Chapter 425: Ritual Attempt

Northwest of Shoal Bay.

Woodland, underground nest.

"Squeak-ga!"

The shrill whistling sound from the Green-skinned Goblin echoed over the somewhat spacious cavern.

In the vast majority of cases, people living on the Aifala Continent loathed this sound.

For those ordinary civilians who had no combat power to speak of, hearing the whistling sound from the Goblin meant an impending disaster.

Destroyed farmland, important livestock being shared and eaten, and even relatives and friends being snatched away...

This ugly and ferocious low-level monster was spurned by all intelligent races.

Even those ordinary adventurers who possessed a certain amount of strength were unwilling to hear the cries of these green-skinned rats during their missions.

If they could repel the other party, it would be fine, but if they accidentally capsized and were snatched into the Goblin nest.

The physical fitness of adventurers that far exceeded ordinary people also meant that they would more clearly and for a longer time feel the pain when being tortured.

Goblins, to most people, were more disgusting than cockroaches and rats.

For Xia Nan, it was the same.

He might be fond of relieving his own stress by clearing out Goblin caverns, but this was not out of his love for this kind of creature.

On the contrary, precisely because he was extremely disgusted with these green-skinned Goblins, he could harvest pleasure from their shrill screams and deaths.

Regarding this point, the fragmented and tragic corpses left in the Goblin nest after his clearing could prove it.

"Squeak-ga!"

It was still that shrill Goblin whistling sound.

But compared to the excitement and madness of the past, the sound at this moment was filled with thick fear and despair.

It even faintly carried some meaning of begging.

It was just that its cute little brain, which had always been wrapped by the desire for slaughter and reproduction, was afraid it would never understand.

Why the companions who had bravely attacked the enemy invading the nest had all become corpses, while the cowardly self was left until the end.

Actually, the reason was very simple.

The more it performed like this, the more excited and enjoyable the black-haired youth in front of it became.

"Shoo!"

The surrounding air blurred vaguely under the action of gravity, wrapped in 【Heavy Tide】, and the not-so-sharp sword scabbard tapped lightly on the Goblin's chest.

Its lean body, covered in sores, was like being caught in some invisible vortex; its center of gravity was lost, and it instantly fell into a state of "imbalance," swaying and falling to the ground.

The wooden stick it used for attacking had long since been lost somewhere.

Its thin arms, like dry wood, supported the ground, panting heavily with shrill wails, and the viscous saliva emitting a foul odor dripped from its mouth.

Death did not come with this.

Until it recovered slightly from the dizziness of the imbalance state, the black-haired adventurer in front of it was still just standing quietly in front.

Its gaze subconsciously looked up, from the leather boots that were stained with Goblin blood and minced meat like a nightmare, to the bone-white reflective leg armor, the belt tied with daggers and small bags, the oval-shaped arm shield emitting a faint glow, and finally...

Those pitch-black eyes that were shrouded in deep shadows, calm and unruffled, yet seemingly filled with an inexplicable chill.

Quietly meeting eyes.

This thin little Goblin couldn't help but shudder violently all over.

Wailing, it subconsciously climbed up from the ground and turned to run away, even if there was only a bare, thick rock wall ahead, it wanted to stay as far away as possible.

But the dirty little legs had only taken one step when the familiar touch came from its back again.

Center of gravity out of control, body imbalanced and falling to the ground.

Repeating this, I don't know how much time had passed.

Even the shrill screams that originally echoed in the air became hoarse and powerless.

The muscles on its face trembled violently; fear, panic, and begging had disappeared, leaving only a deep despair of dead grey.

After the last tap of the sword scabbard, this Goblin completely lost the thought of resisting and running away.

Its whole body just lay on its back on the ground covered with blood and minced meat, a pair of eyes without any spirit staring at the grey-dark stone ceiling above.

"Proficiency +1"

"【Heavy Tide】 lv1: (86/100)"

"..."

Familiar translucent characters flashed before his eyes.

Xia Nan nodded slightly, thanking this green-skinned rat in front of him for the final contribution it made to himself with its tiny and despicable life.

【Ember Meteor】 straight sword unsheathed.

Accompanied by a light sound of "Hum."

The Goblin lying in despair on the ground finally lost its head as it wished.

Xia Nan felt it was a pity.

According to his own practical practice and dissection research, Goblins as a kind of creature actually possessed "tear glands."

But strangely, he had never seen any Goblin cry.

Of course, it was not because their entire race was so-called "hard bones"; he had encountered many cowardly individuals who begged for mercy in his adventure career of more than a year.

Perhaps... it was because their brains had gradually forgotten this body function in evolution, or he killed too fast, or his methods were too cruel, making these lowly species fall into a deeper despair before they had time to wail?

"Tsk."

Pouting, Xia Nan thought that next time he cleared out a Goblin nest, he could be slightly more "gentle" and proceed step by step.

Perhaps he could have a surprise discovery.

He was a normal person and also had empathy as a human.

In normal circumstances, even when facing enemies on a different path, he rarely tortured them deliberately, often just cutting off their heads and finishing it.

On weekdays, whether facing newcomer adventurers whose strength was far inferior to his own, or ordinary civilians who were not much stronger than Goblins, the values he had cultivated from his past life allowed him to communicate in a friendly manner with an almost equal posture.

Even for those ferocious monsters encountered during missions, he basically wouldn't delay, ending the battle quickly under the premise of ensuring his own life safety.

But Goblins were different.

This kind of low-level monster that was originally on the verge of extinction had undergone a change in biological nature after their main god returned.

They had completely degenerated into killing machines driven by desire, holding the purest malice toward all intelligent creatures.

Their way of survival and growth environment destined that every Goblin capable of standing in front of Xia Nan had dirty and sinful blood flowing in its veins, and even breathing was a waste and blasphemy of the air in this world.

Born with original sin.

Not even as good as cockroaches and rats.

In Xia Nan's eyes, these ugly and dirty despicable species were no longer so-called "creatures," just a "thing."

Thus, their lives were naturally no longer things that needed to be cherished; they were meaningless, and he could take them at will.

There was no obvious emotional fluctuation in his heart.

He took gauze out of his waist bag, carefully wiped the 【Ember Meteor】 straight sword, and then sheathed it again. ===== CHAPTER 426 =====