Declaration of War!

Following Shortie the goblin into the camp, the filthy environment made Celia and Serea feel rather uncomfortable. Both of them endured the stench as they followed Shortie into a large wooden house.

The door and threshold of the wooden house were extremely high, clearly built for some massive creature; yet now, the owner of the house had become a diminutive goblin.

Shortie hopped up onto the main seat without a care, and as the “guests”, Serea, Celia, and the others stood in the great hall of the wooden house. Shortie seemed to have no intention of offering seats to his “guests”.

“Welcome to the great Shortie’s camp!”

As Shortie spoke, two ogres took their place by his side, while another four or five ogres blocked the main gate. Serea merely glanced at them briefly and then paid them no further mind.

“Let’s get to the point. What is it that you wish to discuss, which prompted you to invite me here?”

Serea asked. Upon hearing this, shortie made a showy gesture and snapped his fingers.

*Snap!*

Then, an ogre came in carrying a bound girl over his shoulder. After putting her down, he exited the wooden house again.

“Auna, are you alright?”

Seeing that Auna had been brought in, Serea quickly went over and helped her up.

“Queen!!!”

Upon seeing Serea, auna grew excited—she knew that if Serea had come here, then this arrogant little goblin’s luck was about to run out.

“This is what I wanted to discuss with you.”

Shortie said, pointing at Auna.

“This little girl said that you’re even more beautiful than her. So, you will take her place as the gift I present to Lord Maregof.”

Hearing Shortie’s words, Serea kept a composed expression, but Celia beside her reacted differently.

She went to draw her sword, but Serea stopped her first.

“I can’t believe it—did I hear you right?”

“No, you didn’t mishear. Well, isn’t it an honor? Aren’t you surprised? I believe, with your beauty, you’ll surely win Lord Maregof’s heart. I have great confidence in you.”

Shortie said, to which Serea replied with a smile.

“So, what’s in it for me?”

“Isn’t it obvious? If you successfully become Lord Maregof’s wife, you and your tribe will receive his grace.”

“And at the same time, you’d also gain benefits from this ‘Maregof’.”

With just one sentence, Serea exposed Shortie’s real intentions. Shortie looked slightly surprised.

“You really are clever.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

As for how Serea knew, it was because a faint purple layer had emerged in Celia’s eyes by now.

“This is a win-win plan. As long as you agree, I’ll allow your tribe to merge into the great Shortie’s tribe and accept his wise leadership.”

“Oh, so you want to lead my tribe now?”

“You should feel honored. With the leadership of the great Shortie and the protection of Lord Maregof, your tribe is sure to grow strong alongside the great Shortie.”

As he spoke, shortie’s gaze drifted to Celia and Auna.

“To cement our union, I’ll allow you two, and that elf outside, to also become the great Shortie’s wives. After all, only one person can be offered to Lord Maregof. Though you’ve been eliminated in the selection, it’s alright—great Shortie is willing to take you.”

At this, auna said in disgust, “You? Seriously?”

Serea echoed her sentiment, “Just like my companion said—why should we accept your proposal? We can just go to Maregof ourselves.”

At this, shortie grew anxious.

“What! You dare to try to claim this credit for yourselves? No, absolutely not!”

“Why not?”

“Your friend entered my territory and poached my prey! For that, you must make it up to me. I have to present you to Lord Maregof!”

Shortie retorted unreasonably, but Serea simply flashed a dangerous smile.

Through Serea’s leading words, the answers she wanted surfaced in Shortie’s heart, and all these answers were clearly seen by Dogsius.

“You mean this territory, with its fat prey and countless mines?”

“Yes, exactly. This is the great Shortie’s territory. Everything here belongs to him—including you!”

Shortie seemed agitated, but Serea continued calmly.

“I beg to differ. Those ogres don’t seem bright enough to have established a place like this. So if I’m not mistaken, the real owner of this territory is that pile of ‘bones’ outside. You just seized it by force.”

“Hmph! A bunch of foolish trolls are unworthy of ruling this land! Any goblin tribe daring to defy the goblin nobles in the woods will only be destroyed!”

“So you snatched this territory from the trolls?”

Serea spoke, and the matter was now perfectly clear. Unlike the civilized and friendly goblins of the Goblin Kingdom, these fellows before her were nothing but a group of brutal, bloodthirsty invaders.

“Only a powerful tribe like the great Shortie’s deserves such land!”

“Very good. That’s all I needed to hear.”

Serea clapped her hands in approval, then her gaze sharpened.

“Since everything is clear, I won’t waste more words. This so-called ‘Maregof’ of yours is nothing but a joke to me. And as for you—tsk, just a prancing, petty clown. I suppose the circus show is over now.”

With just these words, shortie was so enraged that he jumped onto the floor.

“What—you dare to say such insolent things!”

“Insolent? No, I simply followed your own philosophy of ‘the strong claim the land’. Because, from this moment on, I declare that this fertile land now belongs to the much stronger Darkmoon clan and Bloodthirsty Fangs tribe. Now it is you who have trespassed onto our land.”

“Foolish wretch! By saying this, are you declaring war on the great goblin leader Shortie? Lord Maregof will—”

Halfway through his sentence, the sounds of intense fighting echoed from outside.

*Boom—boom—boom!*

It was the rumble of the earth. Feeling the tremors underfoot, shortie looked outside in a panic. To this, Serea’s response was:

“There’s no need to look, great Shortie. I hereby formally declare war on you. Now let the battle begin! The loser, just like those trolls, will be devoured bit by bit by the victors!”

With this, shortie was utterly enraged.

“Great Shortie is angry! You’ll all pay the price! I’ll feed every last one of you to the ogres!”

Hearing Shortie’s words, the ogres perked up.

“Time to eat!”

“That’s right, time to eat! Grab them all for me—and those guys outside, eat as many as you want! Don’t let a single one get away!”

Watching Shortie’s antics, Serea allowed herself a slight smile.

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just do this from the start, instead of all that pointless talk?”

Serea remained calm. Facing the charging ogres, she was unconcerned. Now, with Auna’s safety assured, it was time to fight if that’s what they wanted!

Meanwhile, she was quietly preparing a skill—its name was…

Death Decay!

“Get them!”

The ogres rushed forward together. At this, Little Black bared his bone claws—having been restrained for so long, he could finally enjoy a proper brawl.

Celia also drew her knight’s sword. Facing the oncoming ogres, neither showed any fear.

Arm Blade Thrust! Blade Rend!

Little Black met the enemy head-on. The ogres’ thick-skinned, muscular bodies blocked some attacks, but even so they were heavily wounded and fell to the ground. Thus, the curtain rose on the battle.

(To be continued….)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep