“This is interesting.”
As they walked into the cavern, they saw traces of goblin work throughout the entire cavern. It was dug cut out crudely with different tools and the ground was filled in many areas to level it for even walking. Next was the smell. There was a faint stench of goblin and rot in the air. There was also a hint of ammonia.
‘Feces…’
After flashing lights at the wall, they found feces all over the ground and walls.
“Ugh, they pooped all over the place.”
“Don’t let your guard down. We are against highly intelligent monsters.”
The 3rd battalion’s scout captain Merrick was tense. The battle at the entrance was a huge victory, but after a huge loss, the goblins quickly disappeared from the forest. They roamed all over the forest, killing everything in their way. And with that, they also killed the monkeys living near Kong. It made Kong furious.
What made it worse was that the goblins had lured Kong to the Khalodian base camp. The enraged Kong, who had its babies attacked by goblins, went berserk and rammed into the camp’s defensive lines. No obstacles were enough to stop or defeat Kong. It was the first time that the Empire’s defense was penetrated. Kong charged and almost destroyed everything in its way, only if it wasn’t for a little girl who stopped it.
‘If it wasn’t for her… anyways.’
It had been thirty minutes since they walked into the cavern. The cavern was large and wide; they were getting used to the smell, but they had not found any goblins yet.
Merrick thought, and that’s when he saw a hand shoot up in front.
‘We got it!’
It was the signal from an Ainos named Jorua.
“Turn off the lights!”
Merrick hissed and every single light was turned off. Silence fell and Jorua shot up his hand with five fingers outstretched.
‘Five of them.’
There were five goblins on the move. They seemed to be sniffing something, walking directly towards their location. Merrick, who had night vision goggles on, quickly moved. Five soldiers immediately readied and fired their crossbows.
The arrows accurately penetrated the goblins’ heads or hearts.
“It’s starting.”
“We are at a crossroad.”
Jorua came closer to report his findings and Merrick asked his members.
“Left or right?”
“Left. I want to go left.”
“Me too.”
“I think the right is better.”
His soldiers said which path they preferred and Merrick decided, “We go left.”
“Huh? We have more people who want to go right!”
“I don’t care. Anyways, leave a mark. The Nnxt team will go right.”
His soldiers ranted, but Merrick ignored them and began walking toward the left. Jorua also went back to the front and got back into position.
“This place is huge.”
“It’s getting wider as we move in.”
It was already a larger-than-normal cave, but now it was huge and tunnel-like. And what was weird was that it was now so much brighter that they didn’t even need flashlights or goggles. The walls and ceilings were faintly glowing.
“That’s why these goblins made this place as their home.”
“Yeah. It’s not very bright, but it should be enough for them.”
Goblins were nocturnal by nature, so they didn’t need bright lights.
“I hear water.”
Jorua stopped and Merrick and his soldiers gathered up.
“We are very close. I hear goblin voices also.”
“Whoa. We got it.”
Everyone seemed happy. Their priority was to find a water source as it was the most important aspect for life. There were a series of streams flowing inside the large cavern which were also filled with countless fish. Those were the reasons why the goblins could have lived in such large numbers in this cave.
“Jorua, Haksen, go scout ahead. Be careful and only use crossbows when necessary.”
Merrick issued his orders and two men stealthily moved forward.
“The rest of us will stand watch. This is their home, and remember that our lives are at risk.”
The soldiers spread out and hid behind rocks and openings to guard.
End of Chapter
