Angel Monarch

The world felt numb. No matter how hard she tried, Kim felt no connection to her actual body. It was like she was floating in water, or how she imagined space would feel like.

Her eyes were open, or maybe she didn't even have eyes. She had vision, but all she could see was a sea of darkness.

The place where she floated was strange and empty. It also felt wrong, like she wasn't supposed to be here, not yet anyway.

"You are correct, Little One. But I needed to say a few words to you before I let you back."

Still absorbed in the calmness of the endless space, the sound which should've been terrifying only made her curious.

A sudden force spun her around, and she saw a tiny warm light an infinity distance away.

Her eyes quickly left that light though and landed on the figure that was seated in a comfortable-looking chair. A long black robe hid His whole body, and behind Him a large golden scythe floated.

Kim looked the Being up and down a few times... "I'm not little!" she said with annoyance after a while.

The creepy guy chuckled, which sounded like bones grating.

"You know, other than a special person, few dare to joke with me. I'm Death by the way. One of your friends has already met me, so ask them for details. I won't going to hold you for long, but I need you to forward a message to Bea from me."

Kim's head spun with this new information, but she tried to stay focused. She knew this person had to be extremely powerful, and she didn't want to disrespect Him.

After thinking for a few seconds, Kim nodded for Him to continue.

"A lot is happening in the Universe's vastness. Forces previously passive are moving again after millions of years. For now, your little planet is in the eye of the storm, but eventually it will be swept into it, too."

The tall robed Being shifted in His chair, making Himself more comfortable.

"You don't have to worry about them for a long while, but you need to do something with that scientist. What he does goes against the natural order, and he needs to be taken care of… Before he makes some irreversible damage."

The person named Death sounded very annoyed and even a bit angry. He stared at Kim for a while, then suddenly and without warning, the world fell apart.

...

The feeling returned to her body, which should have been a good thing, but it was too painful for that.

Her whole body hurt, and she still couldn't move. It was like every cell in her body was tired. This was caused by the burning of all her essence at once. It was even a miracle that she survived.

She kept groaning as the burning pain stayed persistent. Her senses were slowly returning. Her eyes were closed, but she could see some kind of light shining through her eyelids.

Her mouth tasted like blood, while she felt the grassy ground underneath her body. She also felt some hard object behind her, like a rock or boulder or maybe a tree.

In the air she smelt something burning, like a campfire, and in her ears she heard the crackling of said fire.

With a groan of pain, she tried and managed to open her eyes. Her vision swam with colors for a good few seconds. The edges were dark, and the left side of her vision had a slight red tint.

The first object she saw was the small campfire, that was lit only a meter or two away. The second object she noticed was the point of a sword held to her throat.

Her eyes were slow to focus on its owner. It was that goblin woman, who looked strange compared to the others.

From this close, she could see the woman more clearly than back on the battlefield. Her hair was long and blackish-green, while her eyes were dark green. Her skin tone was lighter than the other goblins.

The sword in her hand was ordinary, not an item or heritage at all, and every few seconds a small tremble went through it, like it was an effort to keep it straight.

The goblin wore a very revealing tunic with a long tight-fitting pants. She was very slender, with no real fat or muscle, like she was severely malnourished.

The last place Kim looked was her face. Shadow covered her face; only the campfire behind the woman illuminated it.

Her face tried to stay calm, but she also seemed scared, which Kim didn't understand. She couldn't even move her head, much less attack.

The woman seemed to notice it too, and she lowered her sword. The two of them stared at each other for a while longer, then Kim's vision darkened further and she fell unconscious.

...

The next time she woke up, her body wasn't in as much pain, but she still couldn't move.

With just as much effort, she had opened her eyes again, but this time, she was in a different place.

Before, she was in a forest at night, but now she was in a cavern. There was a dying fire in the middle, which caused some light to shine around the room.

It was too big, about a five meters in height and maybe six in length. It was also circular, with only one visible passage.

Kim looked around the place curiously. She could move her head a bit as well, which made it easier.

First, she looked down at herself. There was a large, thick blanket laid on her, which covered her otherwise naked body.

Because the only clothing on her was the armor she summoned. When all her essence ran out, the armor disappeared as well.

She felt that there was another blanket, or maybe the same one under her too, which kept her from sitting on the cold stone.

After spending a few minutes of looking herself over and trying to move her body, Kim gave up and continued to look around the cave.

There was another large blanket on the other side of the campfire. There were also a few packs near it and a large pile of cut wood. Other than these, the cave was barren.

Since there was nothing she could do, Kim leaned back onto the stone behind her, and she tried to think of a way out of her situation.

Before she could've come up with anything worthwhile, she heard light footsteps approaching from the only entrance into the cave.

The goblin woman stepped inside the dark room, and without saying a word, walked to the fire. She placed a couple more logs on it, which brought the flames back to life.

With the increased light, Kim saw the small creature on the woman's back. It was a dead monster that resembled a large rabbit with two horns and sharp teeth.

The goblin placed it down next to the fire, and using a knife, she began skinning it. Her hands moved fast, marking her experience, and within a minute, the rabbit was skinless.

She then stabbed a nearby stick through it and placed the dead animal atop the flames.

The sizzle of flesh echoed in the small chamber, and soon, a delightful smell of cooked meat hit Kim's nose.

"That smells delicious!" she said with little thought.

The goblin woman yelped in surprise and scrambled to grab her sword. Kim watched the terrified expression of the goblin with a large smile, and she couldn't hold back her laughter.

The woman watched in confusion, as Kim just chuckled for no apparent reason. This situation was just too ridiculous for her. She couldn't move anything other than her neck, so her being scared was just too funny.

The woman seemed to realize this again, and she lowered her weapon with a shameful expression.

After laughing for a while, Kim looked at the woman's face in the better light.

She wasn't nearly as ugly as any other goblin Kim had seen. She wasn't beautiful either. Her figure was too thin and her face was more handsome than pretty.

The goblin looked Kim over as well, and after a while said... "How are you doing?"

For a long moment, Kim stayed silent. She was unsure how to answer her question, but staring into the goblin's eyes, she saw no malice in them.

Her eyes were calm, and even a bit worried for reasons that Kim didn't know.

"I feel fine, but I can't move anything below my neck, so I would appreciate if you didn't rape me."

The goblin's face went pale after hearing that, then turned red from anger.

"I would never! I'm not like those other ones!"

She was screaming and shouting, but Kim just watched all this with a small smile.

Her initial assessment was correct, and this goblin was unlike any other. She seemed much closer to humans in the way she acted.

As this revelation appeared in her mind, she recalled what the Warlord was about to do to her.

Kim turned nauseous. Just the thought made her sick.

She stared at the woman, and now that she knew what to look for, the answer was obvious.

This woman wasn't always a goblin. She was changed by the Warlord, which is what he wanted to do with Kim.

Suddenly, all of her actions made sense. She was very timid, since she didn't trust humans anymore.

Kim knew dozens of people who would kill her just because she looked like a goblin.

It also made sense why she wasn't with the other goblins. In a way, she was a prisoner too, but with a fate much worse than a regular human's.

Kim stared at the woman for a long time, then with an emphatic smile, she spoke...