Novel Full Chapter 140 - Can It Work?
Eldrian felt uncomfortable as everyone looked at him, no one talking. "Did you all know?" He asked, unable to endure the silence any longer.
"No, but we reasoned something was up when the creatures of the forest attacked us, yet left us alive. So we knew something was up" Terlas answered lazily as he waited for Eldrian to catch up and explain what was actually going on.
Eldrian did not like how they seemed fine when learning that a devil had been between them. How come this does not bother them more. A devil had infiltrated their ranks with ease!
"Correct, us being alive told us that something more has happened. I just wish they would have brought my arm. Regrowing it is going to be a pain." Floyd grumbled the last part. His mentioning it caused everyone to look at his left arm which truly was missing.
"Oh, that reminds me," Eldrian said, taking Floyd's arm out of his inventory. Happy that it was still as fresh and bloody as when he had picked it up. It might sound weird that he was happy it is bloody, but this indicated that everything was still in good condition. Eldrian felt certain this would make reattaching it easier.
The others looked at Eldrian weirdly as he gave Floyd's arm to him.
"You had time to even pick that up?" Terlas asked, wondering just how Eldrian had done it. They had run in terror, yet Eldrian had saved Sabrea and Floyd's arm. Terlas decided to believe it was because Eldrian was not afraid of dying.
"Well, it did not take much effort," Eldrian replied, not understanding why they were so shocked.
After this little scene, Floyd took a few minutes to reattach his arm. Grateful he did not have to regrow it. While he was capable of doing so, it was not a pleasant experience. Quite painful and it took a good deal of time.
They had been informed of the situation by Margit and as such, but they wanted to hear the details from Eldrian. Since he was the one and only one, who had talked with the Alicorns.
"Do you think it might have been devils who attack Vivian and the others? Margit said she did not think so, but, if Andreas was a devil..." Eldrian asked as they headed to the edge of the forest. Their party was certainly weaker than when they first set out. Eldrian hoped that it would be enough to save Vivian.
On the way, Eldrian had given Sabrea her armor after having caught Terlas looking at her inappropriately a couple of times. Which had prompted him to remember that she was still in her clothes which certainly did little to cover her figure.
She took some time to fix all the things Eldrian had broken. Simply from the state of her armor, everyone could see how desperate Eldrian had been when treating her. Eldrian had also found that he had taken her weapon when he had stored all the armor pieces. As such, she was the best equipped in their little party.
"No, I don't think so," Floyd replied, causing the others' eyes to go to him. "I do not think this was his aim. It does not make sense to infiltrate a simple Tier 3 kingdom. If it had been a Tier 1 kingdom, maybe. We aren't worth that much effort."
"True, devils have a hard time getting children." Sabrea agreed, knowing that there was no way they would place their child in such danger for so little gain. Lower rank devils might do something like that, but they were unable to shapeshift and as such would not have been able to infiltrate their ranks.
"Just like all long-lived races. It is the only thing that stops them from truly taking over the world." Terlas added, playing with the bow Eldrian had given him. He hoped that they would pass where the Pegasus had knocked him out.
He felt uncomfortable simply knowing he had to use this bow. When he thought that he might need it to save his life he almost felt like throwing a tantrum. The bow isn't even a magic weapon! Terlas complained internally, not sharing his little situation with the others.
Around an hour's walk later the group arrived at the edge of the forest. Looking at his map Eldrian saw that they were off to one side, the left. They had entered almost perfectly in the center, hence he did not think they could retrace their steps to find Terlas's bow and Floyd's staff.
Luckily Eldrian had had one of each. While the staff did not do much for Floyd, it was better than a blade. Floyd had no training in how to use a blade, but he knew how to use a staff. Mostly for self-defense, but this was still better than him being useless in close combat.
"What's the plan, boss?" Terlas asked jokingly as they arrived at the forest's edge and could see the barren earth spreading into the distance.
Eldrian took his words at face value and stated his plan. "I am going to go out, to see if the goblins rush out. If they do then my plan might really work."
"That is too dangerous!" Margit shouted, causing Eldrian to stop just before he crossed the boundary between grass and dirt.
"Not really, even if I am killed I will simply revive in the spring after half an hour." But this pause did cause him to realize that he was rushing a bit.
As such Eldrian took a bit more time to prepare himself and the others. Making sure that everyone had what they would need. Mostly Terlas, who only had one quiver of arrows right now. Eldrian dumped all the arrows left in his inventory, forming a small hill of arrows at their feet.
He then looked out past the trees, looking to his left and right. The mountain and its caves are probably a few hundred meters from us. Not more than a kilometer. The other side is a few kilometers away.
Eldrian was happy that this was the case, as it meant they would only have to deal with one side. Causing the number of goblins at once to drop by half.
'Do not follow me.' Eldrian spoke to Cephaphyr, who had kept their connection going the entire time. Eldrian had told him before, but he had to make sure that Cephaphyr would not rush out.
'Okay...' Cephaphyr replied sadly, he did not want Eldrian to leave alone.
Alright, let's see what happens. Eldrian thought, stepping past the boundary. As he crossed into the wasteland he found nothing happened. Eldrian took a few breaths to calm himself as he continued walking forward.
Once he reached almost 50 meters the goblins seemed to notice them. They screeched in a high pitched scream as they rushed down from their caves. Their shouts calling the others who had been lazy or missed Eldrian entering their turf.
Eldrian swallowed hard to keep his cool as he saw the entire mountain be colored by the charging goblins. Thousands upon thousands.
I hope they don't enter the forest! Eldrian prayed as he ran back to the forest. As soon as he entered the forest the goblins stopped, shouting in fury at the prey lost. They slowly started heading back to the caves after a few minutes.
"Seems like I guessed correctly. The forest will be a safe zone where we can escape too. Next question is how are we going to deal with them all?" Eldrian said aloud, not really expecting any feedback. He was simply thinking aloud.
He did not like their odds. There were simply too many goblins and without any large area of effect spells, there was no way that they would be able to deal with all the rabble. Then there would also certainly be many more inside the caves, all of whom would be far stronger than those protecting the cave openings.
No one came up with a good solution, the only thing Eldrian managed to think of was to guide them close enough to the forest. Allowing Terlas and Margit to target them with their range attacks. But this would take ages and Eldrian had no idea if it would even work.
He relayed his plan to the others. While they felt it might work. None of them was comfortable simply attacking the goblins when the only thing protecting them, was the fact that the goblins would not enter the forest.
There was no guarantee that this would not change as they started killing the goblins.
"Why don't we just build a safe place?" Eldrian asked, causing the others to stop arguing and turn to him.
"I mean we are surrounded by trees here, so why don't we make a platform on a few. From which you guys can attack as much as you want. I will lead them." Eldrian continued, his approach getting many approvals.
"No, that is too dangerous. If anyone should lead them, it should be me." Sabrea countered, feeling that it was her responsibility as the vanguard.
"Sabrea, I appreciate the sentiment. But I can't die, you can..." Complete silence ruled the area once Eldrian said this. The others always had something against Eldrian for precisely this fact. He would not die in the mission, they could.
His using this to stop them from putting themselves in more danger certainly increased their likeability towards Eldrian.