Race: Goblin
Level: 72
Class: Lord; Horde Chief
Ruler of the Horde; Defiant Soul; Overpowering Howl; Swordsmanship B+; Insatiable Desire; King’s Soul; Ruler’s
Possessed Skills: Wisdom I; One-Eyed Snake’s Evil Eye; Dance at Death’s Border; Magic Manipulation; Soul of a Crazed Warrior; Third Impact (The Third Chant); Instinct; Ruler’s Wisdom II;
Divine Protection: Goddess of the Underworld
Attributes: Darkness; Death
Subordinate Beasts: High Kobold Hasu; (Lv1) Gastra (Lv20) Cynthia (Lv20) Orc King Bui; (Lv40)
A giant door towered before us.
Not one of us was uninjured, but fortunately, we all made it here alive.
Kuzan kneeled before the door.
“Lord of DecayDiskorado, please hear our plea.”
As she began to pray on her knees, a feeling of holiness seemed to emanate from her.
Who knew how much time passed before the door creaked open.
Then Kuzan turned to me. Her eyes were blank, but they gleamed brightly. “…Please enter, my king.”
Just as I was about to enter the door, Gi Za asked, “Will you be fine by yourself?”
“I’ll be fine,” I said as I stepped through the giant door where a darkness even my eyes could not surmise greeted me. I felt the touch of warm wind upon my skin.
“…A nostalgic smell.” That trembling voice seemed to shake everything within the darkness.
“So you are the Lord of Decay?” I said toward the voice that could belong to no one else but the Lord of Decay himself.
“Are you there, Verid?” He said.
Strange, it’s as if he wasn’t trying to talk to me but to someone else.
“Have you forgotten how to talk? Or is there a reason you can’t speak?”
As the voice spoke once again, I moved toward its direction.
“…!”
When I reached that figure obscured by the darkness, I stopped in my tracks. Reshia once spoke of a myth wherein four snakes fought alongside the Goddess of the Underworld for the world.
One of those snakes, a twin-headed snake, was right here before my very eyes.
It was colossal. So big that the ogre lord I’d fought would look like an ant next to it. The door I’d entered was probably 15 meters high, so to an extent this room must be as well. And yet the snake was big enough to make that room feel small. Its two heads lay on the ground, eyes closed, as they breathed faintly.
The pressure it exuded wasn’t something to scoff at, but while it certainly felt like the pressure of something that once fought the world, it’s not as heavy as I expected it to be. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten used to the underworld goddess’ charm, as for some reason the ogre lord’s pressure felt stronger to me.
“Are you getting weaker?” I asked. This time, my words reached him.
“Verid’s host,” he said. “Hmph. Quite the arrogant one, aren’t we.”
His words echoed directly within my mind.
“Did you come here under Kuzan’s guidance?”
“Yes.”
The twin-headed snake remained unmoving as it spoke. “So you are the king of the demon children of chaosGoblins, but you know… There’s an odd smell about you.”
The direction of the wind changed. It started blowing from behind.
No, that’s just the giant snake inhaling. That’s a big snake alright.
“It’s the scent of those despicable humans,” he said. “The humans who chased after our mother! Yes, those dirty humans!”
As a trace of anger gradually appeared in his voice, my dead right arm sizzled, and suddenly, it found itself back alive. The black snakeVerid coiled around it squirmed, and its image grew bigger. Then I felt my control over it pulling away.
—Little brother, let me talk to him.
When that voice fell upon my ears, the voice of the twin-headed snake resounded alongside another within my mind.
“It’s been awhile, Twin-Headed one.”
“Verid! Old friend!”
The twin-headed snake’s voice again changed hue from anger to delight, but its actual body showed no signs of changing. I didn’t expect this outcome, but I think it’d best if I just let them talk.
“Is mother well?”
“Yes, beautiful as ever. Fitting of one we’ve sworn to. She remembers you yet.”
“So she hasn’t changed…”
An image flashed through my mind. A divine goddess stood before a multitude, an army of several thousands gods, yet she stood
unfearing. And with a swing of her sword did she sweep away the giants and expel the magic of the elves.
