The Goblin King's Eternal Oath

The thought hit me like a truck.

“This is actually going to work?!”

“What a… truly insane monster…”

To be honest, I was scared. I hadn’t expected Goblius to be this absurdly powerful.

In truth, I had planned to finish him off with Night Crows, just like Goblius had assumed. I genuinely believed that would be enough.

But reality had other plans.

I’d gone through every trick in the book to land a perfect hit with Night Crows, yet this monstrous bastard had seen through it all. He calmly tracked every movement of the crows with eerie precision.

It sent chills down my spine. I started to worry that even Night Crows might not work on him.

That was why I’d thrown my final gamble.

I could turn regular monsters into Minions of the Underworld, but I wasn’t sure if it would work on a named monster like the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Goblin Three Knights—let alone on Goblius himself.

Necromancers below S-rank could only raise regular monsters. SS-rank could handle champions and below. SSS-rank could go as far as named monsters.

But I was only E-rank. Whether I could turn a named monster into an undead was anyone’s guess.

Still, since I’d already succeeded with a champion monster, I figured there was no reason a named one should be impossible. So I tried it.

And it worked.

If it had failed? The fight would have become far more difficult than it already was.

That was when I heard it.

“No way… He actually killed it…”

The dazed voice came from behind me. I turned around.

There was Sowon, sitting on the ground with a completely vacant expression, staring at me.

I walked over and checked on her condition.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Ah… I’m fine. What about you, Humin?”

“Luckily, I’m not injured either.”

At that, Sowon suddenly sprang to her feet, eyes sparkling. She grabbed my hands and started jumping up and down on the spot like it was her own victory.

“This is seriously impossible! You’re amazing, Humin! This is actually insane! Ah, what a waste! If we’d recorded that fight and uploaded it to NewTube, it would’ve easily hit ten million views—no, ten million? It would’ve blown past a hundred million!”

Hunters below B-rank usually needed hundreds of people. Even A-rank raid parties brought over a hundred. S-rank teams required at least twenty. And SS-rank parties needed at least ten similarly ranked members just to attempt the tenth floor.

Even the SSS-rank hunters, called national powerhouses, had only managed to clear the tenth floor for the first time after multiple retreats and attempts alongside countless lower-ranked hunter companions.

“The hunter with the fewest official attempts on record was the American SSS-rank hunter, Penny Phoenix Junior. Even he succeeded on his eighth try at level 21, with two level 26 SS-rankers and thirty A-rank and below party members. But you, Humin—you cleared it alone! In a single attempt! This is truly unprecedented in the entire history of the world, you know?”

“I get it, so could you please let go of my hand? You’re squeezing too tight and it hurts.”

“Ah! I’m sorry. I got too excited…”

Only then did Sowon notice how pale my hand had turned from lack of blood flow. She let go in a panic.

Now that I’d confirmed Sowon was safe, there was something else I needed to check immediately.

‘No way… Even if it worked before, there’s no chance this will—’

“It actually works?!”

Just like how named monsters each took up two slots, a boss monster devoured a whopping five. But who cared about the cost right now?

I could command a boss monster!

The fact that I could resurrect a boss monster ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as an undead—something even SSS-rank necromancers couldn’t do—nearly made my legs give out. I almost collapsed on the spot.

There was no reason to waste any more time.

“Sowon! Over here, quick! Bonus looting, please!”

“Ah, yes!”

At my urgent tone, Sowon hurried over and cast bonus looting on Goblius’s decapitated corpse.

Once the bonus looting was finished, I didn’t hesitate any longer. I immediately cast Minion of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Underworld on Goblius.

“Minion of the Underworld. Summon.”

A mysterious purple mist soon enveloped Goblius’s corpse and severed head…

When the mist cleared, the Goblin King stood there exactly as he had in life, clad in golden armor. Blue flames flickered in his empty eye sockets as he knelt on one knee and bowed his head to me.

“Good. It’ll only be temporary, but I’ll be counting on you until we get back. Goblius.”

Behind him, the Goblin Three Knights mirrored his actions exactly.

The sight filled me with a certain pride, but also a pang of regret.

Because commanding them was only a temporary alliance until we returned to the neutral zone.

Undead monsters summoned on a given floor couldn’t be taken outside the tower.

‘Wait. Aren’t there necromancers above S-rank who have skills that let them store undead separately?’

“Humin! Humin!”

