Around a hundred kilometers south of the Darkness Valley is a goblin tribe.
Although there are quite a lot of goblins within the Chaos Forest, the vast majority of them are generally spread out among hundreds of small villages.
They are minor and insignificant targets, and even if a threat does some, they would still have an easy time pulling up roots and leaving. That said, it does also make large scale goblin settlements extremely rare.
That said, this particular tribe numbers around three to four thousand.
A race who lives at the bottom of the food chain being able to maintain such an enormous settlement without fear of being raided by other races is something that violates the normal common sense.
Why is that then?
Of course it's because they have something backing them up.
The reason behind this goblin tribe's survival is very simple.
Their tribe was built around an ancient ruin, and the entire tribe was focused on serving and worshiping an ancient monster that lived within the ruins.
A sacrificial ceremony took place every month.
Every time the day of the ceremony comes, the goblin tribe will bring out all the resources and food that they have collected and present it as an offering to this ancient beast. If that monster hadn't had its fill even after that, then it would directly devour the goblins there.
The ones eaten would number at least ten, up to perhaps dozens or even over a hundred in the worst cases.
Although the goblin tribe lives in a state of nervousness and terror, it was also thanks to the existence of this ancient beast that the tribe was able to avoid enemy invasions. Thus, more and more goblins came and gathered here over time.
On this day, at a certain secret gathering spot.
"Is everyone here?"
"Don't worry. The 15 of us are all here, no more and no less!"
This is a goblin tribe, so of course there would also be players here. They weren't particularly numerous, being exactly 15 of them. At this moment, they were planning to do something big.
"Very good!"
"After over half a month of preparations!"
"All of it comes down to whether or not we can succeed here!"
The 15 goblin Heroes had a very simple plan - They're going to kill that monster that the tribe has been worshiping!
Why do they want to do that, one might ask?
The reason behind it is quite simple.
Although there are 15 goblin Heroes within the tribe, these goblin Heroes' statuses within the tribe are rather average. They lacked the ability to quickly gain control over the tribe.
If they can't control the tribe, then they won't be able to take control over the warriors of the tribe.
Without a large enough force to support them, there was basically no way that merely 15 goblin Heroes could possibly defeat a Demon King!
Thus, the 15 of them decided on a risky plan.
They spent over half a month training and hunting monsters with all their might.
At this point, pretty much all of them have reached the stage of level 1 Elite.
Based on their estimations, the monster is a level 1 Lord, or perhaps a level 2 Elite.
Despite its great might, the monster in question also tends to spend the vast majority of its time in deep sleep. By now, it has completely relaxed its guard against the goblins who have been serving it for all these years.
If they were to launch a sneak attack, then they should have a decent hope of killing it!
If they could kill that monster, then their fame and influence over the tribe will greatly increase. With that, they'll be able to ride the wave to rebel and overthrow the current chief.
With that, they'll then have control over the entire tribe.
Although goblins were a bit lacking, with enough numbers, it should still be enough to deal with some relatively weak Demon Kings!
"Let's go!"
The 15 Heroes left around dawn and avoided all the other goblins. Then they snuck into the forbidden land in the center of the tribe and came to an ancient ruined tower.
That's the place!
The monster is sleeping inside the tower!
Supposedly, this tower was once a biological laboratory. The ancient monster was supposed to be an experimental creature created by the ancient wizards of the lab, who bred and mutated it via magical means!
The leader of the goblin Heros whispered, "We'll use potions to remove any scent from us. Since it's deeply asleep right now, it shouldn't be able to discover us!"
"We'll go in now, find it, and kill it!"
"Although that guy isn't a Demon King, a monster as strong as it should be able to offer us some training points. Whether or not we'll be able to get further will all depend on this operation!"
However, before they could even get started, the goblins were horrified to discover that the ground beneath them had started shaking.
"What's going on?"
"Why is it awake!"
"That shouldn't be... Oh, no. It's coming!"
An incompatible powerful presence came, and with it, an enormous monster slid out of the tower.
It was an enormous python!
The python was over 50 meters long. It was covered in thick snake scales. Its maw was covered in teeth. And there was even a single sharp horn on its head.
The goblin Heroes were frozen in fear.
This was the first time that they actually faced this monster.
They realized that they had made a huge mistake.
That guy wasn't a level 1 Lord or level 2 Elite at all. Given the aura that it's giving off, it has obviously already reached the might of a level 2 Lord!
In other words, they had no chance of winning from the very start!
This was true even if they tried attacking the python while it was asleep!
The giant python had also noticed the 15 sneaking and suspicious goblin Heroes near it. Yet, for some unknown reason, it didn't even so much as give them a glance.
The terrifying giant python simply slithered up the tower until it reached the very top.
It raised its enormous head and pointed it up toward the sky in an attacking stance. Its eyes were alert and filled with fighting spirit, almost as if it had detected some kind of huge threat to it.
"Look, quickly!"
"There's something up in the sky!"
"What's that flying up there?"
"T-that... It looks like a dragon!"
A mighty looking dark gold dragon was thousands of kilometers up in the air. It ripped through the clouds as it dove down and headed their way.
"Hahaha!"
"We're so lucky!"
"That guy didn't wake up because of us at all!"
"It just felt a powerful enemy invading its territory. We just need for them to start fighting and then we can take advantage of the chaos to escape!"
The goblin Heroes rejoiced in their luck.
Those two creatures were so terrifying, so powerful.
Now that their attention has been drawn to each other, how could they possibly pay any attention to a bunch of completely unimportant goblins? They truly are favored by fate on this day!
The next second!
An enormous pillar of Dragon Flame slammed down, instantly washing over the area where the goblin Heroes were!
The goblin Heroes who were just rejoicing in their luck not even a second ago had all died within the flames, having been burnt to ash.