“…But we have,” said the twin-headed snake. “The curse of the hateful god of time Juranalingers yet. It’s been devouring me all this time, slowly, yet surely throughout these many moons where I’ve kept watch over the gate to the underworld.”
“Twin-headedone…” “…This body is dying. It can no longer move. War is but a distant dream to me now.”
Verid said nothing. Nothing more needed to be said.
I was right. The Lord of Decay is dying.
“Verid’s host, I ask thee.”
The twin-headed snake’s eyes slowly opened. Two pairs, four eyes, each as white and cloudy as the other, but they looked at me directly.
“Wilt thou protect this gate?”
It was the last wish of one on the road to death.
“I will rule over this land as king,” I said. “So this I swear, to any and all who shall trespass what is mine, I will not hold back the blade of retribution.”
“That will do,” the twin-headed snake said.
“No, you can’t be!?” Verid said out of the blue, seemingly panicked.
“Verid,” the twin-headed snake said. “Tell Mother for me. Tell her I kept watch until the end. That I fulfilled my duty well. This body was cursed by the god of time… So when the next chance comes, let me watch over the gate again.”
Then the twin-headed snake raised its heads, and it brought them next to me. When it opened its mouth, I noted its sharp jagged teeth. Every single one of thme seemed to resemble my great sword.
“Verid’s host, I shall grant you power,” he said. “The power to protect this land. The power to achieve your heart’s desire…”
His voice trembled with might. He’d seemed like ebbing ember just moments ago, yet all that seemed to be but lies now as a great pressure descended upon me. This was undoubtedly the snake that fought the world.
“I leave it to you, King of GoblinsDemon Children of Chaos .”
A gust of wind blew as the twin-headed snake bellowed out a cry one last time. The earth shook and the air trembled, as the twin-headed snake cried out for the underworld goddess herself. Then the last of the ebbing ember fizzled out, and the snake fell over and passed.
Not long after, its giant body broke down into water.
“Friend…” Verid muttered before falling into silence. He said no more as the control of my right arm returned to me. I swung it a couple of times, and it was as good as ever, as if that earlier battle was a lie.
Just as I was about to leave, I felt something within my body affect my sense of direction.
“This feeling…”
The pangs of evolution buried into me. It was that ever familiar pain of recreation, and it brought me to my knees.
◇◆◇
When she heard that voice, she knew that their family’s duty to lead the tribes had ended. With a clang, the death crystal she held in her hands rolled over and fell to the ground.
“Master Kuzan?”
Yellow hurriedly rushed over to her, and Kuzan clung to him as she cried.
“Father… The Lord of Decay is gone.”
When he heard those words, he looked toward the giant door, then he turned back to his daughter, and held her tight.
“…Your voice!?”
“The master, the master used the last of his strength to give it back to me…”
With such a miraculous act occurring before him, he had no choice but to believe that the Lord of Decay had in fact passed.
“…I see. What were the master’s last words?”
“He thanked us for serving him all this time…”
“I see… That is more than enough recompense for our tribe. It’s over, Dina.”
“Is that my name?”
“Yes, it’s the name you had before you became ‘Kuzan’. It’s the name your mother and I chose for you. My beloved Dina.”
“Father…”
The pair of father and daughter embraced each other as they cried. Watching them from a distance was Narsa who spoke to Gilmi.
“So the Gordob Tribe would change after all. It’s amazing how they can cry even though we can’t.”
Goblins are unable to shed tears. Even when Narsa lost her own father, Gilan, not a tear fell from her eyes. It didn’t matter how frustrated she was.
“They might be closer to elves than us. But…” Narsa didn’t seem to understand, but Gilmi continued. “I think the fact that they were able to complete their duty is something worthy of admiration.”
To protect the Lord of Decay that lived in the depths of the Fortress of the Abyss. That was their duty, and a lot of time has passed since the day their ancestors first came to this land. Ganra, Gordob, Gaidga, Paradua… Perhaps even the names they inherited was all for this very day. When Narsa thought of that, a strange felling welled up from her chest.
