Xavier twisted his body until it felt like he was being torn apart to narrowly evade the thunderbolt. It whizzed past his head, only for the electricity currents within the bolt to snap out left and right, burning a few strands of his hair and scorching his cheek. His cheek felt numb but Xavier grit through the pain.
He didn’t expect a Shaman to emerge out of nowhere, but it made sense. It couldn’t be this easy to destroy the Monster Gate.
Faced with a Shaman and two dozen Goblin Warriors, Xavier felt a sensation of impending loss sweep through him. If not for the annoying Shaman, he might have been able to deal with the Goblin Warriors one by one. Unfortunately, it was not like the Goblin Shaman would allow him to kill one Goblin Warrior after another without doing anything. The Goblin Shaman didn’t look like he would remain idle.
It didn’t take him long to realize that the Goblin Shaman was his biggest problem right now. It screamed aloud and fired a few electricity currents high into the air. In response, the movements of all Goblins changed momentarily. The Goblin Warriors near the Goblin Shaman gathered around it to guard their Shaman whereas a small horde of ordinary Goblins charged back inside the wall of cars.
The Shaman is not only a Mage but also a Strategist. Wonderful. Really wonderful…Fucking bullshit!! Xavier cursed in his heart. He really didn’t like where this was going.
The only advantage at his disposal was that the Classless Deck was still connected to the threads of the Monster Gate. The downside of that, however, was that the Goblin Shaman, his Warriors, and the ordinary Goblins initiated a full-scale attack on him.
That did not just look terrifying from Xavier’s point of view- it was actually terrifying.
He took a shaky breath, evaded another thunderbolt that came crashing down onto him, and used Air Bullet several times. He also activated Dash, which prompted him with a notification.
[Proficiency of Utility Card ‘Dash’ reached 100%. Level Up!]
The Stamina consumption of Dash decreased at once. Simultaneously, Xavier noticed that he accelerated a little bit. Feeling the wind current splash into his face, a suppressed grin flickered on his face and he charged to the side.
Each Air Bullet struck an ordinary Goblin, killing them one after another. Xavier didn’t aim precisely. All he had to do was hit their chest to pierce it and injure their internal organs. They would either bleed to death, slow down, and get trampled by their comrades, or end up with a second Air Bullet piercing them.
One way or another, Xavier was determined to end them. He used Air Bullet over and over again, each bullet either injuring a Goblin lethally or killing it in one go. Simultaneously, he used Sharpness and Dash to fight the Goblin Warriors in front of him.
Because the Goblin Shaman used specific orders to control the Goblins around it, Xavier was also forced to use Taunt to enrage the Goblins Warriors around him. They lost their reasoning and attacked him mindlessly instead of following the orders they’d been given beforehand by the Shaman.
Xavier had one great advantage: he was the sole focus of their attention, but luckily, he was not alone on the battlefield. Leyla, Mark, and the other hunters noticed Xavier’s predicament and began to help him.
One of Leyla’s arrows pierced accurately through a Goblin Warrior’s ear, penetrating its brain in one go, whereas the old hunters required several shots with their hunting rifles to kill a group of highly tenacious Goblin Warriors. But that was much better than everything Xavier could have hoped for.
He moved through the rows of enemies, and evaded two more thunderbolts, only for a third to scratch him. His left shoulder was hit and felt numb, but his shoulder was not charred to the bone. That was something that happened to the Goblin Warrior in front of Xavier due to his reflexes. Xavier moved behind a Goblin Warrior as the Goblin Shaman released the third thunderbolt in a row.
The bolt burned through the Goblin Warrior’s chest and hit Xavier, taking him by surprise. It was only fortunate that the thunderbolt had been weakened through the Goblin Warrior’s great resistance that took the brunt of the attack. The monster died, but that was even better for Xavier. One less enemy for him to hunt.
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At some point, Xavier began to wonder how much longer it would take for the Classless Deck to destroy the Monster Gate. He had no idea how long he would have to stay near the Monster Gate and defend his Deck before it was time for him to either run away or eliminate the Goblin Shaman.
Something told him that time was already ticking and it wouldn’t be long before he would be forced to make a choice. The nagging feeling also made him painfully aware of the fact that it wouldn’t be easy to survive that long…and to escape after the Monster Gate was destroyed.
