Green Monster Epic

In Mansha City, in the vast West District, a figure shrouded in a pitch-black mask arrived, walking through the alleys of the night like a ghost.

After several twists and turns, this figure arrived at what seemed like an ordinary residence and rhythmically knocked on the door.

“Creak ~ ~”

The door opened, revealing the unremarkable face of a short goblin, who showed no surprise at the masked figure knocking on the door, and quietly stepped aside to welcome the person in.

The ordinary residence held a hidden secret, at least for those with extremely strong perception abilities. They could clearly feel the subtle and deep magical fluctuations within the house. It was a permanently activated magic array at work, preventing those rogue thieves and professionals from peeping and eavesdropping.

“Alva and the others have been found. Someone sent their heads to the administrative hall the day before yesterday as proof for the relevant task.”

The visitor's voice was low, as if deliberately altered to conceal their identity.

“It doesn't matter. They are not on the same side as us. Their failure has little impact on us.”

Inside the house, a calm and magnetic voice suddenly sounded. Following the sound, it turned out that a figure was sitting in a dark corner of the room, their blue eyes watching the person standing in the room.

“However, among the adventure team that completed the task, a human mage seems to be more interested in the true purpose of Alva and the others' assassination attempt and intends to investigate further.”

“What's the human mage's name?”

“Richard Nika, from the Ice Kingdom.”

“Ha, so it's the arrogant one from the Ice Kingdom. It's not surprising that they are interested in these things.”

“I understand this matter. Try to come here as little as possible if there's nothing important.”

Finally, the magnetic voice calmly ended the conversation, preparing to dismiss the guest. However, the figure still standing in the center of the hall suddenly asked with some emotion, “Lord, when, when can I go back?”

“I've been lurking here for so many years. Can I apply to the higher-ups to let me return?”

Hearing that their request for many years had finally received a definite answer today, the masked figure's emotions were so agitated that their hands, hanging in front of their chest, clenched tightly, appearing somewhat pale from the excessive force.

“Thank you, Lord!”

“This is what you deserve. No need to thank me.”

The masked figure left quietly, as they had come, with excitement, and the inconspicuous residence in Mansha City returned to silence.

About a magical hour later, a middle-aged human male, wearing ornate clothing and a face-covering hat, walked out of the mobile wooden building next door, and then came to a luxuriously decorated, yet coldly styled bar. He skillfully knocked on the thick wooden door of one of the private rooms, and then pushed it open and entered.

“I want to issue a task.”

The middle-aged man's eyes flickered, and his blue eyes spoke to a short goblin who was buried in front of a desk in the private room.

“Okay, please describe the task content and reward.”

The short goblin stopped writing, and their agile eyes swept over the visitor before asking calmly.

“Assassinate the human high-level mage, Richard Nika, reward: 25 rubies.”

“The opponent's level should be at the peak of level 15, a transmutation mage, most likely proficient in frost-based spells…”

The middle-aged man stated the content of his task, and at the same time, in order for the other party to better complete the task, he also informed the other party of the information he knew.

“I need to see the other party's head within 2 months.”

“Okay, your task has been accepted by our guild, please wait for good news.”

The short goblin scribe recorded the task content on the parchment in front of them, then took the task reward sent by the human, carefully counted it, and then gave a confident answer in a deep voice.

“Okay, I'll come back in a month.”

After the human issued their task, they bowed slightly and left, while the short goblin placed the written task into a vertical bronze tube next to them. The parchment slid directly into the next underground space along the smooth bronze pipe, and then turned to the place where it should really go.

Without a certain level, no one would know that this inconspicuous high-end bar in Mansha City is actually the base of a large dark force-the Assassin Guild-that is spread throughout the Feyman world.

As the name suggests, the Assassin Guild is an organization that solves the troubles around many big figures and wealthy people. As long as there is money, they will satisfy all the arrangements of their employers, from looting and kidnapping to assassination, from inquiring about intelligence to protecting the safety of employers. There is nothing they cannot get their hands on.

