Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Charles was eager to know who had reported the location of the Goblin Kingdom to the Crusaders. After all, it was deep in the Nightmare Forest, and although it was located by Lake Darren, it would take adventurers several days to reach it.

He had considered that it might be human merchants who did business with the high priest, but he quickly dismissed the idea, because for a merchant, reporting these goblins or evil gods would not benefit him, and would also mean losing a channel for obtaining forest resources.

But the Crusaders marched straight toward the Goblin Kingdom without even taking a detour. It was obvious to everyone that they were after the evil god and the goblins.

So Ciel decided to capture them alive if possible, and then try to get the answers out of them.

Anyway, these paladins are imprisoned in huge bubbles at the bottom of the lake. Even if they want to rebel, they have to think about how to swim from the bottom of the lake to the shore first.

In the water, human paladins are no match for the Naga.

The previous tactics were very successful. Relying on the extensive underground network and the pre-placed runeword gates, they successfully wore down the Crusader army. However, such tactics cannot be used for a long time. The enemy is not stupid. After seeing more of their tactics, they will inevitably become more cautious.

Therefore, Charles set up a "second half" for his opponents, using a whack-a-mole approach to keep these paladins busy and exhausted until they were too tired to even lift their swords.

If they start to back down halfway through the chase, then Shire will lead his men in pursuit, from the south of the city ruins to the shore of Lake Lunn. They will have to cross the entire city, and along the way there are many underground entrances. You never know when a goblin carrying a rune-covered chicken will appear and give these paladins a good whack.

However, Charles felt that the other side was unlikely to choose to run away. He knew these guys' temperament; they were exceptionally devout, to the point of arrogance, and looked down on ordinary adventurers or low-ranking knights, let alone a group of goblins. If they gave up halfway, they would be ridiculed by the world as "a dignified paladin being chased by goblins and forced to jump onto a small boat and run away in disgrace." In that case, these paladins would probably just draw their swords and commit suicide.

However, it should be noted that these paladins may give up the chase after a certain distance and instead charge directly towards the stone tower in the center of the city. Just like now, the leading paladin has already called the rest of them to stop.

"We can't let the goblins lead us by the nose anymore. They seem to be deliberately toying with us, trying to lure us out of this area." Lingard took a few quick breaths, then glanced at the paladins in front of him. He saw that after the chase, they were all more or less out of breath, some with their helmets askew, and many seemed to have sprained their ankles. After all, this area was quite difficult to navigate. "This must be the goblins protecting their hibernating evil god. We should abandon the goblins now and attack the evil god directly."

"My lord, where is that damned Feathered Serpent God?" a paladin asked, casting a healing spell on himself as he did so, apparently because he had just sprained his ankle.

"I think it should be in that large open area we passed through earlier," Lingard slowly exhaled, calming his breathing. "I noticed that there was a stone tower that had collapsed halfway down next to that open area; it should be the tallest building in this ruin."

"A stone tower?" several paladins said.

"Yes, I noticed that stone tower. Half of it has collapsed, and there's a huge black hole at the bottom." Lingard tried to straighten up and maintain his composure. "I think the only thing that could collapse half of the stone tower and still have such a huge hole is the Feathered Serpent God."

The paladins whispered among themselves and quickly reached a consensus: "Vice Commander, we will listen to you."

Lingard frowned. He wanted to emphasize that he should be addressed as "Commander," but the current situation didn't seem like the time for that. "Alright, let's go straight to slay the evil god. These goblins are so scheming, the feathered serpent must have already gone into hibernation. This battle will be exceptionally easy."

He grinned maliciously and waved his fist. "Once we kill the evil god, these goblins will scatter and flee. That will be the time to settle the score with them."

"I'm going to chop those goblins into pieces," a paladin said bitterly.

"Smash their heads."

"Chop them up."

The paladins thrust their weapons forcefully into the soil beside them, as if a goblin's corpse lay there.

Seeing everyone's anger, Lingard couldn't help but smirk. This kind of emotion was easy to exploit. Even if the evil god awoke, he could use these enraged paladins to block his way.

Then, at his command, the entire team made a 180-degree turn and headed straight for the center of the city.

