Dwarves and Gobulines?
The scene was too beautiful; Naruto couldn't bear to look directly. Before the corresponding images could fully form in his mind, he quickly cleared his thoughts and said to the Great Sage and the others, "The collective transformation of Goblins from male to female is truly bizarre. Perhaps it's a prank by some god? In any case, everyone must not let their guard down just because Goblins have become Gobulines. Hmm, especially young, naive boys, tell them not to 'try' it easily, or they'll be walking right into a trap."
"Walking right into a trap?"
The high-level adventurers around couldn't help but shiver.
Although the Goblins' gender had changed, it didn't mean they had become attractive. They were still the same cunning, sly green-skinned imps as Goblins, at most with two extra ounces of flesh on their chests.
The Goddess of Gun, Heather, was clearly not interested in Gobulines. She raised her Fire Crystal Spear, exuding a heroic and refreshing aura.
"Naruto, who are you planning to bring with you to conquer the Death Maze this time?"
"Or rather, besides us Gold-level and Silver Rank high-level adventurers, are you bringing the royal army too?"
Naruto answered without hesitation, "The Death Maze is even more treacherous than you imagine, so—"
He smiled slightly.
"Neither you, nor the royal army, will I bring a single one."
"What?"
The Sword Saintess was the first to disagree. She hugged one of Naruto's arms, pressing it against her chest. "No, precisely because it's too dangerous, I must help you."
"Naruto! I am now the High Priestess of the supreme god Temple, wielding more high-level miracles. I can heal, defend, and attack; I won't be a burden to you."
With a 'clang,' the Goddess of Gun, Heather, struck her Fire Crystal Spear on the training ground, the tip shattering the hard flagstones.
Purple-red flames of battle qi blazed around her, her apricot-shaped eyes slightly widened, her heroic demeanor tinged with a hint of anger.
"Naruto, do you think I can't handle a Demon God General?"
The Great Sage of Wind nodded, "Although I—I'm not as strong as Sister Heather, I've also learned a few new forbidden spells and can definitely help."
"There's strength in numbers."
"Lord Shinigami, although we know your strength and you are now recognized as the strongest adventurer by the Adventurers' Guild, it is still the Death Maze, hailed as the most dangerous forbidden zone on the continent. You alone will ultimately be outnumbered."
The other high-level adventurers began to persuade him.
They were not cowards; if they feared death, they wouldn't be standing here.
"Who said I'm alone?"
Facing everyone's worries and doubts, Naruto stood still, but his shadow in the sunlight unnaturally stretched and lengthened, spreading out like a black cloth, dividing into various shadows of different forms, instantly engulfing the entire wide training ground, even casting onto the nearby palace.
These shadows included giant dragons, three-headed hellhounds, evil eyes, ogres—
"Rustle, rustle, rustle—
In an instant, the vast training ground was enveloped by the boundless terror and immense power of the Shadow Legion. The air felt as if its gravity had increased a thousandfold, becoming incredibly heavy, making everyone gasp for breath, their faces pale, some even collapsing to their knees, unable to bear the weight.
"Wh-what's going on?" "Such a terrifying—terrifying pressure—"
"Why do I feel like I'm facing the Demon God King and his army of monsters?"
Even strong Gold-level adventurers like Heather couldn't stand, their knees slowly bending.
"I thought I had become—stronger than when I slayed dragons on Dragon Island, but I didn't—didn't expect—Naruto has grown even more." The Goddess of Gun, Heather, gripped her Fire Crystal Spear tightly, forcibly supporting her body, and looked up at the calm Naruto.
With a 'whoosh,' Naruto's shadow, which had almost covered half the royal palace, receded like a tide, instantly shrinking back to his feet.
As the Shadow Legion retreated, everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief, as if a great mountain had been lifted from their hearts.
They suddenly realized that they were all drenched in sweat, exhausted and weak, unable even to stand up.
"Are you all relieved now?" Naruto asked.
"Rel—relieved—"
"Lord Shinigami is indeed the strongest adventurer; even the true legendary heroes are probably no more than this."
"With this, the Death Maze will surely be swept clean."
"The Demon God King cannot be resurrected!"
The Gold-level adventurers all said.
