The Forgotten Faithful: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 2) Cajiao, Jez (best selling autobiographies TXT) 📖

to have the funeral as soon as the others are here.” He nodded in response and whistled to Decin, waving him in.

I walked over to a large uncovered slab of stone and sat relaxing in the sunshine for a few minutes, Oracle landing next to me within moments. We talked quietly, enjoying each other’s presence, and I had just started to wonder if her top was actively growing lower cut as I looked, or if it was my imagination, when a loud roar ruined the mood.

I jumped to my feet, people all around us doing the same. I felt the ground shake, and Sarge, followed by three other Golems, rushed over to take up station between us and whatever had made the noise.

A few minutes passed, with screeches and roars coming closer… until we got our first look at what was making all the noise.

The rest of the Golems had formed up around us, the Servitor and Construction Golem from the Tower loaded aboard Oren’s ship, just in case, as were almost the entirety of our people. My squad had surrounded us, with the Golems forming a second ring, further out.

At first, all we could see was movement between the trees, then flashes of a huge grey creature surrounded by smaller, faster ones. As the minutes passed, they came closer and the screams became clearer. One group was composed of goblins, chanting and screeching randomly, punctuated by the pain-filled screams of a human male. He was being dragged along by the creature that made the loudest noises, and as it came into view, I used ‘Identify’.

Adult Male Cave Troll

This is the last surviving Cave Troll from a family that was tamed by the Goblins. The Matriarch has eaten one, and the other apparently fled, rather than be tamed.

This creature has the very dangerous combination of high muscle density combined with an extremely low level of intelligence.

HP: 999/1100

I scowled at the goblins, watching them freeze as they saw us. The cowardly little monsters pulled back to the middle of their group, screaming in rage at finding us arrayed before their home. One of them, sporting a bone headdress, screamed something at the cave troll, who threw the human down and stamped on him. The crunch of his skull made it clear that he wasn’t going to be getting back up.

“I think that was one of the three idiots,” Oracle said quietly, and I nodded. I hadn’t wanted them to die, necessarily, but they were assholes, so I wasn’t particularly concerned about it.

The cave troll started to run forward, smashing saplings aside as it went. The goblins following close behind, brandishing weapons and screaming, the air filled with their bloodlust.

“What do you think?” I asked Oracle, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. “Do they think the Golems are just statues?”

“Probably,” she said, an evil grin appearing on her face. The cave troll was maybe ten feet tall, and heavily muscled. The Golems ranged from nine feet tall for the general fighters, to eleven for Sarge, and they all had to outweigh the troll easily.

“Sarge…” I said, my own grin splitting my face. “Wait until they’re about twenty feet away, then slaughter the fucking lot of them. I want you to rip the troll’s arms off and beat it to death with the wet ends.” The Golems shifted slightly; an air of readiness palpable in their stances.

It took maybe thirty seconds for the troll to close the distance to the point I’d specified, and as it crossed that imaginary line, the Golems blurred into action.

Sarge hadn’t bothered to draw its sword from the enormous sheath across its back. It simply went from standing still to what looked like a dead run in two seconds flat. The rest of the Golems followed its lead, and I had the chance to see the look of confusion on the face of the cave troll…right before Sarge’s shield smashed into it with the force of an out of control semi.

The troll was catapulted backwards, audible cracks sounding as bones were broken, and Sarge discarded its shield, crushing a pair of goblins under its ridiculous mass.

The rest of the Golems spread out, the ranged ones firing mana bolts from their huge crossbows that flared into existence, then blasted multiple goblins into bits. The melee-armed Golems barely got to touch the goblins before they were all dead. The last thing the goblin in the headdress saw was Sarge pinning his supposedly invincible cave troll to the floor, grabbing both of its arms by the wrists, and tearing them off.

I watched the carnage in stunned silence. The only sounds, beyond the echoes of the explosions returning to us from the surrounding hills, were the meaty ‘thwacks’ as Sarge hammered the arms down onto the already dead cave troll, and Stephanos’ retching behind us.

“Okay… note to self, Golems and metaphors don’t mix…” I said, swallowing hard.

I pulled the Golems back, ordering them back to their regular duties, and gestured for the ships to land, everyone left a little uneasy by the amazing prowess of the War Golems.

I didn’t even get any experience, as it was that much of a one-sided slaughter, apparently. I just shrugged and wished we’d had the fuckers when we went to clear the nest out.

It only took a few minutes for everyone to gather; we’d had a large area cleared for the ships to land, and two other areas as well. One was to the left of the ruin, the other to the right, with the goblins and all the general refuse piled to the right, a trench around it all to prevent the fire from spreading and the entire heap dowsed liberally in whatever we could find that was cheap and flammable. The section to the left, on the other hand, was for the bodies of the dead from Decin’s ship and the other corpses that the Golems had found. Anything that wasn’t goblin or animal was placed here. Due to the