This temple...is the pits.

It is made out of strange black rocks, not obsidian, dirt, iron, and bones. Yes, the last one is true. Exoskeletons from scorpions and skulls from ogres are used not only as decorations but also as vital components to the temple's walls. The combination of the remains of both horned humanoids and arachnids is striking too close to home for my taste.

The goblins are so busy protecting the front entrance that they don't send guards to the backdoor. Lucky for us, but why did they even add this thing here?

It seems like an easy task to get in, find the mastermind, and snuff him out...but I doubt it will be that easy. Not to mention my [Evil Eye of Darksight] has been going nuts ever since we got close enough to the building.

"Tihs place is cursed like hell, isn't it?" - Garami

"Quite the foul, yet accurate choice of words." - Rassel

The whole building is covered in this..."curse barrier", if I have to call it something. It probably only reacts if a non-Feral Goblin tries to breach the perimeter. What a pain...

Just to be sure, I threw a pebble I picked up from the ground at the temple walls. The rock started to melt into black goo after touching the strange, cursed forcefield. Destruction-type barrier, huh? Why couldn't it be an alarm-type? There you just have to run to the next area and hide before the reinforcements arrive.

"Sorry to spoil your plans, Rassel, but I doubt there's anything I can do about this barrier." - Garami

"Don't count your lack of chickens just yet, sweetie~. I've already done my research on this perverse architectural madness." - Rassel

Rassel started fiddling with one of the pillars placed away from the building and with a clink, some sort of valve appeared. After Rassel started to turn on it, an opening began to appear in the temple's curse barrier. The second Rassel stopped turning the valve, the opening closed itself in less than a second.

"So that's the gimmick. Someone has to stay outside and turn the valve so that someone else can go inside." - Garami

"That's right~! The valve needs to be continuously turned, so it won't help putting a rock to stop it in its tracks." - Rassel

In that case, if I recall some of the Skeletons I left in the cave and resummon them..., nah, that won't work. The sun's still going goddamn strong up there in the skies. It affects even poor little albino me. Just a little.

"So, if you, sweetie, could keep the valve turning until I can sneak into-" - Rassel

"Or better yet, let me be the infiltration party while you're on spinning duty." - Garami

"Wow!? Are you for real, sweetie?" - Rassel

"Master, I agree with the muscle bundle! I do NOT want to go into that fake temple! It is guaranteed to be filled with demonic ritual stuff and horrifying sacrifices!!" - Bloom

"And ain't it better that I'm the one to go in then?" - Garami

"Huh? .........Oh, that's true." - Bloom

"It is so easy to forget sometimes that sweetie is from one of the demon species~. ...Though, I've never seen someone with your type of appearance. Excuse me for asking, but what race are you from, sweetie?" - Rassel

"Kur Kigal." - Garami

My answer didn't seem to ring any bells in Rassel's head. No wonder. I'm probably the only Kur Kigal in existence yet. As the designer behind this race's specks...it hurts a little, seeing my masterpiece be so overseen...*sniff*...

My wounded pride aside, we agreed that I would enter the temple on my own and either see to take care of whatever plans the goblins have inside, or at least take down the barrier that protects the building. If I couldn't clear the 2nd objective within half an hour, Rassel suggested that he would go on a rampage at the front side and lure the goblin guards away. If things went south, he said he'd just escape from the mountain in a hurry. Don't tell me he's planning on bungee jumping without a cord...

In any case, getting rid of this temple is sure to cause trouble for the goblins. Which is good for us. Rassel started to turn the valve while I dismissed all the Skeletons I left behind in the cave except for one. I should be able to use them inside the building. The last one is to open up the door to the secret harbor in case Grumble and Mira should return.

"Godspeed, sweetie~." - Rassel

"Is that something to say to a demon?" - Garami

In any case, I entered the temple and started to look for any suspicious ritual devices. There's got to be something in here that controls that barrier...

---

20 minutes later:

THERE'S NOTHING IN HERE AT ALL!!

"Master, we are getting close to the agreed time!" - Bloom

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"I know, don't rush me!" - Garami

All this time, we've ransacked all the rooms we could find. Some of them were guarded by strong-looking goblins, so I could only look through around 60% of them. Some of that 60% were unguarded, chumps protected the other half I could assassinate without making much noise.

Oh, I did find out the reason for that back entrance. The temple has an unused kitchen close to that door, so the goblins must have had the idea of throwing their trash off the cliff. In the kitchen, I did find a panel that could turn off the barrier and let Rassel in, but unfortunately, it requires some special key. I can't even pick that lock open. Damn...

At some point, I found a staircase to the second floor, which is luckily less populated than the first one. Still no key, nor any demonic ritual goods... Let's check this room next.

"Huh? A window?" - Garami

One without any glass, but still a window. How weird. We should be around in the middle of the temple here, according to the data of the [Auto-Mapping] skill. So what is this for... Oh. My. God...

Below the window is a massive hall, connected directly to the main entrance. Multiple doors to each side of the hall allow the goblins to enter the temple's east wing and west wing. I'm currently in the east wing. Don't tell me the barrier item is located in the other wing...

