Chapter 159: Great Chaos and Great Invasion (4)
Goblin, once beasts that formed the lower ranks of the demonic realm alongside Kobolds and Nols.
However, like other surviving monsters, they received a ray of grace.
The clan that seized that opportunity was known as the green-skinned mountain goblins. They rapidly grew strong by exploiting that chance.
“Nothing triggers the detection magic.”
“The sound detector is the same.”
Now they were no longer the weak. The scouts, communicating in their characteristic squeaky voices, surveyed the border area using the magic they had learned and the military equipment they had recently acquired from the Rebel Alliance.
“We’re heading back.”
The leader, riding a one-eyed hellhound the size of a wolf, ordered a retreat with a grin.
In fact, they conducted ongoing reconnaissance, but there was nothing special here.
To fight against them, the Earth Union soldiers, unable to move silently, remained stationed, and all other goblin clans, once dwelling here, were either killed or captured as slaves.
They were the rulers of this land and recognized as a noble force by the Demonic Alliance.
“Ahem. Then, I will put away the equipment.”
At the leader’s command, the goblins began to prepare to leave once more.
At that moment, a goblin fiddling with the backpack-sized equipment provided by the Rebel Alliance noticed something strange with the gear that had appeared to be fine until just now.
“What is it?”
“What’s going on?”
“There’s something, but… there’s nothing.”
The goblin was flustered and looked up at the leader. The leader, who had become chief for being a bit wiser, frowned at the contradictory words of his subordinate.
“What on earth does that mean?”
“Something was caught in the detection magic.”
At that moment, the mage, who was scouting the surroundings with magic, hurriedly turned to the leader with wide eyes.
“…Hmm?”
The leader, moving towards the equipment his subordinate had touched, confirmed why the subordinate had said those words and froze.
The detection magic was indeed showing a signal. Besides the 16 entities present, there were 17 points.
“The detection magic searches for mana… There are not three, but four beings with mana here.”
The mage added a comment in that moment of confusion.
“So, there is someone invisible here right now!”
The leader pulled out his staff. They had no concept of ghosts. However, as a living being, they instinctively felt fear towards the unknown presence.
“Where on earth…”
As the leader looked around with a wheeze, his words were abruptly cut off. Right in front of him, legs, a torso, a chest, and a blade gradually revealed themselves as they unfurled their invisibility.
Starting from the legs, as his gaze slowly traveled up, the leader’s head was severed from his neck by the swung sword the moment he saw the shining red eyes.
“An enemy!!”
As the headless body of the leader collapsed, the startled mage screamed. At the same time, the goblins, instinctively breaking their invisibility, charged at Kang Do-yeon.
However, unlike orcs or trolls, these goblins lacked individual physical strength.
Their specialty as units was rapid reproduction and group tactics, which made it impossible to demonstrate their full potential in a situation like this.
“I didn’t even need to step in. That appearance, it really feels like some fallen angel.”
Oh Yu-na, who arrived a moment late, murmured while still visible.
Kang Do-yeon, twisting her body in place, used the four black wings and sword that pierced her back to obliterate the goblins, leaving deep and long traces on the ground nearby in just one strike.
The situation they faced, having to lay roots in this new world, was reminiscent of a legion just escaping a labyrinth, but her strength, having grown several steps beyond that, was incomparable to when the legion first emerged from the maze.
“How many do you think you can take on at once?”
“If all I know about them is everything, then hundreds or more.”
When Oh Yu-na, who had just witnessed her power for the first time, asked with a wry smile, Kang Do-yeon provided an answer after a rough calculation.
Of course, this only applied if she clashed head-on with the goblins alone.
Her special advantage was her transcendent firepower and mobility compared to her size and mass.
Created to confront armies on her own, she believed that as long as she could move freely, she could never lose.
“Even though we silenced them, the scout teams are all dead. In other words, they will have noticed an anomaly. We need to prepare.”
“What in the world has happened to you during all this time?”
