Chapter 16 – Lady Cassvia's Bitter Choice
"It seems you already understand what we are about to do."
Altair immediately smiled and asked kindly:
"We are all intelligent beings, how could I humiliate you?
Brave and skilled human knight, you have two choices. Do you want me to handle you, or do you want him?"
Altair pointed at the Pale Goblin beside him.
The hideous goblins grinned crudely and filthily.
The female knight's face froze in confusion, her voice faltering: "You… you…"
Seeing the huge, ugly Pale Goblin, her fair face turned bloodless, and her pupils shook violently.
The Pale Goblin walked forward with a foolish grin, step by step, treading into the noble knight's heart.
Cassvia was so terrified that she lost all reason, her body trembling uncontrollably.
"No, no!!!"
Cassvia screamed in terror as she saw the Pale Goblin approach.
Altair raised his hand, and the Pale Goblin stopped.
Seeing Cassvia collapse to the ground, Altair revealed his relief—she had indeed made the correct choice.
Altair stepped forward, lifted Cassvia's chin.
"Perhaps, one day I should study some special magic and leave my own mark upon you.
But for now, it would be best if you obey me. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee your safety."
Cassvia clenched her teeth, silent, yet the fear of the Pale Goblin was still written in her eyes.
Cassvia's current Hope Value: 24
The poor female knight—what kind of treatment awaited her in the future? Truly pitiful.
With the knight by his side, Altair returned to Lyra, gently cradled her still-sleeping body, instructed goblins to straighten the blankets, and continued toward the central zone.
For some reason, after entering the central area, the Dire Wolves no longer encircled them. Instead, the place was strangely quiet.
Territories ruled by social beasts usually differed from those ruled by solitary predators. Within a certain radius, no other predators intruded. By contrast, social predators faced frequent invasions from rivals.
Thus, beasts living in packs usually had many sentries patrolling their lands.
But now, this place was unnaturally silent.
The goblins here had not come out to defend their ground. Over time, once scent-marks like urine and dung faded, they would surely be invaded by other races.
Something must have happened here.
Altair grew wary.
The Qirwood Forest was home to many beasts and a small number of magical creatures. Dangerous, but also rich with treasures. Naturally, human adventurers were drawn here.
Most often, high-level human adventurers entered from the Ledgebreak Monkey and Dire Wolf zones on the outer edges, plundering herbs, then venturing into the central forest for deeper expeditions.
Thus, the likelihood of encountering high-level adventurers was higher in the central zones than at the borders. Yet the old Violet Goblin had said the resources here were equal to those outside, far fewer than on the two sides. So few humans ever appeared here.
This was why Altair believed the area a good place for them to hide and grow.
As long as they avoided human eyes, their survival rate would rise sharply.
And yet now, something had changed.
To be safe, Altair ordered a goblin to leave the group, scouting far ahead under his control to investigate.
The goblin scout crept cautiously into the forest's depths. After crossing an open glade, he entered thicker woods. Soon, the sight of fallen trees and many charred craters in the soil appeared before Altair.
At once, his heart pounded.
The good news: these traces likely had not been left by human adventurers.
The bad news: the lingering aura belonged to a Warcraft Overlord.
The difference between Warcraft and beasts was simple: Warcraft carried immense magical power and excelled at magical attacks.
The tracks seemed to have been there for some time, and many animal carcasses lay around. Yet no goblin corpses were visible.
That was another good sign.
Given the numbers of goblins dwelling here, an Overlord's appearance was sometimes unavoidable. To claim none had been killed was unrealistic. But the absence of bodies suggested other goblins had gathered them up.
They were likely hiding in underground burrows even now.
There was nothing here that would hold an Overlord's interest long. Whatever emerged from the Qirwood depths—whether chasing prey or simply wandering—had surely departed quickly. Yet its aura would intimidate every creature here for a time.
No wonder no goblins had shown themselves since Altair's birth.
"Little Snake, find another goblin cave nearby."
"Little Snake" was the Violet Goblin Viper Commander, who could command snakes to act. For convenience, Altair had given him this nickname.
The goblin waved his staff back and forth, muttering strange goblin incantations. Soon, nearby snakes scattered and slithered off to search.
The venomous snakes under his control had limited range, so he had to move along while guiding them, passing commands from one snake to another to spread the search further.
But before long, news came from the goblin scout Altair had dispatched.
Through the scout's eyes, Altair saw a group of goblins appear.
The team consisted of two goblin warriors, two goblin fighters, and one goblin archer. They were approaching the goblin servants' location.
Altair exhaled in relief. At least, other goblins were here.
Yet the next moment, one of the attackers drew his short bow and fired an arrow at the scout.
Fortunately, the shot was poorly aimed, landing nearby and merely startling Altair.
The advancing goblins wore fierce expressions, uttering strange cries, as if driving the scout away. From their momentum, if allowed to close, the scout would surely be hacked apart.
Since Altair had not let the scout release his emperor's aura, the goblins did not know their sovereign was present.
Freed from control, the scout turned and fled in panic, shrieking strange noises, as if cursing the others.
Altair left the Pale Goblins and Goblin Knights to guard Cassvia, while he lifted Lyra—his beautiful pregnant girl, lips parted slightly, even in sleep looking faintly hungry.
Together, the goblins and humans pressed deeper into the forest.