The Evolution of a Goblin to the Peak

"Vandal! Layla was killed by those people but what did you do?! Why did you run away?!"

Avron's roar was filled with anger. He knew that it was normal for people to die and he already accepted it. But it didn't mean that when someone close to him died, he would run away.

In the slums, people always died and it was normal in their lives. Just because he accepted that it was normal doesn't mean that he wouldn't fight if someone close to him died. He would fight till the end and seek retribution.

"You're a coward!!"

Avron roared as he punched Vandal in the face.

Bang!

Vandal was blown away and he rolled on the ground. He quickly stabilized himself and regained his footing.

Huff!

He inhaled sharply as he stared at Avron's eyes with an unbending will. He wiped the blood on the corner of his mouth as his energy spiked up.

"I don't care if you call me a coward. I know it. I still didn't forget the person who killed Layla. It's just that I didn't forget my origin. I'm fighting in my own way."

He said strongly as he raised his hand. A huge amount of energy swirled around it as wind and lightning violently strode forward.

Both of them were fighting nonstop and they were reaching their limits. The fall of Aranhgrad greatly damage them but it didn't stop them from fighting.

Looking at Vandal's unyielding eyes, Avron smirked, "In the end, you haven't changed a bit. That's right! Show me your unyielding will! Show me your path!"

He recalled the times when they were still children. The time when they were living in the slums and fighting for food on the streets. Even their dream to build a small bakery and showed it to the most important person in their lives.

"Let's end this!"

Avron narrowed his eyes as he made a grabbing motion in the air. The air tightened and darkness flowed through his body. In the next moment, he hurled a ray of darkness at his childhood friend.

[Shadow Killing Ray]!!

The ray of darkness flashed forward as the surrounding area turned dark. The light was extinguished within a radius of five kilometers.

Vandal couldn't see anything except for absolute darkness. But he could sense the incoming attack. The amount of energy of that attack couldn't be hidden from his senses.

After taking a deep breath, he pressed his hand forward.

[Lightning Earth Dominion Strike]!!

It was their last attack. This would decide everything. Win or lose, they resolved themselves to accept the outcome of the battle. They just wanted to show each other who was right or wrong. And the winner of this battle would be "right".

BOOM!!

The two attacks collided causing the entire Aranhgrad to shake. It started crumbling as pieces of its body fell on the ground. Most of the runes around it were gone so it was on the brink of destruction. It was irreparable.

A fortress that existed since the ancient era had fallen today.

Shockwaves swept out one after another. Light and darkness spread out in every direction causing the surrounding experts to feel pressured.

The clash of two powers was extremely huge. However, it didn't harm any people since the entire Aranhgrad's size was close to the three nations. If they fought in the three nations, one of the nations would evaporate along with its people.

In the next few seconds, the explosion slowly disappeared leaving dense smoke on top of Aranhgrad. Sparks flew out in the air from time to time caused by intense energy reactions in the atmosphere.

Soon, the smoke dissipated revealing two figures standing in the middle of a desolate area.

Cough!! Cough!!

Vandal coughed a mouthful of blood. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Avron warily.

Avron forced a smile on his face.

"I've seen it. Don't lose yourself."

With those words, he fell on his back. He stared deeply at the crumbling ceiling. He slowly turned his head and said, "This world is going to collapse soon. There's still time."

"Y-You..." Vandal didn't know what to say to his childhood friend. He clenched his fists tightly. He finally stopped his friend but... he felt empty on the inside.

"Cough! Don't hesitate... My people will surrender after you announced my defeat... They are too dependent on me... Without me, the organization will not function... It's up to you..." Avron said with great effort. He took a deep breath before he continued, "The Project Sicily and Spatial Gem... You can take my lifetime work. It's not bad."

The Spatial Gem was a special object. It was created by using different rare ingredients and the power of this world, the Subterranean World. It absorbed the space properties that were stretching this world and that's the reason why the folded space was crumbling.

"Fuck!" Vandal cursed in a low voice. Then, he inhaled sharply before he shouted, "AVRON, THE FOUNDER OF THE RED MATTER ASSOCIATION, HAD FALLEN!! SURRENDER YOURSELF! AND STOP MAKING IT HARD FOR EVERYONE!!"

His voice resounded throughout the entire subterranean world. It caused everyone to look up and glanced in the direction of the voice. When the people of the Red Matter Association heard it, they started to loosen their grip on their weapons.

Clang! Clang!

One by one, their weapons fell to the ground. The defeat of their powerful leader gave them a huge shock. Even though they were in a disadvantageous position, the reason why they could still fight was because of their leader. As long as their leader was standing, they could keep fighting.

Souta breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad that Vandal won the battle.

The two friends have the same goal.

But they took a different path.

"Finally..." He sat down and relaxed his tense muscles.

Starting from the Fone Kingdom until the Subterranean World, the war against Red Matter Association was concluded. This was also his first real battle ever since he stepped on the fourth stage.

"We won!!"

"Chief Captain!!"

"For the people!!"

"For the glory!!"

"For the goddess!!"

The warriors raised their weapons in the air as they shouted at the same time. They were celebrating as the war finally end and they saved a lot of people.

Looking at this scene, Souta couldn't help but smile. He turned his head and looked at the passage.

Most of the people have gone to the other side. They were heading toward the surface. There, their safety was secured as the experts from Sky Avenue have long surrounded the Mirror Lake.

A lot of warriors sacrificed their lives in this war.

"I learned a lot of things in this war..."

Souta muttered to himself.

The Red Matter Association surrendered. So the warriors captured them. They wouldn't kill people that surrender or lose their will to fight since it was going against their warrior's code. Some of the Red Matter members tried to resist but they were quickly suppressed so nothing much happened.

Even the remaining executives were captured.

"Master is this really what you want?" Amy, the ninth executive, said in a low voice. She recalled her last talk with her master. It was so frustrating.

"Grrr!"

She raised her hand and caressed the collar on her neck. Before the battle, Avron placed collars on everyone and said that if he failed, they should just say that they were under his orders. The slave collar will prove their innocence as they couldn't disobey the owner.

She felt that her master already plan to fail from the beginning.

...

"Vandal... Hahaha... Everyone here is a victim of those people... I gathered them in hopes that they could get their revenge too." Avron laughed lightly. "Some of them got their family killed, some were raped, and some experienced all kinds of torture. So I took them as my slaves."

"You will die." Vandal said plainly.

"I know." Avron nodded. He already knows the outcome of his defeat. Ever since he took someone's life, he was prepared to be killed.

"Once we returned to Champion's Den, your people could escape death but you... You will be publicly executed." Vandal said as he turned around.

"Just kill me... If I'm going to die. I want to die at your hands." Avron said.

"No, it's too easy for you. You've ruined countless people's lives. You will not have an easy death." Vandal said. He didn't even look at his friend anymore.

"I guess that's it for me." Avron smiled faintly.

People were hurrying as the ceiling started to fall. The whole subterranean world was going to collapse in half an hour. Before this place collapsed, they should settle everything.

Inside the Aranhgrad...

Vandal was following the energy coming from the so-called "Spatial Gem". He didn't what was that gem but Avron said that it was special. Of course, he would believe Avron since that guy sacrificed a lot of things just to forge it.

His mission was to destroy the Red Matter Association and he already completed it. So there's no need to get the gem but he wanted to know why did Avron say that the gem was special.

Hmm...?

He noticed something.

A figure was standing several meters away from him. The figure was wearing black trousers with various chains. His body was covered in bandages.

"Who are you?!" Vandal asked in a low voice.