Goblin King!

This person appeared to be in his mid-thirties and was wearing a tattered robe that was originally designed for accomplished mages. In the guild, he was rank 4, also known as Golden.

The man had just recently advanced from rank 3 (Expert) less than a week ago, and had led his teammates on this particular quest to earn enough merit points for each of them to improve their own individual rankings.

However, the result was beyond tragic. Save for him, the rest of his teammates had been brutally butchered. Never had he expected that such fearsome foes existed in this ruin.

"I... I'm begging... begging you..." he sobbed while gasping.

Whack!

A mace smacked his chest and instantly fractured one of his ribs.

His wail of agony was drowned out by the cruel cackling of his captors.

Vicious glee and scorn were reflected in the eyes of the goblins who were making sport of this pitiful man.

As these vile monsters continued to make the adventurer squeal, a small group of other goblins were sitting in a circle far away from the barbaric entertainment. Each of their demeanors and posture were completely different from their fellow companions.

Their numbers amounted to five, four of whom were wearing clothing that made them appear almost scholarly. Each one of the four were holding up a wooden staff while continuously chanting softly over the orb at their center.

The final member of the group was simply watching the fuzzy images that appeared on the orb from time to time. Unlike all the other goblins in this ruin, this individual was extremely muscular and tall. If he were to stand, he would reach nearly eight and a half feet. This large monster was also wreathed in bits of armor and cloth on his freakishly enormous person. Laying next to his right side was a big club with metal spikes protruding from its surface.

Calling him a common goblin would be a misnomer. This creature had obviously evolved far beyond what his species should be capable of. He was entitled to a much grander description.

"Replay it back five seconds." This large being spoke abruptly.

The four goblin mages stopped whispering for a full second before solemnly rearranging the order of their chanting. The images on the orb began changing again.

Several meters away, the screams of the lone adventurer were getting softer but more frequent. The human was currently breathless and still had no time to rest from the pain that was being inflicted on him at passing intervals.

The small group ignored the noise and continued with their work.

After some time, the enormous creature had decided that he had observed enough.

"Alright, stop," he spoke curtly.

The other mages did not argue and bowed their heads forwards as they ended their divination.

"Time for us to welcome another batch."

----------

Around the same time, Leo and Alex's team were examining the markings at the entrance of the greenly lit cave.

They had already rested for enough time and were trying to find a way to dismiss this magic formation.

"If all the magic casters combine their efforts, it should take about five minutes." Leo spoke to the group.

He had already managed to figure out the arrangement and meanings behind the symbols placed at the cave's opening. Getting rid of it should prevent them from being teleported away after passing through.

The other members responded that they understood before moving closer to the cave.

Suddenly, the symbols from the magic formation dispersed into thin air, leaving the entrance entirely clear.

A stunned silence permeated through the group before everybody started to look at one another.

"W-what just happened?" Judy asked uncertainly. She felt like something wasn't right.

"There is no way it could have faded on its own," Sarah reasoned, "It still looked like it could have remained for another five days."

That could only mean that the ones who made it deliberately released it on their own!

"Should we, uh, continue?" Alex looked around at his allies, "I mean, it obviously seems like a trap."

"We've got no other choice anyway." Leo said, "Either we abandon the other adventurers or we move forward."

He turned towards each of them.

"For now, we just have to be more cautious."

In the end, they all still decided to press on. If anything, at least they could be more alert to any hidden threats.

After first checking to see if there were no other traps lurking nearby, Leo was the first one to step through. Following beside him was Alex, along with Judy and Sarah who came behind.

A few minutes earlier, the team had already decided on their formation. They each agreed that their healer should remain at the rear with Judy for protection. As for the rest, they would be at the front, with Alex leading the charge if they were to come across any enemies.

'What a weird thing to happen.'

Along the way, Leo was still thinking about the magic formation that disappeared.

'The goblins here should be smarter than most of their kind. It doesn't make sense to disable a well-prepared trap unless they have something else in mind.

'Perhaps they did it because they had another trap prepped ahead? Are they somehow secretly observing us and deliberately chose to release the formation because they wanted to lure us in?

"But if that were the case, then wouldn't it be too careless? They are essentially alerting us to hidden dangers...

'The last possibility could be that it was all just a coincidence. There may have even been a secret limitation to their spells that we don't know about. But this is also unlikely.'

After carefully trudging through the tunnel of the cave, the group began to notice that the glowing green light from the passageway was beginning to get dimmer the further they traveled.

