Even from a distance, Rodel could sense an oppressive aura approaching.

  Moon instinctively cowered behind Tian in fear.

  “Goblins... Hero-tier ones! Tian, can you still control them?” Leah asked nervously.

  She had finally earned a bit of Tian’s trust. If he was eliminated now, they could all imagine how gruesome their fate would be.

  “Boss! We’ve captured some humans!”

  At that moment, Gob Kuang ran over, excitedly herding the Silver Blade Captain and the others forward.

  Tian remained calm and composed. “Good job. I’ll reward you properly later.”

  Gob Kuang burst out laughing.

  But Gob Tian’s pitch-black, hollow eyes stayed fixed on Tian, silent and watchful.

  He looked deep in thought, as if weighing something carefully.

  “No way! Silver Blade Captain, Antu! Even you got captured?”

  Seeing the captured knights, Rodel’s heart sank completely.

  The Silver Blade Captain trembled slightly. “Rodel? You’re still alive... I’m sorry—we failed the Count’s orders. These goblins are far too strong. Unless Lady Sword Saint comes herself, we’re no match for them!”

  His eyes shook as he spoke.

  They truly weren’t a match. Out of seven, two were dead and one had escaped.

  The rest were badly injured.

  “You couldn’t even handle two Hero-tier goblins? Antu’s dead? And Kain too? What about Dimi?!”

  Rodel looked at the corpses the goblins dragged behind them and nearly broke down again.

  This time, all three knight squads had been personally trained by the Stanmont Count family.

  Dimi had been his childhood sweetheart.

  At that moment, a goblin tossed down a mangled body.

  Her eyes were wide open—she had clearly been tortured until the very end.

  But she still clung to life. In a faint whisper, she murmured, “Pumpkin pie... pumpkin pie... Prince Rodel? You’re here too? Want to come to my house for pumpkin pie...?”

  Then, unable to hold on any longer, she died.

  “AAAAAAHHH! KILL THEM! KILL THESE FILTHY, DISGUSTING GOBLINS! I’LL ASK THE KING TO SEND THE ARMY!”

  Rodel thrashed wildly, veins bulging, his face twisted into something monstrous.

  His eyes looked ready to pop out, bloodshot to the extreme.

  The Silver Blade Captain was filled with grief and rage, but defeat was defeat. “Your Highness, we were useless. I’m sorry. But one of our members escaped. I’m sure Lady Sword Saint will come to save us.”

  “Why the fuck didn’t that bitch Alice Nia show up?! Has she forgotten she’s the Holy Sword protecting the Lionheart Empire?!”

  Rodel roared in fury, now venting all his anger on the Sword Saint.

  After enduring so much torment without rescue, and now witnessing his childhood friend’s tragic death...

  All his pent-up emotions exploded at once.

  He felt as if he could drop dead at any moment.

  The Silver Blade Captain lowered his head helplessly. “Your Highness, please don’t say that. Lady Sword Saint is devoted to protecting the people of Bright Town. She hasn’t slacked off for a single moment.”

  “To hell with Bright Town! Those worthless people—if not for them, would I be in this situation? They all deserve to die!”

  Rodel continued screaming incoherently.

  The Silver Blade knights said nothing further. They understood.

  At this point, all they could do was pray that the Sword Saint would come to their rescue.

  At that moment, Tian gave an order. “Tie them up. Don’t kill them yet—I still have questions.”

  But the goblins behind him didn’t move.

  They all turned their eyes toward Gob Kuang.

  At that moment, he seemed to command more authority in their eyes.

  But the always simple-minded Gob Kuang was the first to act, obediently tying up the paralyzed captives.

  Tian could already sense something was wrong. These goblins were starting to disobey him.

  “Hahahahaha!”

  Suddenly, Rodel let out a chilling, broken laugh.

  Under his messy hair, those twisted eyes stared straight at Tian. “Serves you right! Looks like you can’t even keep your position as boss anymore. I’m going to watch them tear you apart and eat you alive!”

  The Silver Blade Captain still didn’t get it. “Wait... that Hero-tier goblin isn’t their leader? This little goblin is?”

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  “You should worry more about yourselves,” Tian said coldly.

  Then he pulled up the status screens for Gob Tian and Gob Kuang.

