Chapter 72: Unknown Assailants

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The sky was in a shade of silvery grey and black, contrasting the night sky and silver moonlight that had been blocked by thick clouds which left the eastern parts of the Darknar forest in a state of absolute eerie darkness.

However, Two hulking grey creatures clad in traditional bone armor, lead a large group of similar but slightly shorter creatures and a lot of smaller green creatures riding on the backs of beasts covered in reddish-black fur. And while they move through the forest clumsily and without grace, they were able to move unhindered through the dangerous terrains.

Not only did they all possess Night Vision, but their combined aura was so forceful and overwhelming, that it drove most of the other monsters away. Gray trolls gave of a deathly aura due to their extended or prolonged proximity to the Undead, which made it natural for all living creatures to actively avoid them and even stronger monsters would not attack them unprovoked.

Right now, more than thirty Gray trolls were marching further east and they were all fully clad in bone armor and wielded spiked clubs or bone spears and maces. They were also accompanied by more than sixty goblin riders that had been forcefully drafted from the various goblin tribes in the western parts of the Darknar forest.

The goblin riders rode on red wolves, a smaller bread of the dire wolves that had been tamed by them. They were the size of regular wolves from the earth which matched the size of the goblins as well.

Goblins were generally around 3-4 feet tall and had dark green skin tone with long noses and pointed ears, their faces were usually twisted and ugly. Of course, there were different kinds of goblins with them all having different characteristics and appearances.

There was the Hogboon, they usually resided in mines somewhere in the Dwarven continent. They were dangerous monsters that looked similar to a normal goblin with dirt brown skins and unruly hair. There were also the Hobgoblins who had evolved over the years to look similar to humans and demons but still retain a pale green skin tone. They usually got along well with other races and were more intellectual than other goblins, being able to trade with other races. There was even a settlement of Hobgoblins living as freemen somewhere on the demon content.

Finally, there were the knockers, a weirder breed of goblins, usually only around 2ft tall. Not much else was known about them aside from their vicious nature and hatred of other races. It is believed they usually live underground somewhere in the far south of the demon continent.

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One of the Gray-War trolls that lead this small army, wielded a bone shield and spear, the other, a large bone sword that seemed to have been made from the spinal cord of a large reptilian beast. As they marched forth through the forest, the Gray-War troll with the shield turned its head and grunted in annoyance as it spoke to the other.

"Oi, are you sure this the right way? We've been walking for a while now."

The second Gray-War troll with the bone sword did not immediately respond, but it instead took out a small bottle from the beast's skin pouch on its waist and held it up high. A single speck of red light was visible inside the bottle within the dark forest.

He shook the bottle a bit and the light stayed attached to the front glass of the bottle. Turning the bottle in another direction would cause the light to move until it was back facing the direction they were headed.

"Yes, the chief's magic weapon should be in this direction. Lord Zerahut said this thing is drawn to the weapon and if we find the weapon we find the one who killed the chief."

"Didn't lord say to not fight demons, why we bring many scrubs?"

"Shut up, are you stupid, how we supposed to kill whoever could kill the chief without scrubs. Besides, if there are demons we can just sacrifice them and escape."

"Huh, isn't that bad, their tribes not that strong to begin with, the rest die."

"Unless you want to die, then you can stay behind and fight a demon. If they don't kill you, lord Zerahut will."

"Huh, I guess you're right as always Kazko."

"You're just too much like the others, don't just be a brute Rekaz."

"Rekaz not a brute."

The Gray-War troll with the shield Rekaz snorted while scratching its bald head as they maintained their current pace. The one known, as Kazko would occasionally check the bottle to adjust their direction based on the interference of the large trees in the forest.

The snow did nothing to slow down the trolls who had high immunity to the various elements, although that did not mean they could not be harmed by the elements. This was just a natural side effect of their crazy regeneration ability.

Because of this ability, trolls could generally survive and adapt to any harsh environment. They also had a wild variety of evolutions, which would also provide them with different abilities than their other counterparts.

The goblins were all clad in poorly made beast hides cloak, which negated most of the cold. They wielded short blades but had small crossbows on their backs as they rode on their wolf mounds.

Moving through the forest a bit more, the trolls came across a small clearing in the forest and their nose twitched slightly.

"Do you smell that?"

"Disgusting, ogre blood."

"Yeah. We might be getting closer."

The Gray-War trolls stepped forward and the Gray trolls behind them followed suit. They were about halfway through the clearing when, suddenly, an arrow flew from their left and pierced one of the trolls on their necks.