Kang Do-yeon immediately directed the cleanup. Oh Yu-na muttered in dismay at the sight of her drastically changed friend.
*
“The humans are still making no moves today.”
“Indeed.”
“Heh, that’s good.”
The one receiving the report grinned. From the lowest rank of monsters, they had now been recognized as the rulers of the area, the goblins’ king.
His name was Kuulka, not one he chose himself, but one given to him by the benefactor who bestowed grace upon him and his kind.
“Then I can continue moving my troops and expand my territory.”
[Yes. Exactly that.]
His words, spoken in a squeaky manner while sitting on a flashy throne, were echoed pleasantly by the voice in his mind.
While some regions like North America or parts of Europe were in a vigorous war with the Earth Union army and monsters fighting ceaselessly, there were also places where one side was pushed back or maintaining a defensive posture.
The area under goblin control was precisely one of those regions where both sides maintained a cautious stance.
And this situation, where neither side could move rashly and merely faced off, was incredibly sweet time for Kuulka.
During this time, he moved his main force to conquer and annex other goblins in the area, increasing their size. Sending support troops to other regions also yielded resources and technology as bonuses.
Like a game of nurturing a civilization, Kuulka’s player meticulously utilized the current situation to grow his units into a substantial force with millions of heads.
“But, my king. There’s nothing left around.”
“The gate. We can cross the gate and attack Earth directly.”
The recent issue was that there were no neutral forces left around to plunder. Unless it was a robust group like trolls, most of the weak local neutral forces of the demonic realm had already been absorbed or merged by the expanding units.
[Hmm, if we provoke the ones who are idle, they will definitely react. But, waging a war now doesn’t entice me much. However, isn’t Earth also a place where various forces merged like the demonic realm?]
Though he was the smartest among goblins, he was still just a goblin. Essentially, the player, acting as Kuulka’s brain, began to consider Earth’s characteristics.
[Then we can go and plunder from other regions.]
The plan they devised was to send raiding units from other regions to Earth.
The player, who had a vague understanding of the interests of the countries on Earth, didn’t believe that just minor attacks on a distant continent would incite the enemies they were currently facing.
“Then send raiding units right away for slaves and resources…”
“Report, a serious situation!”
However, at that moment, news arrived. While the disappearance of a single scout team could be considered a minor issue, it was a sudden message from a place the player hadn’t even thought of.
[Humans? Oh, are they really humans? Come to think of it, there were indeed strange individuals among Earthlings with bizarre powers.]
The goblins’ player used the historical function to confirm what had happened to his units.
He was able to see the appearance of the mysterious assailant who had ambushed the scout team. He could even sense that power. However, he still had no information about the legion currently stirring up a portion of the universe. Let alone being able to recognize the face of a high school girl who had already been declared dead long ago on Earth.
[But why did the Earth Union attack a single scout team? Are there others?!]
The player initially excluded the possibility of the Earth Union army they were currently facing. The demeanor and presence the attackers exuded were not like that of ordinary beings.
“How dare they attack us, we’ll retaliate.”
Kuulka muttered without deep thought. The player, who had been pondering alone, also agreed with that statement this time.
“Reconnaissance in that area once more. Just in case, send the red ones.”
He ordered his subordinates to attempt reconnaissance this time with unit-sized forces.
The core of this unit was not his kin, the mountain goblins. This time, it was the desert goblins, commonly called “red faces” by humans, with overall red skin.
Originally, the desert goblins, who had been thriving more than the green-skinned mountain goblins, were those who had been conquered and enslaved by the mountain goblins whom they contemptuously ignored since the beginning.
Kuulka always deployed these lower-class goblins to the front lines in challenging tasks or battles.
“I understand. Attack! Move out!”
The subordinates, receiving the command, immediately moved outside to gather their forces.
Currently, only the human forces of the universe under direct impact had any information regarding the legion.
Somewhat simple-minded Kuulka, along with his practical brain, the player, only left the matter in his memory without actively informing the surroundings or thinking deeply about it.
