The chaos on Lucrasia's main thoroughfare erupted into a frantic scene. Wagons overturned, sending goods scattering, and panicked citizens scrambled for cover. Hivean, the Ironclad, moved with swift precision, his senses immediately identifying the source of the mayhem: **goblins**.
Not the usual opportunistic scavengers, these creatures were numerous, their green skins mottled, their pointy features twisted into snarls of malicious glee. They swarmed from the shadowed alleys and from beneath the market stalls, crude bone knives and rusty cleavers glinting in their hands. While individually weak, their numbers were alarming, and their attacks carried an unnatural ferocity. They weren't just looting; they were reveling in the terror.
Hivean plunged into the fray. His iron body was a bulwark against their flimsy assaults. A goblin, attempting to hamstring a terrified merchant, found its knife deflected by Hivean's polished boot. With a fluid, almost casual movement, Hivean swung his sword, forcing a cluster of goblins to scatter. He moved, not just to fight, but to protect, herding the fleeing citizens away from the immediate danger zone.
He noticed something unsettling about some of the creatures among the goblin horde. Not all were goblins. Small, scuttling animals – rats and scorpions – but they moved with an unnatural speed and aggression, their eyes glowing faintly with a sickly, purplish light. They hissed and snapped, far more vicious than any mundane pest. Hivean's internal sensors registered a faint, discordant hum of corrupted **Edo** emanating from them, a perversion of the world's natural energy. This wasn't natural.
The Guild Master, Garl, had managed to draw a stout club and was valiantly trying to fend off a few goblins from a trapped fruit vendor. "They're relentless!" he roared, "And those beasts... they're not natural!"
Hivean raised his rifle, the unique weapon crafted by Rari, the legendary goblin inventor. As his own spirit, contained within his iron body, channeled **Edo** into its mechanisms, a soft blue light emanated from the barrel. He didn't fire to kill, but to disrupt. A focused pulse of light elemental energy lanced out, striking the ground before a particularly aggressive group of goblins. The blinding flash and concussive force sent them yelping and stumbling, momentarily disoriented.
He saw the young human, Elara, from the Guild outpost. She was cornered by two of the unnaturally aggressive, glowing rats, their teeth bared. Fear was clear in her eyes, but a stubborn defiance also flickered there.
Hivean moved instantly. One rat found itself abruptly kicked away. The other was
"Are you unharmed?" Hivean's synthesized voice resonated, as he positioned himself between Elara and the remaining threat.
She nodded, breathless, staring at his unyielding iron form with a mixture of terror and awe. "Yes... thank you."
As more goblins poured into the main road, Hivean noted a disturbing pattern. They were coordinated, not just swarming. A few larger goblins, with crude markings, seemed to be barking orders, directing the smaller ones. This was an organized assault, far beyond the typical banditry. Someone, or something, was pulling their strings. They aimed not just to steal, but to sow chaos and fear.
Hivean knew this was more than a simple raid. This was a deliberate act of malice, designed with a cunning purpose. The raw, wild Edo was being twisted, and the goblins were merely tools. The thrill of adventure, the quest for the "less pedestrian," had just delivered something far more ominous than he had anticipated.
"This is no random attack," Hivean stated, his gaze sweeping over the retreating, disoriented goblins. "This is orchestrated."
Elara, having witnessed Hivean's power and the unsettling nature of the threat, felt a sudden, fierce urge to understand. She had come to Lucrasia for adventure, but this was different. This was real.
"Master Ironclad," she said, stepping forward, her voice trembling slightly but resolute. "I… I want to help. I want to understand what's happening."
Hivean turned to her, his glowing eyes inscrutable. The path he was about to take was fraught with danger, leading into the heart of a rising darkness. But a rare glint of determination in her eyes caught his attention. This was the beginning of a true adventure, not just for him, but perhaps for Eidos itself.