Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP

It hit him all at once.

Evangel groaned as his body staggered forward, his entire frame trembling from the pain while his legs grew increasingly weak beneath him, struggling to support his weight. Blood began pooling inside his mouth, and when he coughed, more of it spilled between his lips, staining his chin as his vision gradually blurred.

For a moment, everything around him seemed to lose focus.

Then, strangely, everything became clear again.

Evangel’s expression slowly changed as he looked around.

He was still standing in the exact same position he had been in at the beginning of the fight.

The battlefield around him hadn’t changed either.

The dead orcs were still scattered across the area exactly where they had been before, lying in the same positions as if nothing had happened at all.

There was no sign that the prolonged battle he had just experienced had ever taken place. The battlefield was almost exactly as he remembered it from the beginning, and the realization slowly settled over him with a weight that made his stomach sink.

”All of this...All of what had just happened was an illusion.”

His breathing became uneven as the realization settled over him.

He had spent everything fighting an enemy who had never actually been in the positions he thought he was fighting from. Every attack he had launched, every wound he believed he had inflicted, every desperate struggle to survive had been nothing more than a fabricated reality created within his own mind.

And in the end, it had only taken one blade.

One stab.

One perfectly placed attack was enough to leave him unable to fight.

Meanwhile, he had unleashed thousands of blades, and everything else in his arsenal, yet none of it had even brought him close to defeating his opponent.

Evangel’s fingers trembled around his weapon.

The difference between them was no longer something he could deny.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Caius standing directly behind him, one hand firmly gripping the blade that had just pierced through his chest and into his heart.

Evangel’s breathing was ragged, every breath becoming more difficult as blood continued to flow from the wound, but the confusion in his eyes remained.

”How... how did you do this?” he asked weakly. ”I made sure not to look at you.”

Caius leaned closer, his expression calm.

”You’re mistaken. I don’t need to maintain regular eye contact to trap you in my illusion. I simply need to catch you once.”

Evangel’s eyes widened slightly.

”Oh...”

He paused, finally understanding.

”So that’s how it is.”

A deathly smile appeared on Evangel’s face as the pieces finally came together. He had been so focused on avoiding Caius’s eyes after realizing they were dangerous that he had misunderstood the actual condition of the ability.

He had assumed that as long as he never looked at Caius again, he would remain safe.

But that wasn’t how the ability worked.

Caius only needed one opening.

Everything after that had already been decided.

Evangel let out a faint, almost breathless laugh before his expression settled into acceptance.

”Then I accept defeat.”

He looked at Caius from the corner of his eye, his voice growing weaker as his strength continued to leave his body.

”Just know that when we meet again, you’ll be the one questioning how you lost.”

Caius’s eyes narrowed slightly.

And at almost the exact same moment, Evangel’s body suddenly exploded with energy, the remaining mana within him surging outward in a violent burst as the gravity field expanded beneath their feet.

The pressure increased.

Then it increased again.

And within moments, the force of gravity became so overwhelming that the ground beneath them began collapsing under its weight, everything caught within the field being violently dragged downward and crushed beneath the concentrated force.

Caius, however, was already gone.

Having seen what was about to happen before the field fully formed, he had moved beyond its effective range just before the gravity reached its peak.

Evangel wasn’t so fortunate.

His weakened body remained at the center of the field, and the very gravity he had created turned against him. His knees buckled under the immense pressure before his body was forced completely against the ground.

Caius stood outside the affected area and watched with a cold gaze as the gravity continued crushing everything within its range.

So this was some sort of last-ditch attack.

Most likely, it had been automated, a final mechanism designed to activate upon defeat and take the opponent down alongside the user.

Too bad for Evangel.

His opponent could see the future.

Caius watched silently until the pressure finally began to subside.

Then he heard it.

A familiar System notification rang inside his mind.

Ding!

[You have killed a Chosen.]

[You have received the skill: World’s Weight]

Caius was surprised that he had still received the kill despite Evangel ultimately dying from his own attack.

He glanced toward the remains of the gravity field, his expression thoughtful.

Perhaps he died before his own ability crushed him.

That would explain why the System had still registered the kill. Evangel’s body had already received a fatal wound before the gravity field activated, meaning the attack had most likely been nothing more than a final mechanism that triggered after his defeat.

Caius didn’t dwell on it for long.

Instead, he opened the description of the new skill he had received and began reading through it.

[World’s Weight]

Description: The user imposes the weight of the world upon a designated area, massively amplifying the gravitational force within it. The greater the user’s mana output, the greater the gravitational pressure that can be generated.

Once activated, everything within the affected area is subjected to overwhelming gravitational force, making movement increasingly difficult before eventually crushing the target beneath its own weight.

The user can adjust the range and intensity of the gravitational field, allowing the skill to either immobilize targets or increase the pressure to destructive levels.

Additional Effect: Upon the user’s defeat, [World’s Weight] can automatically activate using the user’s remaining mana, creating a final gravitational collapse intended to take the opponent down alongside them.

The skill was undoubtedly powerful.

Still, if he were being honest, he would have preferred the skill that allowed Evangel to become invisible. That ability fit his fighting style exceptionally well, especially when combined with his foresight and ability to predict his opponent’s movements.

Being able to disappear from sight while already knowing what his opponent was going to do would make his attacks even harder to anticipate.

Even so, [World’s Weight] was nothing to complain about.

It was an incredible skill in its own right.

As for the illusion skill he had used against Evangel, that was something Caius had obtained much earlier.

He had gotten it during his battle against a deer-like creature known as the Gnarlbeast, back when he was leading a group of the clan’s goblins to help them raise their levels.

That fight had been far more difficult than he had initially expected. The Gnarlbeast possessed a powerful illusion ability that had nearly trapped him completely, and for a moment, Caius had genuinely believed he was going to lose.

Fortunately, he had managed to break through the illusion using [Unyielding Tenacity], the skill Eli had shared with him and the other new members of the clan.

With that skill helping him resist the effects of the illusion, Caius had eventually managed to turn the fight around and defeat the beast.

And as his reward, he had received the illusion skill [False Reality].

The same skill he had just used against Evangel.

Although [False Reality] consumed a considerable amount of mana, Caius considered the cost completely worthwhile.

If he had fought Evangel head-on without relying on the illusion, he would have been forced to spend far more mana and stamina dealing with the Chosen’s overwhelming arsenal.

Instead, he had allowed Evangel to exhaust himself fighting a battle that had never truly happened, which was what made [False Reality] such a deadly skill.

In the end, Caius had only needed one opening.

And one opening had been enough to defeat his foe.

Speaking of...