Chapter 145: Goblins and Adventurers

The rain gradually ceased.

In the air, which still retained rich moisture, was a faint fragrance mixed with the scent of soil and green grass.

And those corpses that were gradually turning cold, along with the scarlet blood pools rippling in the breeze, also added a few more traces of the smell of blood that wouldn't dissipate in the air.

After a great battle, people's first reaction was excitement and joy.

There was no need to worry about having their heads smashed by wooden sticks, nor did they need to consider whether they should self-terminate before being captured alive by Goblins and taken back to their lair.

When Xia Nan returned, carrying the head of the last Goblin in the village—which had been discovered while it was gorging itself on a piglet that had just died in the pigpen—

The cheers and applause of the villagers were enough to prove this point.

But after the enthusiasm, came the cooling.

The villagers felt fortunate to have survived, but the mutilated corpses on the meadow, the low groans of the wounded, and the charred ruins of houses under burning flames washed away the joy in their hearts, leaving only a few empty strands of melancholy.

The atmosphere wasn't as enthusiastic as imagined.

Without the sharp, shrieking noise of the Goblins, the injured villagers helped each other bandage their wounds, the middle-aged man with blood on his face numbly collected the corpses, and from time to time, one could hear suppressed sobs from some corner.

The cold and damp airflow blew across his cheeks, and the entire scene was unexpectedly exceptionally quiet.

Xia Nan stood at the edge of the field, his gaze looking toward a wooden house door in the distance.

A middle-aged woman, dressed simply and covered in filth, was crying as she held two children who had rushed out of the house in her arms.

Facing the Goblin attack, these two children should have hidden in the cellar; now that the battle was over, hearing their mother's call, they had left their hiding place.

His gaze swept over those two small, dust-covered faces that were still in shock, and his thoughts flowed.

The "Group Taunt" released by the Bugbear was far less powerful than imagined.

Although it controlled the targets so they couldn't escape and were forced to fight, it also allowed them to maintain normal thinking ability under surging fighting spirit, and their actual combat strength was even enhanced.

And as for Hong Zong itself, the releaser, it seemed that because of the side effects of the taunt skill, it was difficult to leave the battlefield and had to fight them to a finish.

This side effect, if the target was the ordinary villagers in the village who didn't even have proper equipment, was naturally equivalent to nothing.

But if the enemy was changed to himself, whose mobility far exceeded that of ordinary adventurers and who couldn't be taken down in a short time... that was also a not-so-small burden for the Bugbear itself.

On the other hand, its "Group Taunt," although the range was already exaggerated enough.

It actually only radiated to the area near the entrance of Cui Xi Village.

The reason it was able to make so many people fall for it at once was because it just happened that some adventurers were causing trouble, and most of the villagers were gathered there.

And as for the other civilians left in the village, although some of them, without being affected by the "taunt," were led by others to the front line.

There was still a considerable number of villagers who rationally chose to flee the village and head to Hegu Town to hide and seek help.

Therefore, the overall casualties of civilians in Cui Xi Village were actually not too many.

Those who truly died in the Goblin attack, added together, were actually no more than the number of fingers on two hands.

Much fewer than those on proper battlefields.

Yet, even so, for this small village with a total population of just over a hundred, where almost everyone knew each other.

It was still a very heavy blow.

Since the end of the battle, he hadn't had any in-depth conversation with any villager.

Xia Nan could still feel the sorrow flowing in the air through their tired and numb faces.

The Green Blood Squad also had casualties.

For adventurers, death was a common occurrence.

In the hundred-plus days since he crossed over, just counting those Xia Nan had personally experienced, the number of dead teammates was already not small.

From the very beginning, the Gnome and the Orc Gagu, the hunter Maji, to the later Lali and Doris.

Perhaps because they weren't very close, he hadn't felt any heart-wrenching sorrow because of this.

Only occasionally, in the dead of night, would he recall them slightly.

To a certain extent, this was also one of the reasons he resisted long-term activities in the form of a squad.

Berg,

As for him, to say he was a "stranger," that was naturally impossible.

But he was far from being a "life-and-death friend," and was still far from being a "familiar friend."

Therefore, for this teammate who had performed poorly when facing a strong enemy and thus was grabbed by the enemy and had his head crushed.

Although Xia Nan felt regret in his heart, he didn't have any overly sorrowful feelings either.

Abi was different.

The Green Blood Squad was his first formal team after entering the business, and Berg and Adeline were his guides on the adventurer's path.

Compared to the silent and reliable captain, in most cases, it was Berg, this old oil-slick, who answered his questions in a teasing way and introduced some common sense for adventurers.