As he was still worried, Leo decided to quietly chant a spell. He lowered his voice so nobody around would hear and tried his hardest not to move his lips. If someone really were watching them, it was best to be more discrete.

His short sword already drawn, Leo soon inspected the walls beside him and found that the green light they emitted was disappearing entirely.

[Light Orb]

Realizing that it was getting increasingly darker, Sarah helped the team provide some extra light to guide them.

But that would soon be proven to be unnecessary as, two minutes later, the group suddenly encountered an enormous cavern illuminated with several burning torches.

The ceiling was at least four meters high and appeared to have been chiseled with some cave tools. The faint scent of blood and feces were mixed in the air and filled the room with a slight stench.

Inside, there was a small wave of numerous little green goblins clad in an assortment of mismatched gear. From ten meters away, they mobbed around Leo's group at the cavern's entrance. Each one of them were leering and making sounds under their breath as they looked ravenously at the fresh prey in their midst.

"About time. You were really too cautious." A rough voice broke through from behind the mob of twittering goblins. It came from a hulking figure that towered over every single person in the room.

The creature was tall, clad in a mix of steel armor and cloth, and was also surrounded by four little goblin mages.

"Wha..." Judy was the first to make a response to this strange being before them. Words failed her as she was taken aback at the sight in the cavern. All her understanding of the world suddenly began to break.

"He he he," the tall figure who spoke smirked at the female human's incoherent reply. This was something he had already seen before but could never get tired of.

"This... this is a... gob-?" Sarah hesitated at what she should say.

"DO NOT USE THOSE WORDS!!!"

The tall creature's voice instantly boomed out like thunder, his delighted mood now furious. This giant creature, although green skinned and possessing similar facial features as his kind, did not like being referred to as a mere "goblin". Ever since his evolution, he quickly grew tired of the phrase.

The sounds of his words bounced off the cavern's walls so loudly that even the fellow group of goblins were shivering at the noise. Being closest to him, the goblin mages reactively covered their ears.

As for Alex and his team, their bodies shook a little but they ultimately stood their ground. That shout had also awakened their instincts and immediately jolted themselves out of their stupor.

Leo then subtly raised his short sword to aim the tip of his blade. He had long since finished his chanting and was storing the spell to be released at the enemy.

Before the creature raised his voice, Leo had already made a quick observation of the situation at hand. Though he was surprised at this monster's appearance and physique, he still remembered to be alert and assess what was in front of him to determine the best course of action.

'Those four goblin mages and that one big creature are very near each other...

'This is a perfect chance.'

Before the large green goblin bellowed again, Leo had already taken action. The first rule of combat: Don't waste time on unnecessary things like talking.

[Lightning Chain]!

One of his strongest spells was instantly released from the sword and quickly converged on the big goblin and his group of mages.

A magic barrier was erected around them to withstand the blast. However some tendrils of lightning managed to leak through and shocked the beings inside.

One of the advantages of this spell was its high damage potency on living beings. It also had the potential to pierce through the magic defenses of its targets while still covering a wide area.

Out of all his Advanced level spells, [Lightning Chain] was one of Leo's favorites in terms of destructive power. It's only problem was that it required a chant to be activated. In a fierce confrontation, if one wasn't prepared, this could easily become fatal for the user.

Although he mostly tested it on objects at the academy, Leo felt that this spell should be enough to at least incapacitate the small group of goblins at the rear.

The large barrier soon dissipated, but not before revealing that only two goblin mages had been knocked unconscious. The other two were singed but still remained standing despite the damage they had received.

As for the enormous goblin who was just about to speak again, he looked nearly unharmed.

A small group of ordinary goblins who had been near the blast were also knocked down, appearing to have been instantly killed by the wave of the spell.

"Damnit..." Leo cursed at his own luck. It had been too far away to see, but it appeared that the big goblin and the two mages were wearing equipment that could resist magic spells.

The big goblin was especially well-protected, as his armor actually emitted a glow around him when the lightning tendrils blasted through, though he still appeared to be somewhat affected.

"Hmph, how annoying." The big creature did not hesitate to openly display disdain at the attack of the human beings. But it was still true that he felt some lingering pain from the spell.

"It was a nice trick you pulled but it won't work again.

"Now... where were we?"

The towering monster raised a spiked club with his right arm and pointed it at Leo and his group.

"Here me well, you lowly humans," he sneered, "I am known as the Goblin King! Do not make light of me or my followers!"

The self-proclaimed Goblin King swung his club downwards and gestured at the goblin horde.

"Now my subjects, kill these intruders!"