“Yes?”

“I think you should take a look at this right away.”

Sowon hurriedly handed me an item.

It was a ring.

“……”

No matter how many times I rubbed my eyes, the options were completely broken.

The sheer number of effects was ridiculous, but each individual bonus was so overpowered it felt like cheating.

“Sowon? Where did you get this…”

“Well, I just did bonus looting on the boss, right? While I was checking what dropped, I saw this…”

“Whoa! Sowon! Thank you! Seriously, thank you so much!”

I was so happy that this time I was the one grabbing her hands and jumping around with glee. Of course, I had zero self-awareness about it.

It was that much of a massive gain.

An epic item.

Even unique-grade items with ridiculous options were nearly impossible for regular hunters to even see. And epic items sat one rank above ancient, which itself sat one rank above legendary.

However, epic items had one special characteristic.

They were soul-bound to a specific owner.

On top of already being ridiculously difficult to obtain, the fact that they were bound made them nearly impossible to sell.

Anyone other than the designated owner would get zero effect from wearing it.

Of course, collectors who specialized in epic items might pay an astronomical price, but I had no intention of selling it right now.

Obviously! Options like these would be hard to get even if you assembled a full set of unique—no, ancient-grade gear.

To get this level of performance from a single ring? I was going to use it until it wore out completely.

I immediately equipped the ring.

Even taking its unique traits into account, the effect of an epic item was beyond imagination.

Every single option on this ring was already better than what you’d find on most unique items.

“Sowon, you really are my goddess of luck! Thank you so much!”

“I’m glad I could help.”

Thanks to the goddess of luck’s ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bonus looting, I had gained an incredible, unexpected windfall.

Having taken every possible benefit from the citadel, we left the area.

Naturally, the path back to the neutral zone was plagued by endless goblin ambushes.

Clearing the tenth floor didn’t end with killing Goblius. Safely returning to the neutral zone where you could exit the tower was the true completion of the run.

I’d secretly hoped the goblins might give up on attacking us on the way back.

After all, the guy leading the way right now used to be their king. Maybe they’d recognize him and back off?

That hope was shattered in an instant.

Rustle. Rustle.

The moment we stepped out of the citadel, the sound of goblins moving in from every direction was so loud it hurt my ears.

We’d already thinned their numbers so much on the way in. Just where were these cockroach-like bastards crawling out from?

I let out a deep sigh and prepared for battle—when suddenly.

Swoosh.

“Imperial Swordsmanship, Fifth Form. Gust.”

Goblius drew his sword in one smooth motion and slashed powerfully through the empty air.

Shiiiing—!

The sword energy that erupted from the tip of his blade swept across the entire path. In an instant, the shredded pieces of goblin bodies rained down onto the ground.

I couldn’t even count how many had died from that single strike.

He had already been monstrously strong in life—enough to leave even himself speechless. Now, reborn as one of my Minions of the Underworld, he had received an insane power boost on top of that.

His current strength was beyond anything I could measure.

‘If we fought again right now, I’d lose even if I came back from the dead, wouldn’t I?’

“Is this really okay? Sweeping away your old subordinates like that.”

Goblius possessed human-level intelligence and could even hold conversations.

Even though he was now my minion, I wondered if he might feel burdened about cutting down his former subordinates with his own hands. So I asked.

He answered calmly.

“Is that so?”

It was far more intense and absolute loyalty than I had expected. Even if the other Minions of the Underworld couldn’t speak, they probably followed me with similar devotion.

And it wasn’t just Goblius. The Three Knights—Goblbaba, Goblhood, and Goblex—weren’t quite at his level, but they still showed incredible performance clearing the path.

I’m not even joking—by the time we reached the neutral zone, I hadn’t seen a single living goblin.

Although the total number of minions had decreased compared to the beginning, our overall combat strength had grown to an incomparable degree.

When we finally arrived at the neutral zone, a wave of regret far greater than relief washed over me.

‘Do I really have to let go of Goblius and the Three Knights just like this? Seriously?!’

Of course I couldn’t accept that. If it were possible, I wanted to stuff them in my inventory and take them with me, but that was impossible.

“We’ve reached the neutral zone. Aren’t you going back?”

“Just a moment, Sowon.”

It wasn’t like there were no options.

I asked Sowon to wait for a bit and opened the message window I hadn’t checked yet.

EX-class and kicked out of the guild without knowing it.