The fog thickened, curling around Arvey as a monstrous figure emerged fully from the mist. The weight of its presence alone was suffocating, as if the air itself recoiled from it. Its hulking form loomed over the battlefield, standing nearly three meters tall, its flesh a shifting mass of deep black, as if molded from the Abyss itself. Every step it took sent vibrations through the damp earth, the ground groaning under its sheer weight.

  Arvey exhaled sharply. "Oh shit, definitely not good."

  Then.. it moved.

  The first goblin barely had time to shriek before the creature lunged. Its clawed hand shot forward with terrifying speed, wrapping around the tiny body with an audible crunch. The goblin let out a bloodcurdling scream, its limbs flailing wildly, eyes wide with primal terror.

  The jaws came down.

  Rows upon rows of jagged teeth clamped shut around the writhing creature. A sickening crack echoed through the trees as bone shattered, followed by a grotesque, wet squelch. The goblin's cries died instantly, replaced by the nauseating sound of flesh tearing and the gurgle of something being swallowed whole.

  Blood sprayed onto the forest floor.

  The remaining goblins screamed in unison, their shrill voices rising in absolute terror. "Hal'Zurak! Hal'Zurak!" they shrieked, their panic surging as they scrambled to flee, their small legs stumbling over roots and rocks. One tripped, its hands clawing at the damp soil in desperation.

  The beast's head twitched in its direction.

  In an instant, it struck.

  Its second arm lashed out like a whip, claws extending mid-swing. The goblin barely had time to raise its head before the force of the strike sent it flying. Its tiny body slammed against a thick tree trunk with a stomach-churning thud. The impact was brutal - ribs cracked, and its skull caved in like brittle clay.

  It slid lifelessly to the ground, a smear of red staining the bark.

  The remaining goblins hesitated for a split second, caught between fight and flight. Their instincts screamed to run, but their legs remained rooted in place, trembling. One of the goblins gripped its spear so tightly that its knuckles turned white.

  The monster let out a low, guttural growl.

  Then it came again.

  Its movements were horrifying.. unnatural, fluid in a way something of its size shouldn’t be. It lunged forward in a blur of shifting darkness, its maw unhinging wider than before.

  The goblin with the spear reacted too late.

  It jabbed upward in a desperate attempt to fend off the attack, the crude weapon aimed directly for the creature’s gaping mouth. But the strike never connected.

  The beast’s clawed hand seized the goblin mid-thrust, lifting it effortlessly into the air.

  The goblin thrashed, screeching in panic, kicking its legs wildly as it tried to free itself. Its tiny fingers clawed at the monster’s grip, but its strength was nothing against the Abyss-born creature.

  Arvey watched, heart hammering.

  Then.. the creature squeezed.

  A sickening pop.

  The goblin’s torso collapsed inward with a wet, crunching noise. Its scream turned into a choked gurgle as blood foamed at its lips, and for a heartbeat its legs kept kicking like they didn’t believe the rest of it was already gone. A second later, the beast ripped the body apart.

  Another goblin, one Arvey hadn’t even noticed in the chaos, staggered out from behind a root, trying to crawl away on its elbows, its face slick with mud and panic. It glanced back once and that single mistake was enough.

  The beast’s head snapped toward it. One claw hooked the goblin by the ankle and yanked, dragging it screaming across the wet ground, then the jaws came down sideways like a closing trap.

  Arvey flinched, "Crazy..."

  The last two goblins, the only survivors, let out ear-piercing screeches and bolted into the trees.

  The beast didn’t chase them.

  Instead, it stood there, its massive body eerily still. Then, as if sensing him, the creature’s head turned slightly in his direction.

  The beast’s hollow sockets locked onto Arvey. A deep, guttural growl rumbled from within its chest, sending an unnatural chill down his spine. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to move. To run.

  Cold dread settled in Arvey’s bones.

  Slowly, he raised his hands, his movements deliberate, careful. His fingers trembled as he tore a strip of fabric from his already tattered shirt and wrapped it securely around Kozlo, tying the small owl against his chest. "Easy now... easy, big guy," he muttered, forcing his voice to stay calm. "Nice monster... no need to get all bitey."

  The monster let out another ear-splitting roar, its guttural snarl vibrating through the trees. Arvey's pulse spiked.

  "Kozlo, hold on!" he shouted, and without hesitation, he turned and ran.

  He bolted. The forest blurred past him, branches slashing at his skin as he tore through the undergrowth. His breath came in sharp gasps, lungs burning from the damp, acrid air. Kozlo flailed, wrapped against Arvey’s chest, his tiny wings flapping wildly.

  Behind him, the creature didn’t follow.

  It was still feasting.

