Lord Of Goblins

This removed the smile from Lev.

Gelmar thought it was a victory for him but when he looked at Lev's eyes he didn't see fear; he saw a cold emptiness that wanted to devour him whole.

"You know," Said Lev in a voice so cold that Gelmar took a step back "I usually can tolerate pointless drivel from wannabe edge-lords like you, but you just had to try and be too edgy, didn't you? It was okay when you threatened me with death, many people did the same but all of them failed, well, except one." He said with a chuckle confusing Gelmar. What did he mean by that?

Lev continued with a sneer "But you had to threaten those who actually mean something to me, didn't you? From your tone I know that you meant it, so here's a hint as to why you'll wish you never said those lines. The things that I honestly care about can be counted on one hand and let me tell you, I'll allow NOTHING to harm them. Not you. Not Vyrga. Not Rak. Not the nobles, not the goblins, not God.".

"That's heresy…" Gelmar replied - he noticed that his voice started to crack.

Lev, no… this monster smiled a smile that would make the ender serpent cower in fear. Lev opened his mouth "No. This is a fact. Now run along and pray for forgiveness from whatever being you believed you have wronged, because trust me, you won't be getting it from me.".

After he said that, he walked back to his men who after seeing the triumphant smile on his face and Gelmar's pale form almost running away to his side. They started cheering while the latter's men started getting doubts after seeing their leader.

"Are you okay, boss?" asked one of the thugs after Gelmar reached them.

"I'm fine." He said after he took a deep breath calming himself. 'As dangerous as he seemed, threats are nothing but threats until proven otherwise. And getting shaken before the battle won't help at all.'.

For a moment, he closed his eyes as he thought as to why he has to win this fight. There was no retreat, they'd either have to move forward and face Lev or back away and get slaughtered by Vyrga. And they will definitely win. "Prepare to attack! Kill each and every one of them! And let's bring that bastard's head on a spike!".

"Yeah!" They erupted in a cheer before brandishing their weapons and staring straight at their enemy. Waiting for their boss to give the signal.

"Charge! Kill them all!" Gelmar roared and the men - sped forward, ready to make the other side bleed.

"What did you say to him, sir?" Volker asked Lev just as he arrived at the barricade. Before going to meet Gelmar. He ordered Volker to tell the men to cover the barricade with as much dried moss as they can and prepare the barrels in front of the shield bearers. He then walked along with Volker past his men and stood near his previous position.

"Nothing, I just riled him up.".

"Excuse me, but that didn't look like nothing to me. His face was red before turning white. Why?".

Lev shrugged "It's always good to piss off idiots. It makes it easier for them to blunder.".

"Oh, that explains the former, but why the latter? Why get him scared?".

"…To demoralize his men?".

"But won't that make them more cautious? What if they discover our-".

"Sir! They started the attack!" Screamed a shield bearer as he saw Gelmar and his men begin their charge.

"We'll continue the discussion later, Volker! Everyone, get into formation!" Lev ordered his men, relieved to avoid explaining his outburst to Volker and the men.

"Sir, yes, sir!".

"Shield bearers, block the path! Spearmen, prepare yourselves! Slingers, load projectiles!".

"Sir, yes, sir!" They replied as they tightened their formation. Their mighty shields slammed on the ground, ready to block the path of their foes.

Lev realized early on that though his three-man formation can work against stronger individual opponents, it would fail miserably against enemies that either match them in number or outnumbers them. It's good against hivelings and small forces, but it could never work against Vyrga's men once they gather their forces. So he opted to refocus training his men on discipline, formations, and thrusting their spears, he especially focused on training them into forming a shield wall. It was the easiest combat tactic that he could come up with considering their time limit. It was easy to train in and boosted the men's morale as they stood shoulder by shoulder and knew that they had their comrades by their side to protect them, but it had many disadvantages which lead to its decline. It was susceptible to flanks, it would eventually weaken over time under constant ranged pressure, and it would be almost impossible to re-establish a defensive line once breached. Yet despite its apparent flaws, Lev was sure that they could succeed. Though that wouldn't stop him from using every trick up his sleeve to assure his victory.

"W-will we be alright, sir?" Volker asked in a frightened tone, his voice barely a whisper.

Lev took a glance at him and saw his shuddering form, he then looked at the others who were no better. They were shaking and uttering prayers in bated breathes as their minds were filled with images of them getting slaughtered by these animals.

They kept muttering and cursing as they saw Gelmar and his men charge towards them and get past the first stalagmite. Their thundering footsteps and madness filled laughter echoing in their ears.

"Would the plan work…?".

"Why am I even here…?".

"F.u.c.k me…".

"I don't want to die…".

"What got into me…?".

"Mother, I'm sorry…"

They didn't want to fight. They don't want to die. Unlike their opponents they were simple miners and labourers, most of them were youths who never went on an expedition nor ever killed anything larger than a rat or a lizard. They weren't men who were used to killing, they were simple men who wanted to lead simple lives, and that's what Lev used to inspire them.

"Are you afraid!?" Lev yelled inquisitively causing them to lower their heads in shame, then he said softly "So am I." shocking them.

"But I'm more afraid of losing. For if we lose, we won't just lose our lives, our loved ones will do so as well! Our mothers, our fathers, our brothers, our sisters, our wives, sons, and daughters! These wretches will target them if we fall! But I won't allow it! Neither should you!" He said in a loud voice.

"We always get trampled on by their ilk! We always suffer at the hands of such scoundrels and never dare to fight back! No matter how much we beg they never show mercy… They never stop harming those we love… We shouldn't allow it! For once we will not leave ourselves at their mercy! We will protect our homes! We will protect our families! We will repel these wretches! WE WILL WIN!!!"

"WE WILL WIN! WE WILL WIN! WE WILL WIN!" His men cried with vigour! With every chant as their fears were replaced with courage. They set aside their worries and stood steadfast despite the approaching horde.

Just as the enemy reached the second stalagmite, the slingers launched their attack.

More than ten bullets of varying shapes and sizes flew into the air before slamming into the shields and bodies of Gelmar's men with great accuracy as the short distance and the narrow space, which causes them to converge, makes it harder to miss.

Already six men were hit with two of them dead. One with a small round bullet slamming into his forehead, killing him instantly, while another with a larger acorn-shaped shot slamming into his stomach knocking him over and when he tried to get up, he kneeled and started vomiting blood before eventually falling down and lying dead on the ground with his bowels emptying themselves minutes after his death.

Yet that didn't stop Gelmar and his men as they kept pressing onwards under any cost. They won't allow themselves to be defeated by a group of amateurs third their size.

In the end, they lost ten once they finally reached the last stalagmite, but once they did Lev ordered in a loud booming voice "Shield bearers! Push the barrels!".

"Sir, yes, sir!" they replied before removing the barrels' lids and pushing them with their shields onto the barricade, covering it and the moss with a dark brown viscous liquid.

"Spearmen! Shield bearers! Retreat to the second line!".

"Sir, yes, sir!".

After giving the order, he held a nearby torch and glared at the invaders as they approached before throwing it onto the barricade which immediately erupted in flames.

"Hope you like tar." He muttered before looking at the slingers. "Let's leave them a little surprise, shall we!?".

"Yeah!".

Gelmar was shocked as he saw them abandon their position and run away.