As the goblinette screamed in pleasure again, the goblin's head above her disappeared in a mist of blood. She screamed again, this time scared shitless.
The other 2nd-tier goblin who was under her joined the first one soon after. His head popped off like a balloon as a purplish ball of flux penetrated him from the top of his skull and wreaked havoc in his body.
The goblinette was utterly stumped, the now-dead goblins still inside of her. She attempted to free herself, but Lucifer ended her with another missile.
[Challenge cleared!]
[80.39% experience is split according to talents Subordinate and Parasite]
[Lucifer gained 52.25% experience]
[Stone gained 28.14% experience]
With another triumphant hunt, he was exhilarated! It was an awesome feeling. He couldn't help himself but crave more. A small thought occurred to him that it was very… Monster-like. Was he Monster or not?
It was the same question he asked Stone so many times. Maybe he should stop using such stereotypical terms. Stone was Stone. Lucifer was Lucifer. Who cared about the rest?
He felt something click in him. It felt right.
He cleared his mind; it was time to resume the hunt.
For a few hours, Lucifer was not able to discover any suitable patrol to kill. The groups he found were either too powerful, large or just too close.
So he decided to train for a bit. He went through his list and facepalmed. He completely forgot about [Flux Bubble] and [Flux Shaping].
It was extremely boring, but he knew that their 3rd evolution was completely worth it. He inwardly sighed, wishing for the [Meditation] technique. However, he still did not know how to achieve it. He attempted to emulate Stone's procedure, but that stupid little pebble was too big of an enigma wrapped in mystery holding an explosive missile.
After some tenacious training, Lucifer got lucky and tracked down another group; a thin 2nd-tier goblin, wearing a tattered, brown robe, was leading four 1st-tier goblins with slave marks on their foreheads to… somewhere.
Lucifer thought he had mapped the whole area, but new shafts popped up almost randomly as if some Deity was fucking with him.
He groaned and followed them into the unknown.
They entered a small cavern, closely followed by a levitating Lucifer. In the middle was a bloody, small platform with four spires rising from the corners and a small altar in the centre.
The 1st-tier goblins were chained to the tapering spires, shivering and holding crooked daggers. The 2nd-tier goblin entered some sort of trance, muttering seemingly random words in the simple goblin language that Lucifer could not understand. He had never tried to learn their disgusting language.
Lucifer observed the ritual with interest and decided to let it play out. He was way too curious to stop them now.
The slaves stopped shivering as their eyes became vacant.
The master of ritual raised his hands and the slaves raised the daggers to their necks. After some more muttering, they slit their throats without hesitation.
The pouring blood formed a simple pentagram and an unstable, blueish portal appeared above the altar.
The leading goblin slumped down in exhaustion, and Lucifer ended him with a [Flux Missile] in the face. It was always funny to watch their incredulous eyes right before they expired.
[You have killed a 2nd-tier goblin]
[30.01% experience is split according to talents Subordinate and Parasite]
[Lucifer gained 19.57% experience]
[Stone gained 10.54% experience]
The portal was still firmly lodged in the space, even though it was highly unstable and volatile. Energetic discharges ripped the rock around without abandon.
A weak discharge grazed Lucifer's [Flux Shield], almost cracking it. Still, it held firmly, not even scratching Stone's surface. Lucifer [Flux] fluctuated as ithe shield ate into his reservers. He inwardly thanked the gods for giving Stone his insane regeneration. He still hated them, but he knew when to show appreciation.
Then, he cursed them as an all-too-well-known figure emerged from the hole in the space, followed by a powerful druegar wearing a rich attire; a purple, silky robe, with several engraved runes on the back. He had two golden rings on his left hand, in the same hand he grasped a metallic staff and a pouch hung over his shoulder.
The portal rippled for the last time and flickered out of existence.
"Dafur! Move yar ass!" The druegar nudged the dwarf with his staff.
"Yes, master," Dafur replied, his eyes red and empty, and moved to the side.
"Where're they?" The shaman mumbled and looked around, seeing the corpses. "Tche!" He disgruntled spat on ground, "what a trash! Dafur!"
"Yes, master?" A tear came out as he hatefully uttered the word 'master'.
"Find a goblin."
"Understood, master," he obediently replied and walked out of the room.
The shaman sat on the cold ground, closed his eyes and meditated.
Lucifer was dumbfounded. He never expected something like this to happen. He knew he should be used to this, as odd coincidences and weird twists of fate were common around Stone, but still...
Dafur appeared almost like a Monster with those glowing mana crystals embedded in his chest and vacant eyes.
Lucifer couldn't do anything for now. The shaman would notice and that would spell his and Stone's end.
So he just sat on the spot, carefully observing the meditating shaman. He also disabled the [Flux Shield]. It would be pretty embarrassing if Stone almost died, and consequently him, because he forgot to turn it on. And then because he forgot to turn it off.
☁☁☁☁☁☁
Unbeknownst to Lucifer, the aftermath of his small hunt was found by another patrol of scouts. This added to Stone's slaughters and the increased death rate and with no goblin bragging about it nor taking credit, the rumors started freely spread.
Two 3rd-tiers elites were dispatched to investigate with the help of experienced scouts and hunters, but they were after all mere goblins. Playing detectives was not in their nature.
They were not able to find the perpetrator or how it was all of this possible in the midst of their territory. Every single predator should have already been hunted down.
In the end, they decided there was a goblin assassin on the rise who was settling some scores.
As the more and more fantasticall talks and rumours continued to spread, the murder in their leader's quarters was also revealed. And that was the last nail in the coffin. Some goblins started rumours about a new unseen predator that was able to kill even 2nd-tier elites with ease under the nose of their illustrious leader.
Thus, The Ghost, a blight or a blessing, depending on who you asked, of the newly founded Goblin Army was born.