The scales around the giant wolf's throat immediately vented huge clouds of steam. Then heat poured out like water through an opened floodgate, warping the air around it. Searing temperatures blasted into the goblin camp, instantly dehydrating and killing the surrounding corrupted plants.
The goblins fared even worse. Those caught in the flames writhed in agony, while the rest scattered in panic.
Field remembered pouring hot water over ants as a child.
The pillar of fire swept back and forth across the camp, and burning goblins howled in pain. Even more took direct hits and were reduced to heaps of blackened ash. The survivors refused to wait helplessly for death and fought back with javelins and stones.
"Aoo! Aoo! Aoo!"
The Goblin Chief led seven or eight diehard followers in a charge at Field, their spears raised.
Whoosh!
The goblin at the front dropped without warning, unable to make so much as a sound. Intestines and mangled organs spilled from the gaping wound in its belly. The arrow that had killed it embedded itself in a boulder behind it, its fletching still trembling. Ashina could not be bothered to direct the giant wolf to attack. Instead, she drew arrows and loosed them at the goblins in rapid succession.
The charging goblins did not even have time to consider fleeing before streaks of silver light shot them all dead.
Soon, every goblin in the camp was dead. The earth had been baked until it cracked, and gray-white ashes covered the ground.
"These goblins had armor. They certainly didn't make it themselves, so I think there's something worth exploring nearby." Field remained alert. Unfortunately, the Mini-Map did not mark supplies. He picked up a horribly rusted piece of iron. "This seems to belong to the Royal Family. Too bad it's so rotten that even a scrap dealer wouldn't take it."
From its intricate, ornate gardenia patterns, he could just make out that it was a shoulder plate made for the Royal Family. A goblin had worn it on its head as a helmet.
Field flicked it with a finger, sending rust pattering onto the ground.
"All right, what was I expecting? This armor has rusted to pieces. It's worthless." He tossed the junk aside in disgust and continued searching the goblin camp.
There was no such thing as antiques in this era.
"My lord, I suspect they have another nest nearby. There aren't any young here, which is strange."
"Search carefully. Treasure is secondary. We need to wipe out this entire band of goblins." Field's expression was grave. He had no desire to leave behind a pack of monsters that hated him.
Leave the roots when cutting weeds, and they would grow back with the spring breeze.
Ashina tilted her head. She felt that Field was unusually wary of goblins, even though they were such weak creatures. Still, her lord had given his orders, so she searched the surrounding area carefully. Just as they had predicted, a thorough search revealed that the young goblins had been hidden in a cave not far from the camp.
Pulling aside the thorns concealing the entrance, Field stooped and went inside.
The entrance was small, but once he crawled through, he found a spacious interior piled high with junk, particularly heaps of armor and weapons. All of it was in terrible condition. The smells of rust, excrement, and urine filled the cave with a pungent stench, but Field could already ignore it. The smell of corruption was hardly any better.
"Waa! Waa! Waa!"
Goblins the size of weasels huddled together all over the floor, a hundred or so at the very least. Had they gone undiscovered, they might have restored the band's strength within a month. Two deformed does were imprisoned beside them. Unsurprisingly, these two does were the goblins' birth mothers.
There were no female goblins. They could only reproduce with other creatures, and they bred exceptionally fast.
"Huh? A species immune to the Death Miasma?" Field's eyes lit up as he stepped forward to examine the does. But when he saw the cluster of mouths and eyes along their backs, disappointment washed over him. "So they're corrupted creatures, just a nonaggressive variety."
Ashina covered her mouth and laughed. "Goblins this unusual are quite rare. Immunity to the Death Miasma isn't something just anything can have."
That was true. Otherwise, the Empire would have reclaimed the vast Northern Frontier Province long ago.
"Wait, these goblins can already reproduce with corrupted creatures?" The realization suddenly struck Field, and he sucked in a cold breath. Corrupted creatures were everywhere. If the goblins captured large numbers of females, they would pose an enormous threat to the Nightfall Territory.
"That is a problem. We'll have to keep an eye out for goblins from now on."
Ashina drew the long blade from behind her waist. The Dragon-Breed Wolf was too large to squeeze inside, so they would have to do it themselves.
"Let's do it together. Make it quick." Field picked up a rust-covered mace from the ground. Like a game of whack-a-mole, he smashed all the little goblins flat into "two dimensions," then struck each corrupted deer once, sending the lot of them to hell.
After taking stock of the loot in the cave, Field found himself with a cave full of ruined armor. Moving it would take time and effort, and it was useless anyway, so he left it behind. One locked Ironwood Chest, however, caught his eye.
"Have you seen a key?" Field searched around.
Ashina winked playfully. "Of course, my lord."
She casually reached out with her slender hand and gave a tug, ripping the iron lock off the chest along with the corrupted moss clinging to it.
All right, you win!
Field took a deep breath and cautiously opened the chest, praying there was no triggered bomb or mimic inside.
Fortunately, none of his idle imaginings came true. The first things he saw were two banners: an old, faded Griffin Banner and another he did not recognize. The latter bore a strange design made up of an eye and a Hexagram, perhaps some noble house's banner. The Ross Family's banner, for instance, featured a rose composed of abstract symbols and lines. Field did not even want to use that banner. It looked gay.
Beneath the banners stood rows of sealed, thin-walled wooden cylinders.
Field carefully pried a lid open with a small knife and saw a rolled sheet of parchment inside.
Ashina's eyes shone, and even her wolf ears perked up. "It feels like we've found something interesting. Are there secrets of the Royal Family that have been sealed away for years inside? Or perhaps treasure hidden by some noble!"
Field was curious too. From the faded Griffin Banner and royal armor, it was easy to tell that this equipment had been left behind by the royal army. Whatever was written on the paper was bound to be interesting.
He carefully tipped out the parchment scroll. When he saw the flame design on it, it suddenly seemed very familiar.
Ashina took one look and narrowed her eyes in disappointment. "I can feel magic flowing. I don't think this is a treasure map."
Sure enough, when he opened it, he found it covered in incomprehensible symbols.
It was a Magic Scroll!
"No wonder it looked so familiar. My younger sister attended the Mage Academy. The Magic Scrolls she brought home to show off looked just like this." As he spoke, Field, who had long been itching to try it, aimed at a corrupted deer's corpse and tore the scroll open.
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