As the town fell silent, the hunters prepared to charge towards the town hall, with David and the mages supporting them from a safe distance.
They moved slowly and steadily towards the town hall, keeping an eye on their surroundings and checking the nearby houses, restaurants, and shops. There was a chance this was a trap, but they had no choice in this.
"What do you think, Thomas?" David asked the skinny water mage about the situation.
"Considering goblins and their nature, even if it's a trap, it doesn't matter. We can easily get rid of them, no matter how many there are here." He replied with confidence.
"How many Grade I goblins might be here?" David asked further.
"2-3 or maximum 5, that's it."
David sighed, and a confident smile appeared on his face. He knew that with so many mages and hunters, they could easily defeat that many Grade I monsters.
If they could also save some townspeople, this raid would be a definite success, and he would be rewarded by his mother.
"Thomas, you must ensure that nothing goes wrong; this is critical for me," David stated.
"Don't worry, with me and these guys here, this raid will be easy." Thomas placed his hand on David's shoulder to reassure him.
"By the way, where is that guy who went alone to scout?" Thomas asked, as David also looked confused.
"Hey you, where is your team leader?" David called out Alisha for confirmation.
While Alisha showed a weak smile and spoke, "He isn't here."
"Well, leave it; let's focus on the town hall," Thomas said, the town hall was just in front of them, but there were still no signs of goblins or any noise.
"Let's head inside, Huntersssss.
Break through the door." David shouted with all his might while raising his fist in the air as all the hunters quickly ran to break the door of the town hall.
The hunters in the front quickly manipulated mana in their muscles and began breaking down the door, while the rest of them stood by to provide backup if needed.
*Thud*
The pounding of the hunters finally broke down the door as many of them rushed inside.
David's heart was racing as he followed the hunters into the town hall, ready to confront the monster that had terrorized their village for weeks. The adrenaline rush was intense, but he knew they needed to act quickly before it was too late.
What David witnessed caused him to puke in his clothes. The hall was filled with nothing but humans' and children's corpses, as all of the blood, had pooled in it. The bones, muscles, intestines, and other body parts were swimming around in the blood.
Some hunters puked, while the rest of them began searching for any goblins or survivors.
After an hour of searching the whole town hall from the ground floor to the roof, they found nothing. There was no sign of goblins or any sign of any survivors.
"Do you believe the goblins fled after killing the villagers?" David asked Thomas while trying not to look at the corpses.
"It's possible, but the report stated that they saw goblins in the town." Thomas started to ponder.
hooonnnkkkkk...
Suddenly, a weird type of horn sound came from the outside, which made every hunter and mage's eyes widen in shock and horror.
Everyone rushed out of the town hall.
What awaited everyone was 100-200 medium-sized goblins, about 2 meters tall, deep green in color with deep red eyes, and two canines, sharp teeth extending from their jaw with some blood and saliva dropping from them.
With ten 3-meter-tall goblins with similar features, the difference was in their build and muscles. They all looked like generals, except for a 4-meter-tall, red-colored goblin with thick skin and a hammer resting on his shoulder.
"10 Grade I goblins and a Goblin King with an army, we are doomed." A mage whispered silently, shocked, while the rest of them clearly heard him.
"Th..this was not mentioned in the report; what the hell is happening?" David said, while panicking, that all the dreams he had and all the merits he thought he would get after completing the raid would be gone. He can clearly see he is going to die today with everyone here.
"Calm down. Listen to me. When everyone is fighting, I will try to make sure we both can escape safely." Thomas whispered in his ear so that no one could hear him.
David felt a little hopeful after hearing that, but still, he couldn't help but shake from the fear of the Goblin King, who was staring them down like he was looking at some insects huddled up in front of the town's hall.
At the same time, Aizel was looking down from one of the house's rooftops at all the goblins who were surrounding the hunters and mages with blank expressions.
"Right now, if I have to gauge my strength, I can consider myself a Grade I mage who can fight against a Grade II monster because of my unique power.
"I don't know how I will fare against a Grade II mage, but for now that is not something to worry about.
"I don't even know how I can advance my mental core grade because it is cracked. I have an idea that I have to heal it, but how would I know that it has been upgraded or healed to a certain level?
"Maybe I should ask this from Alora while bribing her with some food; that Loli might have a way." Aizel ponders while staring at the goblins.
He can see Alisha and her group slowly heading back, looking for a way to escape, while David and Thomas were doing the same.
"This is really going to be a pain in the ass." Aizel sighed.
As he sat on the rooftop and watched them fight. He had no desire to help mages and hunters who were strangers to him.