(Tense background music ON)

Just like the heroes who have gained fame across the continent,

Or like the villains notorious throughout the world,

The mage Pelerian, known as "Heaven Defier," had more than just one title.

One of his many famous titles was "Dungeon Master."

It's common knowledge that mages like to create dungeons.

But Pelerian took it to an extreme.

The number of dungeons he created easily surpasses 100. Some even estimate it to be over 500.

It's an unbelievable number even for an elf, a long-lived race.

Even if he built two per year, it would take 250 years.

Considering that many of Pelerian's dungeons are classified as large-scale or above, it seems physically impossible.

However, it's a well-known fact that his dungeons are spread across the entire continent, and many are yet to be discovered.

How could the old monster of Heaven Defier build dungeons at such a rapid pace?

First, one of his secrets must be his overwhelming elemental magic ability.

In terms of elemental magic, Pelerian is considered to have the most formidable talent in history.

Recalling the anecdote of him destroying a mountain in just three days, he must have completed the most time-consuming groundwork in an instant.

If he received help from earth spirits, that time would have been even further reduced.

The second speculation is that he must have had close relationships with dwarves and gnomes.

No matter how vicious a great mage he was, dungeons can't be created with just earth-moving techniques.

The internal structures of the dungeon, complex traps, various mechanical devices and more.

That clearly requires a certain level of manpower.

Some might question whether a fairy could cooperate with dwarves and gnomes.

But considering that Pelerian himself was already an outsider in fairy society, it's entirely possible.

There are also several records of him visiting dwarf mines and shadow fairy nests, despite being a fairy himself.

However, Pelerian was fascinated by trap technology.

The traps in the dungeons were surely designed by him personally.

「On the Ominous Star of Heaven Defier, published by the Magic Tower」

==

Click, click.

'Damn it, curse it!'

Croc, the Hobgoblin King.

He kept fiddling with his bracelet.

It has a unique design with a magic stone the size of a bean embedded in it.

Right next to the magic stone is something like a latch that goes in when pressed.

Croc kept pressing it repeatedly.

Click, click, click.

The magic stone flickered and blinked.

It was sending a signal to the one who had given him this bracelet.

He thought he would never use the bracelet, but now the enemies were right at his doorstep.

The bracelet was a transmitter.

One day, a fairy came to him.

Not an ordinary fairy, but a shadow fairy. His name was Deshnan, if he remembered correctly.

His skin was ashen, and a dark, gloomy aura emanated from him.

He helped Croc evolve into a Hobgoblin King.

And he revealed a secret.

That there was a mage's dungeon under the Elephant Rock here.

If he used the legacy there, Croc could evolve even further beyond a Hobgoblin King.

Evolution is the instinct of magical beasts.

Moreover, Croc, who had already succeeded in evolving once, developed ambition.

The desire to become the lord of all goblins.

The fairy told him to use the bracelet to call him when he reached the entrance of the dungeon.

He said that the inside of the dungeon was like a magical realm, so Croc would need him.

Croc promised to do so, but of course, he had no intention of calling.

Croc wanted to have it all to himself.

'Why aren't you coming...!'

But now, Croc was frantically manipulating the bracelet.

That snake.

That crazy snake was breaking through the traps.

"Hiss!"

As the snake flicked its tongue, the goblins of the Lunga tribe following behind stopped.

Those crazy goblins were following the snake without fear.

Surprisingly, the snake was disarming the traps.

It tapped the floor a few times with its tail, and then there was a sound of something sinking in.

Thud thud thud!

Arrows fell limply from holes in the ceiling.

The snake raised its head high and crawled forward majestically.

Crazy snake, crazy snake.

A snake that disarms traps.

Could this be the heart-eating snake that those stupid subordinates mentioned?

Under the snake's command, the Lunga tribe goblins approached halfway across the cavern.

Croc had sacrificed all his subordinates to cross this cavern.

Even then, he barely managed to pass through by sheer luck, but they hadn't suffered a single injury.

