Rikuto sits with his fingers in front of his face as he sits idly, deep in thought. He asks, “Zuzia? I don’t know who…”

“She was an otherworld summon,” retorts Daniel, not giving Rikuto time to think. “She’s probably taller than the average woman here, has some kind of unique trait, and she made quite the exit from Castle Mornistae.”

“You dare to make such accusations!” shouts Count Baumalde, seeming to not care about etiquette or rank now that he has already had one outburst.

“Your Majesty,” starts Doephluev. “Since Count Baumalde has nothing of value to add to this conversation, I would urge you to consider asking him to leave. Otherwise, the next territory we annex into the Fievegal just might be the Baumalde county.”

“You demons can’t threaten us like this! This is hardly peace-...”

“Count Baumalde, if you don’t want to be stripped of your title, shut your mouth and sit down. The next time you speak, you will be escorted out under guard.” Rikuto speaks mercilessly and without hesitation. He is a little thankful to the count, though. If nothing else, it did buy him time to think.

“You know a lot about happenings within our borders,” replies the Japanese man after Baumalde sits down reluctantly. “But, as you mentioned, this Zuzia made an unexpected escape using her divine gifts, and she couldn’t be stopped. To my knowledge, she hasn’t been seen since.”

“What is the Kingdom of Mornistae doing summoning otherworlders if you can’t protect them or keep track of them?” asks Geirahoel a little condescendingly. “For all your fear of your counterpart, who you banished for saving a life you seem to value so much now, you seem to have not hesitated to summon another person from Earth who could be any kind of person. And, she was able to evade your entire military for all this time?”

Rikuto is quiet for a moment. The red-haired dragon woman isn’t wrong.

Man… They’re just beating the crap out of me. I’m twenty three years old. How the heck am I supposed to know any of this? I thought the spell wouldn’t work, and I definitely didn’t expect her to flee. But, if I say that, then there would be no argument I can make for trying to leverage against handing over the artifact.

Hekate has Jieka sitting on her lap and is letting the infant eat small baked treats from a bowl.

Finally, Yuna speaks up. “Pardon me, Daniel, but if I may…?”

Daniel replies politely, “Of course. Please do, Yuna… uh, -chan.”

She smiles, and Rikuto can feel his eyebrow twitch slightly.

The elf stands up and says with an impressive projection of her voice, but without needing to yell, “It seems King Rikuto really doesn’t know about Miss Zuzia’s capture. As such, if we can make the basic agreements we came to make, and then form a contract to work together to help Miss Zuzia, we should be able to at least promote peace. If a third party is involved with Miss Zuzia, we will need to locate them and ensure we can engage them without threatening or causing collateral damage to uninvolved territories.”

Hekate and Doephluev nod in agreement, since it sounds like a solid plan. “Very well,” replies Daniel. “Your Majesty, you’ve heard our counters. Would you like to discuss further?”

Rikuto looks at Yuna briefly, and then at his side of the table to his right. He has many expectant gazes. Some of the more war-minded individuals want him to outright refuse, particularly now that they have firearms. They don’t understand the massive difference between the inaccurate, slow-to-reload, and low firepower weapons they’ve managed to make, and the Fievegal’s tried and proven arsenal that continues to grow. Cannons aren’t out of reach for Mornistae, but autoloading artillery rounds are likely already in production by the Fievegal, since they have tanks and semi-automatic pistols.

Others, on the opposite end of the spectrum, have spoken of desires to become vassals to the Fievegal, as the Empire apparently has. This would require the Fievegal’s strength to protect Mornistae, which is often misused as carte blanche for smaller territories to pick fights in hopes of being attacked first so that their rivals and adversaries can be quickly conquered by the overarching entity.

There are also untold drawbacks to becoming a vassal state, since the Fievegal could ask for unreasonable taxes, occupy the territory with their forces as a security measure, or treat the citizens of Mornistae as lesser citizens.

And, the aristocrats in between have varying levels of appeasement or opposition as their opinions, all of which Rikuto has to consider for their merits and make the best decision.

His fear of the nuclear weapons is Rikuto’s greatest factor for trying to decide. They can’t be left unchecked, especially because the Fievegal effectively has a monopoly on the fuel for the void artillery, though it is rechargeable once enough is held.

Of course, that assumes there are magic artisans to recharge the crystals.

“All other things aside, I have to insist that inspection teams be allowed to verify that there is no construction of nu-, er, Alamogordo Specials taking place. They’ll need to have access to all facilities capable of creating, enriching, and installing the fuel.”

