The Art of Dirty War
Arion stood in the shadows, watching the symphony of chaos he had orchestrated himself. The hall below was a theater of greed and stupidity. It wasn't just a fight; it was a total collapse of the goblins' fragile social order. A wicked smile still lingered on his face, but his mind was working with the cold precision of a calculator, analyzing every move and every thought.
He no longer saw mere goblins — he saw variables in a complex equation.
He kept using [Status Vision], not randomly, but methodically. He was tracking the key "players" on the board.
> [Gragnak - Chief]: HP: 85%.
Status: Furious, betrayed, determined to crush the rebellion.
Thoughts: "I'll kill every traitor! I'll make a necklace from their teeth! When I'm done, I'll find whoever is watching us and kill him too!"
"So, he's still the biggest threat," Arion thought, "but he's burning himself out fighting his own. Perfect."
Then he shifted focus to the jealous guard who had proven himself cleverer than the others.
> [Grulk - Guard]: HP: 100%.
Status: Excited, cunning, waiting for the right moment.
Thoughts: "Let the fools fight! Chief Gragnak will weaken himself fighting the rebels. I'll lead my little faction to take the side hoard. When the fight is over, I'll have enough wealth and followers to become the new chief. Yes, brilliant plan!"
"Interesting," Arion thought. "This little rat has ambition. But his ambition will serve my plan."
---
Fuel to the Fire
The battle below was reaching a turning point. Gragnak, with his brute strength, had begun to crush the initial uprising. He had killed three more goblins, and the rest were starting to waver and think of retreating. If Gragnak regained control now, Arion's plan would fail. He needed to pour fuel on the fire.
He didn't need brute force, just a small push at the right moment.
His eyes fell on Gragnak's main gold hoard — the "throne" he sat on. The pile was unstable, something he'd noticed earlier. Near its base was a support rock that looked loose.
As Gragnak raised his axe to finish off another rebel, Arion used simple telekinesis. He didn't target the chief directly, but nudged that small rock.
With effort, he shifted it a few centimeters.
Crkkk…
That was all it took.
The entire gold pile collapsed with a thunderous crash, like a waterfall of treasure. Thousands of glittering coins scattered across the stone floor.
For a heartbeat, everything froze. Every goblin, loyalist or rebel, stared at the golden sea that had just become "everyone's treasure."
The instinct for greed — stronger than any loyalty or fear — took over.
"Mine! The gold is mine!"
The hall exploded into pure, unbridled chaos. There were no factions anymore, no chief. Every goblin fought for himself, clawing, biting, killing his neighbor for a handful of coins. Even Gragnak's most loyal guards bent down quickly to grab a few pieces before resuming the fight.
"Now," Arion whispered with an icy smile. "Time to harvest."
---
A Phantom on the Battlefield
While the chaos raged, Arion silently descended from his high perch, using his Pulse Sense and Vibration Detection to pick a safe path through the brawl. He moved like a phantom, unnoticed amid the screams and clash of rusty blades.
He wasn't a hero charging into battle — he was an opportunistic predator, picking his targets with care.
He spotted a wounded goblin crawling away, clutching a fat sack of gold. Arion slipped up behind him silently and, with one swift, clean motion, drove his blade into the base of the creature's skull. The goblin died instantly.
Arion grabbed the sack and stashed it.
Ding~
> [You have killed a Goblin Worker.]
[+15 EXP]
"Good start."
He moved on. He saw two goblins locked in a savage fight over a single gold coin. He hid behind a column and waited. After a moment, one fell dead. Before the exhausted victor could catch his breath, Arion's sword slid through his back and heart.
Ding~
> [You have killed a Goblin Warrior.]
[+22 EXP]
This wasn't battle — it was cleanup. He was using the chaos he'd created as perfect cover. It was like kill-stealing in a video game, but on a larger, bloodier scale. He let them weaken each other, then stepped in to reap the rewards with minimal effort.
Each kill made him feel stronger — not just physically, but in sheer control. He commanded the entire battlefield without ever being part of it.
---
The Final Showdown… Almost
After half an hour of bloody chaos, the sounds of fighting began to fade. The stone floor was carpeted with corpses, gold, and blood.
Only a handful of goblins remained standing.
In the center of it all were two figures.
Gragnak, the chief, was gasping for breath. His body was covered in wounds, his crude armor shattered in several places. But he was still on his feet, roaring in rage at his fallen kingdom.
> [Gragnak - Chief]: HP: 35%.
Status: Furious, badly wounded, exhausted.
And opposite him stood Grulk. He'd been clever enough to avoid the worst of the fighting, only striking down weaker rivals. He was injured too, but in far better shape than his chief.
> [Grulk - Guard]: HP: 60%.
Status: Ambitious, injured, waiting for the moment.
The two monsters turned to face each other. This was the final battle for the throne of this filthy pit.
"Now," Arion thought, "your end will be by my hand."
Before they could clash, Arion moved.
He didn't attack Gragnak directly. Instead, he used telekinesis on a rusty axe lying next to Gragnak's wounded foot. He nudged it slightly.
The already unsteady chief stumbled, losing balance for just a moment.
That moment was all Arion needed.
He lunged from the shadows, enhanced sprint active. He didn't aim for Gragnak's head or armored chest — he went for a weak spot he'd noted earlier with Status Vision: a gap in the armor under the chief's armpit, widened by an earlier wound.
Arion drove his plain steel sword into that gap up to the hilt.
Grgghh…
Gragnak looked down in shock, then up at the silent figure who had appeared from nowhere. He never understood what happened. Then he collapsed, dead.
Ding~
> [You have killed Gragnak the Goblin Chief!]
[+65 EXP]
[Current Level: 4 — 400/243]
---
Total Surrender
Grulk, the last goblin standing, froze in place. He stared, paralyzed with terror, at the ghost who'd appeared and slain the mighty chief with a single strike.
Arion turned slowly, blood dripping from his blade. He walked calmly toward the trembling Grulk.
He lifted his hand and pointed at the piles of gold and corpses. Then he looked at Grulk.
No words were needed. Grulk understood.
He dropped to his knees, bashing his forehead against the stone floor again and again in utter submission and servitude.
Arion stood over him, surveying his new kingdom of corpses, a treasure hoard of gold, and one terrified slave.
"Well, Grulk," Arion thought with a cold smile. "You wanted to be chief. Congratulations. You've been promoted. You're now… the overseer of my mine."