Traveling on wolfback and making their way westward through the forest, Dream shouted to the others “Are you sure we should’ve just left without telling Eyes?”

“It’s fine, I’m sure he read the group chat last night, and he knows that we’re leaving.” Lavie replied, riding the same wolf as Dream.

Riding up to Dream and Lavie, Tobias said “It’s not like there’s anything in the area he can’t handle, we already killed all the goblins.” Wolf Faust woofed in agreement.

“I guess so…” Dream then shouted to Wolf Faust, “You look kinda tired, why don’t you slow down if you can’t keep up, Slowpoke?” Smirking as she signaled her dire wolf to run faster, but her provoking only made Faust growl as he also went faster; both Lavie and Tobias merely sighed at their childishness.

***

Quest

Home Invasion:

Defend and clear your Home of all the enemies inside to truly claim it as your Homestead.

Reward: ???

“Wait, where did this Quest come from?” I asked myself, “Didn’t we just clear this place out? How is it already a Dungeon again?” Deciding to slowly open the doors of the room.

Peeking into the hallway, I immediately saw a group of about 200 goblins wandering on the right side, and about 100 on the left side. Staring at them closer, I could see that their bodies were decayed and starting to fall apart, and not a single one of them had any eyeballs. Their levels highly varied from Lv.11-21, but their names all had Zombie added to the varying types of goblins they were. Realizing they haven’t noticed me yet, I went back inside the room and closed the door quietly.

Staying quiet, I thought about the situation. “Zombies? I thought Sister Maebel said it was unlikely for monsters to come back from the dead, so how did this happen? They also have no eyes which means they’re the goblins from the courtyard I stole from, but some of their levels are way higher than before.” Taking out Shame, I remembered that it wasn’t silenced, so using the same method as before, I modified the bow again with the leftover rabbit pelt.

You have successfully modified ‘Odelia’s Shame’ into ‘Silenced Shame’.

“Too bad my Bowyer Skill didn’t level, but maybe I should start thinking of other ways to modify my bow.” While I thought about some ideas, I took out 3 of Odelia’s Iron Arrows from my quiver and held them in my draw-hand. “I’ve been wondering what I was gonna do for the next few days, but I guess now I have to clear out this Dungeon by myself and make it back to town before we leave.” I smiled at the challenge.

Opening the door again, I was caught off guard by the 10 zombie goblins right in front of me—their heads creepily turning to the sound of the door opening. They walked towards the sound and reactively I backed away, but I could see that their movements were all really slow and awkward. Sneaking to the sides, I thought “I guess them being zombies and not having eyes really helps me out here.”

Drawing my bow and activating a 3 arrow Spread Shot, I hit the zombies in the chest, but they were all unbothered by the attack. “Should’ve expected they wouldn’t feel pain.” They swung their swords in my direction right after—completely missing since they were a meter away. Using another Spread Shot, I aimed at their heads this time, and all the arrows easily pierced through their rotted skulls. When their bodies and weapons dropped loudly to the ground, the 6 other zombie goblins in the room moved towards the sound. Quickly moving along the wall to avoid the goblins, I activated Rapid Shot—firing the max of 5 arrows—and killed the closest zombies with headshots, finishing the last one with a regular arrow to the head. “They’re practically slow moving targets.” Closing the door again before more came in.

Examining their bodies, I thought to myself “They're already so soft and decomposed for only being a day since they died, must be because they’re zombies, but at least I know they’ll be easy to kill.” Then noticing all the arrows in their bodies were still in perfect condition, I carefully removed them. “Wow, almost all of the training and goblin arrows would break or be damaged after hitting something, but the ones Odelia made are perfectly fine. Maybe I should ask her to teach me how to make some if I can’t learn that creating arrows Skill?” Admiring the well crafted arrows before putting them back into Infinity.

Feeling confident after the previous encounter, and in my new arrows, I opened the doors and started casting Charged Arrow. Aiming down the right side with the more zombies, I gave out a loud whistle drawing both sides of zombies towards me, and I waited for my arrow to charge. With the goblins blindly grouping up, I released Charged Arrow—using up 300 Mana—and the arrow easily tore through the zombies grouped up in the middle of the hallway, but missed the ones near the sides. Quickly turning to the left side, I saw that they were a lot closer than the other side, and not having time to charge an arrow, I decided to use Power Shot instead. The shot was a lot less powerful than Charged Arrow, though it still tore through about 50 zombies clumped together before stopping.

Archery proficiency increased by 1 Level.

