A Core Ship From The Start
/ A Core Ship From The Start Chapter 1005
Chapter 1005: Chapter 694: Blade of Judgment Chapter 1005: Chapter 694: Blade of Judgment The downpour was relentless.
Klay lurked among the bushes, holding his breath with extreme caution while gripping his longbow, using the forest as cover to conceal his presence.
However, a hand suddenly appeared from behind and landed on his shoulder, nearly making the ranger scream. He turned around to find a bearded, rugged old face, grinning slyly at him.
“Hey, Ben! Can you fucking stop scaring people like that? I almost yelled!”
“All that means is your skills are not yet perfect, kid.”
Ben curled his lips, moving to Klay's side with the characteristic agility and stealth of a wanderer, silently boasting his expertise. Yet Klay had nothing to say in response, for both rangers and wanderers pride themselves on concealment, and in truth… his own skills were far from perfect.
“How are things looking?”
“No one has come out.”
Klay spoke in a hushed tone.
“The others?”
“Waiting in the back. I just checked around, and no one has spotted us. It looks like we might really catch a big fish this time.”
Ben covered his mouth to keep his breath from showing, murmuring almost to himself, his voice blending into the chilling early autumn rain and difficult to make out.
The Blade of Judgment squad had set out a week ago. Similar in nature to an Adventure Squad and usually comprising of five members, their primary mission was to investigate requests and commissions received by the Tribunal and fulfill them.
Issues like a village suffering from goblin harassment, or a witch in the swamp who had stolen a child, were all within the Tribunal's purview.
Although the Tribunal's territory had no issues, outside the borders was another story altogether. After all, most of the world's villages are remote strongholds. Some are simply built and not within any lord's domain; and because these places are generally far-flung, the lord's Guard Squad wouldn't make the long trek to provide help. Therefore, these isolated villages could only rely on themselves when problems arose.
But now, with the Tribunal, the situation was different.
Established to protect humans, the Tribunal would intervene in any threat against humanity. Hence, the Blade of Judgment squad was born, operating with the flexibility of Adventurers, primarily focusing on scouting tasks. Like this team, the Tribunal had received a plea for help from a village in the nearby Lost Mountains, reporting recent goblin attacks and requesting assistance.
So, the squad had set off from the city to investigate the situation in that village.
Unfortunately, they were a step too late. Upon their arrival, the village was already destroyed–some villagers killed and others missing.
Fortunately, goblins are not a smart enough race to erase their own tracks, and Klay, as a ranger, had managed to find their footprints, then located the goblin camp, and launched a successful raid.
The goblin camp was defeated, but the battle wasn't over yet. According to the goblins, the villagers had been taken as captives to a being called the “Supreme True God,” where their souls would merge with this entity and become a stronger existence.
Initially, Klay hadn't taken this so-called Supreme True God seriously. Goblins are a weak, evil, and highly sly race. They would deem any strong entity as a deity–perhaps today a giant dragon, tomorrow a mage… But regardless, they had to save the villagers, which was why they continued on to this place.
Despite being mentally prepared, what they saw still shocked them.
In a depression in the mountains, stood a decrepit fortress, presumably a Dwarf stronghold, now abandoned. Yet, despite this, the fortress remained relatively intact. However, the real issue was what resided within the fortress–hundreds of goblins, mountain giants, and even half-beastmen gathered together, forming an army, with their leader's identity still unknown.
But it was certain that whoever could unite such barbaric monsters and keep them obedient was not a minor character.
This led to the squad facing a dilemma: what to do next? Should they sneak in to learn more about the enemy before reporting back or report immediately and wait for reinforcements from the rear?
“I need to apologize to you first.”
Ben's smile faded as he stared intently at Klay.
“What's wrong?”
“I've already sent a report to the Tribunal.”
“You…!”
Upon hearing Ben's answer, Klay was taken aback. He subconsciously reached out to grab the other man, but thankfully, the last bit of rationality in him realized the consequences of causing a commotion here. Nevertheless, anger was still raging inside him.
“Why didn't you consult with me?”
Klay was the leader of the squad, while Ben was the deputy leader. Although Ben was about a decade older than Klay, Klay was younger and more robust, and as a ranger, he was experienced. Plus–it just didn't seem quite right to have a wanderer as the leader, so in the end, Klay took on the role of the leader, with Ben as the deputy.
Chapter end
|
Report
|
|
Donate
Oh o, this user has not set a donation button.
|