Just as that thought flashed through Xavier’s mind, the Minotaur barged through a barricade of cars. The cars were pushed aside as if they were made of cardboard. It issued a terrifying roar and smashed its empty fists upon its broad chest. Even though the Minotaur had been overwhelming its enemies until now, it was not as if the monster could escape all fights uninjured. Its entire body was bruised black and blue, and it looked weaker and a little tired than before.
The Minotaur must have used a large portion of its Stamina to pursue Xavier and barge into the mass of Goblins, swinging the heavy war axe around like a crazy maniac. However, the Minotaur was still alive. An idea formed in Xavier’s head and he began to move at once.
He evaded the maces that were about to smash down on his head and activated Dash again. Xavier used Taunt on the Minotaur as well. It was barely in range of his Taunt, which was perfect since the Minotaur diverted its attention from the other enemies to face Xavier at once. Fueled with rage, the Minotaur charged at him.
Xavier’s heart palpitated wildly as he navigated through the rows of enemies. He released a few Air Bullets to distract his enemies and divert the trajectory of their attacks to make sure that their sharp blades would miss him. Then he appeared behind the Goblin Shaman that had already pointed its ugly staff at Xavier.
Xavier dreaded the thunderbolts but he trusted the tremendous rage and brute force of the Minotaur to be of great help. The Minotaur continued to charge at Xavier, forcing the Goblin Shaman to decide whether to release the thunderbolt at Xavier to eliminate him, or to look in the opposite direction and release the thunderbolt to block the charging colossus.
Xavier backtracked, lifting the ruby katana to block or slash at any time. He was just about to release another Air Bullet when he heard something to his right. An arrow coated in a white hue propelled towards the head of the Shaman’s staff, smashing it to the side. This gave Xavier the moment he needed to retreat even further. He terminated Taunt and watched the Minotaur get back to its senses right in front of the Goblin Shaman.
The Minotaur was still charging and the last remnants of anger were still coursing through its humongous body. Due to that, the monstrosity didn’t even think of leaving the Goblin Shaman alone. Even though the Goblin Warriors were already on the move to protect the Shaman, the Minotaur struck down its heavy war axe.
A scream escaped the Shaman’s lips, blood spurted and a thunderbolt zapped through the air. The pungent smell of charred meat reached Xavier’s nostrils. Xavier found one of the Goblin Shaman’s arms flinging through the air whereas a thunderbolt crashed heavily into the Minotaur’s chest from close. Both monstrosities were now severely injured, but the Shaman was at an advantage. It had subordinates, who willingly sacrificed themselves on command.
The Minotaur roared and its gray skin seemed to turn darker at once. From one moment to the next, it gained more strength, allowing the monster to fight with more than a dozen Goblin Warriors simultaneously.
Xavier watched the Minotaur fighting the Goblin Shaman and the Goblin Warriors while he continued to retreat. He wanted to be as far from these monsters as possible, at least, until the Monster Gate was closed and the rewards of the Hidden Mission were distributed. Maybe, he could deal with the Minotaur and the Goblin Shaman by then.
His left shoulder still ached a little but there was nothing he could do about that. He would have to rest later for a while to tend to his wounds. Fortunately, it looked like the Monster Gate was slowly losing its luster.
His Classless Deck vibrated lightly and several notifications popped up in front of him.
In the next moment, the Monster Gate destabilized. The energy compressed into the Monster Gate was unleashed in a burst that swept through the village’s entire center. Xavier was flung several feet through the air as he was the closest to the Monster Gate when it exploded. The energy shockwave swept him off his feet and slammed him into the nearest car barricade.
His back hurt and he could clearly feel that something had pierced his back, but the shock overwhelmed the pain coursing through him.
The…Monster Gate has been destroyed!!
Your Classless Deck absorbed a trace of Aether. You are the first to integrate Aether into your Deck.
50 Soul Essences have been rewarded.
The main task of the Hidden Mission ‘Goblin Slayer’ has been accomplished. Congratulations!
Rewards can be collected immediately OR can be kept aside until all bonus missions have been completed.
Remark: Reward will be adjusted according to the contribution, completion rate, and method used to complete the Hidden Mission.
“What the hell…”