  【Gob Tian: Lv50

  Race: Goblin

  Class: Dark Assassin

  Titles: Child of Elves, Blessed by the Gods, Cunning Hunter, Hero Power, Reaper in the Dark, Monster Slayer…

  HP: 670

  Strength: 230

  Defense: 140

  Skills: Razor Claws, Ghostly Presence, Phantom Stealth, Spectral Form…

  Equipment: None

  Overall: 1200】

  …

  【Gob Kuang: Lv50

  Race: Goblin

  Class: Four-Armed Warrior

  Titles: Born with Immense Strength, Overbearing, Hero Power, Blessed by the Gods, Monster Slayer, Child of Elves…

  HP: 1000

  Strength: 340

  Defense: 280

  Skills: Frenzied Might, Mountain-Shaking Strike, Iron Shield, Magic Resistance…

  Equipment: None

  Overall: 1100】

  Looking at the stats, Tian was quite pleased.

  Compared to humans, goblins usually had higher raw stats but much lower overall combat power.

  Humans excelled in teamwork, technique, equipment, and skills.

  Of course, special variants were exceptions—like Dark Goblins.

  “So that’s how it is. Gob Tian’s gotten cocky—his overall power is already 1200.”

  Tian muttered as he slowly walked toward the campfire.

  He stretched out his hand and began absorbing fire-elemental energy.

  “What’s he doing? Absorbing flames? Is he some kind of mutant?”

  The Silver Blade Captain said in shock.

  No one could explain what they were seeing.

  Tian looked at Gob Tian. “Gob Tian, go feed that wyvern.”

  From a distance, Gob Tian—who had been squatting on a rock—shifted slightly. After a long hesitation, he finally moved.

  Like a rebellious six-year-old.

  The instant he turned his back,

  Tian pulled out the Elemental Crossbow, fully charged, and fired.

  The crossbow let out a sharp whoosh.

  A fireball the size of a chicken egg shot out.

  It was impossible to dodge.

  Gob Tian was blasted more than ten meters away. Everyone—human and goblin alike—froze in shock.

  “Boss is fighting Gob Tian!”

  “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

  “Kekeke!”

  “Gaga! Tear them apart!”

  “Eat him! Eat him!”

  The goblins around the ring cackled, shrieked, and stomped their feet, their voices echoing with savage excitement.

  “Gob Tian, show him who’s really boss!”

  The moment someone shouted that, Tian’s gaze snapped toward that goblin.

  But he didn’t deal with it yet—because Gob Tian had vanished.

  “Hmph, ‘Dark Favor,’ huh? Nighttime—your home turf. A skill that lets you go completely invisible.”

  Tian’s lips curled into a slight, mocking smile—praise mixed with disdain.

  At that moment, Gob Tian crawled across the ground like a lizard, darting from the hut roof to a tree trunk outside.

  Those pitch-black eyes were locked on Tian, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

  Once he got behind Tian, he lunged.

  Those razor-sharp claws could tear flesh to shreds.

  “Got you...”

  Tian suddenly spoke.

  He spun around and fired at once.

  Three fire arrows shot straight at his back.

  Trying to play movement games? Tian had the elves’ “Keen Senses” skill.

  Back then, no one else bothered with the elf corpses—they were all too busy trying to breed—so only he gained the skill.

  Gob Tian never expected it. There was no way to dodge. He was slammed to the ground, flames roaring across his body.

  He was barely breathing, completely immobilized.

  One of those three shots was a poison-element arrow.

  The chicken-egg-sized blasts were fully charged—high damage, but slow.

  The normal arrow-shaped shots were fast—almost impossible to avoid.

  The Silver Blade Captain couldn’t believe it. “What did that little goblin just shoot? He took down that monster in one shot?”

  They had suffered horribly at Gob Tian’s hands.

  Dimi died in the most gruesome way.

  And now this tiny goblin—just how terrifying was he?

  They couldn’t even imagine it. Wasn’t this supposed to be a simple goblin tribe raid? Something was seriously wrong.

  “Boss, I... I surrender! I was wrong!”

  Gob Tian writhed on the ground a few times, realized it was useless, and immediately begged for mercy.

  The other goblins were stunned. None of them had expected Gob Tian to lose.

