Chapter 36: Lightning Pulse, Goblins End
The goblin warrior's corpse hadn't even struck the ground when another figure surged from the shadows—larger, faster, driven by blood-boiling fury.
It burst through the underbrush with a guttural howl, red eyes glowing like coals in the dark. Its jagged axe gleamed with dried gore, muscles bulging as it hurled itself toward Lei Feng with the rage of a cornered beast.
Lei Feng didn't flinch.
His senses were honed to a knife's edge—he felt the tremor in the earth, the hiss of disturbed wind, the momentary flicker in the goblin's killing intent. Every motion played out in his mind before it happened.
Calm. Cold. Cut.
He ducked low, muscles rippling like drawn steel, and launched upward in a rising arc. Stormpiercer spun with him—a silver wheel of death.
SLASH!
Steel met flesh.
The goblin's head was gone before it realized it had been struck, trailing sparks and foul black ichor as its body crumpled mid-lunge.
> Ding!
Successful Kill!
+75 EXP
EXP: 350 / 400
Lei Feng straightened, breath steady.
But then—he felt it.
A ripple of cold pressure behind him. Foul. Unnatural. Not just bloodlust… something deeper.
He turned sharply.
The wounded shaman was back on its feet, still trembling—but alive. Worse, it wasn't alone.
Two more goblin shamans emerged from the shadows, their sunken eyes gleaming with malice. Skeletal fingers glowed with sickly green light as they raised their hands and began to chant.
Their voices blended—harsh, otherworldly, perfectly in sync.
The very air recoiled.
The temperature plummeted.
Dark pressure descended like a suffocating fog.
Leaves curled. Grass wilted.
Mana in the air twisted—distorted by the cursed magic brewing.
Lei Feng's eyes narrowed.
> "I won't give you the chance."
His voice cut through the dark like a blade.
He thrust Stormpiercer into the earth—its tip crackling with concentrated lightning essence.
The surge built quickly, gathering around him in a vortex of blue light—
BOOM!
A radial burst of lightning exploded outward. Trees rattled. Rocks shattered. Goblins were flung into the air, limbs jerking from the shock.
The chant faltered.
One of the shamans screamed—the link between them broken. The wounded one staggered backward, smoke rising from its charred fingers.
> Ding!
You have invented a skill: "Lightning Pulse"
Active Skill – Lightning Pulse (Advanced):
Unleashes a radial burst of concentrated lightning essence from the caster's position. Temporarily stuns enemies and disrupts spellcasting.
Damage scales with Intelligence and Lightning Affinity.
Cooldown: 10 seconds
"I… created a skill?" Lei Feng blinked.
The thought barely had time to register.
No time. Move.
He surged forward like a streak of divine wrath. The nearest shaman raised a shield—crude, cracked, useless.
Lei Feng flipped over it, stormlight trailing behind him, and drove Stormpiercer downward with lethal precision.
STAB!
The blade pierced clean through the shaman's skull. Lightning burst through its body. Its eyes flared white—then dimmed to black.
> Ding!
Successful Kill!
+80 EXP
EXP: 430 / 400
---
A wave of heat surged through his body.
His breath hitched.
His vision blurred—then refocused with blinding clarity.
The world slowed.
Every breath of wind, every tremor, every flicker of movement—became crisp.
Mana surged in his veins, stronger and denser than before.
> Ding!
LEVEL UP!
Level 13 → Level 14
+10 Health
+10 Mana
+1 to All Stats
+5 Stat Points
---
Lei Feng exhaled slowly.
Electric sparks danced across his skin like embers from a divine forge. Stormpiercer hummed in his grip—alive.
The battlefield's chaos fell away.
Twelve goblins remained:
Three shamans—shaken.
Nine warriors—tense, twitching.
But none dared charge.
Their eyes darted between the corpses at Lei Feng's feet and the lightning crackling around him. Some raised trembling weapons. Others stepped back.
Their formation had broken.
Their aura of dominance had shattered.
Lei Feng straightened, eyes steady.
> "Now… who's next?"
His voice was quiet.
But it echoed like thunder through the clearing.
Not a boast. A promise.
A goblin warrior shrieked and lunged—desperate to push back the rising dread.
Too slow.
Lei Feng vanished.
