Chapter 125: Botched Negotiation!

The pursuit party had barely entered the hidden passage before they discovered exactly how Varkas intended to slow anyone stubborn enough to follow him.

The tunnel itself was surprisingly well-made for something clearly designed as an emergency route, wide enough for two or three people to travel abreast in most places, while old support beams reinforced sections where the surrounding earth became unstable.

Damian led from the front with his Divine Sense spread ahead, while Kellan remained close behind, Garrick’s spear gripped tightly enough that his knuckles had gone pale.

They had not traveled particularly far when Damian suddenly stopped, causing everyone behind him to nearly walk straight into his back.

Paulina leaned around one shoulder. "What is it?"

Damian’s expression darkened as he moved toward a narrow side passage, the sound of chains scraping against stone coming from within.

The first Human slave they found was an older man whose ankle had been shackled to a metal ring driven deep into the wall.

Three others sat beside him in similar restraints, while another two lay exhausted against the stone after apparently struggling against their bonds for some time.

Even more prisoners had been abandoned farther inside.

By the time the group finished searching the immediate area, there were more than a dozen Humans scattered through several small side chambers.

Kellan’s face hardened. "They left them here?"

"Tsk, tsk. It was done deliberately too," Janet replied, crouching beside one of the chains.

"Look at how they’re positioned. Anyone chasing the Goblins would have to stop and free them or ignore them completely," Janet pointed out with a shake of her head.

Julia’s lips tightened. "Using slaves as obstacles."

Paulina spat onto the stone. "Despicable cowards!"

Damian said nothing for a moment.

He had already known from Varkas’s retreat that the Chieftain was intelligent.

This was simply another reminder that intelligence and morality had never been remotely synonymous.

Fortunately, the slaves were still conscious enough to speak.

Once Eunice provided water and checked the worst injuries, the oldest man immediately began explaining everything he could.

"Chief Varkas is ahead, and his daughter too. They took the strange old Goblin with all the bones and feathers, maybe twelve... fifteen warriors? Kinda hard to count in this tunnel," the man explained quickly.

Damian’s attention sharpened. "Anything unusual about the warriors?"

The man nodded quickly. "They’re not like the ones from the camp. They are bigger, with far better equipment. I’ve been with this damned clan almost two years and I barely ever saw them. Some didn’t even sleep near the other warriors."

So there it was, huh?

Old Varky Boy had some hidden reserves!

Damian had indeed expected something like that, not because he was prescient, but because he and Ravelhorn agreed that Varkas was too ambitious for his own good.

The slaves gave far more details afterward, describing Varkas’s party composition, the pace of their retreat, the Shaman and Vesha’s presence, how the Goblins had repeatedly separated captives from the main group, and which direction they continued afterward.

Unfortunately, there was one major limitation.

"We couldn’t understand what they were saying since they spoke Goblintongue almost the entire time. They sounded worried when they left us, but that’s all I know," another slave revealed apologetically.

Damian nodded.

That alone was enough.

Varkas had preserved an elite group outside his known military strength, brought a Shaman, and kept enough Human slaves alive to use tactically during the retreat. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

More importantly...

They were still moving.

Damian looked down the tunnel.

If Varkas reached the exit and decided to collapse it behind himself, the entire pursuit group might lose hours digging through rock while the Goblins disappeared across whatever terrain waited outside.

No, that was not happening!

Damian turned toward the others.

"Keep following the passage and free anyone else you find. Move quickly, but don’t become careless. Varky Boy has already demonstrated he likes traps."

Stella frowned. "What about you, Lord?"

"I’ll go ahead and secure the exit before our clever friend decides to permanently close the door," Damian responded with narrowed eyes.

Ronan immediately looked irritated. "My Lord..."

"I know, I know. Bodyguard duties," Damian quickly interrupted him before the fellow could go on a tirade.

Ronan’s mouth shut while Damian gave him an apologetic smile.

"Definitely next time, alright? This time is an emergency."

Ronan’s expression suggested he had heard those words far too many times already.

Damian stepped onto Longtian.

There was obviously nowhere near enough vertical space inside the tunnel for proper flight, but Flying Sword movement did not require a sky.

Longtian lifted him less than a meter from the ground, then accelerated.

WHOOSH!

Damian shot through the tunnel!

He obviously did not move anywhere close to the five-hundred-kilometer-per-hour speeds he’d used above Moonveil Forest.

That would have been a wonderfully efficient way to paint himself across the first unexpected corner!

Instead, he remained low and fast, leaning with Longtian through bends while Divine Sense constantly scanned the passage ahead.

Nothing within 252 meters escaped his awareness, which saved his life less than two minutes later.

Damian’s eyes narrowed as Longtian stopped instantly.

A thin steel wire crossed the tunnel at roughly neck height.

The thing was ridiculously difficult to see in the darkness, stretched tightly enough between two recessed anchors that someone running through at full speed might never notice it until their body continued forward without whichever piece the wire caught first.

