The weather was poor the next day, dark and overcast, with a fierce north wind whipping fine snowflakes through the air as it swept across the land. To anyone not dressed warmly enough, it cut like knives.
But this weather was good news for the Dar Territory extermination force. In weather like this, the goblins had no way to post sentries—chieftain or no chieftain, goblins with such backward civilization had no way to provide their sentries with thick enough clothing to keep out the cold. Without heavy clothes, standing watch in this weather? In less than half an hour, they would freeze stiff, ready for collection as corpses.
Even if the goblin chieftain had arranged sentries, they could only huddle inside their burrows, poking their heads out now and then for a quick look. In weather like this, their vigilance was practically equivalent to zero. Two or three experienced scouts could take them all out.
And that was indeed the case. The mid-rank rogue under Baron Dar had gone out alone early that morning. Around noon, he returned to report, "We can move after lunch. I've confirmed two goblin watchposts. I'll take out the sentries beforehand."
Baron Dar was not surprised by this result. Given that rogue's skill, accomplishing such a task was perfectly ordinary. Failing to do so would have been strange instead.
So he ordered the extermination force to rest for the time being, eat and drink, and fully recover their strength and spirits before following the route the rogue had marked out and advancing to wipe out those goblins in one fell swoop.
The clergy of the Church of Void Mask were positioned behind the vanguard of the extermination force. Ahead of them were fifty fully armed soldiers and two knights. Not far behind them stood roughly