Chapter 111: Aftermath

As the spider finally fell, the chieftain stood before its enormous corpse, his head held high.

Black blood rained down from the severed body, splattering across his armor and staining his already battered figure. Yet he didn’t seem to care.

Meanwhile, from the spider’s split abdomen, thousands upon thousands of glowing wisps began pouring out. They drifted gently into the air, rising toward the sky like countless tiny stars scattered across the night.

They were free.

Woah...

What an incredible sight...

CLANG!

The chieftain finally released the giant axe, letting it fall to the ground.

Then...

"RAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!"

He let out a powerful, victorious roar!

It sounded as though all the frustration, anger, and hatred he’d been holding inside for so long had finally found an outlet. His voice echoed across the clearing, carrying everything he’d endured, everything he’d lost.

And my goblins weren’t any quieter.

"HELL YEAH!!!"

"HE DID IT!!!"

"THAT WAS AWESOME!!!"

They erupted into cheers, their excitement spreading through the group. Some even raised their weapons into the air, celebrating the chieftain’s victory.

Meanwhile...

I could feel my core pulsating faster as a warm sense of pride and joy washed over me.

Damn...

He really did it.

This madman...

The chieftain then pushed himself forward and leaped toward the others, landing right in front of Gopuro.

Gopushadow soon arrived as well, panting heavily after spending so much time keeping the monster occupied.

The chieftain smiled at them, clearly pleased with his victory.

But then...

"Urgh..."

His legs suddenly buckled.

"Chieftain!" Gopuberry and Gopuran cried out.

Everyone immediately rushed over to support him before he could fall.

"I’m fine..." the chieftain muttered, waving his hand dismissively. "Just a little tired, that’s all."

Only after hearing that did everyone finally breathe a sigh of relief.

I decided to give him another ten seconds to catch his breath while the shaman checked him for any serious injuries.

Fortunately, everything seemed fine.

Then...

"Alright, let’s go. We’re heading back to the castle," I announced.

"Yeah! Let’s go!" Gopuro replied.

However, before leaving, he glanced back toward the battlefield.

His gaze lingered on the numerous wolf corpses scattered across the clearing before shifting toward the colossal remains of the giant spider.

...

Damn... What a waste...

After all, there were so many valuable resources lying right there!

The wolves alone would probably fetch more than fifty thousand Points, by my estimation. And that wasn’t even counting the materials from that enormous spider...

I really wanted to bring all of them home.

It felt so unfair that we’d fought so hard and so bravely against all these enemies, only to leave their loot behind because we couldn’t carry it all home.

Skitter... Skitter... Skitter...

From somewhere in the distance, I could hear it.

More and more of those dreadful clicking sounds were approaching.

There were still other spiders out there.

And the situation was getting worse by the second. The Cursed Land continued to expand, its dark mist creeping closer as the sky grew darker and darker.

Damn it...

It was simply too risky.

We couldn’t afford to get greedy and end up losing everything we’d just fought so hard to save.

But then, suddenly...

"Big Boss, look! What’s that?" Gopuberry called out, pointing toward the giant spider’s corpse.

I followed her gaze.

Now that all the souls had escaped, the spider’s bisected abdomen lay exposed. And nestled inside it was something I hadn’t noticed before.

A giant orb.

It was deep black, almost like obsidian, and roughly the size of a large soccer ball. Its surface was covered in tiny cracks, with several noticeable chips along its edges. Every now and then, something deep within its dark interior seemed to pulse, a faint red-ish light, almost like the slow beating of a crystal heart.

What the heck is that?

I stared at it curiously.

But for some reason, it reminded me of something...

My Castle Core.

The resemblance was uncanny.

Meanwhile, Gopuro had already approached the strange object.

The goblin stared at the orb with sparkling eyes. Whatever it was, it certainly looked valuable!

And naturally, he reached out to grab it.

"HEY! DON’T TOUCH THAT!"

I immediately shouted through [Ruler’s Voice].

Fortunately, Gopuran reacted just as quickly. She grabbed her brother’s hand before he could touch the mysterious orb.

"Brother! Are you stupid?! We don’t even know what that thing is! What if it kills you the moment you touch it?!" Gopuran scolded him.

"Gulp..."

Gopuro swallowed nervously, seemingly realizing just how reckless he’d almost been.

Seriously, this guy...

Gopuran then took out her sack and emptied its contents, setting aside the unnecessary supplies. Afterward, she carefully wrapped the orb in a piece of cloth before placing it inside.

And just to be safe...

We triple-bagged the damn thing.

Whatever it was, I wasn’t about to risk anyone getting hurt by handling it carelessly.

Once we returned to the castle, I could examine it properly with my system and, hopefully, figure out what we’d just found.

But for the moment, we had more pressing matters.

"Alright, everyone, let’s move!"

We finally began our retreat.

*****

Two hours later, we finally made it back.

Along the way, we’d also caught up with the group of survivors. Fortunately, they hadn’t encountered any other dangers during their journey, so everyone was safe and accounted for.

That’s good.

On the other hand, since it was still afternoon, the sky had gradually grown brighter as we moved farther away from the expanding Cursed Land.

Still, the fact that the Cursed Land was now less than twenty kilometers from my castle was already making me rather uncomfortable.

At this rate, it probably wouldn’t be long before its dark mist swallowed my territory as well.

And the worst part?

I was a castle. I couldn’t exactly get up and run away. So if the Cursed Land reached me, there wouldn’t be much I could do about it.

I really needed to prepare as much as possible before that disaster arrived.

Well, at least we’d completed our mission.

Not only had we rescued the Bright Red Nose Tribe’s chieftain and his daughter, but we’d also gained a whole bunch of new goblins!

...

And now, it was time to welcome our guests.

I opened my gate, allowing the goblins to step into my territory.