"Very clever," Charles put down his binoculars and watched the paladins leave. "Knowing that they couldn't waste their energy like this, and knowing the purpose of their trip, they immediately changed their tactics and started heading straight for their target. These paladins are indeed troublesome."

"Heading straight for their target? You mean they're rushing to find the Feathered Serpent God?" Pazzani sat up straight, shading his eyes with his hand as he looked into the distance. "Then they're in big trouble. Didn't you already set things up in the Feathered Serpent God's lair...?"

Charles smiled calmly, then turned around and instructed Broken Tooth behind him, "Tell everyone to assemble at the cave entrance."

…………

The cave was dark and smelled terrible, but that didn't deter the Crusaders. They had dealt with many evil events, and some had even fought demons that crossed dimensional barriers to enter the material world—scenes that were far more horrific and bloody than what they were seeing now.

The paladin at the front held up his shield, while casting a "Light" spell with his other hand, illuminating the surrounding darkness. The others followed behind him, ready to attack any monsters that rushed out of the darkness.

The team moved slowly but steadily, a stark contrast to their previous pursuit of goblins, as if they were now revealing their true strength.

"It smells awful here," a paladin muttered under his breath.

"Shh." Someone behind him immediately signaled him to shut up. From the moment they entered the cave until now, they had not been attacked, which made everyone tense and on guard against any sudden attack.

But it seems they finally had good luck; they encountered no enemies along the way, and there weren't even any traps on the stone path.

"It's going a little too smoothly," Lingard frowned as he walked towards the back of the group. Behind him were the paladins who had sprained their ankles; although they had cast healing spells, they still had some minor physical problems. "Could it be that these goblins are afraid of the wrath of the evil god and dare not enter this cave?"

On their way to the entrance, the Crusaders were attacked several times, and the closer they got to the stone tower, the more attacks they received. This made everyone even more convinced that the goblins were protecting their evil god. However, once they entered the huge cave, the attacks suddenly stopped, leaving Lingard completely bewildered. He had originally thought that the road leading to the evil god's lair would be covered with goblin blood and corpses.

"Something's strange." Just as he was pondering the problem, the paladin at the front stopped. "It seems we've arrived."

Upon hearing the team member's whispered report, Lingard narrowed his eyes. This meant that the main event of the operation was about to begin, and the clash with Quetzalcoatl was about to unfold.

He stepped past the team members in front of him and came to the very front of the group. Under the illumination of the light spell, the entire underground cavern was revealed before his eyes.

The cave is very large, with a high ceiling, clearly the lair of a huge creature. The ground is covered with broken bones, which make a "crackling" sound when you step on them.

"Ahead," Lingard scanned the cavern and saw a colossal green body coiled atop a thick pile of bones. "The Feathered Serpent God is indeed hibernating."

"What do we do now?" a paladin whispered as he approached.

"Slowly approach it," Lingard whispered, pointing to the massive body. "Kill it all at once when we get close."

He examined the pile of bones and found nothing else around; it seemed the only being in the entire cave was the Feathered Serpent God. "Find the god's neck, and directly..."

He waved his arms and spoke softly to his teammates.

During this time, he also reminded everyone again to be quiet and not to make any noise.

At his command, the Crusaders began to file in, each carrying a weapon and carefully stepping on the broken bones, afraid of making a sound.

"Click-clack," "click-clack," after a few light footsteps, the paladins arrived at the side of the evil god.

"This..." Lingard examined the body of the evil god before him. Only when he got closer could he see that the evil god was indeed enormous, looking as tall as a person. However, he could not see any signs of life, because the entire body was made of leaves and tree trunks.

This is a giant "model" of an evil god.

"We've been tricked!" Lingard shouted. Just as he was about to order everyone to leave immediately, a burning arrow shot straight from the cave entrance at the "Feathered Serpent God" and struck the model with a "snap".

"What does it taste like?" a paladin asked.

The next second, as if in response, a violent explosion resounded throughout the cave. The deafening roar and wave of fire overturned everyone. The fiery glue inside the Feathered Serpent God's body had been detonated by the rocket, causing a chain reaction that engulfed the entire cave in flames.

