Rise of the Horde

Xiao Chen had his eyes on the system to check if he had finished his missions, but he still didn't receive any confirmation of its completion. Turning all his attention to the mouth of the cave. "Ha... You think you would survive if you hide inside. We will see about that." he muttered.

"Gather everything that produces a lot of smoke... Let's smoke them out!" Xiao Chen turned to his warriors and gave his commands. Since they won't come out, he would force them to come out. He wasn't going to spare any of them.. He needed the points.

The trolls and Yurakks went among the trees and complied to the command of their chieftain. A pile of dried twigs, branches, and leaves were piled up a few meters inside the cave.

"Dis smell bad mon and dem gib enuff smoke." a troll reported to Xiao Chen as he presented a very long fresh leaf that even without sniffing it closely, the odor was already too strong. Looking behind him, Xiao Chen saw the trolls carrying in their hands different kinds of leaves which all have the same thing in common, they all small really bad that even little Grogus was distancing himself from them while his hand was pinching his nose to block the unpleasant smell.

"Kekeke... Dis goblins hate, mon. The troll continued as he chuckled while waving the leaves that he was holding in his hands near Grogus, who sprinted away and hid behind Aro'shanna. The trolls laugh at the actions of Grogus before proceeding inside the cave to pile the leaves that they gathered on top of the dried leaves, twigs, and branches.

"Light it up." Xiao Chen glanced at Draegh'ana who simply just hurl a fireball at the gathered materials which easily caught fire. Thick smoke started to flood the cave and Xiao Chen can't help it but back away from the mouth of the cave because of the very awful scent of the smoke, just like what the trolls mentioned.

"Find something to cover the opening and trapped all the smoke inside." Xiao Chen commanded and his warriors were quick to respond as they piled anything that they can find to block the entrance.

They patiently waited in silence, and after almost an hour, a group of five goblins sprinted out of the cave with their faces covered in tears and snot. Xiao Chen remembered the time that he saw his fellow trainees after they were subject to tear gas. The goblins had the same look as them and he too experienced it and it was not a good thing to experience.

Bringing his crescent-moon spear down, he bashed two of the five goblins into the ground and ended their suffering. Aro'shanna bisected one of them, Adhalia riddled the body of one with holes while Draegh'ana simply torches the last one, sending it flying backwards inside the cave while covered in flames.

The goblins hiding inside the cave came out one after another and were mercilessly slaughtered by Xiao Chen and his warriors who were waiting for them. All the goblins who were subjected to the thick smelly smoke didn't have the capability to fight back, as they are suffering from the effects of the smoke.

For hours, Xiao Chen and his warriors waited patiently outside and slayed all the goblins that came out from the cave. They even took turns in killing their enemies while the others rest a good distance away. Xiao Chen was still looking at the system panel and waited for the completion of his mission, which would tell him that there were no more enemies that were still alive.

The system prompt finally came and Xiao Chen stood up and gave his commands for them to return to their comrades who were waiting for them. They needed to get back to their wounded allies fast, for they do not know what other dangers are lurking in the shadows of this place that they still haven't fully explored. There might be hostile creatures just like the Bloodpool Goblins, who are just waiting for a good chance to strike.

While on their way back, Xiao Chen spotted an altar along the path that they used to get inside the territory of the Bloodpool Goblins which he didn't notice before because they were chasing after their enemies. He was in a hurry to pursue their escaping foes and he ignored the surroundings while swinging his weapon left and right to kill as many as he can and not allow them to return in their dwelling place to report about their presence.

He halted their march and approached the altar and he nearly puked because of what he saw. Right in the center of the altar was a pool, a pool of blood with limbs and heads of different creatures. They were all mixed with each other and following the canals that were carved on the altars which fed blood to the pool; he saw that source of the blood that was flowing towards the pool. Chained to the stone tables were a line of bodies from different creatures. They were all decapitated and their necks pointing down. Their blood flowed out through their headless necks as the groves on the floors gathered their blood before being fed to the pool by the canals where the groves lead to.

"What sort of twisted mind did this tribe of goblin possessed..." he muttered as he saw plenty of the corpses further away to belong to goblins. The Bloodpool Goblins even used their kin to do this sick ritual or whatever the purpose of this place is.

Xiao Chen felt an ominous feeling, and he felt that someone was staring at him. He looked around to locate who was staring at him, but found no one. Closing his eyes, he traced where that ominous feeling was coming from. Walking with both of his eyes close, it led him towards a set of stair that lead deep into the ground which was under the altar. He opened his eyes and looked around carefully; he closed his eyes again and tried to locate where that ominous feeling was coming from. He was sure of it. Something or someone underneath the altar was producing that ominous feeling.

"Chief, something ominous is down there." Draegh'ana muttered as she stood beside their chieftain. Aro'shanna and Adhalia also came beside her as they stared at the stairs that led to the underground.