The demon bat banked sharply, its massive wings carving crescents through the snow-filled air as it descended in a wide spiral. Wind howled around Jake.
The moment the bat dipped low enough—
Jake jumped.
He landed lightly, knees bending to absorb the impact, boots crunching into frost-dusted stone. Behind him, the demon bat flared its wings and landed with a heavy thoom, snow exploding outward in a ring.
Ahead, the goblin froze.
It had been crouched low, rusty blade raised, teeth bared in instinctive defiance. But the instant its eyes locked onto Jake—
They widened.
"B—Boss?!"
The goblin dropped its weapon and sprinted forward, nearly tripping over its own feet before skidding to a stop just short of Jake. It bowed so fast its forehead struck the ground with a dull thud.
Jake blinked, then smiled softly.
"…Hey."
The goblin looked up, eyes shining with almost painful excitement.
Jake's brows furrowed. That presence…
He flicked his gaze sideways, a translucent screen sliding into view.
Strength: 56
Speed: 45
Agility: 34
Stamina: 40
Power: 53
Magic Power: 11
Jake's smile thinned slightly.
Huh… he's gotten stronger.
"When I left," Jake muttered internally, "you'd lose a fight with a stiff breeze."
He looked back down at the goblin.
"Where are the others?"
The goblin's grin faltered for just a moment before it sprang to its feet and gestured urgently.
"Please—Boss—this way!"
The cave entrance yawned open like the mouth of some ancient beast, jagged stone teeth framing a darkness lit faintly by greenish bioluminescent moss. The air inside was warm—too warm—and carried the scent of iron and damp earth.
Jake stepped in.
The moment his foot crossed the threshold—
Every goblin inside dropped to their knees.
There were fewer of them now. Far fewer.
Roughly forty remained, each one visibly different from what Jake remembered. Their frames were leaner but denser, muscles tightly packed beneath green skin. Their eyes burned sharper, more focused. Scars crisscrossed arms and torsos.
A low, unified chant echoed through the cavern.
"Boss… Boss… Boss…"
Jake paused, eyes sweeping over them.
Then—
Heavy footsteps echoed from deeper within the cave.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The chanting stopped.
From the shadows emerged a figure Jake barely recognized.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Proportioned.
The Goblin King.
It was no longer the hunched, bloated brute from before. Its body was muscular, almost human in structure, cords of power visible beneath taut green skin. White hair spilled down its back in a wild mane, and resting against its shoulder was a massive, rust-stained greatsword—scarred, chipped, and soaked in dried blood.
The Goblin King walked straight through its kneeling subjects.
Then—
It knelt.
Its knee struck the stone floor with a resonant crack.
Jake stared, stunned.
"…You look," he paused, searching for the word, "…different."
Curiosity prickled at him. The system answered before he even consciously asked.
Strength: 593
Speed: 398
Agility: 690
Stamina: 300
Power: 400
Magic Power: 200
Intelligence: 34
Jake's breath caught.
Stronger than me…
Upper C-rank… no—borderline.
"H-how?" Jake asked aloud before he could stop himself. "How did you get this strong?"
The Goblin King raised its head slowly, eyes burning with fierce devotion.
"When Boss left," it said, voice deeper, steadier than before, "we hunted."
Jake listened in silence.
"We hunted weak creatures. Then stronger ones. We devoured them. Those who survived grew stronger… and those who failed—" its jaw tightened, "—were lost."
A heavy pause.
"We evolved."
The cavern was silent.
Jake exhaled slowly.
"…Interesting."
At that moment, a sudden rush of wind tore through the cave.
A shadow passed overhead.
The demon bats entered.
Twenty of them swept in, wings folding as they landed along the cave walls and ceiling. At their head descended something else entirely.
A massive demon bat—evolved.
Its wings were broader, thicker, the membranes veined like obsidian glass, shaped more like a dragon's than a bat's. Its body was sleeker, its horns swept back elegantly, and its eyes glowed a deep, controlled violet.
The goblins reacted instantly.
Steel screeched as blades were drawn.
The Goblin King rose, greatsword sliding free with a grinding sound.
Jake lifted a single hand.
"Stop."
Everything froze.
"These are allies," Jake said calmly. "My subjects."
The Goblin King stiffened—then dropped back to one knee without hesitation.
"O Shadow Sovereign!" it boomed, voice echoing through the cave.
"Master of the Endless Dark!"
"He who walks above kings and commands monsters as breath!"
"Our strength is your shadow! Our blood is your tribute!"
The goblins followed, bowing so deeply their foreheads scraped stone.
Jake slowly turned to the evolved demon bat, it's already hard enough to at like a boss for monsters and now they begin to praise me, how weird could things get?.
I dumped all the XP into the one with the highest loyalty…
Still wasn't enough to trigger evolution.
"So this is what raw growth looks like," he murmured.
"I wonder what true evolution will bring…"
Behind him—
"O Great One!"
"O Peerless Ruler!"
"O Unmatched, Unquestioned, Uncontested—!"
A vein popped a t Jake's forehead..
"thats enough," Jake snapped, rubbing his temple.
The Goblin King froze mid-bow.
