The Starlit Sandray descended first, translucent fins spreading wide as it swept across the plaza, the star-like markings scattered across its body suddenly glowing brighter. A wave of shimmering light rolled outward, and the air itself seemed to distort beneath it.
Arthur ducked as it passed overhead.
The Sunplate Mauler came from the opposite direction, six legs hammering the stone while the flower-shaped plates covering its back shifted against one another with a deep grinding sound, its enormous jaws opening as it charged directly toward him.
He glanced at Mithra, already moving. "I’ll take the Mauler."
"Then I’ll handle the flying one."
"Try not to fall behind," she smiled, and shot forward.
Arthur turned toward the Sandray, already above him. It folded its fins and dropped, and he thrust Dusk upward, but the creature twisted around the spearhead with remarkable grace, one translucent fin slicing toward his shoulder. He leaned away, the fin passing within an inch of his armor, and stepped forward and swung, but it had already accelerated past his reach, vanishing into the darkness above the plaza before suddenly diving again.
His eyes followed the movement. There. A faint distortion. He shifted his position just before it descended, and the creature came down exactly where he’d been standing. He drove his spear into its underside, sending it skidding across the stone, but it recovered almost instantly, rising into the air again as stars began to shine across its fins.
He watched carefully. The creature wasn’t simply flying. It was using the light across its body to obscure its movements.
He reached out as it passed, fingers brushing its side, and his Evolution Path Vision opened, fragments of its physical adaptations flowing into his perception. He smiled, his body changing, weight distribution shifting, movements lighter and more controlled as he reproduced part of the Sandray’s natural aerial adaptation.
He jumped. It expected him to fall. Instead he twisted through the air and changed direction, and its eyes widened as he grabbed one of its fins. It tried to pull away. He held on.
"Got you."
The Sandray spun violently, dragging him through the air. He released his spear, letting Dusk stay embedded in its body, swung around the shaft, pulled himself closer, and drove his fist into its side.
[King Aura]
The force sent it crashing toward the ground. Before it could recover, he released the spear, letting it tear free.
[Armor Piercing]
The Sandray crashed into the plaza, and Arthur landed heavily beside it. It tried to rise, and he stepped forward and struck again. The ancient Beast finally stopped moving.
[Additional Evolution Data Updated]
[Goblin Genesis Emperor]
[Requirement 2: Defeat 50 Chief Beasts.]
[Progress: 5/50]
Across the plaza, Mithra was having a much less straightforward fight. The Sunplate Mauler charged her with enough force to shatter the stone beneath its feet, and she slipped sideways, its jaws snapping shut where her body had been. She moved beneath its head and struck twice, but it barely reacted.
"You’re certainly tougher than you look."
Its tail swept around, and she jumped, the tail smashing through several stone pillars behind her. She landed on its back and drove Kusa downward, but the blade struck one of the overlapping plates without penetrating, and the Mauler twisted violently, throwing her clear just before its body crashed against the ground.
Arthur glanced over while recovering his spear. "Need help?"
"I’ve got it."
It charged again, and she waited, disappearing at the last possible moment as it tore through empty air. She reappeared on its blind side, one slash, then another, then another, her movements accelerating, golden sword flashing between the plates covering its body. It roared and swung wildly, and she moved between each attack.
Arthur watched for a moment. She wasn’t simply dodging. She was guiding it, every movement pulling the Beast farther toward the damaged section of the plaza.
She stepped aside suddenly, and its front foot landed directly on a cracked section of stone. The ground collapsed. Its body dropped, and she was already above it, Kusa descending, the sword piercing through the exposed armor. It roared and tried to rise, and she twisted the blade. The Chief collapsed.
[Additional Evolution Data Updated]
[Goblin Genesis Emperor]
[Requirement 2: Defeat 50 Chief Beasts.]
[Progress: 6/50]
A tremor passed through the plaza. Arthur looked toward the remaining two Chiefs.
