Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

By the time the reinforcements arrived, the goblin army had already retreated.

King Garandel’s face fell when he saw the corpses of hundreds of elven warriors scattered all over the grassland.

He felt a wave of sorrow.

He was even familiar with some of those who had died. He could remember his conversations with them and it made him even more heartbroken.

“Your Majesty!” An elven warrior rushed to his side with an anxious look.

King Garandel raised an eyebrow as he glanced at him.

“Your Majesty, Elder Dahon is severely wounded and Elder Aegris has overexerted his mana!” The elven warrior reported.

Hearing this, King Garandel’s eyes widened. “Where are they?”

He was stunned, but he had to maintain the dignity of a king.

“They are receiving treatment from the beast soul warriors with healing integrated monster traits.” The elven warrior replied.

King Garandel nodded. He then turned his gaze to Neo and instructed him. “Elder Neo, gather twenty of our best riders and chase after the goblins at a safe distance! We must find out where they are hiding! Once you discover their camp, return at once!”

Neo acknowledged the command with a nod of his head. “Yes, Your Majesty!”

He didn’t linger any further and left after choosing twenty riders.

Meanwhile, King Garandel followed the elven warrior to check on Elder Dahon and Elder Aegris’ condition.

They were being treated by two beast soul warriors with healing traits.

“Your Majesty!” Elder Sunset was the first one to notice his arrival.

Everyone immediately greeted the king, even those who were injured wanted to get up to greet him.

However, King Garandel immediately waved his hand and said. “At ease, everyone.”

He looked at Elder Sunset and nodded to her before he asked. “How are they doing?”

Elder Sunset sighed while shaking her head. “It is not good, Your Majesty.”

“Elder Dahon broke some of his ribs and he almost depleted his mana. He also sustained numerous injuries in his body. He is still conscious, but he is in extreme pain.”

“As for Elder Aegris, his condition is much worse. He had overexerted his mana and he lost consciousness after killing a goblin monarch.”

King Garandel’s expression hardened.

He knew that it was fatal for a beast soul warrior to overexert their mana.

The elven king took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

We have been duped by those goblins! Their target was not the mountain pass, but this grassland!

This grassland would lead to the western side of the Greenwood Kingdom. It was a longer route since one would have to take a few turns before they could reach the kingdom.

Beyond this grassland, the goblins would have to travel to a forest infested by venomous snakes.

Because of this, they all thought that the dumb goblins would choose to take the path toward the mountain pass.

“How many goblin monarchs did you encounter?” The elven king asked with a stern face.

“There were four goblin monarchs.” Elder Sunset replied.

Four?

The elven king frowned.

Goblin monarchs were arrogant monsters and they were even hostile to their kind.

While he was in deep thought, Elder Sunset’s voice suddenly drifted into his ears.

“Your Majesty, is it possible that there is something else commanding those goblin monarchs?”

Garandel was stunned.

To their knowledge, the goblin monarch was the final evolution form of the goblins. They were monsters with unparalleled physical strength and they also possessed high levels of mana. Furthermore, their intelligence was beyond that of the normal goblins.

Now, what if this wasn’t the final evolution form of the goblins?

Just the thought of it made Garandel horrified.

A single goblin monarch was already troublesome. What kind of creature was more powerful than that?

“That should not be possible.” He didn’t want to believe that such a creature existed.

Elder Sunset furrowed her eyebrows and no longer pursued the matter. It was only speculation on her part and she had no definite proof that it existed.

“I think it is possible…” A calm voice drifted into their ears.

When they turned around, they saw that it was Lucas who had come with the military officers of the human warriors.

“What do you mean, Lord Lucas?” King Garandel frowned.

Lucas cleared his throat and shook his head as he replied. “I am not saying this to scare you, but I have once read a book about a certain type of creature. The book said that goblin monarchs are merely the failed evolution form of a goblin chieftain.”

“What?!”

Everyone was in disbelief, including Alaric who had followed his father.

He hadn’t read anything about this so he didn’t know what Lucas was talking about.

If a goblin monarch is merely a failed evolution form, then just how strong is one that has successfully evolved?

“The book was written by an unknown author so it was only treated as heresay, but some scholars believed it to be true.” Lucas had read this book in the library of the imperial family. If this war hadn’t occured, he wouldn’t have remembered having read that book.

“Can you describe the creature mentioned in the book?” Another person appeared.

It was the Grand Elder, Rosalie, who had just patched up her wounds.

Lucas stared deeply at her and replied. “The creature just looks like a typical goblin monarch, but it is on the slender side. It has pale green skin with red eyes. It has two horns on its head and two prominent sharp fangs. However, its most striking feature is the pair of wings on its back.”

“Another thing that the book mentioned is the creature’s strength. It says that the creature is close to Catastrophe-grade…”

Everyone gasped upon hearing this.

Catastrophe-grade monsters were creatures with unimaginable power. They possessed the strength that could destroy multiple cities!

[Mission Update!]

___

Mission: Defeat the Goblin Colony

Mission Difficulty: Hard —> Extreme

A powerful creature has emerged in the goblin colony! Defeat the creature and destroy the goblin colony!

Rewards: 1500 Battle Points, 50 EXP, 50 Stat Points, Equipment Upgrade Card x1, Random Trait Upgrade Card x1

Penalty for failure: – 2000 Battle Points, -200 EXP