[Aiden’s POV]

The Tidebreaker continued at its marvelous speed while I refilled my mana with a breathing technique, and others also rested. About 2 hours had passed when I heard the knock on my door.

"Master, we have reached our next destination," A.B.’s voice came from outside.

I exhaled and opened the gate, then we made our way to the deck. Everyone had already gathered; there was no sign of any tiredness on their faces.

"Boss, are we going to start with ’the hand’ again?" Thane questioned enthusiastically.

"No, let’s see which type of enemy we are facing first." This deflated him a bit.

"They are goblins, master," Damien informed.

I stood at the railing and looked over; a sea of green came into view. Green, deformed, and hideous. This was the definition of goblins that appeared from rifts.

"A.B., take us as close as possible without sticking out too much in the sky," I commanded.

Thane floated beside me. "What are you thinking, boss?"

"I want to confirm the leader of this rift is here or inside the rift. And if he is here, then what type of goblin is he?"

"Is there any particular reason you are being careful, boss?" Britany asked from behind.

"Well, at the time I was in the academy, there was an incident where a team with a Saint-Rank individual along with multiple Sages and others. They were wiped out because of the goblins."

"Later, it was revealed when the rift break occurred that it was the work of goblin shamans."

"There are very few records of them appearing, and all the records of their appearance are tied with more damage before they were eliminated." I explained.

In a minute, we were at a slight distance from the cloud line but still at a decent height from the ground.

My eyes focused on the ground as groups of goblins came into vision. It looked like they were making a camp or something. I expanded my search as I found a large crude hut-type structure.

"Damien, use your stealth to find out who occupies that hut. Don’t engage," I ordered.

"As you order, master," he responded. The next moment he turned into a smoke of blood, like he just evaporated.

While I contemplated the type of attack strategy to use against them. The orcs were big and bulky with slow movement, so they were crushed easily.

However, these green creatures were diametrically opposite to orcs with their high agility and cunning thinking.

Their thinking of already making camps and such was proof of their better planning, instead of roaming around like the orcs.

Within moments, Damien reappeared just as he had left.

"Okay, this is officially the coolest way to make entry," Thane commented.

"I couldn’t enter the hut, master. There is some kind of barrier protecting the hut; I could have forced my way, but that would have alerted the enemy."

"I believe the barrier is erected by someone at the same rank as the current me," Damien reported.

"Good work, we still have the element of surprise. We can use that to our advantage," I stated as I decided on a plan of attack.

"Our attack teams and their duties will remain the same, but this time be more vigilant."

"The goblins will try to pull every trick they can, so watch each other’s back and look out for the traps and sneak attacks," I ordered as I extended my hand in the air.

However, instead of forming a large hand. I use the previous idea of nails; the only change was their small size and numbers. Mana flowed out from me as the gauntlet readily absorbed it.

After using about 10% of mana, the sky was filled with nails. I decided to not attack the huts and only target goblins that are outside.

I added 5% more mana to increase the speed of nails, to give the goblins as little chance to react as possible.

"A.B., same tactic as last time," I shouted as I swung my hand down.

"Target the goblins that come out of the hut first," I added.

The moment we reached jumping height, everyone leaped from the ship and unleashed their attacks as the goblins came out of the hut due to the commotion caused outside.

I kept my eyes on everyone’s movements and started shooting arrows. The notification of killing was flooding in the panel, but there were no Sage-ranked monsters killed this time.

Felicia sat on my shoulder watching everything with interest, while Seraphine stood beside me. I reverted my focus back to the battlefield.

In between the kills, I would check up on the main hut, but there was no sign of anyone entering or exiting. I still hoped that the leader of this rift was some smart hobgoblin or goblin king.

However, as the fight looked half finished, I sensed a unique and ominous energy. I didn’t want to take any chances, so I jumped off the ship while Felicia clutched my shoulders tightly.

I didn’t want her to feel that I was avoiding her, so I took her with me this time.

Just as my feet touched the ground, the energy gathering was more intense. I could feel a pain and murderous intent from the energy.

Before I could come to any conclusion, Felicia spoke up, "Nice mister, the bad guy in there is doing something bad."

Apparently, she had caught on to something too; I too felt the movement of energy towards the hut.

"Damien, break this barrier. Regalia and Donald focus on the main hut. Everyone else, make sure that no one tries to sneak attack us," I commanded.

"You got it, boss," Thane answered.

"I will drain their blood to the last drop, master," Azravael added.

’Good, these two are very responsible,’ a thought crossed my mind.

Damien moved; the next moment a large CRACK! sound was heard.

The earlier transparent air seemed to have been cracked all over like a mirror on the verge of breaking. As soon as the barrier broke, a deep guttural roar came from the hut.

’Well, let’s see what comes from inside.’

"Felicia, what did you see or feel that you spoke?" I asked, trying to get a sense of the situation.

"It was a bad energy that’s released from the dead guys here," she answered.

"Okay, thank you, Felicia," I complimented.

"Heh, Felicia is happy to help," she chirped. The way she felt cheerful even amidst a battle due to little things was sad and happy at the same time.

The screams from the hut brought me back to focus. Damien wanted to move in, but I stopped him.

"We don’t know the situation inside; it’s not prudent to enter the enemy territory with no information."

However, without much wait, a single goblin stepped foot outside. And this was something I never expected.

The moment my eyes fell on him, the first thought that came to my mind was, ’Goblins are ugly, but what the hell is this?’

The Insight Eye provided the information on the abomination. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

[Name: Deragma Boden]

[Rank: Saint (Zenith, interrupted during breakthrough)]

[Threat: Very High]

’Okay, is that a pattern? Every leader monster is in the middle of a breakthrough.’ My mind churned, but I pushed the thoughts aside for now.

The goblin or I think it was a goblin because the monster in front of us only had a greenish appearance.

However, his entire body was deformed, not like goblin deformed, but it was more like the parts of other monsters were sewn in with him.

"Well, the good news is this is not a goblin shaman," I stated.

"But you sound like it’s bad news," Thane commented.

"That’s because I don’t know what the hell he is. I haven’t read or heard about monsters like him," I explained. While talking I kept my eyes on him, and I noticed the change in that deformed face.

From the look of anger as he stepped out to thrill and excitement, which somehow made him look even uglier.

I was suppressing the urge to shout at him to stop grinning or whatever he was doing.

"It’s a mutated goblin, master. I had come across those; they absorb anyone they kill. They are difficult to deal with, as their power stems from the enemies they absorbed," Azravael answered.

Before I could say anything, multiple dark, purplish fireballs appeared as the monster aimed his finger at us. The fireballs rushed at us with high speed.

I coated my fist with the Nullification ability, as I decided against the use of constructs for now. They could be used in surprising him when the moment arises.

"Felicia, I will be fine. Keep an eye on others and help them if needed."

"Okay, Nice mister. Felicia will protect everybody," she agreed happily.

As two fireballs neared me, I activated sigils in my hands, not wanting to take any chances.

I dodged the first fireball by moving to the side and punched the second fireball into nothingness.

"What’s the best way to defeat this goblin?" I asked.

"We have to see what works against him first, then attack accordingly," Azravael answered.

As I started to plan to seek out the weakness, the voice of the goblin reached my ears as he spoke for the first time.

"Hehe...interesting bunch. I will absorb you all before I become a Sovereign."