Chapter 12: Hunter and Prey
"Whoosh!"
Haylir followed Gauss’s command and chose not to continue using her skills.
However, even without using skills, her years of archery practice still allowed her to maintain relatively good accuracy.
As the goblins continuously attacked Gauss, after missing a few shots, Haylir pierced through one goblin’s upper arm and another goblin’s side.
Deflecting attacks with a wooden shield and spear, Gauss sidestepped and reached the wounded goblin.
As if realizing what he was about to do, the goblin shakily raised a crude wooden club with one hand, trying to intimidate Gauss.
But Gauss seemed not to notice. In his accelerated thought process, he appeared to enter a kind of calm mode, sliding behind the goblin.
The wooden spear in his hand thrust forward, plunging into the heart of the injured goblin amidst its terrified howls.
"Goblin killed *1"
"Total Monsters Killed: 4"
He didn’t stop, dodging another incoming attack and immediately sprinting towards the goblin whose side had been pierced, aiming the spear at the wound.
He twisted his wrist, and the spear tip, glowing white, churned violently inside the sticky body, delivering a fatal blow!
"Goblin killed *1"
"Total Monsters Killed: 5"
He felt himself becoming more and more skilled.
The wooden spear in his hand was strong and powerful, coated with a faint white glow that burst with additional power upon making contact with the goblins.
It was this mysterious power that erupted upon contact that allowed him to kill the goblins more effortlessly.
"Acquired title ’Goblin Hunter’; this title upgrades with the number of kills."
"Current effect: Star Destruction. Increases damage by an additional 10% against goblins and related advanced species."
Gauss remembered he seemed to have a title.
The effect named Star Destruction allowed him to unleash more power against such creatures as goblins.
At this moment, his fear and panic concerning the battle had been completely dispelled.
He was covered in blood; though his breathing grew heavy from the intense fight and much of his strength was spent, his gaze turned more determined.
He turned to the four goblins left from the initial swarm.
His jade-colored eyes reflected the flames burning on the ground, inexplicably inducing panic in several goblins.
Goblins are inherently cruel yet cowardly creatures.
Their cunning nature allows them to naturally assess situations.
When they hold a numerical advantage, their cruel side takes over.
At such times, goblins become fearless warriors, launching attacks with the fervor of consuming their enemies whole.
This is also why they would proactively come out of caves to confront enemies.
Yet now, as one goblin after another was pierced and bled dry by Gauss, turning to cold corpses on the ground.
Their cowardly side inevitably exposed itself.
Moreover, an inexplicable aura of unease emanated from Gauss, causing the goblins facing him to start trembling uncontrollably, with panic spreading among them.
Now, who was the Hunter?
Who was the prey?
Gauss glanced at the wooden spear lodged in the goblin. The tip had already broken.
Perhaps it couldn’t withstand the white glow, or it was simply of poor quality.
His arm felt somewhat sore; might as well switch weapons.
He drew the dagger from his waist.
"Whoosh!"
After a few missed arrows, one shot through a goblin’s lower leg.
Haylir provided support once more.
Seeing this, Gauss stepped on the blood-stained soil, darkened to red, and quickly charged forward with his blade.
With the dagger, he became more agile.
He also discovered that in a state of accelerated thoughts, as if entering a bullet-time mode, a nimble weapon seemed to better suit him.
Holding a shield in one hand and a nearly two-meter-long spear in the other, his movement and turns were quite limited.
The remaining three goblins, as if frightened, froze in place.
"Slash!!"
The dagger raised high, slicing down at an angle, its blade enhanced with white light accelerating yet again upon contact with the goblin’s skin. The goblin, incapacitated, was like a lamb to the slaughter.
Its neck, along with one shoulder and an arm, were slashed with a massive gap.
Blood splattered, and Gauss’s face was once again painted red.
Another one!
"Total Monsters Killed: 6"
Gauss grunted, his momentum unbroken after successive victories, and turned towards another goblin not far away.
"Bang!"
Raising the small round shield, at the moment it clashed with the goblin’s wooden club, all his strength poured out.
The goblin’s wooden club slipped from its hand.