Doephluev is the one to reply, “That’s fine, but you and your inspectors need to understand that they do not have unilateral authority to do anything but report. If your inspectors are anything but respectful, they will be imprisoned and ransomed back to the Kingdom of Mornistae for no less than one million felarcs per infraction. If they attempt harm on any member of the Fievegal, they will be imprisoned with the expectation of execution, depending on the severity of that harm. I’m certain you’ll agree.” She speaks confidently and sharply, with no room to argue.

I hate this so much. I need to focus on finding strong allies. If only I could find Senn again, I could at least try to ask him for contacts that could help level the playing field some more. Damn it!

“Of course, your Grace. The regulatory inspectors will have a great deal of burden. Though, of course, I would obviously expect that the inspectors would be given fair trials, and not be imprisoned simply for seeing something they shouldn’t have.”

“We’re not savages, your Majesty. What we have to hide will be well-hidden so such a thing would never take place. If it does, then your inspector was behaving as a spy, and not an inspector.”

Rikuto isn’t sure what to say. It’s their job to be able to ‘spy’, since they need to inspect anywhere that can produce the weapons. However, it almost sounds like she’s outright declaring that it will be a useless endeavor even in the best case scenario because there is a very thin line between a lawful inspection and espionage.

Regardless, I have to make sure something is in place.

“That won’t happen,” replies Rikuto. “If it does, I will condemn them myself.”

“Very good. We’ll hold you to that,” replies Doephluev.

Hekate adds, “Now then, we should probably discuss the delegation for us to retrieve the artifact, since we’ll be expecting not to be kidnassinated in the process.”

Several of the Fievegal’s Empresses sigh, indicating that Rikuto isn’t wrong to not know what ‘kidnassinated’ means.

Kera’tai remains respectful as she replies quietly, “Your Greatness…”

“‘Kidnassinated’ is a word now. As Empress, I have spoken. Any fool would know that it means ‘kidnapped and/or assassinated’.” She coos playfully to Jieka, “Isn’t that right, Jieka?”

The goblin princess hums as she nods, still munching on her snacks with crumbs all over her.

This really is all just a big joke to them, isn’t it?

Rikuto does his best to resist the urge to massage his temples. His exasperation is approaching the highest levels he’s probably ever felt, but he refuses to give them the satisfaction of showing it.

Though, since they’ve only really just begun, it’s going to be an uphill battle.

***

Field Marshal Klur watches as the goblins of Grendel Six continue digging carefully around the discovered magic markings. As one of the few who is almost completely literate, Floria the medic of the team is taking notes and sketching simple drawings of what is to be found.

The goblins have brought in anti-magic plates to create a perimeter that Koggus Gristak can’t enter. After reporting to Ucahote, the golem General instructed them to be extra careful with the threat of the magical beast, which does seem to be weak to magic negation. He also told them to monitor their surroundings.

Thankfully, if goblins are the experts in any area, it’s digging. The soldiers of Grendel Six have cleared most of the way around a large stone slab that extends roughly ten yards into the ground.

But, Olk returns from tunneling to the very bottom of the giant boulder, shaking dirt out of his down-angled goblin ears. He brushes off his undershirt, reporting, “It keeps going, Field Marshal.”

“Keeps going?” asks the commandant.

Olk nods. “It stops getting smaller, and when I dig spiral, it kept going. Smooth and unchange width.”

Klur thinks for a moment. “Is anyone still down there?”

“No. Only me for tunnel.”

“Did anything else stand out?” asks Floria. “Symbols? Smells? Other abnormals?”

Olk shakes his head, digging dirt out of a little deeper in his ear. “No see symbols, but mainly focus on dig. Can go check.”

“I’ll go,” replies Klur. He takes his helmet off and hands it to Floria, also removing his grey mantle and folding it swiftly. It is the symbol of his personal glory, so he prefers to minimize filth on it if he can, and it’s only likely to get hung up on something while he’s in a narrow tunnel.

He then makes his way into the hastily dug hole that Olk burrowed out. He withdraws his small non-magic flashlight from a pouch on his thigh armor. It’s a compact light made only as a backup, since goblins have excellent dark vision, but even they benefit from having light. It’ll make it much easier to spot even the most subtle details.

Just as Olk said, the tunnel reaches the underside of the uneven ‘dome’ of a giant boulder, but extending downwards is solid rock as well.

