"Oh, you'll get results," Vegeta said, his smirk widening into something almost feral. Dark energy crackled around his fingertips like black lightning. "One dead goblin leader, coming right up. I'll even bring you his head as proof, if you want. Or would you prefer the whole corpse? I could string it up on Clover City's main gate as a warning to other monsters."

"Just confirmation of death is sufficient," Aldric replied, suppressing a shudder at the casual brutality.

"Your loss. Heads make great trophies." Vegeta stretched casually, his joints popping. Shadows stretched with him, mimicking his movements. "So where exactly is this settlement?"

"Southern forest, approximately sixty miles from Clover City. Near the Iron Fang orc territory." Aldric pulled out a map and pointed to a marked location. "Our scouts last reported activity here, but the settlement might have expanded since then."

Vegeta studied the map for maybe three seconds. "Got it. Easy enough to find."

"When will you leave?" said Captain Elric

"Right now, obviously." Vegeta's form began to blur at the edges, shadows creeping up his body like living things. They moved with disturbing independence, caressing his skin almost lovingly. "No point in delaying. I'll travel through the Shadow Realm—should cut the journey time down to a few hours instead of days."

"The Shadow Realm?" one of Aldric's guards asked nervously, finally finding his voice again. "Isn't that... dangerous?"

Vegeta looked at the guard like he'd just said something incredibly stupid. Shadows gathered behind him, forming into a massive, vaguely humanoid shape that loomed over everyone present—a preview of the power at his command.

"For normal people, yes. The Shadow Realm would tear apart anyone without protection. The darkness there is... hungry." His smile was all teeth, and for a moment, his eyes flashed pure black again. "It's filled with creatures made of pure malice and shadow, things that exist only to consume light and life. But I'm the Shadow Hero. The darkness in that realm knows better than to touch me."

The massive shadow figure behind him seemed to bow its head in acknowledgment.

"If anything, it's afraid of me," Vegeta finished, his voice dropping to a dangerous purr. "I've killed things in that realm that don't even have names. Things that have existed since before humans walked this world. They learned quickly—I'm not prey. I'm the predator that hunts predators."

The shadows rose higher, now covering Vegeta up to his waist. He looked like he was sinking into a pool of liquid darkness.

"One more thing," Aldric said. "The goblin leader—his name is Satou, according to our intelligence. He seems to be the one orchestrating everything—the tactics, the alliances, the construction. He's the head of the snake."

"Satou," Vegeta repeated, tasting the name. "Japanese, maybe? Interesting. Wonder if he's—" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "Doesn't matter. Dead is dead, regardless of where he came from."

He was now submerged up to his chest, the shadows swallowing him steadily. More shadow figures emerged around him, forming an honor guard of darkness.

"Don't underestimate him," Aldric warned. "That's what my men did, and fifteen of them died."

"Commander," Vegeta said, his tone patronizing as darkness crept up his neck. "I'm a hero. I'm literally blessed by gods. This goblin—no matter how special he thinks he is—is just another monster that needs to die. And I'm very, very good at killing monsters."

He raised one hand, and shadows coalesced around it, forming into a blade of pure darkness that seemed to drink in the surrounding light.

"I've killed demon dukes. I've assassinated warlords in their own fortresses. I've wiped out entire bandit clans overnight." The shadow blade dissipated, returning to formless darkness. "A goblin with some tricks? That's not a challenge. That's entertainment."

The shadows reached his chin.

"I'll be back in a few days," Vegeta said, his voice already sounding distant, as if coming from far away. "Try not to start any wars while I'm gone. Oh, and have my payment ready when I return. Triple rate, remember? Clover City can afford it."

"Just complete the mission," Aldric growled.

"Oh, I will," Vegeta promised. The shadows covered his mouth, his nose, his eyes. But his voice still echoed from the darkness itself. "The Ugly Goblins and Orcs won't even know what hit them. I finally have a chance to let loose , this is going to be fun." he said while laughing out loud in an evil way until the darkness had completely swallowed him until his voice couldn't be heard anymore.

A few minutes had passed when Vegeta had gone but the air still felt colder than it should. And if Aldric looked closely, he could swear his shadow occasionally moved independently, as if something was still watching through it.

Aldric stood there for a long moment, staring at his own shadow, half-expecting Vegeta to emerge again just to deliver one more arrogant comment.

But nothing happened.

The Commander and the other guards let out a sigh of relief because he has finally left.

"I thought he will never leave "said one of the guards

"Sir?" one of the guards said tentatively, his voice still shaky. "Was that... wise? Sending him after those goblins?"

"Wise has nothing to do with it," Aldric replied, forcing himself to look away from his shadow. "I had a bad feeling about that goblin. An instinct that said if we didn't deal with him now, Clover City and the surrounding territories would regret it later." He turned away from the gate, gesturing for his men to follow. "And whatever else you can say about heroes, they're effective. Vegeta might be an arrogant bastard who treats us like insects, but he's a deadly arrogant bastard. If anyone can end this threat before it grows, it's him."

Author Notes:

Hello guys , its author here , the next arc that is coming next , it's going to be awesome that i cant wait for me to write ,because its going to be an action filled arc where our mc is going to use all his abilities , let me not spoil it yet , just continue reading , i promise you are going to enjoy it , and also please don't forget to gift me power stones and golden tickets , it helps push the book further , arigatou.

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