Then—
BOOOOOM.
The ground lurched violently.
Stone cracked. Dust rained from the ceiling. Goblins cried out as the cave shook like it was being torn from its roots.
Jake's eyes snapped upward.
"An earthquake?" he asked quietly.
The evolved demon bat snarled, wings spreading.
Deep beneath the tremor—
Something moved.
And whatever it was…
It was coming closer.They burst out of the cave together.
Snow exploded under their feet as goblins scattered, demon bats shrieking overhead while wings beat the frozen air into chaos. The ground was no longer shaking—
It was heaving, like something colossal was tearing itself free from the world below.
Jake's eyes lifted.
And his breath stopped.
There it was.
A giant, man-shaped but utterly wrong in scale—so massive its shadow swallowed entire ruins. Each step it took crushed stone into powder, the earth groaning in protest. In its hand dragged a sword so enormous its edge carved trenches through the snow and asphalt alike, screaming metal-on-stone with every lazy pull.
Slow.
Too slow.
And yet—
The system flickered in Jake's vision.
No stats.
No numbers.
Just a single name burned into his sight, stark and merciless.
[The Destroyer]
The Goblin King's voice trembled as it fell to one knee.
"…The Destroyer."
The giant's head lifted.
Its eyes—vast, ancient, filled with a wrath that felt personal—locked onto Jake.
They widened.
Its jaw split open in a soundless snarl.
For one impossible heartbeat—
Silence.
Then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The ground detonated.
The Destroyer lunged forward, snow and rubble vaporizing beneath its feet as it accelerated—sprinted—with speed that shattered every expectation Jake had. The air screamed. Buildings blurred.
Jake's instincts screamed louder.
"It's coming for me—!"
Before he finished the thought, the demon bats moved.
Each bat snatched two goblins in its claws, wings snapping open as they shot toward a collapsed skyscraper shaped like a broken L, its upper floors still barely standing.
Jake veered hard in the opposite direction, boots skidding as he changed course.
If I go with them—
It'll clip us out of the sky.
The Goblin King thundered after him, greatsword raised.
"I will fight with you, Master!"
"No," Jake snapped without slowing. "Go with them. Lead them in my absence."
"But—!"
Jake glanced back, eyes sharp.
"I need someone I can trust to protect them. To make them stronger while I'm gone."
The Goblin King froze mid-step.
"…You trust me?"
"I do," Jake said simply. "So go."
For a heartbeat, the Goblin King's eyes shone—bright, fierce, almost reverent.
"If that is your will, Master… then I will not fail you."
It turned, retreating toward the others.
The Destroyer noticed.
Its massive frame curved unnaturally as it adjusted course, each step cracking the ground like artillery fire.
Straight toward Jake.
Tch.
Knew it.
Jake sprinted.
Snow blurred beneath his feet as he weaved through collapsed streets, vaulting broken cars, sliding under leaning slabs of concrete. Behind him—
THOOM. THOOM. THOOM.
Each step of the giant was like a hammer striking the world.
Jake dove through the hollow shell of a ruined skyscraper.
A shadow fell over him.
The Destroyer swung.
Its sword carved through the building in a single, contemptuous arc.
KRAAASH!!
Steel, glass, and concrete disintegrated into a storm of debris as the structure collapsed inward. Jake burst out the other side just as a shrill screech cut through the chaos.
Above him—
The evolved demon bat.
Its wings flared, eyes locked onto Jake.
He grinned, blood on his teeth.
"Good timing."
Jake pushed harder.
Every drop of energy flooded his legs.
Everything.
The world narrowed.
Sound stretched, warped—
KRRRRAAA-THOOOOM!!
The air cracked like a sonic whip as Jake launched himself forward, the force of the leap exploding beneath his feet. Snow and stone blasted outward in a perfect ring as purple shock-lines tore through the air behind him.
The Destroyer swung.
The blade descended like the judgment of a god.
And—
FWOOOOSH—!
Time snapped.
A violet streak cut across the sky as the demon bat intercepted, snatching Jake mid-air. Wind screamed as they shot upward, the bat twisting violently as the giant's blade missed by a hair's breadth.
But it wasn't done.
The Destroyer roared.
It kept chasing.
It ripped free its sword, swinging again and again, arcs of destruction tearing through buildings as the bat dodged desperately—slipping between leaning towers, banking hard, wings clipping debris as they climbed higher and higher.
Finally—
They passed the threshold.
The swings fell short.
The giant slowed.
Its steps dragged to a halt.
Below, The Destroyer reared back—
And hurled its sword.
The air howled.
Jake's skin went cold as death itself brushed past.
Time crawled.
The blade missed them by meters, slicing through the clouds below and vanishing into the frozen horizon.
Silence returned.
Jake sagged against the bat's back, breathing hard.
"…I would've died," he muttered, "if it weren't for you."
A chill lingered in his bones.
Not fear.
Something worse.
He looked down at the distant figure of The Destroyer, standing motionless amid the ruins.
"I hate this feeling," Jake said quietly. "Running away."
His hand clenched.
"The next time we meet…"
His eyes hardened, shadow curling faintly around his fingers.
"…I'll kill you."