“Your Majesty. It’s the signal.”
Joonbum looked up to the sky. There was a bright signal flare soaring into the sky.
“It’s starting.”
Jinpok mumbled as helicopters flew up from far behind the forest and began flying at the goblin fortress. Countless goblins surged out of the fortress to defend it. There were so many that it was impossible to count.
“Whoa, how many are coming out?”
“There are so many!”
Jinpok frowned and Joonbum was surprised. The soldiers looked disgusted at the sight of so many goblins.
“Keek! Human! Monster!”
A large number of goblins shouted toward the sky. They didn’t seem to be afraid of the helicopters.
“Hah, idiots,” Jinpok spat with disgust. Goblins were so used to fighting humans and winning easily that they were not afraid of humans anymore.
“We’ll start! Put on your masks!”
A small ball-shaped item was thrown in the air and exploded, spreading purple smoke. Surprised, the goblins began to scream and scatter. However, they soon regrouped and began firing arrows at the helicopter in anger. The purple smoke quickly dissipated and no more balls were thrown as the helicopters began to fly back.
“Keeek!”
Suddenly, a goblin spat out blood and fell. The goblin next to it looked dumbfounded and soon met the same fate.
“B-blood!”
“P-poison!”
“Keek! Human!”
“Poison!”
Thousands of goblins began coughing and spitting blood as they fell dead, but more goblins replaced those as they exited the cave. However, the new goblins also fell prey to the poison gas that was still present in the area.
Soon, the goblins did not dare come out of the cave. And with a new signal flare, the bright light illuminated the dark night.
“It’s coming!”
Thousands of soldiers appeared from the snow. With their masks on, they began to move forward.
“Burn off the gas with fire! Move forward!”
Horns were blown and soldiers armed with flamethrowers sprayed fire as they moved. The flames burned everything in its way. The poisonous gas burned together with the melting snow, creating small streams. Soon, they reached the fortress and began burning down the snow-capped fortress and the goblin bodies inside. A foul stench filled the area as the corpses were burned and soon exploded.
“This is horrible…” one of the soldiers mumbled. None of the soldiers said anything, but they all shared the same thought.
“We feel that because they talk,” Jinpok said in a rough voice, surprising everyone.
‘That’s right.’
They felt horrible killing only these monsters in particular. It was because they knew how to speak.
“Let’s retreat!”
Joonbum got up and ordered and the soldiers to begin to retreat. The sky was covered with thick smoke as the flames pushed the smoke into the sky. Jinpok took out a whiskey bottle and handed it to Joonbum.
“Drink. It’s not a good one, but drink anyway.”
Joonbum accepted it and drank, then gave the bottle to Doral and he emptied it.
The goblin fortress burned for three days until it stopped from the amount of snow falling on it. The fortress wasn’t just tall. It was piled up with branches and trees that made it swell up in size. That was why it took such a long time to burn. The snow put out the flame and covered everything in white, but deep inside the fortress, burning coal sent smoke up into the sky.
“We got enough rest. Let’s go.”
Jinpok ordered and horns were blown to signal the forces.
“Stay in line and advance!”
“Whoa!”
Soldiers shouted.
“Move on! Soldiers of Khalodian! Forward! Conquer! Destroy!” The soldiers charged as they moved forward, listening to Jinpok roar as he advanced.
“Whoa, you’re talented at this. The soldiers are all pumped up.”
“Heh. What do you think?”
“It’s great.”
Joonbum flashed his thumbs up and Jinpok laughed. The advance started flawlessly. It seemed that many goblins had hidden inside deep inside the cave. Only a few goblins left during the night to search the area, not knowing that their every movement was being tracked.
End of Chapter
