Chapter 53: The Bearer of the Sacred Stick III
The goblins roared in unison.
Hundreds of yellowish eyes fixed on Kael.
The enormous goblin chief raised his club and pointed directly at him.
For a second, the entire forest fell silent.
And the next...
"GRAAAAAH!!"
The entire colony began to charge.
Kael felt a chill run down his spine.
"...Great.
Another simple mission ruined."
But instead of immediately preparing his whips, he did something completely unexpected.
He slowly turned to the left.
No one there.
Turned to the right.
Nothing.
Looked behind a tree.
Then behind a rock.
Even pushed aside some nearby branches.
Sir Dogerino tilted his head.
"Woof?"
The Little Fat King opened just one eye.
"Meow..."
Kael sighed in relief.
"Perfect...
She’s not here."
Both of them looked at him with strange expressions.
"Just making sure."
He scratched the back of his neck as the goblins kept approaching.
"Normally this is the moment when Seraphina appears out of nowhere...
Smashes half a mountain...
Saves me...
And then acts like it’s the most normal thing in the world."
He sighed.
"But this time I want to solve the problem on my own."
Sir Dogerino barked once.
"Woof!"
The Fat King yawned.
"Meeeow..."
Kael smiled nervously.
"Well...
I guess that counts as moral support."
The goblins were already dangerously close.
Kael planted a branch on the ground and began to draw.
"Listen up."
He pointed at one spot.
"I’ll go that way."
Then another.
"The goblins are coming from here."
Finally, he looked up.
"I need you to cooperate."
The Fat King looked at the drawing for half a second.
Then...
He lay down.
Closed his eyes.
And started sleeping.
Kael stood frozen.
"..."
"Seriously?
Right now?"
"Meow..."
"You weren’t even awake!"
Sir Dogerino, on the other hand, approached the improvised map excitedly.
He wagged his tail so hard he kicked up dust.
"Alright."
Kael pointed at the goblins.
"See them?"
"Woof!"
"Perfect."
Then he took the stick that the dog was carrying between his teeth.
Threw it several meters to the side.
Sir Dogerino shot off.
Caught it.
Returned immediately.
Kael smiled.
"Exactly.
I want you to imagine that all those goblins..."
He pointed again at the army.
"...are sticks."
The dog’s eyes went wide.
He wagged his tail so hard he almost lost his balance.
"WOOF!!"
Kael gave a thumbs up.
"I knew you’d understand."
The Fat King opened just one eye.
Looked at the dog.
Then at Kael.
And went back to sleep.
As if he were thinking:
"These two are pretty stupid."
The first goblin arrived screaming.
Kael stretched out his hand.
Two energy whips appeared immediately.
However...
Something was different.
The chains glowed with small irregular flashes.
As if the energy were glitching.
Fragments of light appeared and disappeared around them.
Kael frowned.
"Those glitches again..."
He didn’t have time to think further.
The goblin jumped on him.
CRACK!
The whip struck the monster directly in the chest.
It was sent flying several meters.
Kael smiled.
"Good.
That actually worked."
Five more goblins charged immediately.
Sir Dogerino ran through them.
He didn’t bite them.
Didn’t attack them.
He just chased them.
The goblins screamed in terror.
"He’s chasing us!!"
The dog thought they were still playing.
He ran even faster.
One tripped.
Another crashed into a tree.
Three more ended up falling on top of each other.
Kael watched the scene.
"..."
"I think I accidentally invented goblin herding."
Meanwhile...
The Fat King remained fast asleep.
One goblin managed to sneak up from behind.
Raised a sword.
"Now!!"
Without opening his eyes...
WHAP!
A slap.
The goblin disappeared among the trees.
Another appeared from the opposite side.
WHAP!
Also went flying.
A third.
WHAP!
Silence.
The cat continued sleeping.
Kael glanced at him.
"Employee of the month..."
Sir Dogerino returned happily.
Behind him came more than thirty goblins running desperately.
The dog thought everyone was participating in the game.
They thought they were being hunted.
Both sides were technically correct.
Kael started running between the trees.
His whips caught branches.
He jumped.
Twisted.
Improvising.
Every move made the goblins crash into each other.
"This way!"
He jumped over a rock.
A goblin tried to follow.
Kael used the whip to pull a huge branch.
The branch fell.
Five goblins were crushed underneath.
"One less!
Well...
Five less."
Sir Dogerino appeared again.
He wore an incredibly happy expression.
And behind him...
Now came almost all the goblins from the camp.
Kael’s eyes went wide.
"..."
"I think you overdid it a little."
"Woof!"
The dog wagged his tail.
Clearly proud of his work.
Kael took a deep breath.
"Alright.
Let’s improvise."
He struck the ground with one of his whips.
The earth exploded, raising a huge cloud of dust.
The goblins began shoving each other.
Some tripped.
Others fell.
Chaos increased by the second.
Then...
Everything fell silent.
The goblins stopped running.
They slowly moved aside.
They opened an enormous path through the middle of the camp.
Kael felt a sense of dread.
Very slowly, he looked up.
The enormous goblin chief was walking toward him.
Every step made the ground tremble.
He carried the gigantic club resting on one shoulder.
His fangs protruded several centimeters.
He was almost twice as tall as any other goblin.
Kael swallowed.
"..."
"Well.
I think I found the boss."
The monster roared so loudly that the leaves on the trees began to fall.
Sir Dogerino stopped wagging his tail.
Very slowly...
He dropped the stick on the ground.
His expression changed completely.
The playful puppy disappeared.
He straightened his back.
His small cape fluttered in the wind.
His eyes became incredibly serious.
He looked like a knight before entering battle.
Kael blinked.
"Huh...?"
The Fat King opened one eye from the rock.
He looked at the dog.
And for the first time since he had met him...
He didn’t seem to be mocking him.
He just watched in silence.
As if he wanted to see what he was capable of.
Sir Dogerino stepped forward.
Positioned himself exactly between Kael...
And the gigantic goblin chief.
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