The Glowing Trap

Continuing their journey, Kai and Arthur walked side by side. As they passed the place where Kai had defeated the goblin general, they found themselves in an area with larger rocks scattered across the sides of the narrow path. This area was darker than the previous one but still had enough light to see the road ahead. Gigantic rocks lined the path, with patches of grass visible on the ground. Above them, sharp, pointed rocks jutted out from the ceiling, aiming toward the ground.

"If those fall on us, we're dead," Arthur muttered, looking up at the ceiling while continuing to walk. The pointed rocks stretched as far as he could see.

"Don't worry, okay? I know we're heading in the direction that big goblin came from, but there's a high chance that the village is this way too," Kai said while walking, glancing slightly at Arthur.

"Yeah… but are you really going to fight the Goblin King and his entire army alone?" Arthur asked with a worried expression.

"I'm not an idiot, nor am I strong enough to attack their main base directly. First, we need to find the village to heal your hand. Then, we'll gather information—where their main base is, how many goblins there are, their ranks, and their king," Kai explained, looking straight ahead.

"Oh… and I mean I, not we. I mistakenly said we," Kai added, his voice firm as he glanced at Arthur.

"Yeah…" Arthur muttered awkwardly, giving a small smile. Hearing Kai correct himself, Arthur felt uneasy but didn't have the courage to say anything.

"By the way, how strong are these goblins, anyway? Kata can handle them, right? He looked stronger than the goblin you just defeated," Arthur asked.

Hearing Arthur's words, Kai suddenly stopped but then continued walking.

Arthur didn't understand what had just happened. Why did Kai stop? He still didn't know that Kata had helped Kai defeat the giant goblin—he thought Kai had done it alone.

"The big goblin that I killed… its rank was general. He was a goblin general. After their king, goblin generals are the strongest. And I wasn't the one who killed that goblin general—Kata helped me. Without Kata's help, I'd be dead," Kai explained.

"What…?" Arthur reacted in shock, suddenly stopping. Seeing this, Kai, who was ahead of Arthur, also stopped and looked at him.

"There may be thirty or more goblin generals serving under the Goblin King. And if we skip ranks, then the Goblin King must have an army of at least twenty thousand goblins," Kai said, revealing just how dangerous their enemy was.

"Then… is Kata really that strong?" Arthur asked, thinking that Kai planned to rely on Kata's help to defeat the Goblin King and his army.

"You're mistaken, Arthur. If Kata helps me constantly, I'll never evolve. I have to do this myself so I can grow stronger. And it's not like I'm going to attack the goblins right away—if I do that, I'll die before even seeing their king," Kai replied, explaining his plan with a smile.

"I thought you were in a hurry to defeat the goblins," Arthur said.

"Of course, I'm in a hurry to defeat them. They're just prey to me—I'll kill them as I encounter them. Without confronting them head-on, I'll take them out one by one, backstabbing them without them even noticing. My goal is to kill them and become stronger, and for that, I'll use any method necessary," Kai explained.

Arthur was surprised to hear Kai's words and his approach to killing goblins.

"My goal is to kill as many goblins as possible. Of course, I'm going to kill all of them, including their king, and become even more powerful," Kai added.

'Maybe… I can do that too,' Arthur thought after hearing Kai's plan.

Finishing his words, Kai started walking again, and Arthur followed, lost in thought. He suddenly felt an urge to grow stronger, but he still didn't understand why he desired power.

Suddenly, Kata appeared in front of Kai, lowering his head.

"My lord," Kata said.

"Did you check?" Kai asked, stopping.

Before this, when Kai and Arthur entered the area, Kai had sent Kata ahead to gather as much information as possible.

"Yes, my lord. At the end of this road, in a new area, there are more goblins present. Their base must be somewhere nearby," Kata reported.

"I see. Continue gathering more information about their base. You can go now," Kai replied. Upon hearing Kai's words, Kata vanished once again.

"We're already this close to their base?!" Arthur reacted in shock.

"I guess we are. But don't worry—we're not going to face them so soon. First, we need to find a village to prepare ourselves," Kai said, turning toward Arthur.

"Yeah… but they're close," Arthur replied, worried that the goblin base was nearby.

"Don't worry. Kata is there, so we won't encounter any goblins soon," Kai reassured him.

"Oh… that's a relief," Arthur sighed.

"Kai, how strong is Kata, actually? Is he powerful enough to kill all the goblins and their king?" Arthur asked again, thinking about Kata's power.

While walking, Kai replied, "Of course not. Kata isn't that powerful. If he were, we wouldn't have come to this dungeon. Kata can only handle five to six goblin generals at most."

"What…?" Arthur reacted in shock, still walking behind Kai.

"I thought he was strong enough to take on the entire goblin army," Arthur said.

"What? Why would you think that? He's not ranked high enough among demons to have that kind of power," Kai explained, revealing more about Kata's level and the mysterious demon rankings.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Arthur and Kai glowed with a pink magic circle, spreading rapidly.

" Swep….Trap"

With rapid speed, a net shot up from the ground, capturing Kai and Arthur. The net pulled them into the air, wrapping tightly around them from all sides. A glowing pink magic circle remained on the ground beneath them.

Feeling weak and unable to move, Arthur and Kai were trapped inside the net, unable to escape.