"Who's this guy now?" After knocking down the green mound of flesh, EeDeChi jumped back to her teammates, asking curiously.

The old, irritable goblin roared and cursed from a distance. Barrett patiently explained to EeDeChi, "That's a goblin shaman, quite rare. It's a type of high-level goblin with some magical abilities. If I'm not mistaken, it's the leader of this goblin settlement."

image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/d52655d1-1937-46b3-a62d-21d356fe0fc1/d6fw2ir-ff0dc5c3-400f-45b5-bc9c-2db67355a4f3.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2Q1MjY1NWQxLTE5MzctNDZiMy1hNjJkLTIxZDM1NmZlMGZjMVwvZDZmdzJpci1mZjBkYzVjMy00MDBmLTQ1YjUtYmM5Yy0yZGI2NzM1NWE0ZjMuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.bo575Cj05muRU1WwE5x56mPz4IFqA634ASSNAaiO-NU]

"Interesting," EeDeChi said, stroking her smooth chin as if she had a beard, nodding thoughtfully.

"Humans! Adventurers, DIE!" The goblin shaman's shriveled throat roared, its long pointed ears adorned with jingling iron rings.

It muttered indistinct incantations, slamming its staff down. A green whirlpool of light appeared at the staff's tip and quickly condensed into a glowing sphere. Red runes encircled the green sphere, which spun rapidly, growing larger and larger.

Barrett shook his head. This was one of the signs of a goblin's small brain capacity. So what if it could use magic? A human mage would have sensed the danger and fled by now instead of acting like a fool and rushing to their own death.

The glowing sphere had expanded to the size of a Griffin's head and shot from the staff with a "thud," heading straight for the four adventurers.

EeDeChi leaped forward and took the hit head-on. Green smoke billowed out, and EeDeChi brushed off her clothes, looking at the goblin shaman with an expressionless face.

"You... you... you..." The goblin shaman's eyes, once filled with fury, were now wide with terror.

"Since you're using magic, I'll use the new magic I've learned to deal with you," EeDeChi said, extending her right hand with his palm facing outward and fingers together.

Magic rings of light surrounded his palm, with intricate runes slowly rotating as magical energy flowed. Blue, green, and red hues illuminated the small stone chamber.

image [https://i.ibb.co/2S6V9kB/ezgif-7-23c3def579.jpg]

EeDeChi pronounced the name of the spell:

"5th Tier Magic: Landslide..."

Barrett lunged forward, grabbing EeDeChi's extended right hand and interrupting her spellcasting. Shaking her urgently, he said, "Captain, you can't! You can't! We're in a cave. If you cast a 5th Tier spell, the whole cave will collapse. None of us will escape except you!"

"Oh! That seems to be the case," EeDeChi said, retracting her hand and tilting her head as she recalled, "I think 'The Mystery of Magic' suggests casting this spell in open outdoor spaces."

With a clang, the goblin shaman's bone staff fell to the ground. It snapped back to reality, its eyes shifting from terror to dread.

Since the magic aura had appeared around EeDeChi's hand, its legs had begun to tremble. It finally understood the kind of terrifying opponent it was facing. The goblin shaman, dragging its ancient body, stumbled toward a cave entrance in the chamber.

A magically enchanted steel arrow whizzed through its neck, ending the goblin shaman's life.

Sean lowered his longbow with a sigh of relief. With the goblin shaman dead, the captain wouldn't cast any magic that could bury them alive with the dead.

Had the goblin shaman attempted to retaliate, this ordinary enchanted arrow wouldn't have been enough to kill it. But it was so frightened that it only focused on fleeing, leading to its death at the hands of platinum-level adventurer Sean.

With the goblin leader down, the battle seemed to be over.

Following the earlier sound of crying women, the Last Defender of the Way adventuring party began searching the area. Soon, they found three girls and a mangled, unrecognizable male corpse in the chamber.

From the clothing, it appeared the corpse had once been an adventurer. The three girls were adventurers as well: one was a cleric like Stella, another a female martial artist, and the third a female mage.

Barrett picked up their badges and saw that there were two silver-level and one copper-level members. This was a rather weak team, and it seemed they had suffered due to underestimating the goblins.

Among the three girls, only the cleric seemed to be in a better condition. The female martial artist had a broken kneecap, her combat suit torn, exposing her slender, pale legs and rounded backside to the air. It was clear that the goblins were preparing to assault her.

The female mage had a severe abdominal wound, with blood flowing freely. Her mage's robe had been pulled open, revealing her bare chest, and her long hair was splayed out from beneath her black pointed hat. The goblins weren't sparing even the injured women.

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The blonde cleric huddled in a corner, shivering. Her staff had fallen to the ground, and her pristine white cleric uniform was covered in dust from the cave. Her eyes were vacant, filled with tears, clearly traumatized by the horrific sight of her companions' deaths.

Stella, Barrett, and Sean understood that their captain was most disturbed by such scenes of female nudity. They quickly retrieved spare clothes from their spatial rings and covered the female mage and martial artist.

The martial artist's leg was broken, and her right hand seemed to be fractured as well. The mage's abdominal wound was deep and still bleeding, with blood also trickling from the corner of her mouth. Stella performed emergency first aid to stop the bleeding.

Due to casting too many spells during the previous battle, Stella's magic and mental energy were completely depleted. Despite her pale face and weakened state, she held her staff tightly and insisted on casting a healing spell.

"Take a break; let me handle it. I haven't used healing magic in a while," the adventurer captain said, pushing Stella aside and standing firmly by the female martial artist and mage.

EeDeChi raised her giant sword with one hand, chanting—or rather, intoning: "Great Gaia, lend me your power. If Gods Deny Salvation's Hand, With Sacred Blade I'll Reprimand!"

