“Is this what you wanted?! To see a monster?! To start a fight you do not have the capacity to stop?! Who do you think you are?! Who do you think I am?! If you think Goblins are here to be walked over then think again!

  “Now I have a simple question for you. How much do you value your fellow Elves hm? I am likely not strong enough to defeat your entire country… but a few hundred of you? A few thousand of you? I can do that.

  “I can more than do that. Test me Elf. I dare you.”

  All of the Elves shared looks of a blend of fear and anger. The flames that came from the Goblin was unlike anything they’ve ever seen before and it felt like touching it would be enough to kill them without any ability to resist.

  This was not normal in their eyes by any means.

  It was already a stretch to see multiple Goblins this strong, but to see one wielding something none of them have ever heard of let alone seen, it was enough to cause real fear to sprout deep within their hearts.

  Even the heart of the Warden was now slightly shaken as she took in the flames around her.

  It was only now that she realized that this situation had left her reign of control. When it came to humans or any of the other races she was used to dealing with, her action were usually a lot more composed and even more cautious.

  Wood Elves were strong, and the Lisante Nation was a thriving one, but they were not a warring people by nature. Nor were they a militaristic by nature. It was only out of situational circumstances that their military had grown to what it was today.

  So while they would be prepared for a war with the humans to break out, it didn’t mean they wanted it, nor did it mean their nation would be spared from the throes of war. In fact it would be the opposite. Their forests would burn, and their children would be sent to die in a war they never asked for.

  And while they would have support from others in the Alliance, at the end of the day war was war, and even the victors tended to have major losses of their own.

  Something that would be highlighted even more in the eyes of the Wood Elves, as a race that lived longer than humans, their population was smaller, and one lost life could have meant decades or centuries of wisdom and guidance gone.

  Stolen story; please report.

  They did not value war.

  Yet her was the Warden looking down on the Goblins before her, and instead of diffusing a situation that could cause harm to her people as the Sheild of Lisante should, she had instead lit a fire under the conflict.

  Now of course, she was not the strongest person in Lisante Nation as someone of Tier Six strength, but there were only two others who could boast a higher level of power, and neither of which would have liked to be called upon for the sake of Goblins.

  Something she didn’t think would need to happen. In her mind these were just Goblins. Yes, they had a bit of strength but a Goblin was just a Goblin at the end of the day. How much of their power could even be considered real.

  And from the point of view of Goblins, this thought process of course could be seen as evil and cruel to be looked down upon like this, but when majority of the Continent felt the same way, how could anyone blame the Warden.

  Especially when as she expected, two of the reported Goblins were dealt with it fairly easily.

  It was only this fourth Goblin who was truly different. The Goblin in question spoke the Elven Tongue as if it was raised in Lisante by their finest linguists.

  Then came the power it gave off…even to the eyes of the Warden something about it felt…regal. Like it was truly special.

  But even then. She continued to underestimate him and treat him as a ‘regular’ Goblin.

  Right up until the Ethereal Green Flames that cause her own heart to stir exploded out from his body.

  Even now, one of the Elves she was responsible for was still screaming in pain. Yet there were no signs of burns being formed on his body. But the pain was clearly present, and all it took was one glance around her to see that there were no trees burning either.

  The Goblin was only warning her. Warning her of the threat he posed.

  And although she was truly offended to be threatened by a Goblin no less, her duties had never mentioned having pride beyond her station.

  Her role was the defense of her people and that was all. She was the Warden, and one mistake was already one too many.

  There wouldn’t be another.

  “Goblin. Retract your flames, and I will return your Goblins.”

  Rick was angry.

  There was no doubt about that, but the anger hadn’t yet clouded his mind and his thought process.

  He wasn’t going to try and pretend that everything he’s said and done was all apart of some elaborate plan where everything was calculated, but while the first part of his reaction was mostly real and kind of just happened, his words at the end were a bit different.

  It was part of a risk he decided to take.

  Lives were at stake here and he couldn’t afford to do anything too rash, so he made a bet. A bet that the Elf in front of him would value the lives of its compatriots more than the lives of a few Goblins.

  So when Rick heard her words…he didn’t show it on the outside, but he took a deep sigh of relief internally, and then his flames slowly receded.

  It appears his bet had paid off.

  For now…

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