The searing fireball at the female mage’s fingertips suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon. Its energy was drained away by the air, leaving behind a puff of harmless vapor.
“Huh? Why did the Holy Light Buff cut out again?”
Her crimson eyes narrowed in confusion, sweeping toward the source of the issue. It was none other than the priest, trembling amidst the chaos and wetting his pants. Once again, he'd miscast his skill on someone else.
“Priest, don’t panic. You’re safe within the Holy Circle, and you still have plenty of mana. Just focus on buffing me. I’ll take care of the others.”
“I-I, understood!!”
The female mage tried to reassure him with a firm tone, but it had little effect. Before long, the priest misfired again—replacing the Wisdom Buff with Agility Buff, and casting it on himself, of all people, someone who had no need for extra leg strength.
Was he trying to make his heart race even faster?
The mage sighed, deciding to let it slide for now.
Just as she was about to adjust their strategy and have the priest focus on healing everyone, she noticed the thief—who was always running and yelling—chasing a wounded monster far outside the Holy Circle’s bounds.
Her frustration boiled over instantly.
“Thief! Stop running off to finish kills! Your job is to protect me and the priest within the Holy—”
Before she could finish, the moon-shaped mana-recovery earring on her right ear caught the sound of a swift breeze.
An arrow zipped through the air, striking the thief square on the backside. He yelped in pain.
“Grya! You idiot! How many times has this happened?!”
“Sorry, sorry! It won’t happen again!”
“There won’t be a next time!!”
If it weren’t for his E-tier leather armor, his butt would have been in serious trouble.
Although the friendly fire caused no actual injury, it did successfully distract the thief. The goblings seized the opportunity to swarm him.
“Lance!!”
The warrior bellowed the thief’s name like a lion breaking free from its cage.
“Warrior! Stay put! Your job is to guard the chokepoint!”
As the mage spoke, she flicked her staff lightly. A small fireball instantly coalesced and hurtled toward the thief's location, engulfing three goblings in a fiery explosion. The distraction allowed the thief to scramble back to safety.
But it wasn’t long before, as if nothing had happened, the thief brushed himself off and slipped out of the Holy Circle again.
What an idiot!
The mage cursed silently.
She had taken on many jobs before, but none as chaotic as this.
Although her teammates were all E-grade adventurers, their glaring lack of combat experience was evident. They ignored orders and struggled to fight effectively, making even a retreat seem impossible now.
According to the parchment map, they were just one step away from the bottom of the cavern—a place ominously named the "Ant Corridor."
As the name suggested, the cave resembled the cross-section of an anthill. The stone walls were riddled with countless small tunnels and holes.
These tunnels were once the goblins' nesting grounds but had somehow become the domain of E-ranked monsters known as "goblings."
Goblings were small pig-snouted goblinoids, about the height of a three-year-old child.
With their bright red, triangular heads, they looked like they were wearing tiny red caps from a distance. Each wielded a dagger roughly the length of an adult’s middle finger.
They might seem weak, but their relentless aggression, nimble movements, and overwhelming numbers made them a nightmare to deal with.
Worst of all, they exploited the warren-like terrain to dart in and out of combat, employing hit-and-run tactics. If outmatched, they would retreat to their holes to recover, only to attack again later.
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Despite activating the Holy Circle early to weaken the goblings’ speed and strength while buffing her allies, and choosing a relatively open spot with fewer tunnel entrances to make a stand, the battle showed no signs of triumph.
The mage repeatedly called out for her team to maintain formation, her firm voice acting as an anchor amidst the chaos.
But what she failed to notice was the priest, his nerves frayed, gradually backing toward the edge of the Holy Circle.
Hidden in the shadows, a gobling saw its chance. It leapt forward silently, dagger aimed at the priest’s hamstring.
“Aaaaahhhhhh!!”
A piercing scream tore through the cave.
Before anyone could react, the priest, now sprawled on the ground in panic, was dragged out of the Holy Circle by two or three goblings pulling his hair. The rest of the goblings swarmed in to tear him apart.
“Get off me! Get away, aaahhhh!!”
His eyeballs were plucked out and devoured. That had happened three seconds ago.