“By the way, Gilmi,” she said.
“Hmm?”
“You promised the king the elven princess, right? What exactly were you scheming with that move?”
“…As ashamed as I am to admit it, I’d intended for it to help me negotiate with the goblins of the west. I figured it would be possible to procure one if we could just rid ourselves of the Gaidga and reach the Gordob tribe.”
Rashka who was listening to the side, grew interested at the conversation, and he said, “Does the king like elves? I was originally thinking of giving him the young women of the tribe.”
The king’s decision to spare the children and women of his tribe bought the king much favor from them. Not to mention, they were goblins under Rashka. They naturally favored the strong, so it wasn’t hard to see why the king would be popular among them.
“I don’t understand the king’s tastes. While I did promise the elf princess to him, I don’t think that was the reason he helped us…”
Gilmi wore a delicate expression on his face, having been surprised by Raska’s unexpected interest in the topic.
Rashka didn’t seem to care, however, and he spoke normally. “I see. Well, we’ll just have to gradually understand that part of the king. I did lose once to him, so it would be a mark against the tribe’s honor if we can’t receive the king properly.”
“You’ve sure gotten talkative, haven’t you, Rashka? Did the king and that shaman killing the ogre lord excite you that much?” The oldest of the tribe leaders, Aluhaliha, teased.
He got off his mount, then as he rubbed his head, he spoke to Rashka, while Rashka promptly shut his mouth.
He was certainly being talkative. But while he was normally the quiet type, there wasn’t anything wrong in talking. Unfortunately, he became self-conscious like a kid when it was pointed out. He wanted to get mad, but that was even more childish, so Raskha put a lid on his mouth instead.
After a while, he thought he’d finally say something back, but then the voice of Gi Za, the shaman of the eastern village, suddenly called out. “King!”
As soon as he turned around, he fell to his knees. He was shocked. But when he looked around him, he found that everyone was the same. They were all kneeling as they greeted the king.
When he glanced up to the king for a moment, he felt that dignity that made him kneel. He was now much taller, being only a head smaller than Rashka. A lone horn like that of a unicorn extended from his head toward the heavens, and beside it were two crooked
horns like those of a minotaur. His two red eyes that looked down on everything had vertical pupils just like those of a snake.
His muscles were perfectly toned. It was as if all the unnecessary parts were taken away, leaving behind only the toned muscles of a great warrior. His skin was generally black, but there was an image coiled around his right arm like a tattoo that was even blacker than his skin. There was something similar on his left arm, a purple something that looked just like a jewel.
As the king walked, his tail swung to help keep his balance.
“I have something to announce,” the king said.
Four long fangs like those of a dog’s could be seen when the king opened his mouth. But more than that the voice that left his lips greatly shook the hearts of the goblins. Even Rashka was amazed.
“I will gather our brethren here.”
At those words, a chill crawled up Raskha’s back. He knew it was rude, but he still looked up the king. There was a dignity and majesty to the king’s face he didn’t recall.
“I will build our kingdom upon this land.”
Drops of sweat began to form within Rashka’s hand as he gripped it tight. And his two legs that were placed firmly onto the land felt eager to shake.
So, this is the king? The king that would lead us?
Joy like fire shook his whole body. When he looked around him, he saw that the other goblins were the same.
—The king has returned.
From a legend of long ago, through a period of unknown time, the king had finally returned.
“Chiefs of the tribes, let every goblin know. I have returned.”
A voice squeezed out from the depths of his belly. How could one explain this joy to another?
For in this moment, the king that would lead the tribes, the king that would lead the goblins had at long last returned.
◇◆◇◆
Because your level has risen past 100, your class will now promote from Lord to King.
You have received the protection of the master of the Fortress of the Abyss, the Lord of Decay.
You have received the blessing of the underworld goddess’ follower, Verid.
You have received the blessing of the Goddess of the Underworld.
Your status will now be overhauled.
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