A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 186  The Shadows - Part 11

A shallow bite, and the goblin ended its life, before meekly taking it in its hands and offering it to the shadowy figure. Beam had never seen a goblin kill anything so cleanly. It had only taken the rabbit's life, and nothing more – its corpse was still well intact.

The shadowy figure made a motion, and the rabbit's corpse ended up on the ground by its feat, next to the corpse of the goblin that the other shadow had killed earlier.

The two shadows shared a look, before they both reached their arms into their opposite sleeves. One withdrew a small bright pink crystal, whilst the other withdrew a similarly small crystal, only this one had a purple hew.

Beam watched on, trying to force his pounding heart to stop. His body still attempted to shiver against the cold, but Beam resisted those instincts, as he desperately tried to keep his presence hidden. This here was exactly what he was looking for. Finally, after all the monsters he'd slain – he was getting closer to something beyond them.

He eagerly watched, trying to find out as much as he could.

The darkest of the crystals was thrust into the chest cavity of the goblin, where its heart had been moments before. A dark dagger was manifested by the other shadow, as it cut into the rabbit, withdrawing its own heart, before forcing the lighter pink crystal inside of it, blood dripping to the floor all the while.

When the two crystals were in place, the shadows lowered the corpses to the floor. And then, as if by silent agreement, the two stomped down, shattering ribs in a gruesome display, as they sent blood and viscera flying. But that was not all they crushed – Beam saw that the crystals were shattered too.

In a sparkle of powder, the two crystals disappeared underfoot, and rained down upon the two corpses. After that, the shadows withdrew a few steps, and the transformation began.

An aura of darkness swept the clearing, enough to cause chills down Beam's back. He felt a great distorting demonic presence, if only for an instance. And then the corpses began to shudder, as if through rigamortis.

The rabbit's limbs twisted and cracked as it spasmed. A shocking sound. A horrifying sight. Enough to make Beam begin to feel nauseous, even after all he had seen from the monsters before.

Drops of darkness distorted the rabbit's grey fur, as though it was being moulded by several pairs of demonic hands. Its neck snapped backwards, the bones breaking, and then its jaw swelled, fangs growing until they spilt out from it.

Its blood grew darker and darker as well, as the creature grew in size. Dirt from the soil rose up to support the construction, as though by some force of gravity.

Next to it, the goblin was similarly growing, similarly transforming, if only by a slightly less gruesome means, as the transformation itself seemed less severe. Beam only saw it grow larger, its muscles grow thicker and its ears grow longer. It was the transformation process he'd seen before, only with a greater hint of darkness.

There was no mistaking that this was a hobgoblin being born. Not just the half-evolved states that he'd seen before in the day, but a pure hobgoblin, with the menacing aura to support it. Beam felt his skin tingle. Even after killing the evolved hobgoblin, he didn't think he'd ever get over his distaste for the creatures. They reminded him of his weakness. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As a new hobgoblin was born, and it gave a roar to indicate the end of the process, next to it, a new goblin was born. The rabbit was transformed into something entirely unrecognisable. It was as though its flesh had been liquefied, to give its moulder greater freedom to transform it.

Its fur was nowhere to be seen, instead there was merely green skin and angry eyes – the product of madness. If this was how they were born, it made sense to Beam that the monsters were so erratic. He knew there was a chance of monster births occurring naturally – if there was enough dark mana to feed on. But this, this was anything but.

He gripped his sword, having seen enough. He couldn't allow the shadowy figures to give rise to an even more powerful army. All there was at the moment were 6 goblins, complete with a hobgoblin. No horns as of yet – Beam did not know how such things were made, but he could only assume that it was through a similar process as what he'd seen.

Either way, he would find his answers, he decided. He resolved to kill one shadow, and capture the others alive.

Just as he scaled down the side of the tree, quietly hitting the floor, the two shadows began to advance on his fire, with the army of goblins that they had created. Eam had no doubts about their intentions – though he did wonder, were they not worried that the creator of the fire would still be around?

Wary of such a thought, Beam approached them even more cautiously, lest he be forced to find out that they were merely pretending not to notice him.

Just as he scaled down the side of the tree, quietly hitting the floor, the two shadows began to advance on his fire, with the army of goblins that they had created. Eam had no doubts about their intentions – though he did wonder, were they not worried that the creator of the fire would still be around?

Wary of such a thought, Beam approached them even more cautiously, lest he be forced to find out that they were merely pretending not to notice him.

He quietly circled through the trees, looking for a better opening for attack. The shadows neared the bonfire, their goblin allies next to them. One of them made a motion with its arm, and the hobgoblin started forwarding with a bellow. It eyed the fire nervously, clearly put off by its heat, but that did not make it take a backwards step. Even risking burning its own body, it seemed it intended to force its way through. It raised a fist. That was Beam's signal to dart in.

He made no battle cry, for he was not a goblin, nor a monster. His own purpose was slaying. The goblin nearest him noticed him first, as Beam's feet pounded against the frosty forest floor, his movements terrifyingly fast. The creature gave a squeal – but a mere goblin was no match for Beam any more. Not when he had been trained against their more intelligent and stronger brethren – the horned goblin.