The first casualty arrived without warning.
“Damn it!”
The mage bit her bloodied lip.
Although guilt gnawed at her, she quickly buried her emotions, analyzing the situation with cold precision.
The Holy Circle consumed a tremendous amount of mana, requiring the priest’s Wisdom Buff to sustain. With the priest dead, the battle needed to end quickly.
Looks like I have no choice but to use that.
She exhaled heavily, as if sealing her resolve. Just as she was about to rally her teammates back into the circle—
“No!! Peter!!!”
“Damn it, you filthy little gremlins! I’ll kill you! Kill you all!!”
The warrior and thief, enraged by their companion's death, charged recklessly into the goblings devouring the priest’s corpse, ignoring all commands.
The archer joined in, loosing arrow after arrow, though most missed their mark.
The mage’s face turned pale as a sheet.
“You two! Get back here now! Your job is to protect me!!”
Her desperate screams did nothing to rein them in.
With the Holy Circle's defenses stretched thin, the remaining goblings turned their gleaming red eyes toward the mage.
In the dim cavern, they looked like a swarm of starving bats.
Seconds later, nearly seventy percent of the goblings surged toward her, moving like an unstoppable tide.
They knew she was the cornerstone of the team. From the start, they had waited patiently for this moment.
Damn it.
With a deep, resonant whoosh, suddenly! several goblings leaping mid-air were instantly incinerated by a flash of fire.
“Goddess of Flame, Anquiel, I beseech thee. Let thy beautiful and mighty inferno consume these foes in the eternal fire.”
Within the Holy Circle, the red-robed mage clasped her staff to her chest, eyes shut, chanting an ancient and profound incantation.
Before long, crimson magic began to coalesce around her, heating the air with its intensity.
As she chanted, her fiery red hair spread like a blaze, each strand transforming into a serpentine flame, writhing as if alive.
The hundreds of intertwined strands slowly unraveled, extending like the tongues of snakes, spitting out tiny sparks that gleamed like brilliant stars.
These sparks danced silently in the air, as though imbued with consciousness, gradually drawing closer to one another until they formed a concentrated mass.
They radiated a warm yet searing light, illuminating the golden sanctum like a burning desert.
Before the goblings could retreat, the sparks surged forward like a violent storm.
The tiny fireballs, no larger than a human fingernail, however, ignited instantly upon contact, consuming everything in their path as if fueled by oil.
The flames coiled around the goblings like massive serpents, trapping them in an unbreakable embrace.
For a moment, the air was filled with harrowing screams, accompanied by grotesque and exaggerated death throes.
Dozens of once-vibrant goblings were reduced to charred corpses within mere breaths, collapsing lifelessly to the ground.
Amid the rain of ashes, the female mage stood, her eyes blazing red, her fiery hair cascading like a torrent of flames. She resembled a goddess of fire emerging from the depths of hell.
This was a spell nearing Tier 3 in power: Tier 2 magic Ainchu Eil's Lament
The mage had originally planned to reserve this mana-draining spell for the final boss encounter.
But to protect her teammates, she had no choice but to unleash it now.
Though Ainchu Eil's Lament appeared immensely powerful and had an extended duration, it carried a critical flaw—its reliance on the nature of the sparks.
If two goblings clung to each other or made physical contact, the flames would be unable to penetrate their bond and burn them entirely.
In short, its effectiveness depended entirely on the area the flames could cover.
Fortunately, the goblings weren’t clever enough to exploit this weakness. As the fiery serpents raged on, the previously dire battle began to turn in their favor.
Even so, the mage didn’t let her guard down for a second. Wiping the blood from her lips, she stood tall and issued her commands.
“All members, listen up! Thief, use your Phantom Step to swiftly take out the wounded enemies—stay out of the main battlefield and finish them quickly! Warrior, charge into the fray to disrupt their formations and assist the thief with cleanup! Archer, aim precisely and prioritize taking down the goblings trying to retreat into the holes—cover your teammates!"
Under her precise orders, the three teammates launched relentless assaults on the remaining Pig Goblins.
After several rounds of concentrated attacks, they finally broke through the Ant Corridor.