Capítulo 64: Assessing the Situation
Rushed footsteps could be heard throughout the walls of the inner palace and it was impossible to escape the worried murmurs of the guards and servants. Eventually, there was a hurried knock on a massive set of wooden doors.
"Enter and explain yourself," a feminine voice called out from the other side.
Quickly, the doors were pulled open from the inside and a goblin guard in studded leather armor entered the main hall. "Your highness, problems continue to escalate beyond our control."
"What do you mean, 'beyond our control?' Just send more troops to face the invaders," barked the queen.
"Another problem has arisen, my queen," replied the guard, shrinking back like he was begging for mercy. "We've found many dead guards within the inner palace."
"What!?"
"Please, have mercy with this servant and his inability to serve you properly." The guard dropped to his knees and bowed his head as he pled. "We are beginning to investigate the dead bodies immediately but we've yet to find who it was that killed them."
The queen's breathing was growing heavy, whether it was from worry or rage it was unclear. "Tell me, how did they die?"
Hearing the queen calm down, the guard let out a deep sigh. "They were all slain by a knife, either a slit across the throat or through the back of the neck."
"Hmm, it was probably that hunter. I was wondering where the rest had gone," deduced the queen. "So that hunter wants to play… It's been a while since I've had a worthy playmate."
"Please my queen, just remain in here for the remainder of the investigation. We're shorthanded due to the battle with the samurais, but we'll soon scour the palace and find him. That we can guarantee."
"Oh, you can guarantee?" The queen started to chuckle lightly when she heard the guard's promise. "If you can guarantee his capture so easily, then why aren't you bringing him to me right now?"
"Your highness, we were so focused on preparing reinforcements against the samurai that we were careless and—"
"You've already promised it, so I expect to see you drag that hunter through these doors within the day. If you can't fulfill your promise, then you'll face the consequences," said the queen, who was devilishly smiling behind the canopy.
"I—"
"Thank you for your bravery; I can't wait to see how that hunter begs for mercy after you drag him to me."
The guard coughed and swallowed some saliva before he finally muttered, "Y-yes my queen." Shaky and nervous, that goblin guard turned and started to exit.
Suddenly, more footsteps were heard from the other side of the large wooden doors. Before the guards by the doors could react, the doors were swung open by what looked to be two goblin captains who immediately spoke up, "Pardon the intrusion your highness, but this is—"
"Never enter my throne room uninvited!" The lullaby, feminine voice somehow became hoarse and gravelly.
"Please your highness, this matter is very—"
"On your knees!" commanded the queen. "You are goblin captains but that is worth nothing before me. Rules are rules; on your knees!"
One captain quickly dropped to his knees and bowed his head, fully willing to submit at the drop of a hat. The other captain stepped forward to try and calm the enraged queen, "Please, we must hurry—"
"Hmph!" grunted the queen, interrupting the captain. "I said kneel, you worthless servant! At least one of you has a brain. You, you may speak." The queen didn't point but everyone understood that she wanted the one standing to shut up and listen to the other obedient captain.
"Yes, your highness," said the second captain, still keeping his head to the floor in respect for the queen. "Another problem has presented itself within the city."
"I already know about the deaths in the outer palace," said the queen.
"Yes, but there is a third issue that has presented itself, and it's by far the worst of them all," clarified the captain.
"The worst of them all? How so?" the queen had a trace of unease in her voice.
"A Hell-flame Fox has been spotted within the city."
That sentence brought a heavy silence to the room. The goblin captain waited a few seconds before he continued, "Currently, the large firefox is rampaging through the city. We have no way of deciphering its strength or its origin."
"Just like the legends…" whimpered the guard from before. He was shaken by the sudden entrance of the captains and even more so by the news they carried. "No one has ever survived hell's flames…"
"My queen, we ask permission to leave the palace and confront this beast," the first captain spoke up, taking advantage of the silence.
The queen remained silent, pondering the situation heavily. She faced three very serious threats that seemed to escalate every time. Cursing her bad luck, she was reluctant to say anything.
"My queen, may we confront this beast?" repeated the first captain.
