The situation was strange. A war was fought, yet it wasn’t a war of conquest. It was a war for the death of one Goblin. One side did not lose any land, and the other did not gain any land. All that happened was that the man they sought to kill remained alive.

  While it wasn’t total annihilation for the side of the killers, they reached the point where they were no longer capable of taking the life of even one Goblin. So, they had to return to their own lands.

  The Demi-humans who were still alive had the longest journey as they traveled back to Demi-human territory. The Spear of Touval took what remained of her people and made her own journey home. The riders of North Balarian rode in silence to their North Eastern homes.

  All over the continent, troops of all different sizes and origins from multiple powers were returning home, defeated and with far fewer than they had left with. In the weeks that followed, more and more forces, nations, and groups heard about what had happened in the Dark Lands of Mir. While most of the populace weren’t given the finer details, everyone learned two major facts.

  First, troops from all over the continent had gone north to kill the King of Goblins. Second, those same forces returned with no word of the so called King’s death.

  Rumors spread quickly. Some said there was no King of Goblins and that the entire ordeal was simply another minor continental war that ended without a winner. Others claimed the armies had gone to defeat some greater evil. As people tend to do, they made up whatever explanations suited them.

  But those in the know, families, nobles, and leaders of the various nations, knew the truth. There was indeed a Goblin King, and not only that, but he was also alive. Worse, he was far stronger than anyone had imagined.

  That meant the situation was beyond the worst case scenario.

  The reaction to this news differed greatly across the nations that had participated in the Goblin Eradication Summit. Some wanted to immediately assemble a larger army and march back north while the Goblins were still weakened. Others wanted to seal off the Dark Lands of Mir again, just as their ancestors had done in the past during a similar crisis. None of them had participated in that ancient sealing, but the history remained within their kingdoms.

  However, one King in particular had a different mindset, one of action.

  The King of Verdan was furious when he learned of the failure, not of the entire army, but of the Knights of his own Kingdom. How dare they be embarrassed by goblins, not once but twice. This was unacceptable in his eyes.

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  Instead of conforming to the unwritten rules of engagement on the continent, where Tier Eight beings of a kingdom did not leave their borders without significant reason, the man vanished from his dwelling.

  His power boomed across the entirety of Verdan, and everyone of significance outside the nation could feel it. Someone in the direction of Verdan was on the move, and it was someone strong. Their power announced their presence before words could ever do so.

  Before anyone could act on the King of Verdan’s sudden movements, the man rose into the sky and took off with a thunderous boom toward the Dark Lands of Mir.

  And unlike the long journeys of other armies from across the continent, it would not take the King of Verdan days, weeks, or months to reach his destination.

  Instead less than an hour passed before the King of Verdan reached the borders of the Dark Lands of Mir.

  His power was on full display. Every creature within the Dark Lands of Mir stirred as they felt a presence weigh down upon them from above. This was no ordinary weight, nor was it something the King of Verdan intentionally did. Normally, he restrained himself, keeping his power suppressed, but this time he did no such thing and allowed his passive abilities to flow freely.

  This confrontation took place a roughly a day after the surviving Knights of Verdan had returned to their Kingdom. During that time, the king had long been aware of their return, waiting patiently in Verdan for their report. The moment he received it, he took off toward the Dark Lands of Mir.

  But…he made it only to the border. He did not dare move a single step closer.

  Down below, waiting on the ground, was a small creature. It was pitch black in color, darker than anything else in the lands of Mir. Its eyes continuously shifted between the colors, yellow, white, blue, and red, without pause, each lasting only a few seconds before changing again. Two tails flowed ominously in the air as it sat calmly on the ground.

  Apart from these few oddities, it looked like a common house cat.

  Yet despite its appearance, the mighty Tier Eight King of Verdan, who floated with such power and authority in his posture, did not dare treat the creature before him like a common cat. Instead, he slowly lowered himself to the ground, eventually landing before the creature and bowing his head.

  “Greetings, Mir. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  A voice that sounded like that of a small child, only with a hint of distortion could then be heard.

  “Hmmm. I don’t really want to talk to you. Go away and don’t come back.”

  The cat said this while licking its paw, as if its words weren’t a question but a statement of fact. Of course, the King of Verdan did not react in anger. He only responded calmly.

  “I’m afraid I cannot do that, Mir. I have business here, and I will see it done.”

  At those words, Mir paused the licking of its paw. Then it calmly lowered said paw to the ground before finally looking up at the King of Verdan. Its eyes, which had been continuously shifting between colors, finally settled on one, red.

  The second that happened, pressure descended upon the King of Verdan. His knees were slammed into the ground with such force that the earth for miles around shook. The cliff face that led to the Goblin clans threatened to break apart.

  Then Mir’s voice could be heard again.

  “I said to go away and not come back.”