The short goblin scribe is just an intermediary placed by the Assassin Guild in Mansha City. In addition to accepting tasks and transmitting information to employers, they have no other function. In fact, the short goblin does not even know who in the city are members of the Assassin Guild.

Like the assassination task issued by the human before, it is the most common task content of the Assassin Guild. The short goblin believes that as the task is issued to the appropriate person, good news will appear soon.

Just when an unknown human issued a task that was unfavorable to Richard, another figure was also truthfully reporting the matter about Alva and his party to their superior.

“…You mean that human mage believes that the matter behind this is not that simple?”

Although there is no concealment of the face, in the dim environment, unless there is a talent for dark vision, it may not be possible to see the true faces of the two figures meeting here in this underground chamber located deep underground.

“Yes, at least I can see from his eyes and actions that he believes that this matter is not just a simple assassination.”

The other voice was full of energy, appearing very powerful.

“…Well, I see, I will report this matter to the higher-ups and let them send someone to continue to follow up.”

“…You continue to stay in the adventurers, pay attention to the movements of these guys.”

“Yes.”

The wilderness is not peaceful, but no one would have thought that in this Mansha City, there have always been undercurrents surging, never stopping.

“Knock knock knock!”

Allen rested well in the house for a night, and the fatigue of wandering in the wilderness for several months finally dissipated. Just as he was about to get up and go to the martial arts field behind the temple to start today's morning exercise, there was a knock on the door of the small courtyard where he lived.

“Who is it?”

Allen grabbed the Bone Cleaver next to him, hung it on his back, and slowly walked towards the entrance of the small courtyard. Although he knew that the basic security of Mansha City was still very guaranteed, Allen had already become accustomed to the cautious habits in the wilderness and did not think that there was anything wrong with bringing a weapon when opening the door.

“I thought you hadn't gotten up yet. I was wondering if I was disturbing you, but now it seems like I came at the right time.”

As soon as the door opened, standing in front of Allen was a face that had just parted ways with less than a day ago. The human mage Richard, with a delicate and refined appearance, greeted Allen with some apology at this time.

“I was just about to go for a morning exercise, come in.”

Allen welcomed Richard into the small courtyard and led him to sit down in the living room.

“Is there something you need from me so early in the morning?”

“Oh, I wanted to ask if you, Allen, are interested in taking another trip to the wilderness with me?”

Richard looked at Allen's simple and unadorned small courtyard. The furnishings of the temple monastery were nothing to pay attention to. Anyone who has lived in these places knows that there is no elegant environment here, just a place for believers to rest.

“Aren't you just back from the wilderness? You just came back, and you want to go out again?”

Allen was very surprised. The other party's explanation to Keira and the others yesterday did not seem to be like this.

“Well, I just took on a task and need a partner, so I thought of you.”

“What do you think, are you interested?”

Richard looked directly at Allen, expecting his answer.

“Can you tell me the specific content and reward of this task?”

Allen frowned. After all, according to his original plan, after resting for a day today, he would go to the location of Keira and the others' mission tomorrow according to the news they left behind. At this time, Richard suddenly came to the door to invite him, which made him a little embarrassed, so he wanted to see if the task was worth it.

“The content of the task is actually related to our previous task, that is, to take a trip along the assassination route of the other party to see if there have been any changes in these tribes recently, or if there are any other demon teams lurking around their tribes.”

“The difficulty of the task is not great, it just requires us to run more errands, but the task reward is okay. According to the employment fee of 30 gold coins per day for a high-level war professional, however many days we stay in the wilderness, the other party will pay the corresponding reward.”

Richard paused slightly here, secretly glanced at Allen's face a few times, and seeing that Allen did not have much emotional change, he was somewhat helpless in his heart.

