NOVEL NEXT Chapter 99: The Goblin Extermination
Chapter 99: The Goblin Extermination
Thor did not personally participate in the extermination of the goblins. As previously mentioned, compared to other orc tribes, goblins were much weaker, and dealing with them wasn't particularly difficult—just tedious.
It was an ideal opportunity to train his subordinates.
Both Peros and Ryan would eventually need to handle things on their own. Proper training now would ensure they could keep up with Thor's pace in the future. Thor didn't want his initial followers to lag behind.
The morning sunlight gradually spread across the land.
In the blink of an eye, five days had passed.
During these five days, the five lords still hadn’t given any response. However, Thor's goblin extermination campaign was already in full swing.
In the eastern part of the Eagle Ridge, deep within a forest, countless green goblins were frantically fleeing. Flames engulfed the surroundings as burning oil spread, throwing the goblins into chaos.
"Charge!" Peros drew his knight’s sword and, with 200 men, charged directly into the fray.
Amidst the fire and slaughter, the sound of hooves and the cries of humans filled the air. Countless green goblins panicked, fleeing in all directions. Yet, it was futile. The human knights’ slaughter spread relentlessly.
Only those goblins that prostrated themselves on the ground were spared.
Soon, more goblins began to throw themselves to the ground.
An hour later, the battle ended.
Of the over 2,000 green goblins, more than half were killed, and over 700 were captured. As for the rest, they had managed to escape.
Peros didn’t pursue them. With so few men, it was impossible to catch every single goblin in the mountains. They could only let them go for now.
Afterward, the knights quickly began extinguishing the flames.
Meanwhile, over a hundred members of the trainee knights quickly moved forward, skillfully tying up the captured goblins. Their movements were so practiced that it was clear they had done this countless times over the past few days.
"Map!" Peros called out to his apprentice knight, ignoring the captured goblins.
"Yes, sir!" The apprentice knight quickly responded, bringing a map to Peros.
Peros took the map and swiftly focused his attention on it.
This was the map Thor had provided before the operation. It not only had detailed topographical information but also marked various mines and key objectives.
Thor's map had been instrumental in Peros' smooth progress.
After a brief moment of study, Peros turned to the apprentice knight.
"Where is Knight Ryan?" he asked with a frown.
The two had split up after setting out, each leading a force to sweep the area from opposite directions—one on the east bank of the Maine River, the other on the west. Peros was on the east bank, while Ryan was on the west.
He wondered if the east bank had already been cleared earlier, as the harvest was less than expected, leaving him somewhat disappointed.
"Sir Peros, Knight Ryan has reportedly reached the central section of the Maine River Valley," the apprentice knight responded respectfully.
"The central section?" Peros' eyebrows rose. "How much have they gained?"
"Three days ago, they cleared a goblin tribe of 3,000 and captured over 1,000 goblins. With their previous captures, they should have around 3,000 goblins now," the apprentice knight reported cautiously.
Hearing this, Peros couldn’t help but twitch his brow. Over the past few days, he had captured just over 1,000 goblins, and even with today’s haul, his total was still under 2,000. His yield was clearly much less than Ryan's.
"Full speed ahead! We can’t fall too far behind!" Peros ordered, rallying the knights for another push.
Their next destination was a small iron mine marked on the map.
As for the captured goblins, they would be sent back to the Eagle Ridge by the trainee knights.
Day by day, the extermination campaign expanded.
Goblin tribes were forced to migrate.
Faced with such large-scale extermination, the goblins had no choice but to flee. But as they fled, their living space continued to shrink.
The farther south in the Northern Province, the more lords there were, and the less room there was for goblins.
The Maine River Valley had originally been a good habitat for them.
Though there were over twenty pioneer lords scattered throughout the valley, the area was vast, and beyond the lords' territories lay large stretches of wilderness—perfect for goblins to live.
However, the tranquility was completely shattered as Thor's purge began.
Inside a cavern.
One by one, the Red Goblins gathered.
At this moment, they were filled with panic.
The large-scale human purge had reached even them, despite their location in the wilderness.
“Damn those humans, why are they here again!”
“This, this!”
“What should we do? What should we do?”
“The humans are coming!”
In the cavern, chaotic figures were scattered everywhere.
Even the Red Goblin leader at the center wasn’t any better off.
“Oh great Goblin God, have you abandoned your people?”
The Red Goblin leader spoke with a trembling voice.
“Leader, let’s run quickly!”
“Those damn humans will kill us all!”
A Red Goblin couldn’t help but speak up.
As soon as he mentioned “killing us all,” the surrounding Red Goblins trembled uncontrollably.
Since humans had entered the Northern Province, everything they experienced could only be described as a nightmare.
“But, our ore is still here!”
The Goblin leader hesitated, looking at the chunks of ore embedded in the rock walls, torn between staying and leaving.
“Leader, it's bad, it's bad!”
“The humans are here!”
While the leader was still hesitating, another Red Goblin rushed in, shouting in panic.
As soon as his voice fell, the entire cavern became even more chaotic.
Many Goblins immediately turned and fled outside.
Soon, all the Goblins in the cavern were fleeing.
In the blink of an eye, the cavern was empty of Goblins.
The ore.
No one cared about the ore anymore.
An hour later.
Ryan arrived with his men.