Chapter 387 - 316: An Ordinary Goblin (2)

Chapter 387: Chapter 316: An Ordinary Goblin (2)

"Don’t call me that. Never mind." Shire shook his head, then turned and walked toward the forest.

The goblin troop moved with a silent understanding, bypassing the pack of Petrifying Lizards in the center of the clearing. Those lizards were either dead where they stood, being hunted down by Caocao, or had already turned tail and fled into the forest.

As Shire passed by, he had to order Caocao not to kill them all, but to tie up any survivors with rope.

"No! Not good for Green Egg! Lizards dangerous, will bite Green Egg." Caocao shook his head back and forth like a rattle.

"It’s fine. I can tame them." After much persuasion, Shire finally convinced Caocao to spare the surviving Petrifying Lizards. The child had clearly awakened the primal killing instinct hidden deep within the Giant race, and he’d been ready to leave not a single lizard alive.

Bypassing the pile of Petrifying Lizard corpses, he made a point to instruct Bai Mao to take some men, cut open the stomachs of the dead lizards, and collect the gastric fluid inside. That stuff could reverse petrification. If any goblins were petrified but their bodies were still intact, the fluid could be used to save them. "Save every one you can. They are all my precious subordinates."

...

On the battlefield, the situation can change in an instant. Bald Hide was still brimming with confidence, waiting for the enemy to fall into disarray, when two strange whistles suddenly sounded from far behind him.

’What is that sound? Some kind of birdcall?’ he wondered. After surviving in the forest for so many years, he had never heard a call like it—sharp, urgent, and seeming to shoot straight up into the sky. ’Is this another one of their new tricks?’

He had brought 100 Petrifying Lizards this time. Even after giving 20 to the other goblin contingent, he still had 80 on hand. The thought of the terrifying ice-freezing effect he’d witnessed before made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. ’But with this many big lizards, I refuse to believe you can freeze them all at once!’

Bald Hide confidently ordered the goblins to drive out all the Petrifying Lizards, even making a point to tell them to spread the lizards out a little. When a subordinate ran up to report that there was no freezing effect, he waved his arms in excitement. "I knew you couldn’t have that many strange tricks! How could a bunch of outcasts get their hands on anything powerful?"

But once again, the developing situation completely defied his expectations. The way the battle unfolded proceeded to shatter his every perception—

"What? A white Giant is holding back the big lizards?"

"Explosions? What explosions?"

"Sword Rain? The Centaurs have started shooting?"

"The white Giant is still alive? And many of the big lizards are dead?"

"The Flying Goblins were shot down? By more explosions?"

He stood there, stunned. The turn of events had forced him off his comfortable seat on the stump, though he still did his best to keep a hand on his feathered crown. ’Why is there still no word? What in the world is that other goblin contingent doing?’

Bald Hide had no idea that, at that very moment, the other contingent of goblins had started fighting amongst themselves over food, allowing Nine-finger and Broken Tooth to lead a surprise attack. The skirmish had now devolved into a one-sided chase.

"Military Leader, what do we do now? Do we charge straight ahead?"

"Hold on, let me think," Bald Hide hesitated. His mind raced as he tried to devise his next tactic, but unfortunately, his strategic genius had its limits. "Don’t rush. Watch what I do."

The correct move at this point was to charge forward and engage the enemy. As the Military Leader, he was duty-bound to do so without hesitation.

The goblins’ primitive method of warfare finally surfaced in his mind. So, with one hand securing his feathered crown and the other grabbing a wooden club from the ground, he bellowed an order for all goblins to follow his charge.

Unfortunately, Bald Hide had underestimated the number of Feathered Serpent Goblins present. With over 1,000 goblins, a single command passed down the line could easily morph from "I’m going out to find food!" into "I’m going outside to find shit!" By the time he led his group in a charge, many goblins were still standing around, staring at each other in confusion with expressions that plainly asked, ’What are we supposed to be doing?’

They weren’t given much time to wonder, however. Shouts erupted from the woods behind them as the Centaurs began to encircle the large mass of goblins.

