Last Part

Tolle was on the wall, watching the situation together with some of his men. They noticed some strange movement around the tent where Felsi entered so they paid close attention to that. Seeing the cage wheeled next to it and unconscious Felsi thrown inside had crushed any hopes of peaceful ending. One of the soldier nervously asked: "Now what, Sir?"

Tolle answered immediately. "Are the barricades downstairs ready?" Another soldier confirmed. Tolle then continued. "Nothing else to do than to prepare to run once they start the attack."

One of the soldiers tried to protest. "But, Sir! We will be trapped down there."

Tolle immediately shut him down. "That may be, but we don't have a choice. Not against force of this size. They can slaughter us on the wall easily. If we don't run, we might as well do a suicide charge. Is that what you want? If not, then get to your posts." Defeated, everyone listened to their Sergeant's orders.

Several hours later, Felsi finally woke up, trapped in her cage and her head feeling weird. "Oh, what happened to me?" Demiurge was standing next to her cage. "I do hope the sleeping princess had a nice rest."

As soon as Felsi heard Demiurge speaking, she immediately remembered everything. "You DEMON! What did you do to me?" She shook the cage's gate, trying to let herself free to no avail. Meanwhile, Demiurge cared little of his prisoner's attempt to escape. "Now that you are finally awake, it's finally time to start the finale. General, if you please."

"Huh?" Still feeling woozy in her head, she failed to check her surroundings. When she finally decided to do so, she was met with shock. In front of her, a goblin battle line was assembled, two goblin deep with the archers at the back and shieldbearers in the front. Once the order was given, horns were blown, signalling the start of the attack. Felsi tried to break through again, but this time Demiurge intervened. "I would prefer if you watch what will happen, one way or another." Then an invisible force slammed Felsi down to the ground and forced her to watch, with her unable to speak.

First came the short skirmish phase. Archers made their way to the front, assembled their own line and fired two volleys at the defenders on the wall. Clearly seeing the wall was abandoned, the shield wall from all sides advanced to the fort.

Sergeant's order to abandon the walls and get into the caves was followed by everyone. The slow march of the shield wall was met with silence. 7 minutes later, the walls were climbed again with no resistance. Another 8 minutes later and it seemed for the goblins that humans completely vanished as no body was found nor was there any fighting while the fort was being secured.

The only room that wasn't checked in the initial run was the caves themselves. After no signs of life were found anywhere else, a small shield wall was organized to climb down into the caves and inspect them.

Finally they discovered where the humans were. After descending into the caves proper and noticing the barricades, the shield wall was met with arrow fire coming from inside the cave. Even short glances of environment made the goblins realize that a very hard close quarters combat was waiting ahead. Instead of advancing, the shield wall remained in place, guarding the bottom of the staircase.

The goblin general, who by then already arrived inside the fort, was informed about the current situation. After short consideration, he decided on the course of action. "Get the barrels from Claiafer and the lumber here immediately. There is no need to engage them on their terms."

The order was followed through. 20 minutes later, the barrels were delivered from the camp and the goblins were already preparing the lumber for their next action.

Meanwhile, after realizing that the attack won't come immediately, Tolle ordered the archers to stop firing for now. And so, two groups stared each other down, waiting for the other to make their move. Silence felt deafening as neither side knew what to expect.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, something was happening behind the shield wall. Archers prepared to fire in case the attack would come, but the shield wall remained in their place. The few gaps did allow the men behind the barricades to notice the barrels that were being stacked behind the shield wall.

That action initially puzzled those that saw it, including Tolle. That was, until the smell started spreading around, which terrified Tolle, making him unable to speak. He knew what was in those barrels. Oil.

By the time the smell reached them, the last barrel was already being put in its place. Once done, all goblins broke the shield wall and ran away outside. The archers, thinking to take pot-shots at them and to inspect the barrels exited the safety of the barricade and approached the barrels. Finally, Tolle recovered his voice. "N-No! GET BACK HERE!" But it was too late.

A single flame arrow flew from the top of the staircase and ignited the oil. The initial flame flash, caught 3 men and burned them alive. The few that were too far away to be affected were so shocked they stopped in their place. Only Tolle dragging them back had returned them to reality. "RUN!"

As soon as the thick, black smoke came further into the cave, pandemonium erupted, trying to escape from it, taking any route they could find. Unfortunately for everyone, there was no escape. Slowly the screams went away as eerie silence followed the path of the smoke. Despite best efforts, no amount of digging could ever break through to the surface. And so, the soldiers and Tanbel villagers perished in a single move.

Meanwhile, at the camp Demiurge was informed of the events. Lumber was used to create a makeshift barricade to hold the fire and smoke inside. Other goblins were ordered to scout the area for any signs of ventilation holes to ensure that no escape was possible.