As her words fell, the entire stone chamber was instantly bathed in golden light, with a warm current flowing all around. This was a high-tier area healing spell that Stella had once "taught" EeDeChi.

The female martial artist's pained expression eased immediately. Her twisted arm realigned, and the mage's abdominal wound rapidly healed, the horrific bloodstain from the wound disappearing to reveal her snowy white skin once more.

Even though Barrett, Sean, and Stella were seeing EeDeChi perform this healing spell for the second time, they were still awed by their captain's immense magical power. They reveled in the warm, soothing current flowing through their bodies, feeling exceptionally comfortable.

A rustling noise came from behind the four adventurers. They turned to see the fallen goblin giant slowly rising to its feet, its massive bulk quivering.

The goblin shaman next to the giant also sat up, still with the steel arrow from Sean lodged in its neck.

They had been revived.

"Huh?" EeDeChi touched her head, puzzled.

"Captain, your area healing spell is actually a 5th-tier resurrection spell! And it's indiscriminate! It's a true area spell!" Barrett, stunned, could only comment.

Sean reacted first. He nocked another arrow and shot it into the goblin shaman's head, sending the unfortunate resurrected goblin back to hell.

EeDeChi shook her head helplessly, walked up to the confused goblin giant that had just revived, and gave it a smack on the head with her sword. The green-skinned giant collapsed once more.

However, the bloodied and mutilated human corpse in the chamber did not revive. The four discussed this anomaly and concluded that EeDeChi's healing/resurrection spell could only repair damaged organs and infuse life force.

The revived goblin giant likely had its head turned to mush by EeDeChi's earlier blow, and the healing spell restored it to its original state, allowing it to come back to life. In contrast, the human corpse had been beaten to a pulp, lacking even a complete form, making resurrection impossible.

Under the effects of the healing magic, the golden-haired cleric, who had been in the best shape, finally recovered. She cried as she thanked the Last Defender of the Way adventurer team. Stella, being another cleric, gently comforted her.

image [https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/pv-target-images/2653e084670ac07f831840771df66b250e8486a1d8358875f107c8061da0c50c.png]

The two clerics, though similar in age, were strikingly different.

Stella had chestnut-colored hair, wore a great helm, and was encased in heavy chain mail. The crying cleric had golden hair and was dressed in a beautiful white and gold cleric uniform with a short skirt, paired with white leather knee-high boots.

EeDeChi patted Stella's back proudly and said, "Look at my cleric's gear, so proper and hardcore."

She then glanced at the golden-haired cleric's uniform, as well as the mage's and martial artist's form-fitting attire, and frowned, "And look at you guys, exposing your arms and legs. Dressed like that, are you going to a battle or a compensated dating?"

Stella, who had been set as a model for the battlefield, held her staff and smiled awkwardly as EeDeChi's hand slapped her back forcefully, making her sway.

With the battle full of mishaps finally over, Barrett and Sean began the adventurers' favorite task—looting the spoils.

The stone chamber seemed to be the main gathering place for the goblin tribe. There were many items, but most were tattered. Only a few items taken from humans had any real value.

Barrett approached the goblin shaman's body, which had two arrows sticking out of it, and rummaged around, hoping to find something worth a good price. Since Sean had killed the goblin shaman twice, he would get half of the loot found.

EeDeChi curiously looked around the cave chamber, while Stella sat on a rock, meditating to restore her magic and spirit.

Suddenly, strange noises came from the cave behind the four adventurers...

"Clang—Clang—Clang—" The sound of firm footsteps echoed, accompanied by the clanging of iron armor reverberating through the cave.

A torch flared up, casting a bright light in the darkness, igniting a fiery hope.

But even brighter than the torch was the sharp red gaze beneath a full-face helmet. This intense blood-red glare seemed to pierce through all the darkness obstructing him.

image [https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/0*uRVCaQZgc41g-iEl.jpg]

The four adventurers turned in unison, looking toward the source of the torchlight in the pitch-black cave.

EeDeChi said in surprise, "Who's making an entrance with such impressive presence?"

A tall, armored figure emerged in the cave.

The warrior was clad in iron armor, wearing a closed helmet, with soft padding around the neck. He held a small round steel shield with a cross-shaped dent on his left arm and a short sword in his right hand. His stance was vigorous and full of power, clearly an elite warrior.

EeDeChi frowned and asked, "Who are you?"

"Goblin Slayer."

The warrior answered with a deep and magnetic voice.

EeDeChi leaned toward Barrett and whispered, "What's a 'Goblin Slayer'?"

"Probably a title for an adventurer who specializes in killing goblins," Barrett guessed.

The elite warrior glanced around the cave, observing the bodies of the goblin giant and goblin shaman. "Have all these goblins... been killed? Do you need my help?"

"Yeah, they've all been dealt with. You don't need to worry about it."

"Oh, okay." The armored warrior rubbed his hands, looking a bit uneasy and embarrassed, "If there's nothing else for me to do, I'll be on my way."

With that, the warrior turned and started walking back the way he came.

"Hey, hey, kid, wait." EeDeChi called out to him, "Come over here."

EeDeChi pointed to the golden-haired cleric, the martial artist, and the mage sitting by the wall. "Take these three adventurers down the mountain. We still need to search for any villagers who might have been kidnapped, so we don't have time to take care of them."

"Oh, okay." The warrior responded, his tone a bit downcast, but his expression remained hidden under his helmet.

He strapped his short sword and shield to his waist, helped the mage and the martial artist up, and led the golden-haired cleric who followed behind. The four of them slowly made their way out of the cave.