And then the snake suddenly came to a halt.

It started to touch something attached to the wall.

The tiles on the wall fell off with a thud.

Something like a handle emerged from there.

The snake grabbed it with its tail and pulled.

Clank-

An ominous sound was heard.

Well, to be precise, it only sounded ominous to Croc.

And then a voice flowed out.

"Interception system deactivated."

"Welcome."

Croc didn't exactly look aghast.

The voice was in fairy language, so Croc couldn't understand it.

But somehow, it didn't seem to be a good thing.

The snake turned to look at the Lunga tribe goblins.

And it seemed to be explaining something with its tail and body movements.

"The traps have been disabled!"

Nanaluk immediately understood.

Croc couldn't even guess how she understood the snake's words.

She didn't hesitate to rush at Croc.

The traps really weren't working.

She charged with two axes in her hands.

"Alright! You impudent thing!"

Croc also drew his weapon.

His weapon was a massive cleaver.

Nanaluk leaped high with her axes.

"Die!"

"Come at me! Let's see who's the better male-!"

"It should be male and female, you ignorant fool!"

Nanaluk spread her body wide and then curled up to bring down her axes.

In response, Croc swung his cleaver upwards.

Clang!

Surprisingly, it was Nanaluk who was flung back.

The difference in weight class, and the difference in muscle quality.

There was a gap between them equivalent to one more evolution.

Croc noticed that he had the upper hand.

He wasn't an inexperienced warrior who would let go of an advantage once gained.

He immediately rushed at Nanaluk, who was trying to get up while rolling on the ground.

The cleaver fell to bisect Nanaluk.

At that moment, hobgoblins clung to Croc.

Jadiram thrust his spear, and Nanaluk's younger brother, Kadiram, swung his axe.

Clang clang clang!

But despite their combined attack, they couldn't harm Croc.

He was wearing proper scale armor.

It wasn't stylish, looking like a one-piece dress, but it provided sufficient defense.

Whump!

Croc kicked Kadiram in the stomach.

The force was so tremendous that Kadiram flew back and rolled away.

"Kadiram!"

Nanaluk sprang up as if bouncing.

Then she swung her axes at an incredible speed.

Clang- Clang! Clang!

"Th-This is insane!"

Even Croc was shocked.

Nanaluk was accelerating more and more.

To think a mere hobgoblin would show physical abilities on par with Croc!

He opened his eyes wide.

Croc had noticed it too.

"You, you're evolving-!"

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Nanaluk swung her axes angrily.

But to Croc's eyes, it was undeniable.

The new chieftain of the Lunga tribe was going through the process of evolution.

To the next stage after hobgoblin, to the same level as Croc.

Realizing this fact, Croc felt a crisis like never before.

"How-!"

"Shut up!"

The axes and cleaver clashed almost evenly.

But unfortunately for Croc, Nanaluk wasn't alone.

Jadiram, who was still unharmed, charged in with his spear.

The wounds on Croc's body started to increase.

At this rate, he would lose.

It was at this point that Croc foresaw his own death.

"Na-Na-Nanaluk-!"

A trembling voice.

Who would have thought that the voice of this pathetic son could be so welcome?

"Chandal!"

There was Chandal, who was once engaged to Nanaluk.

He was holding a knife to Kadiram's throat from behind.

"Stop! I said stop!"

Nanaluk and Croc had no choice but to back off.

"Chandal, what are you doing!"

Nanaluk was furious.

But Chandal threatened to stab Kadiram's throat right away, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Put down the axes! Or your brother dies!"

How did Chandal get in when the entrance to the dungeon was surely guarded?

The reason was actually surprisingly simple.

Chandal had entered the dungeon with Croc, but then gave up, saying he was too scared to go on.

Left alone, he had pretended to be dead when Nanaluk and the Lunga warriors entered.

And now he had managed to attack from behind.

"Sis, ignore this bastard! Just kill that Croc quickly!"

"Shut up!"

Chandal's dagger dug slightly into Kadiram's neck.