The relationship between the two had long since exceeded the concept of general "teammates."

Right now, it was Abi who was collecting Berg's corpse.

A piece of clean silk cloth, from who knows where, was gently covering the broken head of the corpse.

Abi stood silently to the side, his head lowered.

He would bring the corpse to Hegu Town, then transport it back to Berg's hometown by carriage, to be handled by the other's family.

"Two daughters, perhaps a son?"

Xia Nan recalled in his heart.

The other rarely mentioned his family in front of them, but through the occasional words revealed after getting drunk, he still knew that someone was indeed waiting for him at home.

Xia Nan didn't want to extend more, nor did he intend to let sensibility occupy his brain.

At least... judging by Berg's usual spending, which was still considered ordinary among adventurers, and his professional career of so many years.

He should have saved a sum of money.

Enough for his wife to raise the children in the family decently and comfortably.

On the other side, the center of the battlefield.

Adeline, covered in bandages, stood before the Bugbear's corpse.

Motionless.

Just continuously inhaling, exhaling, inhaling, exhaling...

With her back turned, he couldn't see her expression.

The mud, which had long been soaked through by the rain, was still damp.

Having never revealed her past before becoming an adventurer to the few, Xia Nan naturally couldn't know what this Bugbear with crimson mane meant to her.

But since she didn't take the initiative to mention it, he didn't intend to ask.

He just found a place on the edge of the wheat field and sat down, quietly wiping the longsword in his hand.

Suddenly felt warm.

Subconsciously looked up.

Only to see that the heavy dark clouds that had originally shrouded the sky had now dissipated for the most part.

Brilliant and gentle sunlight spilled down leisurely, dispelling the last trace of chill in the air.

Squinting, Xia Nan withdrew his gaze.

"After cleaning up the battlefield, it shouldn't be too late when we return to Hegu Town."

"Let's go to the White Tit first and order a bowl of mushroom soup."

"Haven't had it for a long time, I'm craving it."

"ROAR!"

The violent and fierce roar echoed in the wide stone walls.

The two huge palms, capable of smashing the hardest rock on the mountain into powder, were currently pinching a Goblin with green skin.

Wailing and screaming.

Under the strengthening of the pus-green light, the body, which had expanded to be close to that of an adult human, was bound by those thick, tough, and sturdy fingers, just like a clay toy.

It didn't encounter the slightest resistance.

It was easily stretched, torn, and shredded, tightly gripped in the palm, turned into scarlet blood foam like squeezing lemon juice, and swallowed into the ferocious big mouth emitting a pungent sulfur smell.

The "Bagura Demon" excitedly hammered its chest, emitting a strange roar like an ape beast.

Living in the Bottomless Abyss, which was full of lava and blood swamps, surrounded by equally dangerous and powerful demons.

These fragile green-skins, who were screaming, had almost become the perfect object for it to vent the anger and killing desire in its heart.

It was just a pity that the taste was average, a bit smelly.

Not delicious.

As if remembering something again, a rich greed and longing suddenly flashed in the Bagura Demon's scarlet eyes.

It remembered that a long time ago, when it hadn't yet won its own territory and was still wandering in the endless wilderness.

It had eaten a long-eared one that had been teleported to the Abyss by a spacetime turbulence.

That taste... was simply ten thousand times better than these green-skinned Goblins at its feet.

It was said that in the large forests of the material world, there were hundreds and thousands of such long-eared ones.

If...

Thinking in its heart, sticky and corrosive acidic yellow saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth, burning puffs of white smoke on the ground.

And just as it was thinking about whether to roll those white, tender long-eared ones in the molten fire of the Abyss wilderness twice to make the skin crispy, or throw them directly into its mouth alive to enjoy the wailing on its tongue...

Behind it, in the void, a familiar suction force suddenly came.

Its expression stalled instantly.

"NO!"

"You can't do this!"

The Bagura Demon turned around abruptly and roared wildly at the fragile human wearing an indigo robe in the distance.

"It's not time yet..."

"More! I need more!"

The sound wave brought by the violent roar sent the Goblin remains scattered on the ground flying.

The suction force behind it became stronger and stronger; even though its sturdy fingers were deeply inserted into the rock, it could only leave a few unwilling marks on the ground as its body moved backward continuously.

Beside it, a heavy-armored warrior holding a longsword walked by silently.

Glanced at it.

Said nothing, just lifted its leg and kicked lightly.

The Bagura Demon's massive body instantly lifted off the ground, flying backward and being sucked into the spacetime vortex behind it, rolling back to its Bottomless Abyss.

