Assassin at Range: The Sniper's Lethal Power-Chapter 77 - : Dark Horizon

The appearance of Bonecrusher marked the official start of the goblin gathering. After killing a human to stir up the crowd, Bonecrusher made his way to the center of the valley. There, a throne made of solid gold stood, glowing brightly under the flickering light of the bonfire.

Tristan was somewhat taken aback. For a goblin like Bonecrusher to have managed to make the greedy goblins willingly part with their gold, he must have some impressive skills.

Thinking for a moment, he wondered how much gold this massive throne could fetch if taken back. It could be worth a small fortune, if not a huge one.

Let’s hope it’s not just gold-plated, Tristan thought to himself.

While considering this, he left his high vantage point and began moving toward the valley entrance. It was time to position himself and get ready for action.

The journey was uneventful. Goblins, by nature, were lazy and deceitful. Half of the goblins assigned to guard duty had already snuck back into the valley, while the others were either sleeping or lounging in the corners. The once "tight" perimeter had no real effect, and the guards were essentially nonexistent.

Even if the goblins had been alert, they wouldn’t have been able to see through Tristan’s Stealth. Not even Bonecrusher himself could do that.

Not feeling the need to attack these lazy goblins just yet, Tristan continued without a hitch. There would be plenty of goblins to kill later, so there was no rush.

As he moved forward, the fiery atmosphere in the valley became clearer. Goblins surrounded the bonfire, twisting and turning in bizarre, disjointed movements. They appeared to be dancing, but their jerky, grotesque motions had none of the grace one would expect.

Further ahead, Bonecrusher and several Silver Grade goblins were sitting in a circle, seemingly discussing something important. Tristan quietly crept behind a pile of debris and strained his ears to listen.

"Bonecrusher, you’re really going to trust those humans? They’re the most deceitful of them all."

"Yeah, my tribe once captured a female knight. After... well, after she had her way, she tore down the whole nest with her bare hands. My comrades didn’t stand a chance. She was so strong, yet she played the helpless fool to trick us naïve goblins!"

"I’ve heard humans call us goblins greedy and sly, but they’re the real ones who fit that description."

"That’s right. I think teaming up with humans is far too risky."

Hearing the complaints from his subordinates, Bonecrusher’s tone hardened. "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

The Silver Grade goblins froze, not daring to challenge him.

Bonecrusher’s voice softened. "The rift outside Davi City has complex terrain. It’s easy to defend, hard to attack—a perfect stronghold."

"If we occupy it, we’ll have enough space to grow. One day, we’ll be able to build a true goblin kingdom!"

"But you also know the Davi City guards won’t just let us into the underground rift. The only way to reach our goal is to destroy Davi City."

"Cooperating with the humans is the best method. They also want to annihilate Davi City."

"As long as the plan works, you’ll all share in the spoils of victory. Who knows, some of you might even be promoted to Gold Grade."

Having reached Gold Grade himself, Bonecrusher was no fool. His intelligence had increased, and he was now well-versed in manipulating others. With just a few words, he had the Silver Grade goblins looking at him with wide eyes, imagining themselves rising to Gold Grade as well.

At that moment, they had no objections.

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"Bonecrusher, we’ll follow your lead!"

"Destroy Davi City! Kill all the humans!"

"Rebuild the glory of the goblins! It’s our duty!"

Tristan couldn’t help but wonder if these goblins had secretly been tutored.

What a bunch of smooth talkers.

Putting aside his sarcastic thoughts, Tristan gathered some important information. The unknown secret organization’s goal wasn’t just to overthrow the city’s ruler, as he had initially assumed. It was to completely destroy Davi City.

At first, he thought it was an internal conflict, just a power grab for the title of the city lord. But now, it seemed they wanted to replace humans with goblins.

This sounded eerily similar to Dark Horizon.

Dark Horizon was a cult that worshipped Deathbringer. Its members were native humans from ExoGenesis, and their greatest joy was destroying human cities. By doing so, they gathered the souls of the fallen and received rewards from Deathbringer.

Sacrificing Davi City would bring them an unimaginable reward. In fact, some of them might even be elevated to become Deathbringer’s agents.

But for now, there wasn’t enough information to confirm whether they were truly affiliated with Dark Horizon.

It would be great if he could find a few tokens or clues to confirm that.

His gaze shifted back to Bonecrusher. If Tristan were lucky, Bonecrusher would have some sort of letter or item on him that could trigger a hidden quest.

…

Bonecrusher furrowed his brows, sensing something. He suddenly spoke in a low, cautious tone. "It feels like someone’s watching us."

Tristan’s heart skipped a beat. This goblin had frightening intuition. He quickly shifted his gaze away to avoid detection.

The Silver Grade goblins looked around, seeing nothing out of place. They muttered in confusion but didn’t voice their doubts. It seemed Bonecrusher was just being overly paranoid.

"Bonecrusher, there are guards posted outside," one of them said hesitantly. "There’s no way anyone could sneak in unnoticed."

Despite their calm words, they secretly thought, This Bonecrusher has a big name, but his nerves are a bit fragile. If someone really did sneak in, we could just kill them. Why make such a fuss?

Bonecrusher, however, was no fool. He knew his fellow goblins too well and was aware that their guards were largely useless. Still, the strange feeling he had earlier passed as quickly as it came. Perhaps it was just his imagination.

Seeing the skeptical looks from his subordinates, Bonecrusher grew agitated. He suddenly slammed his fist into the ground with a roar. "Humph! Even if there is an intruder, I’ll tear them apart!"

The force of his punch sent the Silver Grade goblins flying into the air.

The doubts in their minds were instantly dispelled. With such overwhelming power, who could possibly challenge him?

The atmosphere returned to its earlier lively state.

The regular goblins, unaware of the tension, grew even more excited as Bonecrusher displayed his strength.

After a short while, a goblin ran up and shouted, "Bonecrusher, the water’s boiling!"

Bonecrusher waved his hand. "Clean those prey, season them, and get ready to roast them!"

The screams of the captured humans filled the air as they were quickly killed and prepared for cooking.

Tristan held off on acting. It wasn’t time yet. The goblins hadn’t gathered around the bonfire completely. Only once they did would it be the right moment to strike.

From the looks of it, he estimated he had at least another half hour.

…

But before the goblins could begin their feast, Tristan received a message from Drake.

"I’m level 10 now! If you hadn’t helped me level up, it probably would have taken me a few more hours. By the way, are you okay? I’ve noticed your level hasn’t moved for a while."

Tristan had arrived at the valley around 7 p.m., and now it was almost midnight. In these few hours, he hadn’t gained a single level. Looking at the leaderboard, there were already several level 10 players.

Ivan, in second place, had reached level 11, just one level below Tristan. It wasn’t a huge gap, but still noticeable.

It seemed Ivan had completed his class advancement quest and was starting to level up again.

Tristan wasn’t worried in the slightest. Soon, he’d gain an enormous amount of experience and leave Ivan far behind once again.

He glanced at his surroundings and quickly typed a response: "I’ve got some things to take care of. I’ll talk to you later."

Drake responded: "No problem. Focus on what you need to do. I won’t disturb you."

Closing the chat window, Tristan resumed his Stealth and continued to move forward.

The goblins were preparing for their feast. The time to strike was near.