* Note 1: Graphic and violent content ahead. Please consider carefully before reading.
* Note 2: You may skip this chapter with little to no impact on the main storyline.
It was a scene resembling hell itself.
In the darkness of night, great fires were lit.
Food was constantly brought forth to be cooked. Yet what was roasted over the flames was not pigs, chickens, or any livestock. Instead, it was human beings.
Some were brutally impaled on large wooden stakes, their bodies suspended over the fire to be slowly roasted.
Others were butchered into large chunks of flesh, or had their limbs severed for quicker cooking.
Not far from the fires stood tables and racks.
On those racks hung human bodies, displayed like animals awaiting skinning and slaughter.
The victims ranged from the elderly to young men, even children. They seemed to have been sorted and classified, as if cuts of beef graded by quality.
On the large tables, human corpses were dismembered into pieces, ready to be consumed.
Sometimes they were roasted first, but at other times they were immediately devoured raw.
The smoke, the acrid scent of burning wood, mingled with the aroma of roasting flesh and dripping fat, spreading throughout the air and partly masking the stench of blood, entrails, and waste.
Yet when all these smells combined, they created a nauseating stench, one that could overwhelm almost anyone, provoking the urge to vomit.
The green-skinned creatures known as Goblins, however, were unaffected. In fact, they reveled in it, dancing wildly around the fires in delight.
But their frenzy was not limited to food.
Human men were slaughtered and butchered like cattle, becoming sustenance for the Goblins.
Women, however, suffered an even crueler fate.
Rather than a swift death, they were turned into playthings, breeding vessels for the Magical Beasts.
The hell they endured seemed endless, without reprieve.
Subjected to relentless torture and mass violation, forced to witness the horrors around them, the eyes of the survivors held no light.
Their cries, screams, pleas, and prayers had long since fallen silent. Though their bodies still lived, their minds were utterly dead.
In this hell, even a quick death was a luxury denied to them.
From a distant hill, hidden within the dark forest, a sharp gaze silently observed it all.
* * * * * * * * * *
Seated upon a high dais draped with layers of animal-skin rugs was an enormous Goblin.
It stood nearly three meters tall, with a massive belly and a body thick with muscle.
Its arms and legs were coarse and powerful, radiating brute strength and violence.
It did not need to lift a finger. A host of Goblins constantly attended to it, serving the finest food and drink.
All other Goblins obeyed with reverence, whether Elite Goblins or Goblin Mages.
This was the being known as the Goblin King, the heart of the horde of Magical Beasts that had brought such devastation.
At that moment, together with the other Goblins, it delighted in the savage feast of flesh.
With a single command, a Goblin rushed forward carrying more food.
What it presented was a large platter filled with roasted legs, carefully cooked.
Judging by their small size, it was clear they belonged to children captured from the villages ravaged by the Goblins.
Satisfied, the Goblin King nodded in approval, picking them up and savoring them as if they were delicacies.
While feasting ravenously, the Goblin did not forget to indulge in its depraved pleasures. One hand clutched food, while the other cruelly held a young woman, treating her as nothing more than a vile object to satisfy its lust.
The young woman's appearance was not something one wished to describe. Were it not for the faint breath still within her, anyone could easily mistake her for a corpse.
The Goblins' orgiastic revelry lasted nearly the entire night, only quieting as midnight approached.
By midnight, only after gorging himself and finding satisfaction, the Goblin King finally lumbered back to the grand tent erected solely for him to rest.
Inside the tent, it lay its massive body upon a large, soft bed fashioned from countless blankets and furs. Feeling the comfort beneath its back, the Goblin quickly drifted into sleep.
The Goblin King could rest at ease, for he was constantly surrounded and guarded by a vast number of Goblins.
Some Goblin Mages even took turns carefully erecting magical barriers around him to ensure his safety.
This was the very reason the Goblin King was so difficult to confront. Anyone seeking to approach and harm him would first have to face countless Goblins and layers of protection.
Of course, that was only true if one had to draw near.
In the rare case of striking from many kilometers away with precise force, the attacker could remain safe from danger.
* * * * * * * * * *
In the darkness, a hunter remained patiently waiting, sitting still and silent like a stone statue.
Time passed slowly, minute by minute. Only after nearly an hour did he finally begin to act.
With a slight wave of his hand, a strange object suddenly appeared at his feet.
It had four metallic legs that moved with agility, gripping firmly onto the terrain around it.
Its body was spherical, attached to a long, flat component.
The hunter guided the device to a suitable position, making sure its four legs anchored securely.
Then he carefully aimed the elongated part of the sphere toward the distant Goblin encampment, where the Goblin King's tent stood.
By synchronizing his vision with the device and employing complex Space magics, the hunter took his time to align everything precisely to his will.
Once all was ready, he exhaled softly and immediately channeled a vast amount of spiritual energy into the contraption he had so meticulously prepared.