Demon Snake Naga lay at Sakeer's feet, his massive body writhing in agony, drenched in cold sweat.
His expression twisted in pain, his breathing ragged.
It felt as though thousands of ants were burrowing into his heart—
As if an invisible hand was crushing it, suffocating him from the inside out.
A dreadful, indescribable torment consumed every inch of his body.
The Naga race was supposed to have resistance to curses…
Yet—
It seemed their resistance was far from high enough.
Sakeer observed the Demon Snake's agony, watching as Naga convulsed in suffocating pain.
He mused to himself.
"Looks like we can have a proper conversation now."
Reaching out, Sakeer extended his palm toward the gaping wound in Naga's chest—
The spot where he had stabbed him earlier with an iron sword.
With a simple gesture in the air—
Dark, cursed energy seeped out of the wound and dissipated into nothingness.
As the corruption faded, the pain eased.
Naga collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily, his massive form trembling.
Sakeer lowered his hand.
His control over the power of the curse had become increasingly refined.
Over time, he had meticulously analyzed and refined his abilities—
Especially curses, which remained the most unpredictable and insidious weapon in his arsenal.
By using countless beasts and monsters as experimental subjects, he had gathered invaluable data.
And through these gruesome experiments—
He had discovered something crucial:
The closer a curse was inflicted to the heart, the stronger its effect.
Naga, still gasping for air, shuddered at the memory of what had just happened.
The brink of death had never felt so terrifying before.
He had encountered humans in the past—
But none like this.
The weak, fragile creatures he had once scorned were nothing like the monster standing before him now.
This human was capable of killing him!
A chill ran down his spine.
Naga swallowed hard, his voice hoarse with fear.
"I—I surrender."
Sakeer merely tilted his head.
"No, no, you're mistaken."
With a flick of his wrist, he discarded the shattered iron sword and reached for the magic greatsword embedded in the ground.
The moment Naga saw the motion—
His entire body tensed.
His tail instinctively curled, his head shrinking back in fear.
Sakeer sighed, shaking his head.
"It's not the surrender I'm looking for. It's… cooperation."
His voice was calm, even gentle.
But to Naga—
That smile was far more terrifying than any battle.
Humans were known for their cunning and deceit.
The word "cooperation" sounded more like a trap than a proposal.
Still, all he wanted right now was to survive.
If this human let him go, Naga had every intention of escaping at the first opportunity.
The Great Forest of Tob was vast—
As long as he fled, no matter how powerful this human was, he would never find him.
Sakeer's voice remained light, almost conversational.
"Tell me, Naga—do you have any interest in ruling the entire Great Forest of Tob?"
The Demon Snake's breath hitched.
His pupils dilated.
Sakeer let his words linger, allowing them to settle before continuing.
"Western ruler, Demon Snake Naga… Ryraryus Spenia Ai Indarun."
At the mention of those long names, Naga stiffened.
He swallowed, clutching his wounded arm, his voice barely above a whisper.
"You… you know my name?"
Sakeer merely shrugged.
"Of course."
Then, with casual ease, he continued:
"War Troll Guu's territory is already mine.
I've cleared out all the high-ranking beasts and monsters—including the entire ogre horde under him."
Naga's breath caught.
His snake-like pupils widened in shock.
His mind raced.
Now that he thought about it—
On his way here, he had encountered no significant threats.
No ferocious beasts, no dominant monsters lurking in the shadows.
Even near the forest crevice, the ground had been stained red with blood—
The remnants of a massacre.
A cold chill slithered down his spine.
"Gulp—"
He swallowed hard.
His tail trembled slightly.
"... My territory is in the westernmost part of the forest."
His voice was low, almost uncertain.
"And in the center lies the domain of the Wise King of the Forest."
He hesitated.
The idea of ruling the entire Great Forest of Tob—
Had never even crossed his mind.
He had always known his limitations.
His strength was nowhere near the level of the Wise King of the Forest Hamusuke or the War Troll Guu.
