CHAPTER 49: BACK TO THE GUILD

Many main characters — whether transmigrators, reincarnators, or the occasional chosen ones of the heavens always seemed to say their first monster kill left them nauseous.

He had seen that in so many novels.

They spoke of trembling hands, of bile rising in their throats, and so many things.

For Lucius, it only made him feel annoyed.

’I could be spending today doing literally anything else,’ he thought flatly, narrowing his eyes at the horde of goblins swarming toward them.

His sharp glare cut across their malformed faces, snaggle-toothed grins, and crude weapons.

’But no! Instead of a decent lunch and maybe a nap, I’m stuck here with three idiots and a bunch of goblins!’

A muscle twitched at the corner of his jaw.

The goblins snarled, their guttural laughter carrying across.

Lucius’s patience snapped.

He burst forward, space compressing beneath his step.

The ground buckled, and with a dull boom a crater marked where his foot had been.

His body blurred forward, faster than the goblins’ dull minds could process.

The first target was a rider.

Its mount snapped its fangs toward him, but Lucius’s foot met its chest before the beast could land.

Space distortion rippled outward like glass shattering.

The creature imploded, its body folding inward before bursting apart into gore.

The rider didn’t even have time to scream before the distortion shredded him into green mist.

Lucius didn’t even blink.

He pivoted smoothly, swinging a blade of space with an absent-minded grace.

Distortions bloomed from his movements, invisible blades of warped reality that sliced into the goblin ranks.

Limbs, torsos, and weapons all split apart like paper.

Behind him, the remaining Hudson brothers were shouting.

Cyrus charged headlong with his sword, cleaving through whatever goblins Lucius’s distortions hadn’t already erased.

His brother Felix stood further back, hands raised, lips moving as fire circles ignited around his arms.

Fireballs whizzed past Lucius’s shoulder, exploding against clusters of goblins with sharp bangs.

For once, they were holding out pretty well.

Lucius allowed himself the faintest nod.

’At least they’re not dead weight completely.’

A rumbling roar shook the ground.

The goblin king finally moved.

The massive, bulbous fucker leapt into the fray, its fat body wobbling with each motion.

A jagged sword, blackened with grime, was gripped in its meaty hands.

It bellowed, spit flying, and stabbed the blade toward Lucius.

Lucius didn’t move from his spot.

His hand shot up and caught the sword by its tip.

The metal groaned uselessly in his grip. Of course he was trapping it with space

Up close, he could see it clearer — the rolls of fat that rippled obscenely across the goblin’s torso, the yellow slime oozing from its pores, the beady eyes filled with stupidity.

His lip fell. "Disgusting."

With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed a spatial distortion directly into the goblin’s gut.

Reality twisted.

The flesh of its stomach unraveled like a poorly woven tapestry.

A clean, circular hole opened through its body.

The goblin king staggered, collapsing onto its knees, wheezing and clutching at the void in its midsection.

Its organs spilled uselessly to the dirt. Yet it wasn’t dead.

Of course it wasn’t.

Lucius sighed, raised his foot, and drove a space-compressed kick into its skull.

The impact echoed like thunder.

The goblin king’s head detonated in a wet explosion, fragments scattering across the field.

Finally, silence.

Lucius exhaled, brushing imaginary dust off his hands, though none had touched him.

His purple eyes flicked toward Cyrus, who was kneeling over Grimm, feeding the battered man a potion.

"So," Lucius asked blandly, "how do we show that we’ve completed the mission?"

...

The journey back to GRIMMAW was uneventful, at least compared to the chaos of earlier.

The Hudson brothers bickered the whole way, dragging the half-conscious Grimm between them.

Lucius drifted behind, deliberately keeping his distance.

They smelled.

Sweat, blood, goblin gore — it clung to them like mold.

His nose wrinkled as the stench wafted back with every gust of wind.

When they finally reached the receptionist’s hall, the Hudsons bustled toward the submission table.

The guild clerks inspected the evidence with perfunctory expressions.

Scans of the cleared zone, before and after, flickered across the dungeon scanner.

Photos of the corpses and destruction captured by enchanted cameras were passed from hand to hand.

The technology was foolproof. You couldn’t forge images on them.

Lucius stayed near the back, rolling his shoulders and stifling a yawn.

"Welcome back, my lord," a soft voice said.

Lucius nearly jumped out of his skin.

His head snapped sideways, eyes wide.

"Shit — you scared me," he muttered.

He hadn’t heard or sensed her approach at all.

Villy bowed with flawless grace. "I apologize."

Lucius eyed her warily, then relaxed.

"How was your first mission?" she asked gently.

"Well... it went well," he said, brushing it off with his casual tone.

His gaze shifted toward the Hudson brothers, who were trying to haggle for bonus money with Miss Brown. "But don’t pair me up with those idiots again."

Villy’s brows rose slightly.

She lifted a hand to her chin, thoughtful.

"Ah. The Hudson brothers are notorious for being... difficult. You aren’t the first person to say that."

Lucius exhaled in relief.

’That’s what a normal person would say or do,’ he thought dryly. ’Whoever doesn’t... well, they’re not normal.’

Villy’s expression shifted. "Oh — and the Guild Master said I should lead you to her office when you returned."

Lucius raised a brow but didn’t object. "Fine."

The elevator carried them up smoothly, humming as it climbed to the highest floor.

When the doors opened, Lucius was momentarily caught off guard.

The hall stretched wide, grander than anything below.

Towering panes of vibrant glass stretched from floor to ceiling, glowing faintly as sunlight refracted into multicolored beams across the polished floor.

For once, Lucius slowed his steps, taking in the beauty.

They walked the length of the hall, approaching the door at its far end.

When it swung open, Lucius’s eyes darted around.

Vanessa sat at the center, poised with the quiet authority of a ruler.

On either side of her were two identical dwarves, their features carved in stone-like symmetry.

And in the far corner...

Elara, cheeks bulging with food, stuffing herself full of chicken.

Lucius’s lips twitched.

’She was eating while I was surviving,’ he thought with a deadpan, ’How greedy,’

But that thought scattered the moment Vanessa noticed him.

Her eyes lit up.

She rose in an instant, crossing the space between them with speed that startled even him.

Before Lucius could react, her arms wrapped tightly around him, crushing him into her embrace.

Bones creaked under the force. His lungs protested.

"You’re a lucky charm, Lucius," she said warmly, oblivious to her own overwhelming strength.