Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP

That said, whether they could actually do anything about it was another matter entirely.

My eyes moved across the surrounding wolves carefully.

Level-wise, things honestly didn’t look good for them.

But I wasn’t stupid enough to underestimate monsters simply because their levels were lower than mine. The moment you start assuming victory is guaranteed is usually the moment something tears your throat out unexpectedly.

Especially pack-type monsters.

Those were dangerous specifically because they fought together.

A deep growl echoed through the forest.

Then the wolves attacked.

Several of them immediately burst forward from the shadows at high speed, their claws tearing through the ground as they charged directly toward me from multiple directions at once.

At the same time, others remained farther back instead of rushing immediately. Their bodies lowered as mana gathered within the crystals embedded in their chests.

The molten glow beneath their fur intensified rapidly, turning brighter and brighter orange as flames built up inside their throats. And I could tell they were preparing to launch the same flaming projectile the first wolf had used against me earlier.

But honestly...

That was pointless.

I exhaled lightly. Then vanished, the ground beneath my feet cracking from the force of the movement as I blitzed straight through the charging wolves before most of them could properly react.

My blood blade swept through the darkness in smooth arcs, severing flesh, bone, and burning fur almost effortlessly as bodies collapsed apart behind me. None of the wolves could properly follow the movement before bodies started falling apart around them.

Then I appeared directly in front of one of the wolves, preparing its fire attack.

Before it could release the projectile, I caught it by the throat.

The wolf thrashed violently in panic while the flames building inside its chest continued rising uncontrollably. With its airway crushed shut beneath my grip, the fire had nowhere left to escape.

Its neck rapidly swelled, cracks of molten orange spreading beneath its skin. Then the pressure inside its body reached its limit and exploded violently outward.

Fire, flesh, blood, and shattered bone burst outward violently in every direction.

The debris slammed toward me immediately afterward, but the distorted layer of [Fractured Reality] surrounding my body redirected everything harmlessly away, the fragments sliding off the warped space around me like rain hitting an invisible umbrella.

I released the ruined corpse and turned toward the remaining wolves. Then, the massacre began.

As I took them down, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. I genuinely expected more from creatures strong enough to make Ariel retreat previously, but so far, they felt more like fodder than actual threats. I hadn’t even needed to use any serious abilities yet.

The only moment that actually caught me off guard came when one of the wolves suddenly emerged from my shadow itself.

Its body rose unnaturally from the darkness at my feet, jaws snapping toward me while shadow-like energy wrapped around its limbs, clearly trying to drag me downward into whatever ability it was using.

Unfortunately for it...It wasn’t fast enough. The surprise factor alone wasn’t enough to bridge the gap between us.

My blade moved first, and both of its forelimbs were severed before the pull could properly activate, and a fraction of a second later, its head followed right after.

The corpse collapsed heavily onto the forest floor behind me while blood spread across the blackened earth.

At close range, another Flame Fang Wolf suddenly opened its jaws and unleashed a concentrated fireball directly toward my face. The attack erupted forward with enough heat to distort the air around it.

I tilted my body slightly to the side.

The projectile blasted past my head by inches before exploding against the trees behind me, setting several of them ablaze instantly.

At the same time, I stepped forward and swung upward, the upper cleave splitting the wolf cleanly through the skull.

I turned immediately afterward and saw more wolves charging toward me through the darkness from multiple angles at once. But once again, the difference in speed was overwhelming.

I blitzed straight through them. The blood blade carved through bodies in smooth crimson arcs as I passed, leaving shredded corpses collapsing apart seconds later while blood and burning fur scattered across the forest floor.

Then I came to a stop.

A shadow beside me suddenly distorted. Another wolf burst outward from it instantly and fired a flaming projectile toward me at nearly point-blank range.

This time, instead of dodging...

I stretched out my hand and caught it.

The fireball exploded on contact.

Flames swallowed my arm completely as the impact shook the surrounding area, and smoke burst outward around me. But when the smoke finally cleared, my hand remained completely intact.

And within my palm, the flames hadn’t dispersed at all. They continued swirling violently while compressed against my hand. Growing.

Then I released it.

The fireball I had just absorbed shot forward from my palm and slammed directly into the head of the wolf that fired it originally.

The impact sent the creature tumbling violently across the forest floor, screeching in pain as flames spread across its charred fur.

Before it could recover, though, a spear of condensed fire suddenly pierced through its body from the side. The next second, it exploded apart.

I casually swatted away the lingering smoke around me as I stepped forward again, my eyes moving across the battlefield.

There weren’t many of them left anymore.

The wolves had split themselves into two coordinated groups during the fight, one focusing on me while the other attempted to overwhelm Ariel separately. Honestly, from a tactical standpoint, it was the correct decision.

Pack predators naturally tried to isolate targets before crushing them through numbers and pressure. And against most enemies, that strategy probably worked extremely well.

Unfortunately for them, I was simply too strong for it to matter. The difference in raw speed and power was overwhelming enough that their coordination barely changed the outcome.

I leaped lightly onto the branch of a nearby tree and shifted my attention toward Ariel instead.

The fox was already deep into her own battle.

Honestly, these wolves weren’t much of a threat to me anymore, and if things became dangerous, I could interfere at any moment.

But for now, I wanted to watch.

I wanted to see exactly how much stronger Ariel had become after gaining her fourth tail.

Ariel had already...