  But a few—the ones loyal to Tian—cheered and danced with excitement.

  Tian slowly walked over and stepped on Gob Tian’s head. “After all the time and effort I spent raising you, you really tried to betray me?”

  “Boss, please spare me for all the humans I helped catch! I’m your son, after all!”

  Big, dark tears rolled down Gob Tian’s cheeks.

  The Silver Blade Captain and the others had never seen a goblin cry before—let alone call someone ‘father.’

  Were Hero-tier goblins really this intelligent?

  At least as smart as a teenager.

  Tian put on a warm, fatherly smile. “My child, my precious boy... of course Daddy forgives you. But first, go greet your other brothers, all right?”

  Then he drew the exquisite shortsword from his waist.

  He thrust it straight through Gob Tian’s skull.

  Brains splattered everywhere.

  To him, “child” meant nothing. Betrayal was betrayal—there was no room for sentiment.

  In goblin tribes this was common and unavoidable, but how to handle it was up to the leader.

  And the leader was Tian.

  “Hiss!”

  In that instant, every goblin froze. Not even daring to breathe.

  Rodel never expected this either. “You monster… you actually killed a Hero-tier you worked so hard to raise?”

  “Hmph, we’re not done yet.”

  Tian lifted his sword and slowly walked toward another large goblin, eyes full of killing intent.

  He swung his sword in a swift arc.

  The goblin’s head separated from its body on the spot.

  Then he killed seven more Greater goblins in a row.

  Four of them were Dark Assassin types—very close to the original Gob Tian.

  “From today onward, anyone who wants to challenge me can try. But if you lose, there’s only one outcome—death! And every single one of your little followers dies with you!”

  Tian wiped the blood off his blade and spoke coldly.

  This time, no goblins cheered or danced.

  They were genuinely terrified from the bottom of their hearts. Scared stiff. They didn’t even dare move.

  Tian was satisfied with the result.

  He then tore a bloody chunk from Gob Tian’s skull and bit down, warm blood spurting between his teeth. Brain matter oozed onto his tongue as he chewed methodically, savoring each metallic, coppery gulp. Bits of shattered bone and goblin flesh dripped down his chin as he ripped another strip from the corpse’s neck and devoured it in front of all the horrified onlookers.

  He gained a new skill: “Dark Favor”—almost complete invisibility in darkness. Unless someone had extremely sharp senses, it was nearly impossible to detect.

  But only in darkness.

  If bright light hit him, the invisibility broke for a short time.

  The other skills were decent too, but Dark Goblins were too small for a full meal. He’d eat the rest later.

  He still needed to cultivate a new Dark Goblin anyway.

  “You, come here. From now on, your name is Gob Tian.”

  Tian called over a Goblin Assassin he’d noticed for a while—one who seemed more obedient and had stood on his side earlier.

  The new Gob Tian was stunned. “Boss, I swear I’ll be loyal! Please don’t kill me!”

  “Who said I’m killing you? Eat him. Eat all of them!”

  Tian ordered.

  The new Gob Tian paused, then understood. He immediately began devouring the original Gob Tian’s corpse with wild abandon.

  A Level 50 corpse—an enormous amount of experience.

  He also inherited all of the original’s skills.

  Then he devoured the other Greater goblins he’d just killed—only Level 47, still not enough.

  Tian glanced around. “Go eat those two human corpses too.”

  “How dare you!”

  Rodel roared again.

  But it was pointless rage. He could only watch as the new Gob Tian devoured the bodies.

  Finally, the Goblin Assassin began to evolve.

  Layers of skin shed off, and he transformed into something almost identical to the original Gob Tian.

  “Boss! I’ve evolved!”

  The new Gob Tian was ecstatic. He ran over, knelt in front of Tian, and waited for Tian to pat his head.

  This was how goblins showed submission to their leader.

  Tian patted him once. “Go patrol the perimeter and check if anyone’s trying to ambush us.”

  “Your Highness Rodel… what kind of monster did you provoke? He doesn’t feel like a goblin at all! He’s a cunning schemer! A monster even an empire would fear!”

  The Silver Blade Captain said in terror.

  This time, they had truly screwed up big time.

  Tian looked over at them. These so-called royal knights... their strength seemed rather weak.