Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 118 An old man grows more cunning, plotting against others; he feels sorry for his own kind and indulges his inner rage.
"Damn it!" The person who arrived at the center of the cave couldn't think of any other words to express their feelings and opinions.

This place, which resembles a grand hall, would be an understatement to call it a bandit's den; describing it as hell on earth would be more apt.

Inside the main cave, which was about 400 square meters, the ground was covered with the remains of the goblins who had eaten the flesh and the unidentified organs and tissues that had already rotted. The stench produced by the decaying flesh came from the same source as the stench of corpses, and its disgustingness was even greater than that of the goblins themselves.

Under the illumination of the light spell, Zhang Yuanqiang held his breath and looked around at every corner of the place.

Amidst the wreckage scattered everywhere were numerous pieces of luggage, boxes, and even some armor and weapons. Zhang Yuan merely glanced at these things; what truly caught his attention were the remnants of the earth goblins huddled in a corner.

These goblins, who hadn't gone to war with the warriors of their tribe, were clearly old, weak, sick, or disabled, judging from their cowering appearance. Zhang Yuan, who had no bloodlust, didn't bother with them. He simply ordered Kegan to disarm and guard these guys, while he prepared to summon a few pawns to act as porters.

Unexpectedly, Kegan, with a grim expression, tugged at Zhang Yuan's robe and pointed in a certain direction. The dwarf, whose dark vision surpassed that of ordinary people, discovered an unnoticed crime in a dark corner.

Zhang Yuan shifted his gaze to the several bodies hanging on the wall, resembling dissected live pigs. His eyes, initially filled with confusion, gradually widened, then narrowed into slits.

This is the corpse of a humanoid creature, dissected and gutted, hanging like dried bacon in the living room or dining room of these beasts.

Even though the victims in front of him were complete strangers and had no connection whatsoever, his mind was still uncontrollably filled with intense emotions.

Zhang Yuan, suppressing his anger and maintaining his composure so as not to be overwhelmed by rage, understood that this intense emotion was called "feeling the pain of one's own kind." He no longer intended to have any pity for those seemingly pitiful beasts.

While it is certainly abhorrent for wild beasts to devour humans, their ignorance and lack of wisdom are somewhat understandable. However, these scum, being intelligent beings themselves, also feed on intelligent life, which is unforgivable.

In fact, Zhang Yuan no longer wanted to think about or judge the other party's crimes. The scene of his fellow human beings being used as food had a huge impact on him. He no longer wanted to define this behavior that had completely crossed his bottom line. He just wanted to let these scumbags taste the anger that came from their fellow human beings who were used as food.

Seeing Zhang Yuan's cold and cruel gaze, most of the timid goblins shrank back in fear, huddling together. However, a few older goblins quietly reached for something behind them.

Zhang Yuan, who had witnessed everything, smiled indifferently, but his smile contained an indescribable meaning, including contempt and cruelty.

"Leave no one alive!" Zhang Yuan said through gritted teeth. In the blink of an eye, he cast a shield spell on himself, drew his twin swords, and charged forward.

Just as he launched his charge, the faces of those old goblins changed from their previous humble and timid demeanor to a ferocious grin, and they pulled out crossbows, deadly weapons.

Aside from their range and reload speed, crossbows are even more lethal at close range than bows and arrows. These cunning old foxes who pretended to be cowardly had actually been hiding several deadly weapons on their backs.

These goblins, who were habitual thieves, were not going to obediently wait to be slaughtered. At such close range, they did not believe that a human dressed in a cloth robe had any chance to resist the crossbow bolts.

Unfortunately, having never seen a spellcaster before, they underestimated the seemingly unprotected human before them. Most of the arrows they fired were dodged by the prepared opponent with a sidestep and a leap, and the remaining few failed to penetrate the opponent's seemingly thin clothing.

The goblins, who never expected this outcome, were dumbfounded. In their panic, they pulled out a few short swords and hand axes in a last-ditch effort.

The human, whose twin swords were already upon him, unleashed a sweeping attack. The sharp sword strikes, flashing with a ghastly white reflection and pale red flames, traced a crescent-shaped arc as they slashed horizontally. A magical weapon! The somewhat knowledgeable Earthling was terrified and raised his weapon in an attempt to block the deadly arc of light.

Swoosh~
The goblins' outstretched weapons were swept away by an unimaginable and irresistible force, either breaking in two or flying out of their hands. The attack of the opponent's left-hand sword alone shattered all of their resistance.

It was too late. By the time they realized what kind of being the other was, and other thoughts had just crossed their minds, it was all over.

The longsword, radiating intense heat, was wielded in the opponent's right hand, unleashing an even more ferocious slash.

With his longsword in hand, Zhang Yuan followed the sword's momentum, channeling all his strength from his waist and abdomen into this strike with his right hand. His body spun around, twisting his waist and abdomen to stabilize his stance. The final blow was marked by three flying heads and a fountain of blood.

Seeing their kind slaughtered so easily, the goblins finally lost their courage and scattered like chickens in a henhouse that had been hit by a firecracker.

This trend of fleeing intensified with the arrival of the short-legged dwarven shield bearers. The dwarven shield bearers, fully armored and armed to the core, deterred these scum from even putting up a fight with just a glance.

Zhang Yuan ignored the goblins fleeing out of the cave, focusing instead on slaughtering all the creatures around him. As for those who thought they had escaped, the four gatekeepers waiting at the entrance would teach them a lesson.

Tuition fees? You'll have to pay for them with your life.

Zhang Yuan felt neither joy nor pride at the end of everything. With his level 5 warrior rank, outstanding attributes, and a body full of magical items and equipment, if he couldn't even handle a group of old, weak, sick, and disabled goblins, then he shouldn't be out adventuring and should just go to sleep.

Without even glancing at the scattered supplies and valuables on the ground, Zhang Yuan walked straight to the few "preserved meats," forcing himself to suppress his nausea and disgust. Looking at "them," he personally untied the ropes, freeing these former comrades from this cruel predicament.

This is Faron, someone told himself.

"Boss, there's a lot of goods here! We've struck it rich!" The dwarf, holding two pieces of gemstones and wearing several necklaces on his wrist, walked over excitedly to report the good news.

"Pick out all the valuable items. We can't take the rest with us, and our storage bags don't have that much capacity."

Suppressing his emotions, Zhang Yuan tried to give instructions to Kegan behind him in a calm tone.

However, the dwarves still discovered something. Looking at the few remains on the ground, and seeing that the captain, who should have been excitedly jumping up and counting the spoils with them, was now silent, the seasoned Kegan could easily understand where the other party's low mood came from.

"That's life, boss. Maybe you have a relatively stable background, but in my hometown, the concept of stability doesn't exist from birth. There are ferocious coyotes, hateful ogres, and even terrifying things like trolls."

Snorting, Kegan straightened his mask and continued recounting what he had seen and heard: "What is this little bit? Have you ever seen an entire village overrun by trolls and reduced to food? I have. After chopping off the heads of those bastards, we found rows of wooden stakes in the open space of the village. You know what's stuck on them without me having to tell you."

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(End of this chapter)