“Hahahahaha!” A loud, uncontrollable laughter filled the room, as the Red Inventor was on the floor, grasping his stomach while laughing so much that tears were forming in his eyes. Greth was standing to the side, visibly pissed off. Sallow on the other hand was just sitting nearby, with a disappointed look on his face.

  Jack was standing against the wall across from Sallow, watching the Red Inventor on the ground for a bit, before sighing. “You’ve been laughing for the past ten minutes, think you can take it seriously now?” He asked.

  The Red Goblin spread out on the ground, wiping off his tears before slowly rising up into a sitting position. “My greatest apologies, it was simply far too hilarious for me to not laugh.” He replied, getting up from the ground, while Greth walked up to him. “Something funny about my situation?!”

  “A lot. I mean, look at you — the oh so great once king of the Green Goblins, who used to have such a big and broad build he was so proud of, now has been reduced to such a form.” The Red Goblin looked at her with a teasing gaze, before turning his back. “Nothing wrong with females – but I can’t help and laugh when I look at you now and then think back on what you used to look like.”

  Greth grew angrier, before eventually grabbing a nearby pole and attempting to bash the Red Goblin, who easily dodged the initial attack, before catching the pole in the next one with a teasing smirk across his face.

  Jack sighed again.

  Then, Sallow also sighed, getting up. “I suppose you are finished, Frawn?”

  Frawn faced Sallow, nodding lightly as he let go of the pole and slid his hands inside his white scientist coat that he had switched to after his defeat at Sallows hands. “Indeed I have, your Majesty.”

  “Good, then I suppose we can return to our previous conversation about the Black Goblin clan and their conquering?” As soon as Sallow asked this, Frawn turned more serious, clearing his throat before nodding. “Right… As I was saying before – this will not be a simple task. The Black King, who I was close partners with, is an individual who doesn’t go down easily. She’s more resilient than a fly.”

  Sallow crossed his arms as he listened to Frawn, while Jack exhaled and pushed himself off of the wall and walked over to Sallows side. “But can we defeat him?”

  “His Majesty?” Frawn looked at Sallow and nodded. “Absolutely could. However, the Black King is not dumb enough to pick a fight he knows he can’t win. Chances are, he will request that someone else fights in Sallows name and honour.”

  “And if that happens, we will be in a bad situation.” Sallow commented, exhaling while Jack raised an eyebrow. “Why not have Greth or Frawn fight if it comes to that?”

  “I am in no shape to fight – My power is still regenerating.” Greth immediately threw out, while Frawn shrugged and sighed. “I wish I could, but as proven to me in my fight against his Majesty – my technology is nowhere near enough to bridge the gap between me and sheer power just yet. And while the Black King is certainly weaker than Sallow, she is still far stronger than me.”

  “Seems a bit like excuses just so they wouldn’t have to fight.” Jack commented to himself in his thoughts, before exhaling. While he didn’t deny the truth behind the words that Greth and Frawn said, he also had seen both of them in action. Sure, they were nothing compared to someone like Sallow or even him, but they were by no means weaklings.

  Was this ‘Black King’ really that strong?

  Jack showed visible doubt across his face, which Frawn caught onto and sighed, looking away. “If we just go in there without a plan, who knows what may happen. We need to be prepared for whatever terms the Black King may throw at us, when we go there for his Majesty to issue the Conquerors Challenge.”

  Jack was slightly impressed.

  While not groundbreaking knowledge, and most certainly almost common sense, the Red Goblins nickname, perhaps, was not unearned.

  “Then why don’t you face him, my Lord?” Sallow asked, looking at Jack, who looked back at him, taken back while Frawn and Greth both gasped in shock, before quickly moving in front of Sallow. “N-Now hold on! You can’t possibly be thinking about letting a human fight in your name!”

  “Y-Your Majesty… While I don’t doubt the strength of the one who commands you, surely it is not the best idea for him to go up against the monster that is the Black King…”

  Sallow gave the two a deathglare, which sent shivers down their spines and immediately caused them to back up before getting down on their knees. “Don’t doubt my Lord's power.”

  Jack snickered.

  “Not a bad idea, Sallow.”

  The Tamer turned around, scratching his beard a bit before smiling smugly. “I will be honest…” He stretched out a bit, before looking back at Sallow with a pair of shining orange eyes. “I have been getting a little bored by being left out of the action. If I got the chance, a fight with the Black King would definitely be right up my alley.”

