470 Hunting Trip(Part Nine)
***CONTENT WARNING: LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE, DARK STUFF, AND EXTREME GORE***
âWhy would I tell you anything: youâre slaughtering my people,â the Goblin King replied as his guards moved in front of him.
Marco shrugged; âI was hoping to spare some of you by choice, but you turned that down before. If you answer a few of my questions: Iâll let you select five to save.â
The Goblin Kingâs anger spiked; âThat wonât be a problem if we kill you here..â
Without another word, the troll standing directly in front of Marco punched him. He was able to brace himself before impact, but he was still sent backwards a meter or so. His feet left indented drag marks in on the forest floor from keeping his stance.
As Marco glanced through his arms, he quickly dodged to his right; avoiding the war hammer of one of the other trolls. The moment his feet hit the ground again, Marco propelled himself further back to avoid the third trollâs axe. As he flitted back and forth, the Goblin King smirked with unearned satisfaction.
Taking it as a kind of challenge, Marco stopped dodging, and lunged at the nearest troll. It stopped so suddenly that the Goblin King didnât realize what had happened at first. Not until he saw the dark green blood dripping from itâs backside..
âH-How is that possible?! It shouldnât be possible!â The Goblin King exclaimed as he watched the human wiggle his fingers.
âIâm assuming that this one didnât have magic?â Marco commented as he pulled his arm out of the trollâs gut, and sidestepped the now-corpse as it fell forward.
.....
As he shook the excessive blood from his arm, Marco added; âI hope some among you have magic.. I thought all Fae had magic?â
The Goblin King glared at the human in front of him as he replied; âWe do! What Are you?! No human can take down a troll in One hit!â
âOh, but I can. I am a human, but I will become something...more, very soon. If you had any love for your people: youâll surrender now. This is the last time I will offer it. If you refuse again then the ones that will survive will be very few.â
âFuck you, you walking sack of Meat! Survival of the strongest is our Creedence! We are a race built by Warriors! You were born to be our prey!â
Marco scoffed at the Goblin Kingâs declaration; âWell, itâs quite common for humans to topple anything on the food chain above them.. What will you do, Goblin King? Will you continue to hide behind your guards, or will you show me why they named you their king?â
It was bait, and the Goblin King knew it, but his guards were staring at him now. If he outright turned down the challenge, then it wouldnât matter if he survived the fight or not. The horde would strip him of his title and kill him if he refused a direct challenge like this..
âAlright, meat bag. When I win: Iâm going to devour you alive. I usually prefer my meat cooked, but I want to hear every scream you have as I tear your flesh from your bones!â
Marco smiled at his foe; âYouâre a very vivid storyteller, but Iâm afraid that the fantasy ends here..â
The Goblin King looked at his two remaining guards as he said; âHe has openly challenged me, so let him come! One more roast for the fires canât hurt..â
âAre you sure that you donât want them to help you? Itâs not a real challenge for me if they donât join in,â Marco stated with a completely serious face.
The Goblin King outright laughed at him, then replied; âYouâre entertaining, for a sack of meat. Too bad you were born a human: I feel like weâve couldâve gotten along..â
Marco chuckled sardonically; âNo, we wouldnât of. We would have tried to kill each other as soon as we wouldâve met: just like now.. I do admit that I find you equally entertaining. Too bad youâre not house broken. I mightâve kept you as a pet.â
Enraged by his opponentâs lack of respect and taunting; the Goblin King gave a ferocious roar, then jumped at Marco. He evaded the overgrown goblin easily, but didnât expect him to spring back so quickly. He barely got his arm up in time to protect his face before the Goblin King had sent him flying into a tree.
Marco grunted loudly as he felt his back smash against the solid trunk, but that wasnât where the majority of his pain was coming from. His right arm had snapped in two places, and threatened to pierce his flesh with every jostle. As Marco caught the breath heâd lost by slamming into tree, the Goblin King laughed arrogantly.
âWith all your talk, I thought Iâd have a better fight against you, but you really are just another pathetic sack of meat,â the Goblin King looked over at his two remaining guards; âI didnât even get to use my magic against him.â
The two trolls grinned as they nodded at their King for a moment, then went completely motionless. The Goblin King called to them, but they just stood still with glazed-over eyes. Right when he started to wave his hand at them, the human said; âYou donât need to bother with them anymore..â
The Goblin King whipped around to see Marco standing right in front of him with a devilish grin as he added; âThose âsacks of meatâ are on my side now.. So what did you say about magic?â
The Goblin King actually jumped back in fear at the human before him. In all of his two hundred years, the king had never seen such a vicious human. As he looked at his now-perfectly fine arm, the Goblin King started to realize who the human was..