“There are big figures in the city who believe that the purpose of Alva and his gang's assassination has a deeper meaning, so they want to dig deeper to see if the other party has any other plans. Just like the demon team we found in the Twisted Hammer Tribe, according to the appraiser who estimated the value of the obsidian at the time, this batch of obsidian is exactly the amount needed to build a low-level flesh and blood altar.”

“If there are such demon teams lurking around the other tribes, then things will be troublesome.”

The more Allen listened to Richard's introduction, the more depressed he felt.

After all, the wilderness was their homeland. Although Green Field Plain was far from Mansha City, if even the most fertile area of Mansha City was occupied by demons, then the time for their Green Field Plain to fall would probably not be too far away.

"Okay, I'll go with you!"

Allen lightly slapped the table with his hand. He wasn't attracted by the reward of this mission, but rather the content of the mission that moved him.

Having stayed in Green Field Plain for too long, Allen's information had become very outdated. Now that he had come to Mansha City, he naturally hoped to contact and obtain the latest wilderness information. If there were to be any major changes in the wilderness next, Allen hoped that he could obtain first-hand information, instead of being unaware until the demons arrived outside the village, as he had been in the past.

"When do we leave?"

"That depends on your arrangements. I'm already prepared to leave."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Since Richard was already prepared, and Allen was alone now, he naturally didn't need too much preparation. After reaching an agreement with Richard, the two set off for the wilderness.

"Richard, can you tell me the truth, why did you choose to come to me instead of Kaya, Alba, or the others?"

On the way, Allen took advantage of the boring journey to ask a question that puzzled him.

"Then why did you agree?"

Richard answered with a question, looking at Allen with a meaningful gaze.

"..."

Allen was silent.

"I chose you as a partner because I know you will be more concerned about the inside story of this mission, and whether it will have other impacts on the wilderness. But Kaya and Albion are just passers-by in the wilderness, and they don't really care about the future of the wilderness. Perhaps in their view, the more chaotic the wilderness, the greater the benefits for adventurers like them, so they may actually prefer a chaotic wilderness situation."

"But you are different, Allen."

"You are a tribal leader, so the first thing you need to consider is the stability of the wilderness. Only when the situation in the wilderness is stable will your tribe be safer. Therefore, you are the best partner for this mission."

Before Allen could answer his question, Richard explained the reason why he valued Allen and chose him as a partner. After thinking about it, Allen realized that he was indeed the most suitable candidate among his previous partners.

Richard's first stop was the Wakan Kobold Tribe, the first target assassinated by Alvar and his group.

The Wakan Kobold Tribe is located in the northwest corner of the Centaur Grassland, in a place called the Nagrand Highlands, only 4-500 miles away from the coastal mountains. The Nagrand Highlands are not barren, because they have rich mineral veins and vast salt lake resources, allowing the kobolds of the Wakan Tribe to live a relatively happy life.

Originally, because of iron ore, mithril ore, and other resources, the relationship between the Wakan Tribe and humans used to be very good. After all, only human caravans would travel to the Nagrand Highlands despite the hardships to conduct commercial activities. Other caravans gave up on this place because they disliked the long journey and meager profits.

However, decades ago, because human caravans monopolized the mineral trade in the Nagrand Highlands, and there were no other forces intervening, the greedy humans lowered prices to purchase the ores painstakingly mined by the numerous kobold tribes on the Nagrand Highlands, while also selling various daily necessities needed by the kobolds at high prices.

However, the good times didn't last long. The human caravans' behavior of exploiting huge profits from both sides eventually aroused the resentment of the kobolds of the Wakan Tribe, leading to a regional boycott.

Humans ultimately paid the price for their greed. After being collectively boycotted by the kobold tribes of the Nagrand Highlands, the humans did try to reconcile, and also secretly used despicable means to sow discord, but in the end, the kobold tribes still resisted the temptation and coercion of the humans, and completely drove the human caravans out of this land.

Of course, this approach was a lose-lose situation. The human caravans could not earn profits, and the natives of the Nagrand Highlands suddenly returned to the barbaric era from their former rural life.