  The grotesque sounds of tearing flesh and cracking bone echoed through the trees, but Arvey didn’t slow. He pushed forward, weaving between twisted roots and jagged rocks.

  The last goblins had fled into the trees, their retreat fueled by pure terror. They had no plan. No sense of direction. They just wanted to get as far away as possible.

  Arvey’s breath steadied as a thought snapped into place while he ran. "If the goblins ran home, they’d lead me straight to their base. Maybe I can find answers there".

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  He dropped low and found their frantic footprints in the damp soil, eyes flicking from broken moss to smeared mud. Uneven steps. Stumbles. Panic. They were wounded, tired, and bleeding trail like breadcrumbs. They wouldn’t last much longer.

  A snapped branch. A rustling ahead.

  Then he heard a branch snap, rustling ahead. Kozlo lifted a wing, mimicking Arvey’s signal for danger. Arvey grinned despite himself, then eased slowly forward, toward the direction the sound had come from.

  There he saw them. Two goblins, hunched over, gasping for breath. One clutched its injured arm, blood trickling down its side, while the other’s chest heaved, its spear trembling in its grip.

  Arvey clenched his jaw. Two against one.

  His fingers twitched. He didn’t hesitate.

  "Sorry, Kozlo."

  Before the owl could react, Arvey ripped him from his chest and hurled him straight into the face of the uninjured goblin.

  Kozlo screeched, "KOOZLOOOO" as he collided with the creature, his sharp talons digging into its eyes. The goblin shrieked, clawing at its face, stumbling backward, utterly blinded as Kozlo tore into its skin in a flurry of feathers and fury.

  Arvey didn’t wait to see the aftermath.

  He lunged at the wounded goblin, closing the distance in an instant. The creature barely had time to raise its spear before Arvey smashed it aside with his forearm, sending the weapon spinning into the dirt.

  The goblin snarled and lashed out with its claws, aiming for his throat. Arvey dodged, barely, the sharp nails scraping across his shoulder. He gritted his teeth, countering with a brutal punch to its ribs.

  A sickening crunch.

  The goblin wheezed, its body doubling over. Arvey seized the moment, grabbing the back of its head and slamming its skull straight into his rising knee.

  Bone cracked. Blood splattered across his leg. The goblin’s body jerked violently, its limbs twitching before it collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

  Arvey barely had time to exhale before he turned to face the last goblin.

  Kozlo flapped away as the creature ripped the owl from its face, its eyes red with blood and fury. It let out a guttural snarl and charged blindly.

  Arvey met it head-on.

  He ducked under its wild swing, twisting his body, and drove his elbow straight into its throat.

  The goblin gagged, stumbling back, choking. Arvey didn’t let up. He drove his knee into its gut, then grabbed its arm, twisting it behind its back with a sickening pop. The creature screamed in agony.

  With a brutal shove Arvey slammed it against the rough bark of a nearby tree.

  The goblin thrashed, but it was no use.

  The creature barely had time to react before Arvey drove the dagger straight through its palm.

  The goblin’s scream tore through the forest, its body writhing against the tree. Blood ran down the handle, dripping onto Arvey’s hand.

  Before it could try to rip itself free, Arvey grabbed the fallen spear.

  The goblin shrieked, voice cracking in terror. It clawed desperately at the air, but there was nothing to grab, no escape.

  Arvey drove the spear through its other palm.

  The force of the impact pinned it completely to the tree, arms spread wide like a grotesque offering to the forest. The goblin howled, its body convulsing in agony.

  Silence stretched between them, save for its ragged, wheezing breaths.

  Arvey stepped back, rolling the tension from his shoulders. His wounds throbbed, but he forced himself to stay focused. The goblin’s wide, beady eyes darted between him and its impaled hands, terror written across its face.

  Kozlo fluttered onto a low branch, tilting his head.

  Arvey exhaled through his nose, stepping forward. The goblin flinched.

  "Talk."

  It bared its teeth but had no strength left to resist. The fight was gone from its eyes.

  Arvey pressed his palm against the hilt of the dagger, pushing it deeper. The goblin let out a strangled cry, its body writhing.

  "The tribe," Arvey said. "Where is it?"

  The creature panted, its jaw trembling.

  Arvey twisted the blade. "Don’t make me ask again."

  A choked breath.

  "Deep… deep in forest," it rasped. "Hidden in Dome… many warriors… chief is very strong… gives us food, weapons."

  Arvey narrowed his eyes. A food source. New weapons. That was expected. "The Dome," he repeated as he leaned closer until he could smell the goblin. "What is it?"

  The goblin swallowed hard, its eyes darting to the trees as if searching for something. "Dome is.. dome. Chief makes it." It shoulders shook as it spoke. "Our home."

  "Who’s your chief?" Arvey asked.

  The goblin hesitated. Arvey wrenched the blade again.

