The first to notice something was wrong was Sarai.

She was a Wolfkin, that is to say, a Beastkin from the Wolf Tribes. Sarai’s face was just like a human’s but she possessed wolf ears and a tail.

It was said that Beastkins who had more animal traits were stronger due to having a purer bloodline, but that was just a rumor, although Beastkins could activate Skills that turned their appearances into more beast-like and boosted their physical attributes, in normal life and even with the use of those Skills, it was only individual talent and experience what determined who would emerge victorious in a fight.

There were many discussions about why there were so many different kinds of Beastkins, even within a single Tribe and Clan, but Sarai didn’t care about such stuff.

Besides, she liked her human-like face, though she could appreciate the aesthetics and beauty of those with more beast-like traits.

Beastkins had better senses than other species, but Sarai was a special case even among her race.

Sarai had always had keen senses, especially for detecting danger and lies. When she was little, she had difficulties trusting people, because she could tell when they were lying, she could also smell their changes in emotion.

She could smell the fear, excitation, anger, lust, happiness, and even the general personality of people. She could discern lies clearly with her ears. When looking at someone, Sarai was generally able to know if they were good and trustworthy people or not.

As a child, Sarai had instinctively avoided people who smelled of danger and anger; she sought the company of people who smelled of good moods. There were lots of details she learned to look out for and pay attention to the degree of those sensations she detected as she grew up, like the figuring out when a state of anger was temporary or if the person was generally grumpy.

She was 17 now, and she had learned to master her senses, even being able to tell what people’s jobs were by picking up details on their clothes, body language, and smell.

Her senses had brought her some problems when growing up, but they had also saved her a lot of times.

And those same senses were shouting at her now.

Sarai woke up in the middle of the night, picking up a scent of rain in the wind. But there was something else, like a strange invisible fog surrounding the city.

Something was coming, she didn’t know what, the scent wasn’t familiar to her, it was a bit sweet, but also rancid. There was a light hum that her ears could barely detect, but she couldn’t understand what it was.

She got out of bed, went to the bathroom to refresh, and started to change her clothes.

Whatever was happening, it was better to be ready.

She picked up her bow, quiver, and sword. Adventurers got a lot of business in Klata City, it was one of the cities in the road to the Capital, located East from Buri City, right next to a forest, near a mountain range and two Dungeons, though one was already considered cleared. There were always things to kill nearby.

Sarai opened the window and took a deep breath. The scent in the air had gotten stronger as she was preparing. She didn’t know what the sweet scent was yet, but she identified other smells, there was death in the air, distant but approaching.

She decided it was better to alert the Watch and the Guild, whether it would be best or worse if she was right about some threat approaching was yet to be seen.

She closed the window and finished her preparations; potions and pouches on her belt, knives hidden in her boots, two magical rings, one with a slight stunning effect and one with a minor recovery spell.

B-rank Adventurer Sarai Montmer got out of the house, armed and ready, and started to run towards the Watch members guarding the wall.

The nightmare was waiting outside.

Deep within a forest, and even deeper into the ground, there was a series of tunnels that led to an underground tribe of Goblins.

At this late hour of the night, there was still activity in the tribe. Goblins were not as governed by sunlight as other species, and while they got out and did lots of things during the day, they actually preferred night, and most activities within the tribes were carried at night.

Kar walked towards his sleeping chambers, a comfortable space dug into the stone deep into the cave, near the chambers of the Hobgoblins and other leaders among the tribe.

Most of the Goblins of the tribe slept next to each other in large groups within the most spacious parts of the underground territory Feneh had claimed as the domain of the Blaze Cave Tribe.

At Kar’s suggestion, they had multiple zones of activity, constantly moving out and not staying only within the confines of the cave as it would attract rival tribes and adventurers if they restricted their movements to only the vicinity of their main refuge.

Their tribe camped above ground and even lived as nomads for months at a time, but they always returned here as it would be their safest place. They had taken measures to keep this place a secret, and it had paid out. They were surviving, relatively safe, with good numbers and strong Goblins.

And tonight, Kar had brought a great gift back with him, a piece of the history that they didn’t even know existed, and a tale of Goblins in other worlds.

The tale of a Goblin God.

But that would be for tomorrow, tonight Kar would seclude himself to his room and seal the door. Goblins were not prone to caring about privacy, but they cared a lot about keeping their stuff to themselves, specially Hobs as they actually had any valuable things within a tribe, so they had installed their own crude doors by using wood and stone.

He would read the tablet and the scroll, and in the morning he would confer with his friend and Chieftain, Feneh would then decide whether or not to show the scroll to the Shamans.

