'The gods say, there is no betrayal in the world, only trust that can never be regained; the only one who can truly kill a person is always themselves.'

——"Words of the Dawn God"/Chapter Before Dawn.

'The long night is coming, and the torch is in your own hands.'

'The sun will always rise, and dawn will eventually come.'

——"Words of the Dawn God"/God and Believers Chapter.

……

"Father, this is your favorite fruit wine..."

At dusk, Ogre slowly poured the wine at the base of the tree.

"It's been so long since I last visited you..."

As the wine flowed down, in a daze, Ogre seemed to return to the past...

'Ogre, you're being clever again...'

'Hehe, that's called wisdom...'

Back then, he could always win against his father in various games.

Back then, he thought it was his cleverness that always fooled his father.

As the wine was completely poured out.

Ogre gradually came back to his senses.

"You drank it so fast, Dad..."

Ogre had tasted this simply fermented fruit wine before, and it didn't taste good.

"I'm leaving, Dad, maybe... I won't be back for a long time."

Ogre placed the bottle under the tree, making his final farewell.

The borderlands had become a place where it was difficult for Ogre to gain strength.

He was destined not to stay here for long.

So, Ogre returned here early to say goodbye.

If nothing unexpected happened.

The power of the wizard would be Ogre's final choice to break through the limits of a Professional, and it would also be his only choice.

And for that, he had to leave here.

After placing the bottle, picking up his gun, and bowing deeply, Ogre bid farewell to the past.

Living alone for a long time.

He gradually got used to it.

Ogre feared this habit, but he had to embrace solitude...

"Goodbye, Father, Ogre will take care of himself..."

Ogre did not shed tears—because his father did not like tears.

When the wind blew through the tree again.

Only a standing bottle of wine was left.

"I will become strong, until no one can bully me..."

……

"Professional Mage..."

Gorler's mind was very complicated, hating its own origin, and also hating the humans who destroyed its hope.

But deep down, it still felt that not all humans were like that.

For example, the human mother who once raised it...

She was a human knight who was defiled after being ambushed by goblins but managed to escape on her own.

'Gorler... my child, I don't hate you, because no one is born to die, child, you must promise me, never, never become a monster driven by desire and instinct—you are human... you are not a monster.'

If it weren't for its appearance.

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Perhaps, the mother would have lived well, at least her marriage wouldn't have ended because of it...

If it weren't for protecting it.

Perhaps, she wouldn't have died...

"Who!"

Suddenly, an arrow shot towards Gorler moving through the forest.

'It's an adventure group...'

Gorler dodged the arrow with a swift move and saw the guy with the bow from a distance.

"Hmph... humans."

It felt that at this distance, the other party definitely couldn't recognize its goblin identity.

So the only possibility was that this group of guys attacked with the mindset of attacking their own kind!

'Why, do such cannibalistic beings occupy all the beauty... why, do they always come to destroy my last hope...'

Gorler's eyes grew redder and redder.

Then it drew its sword.

"Thought it was a Demon Claw Eagle..."

The approaching adventure group only then discovered that the one they attacked was actually a cloaked 'person'.

"Sorry, my eyes aren't... uh!"

The adventure group leader's apology was cut off halfway.

Because a fierce sword aura had already vertically sliced his body in half.

"Captain!"

"Not good, that's a humanoid monster!"

"Ah..."

The slaughter ended quickly.

It wasn't until the blood splattered on its face that Gorler regained its senses, the huge power gap even made it not waste much effort.

"No... don't kill me."

The remaining girl sat paralyzed on the ground in fear, trembling as she picked up her staff and aimed it at the approaching Gorler.

The sudden slaughter made her lose her bearings for a moment.

Perhaps her teammates died too quickly.

So much so that this girl, who usually stood behind the team to cast spells, even forgot to run away.

"Mage..."

Gorler put down its sword, looking at the girl in front of it.

It suddenly remembered its mother.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that it spared the girl's life in its moment of lost reason.

Looking at the pitiful girl.

The reproductive instinct that had been calm for a long time suddenly rose again.

Once goblins reach adulthood, they develop an uncontrollable reproductive instinct.

Often, once there is an opportunity, this impulse will appear.

There was once an experiment by truth wizards, they found that it takes at least two generations of training (similar to drug rehabilitation) and cultural indoctrination to eliminate it—

And those successfully transformed goblins, some became goblins.

"You... are you a mage."

Gorler controlled its sexual impulse.

It didn't want to create another tragedy like itself.

"I... I, I."

Looking at Gorler's face, the girl cried and stuttered, unable to speak.

She didn't even think about why this goblin could speak human language.

Gorler looked at the girl's staff, already knowing the answer in its heart, but it still hoped the girl would deny it.

So it could deceive itself and let the girl go.

"Monster... go, goblin!" The girl couldn't help but exclaim, and released a fireball with her staff.

This made Gorler, who had just controlled its agitation, rise again with a nameless fire.

After slapping the fireball away, Gorler couldn't help but grab the girl, baring its fangs and roaring: "I! Am not a monster!"

Its roar completely terrified the girl.

Even her staff unconsciously fell to the ground.

"Don't eat me... don't eat me..." The girl cried pitifully, once again triggering the goblin's reproductive instinct.

With blood rushing to its head, Gorler tore the girl's clothes—its suppression had lasted too long.

But as the action reached halfway, preparing to undo its own clothes, it suddenly froze.

