The Transformation

The Moonless Reckoning

It was a moonless night when the final test came—a challenge unlike any before it.

Beneath the earth, in the darkest depths of the goblin city, there was a creature whose name was whispered only in fear. A nightmare given flesh.

The Goblin Lord.

A mutated, ancient being who had surpassed the hobgoblin stage. He had once been a goblin like the rest, but through centuries of unrelenting carnage, he had ascended into something that barely resembled his former kind.

They said he had lived through hundreds of battles, standing at the pinnacle of goblin evolution. That he possessed the strength of ten warlords, the magic of an entire coven of shamans, and a cruelty that made monsters cower.

And now, Eliana was going to face him.

The whispers spread like wildfire through the tunnels.

"If she kills him, she takes his throne."

"If she fails… she dies."

There was no middle ground. No escape. The final step in her evolution awaited, and the only way forward was through him.

A Monster of Legends

The air in the cavern was suffocating, thick with the stench of blood and rot. The Goblin Lord's domain was nothing like the crude camps of the goblins or the filth-ridden warrens of the hobgoblins. It was a fortress carved from the stone itself, its walls lined with the bones of those who had challenged him before.

And at the center of it all, seated upon a jagged throne of skulls, he waited.

The Goblin Lord was a giant. Towering, grotesque, a beast of sinew and malice wrapped in crude armor made from the remnants of his fallen foes. His skin was thick like stone, scarred from centuries of war. His tusks curled like a boar's, and his black eyes gleamed with a feral intelligence that promised agony beyond comprehension.

When he stood, the very ground trembled beneath his weight.

His voice was a low, guttural rumble that sent shivers through even the most hardened warriors.

"So, the little upstart finally comes to die."

Eliana didn't answer. She didn't need to.

The moment her foot stepped onto the battlefield, the challenge was accepted.

And the Goblin Lord roared.

A sound that shook the walls, sent dust raining from the cavern ceiling, and filled the hearts of watching goblins with primal terror.

The Battle That Shook the Caverns

The Goblin Lord charged like a living avalanche, his massive frame blurring as he lunged forward with a speed that should have been impossible for something his size.

Eliana barely dodged, twisting away as his monstrous fist crashed into the ground where she had been standing a heartbeat ago. The impact sent a shockwave through the cavern, cracking the stone and sending lesser goblins sprawling.

Before she could counter, his other hand lashed out.

Faster. Stronger. She barely had time to raise her arms before his fist connected with her chest.

The force was catastrophic.

Eliana was hurled backward, smashing through a column of stone, her body slamming into the ground hard enough to leave a crater. Pain shot through her ribs, but she didn't stay down. She couldn't.

With a snarl, she launched herself back into the fray.

She ducked under another massive swing, darting to his blind spot. Her claws sank deep into his side, cutting through flesh. Black blood oozed from the wound, and for the first time, the Goblin Lord grunted.

But then—

His wound began to close.

Eliana's eyes widened. Regeneration. Faster than anything she'd seen before.

The Goblin Lord grinned, revealing jagged, yellowed teeth.

"Did you think it would be that easy?"

He swung again, and this time, his fist crackled with dark magic. The moment it struck, Eliana's body screamed in agony. Magic surged through her veins like molten fire, burning, tearing, corrupting.

She collapsed to one knee, panting.

The Goblin Lord loomed over her. Unscathed. Untouchable.

And then he raised his foot.

To crush her.

The Breaking Point

Eliana's vision blurred. Her body was failing. This monster was beyond her.

No.

No, that wasn't right.

She had fought, bled, slaughtered her way through the ranks. She had torn through hobgoblins, broken the chains of her past, and defied death time and time again.

She was not weak.

She was not broken.

Not anymore.

The rage inside her ignited.

Power surged in her veins like wildfire.

And as the Goblin Lord's foot came down—

She moved.

Faster than ever before.

Her claws lashed upward, catching his leg mid-stomp, stopping him in his tracks.

The ground beneath her cracked from the force of their struggle.

For the first time, the Goblin Lord hesitated.

And Eliana grinned.

"My turn."

A roar tore from her throat—one that shook the cavern, one that sent pure terror through the onlookers. The power erupted from her body in waves, shattering the ground beneath her.

Lightning arced through her veins. Her muscles swelled, her bones stretched, her skin hardened into a near-indestructible armor. Her tusks lengthened into monstrous blades, her eyes burned like twin infernos.

The transformation was instantaneous.

And when she struck, it was cataclysmic.

Her claws ripped through his chest, tearing through flesh and bone like paper. The Goblin Lord staggered. Blood gushed from the gaping wound, his face twisted in disbelief.

"Impossible—!"

Eliana did not let him finish.

With a final, earth-shattering blow, she drove her claws into his skull, piercing through bone—

And ripped his head from his shoulders.

The Goblin Lord was dead.

Silence fell.

Then, a single thump.

His monstrous corpse collapsed, and the moment it hit the ground, the entire goblin city erupted into screams.

Some of horror.

Some of worship.

Because standing over the fallen ruler was no longer a goblin.

No longer a hobgoblin.

An orc.

Her skin was iron, her form a thing of nightmares, her eyes burning with vengeance unfulfilled.

Eliana—no, Lady Valerius—was born anew.

And now, the real hunt would begin.

Because she was no longer just fighting for survival.

She was fighting for revenge.

And nothing would stand in her way.