What Klur notices right away, though, is that the supporting stone is an extremely dark grey color, almost reaching pitch black. It’s an easy detail to overlook while working in the dark, but it stands out. He touches it to feel the material, which he seems to recognize.

Strangely smooth if it is what it looks like. Let’s see…

Klur scratches the surface, and his nail digs in a little bit, scraping off small amounts of the material in small specks of dust and relatively small flakes. He then tastes the end of his fingernail, studying the flavor. It doesn’t cross his mind that what he just did could be deadly.

Fortunately, his instincts were right.

It is. This is burnrock. But, I’ve never seen such a large, cleanly polished vein of it. He looks up at the underside of the boulder. While the boulder isn’t perfectly dome-shaped, it is relatively cleanly round as well. It’s not quite river stone smooth, but it seems intentionally cleaned up of any massive protrusions or defects.

Hmmm… If it’s made by people, then must be powerful.

Klur works his way down the partial spiral tunnel Olk started to confirm that the apparent burnrock column continues downward. After two more yards of depth, it’s certain that the black, flammable stone descends much deeper.

“What purpose could it serve?” murmurs the goblin to himself. “Why does Kernuules come from this? Should we destroy it? Or, would it be better to inform General first?”

Klur decides that passing information up is easy, and he can still make field decisions as necessary. The burnrock is good material to be used, so it’s possible the higher-ups will want to mine it for use.

Klur makes his way back up the tunnel and out into the main pit where the others are carefully inspecting the outer surface of the upper part of the dome. They know better than to dig out the underside of a boulder, but they do need to make sure there aren’t any other strange markings anywhere, any ritual artifacts hidden, or any entrances to what could be some kind of cavity inside.

“What’s the word, boss?” asks Locke as he approaches. “Do we keep digging?”

“There are resources to dig. But, we’re not equipped to retrieve all of it, and as soon as we do, Kernuules will attack.”

The goblins around them are silent. None of them wants to fend off the forest archfiend again. They only barely managed to drive it back into the ground with the cutting edge of Fievegal weaponry. The Klur from a year ago would already be a smear on the bark of one of the trees, if not a thrall of the devil.

The Field Marshal has Floria sketch what he observed, and she labels it with the components to be relayed to Daniel and the Empresses. Grendel Six isn’t made up of scientists or researchers. They are soldiers meant to kill. They originally were only fighting dumgobs, or lesser goblins bordering on outright savagery.

“We’re not equipped to fight Kernuules,” remarks Olk, which is pretty obvious to everyone, but definitely an important fact.

Mosko, one of the oldest goblins in Grendel Six, blurts out with his gravelly voice, “We could and should rig explodes. Boom this Koggus burrow and do same for others.”

“The whole column underneath is burnrock,” replies Klur. “If we explode it, it could all burn, and Fievegal use burnrock. Human Empress clan Stabladan pay big shine for mined burnrock. No one find without Grendel Six, so we get riches when retrieved. But, only if retrieved.”

The goblins of Grendel Six cackle together as they plan their future of wealth, even though they generally don’t spend much other than collect wealth to hoard. That said, Daniel has implemented ‘custom equipment’, which can be commissioned from the Fievegal, but unlike the issue gear they’re currently using, which is profound, custom gear costs the individual their own money.

Which means, all the more reason to have more of it.

“Grendel Six, pack up carefully and leave one plate behind to keep the spell inactive,” declares the goblin commandant. “We’ll report new findings and see how Kernuules reacts to having one of his magic rocks dug up by the mighty goblins!”

The members of the elite goblin unit cheer together, and they do as he says, gathering their equipment and making sure their weapons are ready in case they need to fight their way back to the landing zone. During that, he receives his mantle and helmet from Floria and puts them back on.

Fortunately, the plan to leave one of the anti-magic plates behind seems to work well, as Kernuules still never makes an appearance. The digging was certainly relatively tame compared to firing the iron buckrokh’s cannon or dropping bombs from the air, but it seems the archfiend doesn’t even have scouts or guards protecting its magic devices.

The troop of goblins returns to the landing zone, where Hap is the first one to greet them. “Oh! Uh, Grendel Six returning!” He calls it out for the others to know. Everyone emerges from their relative positions of perimeter watch, maintenance on the shuttle, and equipment service.

The other goblins all gather at the shuttle, with only a few remaining on watch until relieved, as per their training. Daniel gave a book of lessons to some of the generals responsible for developing training, and among his most important rules that he said he would imprison anyone for failing to uphold were the general orders of a sentry. The Emperor himself will occasionally observe watchstanders both noticeably and secretly to make sure they behave. It’s simultaneously a test of the trainers and the regimen implemented, and the individuals on watch.

