Human army?
Gold-Grade adventurers?
What are they going to do? Can they stop the Demon God King from resurrecting? At most, they'll just be food for those high-tier monsters.
Naruto paused, and in the deathly silence of the throne room, he uttered the words that left everyone dumbfounded:
"Cleaning up a small matter like the labyrinth—my Shadow Legion is more than enough."
Sha—Shadow Legion?
Everyone was shocked.
As his voice faded, Naruto ignored the stunned King, the shocked astrologer, and the disbelieving nobles and generals. He turned and slowly walked towards the heavy, gold-inlaid double doors of the throne room.
Sunlight streamed in through the gap as Naruto pushed the doors open, casting his silhouette long and slender.
Under everyone's bewildered and questioning gazes, he merged into the dazzling halo of light outside the door and vanished.
"Naruto!!"
A clear voice, barely concealing its joy, rang out. As soon as Naruto left the palace and arrived at the training grounds, the Sword Saintess, dressed in a pure white bishop's robe, was the first to greet him, embracing him with her fair, slender arms.
"Naru—" "You're going to suffocate me."
Naruto helplessly pushed away the fiery Sword Saintess. His entire face had been buried in the Sword Saintess's ample bosom, like being squeezed by two large horned rabbits, making it impossible to breathe.
"Hehehe~"
The Sword Saintess's increasingly beautiful and radiant face was beaming with a pure smile: "Goddess's blessing, I finally get to see you again."
Naruto nodded, a smile playing on his lips.
It had probably been about a month since they last met.
The Sword Saintess turned slightly, showcasing the intricate and sacred patterns on her robes, and happily showed Naruto: "Naruto, look, by the Goddess's grace, I am now a High Bishop of the Supreme Temple."
"Only—"
The Sword Saintess looked puzzled, tilting her head and saying, "I tried to contact the supreme god, but he didn't respond to me."
"Could it be that he doesn't want me to become a High Bishop?"
"No response?"
Naruto's expression shifted, and several theories instantly formed in his mind.
The people of the Goblin Slayer World naturally didn't know that the gods they worshipped were actually players from the real world.
The so-called divine response might be a dialogue box popping up for important characters, allowing players to make choices.
No response.
"Could it be that the supreme god's player went offline?"
"Sword Saintess, let's catch up later."
The Gun Goddess Heather, leaning on her fire crystal spear, interjected.
She had gotten a blade of grass from somewhere and was chewing on it, one hand on her hip, grinning at Naruto: "Hey, Naruto, long time no see."
"As expected, that guy, the Crown Prince, would invite you to join this subjugation operation."
"That labyrinth of death—"
She spat out the grass root, her expression becoming serious.
"I've led teams to scout the outer perimeter twice. That cursed place is incredibly eerie. The undead creatures inside are endless, and the deeper you go, the stronger the monsters become. There seem to be countless high-tier monsters, and even—beings beyond high-tier—Demon God Generals!"
"Demon God Generals?"
Naruto heard the long-unheard term and felt a bit nostalgic.
The first Demon God General he had eliminated was the Goblin King, who was also the weakest of the Sixteen Demon Generals of the Underworld.
A true Demon God General was definitely above high-tier, ten or even a hundred times stronger than the Goblin King.
In terms of level, they would certainly be no less than Level 100, with each one averaging the strength of the Dragon Mother Tiamat.
"This is a good opportunity to wipe out all the Demon God Generals, and that Demon God King as well."
Naruto nodded thoughtfully.
Heather said in a low voice: "Naruto, you can't be careless. The Sixteen Demon Generals might be sixteen terrifying beings comparable to the Dragon Mother."
"Although I know you're strong, caution is always wise, especially since behind the Demon God Generals, there's also the mysterious and terrifying Demon God King!"
"Thank you, Heather, I'll be careful."
At this moment, the naturally-clumsy Great Sage of Wind coughed, drawing everyone's attention.
She puffed out her chest, which was no less ample than the Sword Saintess's, pushed up the glasses that had slipped down her pretty nose, and said blankly, "Heather, let's not talk about such heavy topics yet."
"Speaking of which—Lord Naruto, during the time you were away, well—actually, it's been recent—something extremely strange, even absurd, has happened on the continent."
The expressions of the high-tier adventurers who knew about it instantly became varied and colorful.
The Great Sage continued: "All the Goblins—it seems overnight, they all turned female! Perhaps we should call them… Gobulines now?"
"Hahahahaha! Isn't this a great thing?!"
A dwarf warrior with a giant axe on his back pounded his chest and laughed heartily, his voice like a booming bell, "Now we won't have to worry about those green-skinned Goblins kidnapping girls anymore! The Dwarf God has shown his power!"
However, not everyone was so optimistic. Several male human and elf adventurers turned pale, their lips trembling, unable to utter a single word, and their eyes even showed a hint of… fear?
An elven ranger captain sighed and whispered to Naruto, "The guild has been receiving many disturbing reports recently. Many male adventurers who went to clear out the newly appearing 'Gobuline' nests have all met with misfortune."
"They weren't killed in battle—"
Another adventurer dressed as a rogue interjected, his expression strange.
"Instead, they were—captured—by those Gobulines. A few days later, they would be thrown back near villages or the guild, their equipment intact, and even—their bodies didn't seem to have much damage."
"Gobulines?"
Naruto let out a wry chuckle, instantly understanding what was going on.
He pretended not to know and asked, "No injuries at all? Why is that?"
"Well—not entirely without injuries—after they came back—"
The elven ranger's voice dropped even lower, carrying a hint of disbelief.
"They all—refused to talk about what happened in the nest. If pressed, they would tremble all over, showing extreme fear and—shame.
Some even directly quit the adventurer profession and disappeared without a trace."
"I have a younger brother who just became an adventurer, and he was also captured by the newly emerged Gobulines. After repeated questioning, I finally found out what happened."
Another high-tier adventurer replied with a grim expression.
"My brother said that after he was captured by the Goblins—no, Gobulines—he was severely humiliated and exploited by them, over and over again."
"Until he was completely drained, then the Gobulines, disgusted, knocked him unconscious and dumped him in the nearest village."
The wind on the training ground seemed to carry a chill.
The male elf adventurers and male human adventurers all shivered in unison upon hearing this. Only the brawny dwarf adventurer, excitedly waving his giant axe, boisterously shouted, "There's such a good thing? When I go back, I'll definitely spread the news throughout the tribe, hahahaha!"