The various spices, seasonings, and even cloth clothes and leather boots needed for the daily life of the kobolds had to be temporarily abandoned due to the severance of relations with the human caravans. They put on the smelly leather jackets again, forged simple tools themselves, and returned to their original living environment.

Human caravans could not travel to the Nagrand Highlands, but they were reluctant to give up this established trade route, so they secretly made trouble and prevented caravans from other forces from intervening.

The southern trade route of the Wilderness Corridor was originally dominated by human caravans. Larger merchants from other forces disliked the troublesome nature of these scattered tribes, and smaller ones did not have the confidence to compete with the human caravans. In the end, only those flexible, independent peddlers would secretly sneak into the highlands to trade with the local natives and earn some hard-earned money.

Most of the kobolds still had to organize their own teams and travel thousands of miles to Mansha City to sell their goods and purchase the necessary supplies.

Over the decades, the kobolds' vengeful nature has made them not forget what the humans have done. Therefore, kobold medium-sized tribes like the Wakan Tribe still maintain an attitude of resentment towards humans.

Walking in the Nagrand Highlands, one would have a feeling of walking in a decaying natural environment. Everywhere there were remnants left after mining, and countless piles of rubble and soil formed small hills. Many of the originally towering mountains were directly destroyed and excavated, and then lost the soil covering the mountains under the baptism of wind and rain, becoming bare rocky mountains that no longer grew any plants.

If the barrenness of the Green Field Plain was due to its geographical environment and natural factors, then the current decline of the Nagrand Highlands was entirely due to man-made destruction and indiscriminate logging, leaving behind a desolate scene.

Most of the races living in the Nagrand Highlands live by mining and smelting, so the highlands are always shrouded in a persistent gray-brown smoke. Even the leaves of the plants growing here have a light or thick layer of dust, which is why Allen saw such a desolate and decaying scene.

As long as one sees that the air above a certain place is filled with a strong gray-brown smoke, it means that at least a group of tribes living by mining live in that area, and most of them will be kobolds with mining talents.

However, because the kobolds of the Nagrand Highlands have to settle down along the mineral veins, there are no large tribes. Most of them are small and medium-sized tribes with hundreds or thousands of people, scattered throughout this land.

The Wakan Tribe that Richard was going to observe was a medium-sized tribe with a population of more than 3,000 people, settled at the foot of a large mountain called Mount Gewalle.

The kobolds of the Wakan Tribe had long returned to their peaceful lives. The aftermath of the assassination of the former chief, a powerful quasi-legendary dual-wielder, several months ago, had disappeared after another high-level peak kobold priest in the tribe rose strongly and gradually consolidated his position.

The only change might be that this kobold priest named Douglas, who was originally supposed to believe in Kurtulmak, the god of kobolds, established a statue of a humanoid deity in the tribe after gaining dominance over the Wakan Tribe, causing the tribesmen who believed in the kobold god and natural deities to change their beliefs and convert to the Lord of the Night Sky, the King of Shadow.

Initially, this caused confusion among the people of the Wakan Tribe, and various oppositional actions emerged one after another, until this kobold priest named Douglas displayed cruel methods, taking out the internal organs of several confidants of the former chief and their families and hanging them high on the gate of the tribal settlement, which chilled the hearts of those who were eager to move.

However, these things had already passed. When Allen and Richard arrived at the foot of Mount Gewalle, the nearly one hundred corpses at the gate of the Wakan Tribe's settlement had been cleaned up, and the kobolds in the village had resumed their daily activities.

Richard hid far away, using magic to remotely control an invisible magic servant, observing this seemingly peaceful kobold settlement through its eyes.

In the village, a group of young and strong kobolds were sharpening their knives, training in the martial arts field in a corner of the village. In the distance, a long stream of people came and went, laboriously carrying frames of simple wooden carts, busy transporting the newly smelted iron and copper ingots back to the blacksmith shop.

