Chapter 26- A True Monster

How is it that wild and intelligence monsters came about?

Why was it that some monsters were nothing more than beings who craved to see the blood of others- those who fought mindlessly for the sole purpose of fighting- and others would instead reason similar to humans, building villages and using technology, and being able to negotiate and reason with others?

It was simply because of the way they were born.

In the monster world, there was a branch in evolution that each group of monsters eventually found themselves at. Whether the intelligent would survive, or whether the wild and ferocious would survive.

The slimes for example, begun originally as many wild slimes. Slowly, more and more intelligent slimes were born until they were able to fully manifest humanoid forms.

Originally, lizardmen and birdmen did not exist as a race. Only after hundreds of years of evolution did the birds of prey eventually become humanoid. As for why animals and monsters started becoming humanoid in the first place...

It was because of the existence of the demon race.

The demon race had always kept to their own territory, ruling over the land which was considered to be hell on earth.

But one day, the demon king, hundreds of years prior, was bored with ruling over his land, and decided to go out and seek adventure and discover new beings to torment.

After traveling the lands and experimenting on the various monsters and animals he came across, he was able to genetically develop a humanoid version of every race. However, this of course led to chaos in the actual kingdom of the demons, where the throne had been left empty.

Upon experimenting and creating these new creatures, he abandoned them to go back to his homeland, and they were left to fend for themselves. The intelligent creatures eventually reproduced and formed tribes and even villages, as they were intelligent enough to do so.

But that Demon Lord eventually was killed in a power struggle, and the humanoid races of monsters were left to fend for their own forever.

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Some wild races were very different in appearance from their intelligent counterparts, such as the lizardmen as compared to actual crocodiles or alligators. Others were very similar such as the goblins, who only changed in that they became better looking when they evolved into their intelligent versions.

But there was a grand problem that each race faced- and that was how to deal with their wild counterparts.

The lizardmen were much stronger than their wild counterparts, for example, and were able to easily form their own village and cut all ties.

The slime people were not able to completely cut ties, but were at least able to direct the wild slimes to nearby dungeons where they were not able to cause the slime village any harm.

The goblins, on the other hand, had no such luck.

Very rarely, but every once in a while, a monster would appear that was a combination between a wild and an intelligent creature.

They would have the same carnal cravings as a wild beast, and yet still be able to think rationally and communicate.

These beings were equivalent to serial killers.

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What does it mean to be born into hell?

What is it to become accustomed to chaos and terror?

Oraguth was born into suffering.

His entire existence was nothing but being in pain, and seeing others around him in pain.

It was the fault of Fargar, the current 'chief' of the goblins, if you could call him that.

Fargar, like Algorithanus, was a being who was the combination of an intelligent and a wild monster.

Fargar was an extremely tall and thin goblin, and if one judged him merely by looks then one would think he was weak and brittle.

However, he was anything but.

Fargar had been born with the ability to passively [Reinforce] his muscles with magic, and as a result his physical strength was in proportion to his magical abilities.

Not only did this make Fargar far more powerful than even the strongest among the wild goblins, but his intelligence allowed him to lead them as a complete dictator.

Wild creatures would follow anyone who was stronger than them. They were similar to Arlo in this aspect, however Arlo, for example, followed those who he thought was strong because of his pride as a warrior and respect for those who defeated him- not because of the demented pecking order which the wild creatures would form.

Fargar had dark green wrinkled skin, and wore some well crafted leather armor that was stolen from a group of humans who had tried to explore in the monster realm beforehand.

Fargar loved seeing others suffer. It was his only desire in life, as if it had been programmed into him. Yet for one reason or another, he was able to think and speak rationally.

This allowed him to take control of the wild goblins, and at the same time imprison and use the intelligent goblins for his own desires.

If Fargar was unable to capture any human soldiers or other passing monsters, his desire to see others in pain would grow excruciatingly high. This was why he had imprisoned the intelligent goblins in an underground cave.

It was so that if there were no targets for him from the outside world, he could pick them off, one by one, torturing them to his satisfaction, and when he was finished, he would release them back to the village where they would heal from their physical wounds and continue being a productive member of the village.

Inside the caves, the intelligent goblins had many farms for herbs and foods, and they were also able to hunt wild animals for meat and skins such as the [Earth Burrowers]. They were able to survive, just scraping by with what they had.

However they lived in terror.

The wild goblins guarded the only cave exit day and night, and would slaughter anyone who dared to try to leave.

