Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

The so-called tribe looked more like a little town, it was to be said that unlike most goblins most could run into in the wild, the salt goblins that One had relieved of their blood had actually worn clothes of good workmanship, their weapons had also been well-done, even if ultimately crafted from wood, stone and plant-based ropes, it did not change that they had been crafted with a certain amount of finesse and attention to details.

Those goblins, seemingly under the lead of that chief, were just on the edge of entering an age of advancement.

The style of the house was simplistic, made from wood or made into small, hollowed out hills and cliff sides, the town was bustling with many salt goblins, or as their guide said, brine goblins, named after the pool they all had to submerge themselves in once adulthood was reached.

Unlike the salt people from the first island, the goblins did not develop natural salt armour over their bodies, their white skin and flesh was unprotected, and instead, they were rendered more durable by the previously mentioned pool, which was why being allowed to bathe more than that was considered an honour.

It was the chief showing trust in you by granting more power, though, according to goblin that took them to the town, that didn't actually mean much in practise as the chief was basically immersed day and night, everyday into his own, personal Brine Pool, which he was constantly making more and more powerful, tempering himself without stop, to the point that even if all other goblins agreed to assassinate him, that they wouldn't be able to put a dent even if targeting his soft spots.

"Good sir… I have done as was asked, may… May I take leave, please?" the goblin did his best to appear cute and harmless to Loimos, trying to look like a little baby animal.

"What is your name?" the pure undead was still not affected by that sort of tactic, and merely asked a question.

"Gobo-Dalo, good sir! Everyone says that I am the smartest of the tribe!" he presented himself.

"Gobo-Dalo, you are going to continue with us, lead the way toward your chief" Loimos decided to have the goblin stick around.

"N-No problem!" Gobo-Dalo felt like crying right now, but he pushed on, throwing a glance at the vampiress, fearing that the ownership of his blood would be forcefully seized from him at any moment, but from the looks of it, the armoured man was the one leading here.

He did not know about the woman that gave off that weird feeling, she had not spoken a word since the beginning, just looking around.

The group marched directly into the town, under the gazes of many other brine goblins, who were naturally quite curious what were the things that followed Gobo-Dalo around, such tall and spindly beings, they had never seen such creatures before.

"Gobo-Dalo! Weren't you supposed to be hunting for Salz Lizards? What are these? And where are the others that were with you?" a goblin with a rather brawny build asked a question, and Gobo-Dalo just looked him straight in the eyes.

'Fool! Absolute buffoon! Don't get in the way, do you want to be drained dry?! Read the room! Look at my terror-filled expression and get the hint!'

"Ahahah… These? I don't quite know, but they are harmless! I decided to go and take them to the chief immediately whilst the others stayed in wait for Salz Lizards! Ahah… You know how much the chief is interested in such things…"

"Is he?"

"Of course he is!"

"Alright…"

The brawny goblin did not get any of the hints Gobo-Dalo tried to convey to him, but still stepped aside to let him through after being told that the strange beings were being taken to the chief.

As the group went further into the town, Gobo-Dalo felt like bashing his head against a wall, absolutely no one was understanding the subtle signs he was trying to convey to them, never until today had he realised that everyone around him was so dull!

Now he understood, it's not that he was smart, it was that everyone else was stupid.

How does one not recognise fear in the eyes of their fellow brine goblin? What did he have to do for them to understand? Scream and roll on the ground?

Before long, he took the three undeads to the dwelling areas of the chief, Ehll-Giablo.

He resided at the top of stairs that had been meticulously carved through the side of a small mountain, in fact, everything starting from the moment one set foot on the first stair had once been filled with solid, salty rock.

The labour needed to create this place was enormous, but Ehll-Giablo would not settle for anything less, and no goblins complained about it, he was a supreme being amongst them, a madman who had dived head first into countless Brine Pools, swam farther than any other into the Saline Sea, and battled creatures stronger than he was, achieving total victory over them each time.

And despite his newfound status, all of the aforementioned were things he still partook in on the regular, the chief had not lost his edge.

As they ascended all of the stairs, they found themselves in a wide, open area, featuring a bed, a wall covering in weapons, a throne, and most noticeably, a humongous Brine Pool, within which a goblin at least two heads taller than Gobo-Dalo was currently submerged down to his hips.

"Mmh… Gobo-Dalo, what brings you here today? And what are those most bizarre creatures that you bring with you?" face bearing a large, angular nose, a head lacking in any hair just like the rest of his kind, the chief did not look all that different from the other goblins.

Gobo-Dalo kept his distance, covering both nose and mouth as the fumes from the Brine Pool could kill him if he wasn't careful.

"Chief, I… I encountered these three beings on the beach…" he looked at the three undead and upon looking at Loimos, it was like something struck him, and he immediately continued speaking without hesitation.

"They killed all of the others without even breaking a sweat! They forced me to bring them here, Chief, please defeat them! There is no way any other warrior could possibly do it!" he blurted out exactly what he wanted to say, unknowingly affected by Death's aspect of Truth.

"Ah… So you brought me enemies? That's considerate of you, Gobo-Dalo, it just so happens that I was feeling a little bit rusty" he rose up from the Brine Pool and tied a piece of cloth around his waist.

And with the manifestation of a tendril made from the same liquid as was in the Brine Pool, he pulled a stone axe into his grasp.

"Bring it!"