Chapter 46
Chapter 46
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Silver Inferno
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ordinary goblins did live in groups, but those groups weren't all that large.
Despite their prolific breeding, they never formed packs beyond a certain size, and the reason was their utterly obnoxious personalities.
Goblins were inherently lacking in self-control, ignored others' words, and expressed their emotions excessively. Without a leader strong enough to rein them all in, it was impossible for them to form larger groups.
Thus, the rare cases where goblins formed settlements larger than simple packs were usually thanks to mutants like hobgoblins or goblin mages taking charge.
However, Zarka, the goblin mage who had raided Queta Village, didn't see himself as just another simple mutant.
"Kieek."
Zarka firmly believed he was destined to become the greatest existence in goblin history.
The goblin horde he had assembled was already larger than most human villages.
And that was just the beginning.
'I am great. I am inevitable.'
Zarka would never forget the day he awoke on that cold stone floor, the moment the god who created him placed a spellbook before him.
"The result of experimenting on a hundred goblin mages is you, huh? A bit disappointing... but I'll keep my expectations up."
Unfortunately, he couldn't understand the god's words.
But the spellbook the god had given him—written in the goblin tongue—he could comprehend.
'I was chosen by the god!'
Convinced he was the chosen goblin, he devoured the spellbook like a madman.
As a result, Zarka gained tremendous knowledge and power that surpassed ordinary goblin mages.
With that power, he immediately left the place of his birth.
The barren surroundings offered no stage for his chosen destiny.
After wandering for a time, he settled in the hills around Queta Village and gathered all the scattered goblins under his command.
He then led his horde to raid nearby human villages, devouring them to swell his ranks further.
'But I'm still far from my goal.'
This was merely the start.
Using it as a foundation, he would one day build a goblin city—no, a goblin nation.
That was Zarka's ambition, his self-proclaimed mission.
"Kieeek! Kieeeek!"
"Kieek! Kieeeek!"
Unlike their lofty leader, however, the goblins chattering around Zarka right now were utterly pathetic.
'Useless idiots.'
All they knew how to do was make a fuss.
If he didn't quickly evolve these morons into hobgoblins, he felt like he'd turn stupid just being around them.
Of course, Zarka knew exactly why they were being so noisy.
'The human mage who defeated the hobgoblins.'
The hobgoblins he had painstakingly created.
The news that a mage had massacred them had the goblins trembling in fear for the past three days.
Especially when they heard that among the fallen hobgoblins was one Zarka had personally armed with armor and weapons—the panic intensified.
'In the end, it'll just be another human sacrifice.'
But Zarka couldn't care less.
Hobgoblins?
A shame, but he could make more.
Human mage?
No way it could be stronger than him.
He was a goblin chosen by a god, unlike these fools.
"Kieek!"
So Zarka ordered the noisy goblins to shut up.
His word was absolute to them.
The clamor died instantly.
"Kieek, kieeek. Kieek, kieek, kieeek, kieeeek."
Zarka then issued commands.
In a week, their preparations would be complete.
He had planned to wipe out the village then anyway, so he ordered them to ready for battle thoroughly.
"Kieek!"
The goblins under him knelt on one knee, accepting his will.
Zarka nodded in satisfaction.
'Yes, this is it.'
He was destined to stand at the pinnacle of goblins.
And with such a leader, they had no need to fear anything—like right now.
But Zarka's smile didn't last.
A chill ran down his spine.
Kwaaaaaang!
A massive explosion rocked the earth.
"Kieeeeek!"
"Kieeeek! Kieeeeeek!"
Screams of pain and terror echoed from outside.
"K-Kieek?" Zarka rushed out at the sudden commotion.
What met his eyes was...
"K... kieek?"
A colossal pillar of silver flame engulfing half the goblin village he had built.
Right after Jeon reached the hilltop.
"...This guy's already bolted during my scouting."
The hobgoblin that had guided him had fled while Jeon surveyed the goblin habitats.