"Call for him," muttered the queen with reluctance.
"Him!?" Both captains were surprised to hear the queen asking for aid so quickly.
"Yes, call for him. We've underestimated these adventurers and we must do everything to defeat them. But facing Hell's flames at the same time, our only chance at victory is to accept their aid. Contact him and hurry to the fox. Now hurry and begone. I have something I must do," commanded the queen, returning to her voice of a feminine dominatrix.
"Yes, your highness!"
The guard and the captains hurried off to their new duties, not so much as looking back into the main hall.
Behind the canopy, the queen anxiously twiddled her fingers on the throne's arm. She barked, "Guards, bring me the contact crystal."
Without a word, the guards by the door hurried to the side of the room. There they each grabbed a side of this podium-like structure. It was similar to the stat analysis podium within the association building, but the gemstone was smoother, and the podium was intricately carved around the large, sapphire-like gem. It took a minute for them to carry it up to the throne, but it wasn't too difficult for the guards.
"Thank you, now return to your posts. And face the wall; you are not allowed to see my beauty unveiled," commanded the queen.
The guards hurried back to their posts and did as the queen demanded, turning to face the cold wall.
Satisfied with their obedience, the queen stood up from her throne and walked towards the veil surrounding her. She parted it and revealed herself to the light in the room.
The queen was a shade lighter than the other goblins, and her skin was much smoother and softer than the rest. She had the same beady red eyes, but her face was slender and easy to fit in someone's hand. Adorned with a black leather skirt, a loose crop top from the same leather, and a beautiful necklace of gold and jewels, the queen's slim, tight body was the envy of every goblin woman; many goblin women also found her attractive and were unable to admit otherwise.
With a regretful sigh, the queen placed her hands on the podium and spoke aloud in Common. "My city is in danger and we request assistance."
There was no response at first, but after a couple of minutes a pained, masculine voice sounded in her head. "What's the problem? It must be bad if you're contacting me."
"We're being invaded, but too much is happening at once and we may not hold out till the end," replied the queen.
"Why so negative? It sounds like you've already accepted defeat."
The queen paused involuntarily as she forced herself to admit the situation more fully. "A party of adventurers is causing us problems. They've split up to attack the main gate and infiltrate my palace at the same time."
"Why not just call those ugly guests of yours? They should offer plenty of help to handle a single party," said the man.
"Most of them are gone to bring back more of their brethren, we've only got two with us right now," answered the queen.
"So, what else is there? For you to call the busy me, you better be facing a natural disaster or hell's flames," stated the man, letting her hear his annoyance in his voice.
"That's exactly what's happening."
"What?" responded the man, caught off guard by her immediate answer.
"At this critical moment, a Hell-flame Fox has appeared within the walls of the city," explained the queen. "We're already stretched thin to face these adventurers but facing hell's flames might lead to our end. I beg for your assistance."
No answer came for some time as the queen waited patiently, staring intently at the crystal embedded in the podium. Finally, the man answered, "Sorry, but I can't help you."
"What!?"
"I told you before that you grew too aggressive too fast and it would lead to your downfall, did I not?" said the man.
Struggling to keep herself from shouting back in anger, the queen was unable to reject the man's statement. Not hearing a rejection, the man continued, "You got too aggressive before we were in a situation to better help you. Of course, this is simply due to how dire a situation you're in. Are you sure it's a Hell-flame Fox? They haven't been spotted for so long."
"They say it's a fox made of fire running rampant through my city, what else could that be?"
"How big is it, exactly?" asked the man.
"No clue, they just said it was a crazy firefox with an unknown level," answered the man, hoping her politeness could soften the man's heart and change his decision.
"Oh," sighed the man. "Either way, you're without our help for this one. If you can survive this, then we'll be ready to move forward in about a month. If you don't, well, then this is goodbye."
As the message cut out, the queen barked back at the man but could tell that the man's contact crystal was no longer responding.
In her fury, she finally looked away from the crystal and noticed the guards' peeking eyes whip around to return to the wall. "Was I not clear that you were unworthy of beholding my beauty?"