He had never dared to dream beyond survival.
But now—
This human was offering him the throne.
A temptation far greater than mere escape.
"... You—You're saying I could rule it all?"
Sakeer smiled.
"Yes."
He took a step closer.
"And if the Wise King of the Forest stands in your way—"
His voice was calm.
Unshaken.
"I'll deal with him for you."
"!!!"
Naga could hardly believe what he was hearing.
Moments ago, he had been writhing in unimaginable pain, fearing for his very life.
Now—
This human was offering him something greater than he had ever dared to imagine.
His once trembling body stilled.
His mind raced with possibilities.
For the first time—
He was no longer thinking of running.
He was thinking of power.
And Sakeer—
He could see it in Naga's eyes.
The shift.
The hunger.
The moment those words left Sakeer's lips—
Demon Snake Naga's pupils burned with a sudden, fiery intensity.
His earlier thoughts of escape?
Gone.
But soon, doubt crept in.
Why would this terrifying human offer him such a deal?
Surely, he wasn't doing this out of kindness.
There had to be a catch.
Naga's throat rumbled as he spoke in a hoarse whisper.
"What… does the old man need to do in return?"
Sakeer's lips curled into a bright smile as he turned his gaze to the sluggish War Troll Guu, still lingering at the cave entrance.
Then, shifting his focus back to Naga, he chuckled.
"I really do prefer working with intelligent beings."
His voice was light, conversational—almost amused.
Then, without hesitation, he made his demand:
"Raise goblins for me."
"...Huh?"
Naga blinked, momentarily stunned.
For a second, he thought he had misheard.
He had expected schemes, traps, or even blood oaths—anything but this.
Raising goblins?
That was… it?!
Sakeer nodded, confirming that Naga had heard him correctly.
As his level grew, Sakeer had begun considering sustainable ways to gain experience.
Sure, stronger creatures yielded more experience upon death—
But this wasn't a game.
Once a powerful creature died, it didn't respawn.
And if he wiped out too many at once, it would inevitably draw attention—
From the True Dragon Kings and the other major factions.
Which meant…
Mass slaughter wasn't an option.
But there was another way.
If rabbits were the fastest-reproducing animals, then goblins were the fastest-reproducing monsters.
As long as they had enough food, goblins could reach maturity in as little as two to three months—
And they could reproduce at least three times a year.
A never-ending source of experience!
Naga's mouth opened slightly.
"...Really?"
He couldn't keep up with this human's way of thinking.
Why would someone this powerful go through all this trouble…
Just to raise goblins?
His mind couldn't comprehend it.
Sakeer smirked and glanced at him knowingly.
"Oh?"
His voice was laced with amusement.
Naga shuddered.
Even without a direct threat, Sakeer's mere presence unsettled him.
"The old man can tell when someone is lying."
His wrinkled cheeks trembled, his voice low and hurried.
Sakeer arched a brow.
"Oh? The Naga race has such an ability?"
Spreading his arms, he sighed.
"Originally, I had chosen War Troll Guu for this job.
After all, goblins are low-ranking monsters, and a Troll—being a high-ranking species—could have easily controlled them."
He shook his head.
"Unfortunately, he proved to be an unreliable partner."
There was a hint of regret in his tone.
Naga hesitated.
But deep inside, he was tempted.
The chance to rule the entire Great Forest of Tob was right in front of him.
And all he had to do was...
Raise goblins?
The deal was too good to refuse.
And yet—
He didn't have a choice to begin with.
Swallowing his pride, he lowered his head.
"The old man… is willing to serve you."
His tone carried a trace of excitement.
Sakeer smiled faintly.
"It's not a service. It's cooperation."
His expression hardened slightly.
"In this forest, there is a goblin tribe called the Gigu.
Take control of them, and the rest will follow easily."
He let those words settle before his smile vanished.
Then—
He locked eyes with Naga, his gaze cold as steel.