While she was still stuck to the floor, Felsi could at least speak now. Her eyes started to water. "Just why? What did we ever do to you?"

Demiurge answered in a cold tone. "You have proven yourself to be real pests. You don't beg pests to leave, you deal with them yourself."

Felsi looked at Demiurge with tears in her eyes. "Don't you have even a sliver of care inside your black heart? Don't you care about all the lives you have destroyed with your selfish actions?"

Demiurge didn't turn to look at her or even answered her question. He knew silence was better to make his point. Seeing how little her capturer cared, Felsi started cursing him. Whatever he did to make her kiss the floor was still active, making her unable to get up. And yet, she decided to struggle, begging any deity to come and help her.

Finally, it seemed her prayer might have been answered as the mark reappeared on her arm. Using that power, she tried and failed to stand up, attracting Demiurge's attention. "Yes, struggle. Show me how far your meagre power can take you."

Felsi's sadness turned to anger as she continued trying. "You... will... not... mock... me! I... shall... make... you... pay... those... words! Revenge... shall... be... MINE!" The light started expanding, slowly engulfing her entire body. Her power also awakened someone else. "... Yes. I... can't die yet. I must... avenge everyone. I will." And so, a corpse stood up in the smoke-filled cave, approached the nearest wall and started digging with his arms.

Meanwhile, while Felsi was struggling, Demiurge took a close attention to her actions. His Command Mantra skill seemed to has been weakening as Felsi made slight movements in her struggle. He made a mental note. "She is far below the level cap as shown earlier. The divine blessing must be providing enough to weaken the status and override my power. Interesting. Very interesting. One of more interesting anomalies discovered. I will take great pleasure in further research."

Felsi's struggle seemed to have paid. She was using her hands to try and push herself off the floor. Using the whole the her strength, she made one last effort. As she stood up, two loud snaps were heard. Felsi achieved her goal at the cost of breaking her arms.

Seeing his new test subject succeed, Demiurge clapped. "Incredible performance. You are starting to truly pique my interest here."

Felsi, now truly pissed, crawled on her knees to the edge of the cage. Using her broken arms as crutches, she tried to get up on her feet. "Once I am out of here, I will make you pay those words. You hear me?"

Demiurge brushed off her threats. "Yes, yes. That's all adventurers say whenever they taste even a sliver of power. However," he approached the cage and spoke in more sinister tone; "they never realize when they have gotten into serious trouble." He grabbed her copper adventurer tag. "Not until it's far too late."

With a single push, he snapped her tag from her and made her fall on her. The sickening crunch from her legs and knees breaking was so powerful, the few goblins that did hear it had visible reactions on their faces. While Felsi was yelling from the pain, Demiurge continued in a calm voice. "Unfortunately, you have used your free potion for the day. So hang there until you arrive at your new home."

While the camp was abuzz with action and Felsi continuously screamed in pain, the day passed. By the evening, some camp facilities and Felsi's cage were transferred inside the fort. After no report of any ventilation hole came, it was time for the general to go report to Demiurge.

After hearing the post-battle report, Demiurge was open with the general. "As much as it lacked any real action for the finale, good job with the oil plan, General August."

General nodded. "Yes, Milord. I was acting within permitted conditions of objective you had given us."

Demiurge also nodded. "Very good. As you are well aware, the First Goblin Legion was created from the failure of recreating the Carne's Goblin Army. The results were quite below the expectations. Nevertheless, Lord Ainz approved for the Legion's operation under the condition of no external help. Now I can report the successful completion."

"Understood, Milord."

"Now as for the promised reward- Hm?" While talking to his subordinate, Demiurge noticed a disturbance among the soldiers at the entrance to the cave. Interested as to why, he walked to there to see with the general following him. Once there, he didn't even need to ask why. The sounds of banging were coming from the other side of the improvised wooden wall. "I thought you made sure that no one could survive."

General was truly confused by the banging. "Trust me, Milord. It shouldn't be possible at all. Even if they somehow survived the smoke, the fire should have killed them by now."

Demiurge grinned, knowing what exactly it meant. "Then we have another anomaly on our hands. So that makes it two anomalies in one small area. That makes up for my time here. General, order your troops to disperse. I don't want my new test subject dying already."

The troops obeyed, fearing the Floor Guardian's retribution. Everyone dispersed away from the entrance. Demiurge and the general stood in the clearing, visible for the entrance.

The banging continued until the lumber reached the breaking point. At first, a single bloody hand with barely any flesh came out along with black smoke. After few minutes of breaking enough space, out came Tolle, covered in black smudge and with bloody hands that were basically only bones at that point. After picking up his sword, he stumbled in the direction of the clearing while yelling: "Who's in the charge here?!"

Demiurge ordered the general. "This is your last test here. Remember, no killing."