The Starlit Sandray was dead. The Sunplate Mauler was dead. The Rootscale Grazer was dead. The Petalback Burrower was dead. The Duneveil Stalker was dead. The Glasswhisker Hound was dead.
Only two remained, and neither seemed interested in waiting their turn.
The first was a massive Beast with a broad body covered in thick, crystalline armor, its head low to the ground, several jagged horns curving backward along its skull. The second was considerably stranger, its body long and narrow, almost serpentine, carried across the plaza on six powerful limbs, pale markings running along its sides that glowed whenever it moved.
They stared at one another. Then they attacked.
The crystalline Chief charged first, and the serpentine Beast twisted around it, avoiding the horns by a fraction before the two collided, the impact shaking the entire plaza.
Mithra landed beside Arthur. "They’re fighting each other."
"Again."
"It seems this place didn’t give them very good manners."
Arthur laughed. The crystalline Beast slammed its body into the other Chief, throwing it across the plaza, but it dug its claws into the stone and stopped itself, then lunged, its body stretching forward with startling speed. Arthur raised his spear, and the creature passed him before he could react, already changing direction.
Mithra intercepted it, her sword striking its side, and it twisted around her. Arthur moved in.
[Guardian Strike]
The Guardian’s massive golden spear appeared behind him and pierced the Beast’s flank. It roared and swung its tail, and Mithra ducked beneath it while Arthur caught the tail with one hand, the impact forcing him several meters backward, boots digging into the stone. The Beast pulled. He pulled harder. For a moment neither moved.
Then he grinned. "You’re strong too." He released the tail, and the sudden loss of resistance threw it off balance. Mithra appeared beside its head, blade striking, and he followed.
[Magic Burst]
The detonation caught its jaw, and it crashed into the ground, trying to rise before her sword pierced its neck and Dusk drove through its chest. The ancient Chief went still.
[Additional Evolution Data Updated]
[Goblin Genesis Emperor]
[Requirement 2: Defeat 50 Chief Beasts.]
[Progress: 7/50]
The final Chief remained, staring at the corpses scattered throughout the plaza. Then its crystalline armor began to glow.
Arthur’s expression changed. "That’s new."
The Beast charged, and he barely raised his shield in time.
[Guardian Shield]
The creature smashed into the barrier, the entire dome shaking, and he was pushed backward. Mithra came from the side, her sword striking its armor and bouncing off, forcing her to retreat as the Chief swung its horns.
Arthur stepped forward.
[War Cry]
His roar swept through the plaza, freezing the Beast for a moment, but it was enough. He rushed forward, Dusk striking the center of its armor, but it recovered before he could follow through, its head slamming into him. He was thrown backward, crashing into the ground and rolling several times before stopping.
"Arthur!" Mithra’s expression tightened.
"I’m fine." He pushed himself upright as the Beast charged again, waiting until the last second before stepping aside. It passed him, and he grabbed one of its horns, his body shifting again, reproducing another physical trait from the ancient creatures he’d studied, footing heavier, more stable, heels digging into the stone.
The Beast tried to pull away. He held it. Mithra understood immediately, running forward, Kusa flashing across the exposed joint beneath its jaw. It staggered, and he pulled its head downward while she struck again, and again, the crystalline armor cracking.
He released the horn and spun Dusk around, golden light gathering along the spear.
[King Aura]
Then—
[Armor Piercing]
Dusk drove through the cracked armor, the force punching straight through the Chief. It staggered, and he stepped closer, the spear still buried inside its chest, and looked into its eyes.
"Sorry."
He pulled Dusk free. The Chief collapsed. Silence returned to the plaza.
Then the final notification appeared.
[Additional Evolution Data Updated]
[Goblin Genesis Emperor]
[Requirement 2: Defeat 50 Chief Beasts.]
[Progress: 8/50]
Arthur lowered his spear. A moment later, golden light surrounded Vedas.
[Level Up!]
[Goblin King]
[Level 26 → Level 27]
He stood among the fallen Chiefs, golden feathers drifting around him.
