Chapter 31: Checkmate (2)

Perhaps what I made Urt, the Goblin General, do was beyond than goblin lord’s ability to handle. In less than a day, he proposed a ceasefire. Needless to say, it went as I expected it to be. Before coming up with this plan, and during one of my interactions with Urt, I asked him about his skills and abilities in detail. I discovered more than half of his skills were about controlling his fellow goblins. It’s kinda like the ‘hive-mind’ concept I heard about during my life on earth.

He was the ‘brood mother’ of the goblin race. With his skill Hive Mind, he could literally detect the fate of any goblins. He could give an order, and the entire goblin race had to fulfill it, no matter what. I gave him the order to start a massacre between the mutated goblins. My target was the force goblin lord created to fight against the hidden boss of the floor.

Yeah, after having Urt under my influence, I had him spit out everything about goblin lord, down to the last details. From him, I came to know about many secrets that wouldn’t have known otherwise. For example, the first floor was once inhibited by Imps too. This goblin lord plotted and later eradicated them all. After this, the goblins became the sole hegemon of the floor. Had it not for my memories as a human, or the fact that I never met Imps before, this might have become a good plot for some revenge-driven drama.

The second was the presence of a hidden floor. Behind the goblin habitat, there was an enclosed rock formation. After passing through this formation, a huge iron gate would then come into view. Behind this iron gate, was a whole new floor. Inside this floor resided an evolved form of goblin, Hobgoblin. It was a hidden boss. To kill this Hobgoblin, the goblin lord had been amassing army since a long time ago. His reason was to trigger an evolution. He had been trying to kill it since a long time ago and also initiated many expeditions. However, he failed every time and miserably at that.

Urt also mentioned the goblin lord mumbling about something called Invocation Mark. But, since even Logier didn’t know about it, I concluded it was something common among the human circle. I threw it to the back of my mind for the time being. The list of things I wanted to ask Cathie just kept increasing. Even more than winning this war, I am looking forward to meeting her again.

There was another thing I realized about my Nightmare Seed. Everything that happens inside the purple cloudy space, the target would remember nothing of it. I don’t know about possession as I haven’t tested it then. However, I was certain they wouldn’t remember that as well. I discovered this ability of Nightmare Seed during Urt’s arrival and interaction with Logier. Even though he saw me there, there was no visible reaction on his face. Getting curious about it, when I asked him if he remembers me, he just snorted and left without even giving me a second glance. His reaction was somewhat similar to Gyuk in the past before he got a dose of my illusions.

Before he returned though, I ordered him not to mention anything about this little interaction we had. The goblin lord must not know about my existence until the very end.

Finally, the time came for the negotiation.

…

The goblin lord came with quite the entourage. Every one of those goblins looked as strong as an orc. Moreover, there was a certain air around them, kind of familiar too. It took me some time, but I realized what the familiar feeling was. It was killing intent or bloodlust. The orcs around me exude it in droves. Because of how long I spent with the orcs, my subconscious mind already learned to filter it. Due to that, it took me a while to pinpoint the reason why they strike me with such familiarity.

Comparing these goblins with the ones we fought previously was like comparing a rusty sword to a polished one. While both were killing weapons, their effectiveness was worlds apart. It was a good thing the number of this group was so low, or else they would have spelled trouble for Logier.

“Little friend, it’s here! What should I do?” Logier was obviously nervous. His past scuffle with goblin lord resulted in him losing an arm. He had developed a certain kind of trauma to this goblin lord, similar to how Gyuk felt about me.

“Don’t worry. Just do as I have instructed. You will be alright.” After comforting him, I inspected the goblin lord. It was my first time seeing him in person. True enough, he resembled juvenile goblins a lot, but there were a few fundamental differences.

