"Urgh!"
A putrid odor wafted past Rey's nose as he reached the entrance of the Hobgoblin's base.
The clearing was right before him, and he already felt sick to his stomach.
'Goblins aren't particularly known for their hygiene, but this is on another level…' Rey crinkled his nose and narrowed his gaze.
His heightened perception made it difficult for him to ignore the stench, so he just had to endure it.
'Whatever! Let's just get this over with.'
Rey walked right past the entrance and soon found himself in a clearing.
The hallway had been plenty large enough, but compared to the massive auditorium he now stood in, it might have as well been a tightened compartment.
The expanse was large enough to contain thousands upon thousands of adult humans, with tons more room to spare.
And occupying this space were a horde of Hobgoblins waiting for him.
About three hundred of them.
'It's not surprising, considering how massive this place is…'
Rey thought that, but his eyes still widened at the sight of so many monsters in a single location.
Hobgoblins were a cooperative race, but this number was considerably large for a civilization.
'External factors such as disease, predators, and other things ensure that Goblin populations naturally dwindle.'
Adding that to their short lifespan, and they gave a perfect brew of why there weren't too many Goblins in the world.
'These ones don't have predators any longer, so that greatly improves their numbers…'
The question, however, was what happened to the previous apex predators of this Floor?
Rey only had to look around for a brief instant to know the answer.
'Ahh…' His eyes twitched a little.
He could see dog-like creatures—all of them in cages and pens—located in multiple corners of the massive clearing.
They had wild looks in their eyes, and it was clear they were monsters, but something about them seemed… domesticated.
'So the Hobgoblins conquered the NightWolves and turned them into their livestock…'
It was quite an efficient system, and Rey couldn't help but be impressed.
Most unintelligent monsters would just go around killing their enemies if they got the chance to, but the Hobgoblins were different.
'If I had to guess, they learned how to use the Orichalcum here, and they launched a counterattack on the NightWolves using their tricky strategy…'
Apex Predators hardly ever needed to use dirty tricks to win. They were naturally stronger than their prey, so it was a given that they would emerge victorious.
As such, the NightWolves were probably extremely surprised by the resistance that the Hobgoblins put up.
The Orichalcum was a very durable mineral, and it must have helped protect the Hobs from whatever Skills the NightWolves were dependent on.
'Fastforward a few months… maybe years… and this became the natural conclusion.' Rey smiled at the slimy green creatures before him.
Instead of utterly eliminating the NightWolves, the Hobgoblins kept them alive.
'They must have realized they could use them as an endless source of food. This way, the Hobs won't need to starve or feed off of dirt or one another to survive.'
From the way Rey saw it, these monsters were currently thriving.
Unfortunately, they were yet to do anything about their hygiene.
The feces of both Hobgoblins and NightWolves were dumped in a corner and left to rot.
It was disgusting, and seeing it caused Rey to gag. The Hobgoblins seemed to be enjoying themselves regardless, though.
Perhaps their nose had even adapted to like the smell.
'I almost feel bad for ruining your paradise, but I'm sure you've had a good run already.' Rey raised one of his hands.
He could see the hundreds of Hobgoblins draw their Orichalcum weapons and look at him with fierce resolve.
Their murderous gaze touched him slightly, but he wasn't letting up because of that.
'Why are they holding off on attacking me? Well, if I had to guess…'
Rey lifted his face and looked beyond the three hundred Hobgoblins before him.
Sitting on a throne carved from pure Orichalcum was a Hobgoblin that was coated in Nightwolf fur. He had a crown that seemed like a mixture of Orichalcum and Nightwolf bones.
He also had a necklace that combined the fangs and claws of NightWolves.
This important-looking Hobgoblin was fatter than the rest, and he was much bigger.
Rey determined that this was because he had access to more food than the rest, hence making him much stronger than the rest.
'He's their Chief, and right now, he's sneering at me.'
The Hobgoblin Chief raised the scepter in his hand—a stick made from Orichalcum, with a NightWolf Monster Core sitting on top of it.
'They can harvest Monster Cores too? Impressive!'
Considering the current numbers of the NightWolves, Rey could tell that the Hobgoblins would have had the chance of harvesting a lot of Monster Cores.
Depending on how long they had domesticated the NightWolves, Rey could imagine the Hobs possessing thousands of Cores.
'If I can have them, it'll be epic as hell!'
Rey began to grow more motivated with each passing second.
It seemed the Hobgoblin chief noticed his smile, because the next thing he did was to grunt loudly.
"GRIIIIK!"
All of the Hobs straightened up and tightly gripped their weapons the moment they heard this.
It seemed the Chief was telling them something.
"SKRIIK GUUUUJ KAUDI KRIK!"
The Hobgoblins had depraved expressions on their faces, and their mouths began to water soon after.
'Did he just tell me that they'll feast on my body?'
Thanks to being an Otherworlder, he could somewhat understand the general idea of what the Hobgoblins meant.
It wasn't like their words could be translated word for word with English, but Rey got the message regardless.
These things were savages, and their bloodlust was the real deal.
Any mistake he made here could cost him his life.
"SKRIIIII!!!"
The moment the Chief yelled this, pointing his staff at Rey, all the armed Hobgoblins roared and raised their weapons.
"SKUUUUUIUURRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!"
Rey could feel the air tremble, so he prepared himself for the inevitable.
'Here they come!'
*
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[A/N]
This is just an appetizer.
The feast is coming!