"Y-your highness, please have—"
Making use of the guards as an outlet for her sudden rise in anger, the queen lifted a hand as a ball of red flames began to dance in her palms. With a flick of her wrist, the flames split and blasted into the bodies of the goblin guards, staining the wall with soot and ash.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
TheSilverQuill
TheSilverQuill It's announcement time!!!
The following arc will contain an infestation of wild beasts threatening Reinolt City, and you're going to help decide what those beasts are.
I recommend wyverns, but I want your opinions and ideas. For three days I'll be scouring the comments and discord for ideas. Then, we'll vote on what we all want.
https://discord.gg/CsMEJ9X
Capítulo 65: Jack's Signal
Maynard had effectively drawn out the other two goblin captains and was in the middle of a 4 v. 1. He had consumed a few potions and elixirs already, so he was beginning to feel the side effects of consuming too many too soon. His muscles and skin that were constantly being healed grew sorer from each potion. Forcing himself through the pain and discomfort, Maynard continued his stand.
The goblin captains were at a loss when facing the obstinate samurai. They were giving it their all but were still unable to kill him. In the meantime, a couple of captains were near the point of fatigue from injuries and keeping up with the crazy ronin that seemed to be addicted to potions and elixirs.
"Master, how much longer?" Brunar shouted amidst the incoming goblin reinforcements.
The two young samurai were lucky to not need too many skills for the lower leveled guards, but anyone would grow tired after constantly hacking through muscle and bone with no end. Their countless hours of training and practice allowed them to hold strong in the face of over two dozen goblins. However, they were exhausted and would soon be desperate in front of the incoming reinforcements without using skills.
"Just wait! I'm sure—" yelled Maynard.
Suddenly, a fiery flash swept over part of the city, strong enough to be seen over the wall. The warm, red light washed over the battlefield for three seconds, warming the hearts of the samurais and sending chills down the goblins' spines.
At first, all they saw was a pillar of flame, but terror clutched at the goblins' heartstrings when a fox pounced into the air. The fox was made of living flames and was three times the size of any goblin. Even its eyes were made up of black hell flames.
Everyone present felt a primal sense of fear take them over. The goblins froze, their instincts telling them to run.
Brunar and Troni had already seen Bowser transform, but they weren't ready to see such growth in the strength and size of the transformation. It took Brunar a second to shake his nerves and smile at the appearance of this powerful ally.
Troni was like the goblins, showing genuine fear. He wasn't afraid of Bowser as Jack's beast companion, but he struggled to accept having such a fearsome beast as an ally and not an enemy like in legend.
Maynard felt a tinge of fear, but it wasn't enough to keep him from using this distraction to his benefit. Whilst the captains flinched at the sight of a Hell-flame Fox, Maynard used "Sudden death" in succession with "Blood thrust."
Before the weakly guarded captain could retaliate, the blood-red glow of Maynard's blades passed through its gut. The captain stiffened and fell hard on the ground as Maynard removed his katana.
Suddenly, Maynard disappeared once again. Returning to their senses, another captain managed to block one katana while the other penetrated cleanly through its waist, from right to left. Avoiding death, the captain shrunk back away from its killer.
Not waiting for Maynard to attack again, the remaining two captains charged Maynard while the other did its best to tighten the leather armor around its torso in hopes to slow the blood flow.
"That all ya got?" laughed Maynard. "No more holding back!"
Brunar had already sliced a goblin guard's throat by the time Maynard shouted his latest order. Yelling as he finally began to activate his skills, Brunar yelled with each swing of his katana. "It's. About. Time!"
Troni refocused himself and did the same as Brunar, launching skill after skill into the now frightened reinforcements.
*****
"Man, how many rooms are there in the inner palace?" Rydel spoke to himself within the confines of a small dark room. He had exhausted his daily uses of "Predator sense" and was forced to hide and search the old-fashioned way. "What's that?"
Rydel heard low thumps from the other side of the door. The thumps grew louder each time, until they sounded like they were deep, heavy footprints that shook the door as they passed by. It soon grew quieter as the footsteps passed in the direction Rydel had come from.
