Chapter 61: Building Swamp
Chapter 61: Building Swamp
The night passed. Pebbles’ words were clearly embedded in everyone’s head, especially Azatoth’s.
"Time to finish the rest of them."
Many could hardly sleep because of this, as they knew tomorrow was a big day.
The next morning came slowly.
There was no sudden movement.
There were no loud voices, nor was there a rush to begin the day.
The goblins woke one by one, almost as if the night still held them. It felt peaceful...
Some sat up with heavy eyes, while others stayed where they were, staring at nothing in particular. The injured did not move at all. A few shifted slightly, but even that seemed to cost them effort. Most remained still.
The air was damp. The smell of wet soil still lingered, mixed with something faint that had not yet faded.
Pebbles stood outside a hut with his head raised only a little. He was gazing at the sky. His face faced the sunrise.
Even if they saw him stand there, none approached him. None spoke to him. In fact, there was no need for a talk.
After a while, he turned.
The green lizard was already waiting. So was the shaman. A couple of goblins stood behind them quietly. They were unsure why they had been chosen.
"Let’s go," Pebbles said.
No one questioned it.
The path to the river was not long, but it was not short either. The ground was still soft from the rain, and their steps sank slightly as they walked.
No one rushed ahead.
They moved at a steady pace.
On their way, they spotted various footsteps.
"Webbed."
Pebbles nodded at the green lizard’s word, which he said after making an effort.
They continued ahead.
At first, there was only silence.
Then, faintly, the sound of water began to reach them.
It grew clearer with each step.
If heard closely, one could say that there was a slow, constant flow.
Pebbles did not stop walking.
The others followed without a word.
When they finally reached the river, the sight in front of them made them pause.
The water was clear. One could see the rocks and fishes within them. Heck, the ground underneath almost became visible...
...along with that, a few silhouettes were also visible. They were moving.
They were in clusters.
On the first guess, half of the goblins that accompanied had realized that it was the Frog-Men. The rest only rubbed their eyes.
"Master, the Frog-Men. They..." the shaman paused.
Her squint made it clearer.
They had built something.
Using thick strands of underwater weeds, twisted and layered together, they had formed structures that rested along the riverbed. Some were shallow, others deeper, but all of them were organized.
"They have built nests..."
Pebbles watched quietly. He didn’t bat an eye, not even when the Frog-Men noticed them.
One after another, they shot upward from the water.
Splash-
Splash-
Splash-
Bodies landed along the riverbank, crouched low, their wide eyes fixed on the intruders.
There were more that followed. One by one, they almost surrounded them from all sides.
The goblins hugged each other in fear. The Frog-Men were twice their heights and way more muscular than them.
The result was obvious. The goblins would get obliterated in case there was a fight.
Heck, the goblins’ one advantage... numbers... that too was lost, as only ten of them came.
All they could do was shiver while the Frog-Men had this expression of looking down on them.
Pebbles, however, remained unmoved. His gaze was fixated, as there was one Frog-Man yet to leave the water.
Slowly, it became visible. A head rose from beneath.
He did not rush like the others.
He emerged at his own pace.
With one look, anyone could say his eyes were different.
There was something in the way he looked at them that made the air feel tighter.
Water dripped from his skin as he pulled himself up just enough to rest at the edge.
"...So," he said.
His voice was low, but it carried.
"The ones who survived decide to visit."
Hearing that, the goblins almost jumped. A few of them pissed the leafy pants they wore.
The green lizard simply stared at the frog, who seemed to blabber something.
His gaze shifted.
It landed on the shaman.
A faint curl formed at the corner of his mouth.
"Oh my, my, we have a star amongst us. Mrs. Shaman."
She turned her gaze away.
"You left your little shit hole and ran straight into the jaws of something worse. How dare you return to my territory?"
The shaman’s expression did not change.
But her fingers tightened slightly.
Seeing how she didn’t reply, he added further, "Ah yeah, that guy. You always fought with him, didn’t you?"
"...ahahaha."
"Protected by your nemesis," he went on, his tone almost amused. "The Death Lizard."
His eyes flicked toward the green lizard.
"How ironic."
Silence lingered for a moment.
Then the green lizard stepped forward.