All the paladins were engulfed in flames. Although they all had various defensive spells, the violent explosion and sea of ​​fire still plunged them into a state of agony.

All the paladins were engulfed in flames. Although they all had various defensive spells, the violent explosion and sea of ​​fire still plunged them into a state of agony.

Many paladins struggled to cast healing spells on themselves in an attempt to alleviate the pain, while frantically trying to escape the sea of ​​fire. Unfortunately, just as they were about to reach the cave exit, a stench assaulted their nostrils.

The pungent stench caused the paladins severe discomfort. They vomited and lay painfully on the pile of bones, with several pools of black liquid spreading in front of them and seeping into the crevices of the bones. The paladins felt their temples throbbing and their limbs were weak. Unfortunately, the burning pain still stimulated them. These guys struggled to support their bodies, and their will to survive made them crawl towards the exit on all fours.

Lingard was lucky; he had immediately moved behind his teammates when the arrows came in, so the explosion had a limited impact on him, but he was still burned by the flames. However, compared to the others, he was still able to maintain his standing position. He held onto the wall, biting his lip to try to resist the smell of the foul spores. While the others fainted from lack of oxygen due to the burning cave, he remained conscious and slowly moved out of the cave.

After him, several paladins who were not seriously injured gritted their teeth and persevered to follow him out.

"Who is it? Who is plotting against the Holy Crusade?" Lingard cast a healing spell on himself as he walked, taking out a healing potion from the bag behind him and drinking it down in one gulp. The name "Undying" was engraved on the bottle, but he had no time to care about that now. "Escape, mobilize all channels, and find out who is targeting the Church of War."

Lingard believed that such methods could only be the work of the other three churches, who first lured him into the forest with the merchant, and then set various traps to make him fall into them willingly. "They really went all out for the war of gods."

He spoke viciously. The bishop had warned him that the four major churches would stop at nothing for the war of gods, but when it actually happened before his eyes, Lingard finally understood the terrible truth.

"Shameless! They even used those goblins. The person behind this is even more shameless than the goblins themselves." Lingard glanced back at the few team members who were staggering behind him, then walked out of the cave alone without looking back. He didn't have time to take care of the others now.

As soon as he stepped out of the cave, he was shocked and his eyes widened. In front of him stood a dense swarm of goblins, each holding a weapon, as if they had been waiting for him to appear.

"Not bad, quite lucky. I thought they were all dead inside." Charles curled his lips. He had spent a lot of money to buy a large amount of blazing glue to set up this trap, and even had the white-haired guy lead a group of goblins to make a "model" of the feathered serpent god overnight. "Evita's arrow didn't work either. The explosion effect wasn't ideal."

"You, are you that goblin from over there?" Lingard stared intently at Sharl, his pure Common tongue clearly identifying him as the very goblin that had just made everyone's teeth itch with hatred.

"Yes, it's me." Charles stood next to an elephant and touched its thick leg. "You're pretty strong, aren't you? You didn't even get killed by this."

"Hmm, you think you can kill me? The guy behind you is too presumptuous." Lingard straightened his helmet. He looked disheveled, with vomit on his chest and burn marks on his body, making it impossible for him to maintain the demeanor of a former vice commander.

"Behind me?" Charles glanced back at the vast horde of goblins standing behind him. "Oh, I see, you mean someone's controlling us."

"Unfortunately, you're wrong," he shrugged. "I'm sorry, but it was us goblins who were dealing with you from beginning to end; no other humans were involved."

"No?" Lingard was taken aback.

"Yes, only goblins," Sharl said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Lingard was stunned. His expression then changed rapidly, and finally, veins bulged on his forehead as he flew into a rage.

"Damn goblins, how dare they toy with me like this!" He suddenly drew his longsword from his waist and charged at Ciel.

Charles stood there, smiling as he watched him, while the other goblins remained completely unmoved.

Just as Lingard's greatsword was about to reach Sharl, the elephant beside the goblin suddenly swung its trunk, and with a loud "bang," Lingard was thrown into the sky by a tremendous force, turning into a shooting star.