One might ask, did Fargar torture the wild goblins?

He had tried this at first. He dominated one of them with his might, and dragged the wild goblin back to the torture chamber to slice him open, and mutilate his limbs.

But there was no sense of terror.

The goblin had screamed out in pain, and fiercely fought back like a wild animal would, but for Fargar, there was no sense of satisfaction in the face of an animal trying to fight back.

He much more preferred the look of suffering and despair on the face of an intelligent being, and so he stopped trying to torture wild creatures after a number of attempts.

The wild goblins did not speak the human language, but for some reason the intelligent goblins could. Fargar was born with both languages instilled into his mind, and as such he could communicate with and understand both creatures.

Oraguth was born into the hell that was the goblin village. He was the son of Fargar, a product of one of his own torture sessions with one of the women from the village of goblins, and Oraguth had quickly come to learn the dread that the goblins around him felt.

Oraguth was only 10 years old, but this was actually middle aged for the goblins who only lived to around 20 years total.

He was not short by goblin standards, but stood only at around 4 feet tall. Still, his father, Fargar was a towering goblin over 6 feet tall.

While the intelligent goblins such as Oraguth looked extremely humanoid- almost like humans with a light green tint of skin, long ears and noses, and short in stature, the wild goblins were much more horrifying with warts and hard wrinkled skin, and bulging eyes that looked like the eyes of a cat or of a snake.

Fargar looked somewhere in between the two.

During Oraguth's childhood, he had witnessed over and over the scene of someone being taken away from the village for a few days, only to return as a bloody pulp with horrible wounds, scars all over the place, and perhaps even missing limbs.

Sometimes they did not even return. His mother was one of these people.

Fargar had taken a liking to Oraguth's mother, and she was often called to attend to him. However, while she came back more and more wounded and sickly each time, a time came where she did not return.

Oraguth had accepted that suffering was simply the meaning of this life. To suffer, and to watch others suffer, however after his mother did not return. he cursed his own fate.

He hated his father.

He wanted to kill him with his own two hands, but lacked the strength to do so. Each time he saw a goblin come back with wounds, he was once more reminded of his mother.

Herbs and medicines would allow the goblins to heal the smaller wounds, however when limbs were lost they could not be so easily restored. They did not have access to potion brewing or healing magic, and as such the ones who lost limbs would have to live like that for the rest of their pathetic lives.

For some reason, Oraguth was never called to be tortured. It was not that Fargar had a preference for women- he enjoyed seeing the screams of men as they resigned themselves to despair just as much as he did for women. However, perhaps Fargar saw something in Oraguth as his son.

Oraguth spit at the notion of this.

Watching others around one suffer while getting off without a scratch was torture for the mind.

While it was certainly better than being tortured ones self, it pained Oraguth as much as if he was being tortured.

He was once called to his father when he was 6 years old, and escorted to him by a group of wild goblins, who all wielded weapons so that he would not be able to resist.

His father had looked upon him. He investigated Oraguth, scanned him up and down. After stroking his chin, he smiled.

"My son... you are my son..."

Oraguth wanted to shout out 'I am no son of yours!', however instead stayed silent.

The guilt Oraguth felt at remaining silent stuck with him to this day.

"My son... do you wish to become like me? You too could lead these goblins... I have so many things I would love to teach you... You too could learn the pleasure of seeing others in despair..."

Fargar gave a hideous grin as he said this, and completely intimidated Oraguth. Oraguth knew then and there that his father was a monster beyond his comprehension- not just in strength- but also in mind.

He was a true serial killer- one who took joy in the act of harming others.

And because he was a goblin- no- because he was a monster- this was normal.

This was normal.

This was what it meant for one to be a monster.

To enjoy seeing others harmed.

To take pleasure as you slice open an innocent being. To be thrilled with the sense of killing. To become excited at the sight of dread.

Oraguth was the one who was strange.

Oraguth was the one who was out of the ordinary.

None of the intelligent monsters were true monsters.

The legends of the demon who had experimented on the monsters to create the intelligent monsters had been passed down, and Oraguth did not know whether to curse that demon or to thank him.

On one side, he loathed that demon for making the intelligent creatures and then leaving them to defend themselves against the true monsters they were surrounded with. If he had not been born intelligent, but rather as a monster like his father, neither he nor anyone he knew or loved would be suffering like this.

On the other hand, he wanted to thank that demon.

He wanted to thank him for creating creatures of beauty out of something hideous and evil.

