The sky was dark, with thick clouds hovering above, restricting the moonlight from reaching the surface.

Gwarrrr!!

The entire settlement shook as the goblins awoke due to the battle that had just taken place. It was comparable to a small earthquake.

Lamp lights went on across the goblin fortress, and the goblins rushed toward the centre of the settlement.

The shadow assassin, who had succeeded in slaying most of the goblin guards, returned to its master's side.

"How bothersome," mumbled Nox, taking a matchbox from his pocket.

Lighting a matchstick, Nox threw it in front of him before finally waving his hand.

In an instant, the minuscule flame of the matchstick evolved into a wall of fire, forming a wall in front of Nox.

This was the effect of his flame meddling skill. Although he couldn't generate flames himself, he was proficient enough to transform the flame into whatever he wished.

But, due to his limited arcane, burning through the huge amount of arcane required for the skill would be disastrous. But the flame wall was just a temporary obstacle, allowing him to do what he had to.

"Arise," he ordered, raising his hand towards the corpses of the elite goblins.

Although he hadn't planned to resurrect the dead before getting more powerful, the huge horde of goblins would be too much for him and his current number of shadow slaves.

Black mist enveloped the corpses of the goblins, and soon after, the shadows of the elite goblins stood beside their corpses.

'No wonder he was the strongest,' thought Nox, glancing at the status window hovering above the spear goblin's head.

[Shadow slaves: 9/13]

**********

Elite Goblin

Type: Infantry

Rank: Elite Soldier

Level: 8

**********

The spear goblin was stronger than all his shadows except Red.

"Make sure the pests don't interfere," said the masked man wearing the tracksuit as he started walking towards the central building.

From behind the wall of flame, which had now started dissipating, spears and arrows started flying toward Nox. Still, he didn't bother to defend himself or turn toward it.

After the battles he had been through with his shadow soldiers, he knew that he could trust them with his back.

Within an instant, Red and the spear goblin appeared behind Nox. Weaving its spare through the air, the spear goblin deflected all the arrows, while a single wave of Red's paws was enough to shatter any arrows meant for its master.

The shadow slaves behind him had already started to war with the goblins. Although they were overpowering the monsters, they could only fight and heal as long as Nox had an arcane to spare. So, if this battle turned into a battle of attrition, Nox would be at a disadvantage.

Boom!!

The gates of the colossal building blasted open as Nox kicked them with his hands in his pocket.

The inside of the building was pitch dark. Even with his enhanced visual prowess, Nox could barely make out the shapes of the objects in there. However, his arcane sense was enough to warn him of any threats.

He walked straight ahead. Even though he wasn't tired or wounded, he seemed to get heavier and heavier with every step he took.

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The sound of the battle outside couldn't be heard anymore. It was like he had teleported to an entirely different place.

'Where am I?'

All of a sudden, Nox raised his hand, barely catching the arrow aimed at his eye.

"Who's there?" Nox inquired, snapping the arrow and throwing it away.

Suddenly, a light orb appeared, allowing Nox to see his surroundings clearly.

He wasn't inside a building but a cave. The cave was massive!

Uncountable objects made of gold lay piled up around the cave. There were gold bars, weapons, chalices, necklaces, armour, and anything that one could imagine.

The piles of gold articles sparkled blindingly bright.

At the centre of the cave, a few metres away from Nox, was a golden throne with a monster sitting atop it. Although the monster looked like a goblin, it resembled an obese, oversized human. It was green in colour and had fiery red eyes.

It wore fine, noble clothes along with a golden crown. A necklace made of small skulls was hung on his neck. On one hand, he rested his cheek while with the other, it held a staff. The staff had weird engravings and a grey orb at its peak.

"A human... it's been so long..." the monster said in its hoarse, eerie voice.

[Goblin King Uir]

"A king? How interesting…" replied Nox, taking out his dagger.

The blue-eyed man and the red-eyed monster stared at each other, unwavering to the pressure that either of them exerted.

Nox launched himself at the monster. Before the eye could blink, he was five feet away from it.