Switching my hands, I thought “Since they’re slow, this would actually be a perfect time to get some left hand practice in.” Whittling down their numbers, I continued to only use my left hand to headshot the zombies, and alternated directions when one side was getting too close. I did however miss some shots when they clumsily tripped over an already dead body, or got distracted from a body dropping beside them, but eventually I understood exactly how they would move, and the number of zombies rapidly dropped.

Archery proficiency increased by 1 Level.

“Archery leveled up again? Is it because I’m shooting with my left hand?” I figured. “Maybe I should shoot left-handed more often then.” Readying another shot for the last couple of zombies, I suddenly felt a huge amount of pain in my ankle. “Oww!” I shouted out loud, looking down to see the dismembered upper body of a Lv.21 Elite Zombie Hobgoblin Warrior biting through my metal boot and into my ankle. Feeling the increasing pain from the strangely strong bite, I shot an arrow straight into the hobgoblin’s skull—killing it and releasing my ankle. Retreating back into the room, I immediately read the sudden notification while keeping watch for the remaining goblins.

You have been affected by the Status Debuff: [Zombie Infection].

Worried about the name, I quickly read it.

Zombie Infection: Carrying an infectious zombie virus, it will continue to spread throughout your whole body, eventually causing your organs and body functions to weaken and begin to fail, until finally you die and turn into a zombie.

*Early death will cause immediate Zombification.*

Duration: Indefinite

Virus Progress: 0.01% (23 Hours, 59 Minutes, 45 Seconds)

“Uh-oh, this is bad, it’s exactly what it seemed, and the time’s already counting down.” Laughing a little at my situation, “I didn’t even think a zombie virus was a possibility, I was too cocky because they seemed so weak.” The rest of the zombie goblins were now at the doorway, and even some dismembered ones were still alive and crawling on the floor. Without hesitation, I charged an arrow with 100 Mana and cleared a path with the shot, thinking “My best bet right now is to forget about clearing this Dungeon, I should just focus on finding and killing the Boss so I can escape and look for a cure in town.” I then headed down the left hallway.

Ignoring the remaining clueless zombies in this hallway, I turned the corner and saw another horde of eyeless Lv.11-21 goblins—double in numbers and already coming towards me—and I could see past them was the castle foyer. Quickly looking back down the hallway I came from, I saw that the other side of the hallway also had more zombies coming from there. “This place is filled with them, I just hope the Boss is still in the throne room.” Not wanting to waste time, I decided to clear out the much more packed hallway with another Charged Arrow—consuming 600 Mana—and sending it flying through the dense horde.

Charged Arrow increased by 1 Level.

Following the path the arrow cleared, I avoided the zombies near the sides, only getting a few cuts from them swinging their weapons wildly to the sound of me running, and reached the entrance foyer. Continuing to ignore all the goblins drawn in from all the noise, and before I could be surrounded in every direction, I rushed straight inside the open throne room and hastily closed the heavy doors behind me. Then to my surprise, the four Chieftains were all present in the room arguing by the throne, and their appearances and names were now completely different from the last time I saw them. They all stopped arguing when they heard the sound of the doors closing, and angrily stared at me.

The Lv.25 Zombie Goblin Warrior Chieftain's flesh was completely ripped and decayed, exposing his bones on his shoulder, right arm, ribs, chest, and almost all of his left leg; holding what I think was a greatsword from one of the elite hobgoblin warriors. The Lv.25 Skeleton Goblin Shaman Chieftain on the other hand was now simply a skeletal version of himself, but he did have some tiny pieces of flesh still hanging from his fresh white bones, and was the only Chieftain without a weapon.

The Lv.25 Undead Goblin Rider Chieftain was surprisingly mostly the same as the last time I saw him, but his skin was a more greyish green colour, and he had more wounds on his chest and damage to his armour—having an ordinary spear and shield in hand. The Chieftain that stood out the most however was the Lv.25 Headless Goblin Ranger Chieftain holding two hand crossbows, and having at least 20 crossbow bolts sticking out of various parts of his body. Though the strange thing was he hung his decapitated head with a rope to his waist, and even stranger it seemed to be still alive and aware.

They all roared out and shouted, “Betrayer! Kill the Royal Guard!” The rider and the warrior both charged towards me, while the ranger and the shaman fired ranged attacks of crossbow bolts and fire spells from the throne. Diving to the nearest column, I used it as a little bit of cover to think. “I don’t think any of them are the Boss, is it still the Goblin King? If so, where is he? The Chieftains probably won’t leav—” I rolled away from the column, sensing the two attacks of the melee Chieftains that then hit the column where I stood.

