The true test of power was not a beast of ice or a swarm of pests; it was the Goblin King's Abode—the Guild Master's secret smuggling operation.
The Abode was located in the disused Vigan Water Tunnels, a complex labyrinth of concrete pipes and ancient, forgotten storage cisterns beneath the city's oldest district. The area was guarded not by monsters, but by two rotating teams of Guild Thugs—private security hired by the Guild Master, skilled in silent combat and artifact suppression. They were my final obstacle before the Epic Essence.
I moved first. Juts remained on Overwatch, his eyes fixed on the distant, faint glow of the main Guild building.
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I entered the tunnels through an old, rusted sluice gate near the riverbank, easily circumventing the Guild's primary patrol route. The air was cool and smelled of damp earth and stale energy—the residual energy of high-grade essences.
My Silent Form card was immediately indispensable. My boots made no sound on the slippery concrete floor, and the faint metallic resonance of my Rare Gauntlet was completely muffled. I was functionally invisible to sound.
The first obstacle was a two-man security patrol in a wide maintenance junction. They were discussing the lack of decent rations and the late hour, their vigilance low.
This was the application of my Proactive Dominance philosophy. Offense as defense.
I activated Shadow Step. The space around me compressed, and in a blink, I was no longer by the wall, but directly behind the two guards. The movement was so fast and contained that the air disturbance was minimal.
Before they could turn, I delivered a calculated blow using my Kinetic Force essence. I didn't punch; I simply touched the back of each guard's neck with the bare obsidian of my gauntlet and pulsed the Gorgon Essence.
CRACK! CRACK!
Two precise, low-energy kinetic bursts impacted their nervous systems. The guards collapsed instantly, their bodies going limp, completely unconscious but unharmed. I checked their pulses to confirm the non-lethal strikes, a necessary detail to avoid turning this into a murder case. I confiscated their minor stun artifacts and proceeded.
The raid was less a fight and more a systematic neutralization drill.
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I bypassed multiple security checkpoints using the same sequence: Silent Form to approach, Shadow Step to reposition, and Controlled Kinetic Pulse to neutralize. I used the Echo Rune once to distract a guard stationed behind a heavy door, creating the sound of a falling tool to draw him away from his post.
Following Aaliyah's map, I located the primary storage cistern. The final door was sealed with an Uncommon-rank Rune Lock—a simple security measure, easily bypassed by focusing the Miasma Shroud's disruptive essence to create a small, highly localized energy surge that short-circuited the mechanism.
The heavy steel door slid open with a grinding sound, revealing the Goblin King's Abode—not a dungeon, but a high-value smuggling vault.
The circular room was stacked high with crates bearing falsified Merchant Guild logos. The air here vibrated with power. I bypassed the low-value materials and went directly to the shielded containers in the center.
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Inside the largest container, nestled in thick rune-etched padding, were three shimmering, grapefruit-sized orbs of concentrated energy. These were the Epic Essences—the smuggled goods.
The largest orb pulsed with a furious, deep scarlet energy. This was the essence of a Crimson Lich, an Epic-rank monster I had faced in my past life—a monster known for its devastating Soulfire ability.
I reached for it, the power tempting and terrifying. This was the prize that would elevate my Rare Gauntlet to Epic status, giving me the true power to challenge Commander Salazar and seize control of Vigan.
I ignored the others and grasped the Crimson Lich Essence. The moment my hand closed around it, the energy roared, the scarlet power attempting to tear the black obsidian shell of my gauntlet apart. The Gorgon and Polaris Ursus essences fought back, the purple and green energies swirling violently.
I gritted my teeth, enduring the searing, agonizing pain that threatened to liquefy the bones in my forearm.
This is the test. This wasn't a monster fight; this was a spiritual siege. I channeled every ounce of my past life's resolve, forcing the vast, malevolent energy of the Crimson Lich to submit to the controlled fusion of my current essence blend.
After what felt like an hour, the violent throbbing subsided. The Crimson Lich Essence was absorbed.
My Rare Gauntlet underwent a terrifying transformation. The obsidian turned deep, venous black, etched with glowing lines of angry scarlet and the faint, cold sheen of Polaris Ursus ice. It was no longer a Rare-rank artifact. It was Epic-rank.
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With the power secured, I moved with cold efficiency. I took a handful of the high-value Crimson Lich components—evidence that could not be easily replaced—and, most importantly, I took the entire, detailed smuggling route map.
I reversed my path, leaving the knocked-out guards precisely where they fell. They would wake up unharmed in an hour, their memories confused, the only damage a massive headache and an empty vault.
As I climbed out of the sluice gate, the first rays of dawn were painting the sky. I reached Juts, who looked at me with a mixture of terror and awe, the newly transformed Epic Gauntlet casting a dark, scarlet glow on my face.
"It's done," I stated, my voice slightly hoarse from the absorption. "The vault is emptied, and the evidence is secured." I tapped the hidden pocket where the map now lay. "The Guild Master is now fully exposed, Juts. We hold his life in our hands."
The Goblin King's Abode was a raid, not a cull. I had bypassed the defenses, neutralized the opposition, and acquired the ultimate asset. The time for fighting monsters was over. The time for fighting the system had begun.