The Evolution of a Goblin to the Peak

"You owned the Hall Plains after you repelled the forces of the Holy Lands. They didn't dare to send more people since you have Olympus on your back. I just want a simple thing. Let me establish a merchant group on your land. Of course, I will pay taxes and give you more benefits."

Sande explained what he wanted in exchange for information about the Five Master Clans.

He just wanted one thing.

The right to move across the Hall Plains.

Hall Plains wasn't comparable to the current Selnes Country. Selnes Country was more prosperous and had a better economy. But Sande believed that it wouldn't be long before the Hall Plains grew. After all, Souta had the backing of the Holy Land Olympus. So he wanted to invest and establish his corporation early on that piece of land.

"I accept your condition," Souta said without hesitation.

"You accept?" Sande was a little bit surprised.

"Yeah, there's no need to think about it." Souta nodded.

"You're very decisive. As expected of the one who is called the Only One." Sande smiled. "Let me tell you something, there's another reason why the other forces are here in the colosseum."

"Hm?" Souta raised his eyebrows.

"There's a tournament that will be held today. Anyone can join the fight. The winner will get a piece of red-grade artifact and a super rare mana fruit." Sande said.

"I see..." Souta rubbed his chin. "It's to test the might of the Holy Lands, right? Tell me, who organized this tournament?"

"It's the Windi Clan. They wanted to test the strength of the reinforcement by giving out a mana fruit and artifact." Sande replied.

The prizes weren't alluring enough for him. Souta had a bunch of universal and dark-grade artifacts. He also ate a lot of legendary-grade mana fruit.

Well, Eztein and Franklin were in the arena so it's better to leave it to them.

If they won then they would be able to improve their strength.

Eztein and Franklin were different from him. They didn't have a lot of high-grade artifacts nor did they eat legendary fruits.

Souta monopolizes most of the highest grades that Astros' earned. There was nothing wrong with it. In the past, he created the Astros to help him in his plan and they also received benefits from him. If not, they would still be rotting in their world.

But it was different now...

Souta did all of that just for him to survive in the future. Death was the only thing that pushed him to keep moving forward. He didn't care about it now. He wasn't afraid of death.

He has other goals now.

Souta turned his head and glanced at Eilish, who was sitting beside him.

Eilish noticed his gaze so she turned to look at him.

Souta smiled and shook his head. He then turned to Vashno and said, "Vashno, go to the arena. Eztein is strong but he just entered Three Shackles so you have to participate and increase our chances of obtaining the prizes."

Vashno pointed at himself. "Me?"

Souta nodded, "Yep."

"Fine..." Vashno sighed.

"Don't be like that. Don't forget that you are a hero." Souta smiled.

"Tch! A hero..." Vashno clicked his tongue.

Souta ignored him and focused his attention on Sande. He stretched his hand and picked up the pile of papers on the table. "It's mine now, I already gave you my permission to establish your group in my land. I'll sign a letter and deliver it to you tomorrow. You can show my letter to the Dragon Council and they will not bother you anymore."

"Many thanks, Grain Leader Souta." Sande rubbed both of his palms as he gave his thanks to the famous Blood Lightning Monster.

Souta stood up.

Vashno and Eilish also stood up. They both followed Souta.

"Vashno, don't let Franklin create trouble for me. If necessary you can suppress him with your strength." Souta's voice sounded.

Sande looked at Souta's back with a smile on his face.

"Selnes Country will experience a great change this time. Dozens of powerhouses have arrived in this land, ready to confront the enemies. Who will win this war? Who will survive and who will die?"

...

Souta and the rest returned to the mansion. Alice had finished arranging the potion.

Vashno, Franklin, and Eztein stayed in the colosseum to fight for the artifacts and mana fruits. It depends on their strength if they could get it or not. There were dozens of powerful experts in this country, especially the people from the Holy Lands. It was also a good experience for them.

Souta, Alice, and Eilish trained in Saya's inner consciousness. They didn't bother themselves about the outside world. The Blue Cross Squad had returned. The other Four Shackles experts of the Sixth Grain War had also returned. They finished their tasks.

Souta and the two only left the inner consciousness before the sun rises. War was coming and a little bit of an increase of strength was much appreciated.

The three of them slowly opened their eyes.

Souta glanced at his hands and felt the energy coursing through his body.

He narrowed his eyes and muttered, "It's not enough..."

His elemental power hasn't reached the Third Level, Fusion Stage. Souta wanted to achieve the Fusion Stage before the war but it seems impossible now. But at the very least, he made an advancement in his other strengths.

Souta took a deep breath as blood-colored sparks flashed across his body. He retracted his energy and the pressure around him disappeared.

He turned his head and glanced at Eilish, "What about you? Can you break another shackle?"

Eilish shook her head. "Not yet, I need more stimulation."

"I see..." Souta then turned to Alice.

Alice opened her mouth and said, "I just broke through the Three Shackles. I'm still far from Four Shackles. I couldn't sense the fourth shackle so it will take a lot of time."

Souta nodded and said, "You should focus your attention on your elemental power. You should reach the limit first before breaking the fourth shackle. It will help you stimulate your potential and you will be able to achieve the Integration Stage as soon as you break the fourth shackle."

Alice nodded.

Souta turned to Eilish and said, "It's the same for you. Reach the limit of Force Stage before breaking through the fourth shackle. It will be beneficial."

Alice and Eilish had techniques to speed up the improvement of their elemental powers. Souta had his own manual that was created by No God Emperor. The [Divine Circulation Technique] was in the archives of Astros and monsters could learn it to improve their elemental powers.

Souta stood up and stretched his arms.

"Well, let's go."

He scanned the whole mansion with his energy and found that Eztein and the rest haven't returned yet.

Souta, Eilish, and Alice left the mansion.

They went to the meeting place and found that Santu, Heido, and Genzu were already here. Souta talked with the three leaders while Alice and Eilish stood on the side listening to their conversation.

Souta passed the information of the Five Master Clans to the three. After having the knowledge of the rulers of this nation, they have a rough idea about how they were going to help them. The Five Master Clans were strong but it wasn't to the point of overwhelming.

Heido glanced at Souta, Santu, and Genzu. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "The scout has returned. They estimated that the enemy army will arrive six hours from now. According to the words of the scouts, the enemy formation isn't strong. It just consisted of twenty thousand people with fifty percent of them being at C-rank."

Souta, Santu, and Genzu just listened to Heido's words without interrupting.

"The strongest among the right now are Solidifying Realm. They haven't met anyone that could stop them ever since they began their attacks. This will be the first time they will face great resistance. Later, the Five Master Clans will invite us to a meeting to talk about how to deal with the enemy."

Souta rubbed his chin and said, "I see... It's about the time of the war, right?"

"Yeah, the meeting will decide if we will immediately annihilate the enemy's army or not." Heido nodded.

"Hmm... If we annihilate the enemy then they will send a more powerful army but, if we let the low-ranks fight first then the Shackled Realm will stand on the back watching us. If we send a Shackled Realm then they will send a Shackled Realm too." Genzu said.

"Liquefying Realm against Liquefying Realm. Solidifying Realm against Solidifying Realm. Shackled Realm against Shackled Realm. That's how they want it." Souta said.

"Probably, if that's how it went then the all-out war will not happen immediately." Heido paused before he continued, "Even if an all-out war occurred, there's still the All Filter Barrier. The Five Master Clans have absolute confidence in the barrier. They aren't worried unless a god launched an attack."

"Are they closing the gate?" Souta asked.

"Yeah," Heido nodded.