There were at least fifty of them. Fifty reptilian humanoids, their mottled scales a patchwork of greens and browns, their beady black eyes glowing with a cold, unified intelligence.
They held spears tipped with sharpened obsidian, crude but effective shields made of wood and leather.
At their head stood Ssskaal, his expression no longer cunning or fearful, but radiating a cold, resolute authority.
"Inside the cabin! Now!" Ryan's voice was a harsh, cracked whisper. His people scrambled, dragging the deer and rabbits with them, their faces pale with a terror that dwarfed anything they had felt during the Crimson Haze. Leo and Sam fumbled for their axes, their earlier bravado completely gone.
Ryan's mind raced, a frantic search for any possible escape. He was strong, but he wasn't strong enough to fight fifty warriors at once.
His eight citizens, even with their newfound courage, would be slaughtered in seconds.
Kael! He could send one of the newcomers—Liam, maybe, he looked fast—to run for Kael's territory.
But would he make it in time? Could Kael even handle this many?
Robin! He could open the chat, send a desperate plea for help. But Robin's power was personal, a sword, not a shield for an entire settlement.
He was trapped. He had shown weakness, and now the wolf was at the door with its entire pack. He raised the Blood Hunter, its predatory hum a faint comfort against the overwhelming odds.
His people were huddled at the door of the cabin, armed with their simple spears and axes.
"My Lord, what do we do?" Elias asked, his voice grim but steady.
"We fight," Ryan said, though the word tasted like ash in his mouth.
He took a step forward, ready to sell his life as dearly as possible. He expected a war cry, a charge, a volley of spears that would darken the sky.
Instead, something utterly bizarre happened.
With a sharp hiss from Ssskaal, every single Kobold warrior moved in perfect, synchronized unison. They raised their spears high, not to throw, but in a strange salute.
Then, with a resounding THUD! they all slammed the butts of their spears into the soft earth, planting them upright in the ground. They released their shields, letting them fall to their sides.
His people stared, their fear momentarily forgotten, replaced by a profound, baffled confusion.
Ssskaal took a single step forward, his own spear still planted in the ground behind him. He was unarmed. He placed a three-fingered, clawed hand over his chest and bowed his head low, not in submission, but in a gesture of formal, dignified respect.
"Strong Lord," the Kobold's voice hissed, but the sound was different now. It lacked the tricky, deceitful edge from before. It was deeper, more resonant.
"We have come not to make war."
Ryan stood frozen, the Blood Hunter held in a ready stance, his mind unable to process the one-eighty turn of events.
"Then why," he said, his voice tight, "did you bring an army to my doorstep?"
"To show you our strength," Ssskaal replied, raising his head. His black eyes were serious, holding no trace of their earlier cunning.
"And to show you our sincerity. My people watched our fight from the shadows. They saw your power. You were strong enough to kill me."
He tapped his chest, right where the butt of Ryan's spear had struck him. "But when I was defeated, helpless… you were merciful enough not to. This is not the way of the warm-bloods we have met before. It is not the way of the goblins. It is the way of a true chieftain. A true Lord."
He gestured back to the silent, waiting army of warriors.
"My village is small. The swamp provides little food. The goblins raid us for our young. We are skilled, but we are few. We cannot thrive. But you… you are strong, but you are also few. You have fertile land, and a powerful leader who shows mercy to his enemies."
Ssskaal took another step forward, his gaze unwavering.
"Ssskaal, Chieftain of the Blackwater Clutch, offers you an alliance. We will be your warriors, your hunters, your scouts. We will defend this territory with our lives. In return, you will share your bounty, your safety, and your strength. We wish to serve you, Nameless Lord."
An alliance.
The word hung in the air, more shocking than any declaration of war.
Ryan's mind was a battlefield of conflicting thoughts. It could be a trick. A ridiculously elaborate Trojan Horse.
They could accept, let them in, and be slaughtered in their sleep.
But then he looked at Ssskaal's face. He saw no deceit, only a grim, desperate sincerity. He looked at the fifty warriors, standing silently, their weapons planted in the earth.
If he refused, if he killed Ssskaal now, they would pull those spears from the ground and this would become a massacre.
His mercy had given him one chance to turn an enemy into a friend. His pride could still turn them back into a tide of death that would sweep him away.
He had a choice: certain annihilation, or a risky, uncertain future.
He lowered the Blood Hunter. "I accept."
A collective hiss of relief went through the Kobold ranks. Ssskaal bowed his head once more. "You are as wise as you are strong, Lord."
An alliance formed with words was fragile.
Ssskaal turned to his people and let out a series of sharp, reptilian commands.
The Kobolds pulled their spears from the earth, but not to attack. They raised them high in the air and slammed their butts on the ground in a rhythmic, thundering salute.
And just as the sound reached its crescendo, the world lit up with a familiar, golden light.
[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT!]
[Congratulations to Lord 'Nameless' for forging the world's first alliance with a native intelligent race!]
[Your pioneering efforts in diplomacy have opened a new path for all Lords!]
[Reward: 'Pioneer's Charisma' Title. All diplomacy and trade actions with native races will have a higher chance of success.]
The Global Chat, which had just started to calm down, self-destructed.
[RandomLord123]: "ANOTHER ONE?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
[MonsterSlayer_69]: "An alliance? With the monsters? What the hell?! I just finished killing a camp of them!"
[DataScout]: "We've been treating the natives as XP fodder, but he's turning them into assets."
[Kaiser]: "THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GUY EVEN DOING?!"
Ryan ignored the chaos. He watched as the Kobold warriors, bows in hand, turned and melted back into the swampy forest, their chieftain giving him one last, respectful nod before disappearing.
He had turned a certain-death scenario into a powerful military alliance.
He felt a grin spread across his face.