  Jack then turned back around, crossing his arms and shifting his gaze over to the two goblins, who were on their knees. “And besides… Do you two really think I would lose? The man who is stronger than the one who embarrassed you both?”

  Frawn and Greth visibly shivered, feeling the intensity of Jack's glare.

  Sallow smiled before turning towards the door of the room they were in – which was the Red King's personal ‘laboratory’. “Then it’s decided. If the Black King requests someone else to fight in my name, my Lord, you will take up that role.”

  Jack nodded, turning around to follow after Sallow. “Of course.”

  Frawn and Greth remained on their knees for a bit longer, until Sallow turned to look at the two once more. “Are you coming?”

  “R-Right away, your Majesty..!”

  “O-Of course, my Liege!”

  They both quickly got back up and ran after the trio that was already leaving the room, exiting the room after them all.

  The group then were led by Frawn to a backside portion of the massive citadel that was the home of the Red King within the Red Goblin clan. In this part of the massive building, there were a lot less goblins around as well as it was a lot dimmer than the rest of the citadel.

  According to Frawn, this was the portion of the building where only he was allowed inside off – so it wasn’t particularly maintained or kept operational. Apparently, he had a ‘special’ and ‘faster way’ here to reach the Black Goblin clan, which would allow them to skip the entire long walk that they would otherwise need to take from the Red Goblin clan all the way to the Black Goblin clan.

  “Are we almost there?” Greth asked, seemingly already tired from walking.

  “Almost, it should be right around this corner…” He replied, turning around the corner before walking up to a door located at the of the darkened hallway located around the corner they had turned. “It should be inside here…” He commented, taking out some keys and quickly jangling them around, gripping one of them, before placing it inside the door's lock.

  Ka-chink.

  The door was unlocked.

  Frawn took his key out before sliding all of them back into his coat pocket, the keys jingling loudly as he did. Then, he pushed open the door and looked back at the others. “Come on inside.”

  Inside the room beyond the door, was a pitch darkness, which was then dispelled by the Red King flicking on what appeared to be a light bulb at the top of the ceiling, which lit up the entire room, showing off a messy room — filled with papers, scrapped metal, items engraved with runes and so much more.

  “Excuse the mess – I don’t come here often.” He stated, rubbing the back of his neck as the others entered. Jack almost immediately took note of the bulb at the top of the ceiling, narrowing his eyes on it.

  [ ITEM ]

  Light Sphere

  A special sphere engraved with some lesser light runes to allow it to shine brightly. It has been connected to a special activation switch via connecting runes to establish a connection between it and the activation switch.

  [ ITEM ]

  “So it is like a light bulb and light switch? That’s certainly interesting. I guess this world isn’t as primitive as I had initially thought.” Jack commented in his mind, while Araneida brushed past his legs and moved over to some old weaponry that was engraved with runes, examining it, before excitedly calling over Jack.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Find something interesting, Araneida?” He asked, walking over to the arachnid and kneeling beside her. The spider immediately handed Jack one of the weapons she had found – which was a shortsword.

  “Hm?”

  Jack took it, examining it.

  [ WEAPON ]

  Red Moon (Prototype)

  Rank: C

  A Shortsword that has been engraved with some greater strength runes, granting its wielder a boost to their strength stat by 40% while using this weapon.

  [ WEAPON ]

  “Well this certainly is a useful weapon in theory.” Jack stood back up, spinning the shortsword around. It was light and its blade felt cold to the touch. Its handle was intricately designed, with engravings of a rising moon over a mountain scenery.

  The blade itself was also shaped uniquely, with its blade curving slightly and having the greater strength runes spread across it – reaching the very tip of the blade. Jack smiled, turning to look at Frawn. “Hey, you don’t mind if I take this, do you?”

  Frawn turned to look at Jack and then glanced down at the shortsword in his hands, before shaking his head. “I don’t. But I advise you to be careful — it’s a prototype blade and thus can be prone to errors. It also could break at any point if you push it beyond its limit.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Jack replied, spinning the shortsword around, before looking around, looking for a second sheathe to place it into. Then, Frawn whistled to him, before tossing one towards him. Jack caught it, looking at it before smiling and giving Frawn an approving nod and sheathing up his new shortsword, before clipping it onto his belt, on the left hip, opposite of the Grey Kings Slasher, which was sheathed on his right hip.