If so, then I can give up calling Rassel for help. The appointed time is too close, and the hall has several goblins that would be too troublesome to sneak past. If Rassel can gather their attention to the outside, then it's a different story...

As I was pondering over my options, a dark-robed goblin suddenly started to bark orders to the warrior-ish gobs. Strangely enough, despite the black-robed goblin's lack of attitude in his speech, the warrior goblins only nodded to his words and left the building.

Ferals do have a certain degree of ability to cooperate, even if just a little, but this level of obedience surpasses what I had imagined based on the books I've read in the Union's library along with my current observations of the Ferals up till now. And haven't I seen that black-robed goblin before...?

"Master, that is the boss goblin we saw in the factory zone!" said Bloom with a whispering yet agitated voice.

"Of course it is," I replied, having zero intention of revealing that I'd forgotten what the prime suspect looked like.

"And from the looks of it, our mastermind seems to be a Warlock, not a Necromancer as you suspected before." - Garami

A [Warlock] is a Mage-line class that "asks for power from a greater being". Beings such as gods or things close enough to them. There are two versions of this type of class, one being the [Warlock] I just mentioned and the other being the [Priest] class. They are separated between negative and positive Karma Values respectively. Those with "neutral" Karma can't ask gods for help, it seems. "Neutral" gods must be unwilling to listen to requests.

With the temple's overall appearance, along with the black-robed Feral Goblin Leader's power over the other Ferals, and that Ferals are automatically locked to negative 200 Karma, it is easy to calculate that we're dealing with a goblin Warlock here. One in the service of an evil god that allows you to command Feral creatures. Or something along those lines.

Looking toward the altar placed in the innermost area of the hall, I could see some sort of statue, probably made in honor of the black cloak's patron god. Its shape was vague enough to prevent me from understanding what it was supposed to look like, and at the statue's feet(?), bloody offerings were spread. It seems this particular god does not fancy innards.

The black cloak is fuming over the remaining offerings. He continued barking orders to the remaining goblins, who started to bring out more grotesque sacrifices from chests and boxes loitering around in the hall.

"Would it be more correct to assume we are facing the will of a god here than that of a priest worshiping said god?" - Bloom

"From the lack of response from the former, I'd say we're lucky for once." - Garami

The black cloak might have some nasty surprises up his sleeves, but as long as we're not facing a god's will itself, then we should make it.

While we had been busy trying to judge the danger levels regarding the black cloak, more offerings had been placed on the sacrificial altar. Some of them had disappeared in black light, a sign telling it had been accepted by the god, but only around 60% of it all. The black cloak then turned his attention to a crystal pedestal lodged into the floor. The pedestal's flat surface started to come apart and reconstructed itself as several screens attached to the pedestal. It seems to be a more advanced version of those magical crystal balls that allow you to spy on a different location.

Carefully, so I wouldn't be noticed, I took out my binoculars and tried to spy on the images in the crystal pedestal. I could see goblin ships sailing on the lake area close to Iron Isle, chasing the Marauder around the island. Magical arrows and black spells of death revealed that both Noire and Revi were in good health on the ship. A recognizable piece of armor was there too, tanking magic spells and arrows with his solid shield. Iron, weren't you on underwater duties?

A different screen showed Alf on top of the reefs, having just pushed a D-rank-looking hobgoblin into the water. From the amount of drowned corpses, be it gobs or even scorpions, I'd say with certainty that Alf's worked enough to earn himself an evolution. Weird guy. He's usually so unenthusiastic when it comes to hard work, but when he starts, he doesn't pause until he's done 120% of the assignment.

What's going on at the third screen is...way weirder. A huge black fog bank is covering a large part of the goblins' port. And from it, several large ships are emerging. My gut is telling me they're not stored in that fog usually. Were the offerings from before bribes to have the god summon those ships? And now more goblins and those giant scorpions are coming out from the fog too!

"That damn black cloak. He's using the god's power to finance a goblin war." - Garami

"Oh, so that's the reason why they stole all those crafting facilities. They have the iron needed for forging, and those new goblins do not seem to come with equipment." - Bloom

Bloom had been using her own set of miniature binoculars to sneak a peek at the crystal screens. Right, they do only come with a loincloth before being given some half-decent items from the goblins that were already on the docks. Not as good as that fancy armor I saw on the goblins I spied on before. My money is on that it was the god who gave the idea of stealing Velantasy City's crafting facilities. The black cloak doesn't seem to have the smarts to hatch out that kind of idea. Then what about the other screens? Something seems to be going on over there too...

*CRASH!!*

Forget the magical security cameras! Hell's happening even here! Live at that!

A huge goblin came flying into the hall. 30 minutes must have passed...

The black cloak quickly came out of its surprise-induced stupor and ordered the other goblins out to take care of the situation. Only the black cloak and two bodyguards, normal Feral Goblin Warriors I'd say, are remaining in the hall...

Hold on. Just three of them? And all are E-rank trash? The black cloak might have the backings of a god, but would that guy be willing to give the black cloak protection 24/7? Seeing that they need tons of offerings to produce some simple ships, I'd say not. The relationship between the god and the Warlock seems like it's strictly business.

Okay, let's try this. If things goes as I'm hoping they will, then we might have solved Velantas' goblin problems for a long time now.