Kar could feel it in his bones, in his blood, and in his very soul. The call to transform, today had been a turning point in his life; the meeting with that Sage tonight was something he had never even dreamed about, but it would prove to be something that would change his life and the lives of many Goblins.

Kar passed by the many Goblins in the tribe, amiably refused to spend the night with some Goblettes, and had to punch his friends who were getting drunk after the fight in Buri City to maintain his sobriety before meditation. There were even a bunch who were smoking some herbs in pipes taken from the adventurers.

Some lamps illuminated sections of the cave, but most of the illumination was provided by glowing moss that grew underground. Goblins didn't mind darkness, their night vision was superb, but it wasn't perfect and they couldn't see in total darkness, so they used this moss to illuminate their camp with its soft green light.

Other races would have troubles seeing here, but for Goblins it was just fine.

After crossing the main camp and going in the opposite direction of the Shamans' region, Kar walked down a tunnel and reached the living quarters of the Hobs, where he possessed a room despite not being a Hobgoblin yet.

Kar had almost reached his room when he saw her. A slender figure leaning against the wall of hard rock right next to the entrance of his room. She was wearing a simple leather harness and a blue loincloth, she had a sharp dagger in her hand and by her side stood a short bow, lying on the ground were her quiver and a big sack.

Mina, a Goblette from the hunting parties. She had become a Hobgoblette two months ago and thus more important to the tribe, she was talented with the bow and she was stealthy too.

Her current name, Mina, had been given to her by the Head Shaman of the tribe after performing some ritual and having a vision, just like with Kar. Although Kar had his ritual at Feneh's insistence, while Mina's ritual was due to her becoming a Hobgoblin.

When they had met three years ago, Kar had called her ‘Mimi’, which was a cute name and different from the usual pseudo-names Goblins used before they turned into Hobs and received a proper name from Shamans, although the reason behind her name was cause of some chagrin for her: Kar had called her that due to some noises she had made when they first met, her tongue had been numb and her lips swollen after eating some berries, making only a ‘meeh-meeh’ noise when he had asked for her name.

Years had passed, and the two of them had grown closer. She was called Mina by everyone else, only Kar still called her Mimi.

She smiled at him, sharp teeth in a green face with sharp features, red eyes full of vitality, curiosity, and adventurous spirit. After becoming a Hobgoblette, she had become taller than him, and more beautiful than any other in the tribe, at least to him.

“Won’t join the celebration?”

Mina asked while playing with her dagger. Kar stood next to her, returning the smile. He grabbed the ‘door’ of his room, a heavy slab of stone and inserted a bit of Qi in it, with a little push, the door slid to the side, revealing his private room.

“I got something to do now, so I can’t join in their celebration tonight.”

Kar answered as he turned to look at her, thinking about how to politely tell her that he needed some time alone; he doubted he could convince her of guarding his door to avoid any disturbances tonight, but he could ask.

“Oh? Something to do?”

Mina said as she threw her dagger into the room. She grabbed the rest of her stuff and threw them in too. Immersed in his thoughts, Kar let her do it, realizing too late that she had every intention of sleeping inside.

"Yes, Mimi. But I must do it alone."

"Oh, what a cruel and evil Goblin you are."

She turned her back to him and let herself fall towards him, dramatically faking that she was fainting.

He caught her in his arms. Her body smelled like the wild berries that grew deep in the forest, Kar noticed she was chewing some mint leaves.

He kissed her cheek, his joyful mood could only improve by meeting her now, but he feared that if he tasted her mouth then he would not stop there, and he was too curious about the contents of the tablet and scroll, they were important treasures for all Goblinkind.

He had to resist temptation, at least for tonight; but the Mina-shaped temptation had different plans and wrapped her arms around Kar’s neck.

“Can I join you? I was a little bored at that crazy party, but I'm in the mood for celebration.”

She raised her head and connected their lips. Kar felt as if a hundred fireballs exploded on the back of his head. This was exactly why he wanted to avoid kissing her, he couldn’t help but desire more of her after the kiss, and she knew it.

The basic cultivation that Kar had managed to practice from the old stone tablet had given him great strength and a sharper mind. His will was strong, but Goblins were a species of strong desires, and as a species that focused on survival, one of their most primitive instincts was to mate and procreate.

Kar was six years old, the age of a kid in any of the so-called intelligent species, but that much was already an adult by Goblin standards; they grew up faster, had a shorter reproductive cycle, and also had a shorter life expectancy due to being killed by everything around them.

“No, not tonight. I got things to do. Meditate, rest, alone. Tomorrow, yeah, we can celebrate tomorrow.”

With great effort, Kar regained his composure, separated their lips, and spoke again, struggling to put some order in his scrambled thoughts.

Mina licked her lips and smiled naughtily at him, still on his arms. She unloosed her loincloth and threw it into the room.