General understood. After getting a shield and pulling out a sword, he approached Tolle. "I am. General Julius August, commander of Nazarick's First Goblin Legion."

After wobbling a bit, Tolle smiled. "Perfect. I have this here fit for you. Now GO TO HELL!" Tolle charged straight at Julius, forcing the goblin to block. Tolle continued pressing, giving Julius little time strike back. Getting used to soldier's tempo, goblin struck at the right moment, knocking the sword out and stabbing him right into his chest.

Tolle was unaffected by the stab and returned the favour by giving a powerful right hook. Even with hand that was basically just bones, goblin reeled from pain and made some distance. The two took each other's sword and continued the fight.

Other goblins and Demiurge watched the fight from sidelines. "Now to see how long until he realizes what his opponent truly is." That was Demiurge's thought. At the same time Felsi, exhausted from screaming and pain, was coming around after realizing something was happening in front of her.

Meanwhile, Julius went on attack. Using Tolle's seemingly poor defence, he made several successful strikes and slashes. Yet, Tolle moved around as if he hadn't suffered any wounds, even hurting Julius' sword arm in process. It wasn't until Tolle was slammed in his face by Julius' shield and being knocked did goblin realized what his enemy was.

His first reaction post-realization was to knock the sword from Tolle's hand and make some distance. Afterward, he took his sword, put it back in its sheath and wrapped a cloth around it. Demiurge smirked, knowing that his subordinate realized the situation.

Finally, Julius' attacks were working as the blunt attacks kept staggering Tolle. The soldier failed to adjust and less than minute later he was knocked down on the floor. When he stood up, Demiurge approached and declared the duel to be over. Tolle was enraged by that. "Don't you dare! Ah!"

"Aspect of the Devil – Razor Sharp Claw." Rather than making a defensive stance, Demiurge just unleashed his skill, piercing Tolle's body with his claws and pinning him in place. "Silly man, don't waste your second chance at life. Bind him."

The goblins came and bound Tolle with rope. Despite his best efforts, Tolle couldn't do anything but pointlessly resist as his limbs were bound together.

After it was done and Demiurge retracted his claws, Felsi finally found energy to speak again. "Why? Why us? Why are you keeping us alive?"

Demiurge gladly answered that. "Because of the guidance of the Supreme One. I might have appeared a fool in front of Lord Ainz had I failed to realize his words."

Felsi, with clear exhaustion on her face, was confused by his statement. "What? What does that mean?"

Demiurge pulled her adventurer's tag out of his pocket and checked her name before answering. "People like you, Miss Ibriks. Hadn't I realized, so much would have been lost during the destruction of Re-Estize. Stories say when great evil rises and the land becomes under threat, Chosen Ones often appear to destroy the evil. I only saw it as mere nonsense, but Lord Ainz realized the implications."

"And what would they be?"

"Anomalies. People with hidden Skills, Talents, long lost equipment and such things would appear in the pointless effort to try and save the country. Imagine the waste of the opportunity that would bring."

Felsi tried to deny the uniqueness that she possessed, but Demiurge had none of it. "You can try to deny all you want, but that mark on your hand makes you a valuable test subject. The same story with your friend over there. A skeleton with most of his flesh still on him. If you want to blame someone for your fate, blame the Sun Goddess for not giving you the mercy of death."

Felsi had a shocked look on her face while Demiurge had a big smile on his. After adjusting his glasses, Demiurge ordered the prisoners to be teleported to Nazarick. "Time for you two to see your new homes."

Before he used the Teleportation Scroll though, Demiurge realized there was one thing he needed to settle. After giving the Scroll to goblin to activate it, he walked to general August, who was getting treated.

"General, I almost left without giving your reward. With agreement from Lord Ainz, First Goblin Legion was given this whole region for colonization as reward for your effort."

General's face brightened up. "Truly, Milord?"

Demiurge nodded. "We expect great work for all of you for our act of generosity. Don't let us down."

While general was being grateful, even going as far as bow down, Demiurge returned back to the prisoner duo. After the Scroll was activated and the magic circle appeared, Felsi used last of her strength to struggle and scream. "No! NO! NOOOOOO!"

With her and her screams disappearing in the circle, the last human presence was removed from the region. The goblins ended up settling down across the region. Rebuilding places like Tanbel and Grimrock villages, Claiafer Keep and the ruined fort and using it for their own purposes. Eventually, the vassal County of Tanbel was created with Julius August serving as the first Count-General of the Legion.

As for Felsi and Tolle, their names were added to list of countless people used for experiments. Their own fates became unknown as experiments changed their forms and her personalities into something more acceptable for the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

And so, a short story from the fall of Re-Estize Kingdom ended. Just one of many tragedies that befell the Kingdom's citizens.