Damian stared.

"...Nasty."

That wasn’t a warning trap... that was an execution trap!

And it was a surprisingly sophisticated one at that!

A normal Adventurer rushing through after hearing prey ahead could easily hit it before their eyes adjusted.

Damian extended one finger.

"Ignis."

A tiny <Firebolt> streaked forward and struck one anchor point, melting and snapping the wire before Damian resumed moving.

His respect for Varkas increased another fraction while his desire to kill him increased considerably more.

Several smaller traps appeared afterward.

None were as dangerous as the wire, but they were still enough to prove whoever prepared this escape had planned for desperate pursuit despite not expecting it.

Damian bypassed them without slowing significantly.

Eventually, fresh air entered his Divine Sense as the tunnel began rising and light appeared around the final curve.

The exit!

Damian slowed immediately because something was wrong.

There were no traps, no hidden explosives, no collapse mechanism, nor any trigger line.

Damian stopped several meters from the opening and frowned.

Varkas had trapped practically everything behind himself.

He had rigged Blackroot Den to collapse, abandoned slaves as delays, and even installed a steel wire capable of cutting an inattentive pursuer in half.

Yet his final escape point was completely clean?

That didn’t make sense.

Unless...

Damian expanded Divine Sense to its maximum range beyond the tunnel mouth.

The invisible field spread across Greenmoss Flats, scanning open grass, low vegetation, Dark Goblins, and four Human shapes.

His expression changed.

For several seconds, Damian said nothing.

Then, he laughed coldly.

"So that’s what we’re doing, huh? No problem."

Longtian surged forward.

BOOM!

Damian exploded out of the concealed passage and entered open sunlight.

The first thing he saw was Varkas, while the second made something inside him turn very, very cold.

Four young Adventurers had been captured.

They were arranged several meters apart upon crude wooden frames the Dark Goblins had hastily assembled from travel poles, broken equipment, and timber taken from nearby.

The structures resembled tanning racks.

Each youngster had been stripped naked and tied spread-eagled against the frames, wrists and ankles stretched outward so they could neither curl inward nor protect themselves.

Bruises covered their bodies, cuts marked exposed skin, and one boy’s face had swollen badly around the left eye while another had blood dried beneath his nose.

The young woman positioned farthest right had a large purple bruise across her ribs.

Thankfully, all four were unconscious.

Damian had never been particularly religious before Valoria, but he almost thanked Lyla on principle for that small mercy.

Being beaten and taken hostage was traumatic enough.

They did not need to remain awake while monsters stripped them, stretched them across racks, and prepared to use their lives as bargaining chips.

Damian’s gaze moved toward the Dark Goblins, noting that they had clearly been waiting for him.

Varkas stood at the front, Vesha remained several meters behind him, and the Goblin Shaman stood among the elites while roughly a dozen hardened warriors formed a loose defensive formation around their leaders and the captives.

Nobody looked surprised to see Damian.

Well, that certainly explained the clean exit.

They had finally grown a brain and realized they couldn’t outrun their pursuers.

Greenmoss Flats had originally been chosen because it was perfect for disappearing once the tunnel succeeded.

The region contained few dangerous monsters, open grassland stretched for enormous distances, and any ordinary pursuit force should have remained buried beneath Blackroot Den after triggering the cavern trap.

What was originally an advantage became a curse the moment someone actually discovered the passage.

There were almost no trees, no dense terrain, nor any deep monster territories to disappear inside.

There was nothing capable of concealing a group of Dark Goblins from someone who could fly, and running would foolishly expose their backs.

So Varkas had done what intelligent creatures did when escape stopped being realistic... he found leverage!

Unfortunately for those four novice Adventurers...

They had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Damian descended to the ground and then walked forward slowly.

Longtian circled him as he approached, the sword releasing a low metallic growl that sounded disturbingly alive.

Varkas watched him every step of the way.

The Dark Goblin Chieftain was not tall.

Even by Goblin standards, his body relied more upon compact strength than physical size.

Against Damian’s tall Human frame, the height difference became almost ridiculous.

Damian stopped barely several meters away as Longtian continued orbiting him.

He towered over Varkas, with no smile, jokes, nor casual commentary on his face or on his lips.

There was only stark coldness.

"Explain yourself, Goblin."

WHOOSH!

His Battle Aura erupted, the accumulated weight of Damian’s violence spreading across Greenmoss Flats in a single invisible wave!

Every Dark Goblin reacted.

One warrior’s weapon slipped from suddenly numb fingers.

Another tried stepping backward and discovered his legs had completely stopped obeying him.

Several elites froze where they stood, hearts hammering as their instincts roared that something overwhelmingly dangerous had entered striking distance.

The aura knew hostility.

That strange red-name logic Damian joked about earlier suddenly became horrifyingly real.