The Goblin king struck the ground with its staff, not bothering to get up.

[The King of the Goblins, Uir, has activated the skill: Ground Defying Barrier]

Nox, still in motion, smashed into an invisible wall before he could strike the monster.

"Using lowly skills against a man of your caliber would just be a waste," commented the Goblin king.

The monster raised his hands toward the barrier and exclaimed, "This barrier skill was gifted to me by the Goblin God himself!!"

Nox struck the invisible barrier again with his dagger. Still, no matter what he did, he could not shatter it.

"The Goblin God?" Nox inquired.

The monster looked at Nox with wide eyes and asked, "You don't know him?"

"Nope," he replied, punching the barrier, even though it yielded no results.

The Goblin king was truly insulted. He was beyond furious.

'How could someone not know the goblin god!?' he thought.

Nox kept on attacking the barrier but was still unable to break through.

"Well, I guess it makes sense that you don't know him. After all, I myself have met him only once," said the Goblin king, calming himself down.

Although the Goblin king was furious just a moment ago, he knew a simple fact about fighting due to his long years of experience: The one who gives into his emotions will be the one who loses.

"He looks like someone you respect a lot," replied Nox, as he initiated a flurry of kicks on the barrier.

But, no matter how much he attacked the invisible shield, he could not shatter it. At last, Nox gave up. After all, smashing one's head into a wall over and over again is foolishness and not wisdom.

He put his hands in his pockets and faced the Goblin king. Unfortunately, it didn't look like it was going to attack him soon.

"Indeed. A few centuries back, when I was still in my prime, my God appeared before me and gifted me with this wonderful skill. Thanks to this skill, I have been undefeated for centuries," replied the monster, recounting old memories.

Nox circled around the monster, running his hand along the barrier.

The barrier had a radius of five metres along with a hemispherical shape. Although it was invisible, it could still be detected with the help of arcane.

'Weakness sight!'

Nox initiated his skill, trying to find some flaw in the barrier. But he was unable to find any.

The Goblin king specialised in barriers. It was only due to that fact, that it could cover the entire goblin settlement in a barrier, preventing anyone without a high perception, from noticing it. Moreover, it could not have mastered the *Ground Defying Barrier*, if it wasn't proficient in barrier skills.

The man wearing the black tracksuit took out the blood-cursed axe from his inventory. Maybe all he needed was a weapon better suited for the task.

"I wonder if your barrier can tolerate this," the man said, swinging the axe down at the barrier single-handedly.

Crash!

A loud crashing sound echoed throughout the cave as the axe crashed into the invisible wall. However, the axe was unable to inflict a single scratch on the barrier.

"I already told you. This is the ultimate barrier! No mortal will be able to break it," said the monster, scratching his nose.

Nox didn't reply. Instead, he pushed his arcane into the axe. The arcane leaking out of the weapon had been significantly reduced due to the increase in proficiency of Nox's *mana manipulation*.

Gripping the axe with both hands, Nox held it overhead. Listening to the monster blabbering was getting a little irritating.

Clang!

Crash!

Boom!

Boom!

Crash!

Crash!

Cleang!

Boom!

The next instant, the man initiated a shower of blows on the barrier.

.

.

.

'Just how hard is this?' Nox thought, striking the barrier with his axe before kicking it.

He had been attacking the barrier without rest for more than ten minutes. But, his effort yielded no positive results.

"I already told you. It's impossible to break my barrier," the Goblin King said as it burst out laughing, "You'll need the strength of at least a giant if you dream of even scratching it."

"A giant?" Nox mumbled, stepping away from the invisible barrier.

"Hahaha! Yes! A giant! I already told you before, all your efforts would be in vain. Are you afraid yet?" The monster laughed loudly, holding its stomach.

"I wonder why I forgot about it until now?" whispered the man, putting the axe and mask back into his inventory.

The monster was confused. Even though Nox was obviously disadvantaged, why was he not trembling in fear as the Goblin King had expected him to?

'I didn't think I'd need to use it any time soon.'

Taking in a deep breath, Nox mumbled, "Gigantification."