I let my gaze linger on the notifications for a moment, taking in each line as the weight of what had just happened settled properly, then I grinned.

"Mission accomplished."

The words had barely left my mouth when the strength drained out of me all at once, a heavy wave of exhaustion crashing through my body without warning. My legs gave way, and I dropped to my knees, catching myself just enough to avoid hitting the ground completely.

My body trembled. Not violently, but enough that I could feel it in my arms, in my legs, in the way my grip loosened without me meaning to. A dull ache settled into my muscles, the kind that didn’t come from a single hit, but from pushing past limits that weren’t meant to be crossed.

I had overexerted myself.

There was no denying that.

I had been through countless fights since entering this world, pushed myself in ways I hadn’t thought possible, but even then... I had never ended a battle like this. Never felt this drained, this hollow, like something had been wrung out of me completely.

I exhaled slowly and brought up my status window, my focus narrowing as I scanned through the numbers.

And then I saw it.

My mana.

For a moment, I thought I was reading it wrong. But I wasn’t.

[MP: 0005/2338]

Five points.

That was all that remained.

I had started that fight with over two thousand, and somehow—through the domain, through the constant strain of maintaining control, through forcing my abilities the way I did—I had burned through nearly all of it inside Caius’ domain.

Down to five.

There was also the activation of my domain.

That alone had taken a thousand points. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Insane.

I let that sink in for a moment, the number sitting heavy in my mind as I tried to process just how much I had burned through in a single fight. It wasn’t just the clash itself—it was everything layered on top of it, the constant strain of maintaining control, forcing my abilities to respond the way I needed them to.

I lifted my gaze and looked at what remained of Caius.

Even now, after everything, I couldn’t deny it.

He had been a troublesome opponent.

Ding!

[You have awakened a new class skill]

A new class skill?

The words left me quietly, more to myself than anything else, the notification catching me off guard.

Was this because of what I had just done?

Because of how I adapted inside Caius’ domain?

I didn’t have an answer.

Instinctively, I moved to check—

But before I could, something else registered.

Movement. Multiple signatures.

Closing in.

I lifted my head slightly, my senses sharpening despite the exhaustion, forcing myself to lock onto the approaching signatures.

It didn’t take long to identify them.

Caius’ men.

Drel stepped forward, flanked by the female chosen and the shaman I had seen earlier.

They slowed the moment they saw me.

And then their eyes shifted past me to what remained of their leader.

The female goblin gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as the reality settled in. She stood taller than the others, her lean frame tense, faint crimson markings tracing her arms and collarbone. Her sharp eyes were locked on him, trembling despite her composure—the shock hitting deeper than the rest.

"Caius..."

"I can’t believe it," another voice followed, quieter, almost uncertain.

"Caius... lost?"

"The chief was defeated."

"Chief... was defeated..."

The words spread through them, not loud, not chaotic, but heavy, like none of them quite knew how to process what they were seeing, each repetition making it more real.

Drel didn’t move.

He stood there, rooted in place, his gaze fixed ahead, disbelief written plainly across his face. There was no anger yet, no immediate reaction—just shock, raw and unfiltered, as he tried to make sense of something that clearly shouldn’t have been possible to him.

"How did this happen?" he finally asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Drel’s composure snapped.

"What did you do, you vile creature?!"

"Vile creature?" I repeated, my voice softer now, almost thoughtful. "You and I are the same species. What do you mean, vile creature? Are you—" I paused briefly, tilting my head, "—specist? See what I did there? Instead of racist, I said specist."

"Are you being serious right now?" Drel said, staring at me like he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. His leader was gone, the situation was still settling, and here I was... joking.

"Dead serious," I replied, my tone firm.

And then, a few seconds later, I broke.

Laughter slipped out before I could stop it, the tension, the absurdity of it all hitting at once as I looked at their faces, the mix of shock, anger, and confusion making it impossible to hold it in.

"Caius was defeated..."

The shaman spoke, his voice low, almost to himself at first. He had the same stunned expression as the others, but unlike them, it didn’t stay there. Slowly, almost subtly, something else replaced it.

Relief?...No...Elation.

I didn’t understand why he looked... pleased.

It didn’t fit the moment.

Maybe he hadn’t been loyal to Caius to begin with. Maybe there was more going on beneath the surface of that group than I had seen.

Not that it mattered.

I shifted my attention to him and activated [Analyze].

Name: Raghul

Level: 65

Rank: S-rank

Innate Ability: Summoner of the Damned

Another chosen.

Another S-rank ability.

"Summoner of the Damned..."

I muttered under my breath, letting the name settle as I considered it. It sounded straightforward on the surface, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous.

He could summon the damned.

The question was what exactly was "the damned"?

Dead goblins? Monsters?

Something worse?

I didn’t have enough information to be certain, but whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be pleasant. But what caught my attention more wasn’t just his ability.

It was the fact that he was working under Caius.

How had Caius managed to make someone like this an ally?

That was the part that didn’t add up.