These people viewed him as an enemy, therefore every bit of Minor Intimidation the evolved Battle Aura could produce settled directly upon them.

Against these weaker warriors, it was more than enough as their fear evolved into paralysis.

Vesha gasped as the pressure struck her.

Her instincts had warned her for hours that something terrible approached from behind.

Now that very thing stood directly before them!

Her legs trembled violently, but unlike several warriors, she could still move... barely.

The Shaman fared similarly.

Bone charms rattled as the old Goblin struggled to remain upright, spiritual training and greater experience preventing complete paralysis even while terror crawled through his body.

Varkas took the worst of it as Damian was standing directly in front of him, meaning the Chieftain bore the concentrated focus of that aura at point-blank range.

His shoulders dipped and one knee almost buckled.

A grunt of pain escaped between clenched teeth, yet his eyes never lowered.

Defiance, willpower, hatred, and responsibility burned inside them.

Whatever else Varkas Blackroot might be, cowardice apparently wasn’t included.

Damian noticed this, and also noticed how much effort Varkas required simply to move his jaw.

The Chieftain forced the words out one by one.

"Captured... for... negotiation."

His breathing became heavier.

"Trade... life..."

Varkas swallowed.

"...for life."

Damian looked at him strangely.

The broken speech had nothing to do with poor Valorian.

Varkas’s language ability was perfectly adequate.

He simply had Damian’s Battle Aura pressing against his nervous system so violently that speaking an entire sentence required conscious effort.

Honestly, the fact he could speak at all said a considerable amount about him.

The meaning, however, was perfectly clear.

Four Human lives in exchange for Damian allowing Varkas, Vesha, the Shaman, and the remaining Dark Goblins to leave Greenmoss Flats alive.

If Damian attacked, attempted to pursue them after accepting, or tried to rescue the captives before the Goblins reached safety, Varkas intended for the hostages to die.

A crude bargain.

But from Varkas’s perspective, it was the only bargaining chip he had left.

Damian remained silent, then he took one step as purple-grey mist swallowed his body.

<Misty Step>!

Varkas’s eyes widened.

Damian vanished from directly in front of him and reappeared beside the captive youngsters.

The Shaman’s expression changed immediately, but it was too late.

Damian’s <Truesight> and <Divine Sense> had already noticed the foreign magical structures wrapped around all four victims.

Dark curses, simple ones by Damian’s standards, but still lethal to these youngsters.

It was precisely the sort of nasty contingency designed so that if the captives were removed improperly, attacked by rescue magic, or carried beyond whatever limits the Shaman established...

They would die, and painfully so.

Clever indeed, but mediocre.

Damian raised one hand.

"Dispello!"

<Dispel Magic>!

The first curse broke, then the second, third, and fourth!

Under ordinary circumstances, perhaps <Remove Curse> would have been the cleaner answer.

Damian had that exact Level 3 Divine prayer prepared.

But these curse structures had been created by a Goblin Shaman whose Stage and Attributes sat far beneath Damian’s current monstrous collection of numbers.

His adapted <Dispel Magic> had more than enough authority to tear through them.

The Shaman watched his carefully placed curses disappear one after another, his face going pale.

Damian ignored him as Longtian moved.

SHING!

The ropes binding the four young Adventurers fell apart.

Damian caught each unconscious youngster with <Mage Hand> before gravity could dump them unceremoniously onto the grass.

He removed several large cloth sheets from Exchange Storage and covered them properly before lowering all four together, then created protection.

"Ira Et Dolor!"

<Glyph of Warding>!

Divine light spread around the rescued party, forming a secure boundary across the grass.

Damian wasn’t finished.

"Ex Textura!"

<Guardian of Faith>!

Radiant power descended.

The towering divine protector manifested above the four unconscious Adventurers and settled into absolute stillness, standing watch over them with enough holy authority to make approaching predators reconsider every decision leading up to their birth.

Only then did Damian nod.

Good!

They were protected, secure, and more importantly...

No longer useful as leverage.

The Dark Goblins had watched all of it occur helplessly.

Varkas’s carefully acquired bargaining position had existed for perhaps several minutes before Damian dismantled it in seconds.

Nobody could rush him because the warriors couldn’t move.

Nobody could trigger the curses because the curses no longer existed.

Nobody could threaten the captives because a <Glyph of Warding> and <Guardian of Faith> now stood between them and everyone else.

Their hard-won leverage had turned into smoke!

Vesha stared with growing horror, the Shaman’s lips trembled, while Varkas said nothing.

Damian slowly turned around. The pleasant amusement normally present somewhere in his expression was gone, and so too was the easygoing confidence.

Even the casual arrogance he had developed had disappeared.

What remained was considerably worse.

His eyes settled upon Varkas and the Dark Goblins behind him.

Longtian floated back to Damian’s side, its edge glinting beneath the midday sun.

Damian’s expression became frightening.