The Goblin Nation

"Glad for the warning, my ass!" Sun yelled at Lo while he groveled in pain.

"Maybe next time, don't bring your pet into battle," Morgeux said as she cracked her knuckles. "Especially with an Entente. That is my lesson for you, little Lo."

"Go f.u.c.k yourself!" Lo smashed his petrified arm on the sand out of a fit of rage. "What did I do to deserve this?" He began to cry.

"Well, for one, we never targeted you, to begin with. You were simply a motion-less sponge accidentally caught by our net. Our main target was Sun and Borvo Lugh. You could have run away, and we would have let you run."

Lo knew this was a lie. This was not the first time he witnessed the Entente during this arbitrary use of power. When he was a child at the age of nine, he witnessed a massacre so foul and cruel, all done through the lens of the Entente's cynical view of the world. It was a cold autumn day when harvest for the winter season finished. An Entente appeared in the middle of the town while carrying the local lord. She was dressed under a heavy red cloak.

The lord desperately pleaded for his life, which angered the Entente. The lord's cowardice made her sick to her stomach. She massacred his family and his retainers before his eyes; made him watch as his sons and daughters die from torture. But as time went on, as Lo continued to live past these traumas, he heard of rumors that were spreading in his home city. It was about the many survivors of the Entente's lessons. It was hard to tell what lesson the Entente was trying to impart to the rulers in Venusia, but one thing was always consistent in each encounter. Are you the strong or the brave? A question that continued to dominate Lo's consciousness because he considered himself neither of those things. But that has changed today. He realized what he was in the situation; he was brave. The one that stayed on the beach to fight the Entente. Being brave means being dead.

Unfortunately, Morgeux lies were far from the truth. Running away will not guarantee Lo's safety. He still had to fight to entertain the Church's rouge leaders. And Lo believed that he entertained them enough. "You guys are monsters!" Lo cried out. His tears were pouring out like a waterfall.

Morgeux pitied the fool, but her partners did not. Unlike the Morgan sister, Areia and Kavocs noticed that Lo's tears were nothing more than crocodile tears. Even Sun noticed it as an act. While Morgeux stared at them with her cold and indifferent eyes, Minthe's scattered remains began to gather and reform the neck. What was once stone turned into flesh, and the flesh stuck together like glue.

Areia watched in amazement as the serpopard resurrect itself. Serpopards are mythical beasts known for their great vitality. When he was a missionary stationed at the Rica Continent, a large landmass beyond the cascading desert dunes from the south, he saw one in the wild die from lightning only for it to come back to life a few minutes after. The dark-skinned humans, orcs, and beastkins who lived on the continent worshiped the Serpopard for its everlasting life. But the serpopards live in isolation, barely seen by anyone, which is why they were surprised to see one as a pet. And more surprising for Areia to see another one in his lifetime.

But Morgeux knew very little of the animal's magical traits. Areia was a beastkin born in the southern shores of the dessert, so he heard many stories of the Serpopard, but Morgeux was born from the far east. She had no idea that such a creature existed with the ability to resurrect from the dead existed.

Once Minthe's body was joined together, the spark of life ignited its soul. It opened its eyes and took its first breath. Lo was raised with Minthe for so long he could feel Minthe's breathing. Morgeux stretched her hands towards the two. "There are always two types of people in any given battle—the strong and the brave. And the strong always win. Do you understand? Never be the brave."

"I know," Lo said, then he whistled. That was the signal for Minthe to grab them and run.

"What the hell?" Before she could grab them and petrify the rest of their body, Minthe wrapped its neck around their torso and carried them away. It ran on the water surface as fast as it could and towards the nearest ship, the White Pearl. "How is that alive?"

"Who knows?" Kovacs said. He placed his hand on her left shoulder, "But it's Areia's turn to speak with them."

"Oh really now?" Morgeux pushed Kovacs's hand off her shoulder. "You know, I read the plan. And I found it odd."

"What do you mean?"

"Sun, this king from a petty kingdom. He seems to be more important than Borvo. Why is that?"

"I don't know."

"It seems that Areia knows, and I don't think he is going to do what was suggested on the plan."

"What do you mean? Do you think he's planning to go against the Pontiff's wishes? If so, that's not much of a surprise from the Ententes."

"No, there's more to it. More than just some childish rebellion."

On the White Pearl, Shuja and Cirona tried to find a way to break the spell, but there's nothing they can do. First, they tried to break the stone, but after witnessing the Serpopad's neck shatter to pieces, it became clear that they could kill Borvo. Next, Shuja tried to use her mana, but the magic was far too complex for her understanding. Then she tried to absorb the mana from Borvo, but she nearly fainted in just a few seconds.

Then Sun and Lo arrived on the ship, carried by Minthe. Their arms were also petrified, and they could not move them. Sun tried desperately to understand the spell, trying to swap the mana, but its complexity was leagues above the spell he learned through the ebony sword.

But an unlikely savior came to them, Areia. He teleported on the ship with a grim look on his face. Sparrow quickly turned his swivel cannon and aimed it at him, but he couldn't fire because he could risk damaging their ship. "Sun," Areia said.

Minthe stood between the Entente and his master and Sun. "What more do you want?" Lo asked, "We already left the island."

"We have yet to impart our lesson to Sun." He told him.

"And what's my lesson exactly." Sun gritted his teeth.

"You are now aware. There is the strong and the brave. And the brave always dies. But there's another thing I must tell you. The things we do have always been to test those with great potential. And Sun, you seem promising. But alas, he may not live long enough to see the fruit of his labor."

"He?"

Areia sighed, "I know very little about your people's plight, but I know one thing. The Pontiff's plans have unfortunately crossed with your people's struggles. And so, I believe he had made plans that will bring more harm than good for your people. Originally we were only to let you leave after we ingrained in you the difference of power between us, but I don't like the Pontiff as much as the rest of the Entente, so I tell you this as a warning. The Drons are coming. And they are coming for you."

"What?" Sun pushed the serpopard aside and grabbed Areia by the collar, "What do you mean by that?"

"The Pontiff is getting ready for war. But before that, he needs the key to open the doors to the Infinite Sea. And you are one of those keys." Areia pushed Sun to the floor. Then he took out a bottle filled with salt and poured it on Sun's petrified arm. The salt miraculously ate away the stone and freed Sun's arm. "Salt is a good way to release you from the spell."

Areia threw the salt to Lo, "Prepare yourselves. Once the door opens, even I do not know what will happen. And Sun, please remember the position you are always in."

"So you bastards signed a deal with the devil!" Sun yelled.

"Those things are not the instrument of the devil but by something more disturbing. Just be happy I wasn't an angel or a demon. If I was, I would have just killed you goblins on the spot."

Lo's eyes widened, "Goblins? Did he just say goblins?"

Sun clenched his fist, "How many of them are coming?"

"I don't know, but they're not an army, I can assure you that."