"Why are they surrounding the entrance?"
Zarek couldn't understand the goblins' behavior. It appeared as if they were ordered by someone to guard the entrance; the thought sounded far-fetched, but given how crazy this world could be, Zarek didn't dare dismiss it.
He continued scanning, searching for a way to get around the horde.
But despite racking his brain for minutes, he could see no other option than simply fighting the goblins head-on.
Thinking up to this point, he sighed. For as long as possible, he wanted to avoid confrontation—he didn't have the confidence to deal with more than a hundred goblins at once.
Just as he was fretting, his eyes suddenly narrowed—he spotted a familiar face lying on the ground. The fatty whom Zarek had assumed dead lay completely covered in blood and gore; it was almost impossible to spot the guy in all this carnage.
It was only by pure luck that Zarek noticed him—but poor Alexander.
Maybe the fatty Alexandre felt Zarek's gaze, because in the next moment he raised his head to look in Zarek's direction. Immediately, the chubby beady eyes widened in surprise and a loud exclamation escaped his lips—however, just as his mouth moved, sanity took hold and the fatty was able to control himself.
Although Alexander's actions were very discreet and almost unnoticeable, a few goblins seemed to sense the disturbance in the air. Immediately, there was a little commotion in the horde, with several goblins that appeared to be scouts—evident by their long ears and slender legs—starting to make strange noises.
Zarek merely coughed and continued whatever he was doing; he couldn't afford to think about anyone else in this situation.
After shrugging his shoulders, Zarek let out a long exhale, his eyes sharpening with a fierce glint.
The situation wouldn't change on its own, so he could only resort to one technique. With a heavy heart, he beckoned Misery to come over, his expression grim.
Misery was simply staring into the horde of goblins in the distance when he noticed Zarek's command.
Like an excited little kid full of energy, Misery immediately rushed forward and stood in front of Zarek, waiting for further instruction.
Zarek took a deep breath and steeled his heart—a single thought in his head:
This is my only option.
However, contrary to his expectations, as soon as Misery received the instruction, he rushed forward at his fastest speed.
Zarek was stunned for a moment but reacted quickly, hiding behind a crevice to take cover so the commotion Misery was about to cause wouldn't blow his own cover.
His strategy was simple: he would use Misery to attract some goblins to leave the horde and pick them off. Like this, layer by layer, he would thin the crowd until only a few goblins were left at the entrance—then sweep them all away in one fell swoop.
While he was thinking, Misery finally reached close to the horde. The blood-drenched, three-foot-tall monster let out unrestrained mocking laughter from his mouth.
Misery stopped in place, pointed at the crowd, and made a neck-slicing gesture—provocative and defiant.
Zarek watched this from behind and wondered where Misery had learned such gestures. Curious, he continued to watch.
Not just him—even Alexander was shocked, not understanding what Misery was trying to achieve.
Alexander just wanted to lay there and wait for death.
Unlike Zarek, Alexander had lost all hope. He didn't know how to fight, nor did he have any skill that could help him, and there was no one who was going to save him either.
Things couldn't be more hopeless.
Even so, Misery's actions drew his attention. As it turns out, the neck-slicing gesture wasn't only good at provoking humans—it worked perfectly on goblins, too.
The goblins farthest from the entrance let out a fierce howl, the red glow in their eyes turning even more intense.
Meanwhile, Misery wasn't done—he pointed at one particular goblin, who appeared to be female, and slapped his chest as if claiming her.
This simple action caused the whole horde to go completely berserk.
"This guy..." A forced smile appeared on Zarek's face watching this interaction. He knew exactly what Misery's gesture signified: for low-level monsters, that meant "from now on, your wife is mine"—an act sure to start a war, as goblin females were scarce.
Finally, just then a loud roar came from deep within the horde, causing the air to vibrate.
Immediately, as if some dam had broken, tens of goblins rushed toward Misery with murderous looks in their eyes. Their bloodlust was so intense it seemed they would tear him apart as soon as they got their hands on him.
Seeing the horde charge toward Misery, Zarek didn't dare waste time—he poured all the infinite origin that Misery had gained from last fight into his summon's stats, boosting Misery's strength to 4.6.
Meanwhile, while running, Misery let out an excited roar as he felt power return. His muscles seemed to come alive, twisting and rearranging, fat converted to pure muscle.
Although Zarek had raised Misery's strength, from afar he also noticed a marked increase in Misery's speed.
He wasn't surprised at all—this extra strength doesn't come out of nowhere; the entire body has to be strained to generate that extra force.
That was a very established fact.
Meanwhile, Misery continued running, and the distance between him and Zarek continued to shrink.
Just then, Zarek took a deep breath and jumped out of his hiding spot.
Misery's part was complete—now it was time for him to take things into his own hands.
Without wasting another moment, he yelled in his mind,
All in!
Alexander, who was watching this scene from afar, almost cried out at the top of his lungs.
"Stupid! Just what the hell is wrong with you?"
Alexander was sure Zarek wasn't strong enough to face the goblins. If that wasn't the case, Zarek wouldn't have fled before with his tail tucked between his legs.
However, what happened next caused his jaws to hit the floor.