From Goblin Slave To Giga-Daddy: A Goblin's Guide to Getting a Harem
Chapter 55: Time’s Running Out!

Chapter 55: Time’s Running Out!

Rae’s heart plummeted like a rock dropped from heaven.

She’s not there— Lyra wasn’t among them.

His breath hitched.

For a second, the world froze.

No no no—

But then—movement. Behind Melissa. Something shifting.

He darted around them—eyes wild—and there she was. Lyra.

Tied.

Bound behind Melissa with a rope knotted around their waists, probably to keep her from falling during the ride.

Her head lolled slightly, her body slumped but breathing.

Relief hit him so hard he almost dropped to his knees.

His chest finally unclenched, lungs sucking in air like he’d been drowning.

’Thank fuck...’

But then—

’Wait a damn minute.’

Why the hell was he so worried?

It’s not like he cared or anything.

Right?

Right?!

’I just met her. She’s—she’s a half-succubus vampire brawler tank-of-a-woman who could literally crush my bones in bed if she sneezed wrong.’

And yet...

His cheeks warmed. His heart did a dumb flutter.

No. Fucking. Way.

’Do I have... a crush? On her?’

He stared at her unconscious face. Pale. Bloody. Still beautiful.

’Oh shit.’

He was doomed.

Utterly, absolutely, emotionally-fucked kind of doomed.

This wasn’t part of the plan. Not even close.

Well, after being single for so damn long and nursing a crippling addiction to peeking at other people’s steamy bedroom adventures, Rae had basically nuked his own ability to flirt, talk, or even exist near a woman without turning into a stuttering dumbass.

And now?

Now he had a crush?

On her?!

’Stupid Rae. Doing stupid shit again.’

He muttered inside, shaking his head like he was trying to physically rattle the horny thoughts out of his skull.

No. Nope. Absolutely not.

This was not the time, nor the place, nor the reality to be catching feelings, especially not for someone who had a goddamn husband.

He sucked in a deep breath, then exhaled like a monk trying not to punch Buddha in the throat.

’I must punish Alice for this.’

He thought darkly, eyes closed in a solemn, unnecessary vow.

What did Alice even do?

He had no idea.

But she was getting punished.

...

Meanwhile, in the center of the chaos, the tent had turned into a field hospital.

The heroes, what was left of them in one piece, were laid out like war trophies across Lyra’s tent.

Laila had sprinted like a madwoman and returned with all of Celeste’s reserve potions, like, all of them, because the fight had sucked them dry.

Celeste, face pale but still the picture of control, handed two vials to Melissa and Adrian.

They downed them like shots of cheap liquor at a college party.

Then she drank her own, the liquid glowing faintly as it slid down her throat.

Compared to the other three, these three were at least... functional.

Bruised, bloody, and pissed—but functional.

The rest?

Alex, Bryce, and Lyra?

They were looking like ragdolls who’d lost a fight with a goddamn meat grinder.

"What happened to them?"

Laila’s voice cut through the tense air like a dagger, and Rae’s eyes snapped wide open at her words.

’Wait... hold the hell up.’

That tone. That clarity. That awareness.

’So I was right. She is intelligent.’

’That hypocritical witch Celeste didn’t cast the soul suppression spell on her, huh?’

’Or did this girl break out of it herself?’

Rae grumbled inside, thoughts spiraling.

Celeste was supposed to dump that emotion-numbing soul spell on every goblin like she was handing out party favors, but here Laila was, all sharp and unsuppressed.

And now that he thought about it, it made sense.

She was distant.

Not like the other goblins, who laughed and danced around their heroes like mindless NPCs.

No, she stood apart, like she thought she was better than the rest.

Rae growled in his head, eyes narrowing.

And just like that—Laila, mid-thought, turned her head and caught him glaring holes through her.

She blinked.

He scoffed. Arms crossed. Looked away like he hadn’t just been roasting her soul six layers deep.

Laila tilted her head, totally puzzled. Scrunched her nose and turned back to her mistress.

"That creature..." Celeste muttered, her voice low and bitter. "He didn’t even use his full power on us..."

Rae rolled his eyes so hard it nearly knocked his brain out.

Yup. She wasn’t upset about the beatdown they took. Not about the bodies lying around. No—she was pouting because she lost.

’Good. You got bodied, bitch.’

Rae thought, crossing his arms tighter like he was trying to hold in his petty.

He knew he was being dramatic. He knew it made no sense.

And yet... he embraced it.

Stupidly hating on Celeste was his new personality now.

"The Goblin King?"

Laila’s voice sliced through the quiet like a blade again.

Instant tension.

The air inside the tent thickened, everyone frozen, eyes subtly shifting to Celeste.

But she didn’t answer.

She just stared at Alex’s unconscious body—bloodied, bruised, broken.

The silence spoke.

The Goblin King.

The one they were supposed to have killed.

The whole reason they got their shiny "hero" titles in the first place.

If word got out that they’d been tricked, that the real Goblin King never died, that they’d been swinging swords at a decoy...

It was over.

Not just for them, but for the whole illusion they’d built.

And for the goblins too.

That was why they came here in the first place.

To this cursed, unmapped, demon-infested forest, to end it for real.

To finish what they lied about finishing.

And now?

Now, it felt like a damn joke.

Then, suddenly—Adrian burst into laughter.

Like, actual cackling.

Everyone turned, wide-eyed.

"Adrian!"

Melissa snapped, glaring up from where she was dressing a wound.

"What the hell?!"

Not the time. Not the place.

But Adrian just kept laughing, louder now, manic.

"Ha... ha ha... if—if it was him."

Adrian chuckled dryly, voice shaking.

"We might’ve had some relief. Like, yeah, finally found the bastard."

He shook his head, disbelief stamped across his face.

The usual arrogant clown? Nowhere to be seen. This wasn’t a joke anymore.

"But this... This just looked like some random kid with a grudge."

Silence crashed back over the tent. Thick. Suffocating.

A random kid? Took down six of the strongest heroes in the kingdom like they were training dummies?

What the actual fuck?

Then suddenly—coughing. Violent, wet, ugly.

"Alex!"

Celeste dropped down like a stone, catching him as his body jolted.

Frothy blood oozed out the side of his mouth, blue-black veins pulsing like poison across his pale skin.

And that’s when it hit Rae.

Like a punch to the gut.

This is serious.

He remembered.

That weird moment when Alex had asked Alice to join him for this ride.

Rae had eavesdropped, sure. But now the dots connected.

Alex knew something was wrong.

"We need a healer!"

Celeste screamed, her voice slicing through the chaos.

"Someone from the church! Now!"

Only the sacred touch of holy light could burn out this kind of darkness. And time... was running out.

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