The Evolution Of A Goblin To The Peak

Chapter 1156: The Demon: Doranjan

Inside the Guardian Fortress.

Alice’s eyes snapped open. Her chest rose and fell as she immediately reached out with her senses. The tremors, the distant booms, the surging energy outside—it was unmistakable.

"The battle... it’s already begun." Her voice was soft but heavy with guilt. She pushed herself up. "I can’t just sit here. This is happening because of me. I have to fight."

Her footsteps echoed in the hallway as she left the chamber. The fortress crew glanced up when she passed, bowing or offering hurried greetings, but Alice only lifted a hand and shook her head, urging them to ignore the formalities. Now wasn’t the time.

At last, she stepped onto the outer deck. The horizon was aflame—spells colliding, golden light and black smoke twisting through the sky, the battlefield a sea of chaos and carnage.

Alice took a step forward. Her hand opened, and with a shimmer of radiant light, a golden spear materialized in her palm. Its holy aura pulsed like a heartbeat, resonating with her resolve.

But just as she was about to leap into the fray...

"Stop."

The word cut sharply through the din of battle.

Alice turned. Torkez stood a short distance away, his expression stern, his head shaking slowly.

"Not yet," he said, voice low but absolute. "Do not join the fight."

Alice frowned, her grip tightening on the spear. "Why? You can see it yourself. We’re being pushed back. We’re at a disadvantage!"

"Yeah... That’s precisely why you shouldn’t join the battle. You will join later," Torkez said firmly, eyes locked on the battlefield.

Alice turned her gaze outward. The scene made her chest tighten. Nearly every fighter from Astros was locked in combat against multiple enemies. Their movements were ragged, their bodies drenched in blood, yet still they refused to yield. Desperation radiated from their ranks—any second could be their last.

"If this keeps up, they’ll die, Torkez." Her voice trembled, but her golden eyes burned with conviction.

"That’s only if..." Torkez muttered, calm in contrast to her urgency.

On the battlefield, Vashno unleashed the full brunt of his dream power, weaving it with elemental might. Eztein’s body blazed with spell and combat art, while Franklin charged recklessly, wounds gaping, laughter ringing. They were all pushing themselves beyond their limits, each one surrounded, each one carrying the weight of numbers against them.

"Hold on..." Torkez whispered under his breath, counting the seconds, eyes narrowing as though watching for an invisible signal.

A full minute crawled by.

Then—his hand rose.

"Activate it."

At his command, a radiant field burst outward from the Guardian Fortress, expanding in an instant until it swallowed the battlefield whole. Semi-transparent, shimmering with primal energy, the barrier pressed down like the will of the heavens themselves.

"Don’t worry about the mana stones. Burn them all if you have to," Torkez ordered.

The [Five Elements Barrier Formation] roared to life. Astros’ soldiers gasped as a surge of warmth and vigor coursed through their veins. Their strength sharpened, their movements lightened—they felt alive again.

The enemies, however, staggered. Suppression gripped their bodies, slowing their limbs, shackling their strength.

The veterans were the first to seize the moment. Vashno, Eztein, Franklin—battle-hardened instincts flared. The instant of distraction was all they needed.

A single heartbeat decided life and death.

Blood sprayed across the battlefield. One or two opponents fell to each of them, their bodies collapsing before they even realized the tide had shifted. Several more were grievously wounded, their momentum broken.

The experts who had yet to join the battle frowned as the [Five Elements Barrier Formation] expanded.

"To think they had a formation of that caliber..." one muttered, eyes narrowing.

"As I told you—the Blood Lightning Monster is no ordinary foe. He defeated a fifth evolution-stage monster while still in the fourth stage. A man like that is bound to have endless cards hidden up his sleeve," another replied grimly.

Their hushed conversations rippled through the crowd. And with each passing minute, more forces arrived. Their numbers swelled like an endless tide.

Five thousand already clashed desperately with the Blood Lightning Monster’s people. Behind them, looming like a mountain of inevitability, twenty thousand more stood watching, waiting for the command to devour.

...

On the deck of the Guardian Fortress, Torkez exhaled slowly, his eyes heavy. Even though the twenty thousand had yet to move, their presence alone bore down on him, on everyone. It was suffocating, like a storm gathering before the strike.

He turned toward Alice.

"You can go now," he said, his voice steady but grave. "Protect Doranjan."

"Doranjan?" Alice blinked, brows knitting.

Her gaze swept across the chaotic battlefield—and there he was. The massive dragon, Doranjan, his scales gleaming faintly under blood and dirt, was besieged by twenty experts. His body heaved with injuries, chunks of flesh torn away, blood raining like a river. If not for the writhing parasite reinforcing his form, he would have collapsed already.

Alice’s expression hardened. She gave a sharp nod, then shot forward like a golden spear, her aura blazing as she tore through the skies.

As her figure vanished into the chaos, Torkez spread his arms wide. His old body trembled faintly, but his eyes burned with defiance.

"I may be weaker than them," he murmured to himself, "but I can still carve a path—and I can still take a few of them with me."

He clenched his fists, a surge of feram wrapping his body in rippling waves of pressure.

"As for command..." His lips curled into the faintest of smiles. "Souta will be here soon."

...

In the Heavenly Demon Palace.

The moment Alice entered the battlefield was the moment Lucifer opened his eyes. His gaze shifted to the projection shimmering before him—a live feed transmitted by hidden demon scouts.

Everyone believed the demons had yet to move. In truth, they were already there, concealed in the shadows, feeding every detail back to the Great Demon Emperor.