“We have to make another report to the Generals,” remarks Klur. “Pack up the landing zone and form up in ranks for the final head count.”

“Sir yes sir!” reply the goblins. He instructs Olk and Locke, “Olk, Locke, inform the watchstanders to remain on watch until final roll call. Just because Kernuules hasn’t appeared yet doesn’t mean we’re clear. There are also beasts as well.”

“Understood.” The two officers make their way in separate directions to inform the watchstanders as everyone else packs up and stores magic equipment.

Feno’xion disembarks from the shuttle, bowing at Klur. He nods in turn, signalling the soldiers carrying the anti-magic plates forward. They’ll need to quickly store them in their lead containers so the shuttle won’t be negated, and so they can be transported via void magic storage containers fitted to the shuttle. The lead containers are on wagons far enough away from the shuttle that Feno’xion isn’t deactivated, since making him a solid lead golem for a pilot would add unnecessary weight to the shuttle.

Klur and Floria approach the golem pilot, and the latter bows again. “Excellent work, Six Leader. It seems no one was harmed.”

“Our mission this time was simple. We claim finds, though. Much riches.”

“Oh? As the establishing charters for Grendel Six state, equipment and material resources found in missions that the detachment helps retrieve will be paid for appropriately. What’s the status of the ritual site?”

Klur gestures at Floria, who takes her notebook out of her backpack. She opens it to the symbol page, presenting it to Feno’xion. “I sketched the magic symbols as best as I could. The main structure of the ritual site is on the next page.”

The magic-powered spirit soldier reaches for the notebook while Klur adds, “The column is made of solid burnrock. I… don’t know name in Eastern.”

“Burn rock sounds like coal, probably,” replies Feno’xion, accepting the notebook to inspect the symbols. “Interesting. These symbols are rather familiar. If I recall correctly…”

SKREECH!

Feno’xion’s head pitches forward, and the faint glow in his eyes fades. Klur and Floria are stunned.

Having sprung forth from the notebook is a braided spear made of unprocessed wood, piercing straight into the golem’s chest. The wood surges in a swelling wave, and suddenly, branches and roots quickly sprout and grow in a tangled mess, engulfing the spirit-fused soldier.

Klur finally snaps out of his daze and leaps back, narrowly avoiding a spear meant for him, this time originating from Feno’xion’s body as it becomes the host of a woodland demonic creature.

Floria isn’t so lucky.

She spits up blood as the goblin medic manages to choke out only a single sound when one of the wooded tendrils spears into her chest as well.

“FLORIA! CONTACT!”

“Get the animagic plates!” shouts Mosko.

Just as the goblins are scrambling to open the lead containers, the woodland devil leans against the shuttle, throwing it seemingly effortlessly at the lead containers.

Its target, of course, isn’t to destroy the containers. As if it knows, it drives the goblins back by destroying the area. Floria is fading quickly as the monster takes a more distinct humanoid form with dragon-like wings formed from branches and leaves.

Kernuules! It spawned from the notebook! It tricked us!

Klur pulls his submachine gun up, firing several bursts into Feno’xion’s, or rather, Kernuules’s chest as its features truly start to resemble the devil of the wood.

The goblin Field Marshal is trying to think as quickly as possible. He’s not a strategist. He’s a warrior. Kernuules has spawned in their midst and managed to take out their pilot, meaning they’re stranded. And, on top of that, allies are dying before his eyes, starting with Floria and Feno’xion.

“Rockets! Get the rockets! Snipers, aim for Feno’s chest! The chest! Destroy its core!”

He reloads quickly and fires again. His submachine gun doesn’t have the penetration to pierce the wooden shell of the Gristak-spawn, let alone the golem underneath. Goblins aren’t normally armed with heavy rifles, so Locke and Olk scramble around the far side of the shuttle’s wreckage to try to find the rifles, if they’re intact.

I need to get Floria free. But, how…?

Klur happens to make eye contact with Mosko, who has a heavy revolver drawn instead of his submachine gun. The heavy revolver is much more powerful, modeled after the revolver Daniel himself used to conquer the Citadel. While it’s not the Dragonslayer, many of the goblins that survived Daniel and Hekate’s excursion into the mountainous fortress have spread the name ‘Lifestealer’ for the massive hand cannons.

For a goblin, it might as well be a rifle, but it has the impact power of some of Daniel’s much larger weapons in a small size.

