Amidst Rain’s thoughts, Light carefully crouched up behind him, moving with deliberate stealth until he was right beside Rain, close enough that Rain could feel his presence without even turning around.

  “Wh-why would you throw that rock?” Light asked quietly, his voice tight with concern as his eyes flicked toward the goblins in the distance.

  “I—I wanted to see how goblins react when something unexpected happens,” Rain said, keeping his voice low.

  “Sooo…” Light paused, clearly uneasy. “What did you find out?”

  Rain grinned lightly, his gaze still fixed ahead. “These goblins act totally different from humans.”

  He thought for a moment before continuing. “If a human gets hurt, the others usually react. They notice. They care.”

  Light stayed silent, listening intently.

  “But these goblins barely even notice,” Rain went on. “They only care when something directly affects them—something serious, a large disturbance.”

  Rain’s thoughts drifted back to the first goblin he had killed. The others had been angry, yes, but it hadn’t come from grief or concern, and it certainly hadn’t been born from any sense of family or loyalty.

  It had been simple. They had only reacted because it happened right in front of them. If the kill had happened elsewhere, out of sight, they probably wouldn’t have cared at all.

  Light spoke cautiously. “So… what does that mean?”

  Rain paused, searching for the right way to phrase it. “I think… I think it means that if we kill goblins quietly—even if others find the bodies—they won’t care. They’re too dumb to process it unless it directly impacts them.”

  “No… there’s no way that’s true,” Light muttered, disbelief sharpening his voice.

  Light’s constant muttering—things like there’s no way and goblins can’t be that dumb—almost made Rain roll his eyes.

  Rain scanned the ground until he spotted a rock similar in size to the one he had thrown earlier, then picked it up and handed it to Light.

  “W-what…?” Light exhaled, confused.

  “Throw it at one of the goblins walking,” Rain said calmly.

  “WHAT?” Light hissed, instantly clapping a hand over his mouth. He glanced around the corner to make sure no one was watching, then took a shaky breath. “Are you crazy?” he whispered.

  Rain spoke evenly, pressing the point and explaining himself for nearly two full minutes. He coaxed, argued, and peer-pressured Light until, eventually, Light’s hesitation cracked.

  Light lifted his arm and threw the rock.

  It landed about ten feet in front of the goblins, far short of Rain’s throw.

  “Seriously?” Rain let out a quiet laugh. “Isn’t your strength supposed to be above average?” He barely managed to keep himself from chuckling.

  “S-shut up,” Light whispered, embarrassed. “I-I never learned how to throw.”

  Rain held back a laugh and searched the ground again, gathering a few more rocks before handing them over.

  Light threw three more, each landing differently—some shorter, some farther than the last.

  The third one flew nearly thirty feet, and Rain’s eyes widened despite himself, impressed and almost a little jealous of Light’s strength.

  Realizing how far he could actually throw seemed to boost Light’s confidence. He picked up the fourth and final rock, lifted it, and sent it flying while silently praying to whatever gods existed.

  It struck a goblin.

  The goblin spun around in confusion, its face shifting through a quick wave of emotions—surprise first, then anger—as it scanned its surroundings. After about twenty seconds, it seemed to accept what had happened and continued walking as if nothing mattered.

  The other nearby goblins glanced over briefly but didn’t react further.

  Light looked at Rain, eyes wide. “Alright,” he whispered.

  Rain smiled faintly.

  “Let’s kill the goblins quietly,” Light added, his voice still shaky.

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  They crouched forward with renewed purpose, eyes scanning the shadows as their bodies stayed low and tense, searching for isolated targets.

  Time passed quickly.

  Rain and Light continued their slow crouch-walk through the fortress, hunting for goblins that were alone, knowing that every one they killed now meant fewer they would have to face later.

  They set rules—or rather, Light did.

  The goblins had to die fast. Every second wasted was a second stolen from the prisoners, and the goblins they targeted couldn’t be armed.

  Five long minutes crawled by before they finally found one.

  A hut sat slightly apart from the others. Though it was still surrounded by nearby structures, Rain and Light watched carefully, making sure no goblins entered or exited and that none passed by during that time.

  Inside, one goblin lay asleep on the dirt floor while three others moved about lazily.

  None of them carried weapons.

  Rain and Light exchanged a brief glance, took a slow, steady breath, and slipped inside.

  The smell hit Rain immediately—rot, decay, old death.

  It reminded him of something he had smelled back on Earth once, something sour and suffocating, like a hoarder’s home where trash and bodies blended together. The hut itself was about the size of his old apartment, simple and bare, with no furniture and no comfort—just rough wooden walls and a dirt floor.

  Faint sunlight leaked through cracks in the wood, casting thin orange lines across the interior.

  They split up.

  Light moved left toward the sleeping goblin, while Rain crept toward what looked like a crude kitchen area.

  As he crouched closer, he saw them.