He could have caught it, but Jeon didn't bother.
"End result's the same anyway."
Jeon focused on the task ahead.
First, he pulled Silver from his pocket and poured in a hefty dose of mana.
-Kyaeng!
Silver grew with a light cry upon receiving the mana.
Thanks to Jeon's ascent to 3rd Circle, Silver could handle more mana now, expanding beyond adult fox size to one sturdy enough for Jeon to ride.
"Keep watch while I prep the spell, then."
-Don't worry.
Silver let Jeon mount its back.
With Silver guarding against interruptions, Jeon raised Elderlake and began casting.
'If I'm striking first, might as well go big.'
Mana flowed into Elderlake in his left hand, igniting silver flames at the tip.
"Will, Storage."
His right hand activated Will and Storage rune magic.
A soft blue glow enveloped it.
Fwoooosh!
The silver flames from Elderlake were sucked into the blue glow.
Once absorbed, Jeon pumped more mana into Elderlake.
Fwoooosh! Fwoooosh! Fwoooosh!
Magic from Elderlake kept flowing into his right hand.
But rune magic had limits; after five or six cycles, the silver flames around his hand ballooned uncontrollably.
"Will, Compression."
Not enough for the power he wanted, so he used Will and Compression runes to forcibly shrink the surging flames.
Fwoosh.
The flames, which had spread from hand to arm, compressed down to palm-sized under his willed runes.
Its power hadn't diminished—its color deepened instead.
Confirming this, Jeon repeated the process.
Silver flames from Elderlake absorbed into his hand; as they grew, he compressed them.
Elderlake handled the base spell, but maintaining Will-Storage and repeatedly using Will-Compression drained focus immensely.
Even Jeon sweated for the first time while casting.
How many more cycles?
"Huuu."
Finally, exhaling after prolonged concentration, his hand held...
Ziiing!
A sphere emitting intense silver radiance and an ominous hum.
Feeling the mana within, Jeon nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, here goes."
He lobbed the barely-contained sphere down the hill.
Whooosh.
It free-fell, trajectory adjusting in real-time to his will.
Targeting the goblin-dense center, farthest from the forest.
The moment it hit...
Kwaaaaaang!
The unstable sphere shattered, unleashing contained silver flames in a massive explosion, birthing an unbelievable pillar of fire.
Everything swallowed burned without trace.
Goblin structures.
Goblins inside.
Even the ground scorched and melted—the silver pillar displayed its overwhelming might.
"...Wow."
Even Jeon atop the hill let out a soft exclamation.
Right after gaining Will and Storage runes, he'd experimented extensively.
One discovery: alongside gray magic, stacking and compressing the same spell with Storage amplified output.
He knew it boosted power, but this was his first time maxing it to the limit.
He'd estimated, but not precisely known.
"Incredible."
The prep time and focus were high, but raw power rivaled 7th Circle spells from grand mages.
The silver pillar's display far exceeded his guesses.
-Jeon, a goblin down there spotted you.
As Jeon admired his handiwork, Silver nodded toward the base.
Following its gaze...
"That's the one, the goblin mage."
Amid the horde, a robed goblin stood out, staring straight at him.
Their eyes met briefly.
"Kieek! Kieeeek!"
At the robed goblin—Zarka's—command, goblins surged toward Jeon's hill.
Simultaneously...
Woooong!
Zarka, now with staff and spellbook, cast at Jeon.
"Is that its magic?"
From distance, Zarka's casting differed from human methods—more intuitive, but somehow incomplete.
Yet its output wasn't low.
Jeon wanted a closer look, but couldn't.
Black mana spears materialized, hurtling fiercely at him.
"Silver."
Silver leaped earthward.
The spears missed, piercing only ground.
Glancing at them, Jeon continued.
"Time to go."
-As planned?
"Yeah."
Second phase of Jeon's plan.
"Let's start the herding hunt."
The core: herding hunt. Jeon headed toward Queta Village.