Nearby, Hap has found a machete, which is far from a sword, but is longer than the daggers the goblins carry as standard issue.

“Hap! Aim for the arm holding Floria! Mosko, gimme your weapon!” Klur sprints towards Mosko as Hap hesitates for a moment. He runs forward with the machete, yelling his own battle cry. Klur fires on the forest devil’s head to try to distract it, and the sounds of machine gun fire spout off from other areas around the clearing.

Damn it! Hap’s there, you fools! Grah!

Klur feels helpless and enraged that something could ambush him so easily. Yes, he needs to get smarter if he’s going to make Grendel Six a name that is remembered far into the future alongside Daniel and the Empresses. He needs more imagination, more inspiration, more foundational knowledge. He’s a failure of a commander.

But, he bears the grey mantle of the Fievegal; a legendary symbol of the greatest warriors on Zenkon.

Klur digs deeper. He summons strength he is unsure of, but demands of his body all the same. He moves faster, claws at the very air.

One of his precious comrades hangs in the balance. If she can be saved, it will only be with haste.

Mosko has reloaded the revolver by the time Klur reaches him, and the Field Marshal trades weapons with him. “It’s not very effective, Field Marshal!”

“It’ll work!” shouts Klur. It has to work.

Klur immediately pivots and surveys his target. Kernuules is more interested in the enemies far away than Hap, who is a pathetic and small goblin trying to attack the devil in melee.

Heh. Wrong move, Koggus Gristak. Klur snatches his grenade from his belt, and he uses his trigger finger as he grips the revolver to rip the pin free, releasing the grenade’s spoon.

Klur may be a mere goblin.

But, even he can count to three.

At ‘two’, the Field Marshal pitches the grenade and pivots in the same motion to shield his face and neck from the blast. The explosion hits Kernuules, and thanks to its smaller body, the archfiend is stumbled and distracted by the blast as shrapnel pelts Klur’s back and helmet. He can hear the pings of metal on metal just after the blast itself, thanks to the protections the helmet provides his ears. He can feel the burn in the tips of his ears, since only his actual ear canals are protected from loud sounds, while his long goblin ears are impractical to try to fully armor. But, he’ll heal.

Or, he’ll have scars to boast about.

Who else fought the Devil of the Wood face to face and lived to tell about it?

Klur spins the rest of the way around and resumes his sprint towards the forest archfiend. He can hear his own submachine gun firing over his head; Mosko is attacking the evil creature while running to the side.

Klur narrowly ducks as a spear of wood races out of the smoke and dust from his grenade, and it targets the elder goblin.

Stay focused, Klur! Floria needs you!

He spots Hap as the young goblin screams, “Hyaaa!”, pouncing into the air as high as she can and chopping downwards to try to cleave the arm off as it continues to idly suspend Floria’s body. She hasn’t moved since being impaled, and Klur’s best guess is that it’s consuming her soul. More and more, the recent superstitions of Kernuules being a true ‘Koggus Gristak’, or “Woodland Beast of Gristak” are seeming more and more plausible. No goblin is truly certain that Alkus Gristak doesn’t exist, even if they try to convince themselves otherwise. It’s likely that even the High Goblin Ahok still has fears of the Chains of Alkus Gristak, just like any other. She is the wisest goblin Klur has ever laid eyes on, but she’s still a goblin.

That said, Daniel has slain every type of living thing that has ever crossed his path, including dragons and the mighty invincible Devourer. His power is undeniable.

And, Klur has that power in his hands now.

The goblin Grey Mantle charges towards the arm as Hap loses his grip on the machete, flopping to the ground when Kernuules shakes him off, still uninterested in him for the most part. That isn’t to say the young goblin is completely ignored, though. Kernuules swings another of its suddenly-sprouted arms, batting Hap away with a sickening ‘smack’.

Damn it! curses Klur in his own thoughts.

He can try to recover Hap in a moment. Floria is in more dire straits.

Klur leaps as high as he can. As a general rule, goblins are more agile than humans, in spite of their demure size. Like gatonines, they can jump more than twice their own height with relative ease, even if their maximum strength compares with that of a human’s.

The Six Leader grips the idle arm of Kernuules with his free left hand in his airborne travel, and he swings himself to an anchored position with his right leg on its ‘bicep’ while he keeps himself steady with his left hand, jamming the barrel against its arm directly opposite of the stuck machete.

Please, Harbinger of Calamity, Emperor of the Fievegal, and Ruler of Goblins and Dragons alike, grant me your undeniable might.

