Chapter 24: An Offer of Surrender
The week following Chloe’s ascension to Bloodkin was a blur of frantic activity.
Ragnar, now operating on a strict CP budget and a ticking 30-day clock to repay his soul-crushing debt, felt a new kind of pressure.
He sent Chloe and a small, elite squad of his newly evolved Goblin Archers on short-range scouting missions, just outside the invisible borders of his Domain.
For the first time, he was gathering real intelligence on the outside world, mapping the ruined streets of Sector 7 and identifying potential resource locations.
He was in the middle of reviewing one of Chloe’s hand-drawn maps when the alert came. It wasn’t the familiar chime of invaders. It was a loud, jarring alarm he had never heard before, a blaring siren that echoed directly in his mind.
[WARNING: Unidentified entity has breached the outer perimeter. Non-hostile intent detected.]
"Non-hostile? What does that even mean?"
Ragnar muttered, jumping up from his throne. He pulled up the dungeon map on his phone. A single, tiny green dot was standing just inside his entrance, in the slime-filled "Welcome Mat" corridor. It wasn’t moving. It wasn’t fighting. It was just... standing there.
"Chloe, return to base immediately. We have an unexpected guest," he commanded through their mental link. To his other minions, he gave a simple order: "Observe. Do not engage unless it attacks."
He walked to the entrance of the Throne Room, peering down the long, dark hall. His heart was pounding. Was this a new kind of trap? A scout from a more powerful Demon King?
Minutes later, the entity came into view. It was a goblin. But it was unlike any of his own. It was small, even for a goblin, and it was carrying a massive, ridiculously oversized backpack.