrstriker asked for a confirmation.
“Yes kill everything that comes out from the front gate. We will conduct multiple raids if need be. The most important thing is not destroying any of their civilian infrastructure except for their defences. If possible, try to contain the number of civilian casualties. We can’t help it if they die, but we should still try to limit their numbers. What is the use of a liberated town if nobody was there to control it?” Flame Ripper said his views out.
“Heh! If we keep attacking, it will eventually disrupt their trading post too. It might be good if we have some other monsters assaulting the trading caravans. More resources for us as well.” Wyrstriker suggested as he thought of someone who was itching to have his spear scratched too.
“Hmm, we will see how things go. Maybe, we might make a name for ourselves…as demons by dawn.” Flame Ripper and all three loved the idea.
Iwen placed the goblin trio about a few hundred metres from the front gate of Town Wecha and decided to scout from above the city to report the movements of the demon rats. The goblin trio had a System channel connection with Iwen so it would be easy to communicate and they were mainly going to use him to destroy any ranged support the demon rats were going to use.
“Ready?” Flame Ripper asked, and the other two goblins nodded their heads. The descendant of Ifrit lifted his palm up, and sparks magically appeared right above it. Slowly, those sparks revolved around its hands, and the more it spins, the more it looked like a fiery sphere.
“Let’s go!” Flame Ripper held onto his arm as he shot the fiery sphere into the direction of Wecha’s town gate. It was a rather quiet release like an arrow set loose from a bow until it contacted the town’s walls.
“BOOOOM”
A chunk of the wall exploded from the impact, causing debris to fly around its surroundings. Some of the inhabitants that had been staying near the wall were killed directly, and unfortunately, there was no way to go around it. The Demon Rats who had been soundly asleep guarding the area was stunned by the shockwaves as it went to have a look.
Another deafening sound was heard, but this time, Flame Ripper went for the watchtower. It was immediately incinerated into ashes as the fire goblin threw another ball of Ifrit’s sparkle at it. That was when the guards had begun to sound the alarm.
“ENEMY! ENEMY! BY THE FRONT GATES!” The demon rat shouted which abruptly awoke the demon rat captain in his guard quarters.
“Resistance?!” The Wecha Demon Rat Captain asked, and the rats were scurrying to get their equipment.
“We cannot confirm how many but they seem to be destroying the town’s defences! Its firepower is more demon like!” One of the guards answered, and the Demon Rat Captain grumbled.
“It must be that curse! Rumour said that everywhere those Demon Rat Special Elites go, their enemy will follow suit.” The Demon Rat Captain complained as he went to one of the rooms and knocked hard at their doors.
“Yawnnnn, I barely fell asleep, and now you want me to wake up again? Come back in 5 minutes.” Claw Rat Specialist ‘Quell Poletaker’ said sleepily as he unlocked the door for the Demon Rat Captain.
“There are rumours of demons attacking our city right now. Go and vanquish them. That is why you are here right?” The Captain ordered but Quell Poletaker slammed the door right at him.
The Demon Rat Special Elites used that excuse in every town for a place to stay, and this was not an exception. Besides, they were just patrolling at the command of the masters, and those ‘demons’ they had encountered were only part of the resistance, the apprentices of various Scholars. Hence, Poletake believed this current case was the same.
“It’s probably just the resistance. The Dark Templars can make use of the power of demons, but they are still just humans. Call us when you verify it.” Poletaker words could be heard through the door, but the Captain punched it back hard.
“Damn you! If they are really demons. It will be too late to do anything!” The Demon Rat Captain said, and there was no response to it. “FUCK! Guards, wake up the rest and prepare to assault this resistance or demons!”
——
While Flame Ripper was busy hurling balls of fire that destroyed nearly half the walls, Dread Reaver was preparing his spell to patron, his Death Goddess. For every skill that he wished to execute, the Death Knight needed to accumulate ‘souls’, be it whole or fragmented to activate his skills.
Thus, Dread Reaver had been buying fragmented souls from the System while working at the construction site. He kept most of the souls in his sword, which acted as a conduit for his skills as well as storage purposes. But right now, there was no need to use those souls that he bought.
Thanks to his ‘Eyes of the Death God’ which was an innate ability of a Death Knight, Dread Reaver was able to discern that those stored souls were unneeded in this particular case. It was fortunate and both unfortunate that there was an abundance of unrestful souls floating around the trading town.
Filled with the stench of unpeaceful deaths, which most were likely from the excessive punishment of slaves, Dread Reaver attempted to collect as much as he could before the killing starts.
As for Wyrstriker, he just stood right beside both of his friends and observed their performance. He took the time to equip himself with the leather armour which Jin had bestowed to them previously. Other than that, he waited patiently for the Demon Rats to appear before them.
“Ranged support incoming,” Iwen warned. “But it seems the debris from the past attacks had disabled them from going up the walls…or what is left from it.”
“Hmm…some are using the civilian’s infrastructure as an elevated platform to shoot.” Iwen continued, and Flame Ripper gave Iwen permission to kill. While it was not ideal since he did not wish to destroy any infrastructure owned by the civilians, but some collateral damage could not be avoided.
“Understood.” The Wyvern swooped down immediately and spat out a slew of acid on the Demon Rats before flying back up into the dark skies. The Wyvern understood that if he used his fire breath, it could burn the entire place up. On the other hand, those acidic breaths would melt the Demon Rats and do minimal damage to the area.
The Demon Rat Captain who was moving towards the frontlines, saw a frightening terror of a shadow swoop by decimating the Demon Rats while the stone walls remained on fire. It was as if Hell had descended to them.
“Demons! They must be Demons! 1st Wecha Battalion! Charge out! 2nd Battalion, gather the human slaves and use them as cannon fodder to find out their capabilities!” We need to annihilate the demons before the town gets destroyed!” The Demon Rat Captain ordered as he told one of the guards to send word for the Claw Rat Specialist to take care of the demons.
Soon, the goblin Trio could see the first wave of demon rats appearing from the front gates, and Flame Ripper waited for some time until the rest of the demon rats were out of the town to enter the fields.
But as he was waiting, Flame Ripper prepared to shoot at them the very same fiery yellow sparks that conceived his spheres of fire. The Demon Rats somehow managed to deflect the sparks and thought that the demon did not have much power left.
Thus, their battalion leader ordered them to charge forth.
“Heh! Right into our trap.” Flame Ripper clapped once, and the sparks of fire ignited into a burst into a pillar of fire, incinerating any rats that were within the radius of the pillar. The Demon Rats were shocked by that attack but did not trouble them much as they continued to charge right in front of them. Death, in their opinion, were also inevitable.
“Dread Reaver you’ve been preparing for a while, so I guess yours is an anti army attack that could wipe out at least half the battalion right?” Wyrstriker questioned seeing how brilliantly bright the Death Reaper silhouette was shining right above him.
“Correct.” Dread Reaver replied as he was reaching the limits of his weapon before he changed into a proper fighting stance.
“Then you won’t mind if you let me practice a bit first. After all, I am not as strong as you guys.” Wyrstriker said as he inserted chi into his gearbox spear.