Klur pulls the trigger, and the heavy revolver thunders with a powerful explosion from its barrel. It is much more powerful than any one shot of Klur’s usual weapon or the backup sidearm he carries.

However, a very distinct and memorable shriek from an evil hellspawn distinctly reassures the goblin commandant.

Kernuules flinches backwards away from them as Klur and Floria both drop to the ground. The Field Marshal scrambles to his troop’s medic, hefting her onto his shoulder as he runs as fast as he can away from the miniature Devil of the Wood.

Kernuules roars, and the air itself seems to shake against Klur’s back. He stumbles a little bit, and when he glances, it is all he can do to react on instinct.

The Field Marshall hefts Floria forward as he crouches, dropping her to a graceless seated position in front of him as he tries to shield her from further harm.

He feels the impact. He braces against his imminent death. The pain shoots through his body as he hugs Floria to protect her.

And after several seconds of the pain changing in intensity, mainly dulling, Klur realizes something.

He’s not yet dead.

He can see the splinters of wood that have sprayed all around him, some of which have speared into the ground with enough force that they should have easily gone through the Field Marshal.

Klur doesn’t care. He doesn’t need to question expectations or reality when the fact is; he is still alive.

He may be but a mere goblin.

But, he is also the Commanding Officer of Grendel Six.

Klur cradles Floria in his arms as best as he can, springing to his feet and running away from the monster. If they are to stand a chance, it is at range, where their weapons have the greatest effect, and where their enemies are less likely to reach them.

Likewise, he’ll need to buy enough time to keep Floria safe so that they can try to retrieve the anti-magic plates. They were just sealed away when Kernuules spawned in, so they are in lead-shielded crates that the archfiend tossed the shuttle at.

If it had obliterated the crates, the magic plates would be exposed, and the magic-based fiend would not be able to sustain its form.

That’s it. We have to unleash the anti-magic plates.

Most of the goblins have fled away from the wrecked shuttle, but it marks the key to their safety.

“We need the anti-magic plates! Grenades! Buy time with grenades and get those plates! Press the attack and buy time! Avoid its attacks!”

Klur knows he’s giving a lot of instructions in the midst of chaos. But, there are a lot of goblins present. Their hearing may not be quite to the level of gatonines or shenwulves, but if even a few of them heard any one line of his orders, they stand a chance of driving back Kernuules long enough for them to retreat.

BOOM!... SKREEEE!

One of the goblins manages to find and fire one of the rocket launchers, and the miniature form of Kernuules shrieks in anger. Even just its pained wail manages to create a brief shockwave from the sheer power that the summoned ancient plague is able to muster.

Most of the goblins are driven to their knees from pain in their ears, including Klur. Their helmets are tailored to protecting goblins from the volume of guns, explosions, and most monsters, apparently.

But, Kernuules transcends the typical monsters that feast on goblin settlements and low-power demon-kin any other day.

Klur powers through the pain. It’s not only his own survival that is at stake. Just in his arms is the combat medic he has relied on for her literacy, talent for combat medicine, and different perspective. Hap has also fallen to the monster’s attacks, and his many other comrades in Grendel Six are in severe danger if the archfiend is able to recover its full strength.

Explosions quake the air as the other goblins manage to throw grenades to try to disorient, and if lucky, kill Kernuules.

No one believes a grenade will do what Neith could not, but if they can at least fend off the monster, they should be able to regroup and escape.

And, if they’re lucky, they’ll be able to break open the lead crates.

Klur drops to his knees near the wreckage of the shuttle. He doesn’t have much strength left, and Kernuules is focused on attacking those who are attacking it. It stumbles a bit with its unfamiliar size and shape, but the archfiend manages to launch familiar nature-based attacks on the goblins. It seems to be mildly restricted by its small form, as well as the fact that it wasn’t spawned at one of its full-size magic spell sites. Or, it wasn’t able to absorb enough magic.

That’s it. That has to be, right? It didn’t appear until Feno’xion took the notebook. And, it obviously wanted to absorb our mana. But, we’re goblins. So, it didn’t know what to do with Floria.

Klur checks the revolver. It has 5 live shells and one spent, each as big as Klur’s index finger.

He’s not sure how he might battle a demigod of the forest, but just holding the revolver inspires him.

The Chains reach far, but Alkus Gristak will not claim anyone from Grendel Six on this day.

Klur grips the revolver tight. Whatever is to be done, he needs to think of it fast.

He needs to think like his Emperor.

***