"Of course…"
His voice dropped, deadly and calm.
"If word of this gets out… you'll regret it."
At that moment, something shifted.
A sharp, piercing agony erupted in Naga's chest.
Like a swarm of ants burrowing into his heart.
"AAAHHHH!!"
A miserable scream tore from his throat.
The suffocating pain was back—
Just as cruel.
Just as overwhelming.
And then—
It stopped.
The pain faded as suddenly as it had come.
Gasping, drenched in sweat, Naga shivered violently.
Fear etched itself onto his aged face.
He didn't know what had just happened—
But he knew who had done it.
Sakeer had left something inside him.
A trace of his curse.
It was faint—so weak that it posed no real threat.
But Naga didn't know that.
All he knew—
Was that Sakeer had complete control over him!
Sakeer's expression softened once more.
His voice turned gentle.
"Don't worry.
You only need to raise goblins for me… for four years.
After that, I'll remove the curse myself."
He smiled.
"Your ability should tell you—I'm not lying."
For a moment, Naga didn't speak.
His heart still raced.
But then—
Sakeer uttered the final words that sealed the deal.
"Lord of the Great Forest of Tob…
Lord of the Mountains…
Lord of the Wild."
Something stirred within Naga.
Those words—
They were meant for him.
And that realization sent a shiver of exhilaration through his body.
"I am willing!"
Overcome with emotion, he prostrated himself before Sakeer.
A gesture of both fear and reverence.
With the agreement secured, Sakeer allowed Naga to leave on his own.
But before doing so—
He gave him one final order:
"Gather the strongest beasts and monsters from your territory."
Because naturally—
Sakeer had no intention of leaving all those valuable sources of experience untouched.
Would Demon Snake Naga remain obedient?
Sakeer didn't care.
Even among his own kind, he couldn't guarantee the loyalty of his subordinates—let alone a subhuman of a completely different race.
All that mattered was ensuring that Naga did what he was told.
And four years later?
The Demon Snake Naga would be irrelevant.
Sakeer sighed to himself.
"There are still too few people worth using."
Shaking his head, he returned to the cave entrance.
He carefully stored away the barrel of blood, tucking it into his item box, before pulling out another large barrel and setting it beneath War Troll Guu—
Continuing the extraction.
This wasn't wasteful.
War Troll Guu possessed a regeneration ability far superior to ordinary trolls.
Sakeer had a theory—
If its blood was used correctly, it might serve as the key to refining an even more potent regeneration potion.
He suddenly remembered something.
"I forgot to take blood from the Demon Snake Naga."
His fingers tapped against the barrel thoughtfully.
"I wonder what kind of alchemical potion I could create with his blood?"
A smirk crossed his lips.
"I'll be sure to collect some next time."
Lower Fire Month—September 25th Over half a month had passed.
Sakeer once again stepped foot into the domain of the Wise King of the Forest, Hamusuke.
Suspended mid-air, his body shimmered with a layer of magical energy as he gazed down at the vast, dense forest below.
With a wave of his arm—
Five ogre corpses appeared in the air.
Then—
Boom!
The lifeless bodies plummeted, crashing into the jungle with an earth-shaking impact.
A chorus of startled birds and beasts erupted in response.
Now, all he had to do was wait.
Sakeer had already emptied his stockpile of goblin corpses, handing them over to the ogres who had served him previously.
Now, his item box held over 200 ogre corpses.
This time, he hadn't brought the little Barghest with him.
There were two reasons:
It wouldn't be of much help in the upcoming battle.
It had a more important role—keeping War Troll Guu under control.
After all, All-Race Charm was time-limited.
Sakeer had crafted thirty Tier-3 "Angel Summoning" scrolls, but instead of making Tier-4 versions, he had set aside some resources to create extra "All-Race Charm" scrolls.
He had entrusted them to the little Barghest.
If the charm effect on War Troll Guu wore off, the creature would simply need to bite down on a scroll to renew it.