The mother's figure unknowingly overlapped with the girl in front of it.

Its hand loosened at this moment.

The girl fell to the ground, covering her body.

At this moment, besides the smell of blood, there was also the scent of urine on the ground—she was scared and lost control.

"You can go..." Gorler put its hood back on.

As it gradually regained its senses, it recalled the cause and effect of the incident—even it didn't know why, why it lost control like this.

'Clearly, I wasn't like this before...'

"Ah!"

The girl suddenly screamed in pain.

A crow, unknown from when, came to the girl and pecked out her eyeball.

This made Gorler draw its sword again.

Before it could take any action, a familiar voice came from within the crow: "Gorler... it seems you still haven't let go of your hypocritical mercy, do you think you're doing a good deed?!"

"Old... teacher!" This made Gorler panic instantly.

"I'll take the human... I hope you reflect well, hatred will only continue, goblins and humans are destined not to have peace, being kind to humans is being cruel to goblins."

As the voice from within the crow spoke, a Demon Swamp Crocodile, unknown from when, came to the crying girl and swallowed her whole.

Watching the departing Demon Swamp Crocodile and crow, Gorler's sword fell to the ground.

It helplessly looked at its hands, not knowing what it was thinking.

'The king... has always been there, so why did the village fall, why did Gorivus die... why did I suddenly lose my mind...'

For a moment, it suddenly understood something.

Perhaps, humans never accepted it.

Goblins, the same...

The destruction of the village was not only by humans—but also with the king's acquiescence.

Picking up the sword, Gorler walked to the riverbank.

Looking at the ugly face in the river.

It lowered its head to look at the dirty thing beneath it that almost controlled it.

Finally, it made a decision.

As the sword rose and fell...

From now on, it would have no weaknesses...

……

"Why are all the Demon Swamp Crocodiles running into the river?"

Ogre pulled out his gun, looking at the Demon Swamp Crocodile beneath him, lost in thought. This was already the third one he had killed.

Just such a small river, so many crocodiles came out, isn't this a bit ridiculous?

"Forget it, if I can't figure it out, I won't think about it."

Just right, the skin of the Demon Swamp Crocodile is quite valuable, can be exchanged for some gold coins in the village, solving the problem of not having enough change.

Ogre's previous pouch was made from Demon Swamp Crocodile skin.

It's known for its durability.

"Speaking of which, did I clear out too many before? Why are there no goblins in sight?" Ogre came out this time, not only to earn some change but also planned to kill some goblins to purify the environment.

But maybe he cleared too aggressively during the previous missions.

So much so that this time, Ogre wandered for half a day and didn't find a single wild goblin.

"Better go get some Silver Needle Bee wax first."

After skillfully skinning, Ogre headed towards the Silver Needle Bee gathering place.

He needed a new identity to return.

Although not now, the necessary preparations still had to be made.

The previous hasty escape forced Ogre to spend more time preparing tools again.

"Wait until the power is sufficiently enhanced, then see if I can kill that Goblin King before leaving..."

It was getting dark, just right for him to act.

……

"The ability to discharge is quite convenient."

Ogre looked at the Silver Needle Bees he had stunned with electricity, feeling the direct effect of the discharge ability for the first time.

At least it was very effective against these insects.

Hmm, also good for electrofishing.

"Sorry, I'll just borrow some wax from you."

After cutting off half of the hive.

Ogre took out the sugar he had bought in the village and placed it aside.

This sugar could well replace the honey to help the Silver Needle Bees recover.

Usually, honey collectors wouldn't take all the honey and wax at once—because that would make the Silver Needle Bees fewer and fewer.

Looking at the wax in his hand, Ogre's face rarely showed a smile: "Almost there, now the only thing left is to wait for a reasonable identity."

After handling things casually, Ogre took his sorted belongings and left the bee area.

Although the night didn't affect Ogre much, he still needed to find a place to rest and recover.

The Demon Claw Eagle's nest on the cliff of the mountain was a good choice.

Safe and easy to occupy.

……

"Why are there more magic pets dying again..."

Muer, who was studying mana transformation, suddenly frowned.

It could indeed spiritually descend into demon beasts for remote control, sharing vision and such.

But it couldn't fully control all the Demon Swamp Crocodiles.

Even if it could, it wouldn't be so idle as to monitor the status of every demon beast.

If it weren't for so many dying at once, it wouldn't even have reacted.

The pseudo-clone technique of vision sharing plus mental control, it would only use it when observing Gorler or detecting high-rank strong individuals.

Just now, because it captured a human mage, it had already shifted its attention to the Demon Swamp Crocodile carrying the human mage.

But unexpectedly, in such a short time gap, several magic pets lost contact.

"Could it be Gorler..." Muer's mind moved, probing the bone sword it left on Gorler.

Then it instantly activated the shared vision of the magic pets near Gorler.

It was fine if it didn't look, but once it did, it couldn't help but question through the controlled Demon Swamp Crocodile: "Gorler, why are you injured?"

In the shared vision of the magic pets, Gorler's thigh was covered in blood...

'It shouldn't be, with Gorler's strength as a seasoned Professional, how could it be injured here.'

What it didn't know was that it was precisely this question.

That confirmed Gorler's suspicion.

No answer.

Only a sword light instantly slashed over.

The shared vision thus came to an abrupt end...

"Gorler! How dare you betray me!"