The horde of Goblins continues their charge regardless of the one that died.
I pitied the poor Goblin at one point. Imagine rushing into someone with rage and hatred for killing your brother. But when you died, no one paid attention to your death. And to make it worse, they even walked over your lifeless body as if it's a natural part of the ground.
That's got to be the worst death I've ever seen in my life. Nevertheless, the current situation favored Lyrica.
Had they stopped going forward and instead retreated after seeing another one of them dead, Lyrica's advantage would have been wasted. She'll lose the chance to gain more than twenty thousand EXP and she'd be unable to complete her quest.
Moving on, Lyrica tries to maintain the distance between her and the Goblins by retreating. During that time, she picked up another tiny rock and hurled it at another Goblin, killing it with a headshot.
She did the same thing over and over again, killing five more Goblins in the process.
Goblins Killed: 7 / 25
Lyrica has managed to kill seven Goblins so far, allowing her to level up.
Lv. 12 -> 13
[MP And dB Limit Have Increased!]
MP: 44 -> 46
dB Limit: 24 -> 26
[You Have Acquired Stat Points!]
Available Stat Points: 9 -> 12
> Acquired EXP: 885
> Required EXP: 12,450
"Another 12k, huh?"
While Lyrica is leisurely checking out her character window, the horde of Goblins is there, standing idly while looking at her.
"Oh well, I still got eighteen more to take care of."
It appeared that the Goblins are finally starting to consider retreating and avoid being killed by their supposed prey.
In my opinion, it was foolish of them to start thinking about it this late. They should have done that way before the second Goblin was killed and was walked over by them. But they decided to charge forth, resulting in Lyrica receiving a wonderful quest.
Of course, she wouldn't leave that quest unfinished, especially now that she's looking to level up and increase her stats.
"What's wrong? Why aren't you all attacking?"
Lyrica asked, following a cold gaze that made the Goblins tremble and sweat in fear.
K-Khiii...
"If you're not going to attack, then I will."
At that moment, the hunters become the hunted, and the hunted became the hunter.
Lyrica dashes, the speed of 20 Agility leaves the Goblins in shock. All this time, she's been keeping up the slow pace so that she doesn't outrun them too much and lose their interest.
Afterward, Lyrica exhibited the power of 30 Strength. She punched the Goblin standing right in front of her before sending the lifeless creature flying into the river.
The monsters must be wondering, "How can she be so fast and strong?" There's no point trying to answer them because this will be the last time they'll ever hunt prey.
She looks at her hand and grunted in disgust. "Damn it, their disgusting smell are stuck with my fist. I'll just wash it later."
The Goblins trembled in fear more than ever. It was at this moment that they knew, they f***ed up.
Lyrica went after the remaining Goblins and killed every single one on the spot. There is no need to describe how each of these foolish creatures meets their end. But one thing is certain, and that is, the situation was completely one-sided.
Quest: One Versus Many!
Kill all the Goblins without receiving damage twice.
Damage Received: 0 / 2
Goblins Killed: 24 / 25
Soon after getting rid of the rest of the Goblins in her vicinity, Lyrica has once again heard the level-up notice.
Lyrica is now at Lv. 14, but the quest is not yet over. The quest requires twenty-five Goblins to eliminate without getting damaged twice. The number of monsters she defeated is only twenty-four, as shown by the quest window.
That means, one last Goblin is missing. No, it is more accurate to say that the last Goblin has been in hiding. From the very beginning.
"You must be hoping that I tire myself out from getting rid of your underlings, isn't that right? What a stupid move."
At first, I thought the last Goblin had already gone back to their nest, announcing their defeat to their other brothers. But as soon as Lyrica spilled those words out of her mouth, I thought to myself, 'That should have been obvious.'
In a pack, there are some who follow the rules of the pack. And there's the alpha who made those rules.
Thud...! Thud...! Thud...!
Grrrrr...
"Ha? You're the alpha?"
When Lyrica blurted those words out loud, she was trying to lure the last Goblin to reveal itself. Had the monster attempted to run away, Lyrica would have undergone a lot of trouble chasing it. However, what appeared before the girl is not what she and I have expected.
Yes, it's not the alpha or the ringleader of the Goblins. It's more like a monster born to do things the little ones cannot do.
[Hobgoblin - Lv. 15]
"A Hobgoblin?"
Its bulky physique and tall height make the tiny, skinny ones look like nothing. Hobgoblins are specifically born as protectors of their nest, as well as the one who only takes command on a group tasked to hunt food for the alpha and everyone else hiding on their nests.
"I thought it was going to be something more than a Hobgoblin. How disappointing."
Lyrica looks at the monster disappointingly, and the Hobgoblin took it personally.
With heavy footfalls, the muscular creature strikes with a club.
"Oh well, I guess you'll have to do."
Lyrica dodges the club with a high jump, following a thunderous roar from the giant monster.
Hobgoblins are powerful on their own. They can take on powerful monsters like a giant toad, or escape from a flytrap's hold using an axe or a club. Above all, some of them are capable of harnessing mana similar to humans, meaning they can use magic abilities that a Goblin Shaman taught them.
The Hobgoblin Lyrica is facing appeared to be capable of such feat, as it protected itself from Lyrica's fist using a magic ability similar to what Lyrica possesses.
"That white glow... Is that Heavy Metal?"
"It is similar to Heavy Metal, but in Alteria, that defensive magic is called Tibay."
"Tibay?"