Chapter 54: Chapter 48: Entering the Fortress
CRASH! Several goblins heaved in unison, flipping over a few massive boulders and revealing an underground passage wide enough for three people.
"Chief, the passage is open," Red Eyes reported loudly.
"Yes, I see it." Shire kicked a subordinate out of his way and stood at the passage entrance, peering down.
The entire passage was overgrown with moss and weeds. Its stone walls were dark and coated in dust.
After his meeting with Little John, Shire had taken care of all other matters with his subordinates so he could focus completely on exploring the Fortress. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling he had forgotten something.
After wracking his brain for a while to no avail, he gave up. ’It probably wasn’t anything important,’ he thought.
"Let’s go down and take a look." Shire had all the goblins light torches and they filed down to the end of the passage.
"Chief, a stone door," said Red Eyes.
"Try pushing it," Shire ordered.
Straining with all his might, Red Eyes finally managed to push the stone door open a crack. A gust of stale air drifted out.
"It looks like this place hasn’t been opened in a long time," Shire said, craning his neck to peer inside.
The space beyond the door was quiet, with no sign of anything unusual. Shire snatched the torch from Red Eyes’s hand and tossed it inside.
As soon as the torch landed, its light illuminated the area. Shire scanned his surroundings and saw a stone floor covered in dust, a clear sign of its age.
"Broken Tooth, you go in and take a look," Shire ordered, turning back. "And remember, don’t come out of the shadows unless absolutely necessary."
Broken Tooth stepped forward and, with a WHOOSH, leaped into the shadows.
After a few minutes of waiting, just as Shire was starting to worry something had happened, a green head popped out of the shadows in front of him.
"Safe," Broken Tooth said curtly.
"Good. Red Eyes, take two others and go check it out," Shire ordered cautiously.
Red Eyes nodded and led two goblins inside. They were the same two who had stood with him, Long Spears at the ready, against the Fearsome Claw Bear.
Red Eyes was even quicker than Broken Tooth. In no time, he was back in front of Shire, declaring boisterously, "Inside! Safe, safe!"
"Alright, everyone inside." Reassured, Shire ordered them all to enter. He did, however, instruct Bai Mao to take a few female goblins and guard the entrance. Then, under her slightly resentful gaze, he stepped into the Fortress.
The moment he stepped through the door, Shire took in the state of the stone chamber.
The chamber was built about five meters underground. Its walls were overgrown with moss and lichen, and the dust on the floor was a finger thick. Clearly, no humanoid had lived here for a very long time.
More than seventy goblins were crowded at the entrance, forcing Shire to order them to spread out.
Amid the flickering torchlight, an object about the size of a human head rolled quickly past the goblins, putting Shire on alert.
"Everyone, against the wall! Don’t rush in." Just then, he saw several more "heads" roll past him.
"What was that?" Shire asked his subordinates, but they just looked at each other blankly. No one had an answer.
Just as he was about to send someone deeper in, a round orb scurried past the group, and Shire finally saw it for what it was.
The creature was entirely red, with beast-like claws. Its body resembled a brain encased in a hard shell.
"It’s a Brain-Eating Monster," Shire said, stunned. He had just read about them a few days ago in a bestiary Agatha had lent him.
These creatures fed on the brains of high-Intelligence beings. Yet, as they passed in front of the goblins, they showed no signs of aggression. Red Eyes even bent down and picked up a Brain-Eating Monster, cradling it like a fat cat.
"Chief, they’re safe," he said, carrying the Brain-Eating Monster over to Shire.
To his horror, Shire saw the "brain" nestled in his subordinate’s arms suddenly rear up. A needle-like proboscis extended from its underside, stretching out in his direction.
"Get it away! Get it away now!" Shire immediately commanded Red Eyes.
’These things must not see goblins as high-Intelligence beings, so they have no desire to attack. But their reaction to me is completely different.’
After kicking Red Eyes away, Shire had his subordinates spread out through the entire stone chamber. He kept just a few goblins near him to help shoo away any Brain-Eating Monsters that came too close.
Now he could finally get a clear look at the chamber.
The space was vast, over 500 square meters. Grayish-black stone bricks made up the floor and walls, and several enormous, moss-covered stone pillars stood in the center. In several places, the sides of the chamber had collapsed, exposing soil and tree roots.
Dozens of Brain-Eating Monsters scurried about on the floor, walls, and ceiling, plowing trails through the thick dust.
’Good thing they have no appetite for goblins,’ Shire thought, a chill running down his spine. ’If a group of human Adventurers had walked in here, these Brain-Eating Monsters would have happily feasted on their "home delivery."’
’This feels like some kind of defense mechanism,’ he mused, holding his torch aloft. He then ordered his subordinates to be more diligent in keeping the creatures at bay.
As his gaze swept across the room, Shire spotted a three-meter-wide stone doorway in the far-left corner. He led his subordinates toward it.
A few minutes later, the goblins were gathered at the doorway. They formed a tight circle around Shire, shielding him from the Brain-Eating Monsters.
Set into the stone frame was a heavy wooden door. Shire ran his hand over the grain, finding it odd. ’In a place this ancient, how can there still be a wooden door? Shouldn’t it have rotted to dust by now?’
He gave the wooden door a hard push. CREAK... As it swung open, a dim blue light washed over the goblins. Before them lay another stone chamber, its walls covered in clusters of softly glowing blue Mushrooms, making it look almost inhabited.
The goblins filed inside, ready to face any danger.
This stone chamber was slightly smaller than the one with the Brain-Eating Monsters. It was rectangular, oriented from north to south, with six pairs of thick stone pillars lined up in a row.
"Not a small space at all," Shire said with a smile, surveying the chamber. Thanks to the Blue Fluorescent Mushrooms, the visibility was passable.
"Red Eyes, take some of the others and scout the area," he ordered.
Red Eyes grunted in acknowledgment and, still cradling the Brain-Eating Monster, prepared to lead his group away. The monster in his arms was now squirming restlessly.
SQUEAK SQUEAK. A black-furred rat scurried out from a corner. Shire couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. ’You find these critters everywhere.’
But right after, a GURGLING sound echoed from the far end of the chamber. He immediately stopped Red Eyes and put everyone on high alert. ’Who knows what kind of "surprise" is waiting for us this time,’ he thought.
In less than ten seconds, he could make out the shapes in the distance by the glow of the Mushrooms.
They were green-skinned creatures, about a meter and a half tall, their bodies covered in layers of folded skin. Their forelimbs were significantly longer than their hind limbs, forcing them into a hunched posture as they moved on all fours. As they shambled forward, three arm’s-length tentacles around their mouths twitched incessantly.
’What are these things?’ Shire wondered, watching the strange creatures approach.
But then his brow furrowed. He realized that without exception, every single one of these green-skinned monsters had long, pointed ears.
’They’re goblins,’ Shire realized in shock. ’Mutated goblins.’
At the same time, he gave the order: "Full alert. If they show any hostile intent, be ready to counterattack."
More and more monsters appeared across the chamber, slowly closing the distance. But Shire noticed something strange—these mutated goblins seemed to be trembling. They would take a few steps, then halt, and after a certain point, they refused to come any closer.
’Something is forcing them onward.’