Naruto nodded, preparing to leave with the Sword Saintess, when Heather suddenly asked, "Naruto, when do you plan to conquer the Death Maze?" "Tomorrow, I guess, depending on when I wake up."
Naruto turned back and answered with a smile.
He would definitely sleep until he woke up naturally; as for the exact time, he didn't know.
"Such a relaxed feeling."
"One can only say, as expected of Lord Shinigami."
"Recently, I heard from the Adventurers' Guild that they plan to introduce a new adventurer rank, above Gold-level, called the Hero-level."
"And Lord Shinigami will be the first Hero-level Adventurer."
Several high-level adventurers discussed in hushed tones, while Naruto had already walked away.
Seeing the Great Sage of Wind also follow Naruto, Heather asked curiously, "Doria, where are you going?"
"Hmm? To play with Naruto, of course~" The Great Sage turned her head and replied to Heather. "Wait for me!"
Night fell, and the capital was lit up with lanterns.
On the third floor of an inn run by the Adventurers' Guild, a blonde young man could be seen through the window, sitting at a table, playing with a card.
"Can race cards be modified?"
"Let's try it. If I can completely change the Gobulines' race, that would naturally be best."
Naruto held the race card between his index and middle fingers, upright in front of him. His slightly closed right eye suddenly opened, and a flash of eerie crimson light flickered in the dim room.
Mangekyo Sharingan, activate!
Kotoamatsukami, unleash!!
Naruto's right Sharingan spun wildly, the genjutsu power of Kotoamatsukami washing over the race card like golden waves.
But the next moment, the expected sensation of Green Moon modifying the card didn't occur. Instead, a red pop-up window appeared.
[WARNING! WARNING!]
[Race card is permanently fixed, cannot be modified, cannot be modified]
"Even Kotoamatsukami can't modify it?"
Naruto closed his right eye, and when he opened it again, it was back to its normal azure color.
"But it's fine. Although I can't change the race content, the Gobuline Goddess is still a decent fighter."
With a thought from Naruto, a green-skinned Gobuline appeared on the room's floor.
The moment she saw Naruto, she immediately knelt on both knees, worshipping Naruto, the god who created the Gobuline race, mumbling a stream of words.
As an Awakened God, Naruto naturally understood what the Gobuline Goddess was saying.
"No need to bow, come back." Naruto twirled the race card between two fingers, and the Gobuline Goddess transformed into a green light, returning to the card.
"Although the Gobuline Goddess's abilities and growth potential are not as strong as Shadow Godzilla, she possesses a conceptual level of immortality, and her basic attributes will strengthen as the number of Gobulines increases."
"She's definitely a good fighter."
"As for the dice of the gods—"
Naruto put away the race card and then took out the divine artifact, the dice of the gods, from his item bar.
"The Sword Saintess said she couldn't contact the supreme god; that should just be a coincidence, right?"
To verify his guess, Naruto rolled the dice of the gods.
"Grumble, grumble—"
The twelve-sided die rolled like a ball on the table, stopping after a moment.
No gamble was formed, and no god responded.
"What's going on? Has the die's cooldown not passed?"
As Naruto's confused thought arose, a red window popped up.
[WARNING! No other 'deities' detected in the current world. Unable to form a gamble.]
"No deities detected? Did all those players playing the game collectively go offline?"
"They wouldn't be so upset about losing to me, an NPC, that they all quit the game, would they?"
Naruto stared at the pop-up window, momentarily stunned.
Although the Sword Saintess's situation had given him some suspicions, he hadn't expected all the gods in the Goblin Slayer World to have gone offline.
Without gods, the dice of the gods naturally couldn't be effective.
"Never mind. I'll just find gods in other worlds to gamble with." Naruto put the dice of the gods into his item bar and lay down on the wooden bed to rest.
Northwest of the royal capital was a vast grassland. Originally, it was rich in water and grass, where herders raised cattle and horses, and low-level slimes allowed novice adventurers to gain combat experience and earn pocket money.
But recently, an ancient, massive ruin had appeared out of nowhere in this grassland.
A chilling and terrifying aura of death seeped and spread from the entrance of the huge ruin, causing the slimes to mutate and large swathes of the lush grassland to wither and die.
Some adventurers had taken on guild quests to investigate, but they all went in and never returned, leaving no trace.
