Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP

Ariel stood in front of the cave, stunned as she stared at the spot where Eli had vanished.

He had taken only a single step into the cave, and then he was gone.

No sound. No flash of light. No indication that anything had happened at all.

Her ears twitched as she cautiously moved closer, keeping her body low while studying the entrance.

The darkness inside wasn’t normal.

It was thick, unnaturally so, as though the cave had been filled with liquid shadow. The longer she stared into it, the more uncomfortable she became. Every instinct she possessed warned her to stay away.

And Eli had walked straight into that?

There was no way he hadn’t sensed it. The ominous feeling rolling out of the cave was impossible to miss.

Ariel closed her eyes and focused.

The bond between them immediately came into view.

For a few moments, she remained completely still, searching for any sign of injury or distress. When she found none, some of the tension left her shoulders.

Eli was alive. The connection was stable, and nothing suggested he had been seriously hurt. Yet the reassurance wasn’t enough to completely calm her.

Her eyes opened again, settling on the cave entrance.

If he was fine, then where exactly had he gone?

And more importantly...

What was happening to him right now?

She considered entering the cave herself, but the oppressive darkness lingering at the entrance made her hesitate. The feeling it gave off wasn’t something she could easily ignore.

As for the cause, only one possibility came to mind.

The alpha wolf.

Among all the creatures she had encountered, it was the only one she believed capable of creating something like this. The beast had somehow taken Eli, and now the two of them were battling somewhere within that unnatural darkness.

Ariel’s ears flicked uneasily. As worried as she was, she wasn’t panicking. After all, Eli was one of the most absurdly powerful creatures she had ever seen.

Closing her eyes once more, she focused on the bond linking them together.

The connection strengthened.

If she concentrated hard enough, she could vaguely sense what he was experiencing through their link. It wasn’t perfect, nor was it detailed enough to show her exactly what was happening, but it was enough.

And what she felt surprised her. There was no fear. No panic. No sense of desperation. He wasn’t even in pain.

If anything, Eli seemed unusually composed.

The realization eased the knot of tension that had formed in her chest.

Slowly opening her eyes, Ariel glanced at the cave entrance one last time before deciding against going inside. If Eli needed help, she would know.

At least, that’s what she told herself.

With a light leap, she landed on the branch of a nearby tree overlooking the cave.

The fox settled herself comfortably and lowered her body against the bark.

Her four tails swayed lazily behind her as she kept watch over the entrance, waiting for the moment Eli finally emerged.

Strangely, she didn’t doubt for a second that Eli would be fine.

After all, she had witnessed his strength firsthand on more than one occasion, and unlike everyone else, she could sense his growth far more clearly through the bond connecting them. While others could only guess how powerful he had become, Ariel had felt that power increasing over time.

The fox rested on the branch for a while, her tails swaying lazily behind her. Then her ears suddenly twitched, and a moment later, two figures burst out of the cave. Eli and the three-headed alpha wolf.

Ariel shot to her feet, her eyes widening in shock as she stared at the scene unfolding before her.

The alpha wolf crashed onto the ash-covered ground and immediately began writhing in agony. Its body was engulfed in a strange flame that clung stubbornly to its black fur. One of its heads was gone entirely, reduced to a charred ruin, while the remaining two had suffered severe burns that stretched across their faces and necks.

The beast let out a series of pained howls, rolling across the ground as it desperately tried to extinguish the flames consuming it.

Yet no matter what it did, the fire refused to go out.

Ariel’s gaze immediately shifted to Eli.

He landed several meters away with a grin on his face.

There wasn’t the slightest sign of panic or exhaustion in his expression. If anything, he looked excited.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he pushed off again.

Without giving the alpha wolf even a second to recover, Eli dashed straight toward the struggling beast.

The alpha wolf, despite the agony wracking its body, was still conscious enough to notice Eli closing in.

It forced itself back onto its feet, its remaining heads snarling as flames continued to burn across its black fur.

Rather than attack, the beast immediately chose to flee.

Its body lunged toward a patch of shadow, darkness rapidly gathering around it as it attempted to slip away just as it had before. But Eli was already expecting it.

A sphere of divine flame shot from his hand and slammed into the forming darkness.

The shadows erupted with a hiss, scattering before they could fully take shape.

The alpha wolf stumbled to a halt. Its escape route had been cut off.

Realizing it had no other option, the beast turned to face Eli.

Both remaining heads threw their jaws open, and a torrent of fire burst forth.

The flames surged across the battlefield in a blazing wave, hot enough to distort the air and ignite the ash-covered ground in its path.

Yet Eli didn’t slow down.

He charged straight through it.

The fire washed over him, but his advance never faltered.

The alpha wolf’s eyes widened. For the first time since emerging from the cave, genuine panic appeared in its gaze.

Its flames weren’t working.

Seeing its attack fail, the beast abandoned the attempt and lashed out with a massive claw.

The strike tore through the air with enough force to leave visible grooves in the ground beneath it. But it wasn’t as fast as it had been inside its realm of darkness.

Eli slipped past the slash with a quick movement, avoiding the claw by the narrowest of margins. And the moment he cleared the attack, he exploded forward, his blood blade carving a crimson arc through the air.

The wolf barely had time to react.

The blade sliced cleanly through the neck of one of its remaining heads.

Blood sprayed across the battlefield.

The severed head spun through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.

Only one head remained.

The wolf writhed violently and staggered backward, blood gushing from the ruined stump where its second head had once been.

Ariel stared at the scene in disbelief. She knew Eli was powerful. More powerful than most creatures she had ever encountered. But seeing him dismantle the alpha wolf so effortlessly was something else entirely.

The battle looked less like a struggle and more like a hunt. But it wasn’t over.

Without warning...