  It screeched. "No name! no name!" it spat, voice cracking. "I don't know! I swear!"

  Arvey's eyes narrowed. He didn't believe it. With a sharp grunt, he drove his fist into the goblin's gut. The creature howled, its body convulsing against the tree as blood bubbled from its lips.

  "Really don't know!" it wailed, gasping for breath. "Our rule! Only strongest warriors can know warriors name. Weak ones! No, chief kills!"

  Arvey held the goblin’s gaze. "So he keeps his name clean," he said quietly. "Lets fear do the work while the weak bleed for him." He pushed the dagger a hair deeper, just to remind.

  Kozlo clicked his beak, his feathers puffing up like he wanted to look bigger. "Name secret… chief scared," he whispered.

  The goblin jerked its head hard, panic making its whole body shake. "No—no! Chief mighty," it rasped, eyes flicking toward the direction where that giant beast was supposed to be. "In whole forest… everybody fears. Even Tier 5 Hal’Zurak fear."

  Arvey’s eyes narrowed. "Tier 5? That monster?" he asked, clearly surprised.

  The goblin nodded so fast it looked like it might snap its own neck.

  Arvey didn’t look away from the goblin. "Good," he said quietly, then leaned in a fraction, letting the threat sit in his calm. "Which direction is the Dome?"

  The goblin’s body trembled. It hesitated, then, with one of his trembling fingers, pointed toward the thickest part of the forest. The direction it had run to.

  Arvey followed its gaze, staring into the abyssal woods. A direction was enough. He exhaled slowly. "You know," he muttered, tilting his head, "as a slave, you see the worst of the world. You learn that mercy is a luxury you can’t afford, and if you want to survive, you stop feeling at the right moments. You turn cold. You do what you have to."

  The goblin trembled violently, its breath coming in ragged gasps.

  Arvey’s expression remained unreadable. His grip on the dagger tightened. With a sharp yank, he tore the weapon free from the tree’s bark, its edge slick with blood.

  The goblin’s lips parted, about to speak, but Arvey didn’t let it.

  With one swift motion, he drove the dagger straight into its throat, the force slamming its head back against the bark.

  The goblin’s body seized, its eyes bulging, a garbled sound escaping its lips. It twitched for a moment, fingers weakly clawing at the air.

  Then it slumped.

  Arvey pulled back, shaking the blood off the blade. His eyes flicked once toward the fog behind them, and the silence suddenly felt too thin. "We need to move," he muttered. "If that Hal’Zurak is still close, it might come sniffing for what it didn’t finish." His eyes flicked toward the trees behind them, and a grim thought followed. "Probably still feasting on that giant fish."

  Kozlo fluttered onto his shoulder, claws pinching lightly through the fabric as he steadied himself. The little owl blinked, tilting his head, then puffed his chest like he wanted credit for the whole mess. "Kozlo stronger," he chirped.

  "Maybe," Arvey said, already moving. He flicked his eyes to the owl. "Since when can you fly?"

  "Kozlo always fly," he whispered, a little offended. "But Kozlo don’t like."

  Arvey huffed something close to a laugh and kept his hands busy. "Yeah," he murmured. "Nobody likes it." He crouched by the pinned goblin first, as he stripped its belongings, ignoring the cooling tremor in its limbs. Then he went to the other goblin corpse, rifling through it. When he was done, he sat back on his heels and stared at what he’d pulled free, weighing it. Two crude daggers lay in his hands. One was the blade he already had and had driven through a palm to pin the goblin to the tree, the other was fresh from the second corpse, heavier in the handle and meaner at the tip.

  He slid both daggers into the side straps at his hips, buckling them down until the handles sat tight against his ribs. His eyes swept the trees. "Better than being bare-handed in this forest," he muttered while looking around.

  Then his gaze dropped to the small warm object in his palm. "What’s this?" he whispered, turning it once. Kozlo leaned forward on his shoulder and blinked. "Core," Kozlo said, as if it was obvious.

  Arvey’s eyes narrowed further. "Core?" He glanced back at the object, then at Kozlo. "The ones I know look different." He closed his fist and packed it away.

  Remembering something, he spoke to Kozlo. "And I don’t know why that beast ignored you," his eyes flicking once toward the fog, "but if you jump into danger like that again, that’s on you." He lifted two fingers between them. "Two fingers means stop, danger. You freeze. You understand?"

  Kozlo nodded fast, trying to look serious. "Okay, Boss!".

  Arvey held the stare for one more heartbeat, then gave a short nod back. "Okay." As he straightened, his eyes swept the dark between the trunks. "If even Tier Five monsters aren’t at the top of the food chain out here, we stay careful." With the daggers secured he turned toward the thickest part of the forest. "Let's go."