  Two goblins sat in large wooden chairs, facing the wall. One snickered softly at the other, even though there was nothing in front of them—no object, no movement.

  Just the wall.

  The sight sent a chill down Rain’s spine.

  They weren’t just dumb. They were unsettling.

  The goblins seemed entertained by nothing at all.

  Rain moved closer, each step deliberate. The dirt floor helped—soft, forgiving, quiet. He equipped his sword and gripped it tightly as he positioned himself behind one of the seated goblins.

  He inhaled, then drove the blade straight down.

  The sword punched through the goblin’s skull with a dull crunch, and the body slumped forward in the chair, instantly lifeless.

  The second goblin jolted upright, confusion twisting its face as it opened its mouth to scream—

  Rain exhaled sharply and swung.

  The goblin let out a broken squeal before its head was severed and tumbled to the floor with a wet thud.

  Silence returned.

  Rain dropped to one knee, breathing hard.

  Then the smell changed.

  He looked down as thick, dark blood flooded across the dirt, pooling around his feet and soaking into the ground in heavy waves.

  Rain stared.

  His heart began to race.

  Tasty.

  The thought slipped in uninvited.

  His chest burned, his entire body aching with a hunger so intense it blurred his vision. He had never felt anything like it—not hunger, not craving.

  This was need.

  Rain’s grip loosened, and his sword slipped from his hand as he lowered himself further, fingers pressing into the warm blood. He raised his hand slowly, inhaled the scent, and parted his lips.

  Just as his tongue was about to touch—

  “Hey… you ready?”

  Light’s whisper came from behind him.

  Rain froze, then let out an awkward laugh. “Ha… hah… yeah. I’m ready.”

  It pained him to do it, but Rain wiped the goblin’s blood from his hands and smeared it onto his pants, the stickiness lingering and the scent refusing to fade.

  He wished Light had come five seconds later—no, thirty. Just a little more time would have been enough to indulge properly, to give in to the craving clawing at his chest.

  Rain’s heart didn’t fully slow as they exited the hut. Even as they continued to crouch forward, the dried blood on his hands burned in his awareness, making him want to kill more goblins again and again.

  He wanted to kill them all—so he could drink every last drop.

  Rain’s thoughts began to dull, blurring as if something inside him were slowly blacking out, and he realized he couldn’t think like himself anymore.

  Rain and Light continued through the settlement and found another hut, this one holding four goblins.

  This time, they hunted them together.

  They split instinctively, moving in sync. Two goblins lay down, possibly asleep. Rain drove his sword straight into one’s chest, the blade lodging deep into its heart, while beside him Light raised his battle axe and brought it down with overwhelming force, cleaving the other goblin’s skull clean in half.

  They paused briefly, breathing hard, then moved deeper inside.

  The remaining two goblins didn’t last long. They were killed the same way—fast, brutal, efficient.

  When they finally left the hut, Rain’s stomach twisted violently as the hunger returned, sharper than before. He wanted—needed—to drink their blood.

  But Light stayed close. Too close.

  Rain clenched his jaw and swallowed the urge down.

  “L-look at the time,” Light said suddenly.

  Rain opened his status window.

  “Oh fuck…”

  Forty-five minutes remaining.

  Light’s face drained of color. “How… how has it already been an hour?” He dropped to the dirt, clutching his head.

  The hunger faded into the background. This mattered more.

  Rain grabbed Light by the shoulders. “Dude. We need to hurry.”

  Light was still panicking, breathing unevenly.

  Rain raised his hand and slapped him across the face. “G-GET IT TOGETHER,” he hissed—loud, but controlled.

  Light blinked, clutching his cheek. “W-why did you do that?” he asked shakily.

  “We don’t have time,” Rain said firmly. “We need to save the prisoners.”

  Light took a deep breath, then another, before slowly standing up.

  Rain straightened as well. They stopped crouching.

  Stealth was no longer an option.

  They broke into a run.

  For five full minutes, they sprinted through the fortress as goblins stared in confusion and some gave chase, though Rain and Light were faster. They ducked into empty huts, cut through narrow paths, and leapt over debris, the movement feeling like parkour through chaos.

  The sun dipped lower, darkness creeping in, and that helped.

  The goblins struggled as visibility dropped, their pursuit weakening.

  Finally, Rain and Light pressed themselves behind a massive wooden beam.

  They saw it.

  Cages.

  Men and women hung inside—broken, bleeding—as goblin guards continued tormenting them.

  Rain checked the timer again.

  Any minute now.

  Forty minutes remaining.

  A sudden gust of wind swept through the area, and Rain felt it instantly—so did Light.

  The goblins froze, murmuring in confusion as hot and cold air mixed unnaturally.

  Seconds passed.

  Then a massive ball of fire, nearly ten feet wide, descended from the sky and slammed into the goblin wall.

  Flames erupted instantly.

  The fortress ignited.

  The goblins screamed in panic.