Chapter 195 - Declarations Of War

Fire-infused Pilum has critically struck Goblin Scout!

Iado skillcheck made: You have successfully disemboweled your foe!

The orc sneering down at him moved so slowly that Eric wondered if the creature was drunk, drugged, or under a spell.

It didn’t stop him from putting every iota of training he had embraced while taking out every massive spirit boar he could hunt down, before being humbled almost every time he challenged Pavel to yet another match to learn all he could.

Only now did the true difference in skill levels become apparent, marking more significantly than numbers ever could, just how far he had come.

Compared to the art of butchering rhino-sized tuskers with his saber, bardiche, mithril blade, or just his fists, a flat-footed and confused-looking orc that was only thrice as massive as a human couldn’t even begin to compare.

The orc wasn’t simply disemboweled. It was ripped completely open, all but exploding under the force of Eric’s killing blow before he darted for the remaining pair of orcs, both also moving with comical slowness.

Muskets? Yes, those bastards were armed with just that.

But a single Identify check made it clear why they couldn’t even line the barrel with him before he had struck, ripping one open from hip to shoulder, taking advantage of the explosion of blood to dart right through and yank free his final confused enemy’s musket with one hand while it squealed and tried to wipe the blood from its eyes, before the air rung with the sound of mithril cleaving through the air so fast that by the time the orc blinked it was over, wide piggish eyes trying to comprehend what had happened as the earth spun endlessly around it as it’s head crashed to the ground… its body collapsing in a heap on top of it, a heartbeat later.

Orc Musketeer. (Mortal, no class)

Strength – 22 / Vitality – 18 / Finesse 10 / Quickness 9 / Appearance (Ugly as fuck.)

Health: 202 (Zero! You have already decapitated him!)

Eric gazed at the fallen eight-foot tall giants he had once feared so greatly in disbelief.

“These are the fuckers that filled Elonia and me with dread for so many months? That overwhelmed so many of our fucking cities, putting collars and chains on anyone they didn’t throw in the fire pits?”

Eric face twisted, unsure whether he was going to scream with fury, or laugh at the bizarre twist in fortune.

He settled for a fierce, vindictive smile, hawk-like vision making out the cannon-studded fort in the distance, and several platoons of soldiers doing drills in an unexpected show of discipline, as if they were part of an actual army, and not just several hundred slothful motherfuckers that had overrun Gilton.

Eric’s heart pounded with the same sweet sense of glee whenever his alts would stumble into a zone completely unprepared for his build, squeezing the hilt of his blade as he visualized the glorious chaos to come.

The first step in claiming his vengeance, and rescuing his sister.

But the one mistake he wouldn’t make was charging headlong towards cannons that could make easy mincemeat out of even him, with the sun blazing high overhead.

Not when there were so many other steps he could take, so many of Samuel’s lessons he could finally put into play.

But first thing’s first, he thought, sprinting faster than any other Earth-bound creature ever had for his prey, grasping the back of the squirming goblin scout’s neck as it desperately tried to slither away.

Surprisingly fast, for a low-level goblin.

Eric frowned, carefully noting just how far his white-hot javelin had penetrated through his enemy’s calf, before reclaiming his weapon as the creature shrieked and screamed in his iron-hard grip.

“Let Snrgl go! To interfere with a Goblin Scout is to risk the wrath of the consortium itself!”

Eric couldn’t help but snort at the furiously struggling 3 and a half foot creature, though carefully gripping its neck and holding it out like a flapping fish secured by the gills, assuring it had no ability to twist or maneuver or strike out at Eric in any way.

Then he slowly began to squeeze the neck of a creature sheathed in surprisingly good quality mail. Which did absolutely nothing to resist the crushing force of Eric’s impossibly strong grip.

Immediately, the scratchy hiss of the puce-colored goblin became high pitched shrieks and wails. “Mercy, please, mercy!”

“You want mercy? Then you’ll have no problems answering my questions. Agreed?”

“Yes, yes, anything!” The creature laughed nervously. “What does Snrgl’s new master wish to know?”

Eric frowned, shaking the fifty pound creature so hard he heard its jaw crack before it gave a painful cry.

“Rule one. You don’t lie to me. You tell me exactly what I want to know. And if you think to deceive me...” Eric yanked the creature back, hissing in its curling ear. “My magics will sense your deception. My fingers will feel the racing thump of your heart. And then?” Eric chuckled coldly. “You will pay a price beyond anything you can conceive, for your transgressions. So my first question is this: How many broken bones do you want to drag yourself back to Freetown with?”

The creature in his arms hissed, simpering mask that had rung so false to Eric’s Perception fading into something ugly and cold. “You wouldn’t dare! You think I’m a simple lowly scout? The tribal elders themselves appointed me! To damage my flesh is to earn their undying hate!”

The creature chuckled coldly when Eric froze, as if it thought fear was what froze Eric’s grip.

“Now you understand. The Goblin tribunal is done wearing its mask to placate you cowards and fools. We now control the northeast of this continent in all but name! We own your debts, your businesses, and soon we will own all of you! Ha! Our clans forgive neither misstep nor insult! I suggest you put me down now, human. Put me down and walk away, and perhaps we can both forget this encounter ever happened.”