"No goblin died," he said.
His voice was steady, but his expression wasn’t. One look, and the shaman could say that the green lizard wanted to punch the shit out of him.
"The ones who suffered... were yours. You know that, right?"
The Frog-Man in water remained calm. Or at least he tried to, but his sharpened gaze had already given enough signal.
A few of the Frog-Men shifted.
The leader’s gaze moved back to him.
For a brief second, nothing happened.
Then...
The air changed. An unknown pressure came crashing down, almost as if the atmosphere had started stacking one above another.
The Frog-Men released a massive amount of bloodlust and killing intent without holding back.
Their presence filled the space, pressing down like weight.
And worse was thanks to their leader.
"Atuk, what are you doing?" the shaman asked as her grip only tightened.
He didn’t reply. He simply rose out of the surface of water, and as he did, his aura rose too.
It kept building.
The ground beneath their feet seemed to tremble faintly.
The goblins behind Pebbles stiffened.
The green lizard did not step back.
Instead, his own presence began to rise.
There was a faint blue glow emitting from Atuk, while a similar green glow covered the green lizard.
His aura didn’t cover as much area as Atuk’s, but it was way too dense.
The air between the two sides tightened.
The shaman moved her hand.
A faint barrier formed around them.
It was a thin, translucent barrier with a hint of green and blue, especially because of the aura of the two.
The barrier couldn’t have withstood either one of their attacks, but at the moment, it was enough.
The wind that came with the pressure brushed against it and split.
"Master," the green lizard said without looking away.
"Permission."
The shaman spoke as well. Her voice was quieter but firm.
"We can strike first."
Pebbles did not respond.
For a moment, it seemed like he had not heard them.
But then, he stepped forward. He took slow steps that led him outside the barrier that had formed in between the two sides.
The air hit him directly but did nothing at all.
He did not slow down, nor did he stop.
The pressure pressed against him, but he kept walking until he stood ahead of the others.
The movement alone caused a shift. The Frog-Men thought they were dominating, but all of a sudden, they paused.
Pebbles looked at Atuk.
And with a calm, deep voice, he spoke, "I’ve come with peace."
The moment he said that, everyone paused.
Behind him, the green lizard froze.
The shaman’s eyes widened slightly.
Even the goblins standing further back did not react immediately, as if they had not understood what was said.
"...Master," the green lizard said.
There was something restrained in his voice.
But Pebbles did not look back.
The shaman took a step forward.
"Master... this is..."
Even now, he did not turn.
He did not respond.
They both went quiet.
For a fleeting second, both exchanged glances with each other, and then they soon realized something.
Pebbles had not brought the others.
Not the bosses.
Not Azatoth, understandably so as he was injured, but he hadn’t brought anyone capable of fighting either.
Neither did he bring anyone who would push for a fight.
The goblins behind them lowered their heads slightly.
They understood.
This was never meant to be a battle.
Across the riverbank, Atuk watched him. The guy had never heard something as absurd as this.
He laughed.
"Hahahaha..."
"Peace?"
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Why would I take peace... when I can wipe all of you out?"
The pressure in the air did not fade.
If anything, it deepened. The wind started to roar as it clashed with Pebbles head-on.
Pebbles stood still.
He turned to his left just a bit, completely unaffected by anything at all, and spoke so very nonchalantly.
"Summer is coming."
"...what?"
"The river will shrink," Pebbles continued. "Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But it will."
The Frog-Men did not move.
"You depend on it, right?"
"Is that your attempt to make a threat?"
Pebbles stared directly at Atuk.
"We will build you a swamp."
"...?"
’Master, what is wrong with you!!!!!?’
Author’s Note: Thank you for reading the book. The book will hit a paywall from the next Chapter. I tried to keep it free, but for the last 2 months, I had only 183 readers. Just yesterday, it became 184...
I am told if I go premium, I will get features and more readers... So, I will try this.
Furthermore, I only get one reader who is voting 3 powerstones daily, so thank you @Tamara_Larabee. Thank you @Jonathan_Whatley_8863 for the golden ticket. Thank you @Jin for reviewing the book on a different platform, and thanks to everyone else for reading.
I wish for all of you to have a healthy and happy life.