For the next two days, Lilith barely descended from the sky.
Her powerful, black wings rhythmically sliced through the air as she traced wide circles over the southern reaches of her territory. She was searching for the gargantuan cluster of goblins that Graaz had mentioned with a mixture of dread and devout respect.
About fifty kilometers from the Great Valley of Darkness, the forest grew denser, and the smell of rot and smoke intensified.
In the Forest of Chaos, goblins were a plague - living in hundreds of small, insignificant villages that vanished overnight in the face of danger, relocating elsewhere.
However, what Lilith spotted from above defied all logic.
Beneath her feet stretched a settlement numbering between three and four thousand individuals. In a world where goblins sit at the very bottom of the food chain, maintaining such a massive, permanent population should have been impossible. Any other race - werewolves, orcs, or humans - should have turned this place into a slaughterhouse long ago.
The reason for this anomaly, however, was dark and ancient.
The settlement had grown around monumental, moss-covered ancient ruins. The entire tribe lived for only one purpose: to serve and worship the Ancient Beast that inhabited the dark depths beneath the ruins. Once a month, a bloody ceremony took place there. Goblin porters carried tons of food and treasures to the entrance of the underground to satiate the monster.
If the offering was too small, the beast would emerge to the surface and devour dozens, sometimes hundreds of goblins, until its hunger was satisfied. It was precisely this fear and the presence of the monster that protected the tribe from outside enemies. No predator dared approach a place that breathed an aura of such old and powerful death.
However, in the shadow of this inhuman tyranny, in a certain hidden cave on the outskirts of the village, a group had gathered that was tired of being food.
"Is everyone here?" one of them rasped, looking around the cave. "Don't worry. There are exactly fifteen of us. Not one less, not one more."
In the circle sat 15 Goblin-Heroes. Though it sounded proud, their status in the tribe was meager. The elders and shamans preferred to feed the beast rather than listen to young warriors.
These heroes understood one thing: as long as the monster lived, they would never take control of the tribe. And without thousands of goblins under their command, they didn't stand the slightest chance against the new threat - the Demon King, about whom increasingly dark rumors were circulating.
"Very well!" the leader of the conspirators struck his fist into his open palm. "We have been preparing for this for half a month. Everything comes down to this night."
The plan was simple, almost suicidal: they intended to kill the deity their tribe had worshiped for generations.
"If the monster falls, we will become the saviors. The entire goblin army will kneel before us. Only then... only with such force will we be able to challenge the Demon Kings."
***
Lilith hovered high on dark wings, observing the goblin anthill from an almost divine perspective. The settlement below her pulsed with chaotic life, but her gaze was drawn to one specific point - a monumental, twisted tower in the very center of the ruins. It looked as if it had grown from the earth thousands of years ago, dripping with dark magic.
She focused her gaze, activating analysis.
[Building: Cursed Nest of the Ancients]
[Inhabitant: Cursed Void Chimera]
"So that's how it is..." Lilith nodded, feeling a thrill of excitement. "They keep the beast in the center to protect them from the world, and in return, they feed it their own flesh. Brutal, but effective."
After a moment, however, Lilith furrowed her brow, formulating a plan. She wanted those goblins. She needed hands for the fields and the mines, and this tribe was a ready-made foundation for her empire.
The problem lay with the heroes.
If they were there, they were the seeds of rebellion. For half an hour, she scanned the crowd, analyzing over two thousand individuals, until suddenly her gaze caught one of them emerging from a side cave on the outskirts of the village.
"Got you..." she whispered, but her smile froze as a second came out after the first, then a third, a tenth... "Damn, fifteen heroes in one place? It's a hornet's nest."
Intrigued by their conspiratorial behavior, she watched as these goblins left the cave, heading through the forest back toward the settlement.
Seeing them several hundred meters away from the village, Lilith smiled sweetly.
"I think I just solved my problem," she murmured and folded her wings, diving straight toward them.
