Far North from where [Gazelle] stood, the proud kingdom of [Albion] raised its flag and planted its claim on the land.

On the outside, one could claim that it was a prospering kingdom. The kingdom walls were well-maintained, the housings were plenty, many things could be bought from the local shops, many adventurers came in to sell their goods, and so on.

But, of course, not everything is as it seems.

You see, while the buildings looked like they were ripped straight from Skyrim and given a nice HD remake, as they say, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow.

As such, many, many people had to live in the slums, at the far southern corner of the kingdom, living their lives teeth by teeth, their lives on stake as they battled to see the light of tomorrow.

This was because of the principle that the very first kings had applied, and still to this day.

‘The strong rule over the weak, and the weak grovel before the strong’

Those were the exact words that had been passed down through, king by king, generation by generation.

That also meant that many people in this kingdom were capable of fighting. Some more powerful than others, some more reckless than others.

And so, in the centre of the kingdom, stood a large castle, and inside the throne room, sitting on his golden throne, the current king, Grazure the Third could be seen. A wide grin floated on his face as he chugged down another fine glass of wine.

As the king, he was strong, the strongest of the kingdom in fact. And his body was sure to display such power.

His figure towered over many, his height reaching near 2 and a half metres. His muscles were well toned, and his arms were massive. Everything about him just screamed strength.

His hair was clean white, cut short as to not hinder his battles. His eyes were bright gold, his pupils were that of a dragon, sharp and piercing.

Currently, his eyes were reading over the notes that his new assistant had compiled for him, still drinking from the glass of wine. They were about the funds of the kingdom, and the supplies that they were preparing for the upcoming war.

Of course, [Albion] was not like any normal kingdoms. This kingdom stood proud as a mercenary kingdom, raising their flags of war only when another kingdom has sunk in enough money for them to make a move.

Thankfully, everyone in this kingdom was a battle-maniac, him included. So this upcoming war only proved to excite the fighters even more.

The only exception to this was his previous assistant and right hand man, who seemed eagerly negative about him and his kingdom going to war, babbling on about how something bad will surely happen or whatnot.

He fired him straight after.

‘Cowards and worrywarts like him need not to stand on this land.’ He mused to himself as a maid was filling his glass with more wine for him to drink.

But, on a side note, and also without anyone knowing this, he’d taken quite an interest to something else as of late.

Some time ago, at a relatively normal day, he felt it, a sudden wave of power, emanating from a distance away. It was unlike anything he had felt before. It felt wild, uncontrolled, yet soft and humble.

After his scout returned from her observations, she relayed that an anomaly has suddenly appeared.

He found it hard to believe her, but he knew that her sense of humour was as bland as an omelette with no seasonings. It was so dry, it’ll probably put the Sahara desert to shame.

Seen with her own eyes, she said that she saw a girl, an odd girl that is, who travelling with a spirit and a ghoul, somehow escape the withered forest, known to never allow anyone to escape from its borders.

And what’s even more interesting was that, the girl had slime powers. Now, normally he would just scoff at that and laugh, but she said that it had corrosive capabilities able to corrode human flesh away in seconds.

Now THAT sure piqued his interest.

His mind naturally went and thought, ‘What if she became mine?’

The effects would be amazing! She could cover the entire battlefield in her slime and corrode the enemy’s soldiers away with a mere touch! It would turn his kingdom into the most powerful one on this continent!

So, with the best of intentions, he sent his scout out with a slave collar, just in case she decided to battle her.

But, now, it’s been several days, and there has been no sign of her. No appearance, no sights, no letters, nothing. It was…slightly worrying, but he knew her to be patient, even if she didn’t look so openly.

And it wasn’t like he could just storm out and find her, because that’ll just incite panic and confusion in the public, so, want it or not, he’s forced to stay in this kingdom.

Little did he know that Paulena was currently naked, dirty, growling and wrestling a forest tiger on a puddle of mud.

…Anyways, he was beginning to feel slightly tipsy from all the wine he’s been drinking, so he gave his empty glass back to the maid and sent her off into the kitchen. She bowed politely and went out the throne room.

His back was also feeling a bit sore from all the sitting, and his eyes were definitely aching from reading the tiny words his assistant wrote on the notes. ‘I’ll consult it to him later.’ He thought as rose from his throne and went out from the room.

Looking at the setting sun, he guessed that it was about late afternoon by now, which meant that the guard training for the day was officially over. Which meant that he couldn’t have fun watching and sparring with some fellow soldiers.