âThe Empress warned us all about two humans rising to power: one to defend, and one to destroy. I think I know who the destroyer is..â
As the thought crossed the Goblin Kingâs mind, Marco walked towards him with a dark smile on his face. He stepped back for a moment, earning disapproving shouts from the Fae behind him. Since their society was based upon strength, seeing their King shrinking back angered many of the Goblin Kingâs people.
He turned towards his people, and glared as he âIâve beaten everything thatâs challenged me until this human! I am Your King! You should be throwing your lives down to protect me!â
âWhy should the members of a strength-based society protect itâs king? Shouldnât it be the other way around?â Marco commented snidely.
The Goblin King turned back and glared at the human before he jumped at him. Marco easily dodged him as he said; âWhatâs the matter? I thought that you were the strongest here? At least your guard had gotten a good hit in on me.. You canât even manage that? I thought that you had magic?â
As Marco taunted him, the Goblin King built up his magic..
âYou want me to use it?! Here!â he screamed before a massive stone pillar shot out of the ground.
Marco hopped backwards as he laughed; âEarth magic, hmm? Youâre a dime a dozen in this kingdom.. And here I thought that youâd be a Tank for sure.â
The Goblin King sneered; âMy magic may be common, but not my skill!â
As one pillar shot into the air and Marco dodged it, one after another followed. The clearing in front of the caves was littered with stone columns. As Marco hopped from one to the next, avoiding the new ones popping up: the Goblin King grinned..
âAnd here I thought that You were some kinda overpowered boogie man, but it turns out that youâre just good at running away!â
As the Goblin King started to laugh, multiple spikes shot out of the pillars themselves. Instead of being flat on top like the columns, they were pointed. As Marco jumped into the air, a spike tore through the side of his overcoat.
He stared at the tear as he hopped back, then looked around himself..
Spikes were coming at him from almost every direction mid-air. Marco felt a burst of excitement as he tapped into his Tank and Dark magics at once, and created a kind of whip. As he twisted his body to rotate, the whip snapped all of the points off of the spikes at once.
The Goblin Kingâs jaw dropped as he watched the human destroying the spikes as quickly as he made them. It was almost like the black whip had a mind of itâs own as it protected itâs master. As the human started to laugh, me landed o the ground half a meter away from him..
Fury and fear mixed together as the Goblin King roared at the human, then pulled a hidden dagger out of nowhere. Desperate to win, the goblin summoned three spikes as he lunged at the human. Marco grinned broadly as the black whip broke the spikes, and his hand went into the Goblin Kingâs chest.
Green blood dripped down his arm, and off of his elbow as Marco dug his fingers in. He thought that heâd rip the so-called kingâs heart out, but apparently goblin anatomy was different from a humanâs. As he gripped and yanked, a lung came out instead.
The Goblin King spit and sputtered, then croaked out; âJust meat,â before he slumped over, and died.
The Fae watching instantly started to cry out with a mix of excitement, and fear. Their laws stated that the strongest ruled them, but they didnât know if a human could be their leader or not. As the roars and screeches calmed, Marco looked at the pasty green lung in his hand, then dropped it, and looked at the remaining Fae.
There were a few that looked like they were ready to fight, but clearly only to protect the others. Marco grinned at them, but the smile didnât reach his eyes as he said; âDo Fae not bow to their betters?â
As the gathered Fae stared at Marco with a mix of confusion and horror, a deep, booming voice shouted out from behind them; âBOW TO YOUR KING!â
A massive black cloud of thick fog came out from the side followed by a woman dressed in similar armor to the other human. The Fae all shrank back, not sure where the voice had come from. As they all cowered, the first human stepped forward as he spoke..
âCalm down, Ahriman. Theyâre still acclimating to their new situation,â he turned towards the crowds; âMy name is Marco MacArthur, and I am your King now. I will select the strongest left for amongst you, and the rest will remain here for a moment.â
After selecting about two dozen or so of the strongest still alive, Marco led them away from the remaining Fae, and back towards their campsite. As soon as they were gone, Sheri and Ahriman turned back towards the remaining Fae..
âIâm so sorry,â Sheri mumbled before she and Ahriman started to kill them all.
Many took off running, but Draco and Benzo were waiting for them in the woods. They slaughtered every Fae, regardless of size or age. Sheri was doing as she was told when she came across the young troll that had spared her before.
Her heart screamed out at her, but the influence from Marcoâs shard was too strong. She drew back her sword, and stabbed the child in itâs stomach as tears streamed down her face. The young troll cried out in pain, then dropped to the ground..
Sheri looked around at the bloodshed and screamed at the top of her lungs in anguish. The shard in her neck twisted her agony into pleasure, turning her screams into maniacal laughter. As she went back to killing every Fae that she saw, the young troll curled into a ball, and passed out with tears streaming down her face..