No wind. No dash. Just disappearance.
He reappeared behind the goblin, Stormpiercer already in motion.
SLASH!
The goblin collapsed, smoking.
> Ding!
Successful Kill!
+75 EXP
EXP: 105 / 425
Screams tore through the clearing.
The goblins panicked—some fled, others froze.
Lei Feng didn't wait.
He moved.
Like thunder rolling off a mountaintop, he struck again and again.
An axe came—parried with a flick.
A lunge—met with a spinning kick.
A slash—dodged, followed by a strike to the ribs.
He slid beneath a blade, flipped behind two goblins, and with one fluid motion—
SLASH!
Two heads flew.
> Ding!
Double Kill!
+150 EXP
EXP: 255 / 425
They weren't threats anymore.
Just bodies still moving. Already dead.
Lei Feng didn't gloat. He didn't smile.
His expression stayed calm. Eyes sharp.
Forging himself through blood and lightning.
Then—
HROOOONK.
A deep, ancient horn blast shook the air.
Lei Feng halted mid-step. Brow furrowed. Eyes narrowed to slits of blue lightning.
The goblins froze.
Warriors and shamans looked at one another—trembling. Sweating. Whispering in frantic, guttural prayers.
What's going on? Lei Feng wondered, tightening his grip.
They hadn't feared death. Not even as their kin fell.
But now—
He watched as their defiant eyes dimmed.
One by one, they exhaled. Heavy. Mourning.
CLANG. CLANG.
Weapons dropped.
They turned—not in chaos.
In formation.
In surrender.
And ran.
Silent. Mournful. Into the forest's shadows.
Lei Feng didn't chase.
He didn't need to.
His gaze turned toward the source of the horn—
The brush beyond the clearing.
And then—
RRRAAAHK!
A savage cry shook the trees.
A black aura spread—oppressive and heavy.
The ground rumbled.
Lightning flared across Lei Feng's shoulders as he tensed.
His eyes locked on the treeline.
Then—
SHRRKKK. SHUMP. SHUMP.
Screams echoed—shrieks of agony.
The goblins who had fled moments earlier were now crying out in pain, their voices mangled by terror. Not the panic of battle… but the horror of betrayal. Of being hunted by something far worse.
Crunching followed.
Wet. Deep. Final.
Footsteps shook the ground—slow, thunderous, deliberate. Each step like a war drum in a funeral march. The air turned sour, heavy with the stink of gore and decay.
The trees parted.
And it emerged.
A giant.
At least ten feet tall, shoulders like boulders wrapped in black sinew. Its skin was a deep, diseased green, stretched over bulging muscle, and riddled with long, ritualistic scars—symbols burned and carved into its flesh like brands of madness. Strange tribal markings twisted across its chest and arms, ancient and forgotten, pulsing faintly with a crimson glow.
Its eyes—sunken, bloodshot—blazed with an unnatural bloodlust, as if they burned from within.
Its jaw hung crooked and slack, teeth like shattered stone—jagged, yellow, uneven. Thick black ichor dripped from its fangs.
And clenched between them—
Goblins.
Or what was left of them.
Arms. Legs. Torsos.
It chewed.
Loud. Wet. Unapologetic.
Tearing flesh from bone. Swallowing chunks of its kin without hesitation.
The goblins who once knelt to shamans, who fought with tooth and claw and cunning… were being devoured like cattle.
Their shrieks became choked gurgles.
Blood poured down its chin.
Bones snapped like dry twigs.
Lei Feng stared, his pulse hammering.
> "What the hell…?" he whispered, voice tight with disbelief.
> "That's not the goblin chief. That's—"
His words trailed off.
There were no words.
This wasn't a leader.
This was an abomination.
A monster bred from violence and madness. Perhaps once a goblin—now twisted by dark rituals, crazy ambitions, or the will of something even darker.
A cannibal war-hulk, exiled and revered, feared even among its own.
Not a commander. A punishment.
A god of fear, unleashed when all else failed.
The creature stepped fully into the sun light—goblin blood gleaming on its chest, the twisted tribal carvings catching the light in cruel patterns.
It lifted its head.
And locked eyes with Lei Feng.
That stare—
He felt it.
A pressure on his soul. Like a blade drawn across his skin, not just to cut—but to measure.