Chapter 1: Death, but not without a fight
'Long ears, green skin, pointed nose, yellow eyes and canines – these were a few terms used to describe the goblins, who roamed the Great Dassire forest.'
'There were a few more terms that described them: Lustful beings, Predators, the Strong ones – heck, for over a century, they ruled the great forest. All other beings feared them, even the mightiest ones – the dragons… It would have been good if this were true…'
'Why!? Why is it that we must be hunted?'
'Why are we born weak?'
"Why can't we grow stronger like other beings…?", a young goblin, almost double the size of a dwarf, stood at the edge of the forest and thought to itself.
In front of him were the bodies of hundreds other goblins – some had arrows pierced their abdomen while others had their heads smashed by large maces. Many of the bodies were torn apart, their limbs missing. The same was the case with their ears: Missing.
As for internal organs, they were scattered here and there.
Bozo noticed a pool of blood – the bodies seemingly floating above them.
He fell on his knees, tears drenching his face. His vision was cloudy and his breathing unsteady.
He gritted his teeth, and clenched his fist, his sharp nails piercing the skin and causing him bleed, but the pain was nowhere near comparable to the grief of having lost his entire clan – his parents and siblings butchered and his friends dead.
"Ma… Ba…"
"Eso… Uso… Gabo…", tears kept cascading down, combined with sweat and a mixture of grime and mucus which bubbled close to his mouth.
"You all promised to come with me, for my first hunt when I turn seven…"
"It's my birthday today."
"And this is my gift?", he raised his head up, staring at the night sky which looked rather beautiful.
Bozo, the young goblin who had turned seven just today, had gone to the River of Age, a fancy name given by the goblins, where they would bath for the first time when they turn seven. They would conduct their first hunt – a fish, and bring them back.
Leave the fish, the large forest fire caught Bozo's attention, causing him to sprint back to their cave, only to find many lifeless bodies. And now, after taking a few steps ahead, he found the bodies of his family.
Silence surrounded the scene and Bozo's gaze remained fixated on the sky. It was almost as if tears were being drained back to his eyes, but drizzled down anyway.
His body started to visibly tremble as a thought crossed his mind.
"Humans…", he uttered.
[Hu- mans…], a distorted voice rang close to Bozo, yet inaudible to him.
"I want to kill them!"
[K-kil humans?]
[Kill is okay?]
"They took my everything. I won't forgive them!", his eyes reddened as he said that, his voice low but filled with rage.
[F-forgive not…?]
"My turn…"
[My turn?]
"I will… yes, I will steal everything from them!"
[Steal?]
"I-"
A throbbing pain erupted around his chest causing a burning sensation. As Bozo lowered his head, he found the headpiece of a spear extending from his chest.
It didn't take Bozo long to realize that he was pierced by a spear.
Slowly and steadily he turned his head back, his gaze being locked on a young human female, no more than eighteen, who gripped the spear.
Bozo's gaze was already blurry so he could hardly see anything clearly.
His mouth was wide open in shock, confused at how he couldn't hear the humans approaching.
In fact, maybe his rage and loud voice ended up drawing them near.
He had but himself to blame… but is that right!?
'No, it's not me… It's them!'
He felt strength leaving his body as blood dripped down his chest with the spear still intact but despite all that, his left hand thrust forward, gripping the spear that had pierced him tightly.
The young girl tried her best to pull the spear, but she was not strong enough as the weak goblin!
"Pfft, stop playing around.", said another human, tall and bearded, who stood behind the girl. His face was barely visible due to the dark night.
Blood vessels enlarged filled with overflowing blood caused Bozo to stand up on his feet, his hand holding the spear even now.
The girl startled, takes a few steps back, letting go of the spear.
'Goblin code, Fifth Fang, don't pull any object that has pierced your body. It can cause excessive bleeding upon being removed..', Bozo recalled, his breath heavy and pain evident.
"AAAH!", Bozo screamed, as loud as possible, lifting his right hand and placing it close to his mouth, plucking out one of the largest canines he had. It was just half the size of his fist, but large enough to act as a small blade!
Pulling his right hand back, he threw it with great force like an arrow which swiftly closed in towards the girl.
The girl's eyes widened, her life flashing before her eyes as the teeth went straight into her left eye, piercing it and making her bleed.
"KYAAA!", she screamed, her scream causing the crows that had arrived to fly away.
Bozo's blood boiled when he saw this, a sinister smirk sitting on his face.
"Take that, you humans!"
[G-great!]
Bozo noticed the second human pulling out the sword in confusion and haste.
His gaze fell on an arrow that was to his right, but a little behind to pick which, he had to turn back but…
'Goblin code, Third Fang, never show your back to foes or enemies.'
Rather than showing back, Bozo merely took a step behind which the codes didn't restrict, picking up the arrow and chucking it forward, like he had done with his teeth. Unfortunately, he made too many movements and the man had withdrawn the sword, slashing the incoming arrow like meat!
"You bastard!", the human shouted, swinging his blade with great force causing a mana blade to blast away from it.
It was reddish, the colour of mana and the blood that oozed from Bozo, who was cut almost in half diagonally.
The impact of the slash caused him to fly backwards, falling into the puddle of blood, rejoining his family.
As he blinked once or twice, he found his father, mother and sister, all surrounding him.
[You alright?]
'Forgive me… I couldn't kill even a single human…'
'I couldn't take revenge…', his eyes were reddened with tears and drops of blood that had splashed on them.
Green skin was coated in red and the spear, because of falling on his back, penetrated even more.
'Ah, looks like I am dea-'
And just when he thought this while looking at the peaceful sky, trying to forget about revenge and remember the happy times, he found the girl whom he had injured standing almost above him.
Her face was demonic.
"Wha-"
Before he could say anything else, the girl gripped the spear that had penetrated with both her hands, and pulled it out with great strength.
"AHHH!", he screamed as she pulled it out.
Then pointing at Bozo, she started thrusting it forward, impaling and stabbing him repeatedly and blood kept splashing around, getting on her face and clothes.
"Die!"
"Die!"
"Die!", she kept shouting.
But Bozo was calm, his eyes shut as if he was dead.
The girl, after stabbing about ten times, panted as she was tired, lowering her head close to that of Bozo's.
"Ha… how dare you lowly bug attack me!?", she asked.
"You insects deserve this, Death. You don't deserve to be born!"
Hearing this, Bozo's mind erupted, his rage uncontrollable.
Goblin code Tenth Fang: Play dead and muster every last ounce of strength to deal a final attack if possible.
And that's what Bozo did, raising his left and right hands as she got closer, thrusting them forward and grabbing a hold of her neck, gripping them hard with all his might.
Cough!
The man who stood behind rushed forward, but he was late, for the girl was no more.
Bozo strangled her to death!
But he wasn't alive anymore to rejoice on the matter… his hands slowly falling down, sinking into the pool of blood as his body became devoid of life.
He was dead.
But, this was just the beginning of the saga…
[Desire: Revenge.] [Condition fulfilled.]
[Hate against: Humans] [Condition fulfilled.]
[Kill at least 1 human.] [Condition fulfilled.]
[Race: Non-human.] [Condition fulfilled.]
[Congratulations, you have met all the requirements to inherit the Villain Arc System.]