Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP

But that didn’t necessarily mean he knew the whole truth.

My thoughts immediately drifted to Mordra.

She had hidden a tracking method from both Caius’ [Mana Detection] and a physical inspection by anchoring it outside normal space. If one person could accomplish something like that, there was no reason another couldn’t.

I kept my eyes fixed on Razak.

”Does that mean...” I asked slowly, ”...you’re completely unaware of what’s latched onto you?”

Razak’s head snapped up, confusion spreading across his face.

That single question sent a wave of shock through the room.

Every pair of eyes immediately turned toward Razak.

Even Razak himself twisted awkwardly, trying to look over his shoulder, panic beginning to spread across his face.

Then Ariel’s voice exploded inside my head.

”This is bad!”

The urgency in her tone made my heart skip a beat.

”The thing behind him is beginning to act!” she shouted. ”Finish him off! Now!”

”What...?” Razak’s breathing became uneven. ”Something is latched onto my back... what do you...”

He never finished.

The instant Ariel warned me, my body moved before my mind had the chance to hesitate.

I stepped forward and swung Gravefang using [Rift Slash].

A pitch-black crescent tore free from the blade, slicing cleanly through the space between us before passing straight through Razak’s body.

For a brief second, nothing happened. Then his body split cleanly in two.

The two halves collapsed onto the floor with a heavy thud, blood spreading beneath them as an unnatural ripple distorted the air just behind where he had been standing, as though something hidden had been violently forced into the open.

Silence engulfed the room as everyone stared at Razak’s lifeless body.

Gobbo stood rooted to the spot, Ziv’s eyes widened in disbelief, and even Narg’s usually composed expression stiffened. Caius, who rarely lost his composure no matter the situation, froze completely, unable to tear his gaze away from the corpse.

Zarah remained motionless for several long seconds before she slowly turned toward me, the shock written plainly across her face.

”What...”

Her lips parted, but the words caught in her throat.

”...Why?...Why did you kill him?”

”I told you they were compromised!” Narg shouted, my eyes never leaving Razak’s body. ”We shouldn’t have let them in so easily.”

As soon as Narg said that, a burst of dark energy erupted from Razak’s corpse, expanding outward in a violent wave that swept through the room. The pressure alone was enough to force everyone back several steps, chairs scraping across the floor as loose objects were hurled in every direction.

Without thinking, I rushed forward activating [Hand of the Raging Sun].

Golden flames immediately engulfed my arm.

My first thought was that this was another form of demonic corruption. If that were the case, ordinary attacks would be useless, leaving divine energy as the only reliable way to erase it before it had the chance to spread any further.

Without hesitating, I drove my blazing hand straight into the darkness.

The instant my fingers made contact, a deafening explosion erupted from within the black mass.

BOOM!

The force was so overwhelming that it felt less like I’d triggered an attack and more like space itself had violently rejected my touch, unleashing a shockwave powerful enough to send me hurtling backwards.

The impact sent me flying backward before I could even push any farther in. I twisted my body in midair and dug Gravefang into the floor, the blade carving a long trench through the stone before finally bringing me to a stop.

I immediately lifted my head, only to realize the darkness hadn’t dispersed.

Instead, it flowed back toward Razak’s body like liquid being drawn by an invisible force, gathering around the two severed halves before our very eyes.

Then, slowly but unmistakably, his corpse began knitting itself back together as flesh reconnected and shattered bones fused seamlessly, as though the body had never been split apart in the first place.

Even the deep spatial wound left behind by [Rift Slash] slowly disappeared, as though the body itself were merely a vessel being forcibly restored.

Then, a voice escaped from Razak’s mouth.

It wasn’t his.

It was deeper, older, and carried a quiet amusement that didn’t belong to the goblin lying before us, sending an uneasy silence over the entire room.

”I knew you were strong...” the voice said, its calmness far more unsettling than if it had shouted. ”...but I didn’t know you were this strong.”

I frowned and leveled Gravefang at him.

”Who are you?” I asked, my grip tightening around the hilt. ”Raghul?”

”Even worse,” Caius responded as he stepped forward, his voice unusually grave. ”A candidate.”

The room fell silent.

The creature wearing Razak’s body smiled, seemingly pleased that someone had recognized what it was, while Caius clicked his tongue in frustration.

”So that’s why...” he muttered.

His eyes narrowed as understanding dawned on him.

”No wonder [Foresight] showed me nothing. Your ability interferes with divination itself. It doesn’t merely cloud the future, it blocks any attempt to perceive it.”

The smile on Razak’s face widened.

”Insightful as always Caius.”

Without another word, the thing inhabiting Razak’s body slowly raised one hand, and the space behind him immediately began to distort.

A circular tear spread through the air, widening with every passing second until it became a massive portal. Darkness churned within it like an endless abyss, and a suffocating pressure poured into the room.

Then...

Heavy footsteps echoed from the other side.

One after another, towering figures emerged from the portal, each one broad-shouldered and massive, their sheer size forcing the room to feel smaller with every step they took. Their feet struck the floor with enough weight to send faint tremors through the stone beneath us.

A towering, broad-shouldered warrior stepped through first.

Its skin was a deep crimson, its lower tusks protruded from a massive jaw, and every muscle across its body looked as though it had been forged solely for war.

I didn’t need [Analyze] to tell me what they were.

They were...