The goblin-heroes marched proudly, clutching their primitive weapons. They were motivated, ready to become legends of their people. However, the ground before them suddenly exploded. Dust rose high, and the shockwave nearly threw them to their knees.
When the dust settled, they saw Lilith's purple silhouette. Her wings were spread, and amaranthine scales shimmered in the gloom of the forest.
"A Demon!" the leader shouted, but those were his last words.
Before anyone could raise a weapon, Lilith released her aura.
[You have been attacked by the Origin Aura of a PRIMORDIAL being!]
[Received -16 health points. You receive the STUN effect for 4 seconds!]
For goblins, whose HP pool was not as impressive as that of werewolves, this pressure was like hitting a wall. Everyone froze in macabre poses. Lilith wasted no time. She moved like purple lightning, slicing throats and chests with her talons.
Only the rhythmic squelches of tearing flesh could be heard.
The system flooded her vision with notifications:
[You killed a Goblin Hero, Hero Soul +1!]
[You killed a Goblin Hero, Hero Soul +1!]
[...]
[Total: 15 Hero Souls collected.]
"My skill is definitely too OP for these weaker beings," she said, brushing blood from her hand.
Lilith didn't have time to enjoy the profit of another 15 hero souls collected so easily, however. Suddenly, a gigantic, piercing hiss erupted from the direction of the tower, making the leaves on the trees tremble.
From the Cursed Nest, a beast burst forth whose mere sight sent shivers down the spine. The Void Chimera had the body of a gigantic lion with skin the color of the night sky, from which two heads grew - one goat-like with glowing green eyes, and the other serpentine, long and writhing instead of a tail.
From its shoulder blades grew powerful, leathery bat wings that hoisted it into the air with a single beat.
The monster soared high and fixed its malevolent gaze on Lilith. The Monarch felt a sudden, physical pressure on her chest - this was no ordinary beast; it was a predator that had ruled this land for centuries and had just felt someone on its territory who dared to challenge it.
The beast spread its monstrous, bat-like wings, blotting out the sun over the goblin settlement. From two throats erupted a roar that shook the foundations of the ancient ruins - it was the sound of pure, territorial rage.
The Chimera sensed that the purple being standing amidst the corpses of the goblin heroes was not another victim, but a predator threatening its domain.
Below, mass hysteria broke out. Thousands of goblins, seeing their "god" in such great anger, fell on their faces in the mud.
"Mercy! Great Guardian, forgive us!" they wailed, tearing their own clothes and beating their heads against the stones.
The Chimera, however, didn't even flicker an eye toward them. To it, these thousands of lives were merely a heap of cattle, and the only threat was the figure emanating the Primordial Aura.
Lilith, ignoring the pressure of the beast's aura, soared into the air with a strong beat of her wings. She stopped a dozen meters opposite the monster, hovering with inhuman grace.
A predatory smile bloomed on her face, and the red glow in her eyes became almost blinding.
"Your reign over these pathetic beings has just come to an end, you overgrown mutt," Lilith began, straightening herself proudly. Her voice, amplified by mana, carried over the forest like the tolling of a bell.
"Fall to your knees before this Monarch, and perhaps I will allow your soul to become part of my…"
She didn't get to finish. The Chimera had no intention of listening to speeches.
The goat head, set upon the beast's neck, suddenly twisted unnaturally, and its green eyes flared white. From its gaping maw erupted a gigantic, concentrated stream of destructive fire.
The roar of the explosion was deafening. A pillar of flames, several meters wide, struck Lilith directly, completely engulfing her silhouette. The temperature in the area rose so sharply that nearby leaves on the trees instantly turned to ash.
The goblins below froze, staring at the sky with wide eyes. They saw only a gigantic ball of fire where the purple woman had been hovering a moment ago.
"She's dead!" one of the shamans screamed. "No one survives the Guardian's wrath! Our God is invincible!"