'Hey Maynard, they were inside…' thought Rydel, doing his best to remain calm and steady his heartbeat.
'That's what I was afraid of,' replied Maynard.
'What are you talking about?' asked Jack.
Rydel explained, 'The trolls, they were inside the palace. One just walked past where I was hiding and it probably about to exit the palace.'
'How many are there?' asked Jack, wanting to plan accordingly.
'I have no clue kid, but I'm guessing there's more than one,' answered Rydel.
'Be careful, try not to get tangled with one before you accomplish your part of the mission captain,' stated Jack.
'You don't have to tell me twice,' said Rydel.
'Hey Maynard, get ready to face a troll or two. You should be faring better against the goblins now, so hurry and finish them so you three can face the trolls.' Jack laid out an impromptu plan.
'Ya got it,' replied Maynard, accepting the idea immediately.
'Good luck,' said Jack.
'Happy hunting,' both Rydel and Maynard responded in unison.
Rydel took a few deep breaths and put his ear to the stone wall. He wasn't able to use "Predator sense" anymore but his perception and hearing were good enough to hear if any towering footsteps were approaching him.
Not finding anything near him, he bolted into the hallway and dashed further into the inner palace.
*****
Jack was well hidden in the shadows of the outskirts of the outer palace, waiting for a good moment to enter. Unlike Rydel who heavily outweighed the average guard, Jack was under-leveled and was forced to use only stealth.
He was starting to grow impatient until Rydel warned them about the trolls. As soon as Jack heard that, he knew when he would have a chance to enter.
A few minutes passed before Jack saw the big doors burst open. The palace entrance was swung open explosively, actually damaging the hinges of the door and rendering them unable to fully close without repair.
Jack didn't act immediately, he was busy examining the large, monstrous frame that had kicked open the door. The creature had purple-blue skin and was tall, yet stout. It wore a thick loincloth and had little fat to hide its rippling muscles. With a short face and a fat nose, the trolls sniffed the air.
Holding his breath and remaining still, Jack waited for the troll to step away from the door. It had a glib smile on its face when it saw the flame pillar in the distance of the city. Eager to find out what was happening, the troll entered the city in search of the Hell-flame Fox it had heard so much about.
'Bowser, time to switch locations. You've got a troll heading your way. Don't fight him, just keep him busy and distracted.' Jack's telepathic tone showed some worry along with trust in Bowser's abilities.
Just then, the pillar of fire disappeared and startled everyone unaware of Jack's plan. 'Okay, Bowser distract troll.'
'Good boy. Let me know if you need help.'
'Yup, yup.'
Jack neared the opened door and found two goblin guards smashed into the wall by the wooden doors. Aware that they were dead in the first place, Jack hurried inside and hid in the first room he could find. 'Captain, I'm in. Any tips?'
'Get to the inner palace. If you head left of the entrance, you'll reach another large door leading to the inner palace after passing seven rooms,' answered Rydel.
'I went right, the left was swarming with guards,' clarified Jack.
'Well, that's not too bad, kid. I went left and left a trail so right is probably less crowded now. But you'll still need to get to this side of the inner palace. I just passed a dark stairwell that led further down, almost like a dungeon. If I had to guess, that's where they're keeping any prisoners,' explained Rydel.
'Looks like I better hurry. Thanks, Captain.'
'Stay alive kid and let me know if anything happens.'
Before Jack exited what looked to be a bedroom shared by a few guards, Jack retrieved a single vial filled with a clear liquid. He retrieved his sword and a small knife, dripping the Light-tailed Lizard neurotoxin across the blade. Jack then stored them and the empty vial, letting him resume his invisibility.
Cautiously sneaking out of the room, Jack made his way into the hall. He crept past a few guards as he stayed near the wall. There wasn't much difficulty to reach the massive door towards the inner palace but opening it and sneaking inside was different than just making it that far.
Noticing that there was also seven doors before reaching the door to the right, Jack guessed that the palace design was mostly symmetrical. Jack wouldn't bet that a second entrance to the dungeon was on this side of the palace, but it gave him an idea as to how far he was from the dungeon entrance Rydel had mentioned.
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