He sighed as he leaned on the stone railings, looking down upon the expansive kingdom sitting below him. It’s something he could pride himself with, seeing that he was now king of such a powerful kingdom.

However,

If perhaps he had looked more closely, he would’ve noticed the dark clouds hanging overhead, the clouds thundering as lightning crackled within it.

The omen of calamity.

The time, if nigh.

……………………

Meanwhile,

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Back at the homely wooden cottage at the snowy peaks, Leo was meditating in the air, actually being serious for once.

In fact, he wasn’t just serious, he was tense. Afraid even.

His fists were clutched and his shoulders were stiff from all the energy he’s been putting into his clairvoyance. His eyes were currently closed, but if they were opened, then one would notice the golden shine in his eyes.

It’s been…not too sure, maybe, 200, 300 years?

But, that matters not. Because he’s finally back, and he’s already making a mess.

For one thing, he was a psychic, meaning that his instincts were top-notch quality. And when he woke up this afternoon, a feeling unlike any other surfaced in his mind. It was a foreign yet familiar feeling.

Secondly, if someone would put a bit of effort and maybe squint their eyes, they’d make out the dark clouds hanging in the sky.

No, those were not thunder clouds. Well, technically, yes. They did have lighting bouncing around it like a ping pong ball, but that’s no ordinary lightning cloud.

It’s vague, but he could sense traces of magic inside it.

And finally, although many might not know this, but this mountain is special. It reacts to any occurrences, displayed with the harshness of the snowstorm outside.

How’s the snowstorm outside?

None. There weren’t any snowstorms. No avalanches. No blizzards. Nothing.

It could probably be mistaken as a good thing, a blessing even for mountain climbers wanting to hike up a challenge. But this mountain was quiet. Too quiet.

Now, the culprit was pretty damn obvious. It’s not like he was trying to hide who he was in the first place. But finding his exact location was a tough ordeal. And add in the fact that he had the power to clone and split himself over multiple bodies, he’s got one hell of an enemy to pick off.

He would’ve continued searching, but-

*BOOOM!!*

It seems like the enemy came to him.

“Hah…” Sighing softly, he got on his two feet and cancelled his clairvoyance, before he left through the door to see him standing there.

He almost chuckled seeing him, nostalgic even.

2 or 3 centuries have gone by, and he’s still the same guy. Short black hair, shining purple eyes, black shirt, black jeans, black trench coat. Hah…And it looks like his love for the colour black hasn’t faded yet.

…Well, the slightly emo haircut was weird though.

“So~…Hello again…”

“I see you’re still the same as always. Time has done you well.”

“Come on…Let’s get this over with…”

And so, the two clashed, the sounds of their battle shrouded in the cold misty wind.

…………………

Back at Tartarus,

“W-What is this feeling…?”

Nestra was in the middle of another cleaning session, before a sudden sensation coursed through her. It was, terrifying, to put it lightly. It felt like her heart was being gripped and squeezed.

She didn’t know what the hell that was, where it came from, or what it meant. But she knew one thing for sure:

Something bad was going to happen.

Naturally, the first person her mind drifted to was her origin, Diana.

From what she’s felt, she just finished taking on the reaper and escaped, which was good. But, in comparison, the reaper felt like an infant facing up against a body-builder in his prime. There was hardly any competition.

No, there was no way she’s going to ignore this!

Dropping everything she was doing, she turned around and ran for the operations room, leaving her fateful monster secretaries behind to fill in the work.

After the 3 judges’ deaths, she was elected as the new overseer of this dungeon, and so she did her best, throwing away the policies the judges had established and treated the monsters like actual living beings, instead of just tools.

And as a new overseer, she had some pretty handy observation powers to help her see out into the future now, which was a nice bonus on top of being able to boss everyone around.

Opening the stone doors, she ran up to the centre of the room, where a single pedestal stood, with a large white orb being held up on it. Which, if you’d have guessed by now, was kinda like those orbs witches use to spy on people in cartoons.

Placing her hands on the white surface, she closed her eyes and focused, as the orb shone a soft white hew. Magic surged from the ground, up into the orb, creeping through her body, and finally focusing on her eyes as she opened them.

And there, she saw it.

Dark clouds hanging overhead. Lightning crackling ominously. Shadows covering the lands, as darkness consumed the lands. The kingdom it had grown in was swallowed immediately, and the crawling void rose up into the air, as if returning somewhere.