Avoiding them for now, I ran by and headed straight for the ranged Chieftains, shooting two running Arrow Showers above them. Distracted momentarily from the falling arrows, their attacks stopped, giving me a chance to freely get closer; at the same time, I used my Eyes Of A Seer and looked for their Weak Points. A red dot appeared on each of the shaman’s temples—easily visible on his bare skull—and for the ranger it was practically the whole decapitated head that turned red. Smiling, I quickly shot a wide right shot using Turning Arrow at the shaman, and then a wide left Turning Arrow at the decapitated head of the ranger’s waist.

Refocusing after all the arrows fell, the ranger retaliated with two crossbow shots towards me, while the shaman slammed both his flaming hands to the ground. Suddenly feeling the ground rumble, I found myself surrounded by a huge circle of fire, and being distracted by the new fire magic I haven’t seen before, I got hit by both the crossbow bolts—one in each shoulder. The fire and rumbling both intensified, but before it could do something, I watched both my unnoticed arrows—almost at the same time—pierce both their heads, digging the arrows deep into each of their skulls—leaving only the fletching exposed and killing them instantly.

Turning back to the remaining Chieftains, I said to them “Tell me where Goblex is and I’ll let—” but before I could finish talking, an ethereal goblin came out of nowhere, rushed into my face, and suddenly I lost all control of my body again.

Due to the difference in Level, the effectiveness of the ‘Possessed’ Status has slightly decreased against you. You have been affected by the Status Debuff: [Possessed].

Not even able to read what the Status did, my mouth unexpectedly began talking on its own, telling the Chieftains “I took control of him, now avenge your brothers, and kill the Betrayer!” The Chieftains both gave out a roar as they charged towards me again with their weapons.

Being faster than the Warrior Chieftain, the Rider Chieftain attacked first, stabbing his spear straight into my chest, but not aiming carefully, the basic spear hit the iron part of my armour and broke on impact—only leaving a small dent in the iron. With the Warrior Chieftain attacking next and winding his greatsword at my head, I tried resisting the possession, and I could feel an internal struggle with something trying its best to keep control over me; but slipping up and losing control for only a second, I used that moment to activate Archer’s Dash as many times as possible. Propelling my body backwards, I found myself slamming against the back wall of the room, and having completely avoided both the swing and the Chieftains.

“Incredible, to be able to resist my possession and move in that split second. Creature, you truly were worthy of being my Royal Guard.” Complimenting me, before asking “How could you betray me? Was it all for the crown? I can tell that you’re wearing it. Go ahead, I’ll let you speak.” Feeling my mouth freed, I smirked, having an idea.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret...I’m not whatever creature you think I am, but actually just an elf that came here to kill the Goblin King, and lucky for me your goblins were all so stupid that they escorted me right to you.” I could feel his shock weakening the possession. “Tell me, are all goblins this stupid? or just you and your ‘Kingdom’?”

“How dare you call me stupid! And I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you so easily!” Goblex yelled out using my voice, but with his sudden anger I felt the possession weaken again.

Provoking him more, I said “The crown was never meant to be worn on your short, fat, and ugly head, little Goblex.”

Again the possession weakened, and Goblex shouted “Shut up! You moron Chieftains, kill him already!”

Having another idea, I was able to remove my hood to expose the crown, shouting to the Chieftains “The crown I’m wearing now is Goblex’s crown! If you wear it on your head you’ll become the Goblin King, but there's only one crown and two Chieftains! But I wonder which Chieftain should be the King! Personally, I think it should be the Rider Chieftain!” Seeing them put thoughts to my words, the Chieftains both faced each other.

“I don’t understand, why can't I fully possess you anymore?” Goblex angrily asked in frustration.

“Maybe it’s because you're weak, or maybe it's because you're just as much of an idiot as those two?" Pointing at the Chieftains. "Now why don’t we watch the other idiots fight over the crown.”

“I am King!” The Rider Chieftain declared.

“You weak, I am strong, I am King!” The Warrior Chieftain argued, and before the Rider Chieftain could react, the Warrior Chieftain already stabbed his greatsword right through the Rider Chieftain’s chest.

But unfazed by the greatsword in his chest due to his undead body, the Rider Chieftain grinned his teeth, saying “We see who weak when I am King!” Ripping out an exposed rib from the Warrior Chieftain’s chest and then stabbing him with it.

While the Chieftains started to fight each other, I asked Goblex “Do you know what a Dungeon Boss is? And if so, are you it?”

“Of course I do, and of course I am!" Goblex stated proudly.

Watching the two Chieftains conclude their fight, I laughed a little “Haha...thank you, that’s all I needed to know.” As the Warrior Chieftain finally dealt a final slash to the Rider Chieftain’s head—slicing the upper half right off.