"Swish!"
As he was thinking, a disturbance rippled through the jungle below.
Sakeer, still hovering mid-air, narrowed his eyes.
Through the dense foliage, he spotted movement—
A pale figure, darting through the trees with swift agility.
It was heading straight for the fallen ogres.
Whoosh—!
In a blur of motion, Wise King of the Forest Hamusuke emerged from the thicket.
Despite his bulky frame, he moved with a grace that defied his size, effortlessly weaving through the tangled undergrowth.
Coming to a halt, he rose onto his hind legs and curled his forelimbs over his nose, his expression twisting in disgust.
"Corpses?"
He sneered.
"No wonder the stench is so vile."
His gaze flicked across the fallen ogres, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"Why are there ogre corpses here?"
His head tilted slightly.
And then—
A memory surfaced.
That human.
The one that escaped.
The one that could fly.
A flicker of rage twisted his feature!
RUMBLE!
A sharp burst of air pressure tore through the jungle.
Hamusuke's ears twitched.
His instincts screamed danger.
He looked up.
But with the thick canopy above, he saw nothing.
Then—
A brilliant arc of magic cleaved through the dense foliage, cutting into his line of sight.
BANG—!
Hamusuke reacted instantly.
His forelimbs swung, five razor-sharp claws gleaming with a metallic sheen, colliding with the incoming attack.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the jungle.
Splintered branches rained down, scattering across his fur.
Hamusuke shook himself off, glaring upward.
The collision had parted the foliage, revealing a narrow gap in the canopy.
And through it—
He saw him.
That human.
The one he despised.
"You again, you wretched pest!!"
His roar shook the treetops.
He had no doubt—
That attack had come from Sakeer.
Sakeer's eyes glinted as he tightened his grip on his magic sword.
"So he blocked it that easily…"
His gaze sharpened.
Compared to War Troll Guu and Demon Snake Naga, Hamusuke's raw strength was on a completely different level.
But that only made things more interesting.
A slow smirk curled at the edges of his lips.
"That makes this even more fun."
Without hesitation, he leaned forward—
And plunged downward like a meteor.
BOOM!
His descent shattered through the upper canopy, leaving a trail of broken branches in his wake.
Now—
He was right above Hamusuke.
"Quick Slash!"
Both hands gripping the hilt of his magic sword, he swung it downward in a vicious strike.
Hamusuke's eyes flashed with fury.
"You dare think you can kill me?!"
His forelimbs lashed out, claws bared, meeting the attack head-on.
His roar thundered through the jungle—
As man and beast clashed in mid-air.
The moment their figures collided, the sheer force of Sakeer's aerial descent—amplified by his passive "Aura of Courage" and "Weapon Extra Specialization"—unleashed nearly three times his usual attack power.
BOOM!
A deafening shockwave rippled through the forest, centered on the clash between the two combatants.
The surrounding trees, once lush and dense, were stripped bare in an instant—branches shattered, leaves disintegrated into dust.
The earth trembled beneath the force.
"Agh!"
The Wise King of the Forest Hamusuke let out a pained shriek as his sharp, swinging forelimbs were forcibly knocked back against his own chest.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
His oval-shaped, seemingly bulky body was sent hurtling like a ragdoll, crashing through dozens of thick tree trunks before finally coming to a halt.
Yet, despite the devastation—
He wasn't finished.
"I'M ANGRY!"
A furious bellow tore through the forest.
"How did your strength increase so suddenly?!"
With an enraged snarl, Hamusuke pushed himself off the ground, shaking off the splintered wood and fallen leaves that clung to his fur.
His gaze locked onto Sakeer—sharp, gleaming with hostility.
But Sakeer, watching from a distance, frowned.
No visible damage.
His attack should have done far more than just knock him away—yet Hamusuke looked almost untouched.
"How thick is this guy's skin?"