Eric took a deep breath, swallowing the white hot rage threatening to consume him. “You’re no common grunt at all, are you?” he asked, Unified Perception and the fact that the creature’s calf hadn’t exploded in flames from flash-cooked flesh already making that abundantly clear.

Snrgl: Level 25 Goblin Scout

Strength – 35 / Vitality – 30 / Finesse – 40 / Quickness – 40 / Appearance (Slimy little shit)

Health 550 (227)

“That should be obvious, even to you, human!” the goblin snarled. “Now put me down or pay the price!” And in a sudden burst of speed, is screamed and twisted furiously, unsheathing and drawing a wicked hooked blade, shrieking and twisting and doing all it could to strike out at Eric, it’s whimpering mask of moments before revealing a furious monster that would have no doubt caught any number of mid-level adventurers flat-footed, perhaps killing one or more before they finally understood their peril.

Yet Eric’s grip didn’t waver in the least, the goblins furious scream turned to a disbelieving whimper when it’s temporary frenzy stopped, the creature heaving for all it was worth, sobbing in disbelief. “No. There’s no way you’re that strong. No human can possibly be that…” Eric could sense it’s nose quivering madly. “You’re no human… Roundear. Roundear!” the creature shrieked, before it’s voice was cut off as a snarling Eric repeatedly slammed his prey to the ground, much like he would a venomous snake he was determined to kill before it could regain its senses and bite him or his sister.

And with all the venomous snakes out there eager for his sister’s blood…

He would happily kill them all.

Strength check: Critical Success! Your opponent doesn’t have a chance in hell of breaking your grip!

You have critically struck: Goblin Scout!

You have critically struck: Goblin Scout!

You have critically struck: Goblin Scout!

Multiple ribs shattered. Multiple limbs broken. Multiple organs perforated.

Your target has saved versus death.

Your target is sobbing uncontrollably. Congratulations! You have shattered the will of your prey!

Eric took a deep, shuddering breath, every ounce of will expended in curbing his white hot rage even as the broken creature groaned and sobbed at his feet, no longer resisting when Eric coldly disarmed it, ignoring its shrieks as he claimed everything, including the shiny mail shirt it wore, bruised and broken flesh revealing itself, arms so badly mangled that fragments of bone had burst from torn flesh in multiple locations.

Pausing only a moment for cold eagle eyes to gaze around in all directions as he crouched in the foliage, Eric detected no hue or cry of alarm. Save for the bellicose shouts of orc drill sergeants in the distance, the only other sounds he heard were far off cries and wails from inside the keep.

Eric’s gut clenched, his exquisite Perception making it all too clear what was happening to the high pitched voices, both human and female.

Eric gazed down at the whimpering goblin. So many questions to ask and verify. “I see no human town. But I hear girls screaming inside the keep. Explain.”

The goblin was taking deep, wheezing breaths, whimpering with every inhale. Whimpers that turned to shrieks when Eric rather ruthlessly bound its shattered limbs with massive sheaths of zombified rawhide, Arms and legs both encased within seconds, the creature looking up at Eric in wide-eye terror.

“Yes! Human wenches for the orcs who have earned the right, the youngest reserved for the human custos who fight under the High Chieftan’s Crimson banner!”

Eric clenched his fists.

It was all he could do to control the white hot rage burning through him. To temper the killing fury that so wanted to explode.

And what a fool he would then be, to do so before tearing free every bit of valuable info he could from his prey.

“Why are you here?”

The goblin froze. Before it could think up a lie, Eric wrenched open its mouth and tore out multiple teeth, earning a scream and fresh shooting blood.

“Why?” It shrieked and sobbed.

Eric glared at the creature now trembling up at him. “That’s for the lie I sensed you getting ready to utter.” He flashed a cold smile, pointing at his sapphire blue eyes. “Like I said, my magic allows me to sense your deception.” His bleak smile turned to a cold snarl. “Now answer me honestly, or I’ll tear free what’s left between your legs and stuff it down your throat!”

The creature’s eyes bulged with something beyond simple terror. “You’re him! You’re the one!”

Eric’s gaze narrowed. “I will ask you one more time...”

“I’m here to watch the gate! The gate to another realm! I am to report if anyone enters or leaves!”

Eric nodded. “I know. Now, who are you working with, and what arrangements exactly have you made?” He bent down, his words sending shivers through his prey. “And before you think to lie… I already know more than you might think. So when you think to slip deception with truths…” Eric gazed pointedly at his prey’s torso before flashing a cold, cold smile. “I think you know what happens then.”

The last of the goblins arrogance fled, it’s terror now genuine as it gushed out words it couldn’t get out fast enough. “The entire Consortium came to an arrangement with the Feng Ren clan! The elders were paid a fortune by the cultivators to hire scouts to detect anomalies outside even arcane paradigms! It took us months… months! But finally we found this rift. It was exactly what the Feng Ren elders were looking for. Exactly! But as one search party after another entered and none returned… the Clan elder who accompanied us grew increasingly irate! Just last week he left in a fury, saying he would be back with reinforcements, and we’d better have a full contingent of assassins accompanying their search party!”