It wasn't until the court astrologer foretold the dangers of the Death Maze that the ruin and the grassland were sealed off, preventing residents or adventurers from approaching.
At this moment, on the vast grassland outside the Death Maze, the atmosphere was as heavy as iron.
The young new king tightly gripped his jewel-encrusted but slightly oversized sword, his knuckles white, constantly gazing towards the royal capital.
Behind him were the Human Kingdom's most elite legions, their armor reflecting the cold afterglow of the setting sun, their spears like a forest, yet unable to hide the apprehension in the soldiers' eyes.
Beside them were high-level adventurers, represented by the Goddess of Gun, Heather, and the Great Sage. They were experienced and powerful in combat, but their expressions were even more serious than when facing a dragon.
The air was filled with a mixed scent of sulfur and decay, continuously emanating from the ancient ruin-like structure ahead.
The sun gradually sank behind the distant mountains, stretching everyone's shadows long and thin, like gradually extinguishing hope.
"He's not coming, is he?" a young soldier whispered, his voice trembling.
"Shut up!" the old soldier growled, but his own hand, gripping his spear, was also slick with cold sweat.
"Lord Naruto—"
"Fine!" The young king's forehead was beaded with fine sweat. He was about to order the entire army to set up camp and discuss it tomorrow. Just as the last ray of sunset was about to be swallowed by the mountains— "Ah—overslept."
A lazy voice came from behind.
Everyone turned their heads sharply!
They saw Uzumaki Naruto yawning, rubbing his messy blonde hair, slowly walking along the path leading to the royal capital.
What seemed like a simple walk was, in reality, a series of blinks and instantaneous movements with each step, appearing a thousand meters away.
In just a few steps, he had already arrived in front of the army.
Moreover, he was dressed in loose, simple casual clothes, as if he wasn't here to conquer a demon's lair, but to go on a spring outing.
"Lord Naruto!" The young king was overjoyed, yet a sense of helplessness arose from the other's casualness. "You're finally here! We—"
"You may simply observe." Naruto waved his hand, interrupting him, and walked straight past the army to the entrance of the maze, which exuded endless death and malice.
The setting sun cast his shadow long and thin on the scorched, desolate grassland.
"This must be it," he murmured to himself.
Then, he gently took a step forward.
The moment his foot touched the ground—"Whoosh—"
An invisible ripple spread out from him.
It wasn't a sound, but a spatial tremor, a resonance that made the soul tremble!
The long shadow behind him, stretched by the setting sun, which had been empty moments before, came alive.
The shadow instantly spread, like a boundless black cloth, covering half the grassland, then surged violently like boiling ink, expanding, rising, and taking shape!
In an instant, it transformed into a vast, silently standing army!
That was not a human army.
It was a legion composed of the purest shadows and silence.
They seemed faceless, voiceless, their outlines indistinct at the edges of the sunset's afterglow, as if they could merge into the darkness at any moment.
They were formed from shadows, yet varied in shape and size, so numerous that they seemed to carpet the entire plain into a black ocean, stretching to the horizon. Their murderous and deathly aura even suppressed the evil emanations from the maze opposite!
The warhorses of the human army neighed in terror and reared up, the soldiers involuntarily retreated, and the formation fell into a commotion.
The adventurers gasped in cold air. The Goddess of Gun, Heather, instinctively tightened her grip on her beloved spear, and the tip of the Great Sage's staff glowed with the faint light of a detection spell, only to discover in horror that these 'soldiers' had no energy readings of life or undeath; they were 'shadow' itself!
"Th-this is the Shadow—Shadow Legion," the king murmured to himself.
He finally understood the source of Naruto's confidence yesterday!
Naruto did not look back at the miracle he had created, but merely casually raised his hand and pointed towards the entrance of the Death Maze ahead.
There were no roars, no trumpets.
That silent, colossal Shadow Legion, like a breached black tide, or a silent tsunami, instantly engulfed the land ahead!
They swept past the flank of the human army, and the soldiers only felt a bone-chilling coldness pass by, as if the Shinigami's robes had brushed them.
The next moment, this black torrent poured into the gaping chasm entrance without pause!
There were no imagined fierce clashes or battle cries. Only absolute, suffocating silence.