The clearing in the forest was dark, with the moon barely illuminating the path between the crooked trees.
Sensing something strange, I stopped the group, raising my hand to signal silence.
In front of us, the monsters' nest looked very much like what I had imagined: a disgusting, messy settlement. Heaps of overturned earth, scattered bones, pieces of broken wood and torn fabric formed a complete mess.
The smell was horrible, like rotten meat mixed with mud.
There were about 40 or 50 goblins and kobolds around, some strangely sleeping in makeshift burrows, others growling and fighting over scraps of food.
It was less than I had expected, and that made sense... over the last few days, the soldiers and I had killed dozens of these beasts, reducing their population by a large margin.
But seeing them sleeping at night confused me.
'What do they do during the day that they need to rest at night? ' I asked myself.
I turned to Ariel and the soldiers, speaking quietly. "Can you see? They're disorganized, but there are too many of them. If we run up on them, they can simply surround us and finish us off with their numerical advantage, so let's attack carefully, in small groups, and clear the nest little by little."
The soldiers nodded seriously when they heard this, while Ariel held the trident firmly with a determined expression as she asked me. "Eric, what's that glow in the middle?" She asked, pointing to the center of the nest.
I narrowed my eyes, even with The Witcher's feline eyes to see better in the dark, it was still difficult to see what she was pointing at, surprising me with the girl's perception.
In the middle of the mess, there was a strange black stone, the size of a barrel, stuck in the ground. This stone pulsed with a faint purple light, as if it had life.
From time to time, a crack in the stone would release a dark smoke, and slowly a new goblin would begin to form, already growling and squirming for a few seconds before joining the others.
"That... looks like a monster generator." I muttered in shock, thinking of something like a mob spawner from Minecraft, but much more sinister. "That's why they return to the nest during the day and some sleep at night... They must protect this thing while it creates more bugs. Attacking during the day would be suicide... there would be a lot more monsters defending it."
Torren listened, frowning. "So we destroy it, prince?" he asked, his hand on his sword. I shook my head. "Yes, but first we clear out the monsters. If they realize that the stone is at risk, they'll probably come with everything."
Ariel touched my arm, worried. "Eric, that stone... it looks magical. In the sea, we have crystals that store energy, but nothing that creates living things. That's dangerous."
I was surprised to learn that there were magical artifacts in the sea that stored energy, making me interested in going to see this kind of thing there at some point, and I nodded, agreeing with her. "So let's do it right and carefully, Ariel, you support from afar and safely, as before. Soldiers, follow my orders, let's divide and conquer." I organized three groups: Ariel and I with four soldiers, Torren with three, and two soldiers keeping watch to avoid ambushes. The plan was simple: attract small groups of monsters, eliminate them quickly and advance towards the center.
Although the monsters were stronger than the soldiers on average, and had much tougher skins than the soldiers could penetrate, it wasn't as if the kingdom's elite soldiers were useless against the monsters. Even if killing them was difficult, holding off a few monsters for a while wouldn't be a problem.
So we began, I advanced first with my sword slicing through the air, the water forming an arc that hit a goblin on the edge of the nest, knocking him down with a clean cut.
The noise woke up three others, who came growling.
Ariel raised her trident, launching a jet of water that knocked two of them into a tree, making them dizzy again, just as she had in the first battle.
"Now!" I shouted, and the soldiers advanced, driving swords into the monsters' weak points such as their necks and eyes. I finished off the third with a quick blow.
Even though the monsters' skin was very tough, if the monsters were incapacitated or had poor mobility, the soldiers were able to take advantage of these weak points with thinner skin to kill the monsters much more easily.
As we fought, I noticed the monsters' "treasures" scattered around the nest. Broken jewels, dented coins, pieces of armor stolen from caravans, even a crooked wagon wheel.
This was probably the remains of the villages and travelers they had attacked.
A soldier picked up a silver necklace with a rose design, muttering: "This was from Thalor's caravan... I remember hearing him lament that he sent the caravan to buy this necklace, only to lose all the materials and the lives of his employees..."
I clenched my fist in anger. These beasts weren't just a plague, they were thieves who destroyed lives.
We advanced further, group by group. Ariel was glowing... literally, with her trident sending out golden sparks. She created water shields to block claws, trapped kobolds with liquid chains, and even made a bubble that held a goblin in the air for Torren to cut.
At no point was she trying to kill a monster, but he was making it easier.
A soldier, panting, looked at her with admiration. "Prince, where did you find this girl? She's amazing!"
Ariel blushed at the compliment, laughing quietly and replying modestly. "I'm just helping."
After about 30 dead monsters, the nest was emptier, but the black stone in the center pulsed more strongly, as if it knew it was in danger.
Ten more goblins and kobolds stood around it, snarling, ready to defend. "This is it..." I said, gathering everyone together. "Ariel, get a big shield ready, we don't know what this thing can do and it's better to be safe than sorry. Soldiers, close formation, let's finish them off and destroy this thing."
Ariel nodded, raising his trident.
A wall of water formed in front of us, glistening under the moon.
I led the attack, using my sword, and the water swirled like a whirlpool, knocking down three goblins at once.
The soldiers followed, swords and shields working together, while Ariel held her shield and threw jets to unbalance the enemies. Torren cut down a kobold with a war cry, and I jumped into the center, aiming for the stone.
A larger goblin, with scars and crooked fangs, tried to stop me, only for Ariel to trap him in a stream of water and make it easier for me to cut him in half.
In the midst of the chaos, I reached the stone, feeling the purple energy pulsing like a heart.
"This ends now!" I shouted, thrusting the sword with all the Chi and demigod power I could muster.
The stone cracked and exploded into shards, the purple light fading.
The remaining monsters seemed to lose their strength, some even fleeing in desperation, only to be eliminated a short time later.
We cleared the rest quickly, with Ariel and the soldiers working as a team.
When we finished, the nest was silent, with only the debris and the stolen "treasures".
Torren wiped his sword, panting. "Prince, we've destroyed the nest. The capital is safe... for now." The soldiers celebrated, pounding their fists on their armor.
Ariel came up to me, trident still glowing. "Eric, that stone... do you think you have any more of those?" she asked, worried.
I nodded, seriously. "Probably every nest in the kingdom has one of those, but now we know what to look for." Then I looked at the exhausted but proud soldiers and spoke with an excited smile. "You were incredible, and Ariel, you were the key to it all."
She smiled, shy and proud. "I only did what I could."
But the soldiers were looking at her with respect, as if she were one of us.
Even I was surprised at how useful Ariel had been in all the comfort. Although she had never fought, the way she used the trident was as if she had been born for it!
And thinking that I would have her company to travel around the kingdom to destroy the monsters, it would make the trip even safer and more fun.
After resting for a few minutes, we picked up some of the "treasures" to return to the villages and headed back to the capital, leaving the forest quiet behind us.
Finding out how the nests worked was already a big step forward in our plans, and killing so many monsters that night probably also gave me a big step forward in my assimilation of the characters.
So I was excited to get back to the castle and see how much it had changed.
--- Cat Notes ---
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