He wanted to thank that demon for saving him from the fate of becoming a monster- for saving him from a love of destruction and chaos.

Oraguth swore to himself on that say that if he ever escaped this situation, he would make sure to never become a monster.

He would make sure that the efforts of that demon were not in vain, and that the intelligent monsters would take over the wild ones.

If this happened, the monsters of the realm could live in peace, just like the stories he had heard about the humans.

Oraguth dreamed of becoming a figurehead of such a movement, but when he saw Fargar in front of him, he realized that this was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Oraguth did not say anything to his father.

He stayed silent, and showed only signs of his fear and anxiety towards him. He wanted so badly to refute his father and tell him no, but he could not get the words out because of his fear.

In the end, his father realized that Oraguth was different from him.

Fargar gave him a disgusted look upon realizing that his own son did not share his same love of blood that he did.

If Oraguth did share the same feelings, he would have jumped at the opportunity to assist his father. However, there he was. Sitting there with terror and fear on his face. That was not the face of a monster. No. That was the face of someone who was afraid of monsters.

"Get out of my sight. I never want to see you again."

And with that, Fargar sent Oraguth back to the village, and Oraguth had not seen his father since that meeting, 4 years ago.

However, for some reason, just recently, his father seemed to change his mind as to his approach with the village of goblins.

When the wild goblins entered the village at first, back when Fargar had originally implemented his rule, people fled from them. However, this did not last long, as the wild goblins held overwhelming strength compared with the intelligent ones, and as such the intelligent ones were all captured quickly with nowhere to escape to.

Eventually, it came to a point where their will to fight was lost. Some of the goblins who fought back at first were tortured and killed- mutilated so badly that even the ones who Fargar tortured simply for his own pleasure would look like they were only scratched in comparison.

Fargar then sent the body parts of the intelligent goblins who had offered resistance against his rule to be dumped in the center of the village, as a message not to reject his rule- otherwise the suffering would be all the more great.

While the people lived under constant fear of being taken away and tortured, they at least would escape with their lives. They could become accustomed to the pain if it was only flesh wounds, however if they were maimed to this point, the pain would be much greater.

And so, they gave in to fear, and no longer resisted when Fargar sent wild goblins to take away a goblin for his pleasure.

However, recently, Fargar had become bored of even this.

The goblins of the village no longer seemed to care when he cut or harm them. It was as if they had given into death itself, and no longer even felt pain. Every member of the village was covered with scars all over their bodies from the countless times they had been summoned, and they had developed a tolerance to pain.

And so, Fargar decided to rid himself of the intelligent goblins.

There was no further use in allowing them to live if they no longer gave him pleasure. He would have to expand his influence to those who had not been desensitized to the pain, such as humans or the nearby slime village.

However, slimes did not feel pain unless strange forces were at work. While they could be easily killed, they did not feel pain or suffering, and so would they even feel despair if he tried to harm them?

Either way, Fargar decided to sent the wild goblins to the village to capture all of the members of the village, including his own son, which he had ignored for so long.

Oraguth knew something was off when an entire platoon of wild goblins showed up in the village. When they wished to take one or two goblins to be played with by his father, they would only send a few warriors to capture them, as they would go peacefully without any complaints.

But this time was different.

A squad of 40 wild goblins stormed the village, breaking down the wooden homes of the goblins and setting fires to the crops.

They used violence on anyone they came into contact with,stabbing people with spears and slamming them with clubs before taking them away.

There was not a shed of resistance.

Not a single goblin aside from Oraguth seemed to mind or care about what was happening.

Was this how broken their wills were?

Did they not even care that the entire village was being burned? Their food supply? Did they not feel the pain of being stabbed and hit?

Oraguth bit his tongue in frustration as he watched this scene unfold.

One after another, all 20 of the goblins living in the village had been rounded up, including Oraguth, who also did not fight back.

The soldiers did not hit him, but they instead intimidated him to come with them.

Why was he being treated so differently?

Why was he the only one who was not being put through suffering?

Oraguth screamed out to the others, who were not even showing a shed of spirit in their eyes even as they were beat and stabbed.

"What are you all doing!? How can you just take this and be quiet!?"

Now was the time to fight back.

Even if he died fighting, he would not allow the entire village to be taken away like this.

He had bit his lip and stayed back his entire life while watching people be taken away and return with more wounds. The guilt that Oraguth felt in his heart because of this was tremendous.

He felt as if he himself was responsible for not doing anything, and allowing his father to do as he pleased.

