Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP-Chapter 294: Collapse

Their mouths began to swell, air and energy compressing inside them as they prepared to unleash their sonic screams.

That was exactly what I had been trying to prevent, and the reason I triggered [Event Collapse] the moment the queen fell. A coordinated howl from dozens of them would have been catastrophic, not just to my goblins, but to the entire defensive line.

I didn’t give them the chance.

I poured more energy into the rift, forcing it to expand and deepen, its pull intensifying so rapidly that the air itself seemed to bend toward it. The ground trembled as the pressure shifted, and the howlers below were suddenly dragged off balance, their claws gouging uselessly into the soil as the force took hold.

A few of them managed to release their screams, but the sound came out fractured and weak, the power stripped away mid-release as the rift’s gravity snapped onto them. Bodies lifted from the ground one after another, limbs flailing as they were yanked upward, their movements frantic and uncoordinated as panic set in.

They had no time to adapt.

No time to counter.

Dozens of Varkuun Howlers were pulled screaming into the sky, caught in a force they couldn’t fight.

"What is this?!"

One of the elites roared in fury and desperation, driving its claws deep into the earth, muscles bulging as it fought against the pull with everything it had, the ground cracking beneath the strain.

Around it, the rest of the army wasn’t so fortunate.

Howlers were ripped from their footing one after another, their strength simply not enough to contend with the growing gravity of the rift.

Some were lifted screaming, others dragged helplessly across the ground, claws carving useless furrows as they were hauled upward, panic replacing coordination in an instant.

I didn’t let up.

I fed more energy into the rift, reinforcing its collapse, and the pull intensified violently, the air howling as pressure spiked. The force surged, yanking several more of them off the ground at once, their bodies snapping upward as if caught by an invisible hand.

The rest clung to the ground with everything they had, claws buried deep, muscles trembling as they fought the pull with raw desperation, some of them forcing themselves into rage states just to scrape together enough strength to resist being torn apart and dragged into the sky.

I watched them struggle in silence, my gaze lingering on the remaining elite in particular, noting the strain in its posture, the way its resistance was brute force rather than technique.

One thing was clear.

None of them had the mirage ability their alpha possessed.

That realization settled something in me, easing the tension in my shoulders and replacing it with calm certainty.

Without that skill, they were dangerous, yes, but manageable. Predictable.

And more importantly, beatable.

So I dismissed the rift.

The pull vanished instantly.

The Varkuun howlers felt the strain vanish all at once, and their bodies slammed back into the ground, some collapsing outright, others staggering as they struggled to regain balance, lungs heaving as confusion and exhaustion washed over them.

Those who had been on the brink of being swallowed by the rift began to fall as though gravity itself had finally remembered them.

They hit the ground in messy, uneven impacts, rolling and groaning as they hit the ground in awkward heaps, the relief of survival mixing with pain and disorientation.

The battlefield fell into a strange, heavy quiet, broken only by labored breathing and the low growls.

I turned away from them and looked back toward my goblins while the apes struggled to catch their breath.

Most of my clan stood frozen, awe written plainly across their faces, eyes wide and unblinking as they processed what they had just witnessed.

This was the first time many of them had seen me use an ability on that scale, and the sheer dominance of it had shaken them to the core.

All except Ariel, of course, who had seen me use the ability before.

This wasn’t the time for them to be surprised, though.

I tilted my head forward in a sharp, decisive gesture, which signaled for them to attack.

And the response was immediate.

Zarah moved in a flash, her feet barely touching the ground as frost exploded beneath her step, a trail of ice blooming in her wake like shattered glass.

The air around her dropped sharply in temperature, cold biting hard as she loosed her first arrow mid-sprint, the shaft wrapped in pale-blue frost as it screamed towards one of the elite howlers.

The ice arrow struck true, punching straight through the howler’s skull with a sharp, brittle crack, and the creature toppled backward without even a chance to cry out, its body hitting the ground already lifeless.

That single death snapped something in them.

The exhaustion that had weighed them down a moment earlier burned away, replaced by raw survival instinct, and the howlers shifted instantly into fight-or-flight mode, eyes darting wildly as they reassessed the battlefield.

But they didn’t choose to fight.

One of the elites barked a sharp command, voice strained and panicked.

"Retreat!"

And the howlers turned as one and fled, bodies blurring as they scattered into the forest, abandoning the field without looking back. Their alpha was dead. Their queen lay headless.

Their numbers had been torn apart by a force they couldn’t understand, let alone counter.

Whatever will they had brought with them had been crushed.

So they ran.

But I wasn’t about to let them escape.

I didn’t want remnants slipping away, nursing hatred, whispering stories, and coming back stronger in the future with vengeance burning in their chests

"Hunt them down!" I shouted, my voice cutting through the chaos. "Do not let a single one escape."

"Yes, Chief!" Gobbo and Dribb roared in unison, blasting past me without hesitation as they surged forward to catch up with Zarah, who was already moving through the forest like a living winter, her pursuit cold, precise, and relentless.

The rest tried to follow, but the gap in speed was immediately obvious. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Other than Gork, Thok, and Zonk, none of them could keep up with the sheer pace of the three charging ahead. Their movements were fast, but not fast enough, and forcing them to chase would only scatter the formation and invite unnecessary casualties.

So I raised my hand sharply.

"Stop...