The battle had also ended.

Without the threat and restraint of the black-robed Goblin, the remaining Goblins on the field, even if they had all been strengthened by divine arts, posed no difficulty for high-level adventurers like them to deal with.

Burn them once with a Wall of Fire, let the Fire Elemental fly around twice, and then let the Bagura Demon clean up the rest.

The massive amount of Goblins that had originally been crowded in the lair like a tide were almost all dead.

Nodding toward the human warrior walking toward him, Cornell panted lightly.

His face was slightly pale, and the mental power he had overdrawn due to using high-ring spells at high intensity in a short time made his brain dizzy, and his forehead was already covered in sweat.

He looked with some heartache at the magic scroll on the ground that had lost its effect after use.

The spell recorded on it was the 7th-ring Evocation spell 【Forcecage】.

The effect was to form an invisible prison within the range specified by the caster and block space, making teleportation spells within it ineffective.

It was precisely by this that he had prevented the black-robed Goblin from escaping just now.

As a Conjuration school mage who hadn't yet advanced to Transcendence and had a professional level of "9," Cornell naturally didn't possess the ability to cast 7th-ring spells.

He had purchased this scroll from a senior student at an extremely expensive price, and with a few favors.

Kept it as a trump card to use when necessary.

As for the specific price...

It could only be said that under normal circumstances, the "ruby dust" required for the spell materials for 【Forcecage】 alone was worth 1500 gold.

And after recording it into a magic scroll... it could only be said that even Cornell, who had a wealthy family background, felt his heart bleeding.

The input and the mission reward were completely disproportionate.

Even the biggest harvest of this adventure, that silver-white device that clearly had a story, had broken through the shackles of 【Forcecage】 and been teleported away.

"I'm almost bankrupt."

Cornell swept his gaze over the corpses of the Goblins around.

Not to mention their ears, which had already been burned to nothing but black charcoal, whether they could still be exchanged for bounty.

He didn't care about this little money.

Stepping forward, he walked up the steps in the center of the cave.

On his left thumb, the last ring flashed with silver light.

The black-robed Goblin's corpse, along with the altar with dim patterns behind it, had instantly disappeared from the spot.

Cornell only hoped that these two could be sold for some price in the hands of the Goblin historian he knew.

The wooden staff tapped the ground lightly, and magic condensed and operated in the air once again.

Space twisted.

The corpse of the blonde elf with a broken neck also disappeared accordingly.

Resurrection, for a mage, or rather a wealthy mage, was never a problem.

After returning to Huan Cai Cheng, he would be able to start preparing for matters related to resurrection.

It was a pity that the corpse of the other teammate who died in the squad, the half-orc Volga, had already been shattered beyond recognition under the gravity pull of the silver-white iron ball.

If he wanted to resurrect him... it would cost several times the price of the elf.

And given the other's personality, even if he were reborn, he likely wouldn't have any intention of paying back the money at all.

"Hmm, forget it."

His gaze moved away from the half-orc's corpse, and Cornell had already made his choice in his heart.

The other had only joined the squad halfway, completely different from the blonde elf who had been his teammate since the squad was founded.

If he died, he died; he would just recruit another one when there was a chance later.

However, he still had to remember the lesson; next time, he had to find one with at least an average person's level of intelligence.

Along the way, just the warning traps stepped on and destroyed by the half-orc were probably enough to buy a small house with a garden in Niumu City.

"Orc bloodline, Barbarian profession... tsk tsk."

Cornell couldn't help but recall those nasty jokes often mentioned in the lab during his spare time, and shook his head.

Behind him, a hoarse and low voice suddenly sounded.

"So, why doesn't the Association directly hire large battle groups to solve it once and for all?"

"Instead of letting those little guys who haven't even obtained a professional level go and fight Goblins to the death?"

Cornell raised his eyebrows slightly, surprised that the human warrior, who had always been silent, would ask such a question.

He also suddenly recalled that it was actually the blonde elf who had raised this doubt earlier, but since they were already close to the destination, he hadn't said much.

Just brushed it off, saying he would explain after the mission ended.

He hadn't expected it to be remembered by the other, and to be asked after the mission ended.

To this, Cornell just gestured toward the ground with his chin.

There, the broken corpse of the half-orc Volga had already merged with the severed limbs and flesh of the Goblins around.

"It's Hunting Day, after all; there are so many Goblins, of course, they have to be cleared."

"But... the number of adventurers, actually, isn't small either."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 146 =====

(End of chapter)