Goblin Hunting

The goblin hive David found consisted of a single massive cavern with lots of smaller tunnels funneling deeper into the mountains. There were hundreds of small, hunchbacked goblins living there in absolute filth. They had poor equipment and were extremely inattentive.

There were only a handful of guards at the entrance and they didn’t see Mania’s whip until it was far too late.

With a single swipe, she cut them in half, splattering their brown blood against the walls and alerting the rest of the hive.

“Abaddon, show me what you can do."

“Glady, Lord Emperor!” 

Abaddon ran into the centre of the hive, the cave shaking as he did, and the goblins shrieked at his approach.

Hundreds of goblins trickled out of the smaller passageways armed with only flimsy stone tools.

Abaddon roared, wound back his fist and punched into the centre of a group of goblins, sending them flying into the walls. They smashed hard against the rock and crumpled, lifeless and bloody, onto the ground.

Abaddon chuckled and shook the blood off his gauntlets. "This is far too easy."

Ten goblins leapt at him at once, but their attacks bounced off his armour. Abaddon grabbed one goblin’s head in his fist and crushed it into paste, before spinning a kick into the others, knocking their heads from their bodies.

After seeing such a sight, the other goblins froze and trembled before him.

“Come on!"” Abaddon taunted, magical energy gathering around his hands.

A moment later, they were encased in fire and Abaddon pulled one of his arms back. “If you won’t come to me, then-!”

“Abaddon!”

The flames dispersed immediately and the demon dropped to one knee before his emperor.

“L-lord Emperor?”

“You said yourself that you cannot properly control your fire magic, correct?” 

“Y-Yes, I did, Lor-”

“Then why would you use it in a place I specifically ordered you not to?”

“F-Forgive me!” 

The goblins were in shock.

A monster capable of wiping them out alone had just bowed to someone else without hesitation.

It was then, in their primitive minds, that they finally understood how dire their situation truly was.

“We’ll discuss this later,” David said with a wave of his hand. “Mania, take care of the ones on our left. Abaddon, kill one goblin a time on our right until I say so. Try not to destroy their bodies; we need them for Mania’s Necromancy. I’ll handle the rest.”

“As you command, Master,” Mania said with a smile. “I’ll make sure I live up to your expectations.”

Abaddon shot a glare at Mania, but quickly composed himself. “I won’t disappoint you again, Lord Emperor."

“See to it that you don’t."

Mania cracked her whip at the goblins and sliced through twenty of them at once, severing them in half at the waistline. Then, she began swinging her whip all around her, cutting down more and more goblins. Abaddon, per David’s orders, slowly began picking off his goblins, punching each of them in the chest, destroying their hearts as efficiently as possible.

David waited until half of the goblins remained before he ordered them to withdraw.

Once they had, David stared down a horde of a hundred goblins alone, his body shaking beneath his armour, making it rattle ever so quietly.

I thought I’d already resolved myself to do this, he thought as he started to sweat. Even though I saw how easily Mania and Abaddon killed the goblins, I’m scared to face them myself.

Though Eris said that she’d given him great strength and power, David wouldn’t know if that was true until he was in a real fight. He’d broken the arms on the throne that Abaddon had made from him, but that didn’t necessarily mean he had enough strength to kill a goblin like his generals. If he wasn’t properly able to use his strength in battle, then there was a chance he could be overwhelmed and die.

Well, now’s a good time to test what I’m capable off.

David bawled his hands into fists and ran at the goblins.

He threw a punch at them and a massive shockwave exploded from his knuckles, cutting through the centre of the horde, obliterating some and sending others flying. The cave shook, bodies crumpled against the walls, and chucks of rocks fell from the ceiling, threatening to collapse it.

With one attack, he had killed fifty goblins and made the mountain shake.

David, confused, looked at what he had just done, then at his own fist in disbelief.

What the hell?!  That was me trying to throw a normal punch, like I would back in my old world. How the hell is it that powerful? I guess It’d be best for me to not fight until I can control my strength properly.

So, David switched to using magic.

Like Abaddon had before, David gathered magical energy around his hands, letting them be encased by it, and a black flame with red highlights formed in his palms.

David was taken aback at how quickly he had managed to do something he’d never done before but, in that moment, it had felt like the most natural thing to do in the world.

Muscle memory. Another gift from Eris, I assume.

David pushed his right palm towards the goblins, launching a continuous flame at them, burning the flesh from their bones in seconds.

In less than ten seconds, David had finished off the goblins.

For a moment, David felt his lips curl into a smile, but quickly stopped himself as soon as he did.

What the hell was that? He scrunched up his eyes and resisted the urge to vomit.

For just a moment, he had felt happy about what he’d done; then, he’d realised that doing so would be playing right into Eris’s hands.

“As expected of you, Master!” Mania cried. “You beautifully killed them and left their bones intact for me to use my Necromancy magic on as well.”

“Your praise is unnecessary. Start summoning your undead whilst I speak with Abaddon.”

“At once, Master.”

Mania got to work and David turned to Abaddon whose head was hung in shame. “Let us talk in private.”

“…At once, your majesty."

The two walked into a side tunnel and, once they were far enough away from Mania, David turned around and glared at Abaddon.

“You fool!” David yelled; Abaddon hastily dropped onto his knees. “You told me that you couldn’t use your magic properly and I warned you not to make any mistakes, didn’t I?”

“…Yes, your majesty.”

“What’s your excuse for this disgrace, Abaddon?”

“…I have none."

“You won’t even try to lie to me or say that it won’t happen again?”

“…I can’t say that, Dark Lord.”

“Why not?”

“…Because I fear I’ll lose my head again.”

David wearily sighed and held his brow.

This is what I was afraid off.

With Abaddon’s great strength, David had intended to use him as one of his field generals when the time was right to wage war. However, if Abaddon’s excitement got the better of him in an important battle, then he’d be a liability more than an asset.

Hopefully it’s only Abaddon who’s like this.

“Abaddon, let me tell you this, right here and now,” David warned. “If you ever do something like this again without my explicit permission, I will tear off your head and mount it on the wall. Is that understood?”

“…As the Dark Lord commands,” Abaddon whispered.

“Swear it.”

“I swear it. I, Abaddon, General of the Demon Emperor, will not lose control and go wild without the Dark Lord’s explicit orders. If I break this pledge, may he take my head.”

“Good.” David stood back up and dismissed his armour. “Do something useful today at least. Conjure a portal and start summoning the Machai. Then, once you’ve done that, start cleaning this place up, make me an office and make bedrooms for all three generals.”

“At once, Lord Emperor.”

Abaddon quickly left to attend to his new duties.

I guess Eris really doesn’t want to make this easy for me.