Small kobolds in the village were happily playing, and from time to time, a few young cubs would fight with each other, and the sound of their companions crying out in pain would come from the lack of restraint; then a furious female kobold would stick her head out and scold these little brats until they reconciled and ran to other places, giggling.

At least, from the current perspective, this kobold village doesn't have anything noteworthy. It's just like any other kobold settlement.

However, the attention of Richard's controlled invisible magic servant was focused more on the brand-new sculpture in the village, which was completely different in style from the kobold village.

The tall humanoid sculpture was made of the most ordinary granite from the Gevalle Mountains. The gray-white sculpture had a strong wilderness style, rough and full of power.

Although the hood on its head concealed its approximate race, the hint of a bewitching smile on its lips, and the dark, gloomy aura gradually emanating from the sculpture, immediately made Richard feel uncomfortable.

It was quite surprising that a kobold tribe's village would have a sculpture of a strange deity with the beautiful face of a human or elf, instead of Kurtulmak, the god of the kobolds.

However, Richard couldn't guess the specific identity of this deity's incarnation because he couldn't get close enough to the village to observe it carefully and listen to the prayers of its followers.

The Wakan tribe's village is now very xenophobic. Allen previously tried to enter the Wakan village under the guise of an adventurer, but he was driven away by several kobolds at the village entrance, who were highly vigilant.

Even Allen, as a hobgoblin, couldn't get close to this village, so Richard, with his human face, would probably be even less welcome.

Allen and Richard had roughly patrolled the area within dozens of miles outside the village, but at least in their perception, they didn't find any traces of demons lingering.

Allen also secretly captured a kobold and used his methods to interrogate him, asking if anything had happened recently in the surrounding area, but the kobold didn't provide any useful information.

The two of them stayed in the Nagrand Highlands for seven days without discovering any useful clues.

"Should we leave? It doesn't seem like there's anything here worth your attention."

Allen squatted beside Richard, casting a protective spell to ensure his safety. Only after Richard sent the summoned invisible magic servant back to its original plane, and his own body regained its agility, did Allen slowly offer a suggestion.

"Let's stay one more night, and tomorrow we'll set off for the next destination."

Richard's eyes were filled with doubt, and also a hint of helplessness.

Since the assassination of the former leader of the Wakan tribe and the ascension of the new leader, the Wakan tribe has begun to prepare its village's military force.

In recent days, Richard had observed that the sounds of flames and hammer blows in the tribe's blacksmith shop had never stopped, even late into the night, when orange-red flames could still be seen coming from the shop.

Every day, warriors were practicing in the village's training ground, and most of their armor and weapons bore brand-new marks, which were likely newly forged in the blacksmith shop.

At night, a series of moans, seemingly of pain but also of pleasure, would drift from the sky above the Wakan village, accompanied by the long howls of many male kobolds.

These sounds, typically made during mating, were originally very common. In Allen's Green Field tribe, after nightfall, many goblin couples would engage in this kind of bare-chested 'melee,' accompanied by seductive moans.

However, the large number of mating moans in the Wakan tribe, as if hundreds of kobold couples were gathered together, simultaneously engaging in mating and procreation, did make Richard feel a hint of unusualness.

For three consecutive nights, Allen stayed by Richard's side, listening to these captivating sounds in the Wakan tribe, which made Allen, who had never experienced such a thing, feel restless, as if a flame was burning in his lower abdomen, stirring his emotions and desires, which was why Allen suggested leaving during the day.

With no other gains besides the moans, Allen glared at Richard with bloodshot eyes. Finally, with Richard's nod, the two of them emerged from their hiding place and, without being noticed by the Wakan tribe members, ran towards the gray-white foothills in the southeast.

In the following journey, Allen and Richard traveled thousands of miles, scouting and patrolling around three other Alva assassination tribes.