Although his physique was somewhat weaker than a normal juvenile goblin, he was taller. An average juvenile goblin would grow up to the height of a five years old kid at most. But this goblin lord was around the height of a kid who just started puberty. Next, his eyes had pupils, unlike other goblins. It wore a skirt made of white lether, a lot of crudely made bottles hanging from its waistband. I was more than ninety percent sure those bottles contain harmful chemicals. Perhaps during that small fight, he hurled one such bottle at Logoier, taking his arm with it.

I glanced at Logier and saw him trembling uncontrollably as the goblin lord closed on us. Well, it can’t be helped. Thankfully, I had a backup plan just in case. I noticed the lord giving me a few more glances. I growled at him in response, showing a typical reaction when two monsters meet.

“I am the Goblin Lord, a pleasure to meet you again, orc leader!” The goblin lord ignored my growl and stood a distance exactly out of Logier’s reach. Fortunately, he was still within my range of effect. His voice was raspy, and scratchy too. It was no different than other goblins.

“H, hello…” Logier stumbled with his speech while backing away subconsciously. Seeing this, I sighed internally. Lightly touching Logier, I used Cast Illusion and pulled him to my illusion realm.

“Logier, what are you doing?” I asked to the sweating orc. My eyes bored into his as I looked for a satisfactory reply.

“I couldn’t help it. It's just too scary! He’s too scary!” Logier said pitifully. His ears laid flat to his bald head, and eyes twitched. His breathing became labored as his chest rose and fall unevenly. Everything about him showed signs of going into a panic attack. It was a good thing I pulled him into my illusion realm when I did so. If the goblin lord saw this, half of the battle would have already lost by then.

This negotiation was about goblins and orcs’ coexistence. However, the orcs should be on the dominant side since it was the goblins who asked for the compromise. With Logier like this, if I don’t do anything, the orcs would suffer. Thinking of this, I canceled the skill, bringing both of us back to reality.

Glancing at me as I came out of the Illusion Realm, the goblin lord’s eyes flickered. A smile appeared on his green face, which made it hideous to look at. He finally realized the mastermind behind the orcs.

“So it's you who is behind them if I guessed it right, correct?” The goblin lord asked me with his uncomfortable to listen voice. It was even more horrible than mine before I became an adult Dream Weaver.

Since the cat is out of the bag, there was no need for me to pretend anymore. I smiled at his question, showing my rows of zagged and shark-like teeth. “Indeed. It is me who commanded them to this victory. Surprised!?” I asked back cheekily. For some indescribable reason, I was feeling awfully playful while conversing with the goblin lord. Perhaps it was the sweet sense of victory over my intelligent and powerful enemy leading me to feel complacent.

“Can’t say I am not.” He revealed before clicking his fingers. A goblin from his back came forward before bending down on his hands and knees. “You are quite the surprise as I haven’t taken a Dream Weaver into account.” He sat on the goblin’s back, then placed a leg over other, assuming a kingly(?) pose.

I smiled discreetly at his lame actions of showing off. He was blatantly showing off his authority to me. As if to mock me for my lack of adequate control over my troops in comparison to his. He wanted to pressure me mentally right off the bat. Of course, it was just my imagination as I couldn’t read his mind. He might be sitting because he felt like it.

“You have quite the control over your pack,” I said. It was just a statement, and I wasn’t praising it. But the goblin lord took it as one, showing a proud smile on his face. For some reason, it rubbed me off the wrong way. Repeating myself to calm down, again and again, I took in a deep breath.

“Of course, I am their king, after all.” He praised himself again. No matter how I try to see it positively, this goblin lord was a hundred percent narcissistic asshole. He was praising himself with every chance he got.

“A king who was about to lose his throne. Some king you are…” I remarked snidely. His smile faded, and his forehead creased. I even saw his mouth twitching. It was so satisfying that I couldn’t explain it in words.

Ah yes, this goblin lord somewhat reminded me of one of my coworkers back on earth. They both had this disgusting habit of putting themselves on a pedestal while looking down on others. I guess that’s why I felt so satisfied when the goblin lord looked like he would beat someone to death after my rebuttal.

Is this the sweet sense of revenge, I wondered seriously.