NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16 : Cultists
When the day reached its end, Grom came back with the information he was tasked to find.
When he came to the camp, he saw Nathan staring at the foundations of the watch towers he wanted the goblin to build.
“_ Boss ! I found one ! like you wanted there is a hobgoblin camp an hour in this direction.”
Said Grom pointing at the east of the camp. Nathan looked there and answered.
“_ Well done Grom. We have done enough work for today, let’s go to prepare a feast for tonight.”
‘ Well I didn’t do anything myself really …But still I wonder, if I ask Grom to find Agartha *, how long would he take to find it ? Honestly, I don’t even doubt he could find it. Even if he needs to travel between worlds, I’m fairly sure the little fucker could do it.’
When the goblins regrouped to eat, Nathan shared with his officers what he intended to do the next day.
“_ Tomorrow, I plan to go take a look at the hobgoblin camp Grom found today. Naturally, he will guide us. Mourzuk, Vorya, I want you guys to come with me. Stevie you will stay at the camp.
_ Why ! I need to protect you ! Why I should stay when you take someone you don’t even know I he’s loyal !”
Vorya looked at her than he looked at Nathan and just shrugged.
“That’s exactly why I am taking him with us, so we can watch him closely. Moreover, you are the goblin I trust the most to keep the camp safe.”
When Nathan said this, she calmed down but still sulked for the whole night, occasionally throwing murderous glance at Vorya, who just looked in another way every time he felt her gaze.
The next day a group consisting of two hobgoblin and 6 goblins left the outpost at dawn.
When Grom informed Nathan, that they neared their destination. They continued discreetly to look at the camp from a distance.
When Nathan could see the camp, he bleached at what he saw, while Vorya boiled in anger.
They could see two Hobgoblin before a stone altar, surrounded by praying Goblins. On it were three bound goblins. One of the hobgoblins was conducting the ceremony, before he approached one of the goblin prisoners with a rusted knife. He planted the knife in the plexus of the yelling goblin three time to beak it. When the plexus broke, he slowly cut open it’s chest and stopped only when he encountered the goblin’s pelvic bones.
He gave the knife to the other hobgoblin he took the beating heart out of its victim. After showing it to the crowd of goblins pronouncing a few short and solemn words, despite his serious face he was salivating while looking at the red organ. He then ate it raw, while the other hobgoblin did the same to the other sacrifice, he then cut off their head before splitting the top of their cranium. He then took one of them and mixed the brain with its knife until it was liquid while chanting. He showed the head to the crowd. He raised it over his own head and poured the content in his mouth. When it was done, he also sucked out the two eyeballs. When the two hobgoblins were done with the ritual. They started to laugh frenetically as a dark brown aura escaped from their bodies. They then thrown the rest of the sacrificed goblins to the now cheering crowd.
Looking at this morbid spectacle Nathan almost thrown up as he thought.
‘The hell ? The hell !? The fuck happened here ? What are those Insane Hobgobs. Is that a ritual for an evil god or something ? Ya ? How the fuck can I build a city if those crazy cultist roam in the street ? Impossible. I need to kill them all, no sane civilization can thrive and flourish while sacrificing people to some fake gods. Shit, I won’t be able to eat for a while…’
Before he could continue his internal struggle, Nathan heard the sound of teeth’s grinding against themselves and turned to Vorya.
The Hobgoblin was fuming, his face red from anger and eyes clouded by hatred. Nathan could see all the veins on his body and his contracted muscles, they looked twice as big as usual. Nathan could hear occasional whisper coming from his comrade and approached him slowly to listen and to calm him.
“_ Kill the cultists, must kill them. Abominations like them must be skinned alive in front of a laughing crowd. It is natural order... “
Nathan grabbed his shoulder as he locked eyes with his Hobgoblin comrade and whispered back.
“_ You are right we will kill them all, but not now we will come back with warriors. None must survive.”
The only one in the group which was not affected was Mourzuk. He then spoke to Nathan as he nudged the sick looking Grom.
“_ It is not rare for the tribe warriors to conduct this kind of ceremony, most of the hobgoblin who do it are those who assisted to one of them before a war. They imitated what they saw, since the more they sacrifice to their war god, the more strength he gives them in return. It is something you must get used to it … it is common in all the tribes even if the requirements, ceremony and sacrifice differs, It’s basically the same.”
Nathan Nodded and slowly walked back to their outpost followed by the rest of the group. The return trip was silent. When they arrived at the camp, Nathan gathered the goblins, including the cultist prisoners.
“_ From now on every cult are forbidden ! Those savage custom is contradictory with my ambition and moral ! As it should also be for all of you !”
He looked at Vorya and nodded before he walked to the kneeling cultists before him, approaching slowly with his Dumbslayer.
Before he could lift his sword one of the cultists yelled.
“_ Why ! It is normal in the tribes ! We are not wrong ! “
One of the goblins who was taken prisoners and accepted to fight as canon fodder for Nathan also spoke up.
“ _ It is a custom ! Every tribe are followers of one of the Great Primordial Gods ! And our tribe is loyal to the Primordial God of War.”
The goblins who were following Nathan before Goruk demise looked hesitating and confused before Nathan spoke up again.
“ Look here ! What have you done since you came under my leadership !? You built ! That’s what you did!”
All the goblins nodded
“And what did it do to your livelihoods ?! “
Many Goblin responded
“It protects us !”
“Leader taught us how to make weapons !”
“Yeah ! We defend us with weapons of leader !!”
“We can eat ! As much as we need !”
“The leader never let us starve !”
The cultist bleached as they looked at Nathan murderous smile while he spoke to them directly
“What’s more … My words are the laws here. And if I want to kill you, I can do it even if it is just on a whim …”
He then decapitated them one by one. The Goblin who spoke up for the cultist bleached while looking at their fate and tried to flee. Stevie aimed at him, before Vorya spoke to her.
“_ Immobilize him, but don’t kill him.”
Stevie hmphed but did as told anyway. She fired her javelin in its knee before the fleeing goblin crashed onto the ground with a yell.
Vorya walked slowly and stopped beside Nathan before he spoke.
“ _ Boss … can you let me do it.
_ Do what you need to do …”
Answered Nathan before he tried to hand his Dumbslayer to his Hobgoblin friend which refused.
When he reached the crawling goblin he stepped on it, smacking it to the ground before he took its head in his hand and twisted it more and more, until he ripped it out bare headedly, separating it from the rest of it’s now limp body.
Nathan ordered the head to be displayed at the entrance of the camp to let every goblin remember what it means to worship a barbaric god.
As night came and the goblins feasted lively, Nathan came to Vorya and spoke and he handed him some fruit skewers instead of the traditional meat.
“_ So ? You clearly have some past with those disgusting cultist … mind sharing ?”