Allen didn't know what Richard was looking for. In his opinion, the lives of these tribes hadn't changed much. Only Richard, after arriving at each place, would take out his notebook and write and draw, truthfully recording the events and situations he observed, although Allen didn't think there was anything worth observing and recording.

"Careful!!"

Allen and Richard were on their way to the next gnoll tribe. This was the fifth stop on their wilderness journey, and it had been a month and eight days since Allen had been running through the wilderness with Richard.

Just as they were passing through the middle of a valley, traversing this somewhat desolate passage, Allen's heart suddenly sounded an alarm. While shouting a warning to his companion, he directly grabbed the Bone Cleaver in his hand and used a Whirlwind Slash without thinking, directly enveloping Allen's entire body.

Although Richard didn't know what Allen was warning about, and the valley in front of him didn't seem to have any dangers, out of trust for his companion, Richard uttered two ancient elven syllables, and a transparent magic shield surrounded him, activating the protective spell stored in his magical item.

"Boom!!"

The valley, which had just been calm and without any omens, seemed to have a ferocious beast bursting out from the ground as Richard's syllables fell. After a loud noise, the entire valley shook, and a violent shockwave even stirred up a fierce gale, heading towards Allen and Richard.

"Pfft!!"

The magic shield, under this violent shockwave, was like a paper lantern. After absorbing the first wave of energy, it turned into smoke. Richard's thin body was also swept away by the raging wind, mixed with flying sand and stones, and slammed into the mountainside beside the valley, crashing heavily to the ground.

"Ding! Ding! Clang! Ding!"

Allen wanted to stand firm, but the range of the shockwave was large and fierce. The Whirlwind Slash could only protect Allen from being hit by the splashing gravel and flying sand, but Allen's entire body was involuntarily swept away by the gale, throwing him into the air.

"Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!!"

While Allen was in the air, with the Whirlwind Slash just exhausted, three arrows, fired almost simultaneously, shot towards Allen's vitals.

Although Allen was shocked, he wasn't flustered. He took a deep breath and twisted his waist, making a 360-degree rotation in the air. His vitals ultimately avoided being hit by the arrows, but they also cut a series of openings in his leather armor.

The powerful arrows directly penetrated the protective power of Allen's python scale armor. If Allen hadn't calmly avoided the vitals, he would have already become a lifeless corpse while in the air.

"Thump!!"

Allen endured the pain, his legs slammed on the ground, creating a deep footprint, but it also allowed him to finally regain control.

The Rage skill was directly activated. The sudden danger forced Allen to respond with all his strength. His speed suddenly increased by several levels. Following the direction from which the arrows had shot, the Smoke Wave Step created three afterimages, heading straight towards that area in three directions.

Allen couldn't care about Richard in the distance, who was now struggling to get up from the ground. A spell to protect against arrows had helped him avoid being hit by one arrow, but he was shot through the calf by another arrow. He limped on the ground while quickly drawing a series of mysterious patterns with his staff.

The smoke and dust caused by the sudden explosion hadn't yet dissipated, but Allen's figure had already rushed out of the smoke and dust area. When he landed at the place where the arrows had shot from, he didn't find any traces of enemies, only a shallow footprint, imperceptible, slowly returning to its original state in the ground grass.

"Not good!!"

A series of explosions came again from the smoke and dust. Allen hadn't found his opponent, but at the same time, he realized that the primary target of the assassination was the human mage Richard, who was in the smoke and dust.

Understanding this, Allen didn't hesitate any longer, and his figure plunged back into the valley shrouded in smoke and dust.

I originally wanted to abandon this chapter as well. The previous writer's block finally broke through, and I also thought about how to arrange the plot to naturally transition to the main line, but now I'm a little reluctant to abandon tens of thousands of words of saved drafts.

After thinking about it again and again, I still released this plot. Everyone can just treat it as a adjustment.

In addition to this plot, I also directly abandoned a plot of more than 20,000 words. My heart hurts so much!!

Things I wrote for a few days, because I always felt they weren't natural and smooth enough, I had to abandon them.