At that moment, Kar knew that he was doomed.

“Meditate this, and rest with me.”

They both entered the room and the stone door slid again to seal the room form any disturbances.

Yeah, the invaluable legendary treasures from the Goblin God handled by an Immortal Sage could wait until tomorrow.

There were more pressing matters near at hand to analyze.

South from Klata City, there was a Dungeon that held many monsters inside, treasures of old times, and deadly traps to keep them inside.

A Dungeon still unconquered, despite multiple efforts to reach its core and the treasures guarded inside its deepest chambers.

Inside that Dungeon, teams of adventurers were fighting for their lives against a group of undead, they had been unlucky and triggered a trap within ‘the Crypt’, a part of the Dungeon that was called that by the adventurers due to the incredible amount of undead monsters inside.

If it had been just the usual mindless undead, the adventurers would have killed them already, but these undead were organized, fighting in groups and surrounding the adventurers.

At all times, there were multiple adventuring groups inside the Dungeon, it was large enough that dozens of groups could go explore different ways without running into each other.

There were multiple passages and secret routes within the Dungeon, but also multiple traps and mechanisms that claimed the lives of adventurers.

Now though, the Dungeon had fallen into a state of chaos, the horde of undead under the Crypt had poured out and attacked people in multiple regions of the Dungeon.

Valor’s Whip, a B-rank adventurer team, was the last surviving team inside the Dungeon. When they found themselves surrounded, they had fought desperately and opened a path to escape by killing multiple monsters, but the ground had shifted and they had slid down a very slip ramp and fallen into another passage.

They had been running for over an hour after that, it had been hours since they entered the Dungeon, now they were exhausted and lost.

Now a group of undead was staring down at them, behind them, a Necromancer in black robes smiled haughtily.

“The time is now, let it be known to all.”

His cold and arrogant voice contrasted with his youthful appearance, a black mist spread around him as he commanded the undead in the Crypt.

“Likia Kingdom’s fall starts today, and from its ashes shall rise, a new kingdom, a Kingdom of Death, beautiful and pure; and I shall rule it, as Lord of Death and possessor of undying life.”

Theatrically, the Necromancer pointed at the exhausted adventurers and shot arrows of black energy.

The adventurers died and joined the ranks of undead marching towards the outside of the Dungeon.

The Necromancer, Eric Rauda, laughed victoriously at the easy kill. He had been planning for this for years, this was the fruit of his research, to which he had dedicated sweat, blood, and soul.

To gain control of the undead in the Dungeon was something everyone thought was impossible, but he was convinced that he could do it, he was a genius in sorcery, but his true call had been Necromancy.

Eric had been trying for a long time, but a week ago he finally succeeded. His initial hypothesis had been that he required access to the heart of the Dungeon to gain control of the monsters, but he had been trying to hack into a part of the array that covered the Crypt, the part that kept the undead confined inside the Dungeon.

So far, he had moderate success in subduing tiny groups of weak undead or one strong undead, retrieving them from the Dungeon had proved even more troublesome due to the many influences staring at the Dungeon.

But he had succeeded, something had happened that weakened the controlling array and enabled Eric to access it. Finally, his greatest creation could shine and bring him glory.

“My glory will be dreaded, my name will be spoken in awe and fear for all eternity. Tonight it all begins.”

Eric laughed louder and walked surrounded by the undead, he had used the last few days gathering his forces, gaining control of more and more undead, his Mana was exhausted over and over, carrying on the ritual that gave him control of the undead.

But it was all worth it, because now he had a tireless and absolutely loyal army.

He thought about getting into the heart of the Dungeon, but that would come later, he would first unleash death on the city that had despised him, it would be the first to fall under his might.

It wouldn’t fall tonight, he knew that, but tonight’s attack would be only the first, and then the endless waves of undead under the Dungeon would drown Klata City.

He had even explored some deep regions of the Dungeon thanks to his undead, having them test the traps on the rooms made it easier in some aspects, although the Dungeon was not so merciful as to only have traps easily triggered, there were plenty of traps and mechanisms that would only be activated at the sign of life, which undead lacked.

Still, he had gained things and had strengthened his control of the undead.

Beneath the pale moonlight, Eric Rauda grinned as dark runes shone with uncanny powers across his body, his eyes turned into pools of darkness contrasting with his sickly pale skin.

Tonight, a show to make them taste despair and know a bit of his power, tomorrow the world would fear him.

Immersed in his wild fantasy and drunk with power, Eric advanced with his hordes of undead in the darkness of the night, promising doom to the ones who had rejected his way of life before.

Completely unaware of the doom he was bringing upon himself, and the cold gaze of an Immortal Cultivator watching his actions while predicting the future consequences said actions would bring.