Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

Perhaps it was because the Ghouls went out to forage at night, and Ron’s group had already run into the entire lot. As the party cautiously made their way through the third and fourth levels, they encountered almost no monsters. Instead, they found an increasing number of gold veins and other metal deposits.

By this point, however, even Delaford had lost interest in treasure hunting. His nerves were stretched taut as he vigilantly scanned every nook and cranny.

”I don’t like this atmosphere,” Sera muttered. ”I’d rather face a huge mob of Ghouls right now than worry about a possible ambush from the shadows.”

”It feels like I’m the prey.”

”Nothing we can do about it,” said Aive, who was walking at the head of the group. ”Speaking of which, have you smelled that? The farther we go, the stronger that weird stench gets.”

”A Demon Ghost?” Ron’s heart skipped a beat. ’This isn’t a narrow corridor. With that thing’s agility, Aive might not be able to protect them all.’

”No, it’s the smell of decay,” Delaford said grimly. ”There’s a huge pile of corpses up ahead. They’ve all putrefied.”

Rotting corpses usually meant that a lot of time had passed. But this mine was centuries old—how could there be a large number of decaying bodies?

Ron and the others immediately picked up their pace and soon found the source of the smell: a cavernous, hall-like space. Countless corpses and remains of all kinds were piled high, emitting a foul, pungent odor.

”Looks like this is the Ghouls’ nest,” Silvia said, pulling out a handkerchief to cover her nose. ”There are a lot of animal carcasses here. They must have dragged them in from the swamp outside.”

”Maybe there are clues here from back when they were still sentient?” Ron walked over, bracing himself against the acrid stench, ready to rummage through the pile. But before he could take more than two steps, the goblin slammed into him from behind, knocking him to the ground.

”Boss, look out above you!”

Ron hit the ground rolling, narrowly dodging the massive shadow that plunged down from the ceiling.

Delaford reacted first, unleashing a volley of arrows from his shortbow into the ambushing creature. The others reacted a moment later, their weapons striking sparks against its carapace. Finally, with one mighty swing of her axe, Sera cleaved the ferocious, man-sized insect in two.

”A Carrion Insect,” Delaford said, kicking the dead bug. ”These things love to cling to ceilings and ambush their prey. We’d see them in our old burrows sometimes, too.”

”Thank goodness for Delaford,” Silvia said, wiping a cold sweat from her brow. ”These things are venomous, too. It would have been disastrous if that thing had gotten ahold of Ron.”

”Thanks,” Ron said, his heart still pounding. ’That thing had its own Spider Walking Magic, and its body was pitch-black and non-reflective. It would be hard enough to spot on the ground, let alone ambushing someone from the ceiling.’

”’Don’t mention i—” Delaford started to laugh, but his expression suddenly turned serious. He nocked an arrow, sticky with the Carrion Insect’s slime, and aimed it back down the path they had just taken.

”Who’s there? Show yourself!”

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

A tall, slender figure emerged from the darkness, clapping slowly. He wore ornate clothing with intricate patterns, beautiful yet practical enough not to hinder his movement. A silver-hilted rapier hung at his waist, and he wore a pair of deerskin boots. Long, golden hair spilled over his shoulders, revealing long, pointed ears. In the darkness, his green eyes glittered like Gemstones.

Following close behind him was a man with horns on his head, a long tail trailing behind him, and skin as red as a demon’s. He held a long staff banded with iron at both ends.

”I should be thanking you as well, Ron. If it weren’t for you, I never would have made it here so easily.”

”Ming Datiss! Quest!”

Ron’s face darkened, and Aive immediately stepped in front of him protectively.

Almost everyone present knew what Quest was, but Silvia didn’t recognize either of them, so she regarded them both with the same suspicion.

”So you’re Ming Datiss?” Silvia sneered. ”The pretty-boy Elf is easy on the eyes, I’ll give you that. Too bad you’re not my type.”

”You’re the one who sent the Carolina slavers after Ron? I owe you one. If it weren’t for you, I never would have gotten my freedom.”

”I didn’t expect the people from Carolina to be so incompetent,” Ming Datiss snorted, his eyes cold. ”If you don’t want to get dragged back there, you’d best get lost. I have no interest in the dead.”

”You’ve been following us?” Aive asked, raising an eyebrow. ”I don’t know who went to the trouble of resurrecting you, but it looks like you didn’t learn your lesson.”

”Ron, get your lapdog under control!” Ming Datiss snarled through gritted teeth. ”Before, I would’ve called you a coward who just hides behind women. But now I know you’re qualified to stand on equal footing with me. So allow me, as your senior, to teach you a lesson: don’t let your subordinates run their mouths!”

”I’m not interested in being on ’equal footing’ with a loser who already died at my hands,” Ron said, making air quotes with his fingers. ”How did you find this place?”

”Me?” Ming Datiss asked, casually examining his neatly manicured fingernails. ”I, of course, was merely following in the footsteps of those who came before me. And you?”

”What a coincidence,” Sera said, baring her sharp teeth. ”You’d better get lost, Ming Datiss, you pansy. We’re the ones who cleared this place out. Don’t even think about swooping in to take the credit!”

”Is that so? I doubt my employer would agree.” Ming Datiss had seemed completely self-assured from the start, making it difficult not to suspect he had an ace up his sleeve.

”Employer? The power behind you?”

”No, no, no. The one behind me is my lackey,” Ming Datiss said, taking one step to the right and three steps back. ”My employer is the one *above* you.”

”You mean Victor? Give me a break, Ming Datiss. Stop with the slick talk,” Victoria said, looking at the Elf with contempt. ”Victor only cares about his town. He’d never get involved in the affairs of the Hailan Empire.”

”Alas, Ron. This is why I told you to keep your subordinates in line,” Ming Datiss sighed. ”You see? They’re clearly lacking in the intelligence department, yet they just love to hear themselves talk.”

”Was my pun really that terrible?”

”A pun? You mean—” Ron started to look up, but a deafening crash cut him off. Rubble of all sizes and a colossal figure came crashing down from above, right on top of him!

”Oh, my apologies,” Ming Datiss said, clasping his hands behind his back. ”Perhaps I should have introduced my employer?”

”Giant, these are the thieves who stole your food! Kill them!”