Chapter 423: Archmage (9)
Mordra nodded in response.
"Indeed."
I drew in a sharp breath and instinctively covered my mouth with both hands.
There were other anomalies like me.
Ariel who was sitting on lap, asked, tilting her head.
"Why did you think you were special?"
I didn’t respond.
She wasn’t entirely wrong. A part of me had believed I was unique. Not because of arrogance, but because everything that had happened since coming into this world had made it seem that way.
Still, that wasn’t why I was shocked.
If anything, the revelation filled me with something closer to excitement than disbelief.
There were others.
Others who had somehow slipped through the cracks of the System, just as I had.
I couldn’t help wondering what their lives were like. What kind of worlds had they come from? Were they still alive? Had they endured the same fears, losses, and impossible choices that had shaped me?
For some reason, the thought was strangely comforting.
It made this path feel a little less lonely.
And more importantly... it eased the weight that had been pressing down on me ever since Mordra began revealing the truth.
Because I already knew where this conversation was leading.
"So...what’s expected of me and all these anomalies who possess Aster’s fragment now?" I asked. "How are we supposed to stand against Drugar?"
"You stand against him simply by standing against him."
I frowned.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Seeing the confusion on my face, Mordra continued before I could ask another question.
"Those who carry one of Aster’s fragments exist outside Drugar’s control in one very important way."
She paused, choosing her words carefully.
"Even if you win the King’s Game...even if you are elevated and assigned a place within his ranks...he cannot compel you."
My eyes widened slightly.
"He cannot overwrite your will, nor can he erode your consciousness until you become one of his obedient servants."
Her gaze remained steady.
"The fragment protects the integrity of your soul. As long as it remains within you, Drugar can never truly make you his puppet."
She let the silence linger for a moment before adding,
"That is the greatest advantage Aster left behind."
"Really..."
The word escaped me almost as a whisper.
A breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding slowly left my lungs.
Ever since Mordra had explained what awaited the victor of the King’s Game, I had been carrying the crushing certainty that I was marching toward my own damnation. Every step forward had felt like another step toward becoming exactly what I despised.
But now...that future no longer seemed inevitable.
"You will participate in the King’s Game," Mordra said. "You will win. You will obtain the authority of an Overseer, enter Drugar’s ranks, and bring him down from within."
The weight of those words settled heavily on my shoulders.
I let out a quiet breath.
"You make it sound so easy."
From everything I’d heard so far, Lord Drugar was anything but ordinary. He had killed an Archmage, seized control of the System itself, and fought against the combined might of six other Archmages. A being capable of all that wasn’t someone a goblin like me could simply outsmart or overpower.
"I didn’t say it would be," Mordra replied calmly.
Her expression remained composed, as though she’d expected my reaction.
"The moment you complete this tutorial and become an official commander under Drugar, your first priority will be to seek out the other anomalies."
She held my gaze.
"Find them. Tell them the truth of what they are and the purpose Aster entrusted to them."
Her voice grew firmer.
"Only then can you stand together against Lord Drugar."
"Wait, wait..." I raised a hand. "Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves here? You’re forgetting one important thing."
I pointed at myself.
"I still have to win the King’s Game first."
Mordra studied me in silence.
"Do you believe you won’t?"
The question caught me off guard.
I almost swallowed.
"You never know."
That wasn’t false modesty.
I’d survived this long by refusing to assume victory before the battle had even begun. The King’s Game hadn’t started yet, and I had no idea what awaited me. There were still countless Chosen competing, each with their own strengths, ambitions, and hidden cards. Assuming I had already won felt like the quickest way to get myself killed.
Mordra’s silver eyes remained fixed on me.
"There is a great responsibility resting upon your shoulders goblin."
Her voice was calm, but every word carried unmistakable weight.
"I need to know that you are capable of bearing the task entrusted to you by the Order and the Eternal Assembly."
I frowned.
That last part immediately caught my attention.
"The task entrusted to me...by the Order and the Eternal Assembly?"
The way she said it made it sound as though my role had been decided long before I ever arrived in this world.
"Yes," Mordra replied. "Have you not been listening to what I’ve been saying?"
I had. That wasn’t the issue.
What I couldn’t understand was why I was suddenly expected to shoulder a duty handed down by some grand organization I’d never even heard of until today.
I understood that Lord Drugar was a threat. After everything Mordra had revealed, I had every reason to want him stopped.
But wanting to stop him and accepting that I was somehow the chosen instrument of an ancient Order were two completely different things.
Mordra seemed to notice the conflict on my face.
"Why the troubled expression, goblin?" she asked. "Are you hesitant about the role before you?"
"I am," I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "The burden is simply overwhelming."
Her expression immediately soured.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
I let out a slow sigh before answering.
"If I ever take down Drugar, it won’t be because I feel some grand sense of responsibility toward the Order." I met her eyes without looking away. "It’ll be because I choose to."
The words hung between us.
"I don’t owe the Order anything," I continued. "I didn’t ask to be brought into this world, and I certainly wasn’t consulted before being dragged into whatever war has been going on for who knows how long."
I shrugged lightly.
"So if I fight...it’ll be on my own terms."
Not because someone I’d never met believed I was their last hope.
The air between us...