Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Narg was doing a relatively good job of dealing with the invaders.

The area surrounding him, including the portal he had been assigned to deal with, had turned into a zone of death. Orc corpses littered the ground in every direction, while those who were still alive weren’t far from joining them.

And surprisingly, it wasn’t because Narg had unleashed some overwhelmingly destructive ability.

No.

He had simply activated [Witherfield].

The ability transformed the surrounding area into a stagnant zone where regeneration was severely weakened and stamina was continuously drained. The effect wasn’t immediately lethal, but the longer someone remained within its range, the worse their condition became.

And Narg hadn’t stopped there.

He had layered [Soulrot Hex] over the field, allowing the curse to slowly erode the spirits of those trapped within it, draining their energy while inflicting a deep, unnatural pain that seemed to come from somewhere beyond the physical body.

Then there was [Spirit Leech], which allowed him to steal fragments of mana from those affected and replenish his own reserves. The more exhausted the orcs became, the more energy Narg drew from them, allowing him to maintain his abilities while they continued to weaken.

And finally, there was [Decay].

That ability was far more straightforward.

It decomposed and withered whatever Narg inflicted it upon.

Individually, none of the abilities possessed the immediate destructive power to wipe out the invading orcs in seconds, but when used together, they created something far more troublesome.

The orcs couldn’t recover.

They couldn’t preserve their stamina.

Their mana was gradually being stolen, their spirits were being attacked, and even their bodies were slowly beginning to deteriorate.

The longer they remained around Narg, the closer they came to death.

And by now, most of them had been inside his [Witherfield] for far too long.

All of these were skills Eli had given him, but over time, Narg had refined them, learning how to use each one more efficiently and, more importantly, how to combine their effects to make them far deadlier than they had originally been.

And now that he finally had the opportunity to properly test them, he intended to utilize it to the fullest.

The moment the orcs stepped through the portal and entered [Witherfield], the effects began to take hold. Their movements gradually became sluggish as their stamina drained away, while [Soulrot Hex] assaulted their spirits and [Decay] slowly withered their bodies.

The strength and enthusiasm they had charged in with disappeared within moments.

Some managed to take several steps before their legs gave out beneath them, while others lasted slightly longer, desperately trying to push forward as their bodies weakened with every passing second. But none of them got anywhere near Narg.

He didn’t even have to move.

He simply stood there and watched as the orcs emerging from the portal weakened, collapsed, and eventually died slow, painful deaths before they could reach him.

The combination of the four skills was proving extremely effective, and with every enemy that fell, Narg’s power only continued to grow.

It also helped that [Spirit Leech] was constantly replenishing a portion of the energy he spent maintaining the other abilities. With dozens of enemies feeding the skill at once, his expenditure was being replaced almost as quickly as he could burn through it.

Despite how long he had been fighting, Narg was still practically at a hundred percent.

The last orc finally fell, and Narg’s gaze immediately drifted elsewhere.

He could still sense that Caius and Zarah were occupied with their respective opponents, and for a moment, he considered going to assist one of them. At the same time, the rest of the clan still needed help organizing those capable of fighting while getting the injured, the children, and everyone else who couldn’t defend themselves to safety.

Before he could decide where he was needed most, however, a massive thud came from the direction of the portal.

Narg immediately turned toward it.

A huge foot had stepped through.

Then another.

There was no doubt about it. Another orc was coming.

Narg readied himself, expecting yet another warrior to emerge and suffer the same fate as the others, but the moment the orc fully stepped through the portal, he knew this one was different.

Like the rest of the orcs, it carried an axe, although the similarities practically ended there.

Strange tattoos covered large portions of its muscular body, forming dark patterns across its arms, chest, and shoulders. A chain made from small bones hung loosely around its thick neck, while beads of different shapes and sizes were wrapped around its wrists and ankles.

But none of those things were what truly caught Narg’s attention.

It was the aura surrounding the orc.

Heavy. Powerful.

And unlike every orc that had entered [Witherfield] before it, this one didn’t immediately buckle under the effects.

It simply stood there.

There was no doubt about it. This was a boss-type monster, most likely the leader of the orcs that had come through this portal.

As the orc stepped fully into the open, the effects of Narg’s skills immediately began working against it. [Witherfield] attempted to drain its stamina, [Soulrot Hex] reached for its spirit, and [Decay] began eating away at its body, but none of them had nearly the effect Narg had expected.

The orc slowed slightly, but that was all.

It was almost as though an invisible layer surrounded its body, resisting the effects before they could properly take hold.

Narg’s expression turned serious as he quickly arrived at the most sensible conclusion.

This orc could control mana.

Now, that was dangerous.

Orcs were mostly known for their overwhelming physical strength, aggression, and endurance. They were already troublesome enough when all they had to rely on was brute force, but add proper mana control into the mix, and the result was something else entirely.

A battle demon.

That was what you got.

The orc took another step forward before calmly surveying the area. Its gaze moved across the numerous withered corpses of its brethren scattered around the portal, taking in the bodies one after another before finally settling on Narg.

There was barely any emotion on its face. No anger at the sight of the dead, no surprise at the number of corpses surrounding it.

It simply stared at Narg for a few seconds before finally breaking the silence.

”Did you do this?”