Just a mere look on it sent her shivers through her very being.

She wanted to tell Diana and her friends about it, to warn them about this incoming danger. But, alas, she didn’t have an iPhone to call her with, and neither did Diana have one.

She cursed under her breath, knowing that she truly couldn’t help her.

And sadly, she couldn’t even send a telepathic message to her. She’d need Saiki’s help for that.

…………………

Underground, hidden from the late afternoon sun,

Gaz was sitting quietly at the corner of the room, watching as his ever expanding harem did their daily lives. Some were tending to the young or injured, some were going deeper into the caves in search for food, and some were chatting about.

In the past, he had everything taken from him.

And now, one could say that he’s refilled that gap.

But, none of that happiness was being shown on his face. No, not just that, he was also shaking, but lightly enough for no one to notice but himself.

He didn’t have [Danger Perception] like Diana did, but he could feel it, a presence quickly approaching, travelling here at insane speeds. And whatever was moving towards here, was strong, insanely so.

Not saying he was weak, no, far from that. From the time he reincarnated as a baby goblin to now, he’s grown immensely. But he’d doubt his ‘strength’ would even faze the monster.

More than anything however, he’s worried about his harem of beautiful girls, and Diana too to some extent. While he hasn’t met her for a while, heck, he’s only seen her once, the fact that he was from Earth, and a frequent internet dweller at that, there was no way he’s avoiding building a relationship with her.

And also, from what he could see at least, his [Attract] skill didn’t have a big impact on her, which was a nice change. You could say his main objective on her is to make her fall for him, but I digress.

She’s strong, he could tell as much, but would she stand against that thing?

Whatever the answer may be, he couldn’t leave this alone. If all humans and Diana perish before his might, it wouldn’t be long until he finds them and kills them. And he’s died once already, and death wasn’t a pleasant experience.

He flashed a small grin as he steeled his conviction.

………………

And finally, back at the goblin camp,

Crystal and her fellow party members were intently listening to what the goblin elder had to say about the kidnappings.

Turns out, yes, there had been times when the goblins would just disappear for a night or two, only to return back to where they were without any recollection of what happened. Which Diana said to be odd, since she didn’t notice any pure-blooded goblins in the ‘recent’ kidnapping.

She also further explained that the number of women being kidnapped had been reduced due to the effort of a black-skinned ogre called Gaz.

After that confirmation, the goblin elder began talking about several of his theories together with Ilgua, along with issuing some commands to the nearby goblins to stay alert, just in case something like this happens to one of the fellow goblins in this tribe.

Oddly though, half way through his talk, Diana fell silent, eerily so. She could’ve mistaken her as an inanimate doll if not for her subtle breaths.

She wanted to ask about it, but she was still listening to the goblin elder, and cutting it would just make the situation awkward, so she held herself back.

After about 30 minutes, the discussion finally ends, and everyone separates to do their own thing. The goblins were readying dinner, Rei wanted to go back to sleep for a bit, and Anna and Ilgua went out into the forest to train again.

But, Diana only stayed there, petrified.

“Oi. Diana? You okay?”

No response. She didn’t even bat an eye to her.

Normally, she would’ve been annoyed to be ignored like this, but…this was Diana she was dealing with here. And as they got more intimate with each other, it became harder and harder to truly be mad at her.

Still…this silence wasn’t like her.

She wasn’t even pale or anything, which meant that she wasn’t sad about something. She just looked…worried.

“Dia-“

And then, she felt it.

A presence far stronger and bigger than anything she had ever felt. It was still quite far away, she could somehow tell, but even then, her hair was standing on their ends. Easy to say, it was terrifying.

‘I-Is this what Diana’s feeling…?’ She managed to ask herself as she turned around to see Rei, who was also visibly terrified for once, quite unlike her. She seemed quite sleepy after the discussion, but none of that could be found any longer, especially not after this.

Looking around, the other goblins seemed to not notice this, which could be both a good and bad thing. After all, as they say: Ignorance is Bliss…sometimes.

A tense silence floated around the big trio, their thoughts still preoccupied with this incoming calamity.

“G-Guys…?”

Until Diana became the first to break the ice that is, asking the two with a shaky soft voice.

“Y-Yeah?”

“I…D-Do you mind, f-following me a-after dinner…?”

The two looked at each other, before they turned back to her and nodded with resolution. Diana managed a weak smile on her face before she turned back to the fire, watching as its last embers faded into the air.

Soon, the beginning to calamity will come.