‘Rogu…Velora…you didn’t mention Rogu, Jaba…Geedi…Tars…Kida…so many others. What happened to them?’

  [I don’t know. They were faster than the regular Goblins, but I know they were definitely impacted. Almost all of them were unconscious or seriously wounded at some point I think. But Rogu..

  [Rogu…Rick.]

  ‘Just tell me Velora.’

  [He…he sacrificed himself. I am not sure how he did what he did, but he somehow caused a massive explosion with his body and mana as the fuel. The explosion resulted in a raging fire that seemed to devour everything in its path.]

  ‘Velora. Please don’t leave anything else out. Tell me everything. I need to know exactly what happened.’

  ???

  Velora spent the better part of a few hours carefully detailing everything that she was able to see since Rick fell unconscious.

  It took a while for Loruk to fully clear the battlefield, so Velora was able to see quite a bit. From the initial arrival of the War Chief and the Rygern. To the sacrifice of Rogu and the raging fire he created. She talked about the number of Goblin that she was able to confirm that died. She talked about exactly which of those Goblins she knew the names of.

  The sacrifices of the six members of the Royal Retrieval team were also mentioned. If there was any light in the darkness that could be found it was when Velora mentioned that there was a chance that a few other Goblins survived.

  It was due to the interference of the Fox. It took the attention of the War Chief and focused it entirely on itself allowing any remaining Goblins to scramble in whatever direction they could.

  It was undetermined just who survived and exactly where they ran, but to Rick it was the small light that managed to barely push back the darkness that was working to consume him.

  He sat there on the forest floor, listening to Velora’s account of everything that happened, and all he could feel was a void in his chest that seemed to grow bigger with each passing moment.

  It was as if the void was attempting to consume him from inside, and Rick was ready to allow it. He felt like he had lost his way. Like he lost something that he desperately needed but would never see it again.

  He was truly in the process of breaking, as he sat there with a dark look on his face.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  Until Velora mentioned there might be survivors.

  It was that thought that brought some life to his face and if it wasn’t for his promise to Velora he would have long since got up and ran back towards the battle to save as many Goblins as he could.

  Yet he simply remain seating on the ground.

  There might have been a spark of hope in his heart now, but it didn’t completely eliminate the void that now dwelled within him.

  By now Velora had finished recounting the events that happened in as much detail as she could, but Rick just remained there.

  Seemingly thinking and staring about nothing at all, yet everything all at once. Over a hundred Goblins. Dead.

  Goblins that welcomed him when he woke up in a brand new world. Goblins that learned to hunt and grew alongside him.

  Goblins that faced oppression for generations.

  Goblins that were free and finally could focus on building something truly lasting. Build homes, workshops, farms, who knows maybe even schools. But no. They were dead.

  And these Goblins were led by none other than Rick. It was him. His decision making, his thoughts, his wishes, his goals, his weakness. His weakness. His weakness.

  His. Weakness.

  Those were the thoughts that were ringing in his head at the moment. Even as loud explosions continued to shake the trees around him from the battles that were still happening in this distance, Rick continued to wallow in self-pity.

  And for once, Velora herself didn’t know what to say.

  There was nothing that she could say that Rick hadn’t heard before. Or at least that’s what she was thinking.

  So she remained silent, Loruk remained unconscious, and Rick remained seated.

  This situation went on for a while, until finally something changed.

  Footsteps.

  Footsteps could be heard approaching Rick’s location from the direction of the battle.

  The footsteps weren’t normal though. They were slow, with seemingly no consistent rhythm to when they rose and landed.

  It also didn’t sound like they belonged to just one individual. It was a few different pairs of footsteps.

  Three to be exact.

  Velora tried to get Rick to stand up and be ready to fight but he didn’t move. He didn’t react. She screamed and pleaded with him as much as possible, but the grief he was feeling had taken a real hold on him.

  A hold strong enough to stop him from immediately standing up and reacting to the potential threat that now approached him and the unconscious Loruk. And it was by mentioning Loruk that Velora finally managed to strike a chord within Rick.

  [ARE YOU GOING TO SIT IDLY BY AND ALLOW MORE HARM TO COME TO LORUK?! TO ALLOW MORE GOBLINS TO DIE?! GET UP RICK?!]

  Rick’s expression immediately went from stuck in depression to one that was extremely volatile.

  And he probably would’ve lashed out at Velora and maybe even the world right then and there if it wasn’t the mumbled words he heard.

  “My…Lord…”

  Rick turned around in a flash to find that the three pairs of footsteps belong to three individuals he knew.

  Three Goblins.

  Ra, Teral, and Ulgri.

  Along with Loruk, they were all that remained of the Royal Retrieval Team.

  It was Ra who spoke, and he continued to speak.

  “You’re…alive…ha…you’re alive…their…sacrifice…it wasn’t wasted.”

  Ra seemed like he would break down into tears at any moment, as he continued to talk.

  While Rick, who was frozen by his words, beat him to it as streams of tears began to fill his eyes and make their way down his cheeks. He took off running towards the group of three who were huddled together as they laboriously made their way towards Rick.