Mithra sheathed Kusa. "Three levels."
"It appears these creatures were quite valuable," Vedas said, looking toward Arthur.
"I’d say so," he laughed.
The plaza finally went quiet.
No more roars echoed through the ruins, and no more enormous bodies tore through the ancient stone. The eight Beast Chiefs lay scattered across the plaza, their blood and shattered armor marking the ground where they had fought.
Arthur lowered Dusk and looked across the battlefield.
Six of the eight species were already familiar to him.
The Duneveil Stalker.
The Petalback Burrower.
The Glasswhisker Hound.
The Rootscale Grazer.
The Starlit Sandray.
The Sunplate Mauler.
But there were two more.
The final two Chiefs.
Arthur walked toward the first corpse, the massive crystalline Beast whose body was still covered in jagged armor and backward-curving horns.
He crouched and placed his hand against its hide.
His Evolution Path Vision immediately responded.
[Species: Crystalhorn Ravager]
[Evolution Path]
[Crystalhorn Ravager]
[Prismhide Behemoth]
[Crystal Mountain Tyrant]
Arthur’s eyebrows rose slightly. "Crystalhorn Ravager..."
He looked over its enormous body, then down at the shattered crystalline plates surrounding it.
That evolution path made sense.
The second Chief had a completely different appearance, its long serpentine body stretched across the plaza, six powerful limbs still curled beneath it. Pale markings covered its sides, faintly glowing even after death.
Arthur walked over and touched it.
[Species: Luminara Coilbeast]
[Evolution Path:]
[Luminara Coilbeast]
[Radiant Coil Serpent]
[Celestial Light Devourer]
Arthur stared at the final stage for a moment.
"That’s..."
He slowly pulled his hand away.
These weren’t merely powerful Beasts.
Their evolution paths were completely different from anything he’d encountered outside the Everglades.
Arthur looked over the corpses again, a strange curiosity settling into his expression.
Eight Chiefs.
Eight completely different paths.
He wondered what kind of civilization had once lived here, and whether these Beasts had been born naturally in this region or had been deliberately cultivated by whoever built the city.
He straightened and glanced across the plaza. Mithra had joined Vedas and Melo near the others, gathered around Athena, Athy, Sun, Kong, Eden, and Luna, all of them still trapped in stone, Melo’s tails swaying gently as she listened to everyone talk.
Nobody knew how long the petrification would last. They’d already worked out the obvious answer. They simply had to wait for the light to return.
Arthur looked toward the openings in the surrounding walls. Nothing happened. He folded his arms. "How long do you think it’ll take?"
Sun’s stone face remained pointed toward the ceiling. "For the light?"
"Yeah."
He considered it. "It could take days."
Sun’s expression somehow became more miserable.
"Maybe months."
"Arthur."
"Possibly years."
Eden’s petrified face seemed to radiate outrage. Kong let out a muffled sound from inside his stone body.
"Years?" Sun groaned.
Arthur rubbed his chin. "We don’t actually know how this place works."
Eden made another frustrated noise. Kong’s entire stone body rocked from side to side. Even Athena seemed to have reached her limit, her petrified expression perfectly still while her groan came through clearly anyway. Athy sighed.
"Arthur, perhaps don’t give them ideas," Mithra laughed softly.
"I was just being realistic."
"I hate realism," Sun groaned again.
Arthur smiled.
Then the ground moved.
His expression changed. The tremor wasn’t coming from beneath them. It was coming from the walls.
CRACK.
Everyone looked toward the surrounding stone. Long seams appeared across the walls, Athena’s eyes widening as the ancient mechanisms hidden inside the ruins began moving. Stone shifted. Dust poured from the ceiling. Then the walls started opening.
Arthur’s instincts tightened.
Melo’s eyes suddenly shone, tails spreading behind her.
Golden dreamlike light flashed from her eyes. Arthur felt something touch his mind.
Then everything disappeared.
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