  Jack then turned around and gently patted Araneida on the head. “Good find friend.” Araneida looked quite happy about the praise she received, almost purring like a cat.

  Frawn moved over to something covered by a large sheet, while Greth looked around confused. “What exactly did we come here to find?”

  “This.” Frawn immediately answered, before grabbing the sheet and pulling it off of the covered apparatus, revealing a large arch like contraption, which had many, many runes engraved on it as well as several other items linked up – the main ones being two orbs, which stood in front of the arch.

  Greths jaw dropped, while Sallow examined the arch, moving closer to it. “What exactly is this?” He asked. Frawn, who immediately got to operating the two orbs, smirked. “It’s a gate — one that I made that links up to an identical one within the Black Goblin clan. It was part of an experiment I was conducting a while back, to see whether I would be able to replicate the large scale teleportation spells that my predecessors would use to patrol the territory landmarks.”

  Frawn began his explanation, before spinning the two orbs and then looking back at the arch. Lightning began to pulsate through the arch, lighting up the runes that were on it, one by one. Then, Frawn pulled his goggles onto his eyes, before looking back at the others. “Essentially, it is a teleportation gate. If it still works as intended, we’ll be able to walk through it into the Black Goblin clan like it was on the other side of the wall behind the gate.”

  Jack applauded a bit, as he approached, sliding his hands inside his trouser pockets. “Now that is certainly a great demonstration of your intellect. More and more, I can begin to see why you earned your nickname.”

  Frawn smiled widely, before turning back to look at the arch that was slowly powering on. Soon, every rune on it was lit up with a bright white light, before sending crackling lightning from them. Then, the scientist reached his right hand towards the orb to the right of him and turned it lightly.

  The energy from the runes began to gather in the center of the space inside the arch.

  After a bit, a swirling energy pulse came from the center, before reaching the edges of the arch, eventually forming what appeared to be the distorted view of a room on the other side of it. Then, Frawn turned back to look at the others. “Good news — it works.”

  Jack smiled, being the first one to move towards the gate, with Araneida following after him. “Then what are we waiting for?” He cracked his knuckles lightly, his eyes shining orange for a second. “Let's get a move on.”

  The others nodded and followed after him, each one passing through the gates with Frawn moving after everyone last – after letting loose a small exhale.

  As they passed through, they walked out into a different large room – however, were also met with an unexpected sight. They were immediately surrounded by multiple heavily armed guards, dressed in black heavy armour, who pointed their weapons at them. After Frawn passed through the gate, it closed behind him, while he himself lifted up his goggles and sighed. “...It looks like they already know.”

  The guards surrounding them were of a large, broad build, with demon-like horns protruding from their heads. Jack quickly narrowed his eyes on them.

  [ CREATURE ]

  Black Goblin (Soldier)

  Rank: G

  Level: 50 (2)

  Black Goblins are broadly built, with large muscle density for each member. However, this doesn’t mean that they all appear as muscular, as there are still those among their clan that are on the smaller and thinner side, yet still possess great muscle density inside their bodies.

  The horns on the top of their heads, though make them look like demons, are different from Demon kind and are considered a symbol of pride within the clan, with the size of the horns representing a Goblins rank.

  [ CREATURE ]

  “Certainly strong. In fact, I’d say that they are the strongest subordinates we’ve come face to face with so far.” Jack commented in his mind, while Greth shed a cold sweat and Sallow moved forward a bit. “We’ve come—”

  “We know why you’re here.” An echoing female voice cut Sallow off, before another heavily armoured goblin entered the room. Her armour was similar to the other guards, with still major differences – mainly, the shape of the horns on the helmet as well as four visible lines going across her chestplate.

  “Ah, Commander Regalia, nice to see you again—”

  “Shut your mouth, I don’t speak with a King who lost.” She cut Frawn off, which visibly annoyed the Red Goblin, however he remained silent and placed his hands inside his coat pockets. Then the guard, Regalia, turned her attention to Sallow.

  “You’re the king?”

  Sallow stepped up tall, towering over her. “Indeed I am.”

  “Then follow us. The Black King wishes for a meeting.” She stated, turning around and leaving the room, gesturing to the other guards to follow after her. With little other choice left, the group followed after them all — while they could have probably tried to overrun the clan by using brute force, that was not their intention or purpose of coming here.