"But what could you have done?", the demon on his left shoulder asked him.

"But you should have done something", the angel on his right argued.

Now was the time to do something.

Now was the time to fight, even if he was killed here and now.

"What are you talking about, Oraguth? It's just another session."

"We'll be fine, don't worry about us Oraguth."

"A few scratches have never killed anyone"

The other members of the village answered Oraguth in monotone voices, completely devoid of life.

Was this how far their spirits had been broken?

These were the people he had lived next to his entire life.

They had always put on a facade that everything was alright.

That the pain and suffering they went through was nothing, and that what was important was simply to continue living.

Oraguth could not accept that.

He was ready to die now.

Living while watching others suffer was not something he wanted to do anymore.

He would take down as many of these wild goblins as he could before he went down.

He raised his fist, and slugged one of the wild goblins in the face.

These wild goblins, sent after the people, were wearing high quality leather armor and helmets, and held spears and clubs.

The one he slugged dropped his spear, and Oraguth quickly grabbed it and stabbed the head of the wild goblin.

"WHO'S NEXT!??"

He had a look of fury on his face, but the wild goblins only smiled.

"Oraguk uth erst argu" (Even if the boss said not to harm him, we need to take him back alive)

"Wershuld pharkas narud" (It should be fine if he gets wounded so long as he is alive)

With this, the goblin soldiers surrounded Oraguth on all sides.

It was now 39 on one, and not a single villager even bothered to move from their positions.

"What are you doing, Oraguth? You'll just get yourself killed."

The one who said this was a goblin child, younger than he was when he had lost his mother.

"We warned you. If you wish to die, go ahead"

Another child said this.

'HOW!? HOW ARE THEY SO DESENSITIZED!?', Oraguth thought.

He stabbed a soldier who had come at him with a club in the brain, and pulled the spear out. Blood flew from the head of the goblin, and Oraguth turned quickly to defend an attack from behind with the handle of the spear.

After sliding the attack off, he stabbed another soldier in the head, but after taking out 3 soldiers, two spears were stuck into his back,

They were not in the locations of vitals, however they were deep enough wounds to make Oraguth fall to his knees.

After this, a club was slammed into the back of his head and he fell unconscious.

----

When Oraguth awoke, he was strapped to a chair with a gag over his mouth to prevent him from speaking.

As he looked around the room, he smelled the aroma of blood, and saw the tools of torture that were surrounding him.

But this was not the worst part.

His father stood in front of him, grinning.

"It seems that you had some thirst for blood in you after all... to think provoking you in the right way was all it took..."

When Oraguth looked around, he saw a horrifying sight.

Each and every member of the goblin village was hung up in chains, each with nails and blades sticking out of them. Blood dripped all over the floor, and not a single person in the room was unharmed.

It was worse than a scene out of a horror movie.

Oraguth started rustling in the chair, trying to break free, but couldn't.

Every single person around him was alive. Oraguth felt a sharp pain in his back, but it was nothing compared to the torment he felt in his heart.

"I saved you for last... not because you are my son, but so that there would be someone left before I perform this final act of slaughter... so that you may witness it and truly fall into despair..."

His father begun to laugh in an evil manner.

Oraguth continued struggling, but to no avail. He could not escape, and he was destined to witness his father's own wickedness.

Perhaps this was his punishment for not saying anything all this time.

For sitting back and watching others suffer while fearing for his own life and safety.

His father placed a blindfold on him before preparing to torture him to his enjoyment.

However, all of a sudden, the door burst open.

"Whew! That's a lot of blood! I could smell it from a mile away!"

"Oi oi, looks like there's a party going on in here without our permission. Surely you wouldn't mind if we joined in on the fun?"

Oraguth could not see who entered the room, but he could feel the horrible aura of the people who entered.

They were even more terrifying than his father was.

Had his father hired them to torment him?

Was it all determined that he would suffer here and then die, while watching others suffer as well?

If it was not determined, then was this all because of bad luck?

There was no way it could have been due to bad luck.

There must have been a reason why things had happened like this. There must have been a series of events that had led Oraguth to this point. Something that had already been determined from the start of his life. Perhaps it was fate that Oraguth now sat in the chair he was in, while watching his comrades be stabbed and tortured with blank faces and virtually no response.

Surely, there was no way that something this terrible could have happened due to something as random as a series of coincidences.

There was no chance that something this terrible could have occurred simply due a bad roll of a dice.

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