CHAPTER 72: GOBLIN VILLAGE

And then he collapsed.

The poison had done its work.

Three system notifications blinked into Leon’s vision. He ignored them.

’It’s time to take the daggers... and then brutally massacre this village.’

The guards froze, horrified by their king’s sudden collapse. But their shock quickly turned into rage when their eyes caught Leon’s silhouette.

With snarls, they charged, daggers flashing with fury.

His plan was simple—use them as darts. With this poison, even the tiniest wound would be enough to end the king.

When three arrows were ready, he didn’t hesitate.

The first one he hurled straight at the Goblin King’s neck.

Without waiting for the result, he threw the second toward the other side of the king’s throat.

The third he aimed low, striking for the leg.

The arrows zipped through the air in a blur, slipping past the guards before they could even react. In the blink of an eye, the Goblin King was pierced.

The king staggered, panic flashing in his eyes. He grabbed the shaft of one arrow and snapped it in fury. But the moment he looked at it, his eyes widened in recognition.

He knew that arrow.

It was one of the poisoned shafts he had ordered the archer goblin to dispose of.

His expression twisted into fury. His gaze swept the area, searching, seething.

But there was nothing to find.

Leon was already crouched low in the shadows, hidden from view.

The Goblin King snarled and barked orders to his two guards. The green-skinned warriors trembled but obeyed, spreading out in search of the assassin.

But before they could even move far, the king staggered again. His breaths grew shallow, foam bubbling at his mouth.

Standing on the quickly disintegrating remains of the goblin hunters, Leon sighed.

’Fighting and killing a bunch of goblins is harder than I thought. If I can’t handle this small group perfectly, how will I be able to massacre the whole village?’

He sighed again, remembering when arrows had rained down on him from every direction. He had been forced to shove himself flat to the ground just to avoid being struck.

But despite his speed, one of those green-skinned pests had predicted his action. The goblin had drawn its bow steadily, and unfortunately for Leon, it managed to injure him. The arrow hadn’t sunk deep—the goblin’s strength wasn’t great enough for that—but it still stung.

Without hesitation, Leon gripped the shaft, sliced it off cleanly with his claw, then slowly pulled the arrowhead free from his flesh. Blood coated the tip, dripping onto the dirt, but Leon ignored the pain completely.

The process was painful, but nowhere near the agony he had endured during his System Awakening. That had been torture beyond compare.

He considered using an elixir, but shook his head. Such a precious resource couldn’t be wasted on a mere flesh wound.

So he endured, and before long, he pushed the pain aside and forgot about it.

But then—the sound of shuffling leaves reached his ears, rudely interrupting his thoughts. Leon turned sharply, and his eyes landed on a female goblin. She froze, dread etched across her face.

’Hmm...’

She hadn’t realized he had already spotted her.

After staring at him with wide, fearful eyes, she turned to sneak back toward the village.

But Leon would not let her escape. He knew she would go straight to warn others, perhaps even report to the king. That would throw the village into chaos, ruin his plan, and make the goblins too alert to deceive.

In a flash, Leon moved at full speed and cut her off, appearing before her almost instantly.

The goblin stumbled to a halt, then fell to her knees.

She had seen how brutally he had butchered the hunters, and she knew she wouldn’t last against him. Her only hope was to beg for mercy.

She clasped her hands together, kneeling low. Leon guessed she was praying.

’I don’t know who your god is... but I’m sure he won’t be able to save you right now.’

With that thought, Leon clenched his fist, and the steel claws shot out. He punched forward, driving the blades into her stomach.

One strike was all it took. Her body went limp as life left her.

After ensuring she was dead, Leon sighed and turned away, making his way back toward the village.

’The hunters are so poor. Not a single book, not even on this female goblin. When will I encounter a rich one?’ He shook his head in disappointment.

He walked on, muttering to himself.

’I didn’t even realize that the place I fought the hunters was actually the entrance to the village, the pathway connecting the forest.’

Activating Conceal, he began moving stealthily, making sure not to attract attention.

Any time a goblin came close, he ducked into the shadows, hiding until the path was clear. He repeated this again and again until he finally reached the shaded wooden structure.

’Phew! Hiding from goblins is harder than I thought. Now... it’s time to put my genius plan into action.’ He exhaled, feeling the weight of exhaustion pressing on him.

His eyes landed on the crude instrument there. A thick stick lay beside a massive fat bamboo, hollowed out.

Leon picked it up, smirking.

’These goblins are geniuses in their own way. Using bamboo to make a wooden gong... but I’m sorry—this gong is going to be your downfall. Actually... no, I’m not sorry at all.’

With a smug grin, he raised the stick and slammed it against the bamboo.

Gong!!!

Gong!!!

. . .

Gong!!!

He struck it seven times in succession.

’Let’s just hope my pattern matches theirs well enough.’

The moment he finished, Leon slipped away from the structure, finding a hiding spot far from the square in the marketplace. From there, he carefully observed the goblins’ reaction.

It worked.

Every goblin dropped what they were doing and rushed toward the shaded structure. They gathered in the square, whispering and wondering why they had been summoned.

’So my guess was right. The gong is used to call all goblins for an assembly whenever the king has something important to announce.’

He waited until the square filled with goblins before sneaking off silently.

’All I need to do is kill the king without him ever seeing me. If he’s alone, it will be simple. But with guards at his side, it won’t be easy...’

His gaze shifted to the poisoned arrow he carried—the one the archer goblin had thrown away.

’Even with this, it won’t be simple... but it’ll help.’

Leon had deliberately lured the villagers to the square to create the perfect chance to infiltrate the king’s palace. If a goblin saw a strange humanoid like him wandering openly, panic would spread instantly. They might inform the king, and then Leon’s chances would collapse.

’So this is what it feels like to be an assassin?’ Leon smirked grimly.

’Sneaking into someone’s house, ending them with one silent strike... Now I know how hard this job really is.’

Using the mental map he had made earlier from atop the tree, Leon easily found the path to the king’s palace. With his heightened intelligence and memory, the layout was engraved perfectly in his mind.

The Goblin King’s main house loomed ahead—the largest, strongest structure in the entire village.

Leon crouched by its side, eyes narrowing.

Like the others, it had no door, only an opening about 1.4 meters high and roughly 30–50 centimeters wide. Just enough for the king to walk through comfortably.

’Tch. So they aren’t clever enough to build proper doors, even for their king. I expected at least that much... but no. Even though this place is sturdier, it still shares the same crude design as the villagers’ houses.’

But something felt off.

The guards.

Last time from the tree, he had seen two strong goblin guards posted at the entrance. Now, they were gone.

’Strange... Did the gong call them away? Or... is there another reason?’

Whatever the case, he wasn’t going to hesitate.

’No matter. I won’t let this affect my mission. Time to see if the king is inside.’

Leon searched for a gap between the wooden walls. As expected, there were several.

He leaned close, peeking through—

And his eyes widened.

’The king... he’s not here!? He disappeared along with the guards!?’

He was confused at first, but then he saw the Goblin King emerge from another house, flanked by the two guards.

They were heading down the path that led to the market.

’Hmm... now that they’re by his side, this is going to be tricky. I need to kill him quickly. They’re going to the square near the market to find out who made the call.’

Leon followed slowly, every step measured, every movement quiet as a shadow.

From his artifact, he pulled out the archer’s discarded arrows. Taking the pouch of slimy red poison, he dipped the pointed heads again, coating them thickly until they glistened with death.