Chapter 13: On the Brink of Danger
At this moment, the battle in another area was already on the brink of disaster.
Although there were already four goblin corpses lying on the ground, Bell, the main force, was down, continuously crying out in pain.
His right Achilles tendon was a bloody mess, looking as if a large hole had been gouged out alive.
Gasping for breath, Mia anxiously looked in Bell’s direction.
Seeing two goblins sneaking toward Bell, her face turned pale. She attempted to move closer to Bell to stop the goblins from attacking him.
However, blocking her way was a goblin significantly bulkier than its counterparts. Unlike others of child-like human build, it stood two meters tall, muscular and with coarse bones. Its ferocious face with sharp fangs made it look intensely intimidating.
Holding a black iron machete, crudely crafted yet with a broad blade, it wore an ill-fitting leather armor.
If other goblins were rabble, it undoubtedly was the elite leading the rabble.
Larger in size, stronger muscles, and more refined equipment made it show a clear advantage against bottom adventurers.
The goblin blocking Mia swung its machete down, the tip cutting through the air with a piercing whoosh.
Mia, in a desperate moment, facing the sudden attack, could only manage to parry the blow with her twin blades.
"Bang!"
At the moment of weapon collision, sparks seemed to flash in the darkness.
Subsequently, Mia was struck by a huge force, flying backwards.
Gauss saw everything, a hint of urgency crossing his mind.
Wielding two daggers, Mia undoubtedly aimed to develop into a profession like Ranger or Wanderer, focusing on agility and stealth.
Coupled with her petite physique, directly contending daggers against a long knife inherently put her at a disadvantage, making it not surprising she struggled against this large goblin.
Moreover, she was urgent to save Bell, losing focus.
"Damn! The task description clearly said they were all ordinary goblins!" Gauss cursed silently.
According to his memory, in this world, within the numerous goblins, elite individuals with professions could emerge, such as Big Goblins, Goblin Shaman, Two-headed Goblins, etc., though these elite individuals were rare compared to ordinary goblins.
𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
This goblin, seemingly in a captain role, perhaps intentionally concealed itself in the deep night earlier, or maybe it emerged from a cave only after the battle erupted. In any case, Gauss hadn’t noticed its presence earlier.
But now, it was undoubtedly a special individual already starting to evolve towards the route of a Big Goblin.
Its strength might still be far from a true Big Goblin, yet far exceeds its smaller counterparts!
Perhaps for a real professional, it remains a rather ordinary monster, and the difficulty of killing it might not be much different from killing an ordinary goblin.
But for bottom adventurers who haven’t entered the professional realm, it is a terrifying existence capable of annihilating them.
Under the leadership of this strong individual, the goblins had a more intense desire to fight, and it’s no surprise that even with the loss of four goblins, the rest were still wholeheartedly handling their respective enemies.
Three goblins held three villagers in check.
Another two goblins slithered around Bell like sinister snakes, waiting for the opportunity to deliver a deadly strike.
As the core, the large goblin suppressed the only Mia who retained some combat capability.
But visibly, there was a clear difference in combat power between them.
Mia was able to hold on until now, perhaps not due to strength, but merely because she was a female human, and it just so happened to want to capture her intact.
Gauss observed all this, his brain rapidly began to think.
Mia and the villagers were held by their respective opponents, Bell was injured and had lost his combat capability.
The two goblins were obviously very treacherous, Bell grimly swung his longsword, but tormented by pain, he had lost his calm and was merely wasting his already dwindling strength.
When he was exhausted, the two goblins would leap and end his life.
The battle would completely sway toward the goblins.
Gauss struggled to stand up from the ground.
If that side of the battle was defeated, he and Haylir wouldn’t survive either.
Just as he barely stood up, a dizzy feeling overwhelmed him, like a bout of hypoglycemia, the world started to spin.
Many might have experienced this—setting a long-distance running plan means one shouldn’t rest midway, because once stopped, restarting brings a heavier burden and fatigue multiples compared to before.
As for Gauss, his recent battle consumed far more stamina than running, so the situation would only be more severe.
Moreover, he realized the drawbacks of entering a state like a low-grade bullet time earlier; although his reflexes and combat ability improved significantly, due to his body not keeping up with the overclocked brain, this state drained and harmed his body excessively, and he was unaware during the fight.
At this moment, his thighs felt heavy as if filled with lead, each move accompanied by piercing soreness throughout his body, small wounds rubbing against cloth armor, causing constant pain.
His condition was far worse than he anticipated.
"Hsss—Huuu—"
He felt as if every muscle in his body wasn’t his anymore, standing in place, his calf muscles trembled incessantly, persuading him not to push himself and to fall for rest.
Mia, who was knocked back, climbed up, seeing Gauss barely standing.
The last shred of hope in her heart shattered.
Actually, she too was near her limit, having multiple times unleashed Thrust skills, causing muscle strains in her calves and arms.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The burly goblin didn’t give her time to breathe, quickly closing in and continuously slashing its long knife.
Each swing made Mia’s hands, gripping the dagger to defend, tremble even more.
Gauss took a deep breath.
All of them seemed backed to a cliff’s edge, death bound to come.
But this wasn’t an entirely irreversible situation!
There is still hope.
Enduring the intense pain in his body, he looked at Haylir, who was similarly exhausted, leaning on a tree trunk.
Now everyone’s fate was tied together; they must give their all.
He pointed at the two goblins feinting around Bell, mustering strength, he shouted towards her.
"Haylir, like before, give me another chance to attack!"
"Please!"
Even though his hands started to tremble, the depths of his emerald eyes were exceedingly determined.
That determination seemed to transcend the air to Haylir.
Although she didn’t understand the significance of creating another opportunity to kill an ordinary goblin, she chose to unconditionally trust Gauss.
Just because Gauss’s heroic stance earlier in the bloody fight had already won her trust.
Even though they had become teammates for less than two days, even though she didn’t understand Gauss’s thoughts.
Taking a deep breath, until the airflow filled her chest cavity, Haylir, barely stabilizing her breath, nodded at Gauss, chestnut hair saturated with sweat clinging tightly to her forehead.
Brushing aside the tangled hair, trembling arms followed to draw an arrow from the quiver behind.
The arrow feather gently perched on the bowstring, she did not exert any force to draw the bow, instead looking at Gauss, signaling she was ready.
Her strength was nearly depleted, likely after the next bow pull, she would be completely exhausted for a short time.
Gauss staggered and picked up a dagger.
He forced his sore, stiff as stone thighs to start shuffling towards Bell.
Step by step...
What was he doing?
The large goblin engaging with Mia noticed Gauss’s awkward movement.
A gleam of confusion flashed in its eyes.
It had the rudimentary ability to think like a child, yet it didn’t understand how the human barely able to stand posed any threat by approaching its two subordinates.
Retracting its gaze, it paid no more attention to the harmless Gauss.
"Roar!"
It opened its mouth and roared angrily at Mia, her persistent resistance had caused it annoyance.
Like a child about to lose interest in a toy, its eyes narrowed, gazing at Mia with fierce pupils.