His mind raced, recalling a key detail—
The two-handed greatsword crafted by the Bone King, using Seventh-Rank Magic: "Superior Item Creation", had also struggled to break through Hamusuke's defenses.
That's how absurdly durable he was.
Hamusuke's beards bristled as he straightened his posture, his voice laced with arrogance.
"To send me flying with brute force… I'll admit, it was impressive, human."
A glint of mockery flashed in his eyes.
"But if you think that was enough to defeat me, you're sorely mistaken."
His voice dropped into a menacing growl.
"Now… I'll have a taste of you instead!"
Then—he moved.
In an instant, Hamusuke's body lowered, coiling with tension.
From behind him—
A black blur shot forward.
Like a compressed spring, his tail launched at an extraordinary speed—so fast that it closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
BOOM!!
Sakeer barely had time to react—his magic greatsword swung up in defense.
The scaly black-gray tailslammed into the blade, forcing his arm downward under immense pressure.
Sakeer gritted his teeth, deflecting the attack by shifting the tail's trajectory.
Not missing a beat, he surged forward, aiming to close the gap between himself and Hamusuke.
But just as he was about to launch his next attack—
Whoosh!
A flicker of movement at the edge of his vision sent his instincts screaming.
Sakeer immediately stopped his charge, his legs kicking off the ground as he leapt backward.
The tail, which had been deflected moments ago, suddenly bent in mid-air, lashing at him from the side.
Sakeer barely managed to intercept it—
CLANG!
His greatsword met the coiling appendage once again, the impact sending a dull reverberation through the forest.
However—
The tail did not simply withdraw.
Instead—
It coiled around his sword.
Like a serpentine beast, it moved with unnatural dexterity, constricting around the magic greatsword's blade.
Then—
YANK!
Sakeer, still mid-movement, was suddenly jerked downward, his stance thrown off.
"Damn—!"
His body tilted forward, pulled toward the ground with alarming force.
Then—
SHING!
The tail's scales shifted, revealing razor-sharp edges that now pointed outward—
Like a thousand tiny blades.
"Instant Reflection!"
A split-second blue flash enveloped Sakeer.
His forward momentum abruptly reversed—his body righting itself in a near-impossible motion.
Just in time.
SHNK!
The deadly scaled edges scraped past him, missing what could have been a lethal blow.
But Sakeer wasn't done yet.
His eyes turned cold, and with a sudden burst of strength, he gripped the greatsword's hilt with both hands—
Then slammed it down, hard.
CRASH!
The enchanted blade struck the coiled tail, its impact clashing against the razor-like scales in a storm of metallic sparks.
"LET GO!"
The tail recoiled.
A whip-like snap rang through the air as Hamusuke retracted it, releasing the sword.
But Sakeer had no time to relax.
BOOM!
A dark shadow loomed over him.
Sakeer's gaze shot upward—
Hamusuke was airborne.
The massive beast had leapt into the sky, effortlessly clearing over ten meters, his body poised to strike down like a falling meteor.
Then—
"Taiyōken!(*Solar Flare)"
A high-pitched shriek erupted from Hamusuke's throat.
At the same time—
A magic pattern flashed across his body.
"Shit—!"
Sakeer's vision immediately darkened.
The world around him vanished into pitch black.
He was blind.
His heart clenched—this wasn't a mental spell.
It was a negative status effect.
Which meant—
Even his "Mind of Undeath" wouldn't protect him.
Suddenly—
A faint, golden shimmer pulsed on his attribute panel.
Passive Ability: "Blessed Body."
The effect—cutting all debuffs in half.
Instead of complete darkness, a thin translucent membrane seemed to veil his vision.
He could still see—barely.
But it wasn't enough.
The sound of rushing wind filled his ears.
Hamusuke's plummeting form was closing in.
Sakeer tensed—
But his movements faltered.
Even though he could vaguely make out Hamusuke's figure, his blurred vision distorted depth and motion.
If he dodged blindly, he might end up in an even worse position.
But if he stayed still—
He'd be crushed!