The troll in question did not budge, the arrow was quickly pulled out and the wound healed almost instantly. Sensing an enemy, the Gray-War trolls turned their gaze northwards, in the direction the arrow had come from.

About a hundred and twenty meters away, stood several figures, clad in hooded thick fur cloaks on a few tree branches. Some held Composite longbows and others wielded crossbows. In total there were around Ten such figures standing on those trees with most of their facial features hidden behind their cloaks.

"Who are they?" Asked Rekaz annoyed.

"Don't know, but they don't smell like demons."

"Can we kill them?"

"Huh, Don't have time, send some goblin scrubs after them, the one with the weapon might escape."

"Pwaaa... Fine, but I need to kill something soon." Rekaz sighed in disappointment and was about to order several goblin riders to kill those figures while they continued their mission to track down the magic weapon.

However, the new arrivals had other plans in mind. A volley of Arrows was fired at that distance and rained down in front of the Gray-War trolls, halting their progress. Without pause, another volley was release, this time it was aimed at the Gray trolls and goblins behind them.

Of course, attacks like this weren't a threat to the trolls but it was very dangerous for their goblin riders. Rekaz raised his shield to block some of the arrows aimed at them, while the others used their weapons, although most of them were too slow and still received the attack.

The constant volley of arrows continued and it only served to annoy Rekaz to no end. Not to mention their goblin riders were falling like flies. His short fuse soon ran out and he roared in fury. However, the group seemed to be amused by that as one of them wielding a purple crossbow fired a single arrow that tore through the air before the sound could keep up, and before he could raise his shield, it punched a hole through Rekaz left eye.

Underneath the hood, a taunting and mocking smile were visibly plastered on the figure's face and Rekaz brain was flooded with rage, without even bothering to ask Kazko he flung his outstretched arm backward and threw his spear with an insane amount of force. The spear flew almost as fast as the last arrow had and accurately shattered the tree branch a few of these hooded strangers were standing on. However, none of them were hit by the attack, having already jumped to safety.

Rekaz roared like a wild beast and charged forward with mad eyes, one of which was already completely healed. Kazko had wanted to stop him but it was too late. Kazko then ordered Ten gray trolls to follow Rekaz leaving him with a little more than twenty trolls.

He also sent forty goblin riders after them to negate the troll's lack of speed, especially in a chase.

He chose to leave the rest to Rekaz and proceeded forth. Shaking his head in disapproval he thought his kin was too hot-headed. Lord Zerahut had promised to only reward the one who brought back the weapon but they had agreed to work together until they found the person that kill Kadiz and took his blade.

No matter how confident they were in their strength, they were also painfully aware that there were levels to this. Kadiz had been more than a notch stronger than them so, in order to kill the person that killed him, they needed to work together, and only after succeeding, would they have a duel on who would return with the weapon and claim the title of chief.

Yet, Rekaz had let his war gene and rage take his eyes away from the prize. Kazko snorted and marched forward with haste. He was trailed by a little over twenty Gray trolls and twenty goblin riders. Not wanting to make any mistakes he took out the bottle with the last Essence of the Dark-Syphon and shook it to confirm his direction.

When the speck of essence settled on the glass Kazko eyes went wide. Not only was he headed in the wrong direction or maybe the one who killed Kadiz had moved since the last time he checked it, but as it turned out, the speck was pointed in the same direction as the one Rekaz had gone.

Kazko halted his steps and by default his small army came to a halt as well, he realized something was amiss. However, the magic weapon was their only target and Rekaz was now a step ahead of him. Panic, Rage, and Confusion were the emotions that rose inside of him and Kazko hesitated for only a second as he immediately ordered his tropes to chase after Rekaz unit.

Due to their sudden change in direction and the forest terrain, the trolls ran chaotically in Rekaz general direction. Being a Gray-War troll with superior attributes than the others Kazko ran faster than his kins and soon took the lead with the goblin riders.

He was determined to claim the magic weapon before Rekaz as it would be disastrous for their race if such an idiot became chief. However, as he took the lead, several gray trolls and goblin riders around him suddenly disappeared. Looking around it turned out they had probably fallen inside of some hidden pitfalls, he immediately noticed more of these pitfalls up ahead and a hint of panic became visible in his eyes.

Kazko tried to halt his men but aside from the agile goblin riders, a few more of the trolls still could not react in time to save themselves. In just a single move the enemy had reduced his team of over twenty trolls to under fifteen.

Filled with anger at these unknown assailants and himself for being so careless. He took out his large bone sword from the strap on his back and roared. His roar was wild but carried a hint of intent within the madness. The air around him reverberated with his roar and he soon found his targets.