Nanaluk didn't know what to do.

Croc rejoiced.

What stupid lovebirds.

They would have been perfect for each other if they had married.

Chandal had his own thoughts.

"Put down the axes, Nanaluk! And father!"

His demands were:

"If you surrender, I'll spare Nanaluk and her siblings too!"

Croc had ordered his son to kill Nanaluk's brother. He said he would spare him if he did.

Chandal was shouting for that order to be canceled.

How could there be such a foolish son?

"Of course, my boy, that's what I should do!"

Such words came out of Croc's mouth.

Of course, he planned to kill them all once this was over.

But that's when it happened.

Once again, a voice came from somewhere in the ceiling.

"Interception system reactivated."

"Manual operation of interception mechanism is now possible."

No one knew what that meant.

After all, no one could understand fairy language.

But there was one snake that could understand fairy language.

A snake that was apart from this ridiculous hostage situation, adjusting the mechanical device in the torn wall.

"Hey, you fool! Not there, lower."

'Here?'

"Yeah, pull that. Pull the one next to it and everyone dies."

The snake and the fairy's spirit.

No one could hear their conversation anyway.

No one could have imagined that the snake fiddling with the mechanical device here and there would lead to such a result.

Thunk.

The sound was light.

However, the traps set here were far more powerful than the ones where the cockatrice had settled.

Pelerian's love for spears remained unchanged.

From a hole in one side of the wall, an iron spear rotated and shot out.

Crunch!

The iron spear pierced through Croc's scale armor.

It tore through his skin, shattered his ribs, and ripped through his internal organs.

Even then, it had enough force left to pierce through the armor on the other side.

Due to the armor and ribs entangled with the spear, Croc flew with the spear.

Crash!

And he was embedded into the side wall just like that.

The snake thought.

'A goblin skewer with a striking visual.'

The goblins were shocked at that visual.

Even Chandal, who had been holding the hostage.

Kadiram didn't miss this opportunity and ducked.

"Sis!"

Nanaluk threw her axe at her ex-boyfriend's fully exposed chest.

==

Thwack!

Nice shot.

A hostage-taker deserves proper punishment.

It's clear that Nanaluk is a lethal woman.

That fool Chandal experienced the most heartbreaking breakup in the world.

"Gwaak!"

Chandal collapsed with a thud.

Is he not dead?

Judging by how he's screaming and flailing, it seems the axe hit his shoulder, not his heart.

I don't know if Nanaluk intended that or not.

Kadiram quickly got up, jumped on Chandal's stomach, and started punching him repeatedly.

"You bastard! I looked up to you as a brother!"

I'm not sure if Chandal will live or die, but he certainly won't be living comfortably from now on.

Hmm, this has been wrapped up nicely.

"That was close."

Pelerian grumbled.

"If we had been a little late and that Croc fellow had forcibly opened the door, everything would have undoubtedly collapsed."

It's not like it's a villain's secret base, but this dungeon had a self-destruct mechanism prepared.

If the door inside was forcibly opened, there was a device that would cause the Elephant Rock and the entire dungeon to collapse.

When I asked why such an extreme method was used, he said he couldn't let precious magic stones fall into the hands of grave robbers.

That was undoubtedly a fair point.

"Really now. To think they'd treat me like some pathfinding magic spirit."

Pelerian complained.

Let's tolerate it for now.

After all, I plan to devour all those precious magic stones.

And thanks to that, we easily caught this goblin named Croc.

Croc was still alive even in his state of being skewered by the spear.

"Y-You, krup."

Blood was flowing from his mouth.

His bloodshot eyes looked terrifying.

"To a mere snake, my... kek, grand..."

"Ssaak!"

"Kek."

When I gave a short reply, he drooped his head limply.

Did I finish him off?

「Your level has increased.」

I did finish him off.

And the level-up feast didn't end there.

「Your level has increased.」

「Your level has increased.」

「Your level has increased.」

「Your level has increased.」

「Your level has increased.」

Crazy.