  They were brought to a large chamber, which was definitely the most fancy one that Jack had come across so far — way fancier than the Grey Goblin clans or the Green Goblin clans. There were guards dressed in heavy, black armour lined up all around the room, holding large halberds in their hands.

  Regalia, the commander that had led them all to here, walked up to the throne, which was much taller than her and with its backseat turned against her. Then, she kneeled, lowering her head. “Your Highness, I have brought them.”

  “Thank you Regalia, you may move out of the way now.” A rather high pitched voice responded from the otherside of the throne.

  “Right.” Regalia stood back up and moved to the side, taking a stance beside the throne as an exhale came from it. “I had figured you’d come here next after the Red Kings embarrassing defeat.” The same high pitched voice said, before the throne spun around and revealed the supposed ‘Black King’.

  The three goblins of the group narrowed their eyes, while Jack and Araneida fell dumbfounded. On the tall, intimidating throne sat… A short goblin girl, who didn’t look older than an average thirteen or twelve year old human girl. She had a small, skinny build, with light armour covering her entire body, and a large black cape, made using seemingly some kind of animal pelt, hanging from her shoulders.

  Her horns were long and thin, and her eyes were rather large and round, with a pitch black colour to them, that made them look lifeless with the lack of shine in them. On top of her head was a small black diadem and across her face, was a wide smug plastered as she gazed down at the group, resting her small head onto her right hand, which she had propped up on the right armrest.

  “...Now you’re making fun of me.” Jack commented in his mind and sighed in what appeared to be slight disappointment. Sallow moved forward, standing tall as he gazed back into the small black goblins round eyes.

  “Black King of the Black Goblin clan, I have come for your throne.” He said coldly, stopping what had to be just five meters away from the throne. The small goblin laughed lightly, before leaning back in her throne a bit. “Oh, I am aware. I had my guys that I planted in the Red Goblin clan tell me everything about how you defeated both the Green King and Red King in a Conquerors Challenge.”

  Then, she stood up, hopping off of her throne before walking towards Sallow slowly, with a sinister glare locked onto Sallow and a wide smug smile plastered across her face. “And since you’re here, I have just one thing to say to the challenge you will issue out towards me…”

  A suddenly ominous air surrounded the small goblin, who crossed her arms as she came face to face with the absolutely towering Sallow – who appeared like a giant next to the short Black Goblin.

  It appeared as if she was about to accept the challenge with full confidence, but then…

  Clank.

  She took off her diadem and placed it onto the ground, before kneeling before Sallow, which surprised the guards in the room, as well as Frawn and Greth in the back, while confusing Jack and Araneida. Sallow raised an eyebrow.

  “What are you doing…?”

  “What does it look like? I’m giving up my position.” The Black Goblin replied, before lowering her head. “I am not so foolish to believe that I can defeat you in battle and I have great respect for those that showcase great power and in that fight against the Red King…”

  She paused for a moment, before taking in a light breath. “You displayed grand power. Great Goblin King, I, King of the Black Goblins, swear to follow you willingly without a fight. I hope that you will take good care of me and my people.”

  “Y-Your Highness…!” Regalia panicked, about to intervene, but the small Black Goblin flipped around, grabbing the armoured goblin and easily flipping her around in the air and slamming her onto the ground, pinning her down, with a glare shot down at Regalia. “I have said what I said – kneel before your new king.”

  “Y-Your Highness….” Regalia went silent, before sighing. The Black King got off her, allowing Regalia to rise back up to her knee and then bowed before Sallow, with the other guards present in the room, also coming closer, surrounding Sallow and kneeling before him, while the Black King smiled and looked at Sallow with a friendly smile.

  “...Well, this certainly was unexpected.” Jack commented in his mind, shedding a slight sweat. Sallow looked at everyone kneeling before him with slight confusion, before throwing a look back at Jack, who was standing in front of Greth and Frawn, who both were still absolutely shocked at what had just happened.

  Jack smiled and exhaled, shrugging lightly.

  Sallow looked down before turning to look at the Black King and exhaling. “Very well. From now on, the Black Goblin clan is under my rule.”

  [ ALERT ]

  Familiar ‘Sallow’ has achieved a new Grade.

  ‘Grand Ruler’ > ‘Sovereign’

  Familiar ‘Sallow’ is now able to go through a Rank Evolution.

  [ ALERT ]