Red Wood Village

My eyes focused on the remaining ogres—11 more were left in total. I could see reluctance in their small, savage eyes. Clearly, the sight of two ogres dying so easily had scared them, but they didn't seem ready to give up. Instead, they began gathering together, ready to face me as if I were their only enemy. The many scared goblins were ignored; I had become their sole target.

My eyes narrowed, and I could feel a strong desire rising in my soul, a desire that had never been there before—a desire for battle and slaughter.

Swoshh! The monstrous beast charged into the ogres' group, its huge footprints leaving deep pits in the ground as dirt and rubble flew everywhere. Its deep, ferocious eyes were glued toward the middle of the growling ogres. Their huge clubs were ready to strike the approaching monstrosity, but before they could react—

Pfsh! Slash! GROWWR! Three ogres in the middle of the group were dismembered. Their huge wooden clubs shattered, and the splinters flew away with great speed, impaling the other ogres nearby. More painful growls echoed.

"Damn it!" I cursed in my mind. "I couldn't stop in time, and I had just cleaned myself!" I had intended to stop before the ogres and kill them with my claws, not pass through them with my horns. My body was now covered in blood again. Thankfully, the smell was sweet for some strange reason.

Now in the middle of the group, I swung my sharp claws toward a nearby ogre, immediately tearing its body apart. Without stopping, I used my horns to impale an attacking ogre from the side, shaking my head to tear its body apart.

Thud! I felt something hit my hind leg. Without thinking, I kicked back immediately. A strong growl of pain was heard. Glancing behind me, I saw an ogre's arm twisted completely, its head crushed by its own wooden club. "Disgusting," I thought, "Even though this feels nice, the sight is really disgusting. I need to finish this fast."

With that thought, I turned to the now clearly afraid ogres. The rest of the fight took just a few more swings, and as the last ogre's body fell, I looked around, surrounded by corpses and blood. "Truly disgusting. Phew. I need to rest now. Where is that goblin chief?"

Red Skull stood frozen, his body trembling. The monstrous, tiger-like magical beast was too brutal and powerful. Ogres after ogres died gruesomely, killed as easily as rabbits. An enemy that had killed dozens of his men fell like leaves in just seconds—they were all dead, dismembered, and torn to pieces. The whole time, the beast had a glimmer of light in its red, bloody eyes, as though it enjoyed reaping the lives of the ogres. A true monstrosity.

Gulp. The goblin chief swallowed hard as the monstrous beast, covered in blood, fixed its eyes on him and began to approach slowly.

"This is my end... and my village's." He thought in despair. "I have no hope of surviving this beast." A strong depressive feeling submerged Red Skull's heart, along with the overwhelming fear of the approaching monster. Just as he was about to drop to his knees and wait for death, a familiar silhouette sprang from a bush.

"Red Arrow?" The bewildered chief couldn't believe his eyes—the presumed dead goblin was alive! But then, he remembered the situation and thought to himself, What an idiot! Why show himself now? Has his brain stopped working? And to think he wanted to get close to my precious daughter… ugh! I knew he was useless. At least he'll get to die with us. He should feel grateful.

But just as he was ridiculing Red Arrow, the goblin he hated the most, he saw something that made his eyes widen in disbelief. The goblin archer approached the beast respectfully, and to his astonishment, the beast didn't attack him. Instead, it nodded?

Red Skull's mind almost broke as he saw the goblin walking alongside the monstrous creature toward him. His shock deepened even more when he heard an annoying voice shout out loud.

"Chief! How is everyone? Is Yellow Flower alright? I came as soon as I could. Thankfully, the lord beast was willing to help, or I wouldn't have known what to do!" Red Arrow said, relieved.

The goblin chief's eye twitched when he heard his precious daughter's name coming from the annoying goblin, but he was even more shocked by the following words.

"Lord beast willing to help?" Red Skull was truly astonished. He asked the monstrous beast for help? How? Why would such a powerful creature help mere goblins? He could barely believe it. But the proof was right there—the beast, now standing in front of him, just stared down at him curiously, not attacking. Its gaze was fixed on his head, making him uncomfortable, almost as though the beast was looking inside of him.

"Hmm... interesting," I thought. "Now that I'm closer, I can see that the color of his soul is different from the others. It's a darker shade of red. I wonder why."

"Chief, you should thank Lord Beast for his help!" Red Arrow urged, his panicked gaze darting between the stunned chief and the beast, afraid that his actions might offend the lord and bring doom upon them.

"Yes, yes," the bewildered chief stammered, understanding now was not the time for questions. He needed to deal with the beast in front of him with respect and gratitude, lest he offend it.

"I am the chief of Red Wood Village, Red Skull. I am extremely grateful to Lord Beast for his help. I don't know how to repay this favor," he said with a deep bow.

It was nothing.

Shocked, the goblin chief heard a powerful and terrifying voice in his mind, making him tremble even more, his bow deepening.

"You can easily repay me for my help," I said. "I just need you to answer all my questions tomorrow. I'll give you time to take care of your people until then. Prepare a place for me to rest, and tell me where I can wash off the blood on my body."

"I really need to take a bath now," I thought to myself. "Even though it doesn't stink, it feels disgusting. I wanted to ask the goblin for answers now, but it's clearly not the right time. The situation is too chaotic. I want clear answers, which I won't be getting from this shocked goblin chief right now. I can wait one more day."

"Of course, Lord Beast," Red Skull replied. "I will answer all your questions, and thank you for showing care toward my people. I'll prepare a place for Lord Beast to rest. As for a place with water, Red Arrow can show you the way to a small lake nearby."

"But Chief, that lake is sacred, used for rituals!" Red Arrow objected, worried.

"Shut up! It is nothing compared to the help of Lord Beast. This is not something to consider now. Go guide the Lord Beast!"

"Yes, yes, the chief is right," Red Arrow muttered hurriedly, bowing his head. He understood he had made a mistake, his eyes darting toward the beast with fear, hoping he hadn't offended it. Thankfully, the monstrous beast didn't seem to care.

"Hmm, this goblin chief is pretty thoughtful," I mused. "That place seems important, but he didn't even hesitate to offer it for me to bathe in." With that thought, I started following the small goblin.