Bald Hide brandished his club and ran for about twenty meters before he suddenly realized there weren’t many goblins around him. The chattering and screeching didn’t sound right, either. Compared to the cacophony that filled the woods during a food search, the goblin cries now seemed to come only from his immediate surroundings.

’What’s going on?’ He stopped and looked around, only to see goblins trickling in behind him in a scattered line. ’Huh? Is this it? They didn’t charge?’

His first thought was, ’These Dongtous want to betray me!’

It never occurred to Bald Hide that his own bizarre maneuver had fragmented the entire Feathered Serpent Kingdom’s goblin force. He was lost in the conviction that those Dongtous were jealous of him, plotting to let him die so they could take over and wheedle the High Priest into making one of them a Military Leader.

Just as this group of goblins stood there blankly, blinking their beady little green eyes while waiting for Bald Hide’s next command, a great roar of shouts came from the clearing beyond the forest.

’It’s over! Judging by the sound, they’re attacking!’ Bald Hide realized instantly. That chattering and screeching didn’t sound like wails of agony at all; instead, it sounded... excited. He could even faintly make out what sounded like shouts of "Capture Bald Hide alive!"

’Do I run or keep fighting?’ He hesitated for a moment, but his mind was quickly made up. A goblin’s natural instincts overrode his tactical thinking. ’Run! I’ll run all the way back to the stone tower and tell the High Priest just how treacherous those Dongtous are! They conspired to get me killed!’

And so, the moment he spotted a familiar figure in the distance charging toward him with a black longsword, a memory he thought long buried assaulted his sanity. Without a second thought, Bald Hide dropped his club, turned, and fled.

"I see him! I see him!" Red Eyes shouted excitedly from behind. "Bald Hide’s the one with the feathers!"

He swung his longsword, his eyes locked on the path ahead, shouting incessantly.

Hearing the shouts behind him, Bald Hide immediately stopped trying to secure his grouse-tail feather crown. Instead, he ripped it off his head and tossed it aside. This was a life-or-death escape; who had time to care about being the snazziest goblin in the tribe?

"Hm?" Without the conspicuous forest grouse-tail feather as a marker, Red Eyes couldn’t immediately pick Bald Hide out from the mob of fleeing goblins. Soon enough, however, his eyes locked onto one particular escapee.

"The one in the flashy clothes is Bald Hide! After him!" Red Eyes shouted with excitement. Before the battle, their leader Shire had mentioned that the enemy commander seemed like an interesting character, and that they should try to capture him alive rather than bludgeon him to death. So, from the moment he began his Charge, Red Eyes had been fixated on taking the enemy Military Leader, Bald Hide, alive.

’Me? My clothes?’ Bald Hide glanced down at his body as he ran. He had specifically requested this red, yellow, and blue outfit from the High Priest to distinguish himself from the common goblins. This way, he could be recognized at a glance, preventing any unfortunate incidents of being clubbed from behind. He never imagined it would end up being an even more eye-catching target.

He tore frantically at the clothes, pulling them off. It was a good thing goblins had no real sewing skills; the flashy garments came apart easily and were tossed to the ground. Unfortunately, trying to undress while running at full tilt caused his body to twist and flail about as he struggled to keep his footing and escape.

By the time he’d flung the last of his clothes away, he was stumbling and on the verge of tripping. But Bald Hide gritted his teeth and managed to stay upright. Using his hands and feet to steady his body, he snapped his head up, ready to keep running—only to find something dark blocking his path.

BONK! Bald Hide ran headfirst into the very stump he had been sitting on moments before. The world spun around him, and he collapsed onto his back, out cold.

SPLAT. A boot stomped on his face, leaving a dark print behind. Red Eyes stood by the stump, searching around frantically. "Runs that fast? Enemy’s a rabbit."

He glanced down at the unconscious Bald Hide. ’Just a normal goblin. Useless.’

With that, Red Eyes brandished his longsword and resumed his search through the forest for the runaway Bald Hide.