"Coordinates..." Lucifer murmured.

His mind instantly calculated the exact location of the battle. He lifted his hand, and the space before him fractured like glass. A yawning rift opened, its edges bleeding with distorted light.

Lucifer extended his hand through the crack, reaching across dimensions to seize Alice.

But then—

Bang!!

A thunderous shockwave erupted as a resisting force slammed against him, driving his hand back. His eyes narrowed.

"...No God Emperor."

A cold, commanding voice resounded from within the rift.

"Demon Emperor. I warned you before—no God-ranked beings are permitted to interfere. Did you think I wouldn’t notice your scheme? You intend to drag the entire battlefield into the dream realm. If that happens, every living being caught inside will die. That is why your demons linger, watching, not moving."

Lucifer said nothing. His expression remained unreadable, but his gaze lingered on the rift, unblinking.

The voice continued, deep and implacable:

"You command legions, do you not? You have countless demons below the God-rank. Use them. Send as many as you like—it matters not. But so long as they are not of the God-rank, I will not intervene."

Lucifer finally spoke, his tone calm, almost casual:

"You will not be able to hold this line for long."

"I don’t intend to," No God Emperor replied. "Besides... I have a feeling this matter will end sooner than you think."

The rift sealed with a final crack, leaving only silence behind.

Lucifer’s eyes drifted shut once more, though a faint smile ghosted across his lips.

"Of course you can’t maintain it," he whispered. "Even if I remain idle... those beings will come for you."

...

On the battlefield.

Alice moved like a golden comet through the chaos, her spear flashing arcs of light as she struck. Every thrust and sweep carried overwhelming power, piercing through defenses, tearing through bodies. In mere breaths, dozens of enemies crumbled before her.

She didn’t rise to join Vashno against the Sixth Shackle Realm experts. Instead, she descended to the slaughter below, cutting down the tide of warriors swarming across the ground.

Third, Fourth, even Fifth Shackle Realm experts—all fell like wheat under a scythe. None could withstand her, not even for a moment.

Her sudden emergence shocked the enemy ranks. Murmurs rippled through them.

Another Sixth Shackle Realm? How many does the Blood Lightning Monster command?!

Vashno alone was enough to hold multiple Sixth Shackle opponents. Yet now, another had joined.

And then there was Souta—the Blood Lightning Monster himself. A being who had defied reason, defeating a fifth stage while still in the fourth. Against ordinary opponents of his tier(fourth stage), it was said that ten thousand might not be enough to overwhelm him.

Alice paused midair, her golden spear dripping with light as she surveyed the battlefield. Her gaze lingered on Doranjan, who fought with unyielding ferocity despite being overwhelmed.

"...What do you mean by that?" she muttered under her breath, recalling Torkez’s words.

Her eyes narrowed. Doranjan was in dire straits.

ROOOAR!!!

Doranjan’s massive frame surged forward, jaws splitting wide as he unleashed [Bestrou]—a devastating torrent of destructive energy.

Three Sixth Shackle experts immediately combined their power, a shimmering barrier rising to absorb the blast. Sparks and cracks raced across its surface, but it held.

Two more flanked him on the left, three on the right, their movements precise and coordinated.

Doranjan’s tail lashed out, shattering the air as it swept toward the pair on his left. They darted back, their hands flaring with magic circles.

BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions rippled across his scales, searing pain flaring through his nerves.

BOOM!

The other three’s spells rained down on his right flank, a concentrated bombardment that tore chunks of flesh and scale from his body. Smoke and dust engulfed him.

But through the haze...

ROAR!!!

Doranjan burst forth, wings snapping open with a thunderous gale. His claws clamped around one of the two experts on his left before the man could retreat. With brutal force, he slammed the body into the earth, leaving a crater in its wake.

Without pause, Doranjan tilted his head back and unleashed another [Bestrou], the shockwave ripping across the battlefield.

Winds howled as his vast wings stretched wide, scattering enemies like insects.

Dreamlike mist seeped from his wounds, coiling around his limbs and fangs. His palm tightened around the struggling expert, and a swirling force—maddening, ethereal—built in his grasp.

"Ahhhhhh!!" The man shrieked, his body convulsing as he tried desperately to resist.

But Doranjan only grew stronger. The parasite fed his flesh, the dream force erupted unchecked, and his elemental might surged outward in a storm.

The land itself warped, earth and stone bending beneath the flood of his unleashed power.

...

Alice, even while cutting down foes with swift precision, kept her senses locked on Doranjan’s battle. Amid the chaos, something caught her attention. Her golden eyes narrowed.

"...So that’s it."

Her breath hitched as the truth dawned on her.

"I understand now... why Torkez insisted we protect him. Doranjan... he’s standing at the very edge of the fourth stage. He’s about to break through—to step into the higher realm."

Shock rippled through her chest. The weight of it nearly froze her in place.

A second fifth evolution stage monster was about to emerge within Astros.

Alice’s expression hardened, spear tightening in her grip. She understood what this meant.

The eyes watching from the shadows—their enemies, their rivals—none of them would allow such a birth. A fifth-stage monster in Astros would shift the balance of power irreversibly.

"They’ll come for him," she muttered. "They’ll throw everything they have to stop this."

Her gaze swept across the battlefield, already imagining the tide that would soon arrive. Tens of thousands—perhaps more. An army descending like a flood.

More than twenty thousand experts could be upon us in minutes...

Alice’s body tensed. For Doranjan to evolve, for Astros to rise—she would have to carve a path through the storm herself.