Gauss took a deep breath, mustering his strength, and swung his dagger, slashing the goblin’s abdomen that had lost its weapon.
"Total monsters slain: 7"
Haylir, who had already climbed up the tree, stared dumbfounded at the scene.
What’s up with this Gauss guy?
So strong!
Gauss was starting to show signs of being engulfed in bloodlust.
Even though his brain felt a sharp pain and his arms and thighs began to tremble uncontrollably from frequent bursts, his body and mind were extremely excited.
Swallowing saliva with a taste like rusty blood, he set his sights on the last two goblins that showed signs of fleeing.
At this moment, they were completely shattered of the desire to fight by Gauss’s ferocity.
The arms holding their weapons were shaking wildly.
"Mage’s Hand!"
Magic power manifested in the air once again.
The Mage’s Hand seized the goblin’s weakness from fear, swinging down from above.
With strength exceeding ten pounds, the weapon was directly slapped out of the goblin’s hand.
Then, the Mage’s Hand knocked another goblin’s weapon flying.
The last two goblins were directly disarmed by the Mage’s Hand.
At this moment, they lost their final resistance, exposed in front of Gauss.
Gauss certainly wouldn’t waste this precious opportunity, suppressing the violent throb of his chest, enduring the fierce pain in his lungs, he quickly closed in.
Gripping the dagger tightly in both hands, his lower back drove his shoulders, as his upper and forearms exerted force together, cutting across with the dagger, ruthlessly gutting the goblin panicking and trying to turn and flee.
𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
The cut-open abdomen poured intestines all over the ground.
"Total monsters slain: 8"
Ignoring the goblin split in two on the ground, the last goblin was already fleeing.
Gritting his teeth, he stepped forward, smashing into the stinking, filthy intestines and organs on the ground, his body bursting forward.
In two steps instead of three, he caught up with the last goblin almost entering the forest.
"Swish!"
The thrusting dagger pierced into its back, finally embedding into the goblin’s soft, tofu-like belly.
Gauss’s wrist twisted violently, the dagger inside the goblin’s body stirring and shredding its internal organs.
"Roar!!!!" The goblin let out one final unwilling howl.
Gauss pulled out the dagger, suddenly feeling weak in his legs.
As his body was about to collapse, he supported himself on the ground with his hand, half-kneeling.
Continuous high-intensity bursts made his stamina drain faster than expected, now in a state of over-exhaustion.
"Total monsters slain: 9"
Watching as his lower legs and arms continued to tremble furiously, Gauss gasped for breath.
His cloth armor was already in tatters, with several unnoticed cuts on his body.
"Hiss— It hurts a bit."
With the battle on his side temporarily over, Gauss’s excitement subsided, and fatigue and pain flooded in all at once, unavoidable.
He had actually gone beyond his usual performance.
Apart from the initial goblin scout settled in one-on-one, he had consecutively slain 7 goblins in one go.
This was certainly attributed to Haylir’s continuous suppression with arrows from afar; without her consistent good shots driving the goblins’ positioning and injuring them, his opportunities for dodging and delivering fatal blows wouldn’t have arisen so frequently.
Probably shortly after the battle started, victory would have tipped toward the seven goblins.
But ultimately, Haylir was only aiding from the side; the main credit for the current results still lay with Gauss and his determined fighting spirit.
Although it seemed like he was brutally slaughtering the goblins, his combat strength wasn’t overwhelming against them.
If truly compared, he might have been the weaker side.
High-speed thinking, the effect of Star Destruction, and the goblins’ panic when scared by him, if not for the accumulation of these factors, the battle scene might have been completely different from now.
As they say, when the body reaches its limit, willpower will carry you through adversity.
The goblins ultimately lost their will to fight, while Gauss, even if exhausted, fought with greater courage, deciding life and death at this point!
Up in the tree, Haylir put down the bow, after the continuous draw and shoot, her arms started to feel sore and swollen, clearly strained.
As the two panted heavily, suddenly, a painful, youthful scream came from the other side.
It was Bell’s voice!
Indeed, apart from Haylir assisting, Gauss leading the attack, with the two of them jointly slaying 9 goblins together.
There were still 9 goblins assaulting Bell, Mia, and three other villagers.