The Evolution of a Goblin to the Peak

'They got me...'

Eztein laughed inwardly as the guards handcuffed him. He looked at the cuffs and observed it.

'Oh, these cuffs are pretty tough. It can disrupt my mana flow in my body.'

Breaking these cuffs wasn't that tough for him but it would at least take him a few minutes with his current physical strength. These cuffs were manufactured in the Champion's Den and delivered throughout the various subsidiary kingdom, dukedoms, and empires of Olympus.

It couldn't hold a person that broke a shackle and it could at least hold a person that solidified mana for a few minutes.

Eztein narrowed his eyes. Since these cuffs were disrupting his mana flow, the corruption of the curse had sped up by several folds.

'Three and a half days... I think that's my limit.'

He took a deep breath as he looked at the blue sky above the city.

...

Souta had no idea what happened to Eztein as he was in the sewers.

"This..."

He crouched down and let himself submerged in the water full of dirt.

"I think I found it."

His palm touched the ground and he released some energy. The thick dirt attached to the ground was scattered immediately. It revealed a small metallic round door.

On the surface of the door, there were various ancient languages written on it.

Those who seek salvation should go.

Those who pursue vengeance should go.

Those who pursue truth should go.

-Creep Lord

Saya read the ancient language for Souta.

'Creep Lord? Who is that?'

Souta tried to recall if there was a person that's called Creep Lord in the game. But he remembered nothing.

'My previous was called Black Edge Zomus but before Zomus my user was called Phantom Blade. Creep Lord is from the same generation of Phantom Blade. I only heard about it.' Saya explained.

"Tell me more about this Creep Lord," Souta said as he releases some mana from his parasite and opened the metallic door.

'I only heard that she was a gruesome woman that love to torture her victims. She was decisive and insane as she massacre two kingdoms in a single day. She was pursued by different countries.' Saya paused for a moment and continued, 'There's no news about her fall but I didn't expect that she would go here in God's Continent.'

"Her power level?" Souta asked.

'She broke Ten Shackles and was on the verge of achieving godhood but I guess she failed.' Saya said.

"I see." Souta nodded in understanding.

If Creep Lord reached the level of God Realm then she would surely return and her name wouldn't disappear like a bubble. He would have also heard about her when he was still in the game.

'If she's still alive, she would seek vengeance on the people that tried to execute her.' Saya added.

'Ten Shackles Realm means a Peak Hero-rank. Even if she failed her ascension she would still become a powerhouse at Demigod-rank.' Souta rubbed his chin.

Maybe, she was left severely injured and spent her last minute in this place. If that's the case then this place was basically her tomb.

Souta entered the door. The dirt water mysteriously stayed on the above. It didn't even fall down inside this place.

"There's some sort of active mechanism here?"

He looked up and his eyes adjusted. There were countless tiny runes on the ceilings. The runes were too tiny as it was comparable to the size of the pores of the human body.

"Too small... It's my first time seeing runes like this. Even Gods that mastered runes couldn't do this."

Souta muttered in amazement. After all, people right now only focused on the power and effect of the runes. They didn't care if the runes were large or small.

"This is really the right place..."

He continued to walk but soon thick stench assaulted his nose.

"It's stink..."

With his enhanced senses, the smell felt like it was damaging him. He pinched his nose and narrowed his eyes. Still, he continued going further.

Soon, he arrived in a room full of coffins. There were a total of thirty coffins in this room. The atmosphere was eerie and there were hints of curses in the area.

"Curses of Creep Lord. So the deaths in the city are caused by the curse of the people that used Creep Lord's treasure or power. I understand some of it."

Souta tried to open one of the coffins but he found nothing. Nothing was inside the coffins except for a mist of dark green energy.

The dark green energy tried to attach itself to his body.

"Oh?"

He raised his eyebrows with interest as he watched the scene unfold before his eyes.

"It's a very fatal cursed energy but my energy is one of the most densest here..."

Best feram seeped out of his body and countered the cursed energy. The amount of cursed was small so the best feram easily dominated it.

Souta shook his head and looked around. On the center of all coffins, there was a stone tablet. He slowly approached it and saw the ancient language written on it.

This is the end.

I couldn't fulfill my dream.

Everyone is basking in fake peace.

Here I am, hiding from those people.

For future generations that will discover this place should know that godhood is nothing but a dream.

They hid the secrets of it and I failed because of it.

It's a sham.

-Creep Lord

Saya translated the words for Souta.

"Secrets of godhood? Is she talking about the Archetype?" Souta muttered.

'Maybe, only people that reached a certain level of strength will be able to know or gained enough power to know the truth of Archetype.' Saya said.

Creep Lord reached the level of Ten Shackles but she couldn't reach godhood because she didn't have any Archetype. Only huge organizations have the manuals for Archetype but since Creep Lord was a lone wolf, she didn't have anyone that could provide a manual for her.

Just like now, Olympus had various Archetypes and they only gave it to the people that swore their allegiance to them.

Unless a person was truly lucky to clear a living labyrinth and got the Archetype of the fallen gods, people wouldn't be able to get ahold of it.

But some of the people didn't need to find an Archetype. In the game, Randolf aka Dark Emperor created his own Archetype before he ascended to god-level. That Archetype was very compatible with his style so he easily rise through the ranks and defeated dozens of gods to achieve his status.

'You don't need to worry about Archetype. You have my [Archetype: Vajra Extremity]. It's one of the best out there.' Saya said to him.

'I know.' Souta nodded.

One hour had passed quickly and he arrived in front of a spacious room. On his way here, he encountered various traps that could endanger his life but he passed all of them.

Going to this place was just out of his curiosity. He already confirmed that the people that got the Creep Lord's inheritance was the culprit behind the mysterious case.

Souta stepped forward and entered the spacious room.

There was nothing here except for a huge exquisite coffin on the center of the room. The coffin was made of rare materials and it had a glossy dark purple color. Various runes and ancient languages were carved on its surface.

Above the coffin, there were three things. One was a candle, the other one was a plate, and lastly a jar.

Souta approached it and sensed thick cursed energy from the three objects. The most powerful cursed energy was coming from the coffin.

'Creep Lord should be dead for a long time yet her strong energy is still lingering here. It didn't even scatter in the atmosphere.'

He said inwardly.

'It will scatter naturally but the runes here prevented that natural phenomenon.' Saya explained to him.

"Oh, so these runes had that type of function. It could prevent the curse energy from scattering in the atmosphere." Souta observed the runes.

'Yeah, you should be careful as some of the runes here are unknown even for me.' Saya warned him.

"I can see it," Souta said seriously. He had special eyes and adjusting his vision for runes could let him see its function.

After observing the runes for a few minutes, he turned his attention back to the three objects.

The three objects were releasing special cursed energy but it seems that the core was gone. Souta could see that there should be an object on top of the plate and another object inside the jar.

The treasure hunters should have these two missing objects. As for the candle, plate, and jar, these three were attached to the cover of the coffin.

Souta couldn't even remove the three objects. He was even forced to use his best feram to counter the energy within.

"I understand why most of the treasure hunters died here."

When he touched one of the three objects a huge amount of cursed energy tried to enter his body. Without proper strength, people below liquefying realm would die.