Goblin King

One crystal ball after another in the room lost its signal. Seated upon the throne, the Goblin King narrowed its gaze. Ten years had passed since it unified the various tribes, and that long-forgotten sense of tension rose in its heart once more.

Though it was worshipped by the goblins, it knew full well that it was still a frog at the bottom of a well. Countless things could threaten its rule.

Originally, it had merely been an ordinary goblin living in the forest, even when it struggled with all its might.

Living like a beast was the norm for most goblins. But it did not think so, especially when it saw those adventurers clad in exquisite armor, hunting through the forest.

Why did they possess such exquisite weapons? Why could they wear such splendid armor? Why could they casually slaughter prey and its kin?

These questions had always filled the young Goblin King's heart. Finally, one day, it laid a trap and switched from prey to hunter.

Perhaps the adventurers were too foolish, or perhaps they had relaxed too much after hunting their prey. Its first plan succeeded.

It not only obtained the prey in the hunters' hands, but also the equipment on their bodies. Though that equipment did not suit it, it still brought it back.

When the goblin tribe living in the cave saw it return with food, they immediately rushed forward to gnaw at it. Sharing food was an unspoken rule among goblins.

But that rule only applied among strong goblins. Old and weak goblins deserved only enough food to barely fill their stomachs.

Perhaps because a clever brain consumed a great deal of energy, it was easily hungry when young. The little food it received was nowhere near enough to fill its stomach, and whenever it asked for more, the adult goblins would glare at it fiercely with aggressive eyes.

Fearing those gazes, it spent much of its childhood starving. Fortunately, it relied on its wits, used its companions, and learned to distinguish edible plants, surviving until adulthood.

Now, faced with its ravenously devouring kin, it felt no fondness at all. Instead, its heart was filled with disgust.

After that food-sharing incident, the adult goblins had classified it as a strong goblin and were willing to share with it, but it merely looked upon its kin as if they were beasts.

It was no longer the same kind of creature as them.

The Goblin King gave all the food it received to the weak and young goblins. It knew what kind of return such charity could bring.

Give a dog a bone and train it, and it will sell its life for you.

The Goblin King continued using its intelligence to seize food and resources from humans. It even learned some knowledge and magic from them, and gradually, its status within the goblin tribe rose higher and higher.

But correspondingly, its reputation in the human world grew worse and worse, until there were even missions specifically to investigate and hunt it.

It was because of one such mission that someone deliberately fell into its trap and set an ambush.

It nearly died in the human encirclement. Fortunately, it captured a mage as a prisoner and ultimately escaped despite its injuries.

That time, one of its arms was almost completely shattered.

It knew very well what became of a crippled goblin among goblins.

Even a wealthy household had no surplus grain.

What was more, the humans' large-scale cleansing of the forest was related to it. The deaths of so many of its kin would inevitably provoke the race's resentment.

If it returned, in the best case, it would be isolated until it died. In the worst case, it would be torn to pieces alive.

The goblin world was this cruel.

It could only hide everywhere and survive miserably on the dried meat it had prepared in advance.

Perhaps everything was fated. While hiding, it discovered a nest.

It had originally belonged to Orochi, but Orochi had been subjugated a few days earlier, leaving only this empty nest. Dark, damp, and mysterious, it was an excellent hiding place.

It hid there, and by chance, its magic resonated with a certain stone. Instinct drove it to strike that unremarkable stone again and again.

One day, two days, three days... it did not know how long had passed.

The stone cracked apart, revealing a red gemstone within. It was dazzlingly brilliant, and even in the dim cave, its radiant glow could be seen.

The gemstone seemed to possess some kind of magic, calling for it to swallow it. Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, the Goblin King wanted to live, so it swallowed the ruby.

A vast amount of ancient knowledge flooded into its mind like a torrent.

That gemstone was an ancient relic, originating from the Ancient Goblin Empire.

In the distant past, goblins had also known glory. The reason it had become so intelligent was not some strange mutation, but an ancestral reversion. The Imperial Bloodline hidden within it had awakened.

From then on, the course of its life changed. In one leap, it became the unrivaled prodigy among goblins.

It returned to the tribe, kicked down the current chieftain with its powerful strength, became the new chieftain with the support of the goblins, developed technology, strengthened the tribe, then went from tribe to tribe kicking down the other short-sighted goblin clans, becoming the undisputed Goblin King.

But it had never laid a hand on the human faction.

It knew humans were exceedingly cunning and possessed abundant knowledge, so for a long time, it had been accumulating strength.

It invaded the human world and, under the relic's guidance, found the inheritance left behind by the Ancient Goblin Emperor. It became the true Goblin Emperor II.

Thus, many more years passed. A few days ago, the Goblin King reached a bottleneck, while the tribe had strong soldiers, sturdy horses, and sufficient provisions. It believed the time was ripe and launched the plan it had long conspired to carry out.

First, it sent its subordinates to attack several villages, creating the illusion that the goblin race had revived and was causing trouble, drawing adventurers into the forest.

Then, it sent a wave of old, weak, sick, and disabled goblins to their deaths, creating another illusion that the revived goblins were weak and luring even more people into hunting goblins.

Next, it would close the net, set new traps, and harvest new adventurers.

But halfway through the plan, developments arose that did not match its expectations.

A massive boulder fell from the sky. At the critical moment, the Rescue Corps actually joined forces. Not only were they not crushed flat by the boulder, they also detected the eyes it had spent six years placing throughout the forest.

At that point, the Goblin King had no choice but to admit that it had still underestimated humans. Thus, it dispatched the Goblin Assassin Corps, which it had carefully trained and modified with the gemstone's power within its body.

Originally, it had not wanted this elite force, intended for invasion, to make a move. But the situation had now far exceeded its expectations. It had no choice but to dispatch the Assassin Corps. Even at the risk of losing this hard-won force, it had to eliminate those adventurers.

But the plan encountered an accident once again.

It could not allow another failure.

The Goblin King pressed every button on its chair. More than a dozen goblins poured into the room filled with crystal balls, and every one of them bowed and scraped before the Goblin King with utmost respect.

"Our King! What are your orders?"

"All of you, heed my command. Enter the highest state of combat readiness. I will personally lead the expedition."