Lord of the Foresaken

Smoke curled into the night sky.

Reed stood in the ruins of Lord Delman's village, watching the flames consume what little remained. His goblins dragged bodies from the rubble—some fresh, some barely clinging to life.

None of them would be wasted.

Shia stood beside him, wiping blood from her daggers. "The village is secured, my lord. We lost three goblins. The rest are already looting supplies."

Reed barely reacted. Three losses. Insignificant.

His army had only grown stronger.

[Current Forces]

• Goblins (F-Rank): 65

• Evolved Goblins (E-Rank): 30

• Goblin Berserkers (D-Rank): 7

• Captured Humans: 22

• Shia (Hero – Rank E, Newly Evolved)

Reed's eyes flickered toward Shia. E-Rank now. Her frame was a bit more refined, her movements sharper. He could see the difference.

She was evolving too.

He turned to the surviving villagers, bound and kneeling in the dirt. Some sobbed. Some were too stunned to react.

One old man finally spoke. "W-why?" His voice cracked. "We were just farmers… we never did anything to you."

Reed crouched down in front of him. Expression unreadable.

"You were weak," he said simply. "And the weak get devoured."

The old man's eyes filled with despair.

Reed didn't care.

He rose, stretching his arms. "Shia, separate them. I want workers, breeders, and sacrifices."

Shia nodded immediately. "Understood."

The prisoners screamed.

The Goblin Lord's Law

The next morning, Reed sat on a throne made from stacked corpses, watching his goblins move.

The village wasn't a village anymore. It was a war camp.

• The strongest prisoners were forced to farm, cook, and build.

• The weakest were bled dry, feeding goblin evolution.

• A handful of women were separated for breeding.

It wasn't civilized.

But Reed had never been civil.

His goblins were learning. Growing smarter. Stronger. The weak were being carved away. The system said goblins were F-Rank. Reed was proving it wrong.

Shia knelt beside him. "What's next, my lord?"

Reed smirked.

"War."

He was done hiding.

The other lords would come for him soon. But why wait?

He would take the fight to them.