Ah, it's another moment where That Person comes to mind.

I trembled with joy.

Considering that Croc was about as strong as Nanaluk, I wonder if it's okay to give this much experience.

Well, if it weren't for Pelerian's trap, I wouldn't have caught him so easily.

Maybe because he was a Hobgoblin King, the experience was far beyond my expectations.

I guess higher-ranked magical beasts are different.

「Your level has reached its limit.」

「Some conditions for evolution have been met.」

'White Double Horn Serpent lv20'.

Descended.

The timing is just right.

I still need to fulfill more conditions for evolution, but it seems I can fill the rest in the dungeon.

So now, the moment of farewell has come.

I will enter the dungeon alone.

I returned to Nanaluk.

"Ah..."

Nanaluk sat down with a thud.

Startled, I approached her.

Other goblins also ran over.

"What's wrong, sis!"

"I'm okay, just... feeling dizzy... and a bit sleepy."

I thought she might be injured, but that wasn't it.

Nanaluk spoke with trembling hands.

"I..."

She seemed to instinctively sense her body's condition.

"I think I'll be able to evolve soon."

"Evolve...?"

Ah, could it be.

Pelerian suddenly shouted.

"Aaargh!"

'You startled me, what is it!'

"I see, so that was the evolution condition for the Hobgoblin King!"

Hobgoblin King.

A higher evolved species of goblin.

Croc, who just died, was that Hobgoblin King.

"It was a species that could only have one individual from the beginning. The previous Hobgoblin King just died, so that one's evolution conditions were met! Finally, the secret is solved. I'm a genius!"

'Ah, yes.'

"There were records. Perhaps this goblin could go even one step further."

Pelerian mumbled excitedly to himself, though I didn't understand what he meant.

From what I heard, it seemed Nanaluk was likely to evolve into a Hobgoblin King.

And perhaps she might even become the Goblin Emperor who would unify all goblin tribes across the continent.

'You're exaggerating a bit.'

"It seemed to have potential from the start."

Potential?

To say such a thing to me with a potential of 20.

I approached Nanaluk to congratulate her on her hard work.

'Good job, Nanaluk.'

I didn't expect an answer.

"Yeah... no, you worked hard too."

'No, you worked harder... huh?'

Nanaluk's and my eyes met.

"Huh?"

'Can you hear me?'

"I think I can understand."

Beyond telepathy, now she understands my words.

It's utterly shocking.

──────────────

[Hobgoblin Nanaluk lv30 (evolving)]

[Traits]

[Warrior], [Chieftain], [Communication (new)] ...

──────────────

Wow!

I thought evolution only happened during sleep.

Nanaluk gained the Communication trait.

"The Goblin Emperor will be followed by all goblins on the continent. For that, communication is necessary."

I communicate well without such a trait.

"Says the snake that can't even speak..."

'...And Croc didn't seem to understand my words.'

"It probably wasn't properly evolved."

Nanaluk and I could clearly communicate.

We were both surprised by the fact that we could understand each other's conversation.

"Thank you... I won't forget your help."

Nanaluk's eyes welled up with tears.

"I swear. You'll be an eternal friend to us goblins."

'How embarrassing... Thank you.'

「Achievement "Friend of Goblins" has been unlocked.」

Well, I didn't do it for the achievement.

I'll have to check this out later.

I want to enter the dungeon quickly.

"Shall I go with you?"

'No, it's okay.'

I plan to enter the dungeon alone.

'Nanaluk, about speaking. If I enter the dungeon and light bursts out from the top of the Elephant Rock...'

I explained the important facts.

If I don't come out after the blue light erupts from the dungeon, retreat as far as possible. Return to the Lunga tribe, and if possible, go even further away.

You never know when the Elf investigators might come.

"Come by. We'll be up there."

'Okay.'

Nanaluk held out her hand.

I extended my tail to grasp her hand.

She grinned, and I smiled too.

Though I'm not sure if it looks like I'm smiling.

Well then, shall we enter the dungeon?

Come on, player entrance.