The goblin temporarily forgot his pain, eyes glaring with remembered contempt. “As if it was no small thing to recall our trump cards, tools we spent over half a billion credits securing penalty fees to acquire! The elders will refuse that mad cultivator’s request, of course. We have a campaign of our own to win, enemies to wipe off this board for all time!”

The creature blanched, suddenly remembering its place. Eric’s gaze was hard as ice. “So, sanctified, holier-than-though clan elders know about illicit goblin sniper units with your Mark II Blaster Rifles, and he’s totally okay with using those tools to achieve his ends, as long as it isn’t his hands holding those weapons.” Eric gave a bitter chuckle, shaking his head. “Why am I not surprised?”

The goblin’s eyes bulged with shocked dismay. “Wait, you know? You know about...”

“Your sniper units? Squads of three or more with a scout, mid range specialist, and at least one level 30 goblin using an absolutely illegal arcane anti-material rifle?” Eric couldn’t hold back his grin when the creature began to tremble at the sight of the Mark II Deathblaze suddenly manifesting in Eric’s hands.

“Yeah. I guess I kinda do know all about it. Fancy that.”

“You’re him!” Snrgl screeched in terror. “You’re the one who sabotaged the Snicklit Tribe’s gambit! The one who forced Bloodtear Consortium elders to surrender rights to our pristine fiscal monopoly over this entire world!”

Much to Eric’s surprise, the creatures terror turned to seething hate as it snarled, screeched, and tried to tear free of its bonds with broken limbs. “You’re the one who cost us a fortune! Who gave the Blue Faction a path to power through our unimpeachable bulwark! You put everything at risk, you goddamned cursed Roundear! Everything!”

Eric couldn’t help himself, he laughed at the creature’s futile shrieks.

Until the creature snarled, spitting out words that made even Eric’s blood run cold.

“You think you can get away with making a mockery of the most powerful galactic consortium in this sector? Fool! You will pay for that, mongrel. Pay for that in tears and blood! Even now, our spies hunt down your precious Sylvan allies! Even now our assassins work tirelessly to smash your alliance, butchering all your military commanders and anyone and everyone of significance who would fight by your side!” The creature’s voice had turned to a furious screech.

“We have sworn vendetta against your entire clan, Eric Silver! Even now, our forces have formed trade embargoes against each and every world your cursed mother controls! We will starve you, bankrupt you, and when you are at your weakest, we will have our assassins purge those worlds of every trace of your clan’s blood, even if it bankrupts us!”

The creature howled with manic furious glee. “But first we’ll cleanse this world of your clan entire! Until only your mother remains, contract and codicile forcing her to leave with her tail between her legs, and we’ll throw her the heads of both her human mongrel children as a parting gift for daring to cross our—“

It’s eyes bulged in sudden surprise when Eric’s fist tore through its chest, tearing free its heart.

“Vendetta? You got it, motherfucker! You want a war? I’ll give you all a goddamned motherfucking war!”

But the creature’s eyes had already rolled up in agony beyond comprehension, before collapsing utterly with a final gurgling wheeze.

You have critically struck Level 25 Goblin scout! Goblin scout has perished! Experience earned!

Eric’s psyche howled with fury and bitter regret, forced to wonder if it was his daring to best the goblins at their own game, daring to treat them like civilized white collar humans relegating their battles to the field of commerce, not like the bloodthirsty inhuman monsters that they were, monsters that had already made their absolute contempt for humanity and desire to force them all to bend at the knee as slaves abundantly clear, that had stoked the fires of their absolute hate.

And now they had declared war against his kin. His blood.

Death squads even now hunting for his sister, for the simple vindictive pleasure of making Eric and his mother suffer for daring to cross them. Eager, beneath their simpering smiles, to have the entire galaxy fear their retribution as they happily twisted every rule of commerce and fair play, engaging in the ugliest form of capitalism imaginable to conquer the entire galaxy, one credit at a time.

Eric flashed a bleak smile for the crumpled goblin, whose experience even now stretched and tormented his own overextended soul. “Thanks for the tip, though. Because if Mother will be forced to leave the field completely with the elimination of my sister and me… then that means the same holds true for you all as well. All I have to do is kill off every last one of you psychotic motherfuckers, and Earth is free of you shitheads forever.”

Eric’s tilted back his head, roaring with laughter. “All I have to do is declare war against an entire race? So be it! Goblin motherfuckers, we are at war!”

Eric’s eyes did widen with surprise, however, when the System blared a message echoing through more than just his interface.

Eric Silver has declared Vendetta against Bloodtear Syndicate!

Bloodtear Syndicate and Contender Eric Silver are now at war.

Bloodtear Syndicate and Sylvan Alliance are now at war.

Battleground Chosen: Subjugated World 6783Y (Earth)

All strictures against tools and resources have been abrogated!

Frontier world limitations are still in effect!

Vendettas are in full effect until opposing party has been fully purged from Subjugated World 6783Y! Defeated party is forbidden from further involvement, direct or indirect, within contested worlds!