The goblin shaman first muttered something to the crossbow-wielding goblin, then raised its staff, aimed it at Kevin and his companions, and began chanting a spell. Kevin stared intently at the staff and listened carefully to the chanting. When the chanting paused for a moment, he quickly commanded, "Dodge to the left!"
The four of them immediately dodged to the left, and the fireball released by the goblin shaman hit the ground, causing no harm.
On the other side, the crossbow-wielding goblin forcefully shook the still-sleeping goblin warrior awake and pointed at Kevin and his companions with its short, thick fingers, muttering something. The goblin warrior woke up angrily, shook its head, roared, and raised its broadsword, ready to vent its anger at being awakened from sleep at Kevin and his companions.
Kevin quickly surveyed the battlefield. About half of the church's many pews were intact, and the goblin shaman was located at the altar at the innermost part of the church. The crossbow-wielding goblin was squatting on a pew on the left side near the altar, with only its ugly head and a well-made crossbow bolt exposed. The sword-wielding goblin and shield-wielding goblin were approaching Kevin and his companions from the right side, while the goblin warrior, also armed, was angrily approaching them in front of the crossbow-wielding goblin.
The goblin shaman had a skill to enhance the collective combat ability called Excitation, so the best strategy was to defeat it first. However, since it was located at the innermost part of the church, it would be more dangerous to force a breakthrough. So, Kevin thought, if the goblin shaman couldn't be dealt with immediately, the best solution to avoid the most dangerous situation would be to reduce the number of goblins.
Although the goblin warrior would become quite strong after being enhanced, Owen could still hold his own against it. However, ordinary goblins, after being enhanced, could potentially pose a threat to the rear ranks, namely Melissa and himself. Moreover, they needed to watch out for the goblin shaman casting spells from behind. The crossbow-wielding goblin was located between the goblin shaman and the goblin warrior, very close to them, so they needed to prioritize dealing with the two ordinary goblins on the right side.
After assessing the situation and formulating a strategy, Kevin began giving orders to his teammates. "Owen, you stay here and hold off the goblin warrior. You don't need to defeat it, just keep it occupied and avoid being hit by the goblin shaman and the crossbow-wielding goblin."
"Leave it to me," Owen replied. Although Owen was nominally the team's leader, he had previously mentioned that he would eventually leave, so Kevin was the actual commander of the team now, and Owen was happy to follow his orders.
Owen tightened his grip on his sword, pointed it at the goblin warrior, and grinned menacingly. "Come on, big guy," he called out. "Let's have ourselves a little fight."
The goblin warrior charged at him, and the goblin shaman, judging Owen to be the strongest enemy, didn't object to its action but tacitly approved of it. Kevin then spoke to the other two teammates:
"Alex and Melissa, we're going to the right to deal with the two ordinary goblins first, to prevent the goblin shaman's skill from turning them into threats."
Alex led the charge, using his Taunt skill against the sword-wielding and shield-wielding goblins, while Melissa followed closely behind Kevin. She didn't act on her own, but instead prepared herself mentally, waiting for Kevin's instructions.
As expected, Kevin's next instruction came immediately: "Melissa, don't worry about the battle between Alex, me, and these two goblins. You just need to prepare your magic bullets in advance and keep an eye on the goblin shaman. Whenever it's about to finish chanting a spell, fire a magic bullet at it to disrupt its spell casting."
Melissa bit her lip and nodded to show that she understood. She needed to focus now, preparing to launch her magic bullets while keeping a close watch on the goblin shaman's actions. She believed that she could handle this task.
Kevin now focused his attention on the movements of the sword-wielding and shield-wielding goblins. He didn't hear Melissa's response or see her nod, but he trusted that his teammate Melissa, after working together so many times, could accomplish the task given to her.
Kevin noticed that the shield-wielding goblin held a dagger in its left hand when it clashed with Alex, and he saw a strange, rust-like sheen on the dagger. His heart raced as he guessed that the dagger might be coated with poison. He let his sword hand drop slightly, the blade wrapped in an almost imperceptible aura of death. He stealthily approached from the right rear of Alex, squatting down slightly.
Just as the shield-wielding goblin's eyes turned red and it reached out to stab Alex, Kevin suddenly flicked his sword upwards, cleanly severing the goblin's fingers gripping the dagger. The goblin's attack came to an abrupt halt, and it screamed in agony. Unaffected, Kevin struck again, intending to finish off the shield-wielding goblin. At this moment, the sword-wielding goblin also stopped attacking Alex, as the taunt effect had worn off. It defended its companion, sword in hand.
On the other side, the goblin shaman was both anxious and furious. It had tried multiple times to cast a spell to enhance the goblins' combat abilities, but each time its casting was interrupted by the human female mage's magic bullets. It now decided to give up on the long-casting spells and instead use a quick-casting Weakness Beam.
The shaman's small, hidden eyes turned maliciously, filled with an evil glint. Seeing that Melissa was still watching it, the shaman came up with a plan. It pretended to chant a spell to cast the enhancement spell, but not even a third of the way through the incantation, it abruptly pointed its staff at Alex and fired a yellow beam.
Seeing the spell being released, Melissa was very panicked, but she quickly warned Kevin and Alex, "Sorry, Kevin, there's a spell coming."
Kevin remained calm, seeing the yellow beam flying towards Alex. He coolly told Alex, "It's a Weakness Beam, Alex. Trust me, you don't need to dodge."
Alex trusted Kevin and didn't try to dodge to the side, continuing his attack on the goblins. As Kevin spoke, he prepared an Activation, releasing it onto Alex just as the Weakness Beam hit him. The weakening effect of the beam and the strengthening effect of the Activation canceled each other out! Alex was unaffected.
This was the countermeasure Kevin had thought of. If they had tried to dodge the Weakness Beam, it might have given the enemy an opportunity to attack. So by having the Activation and Weakness Beam affect Alex simultaneously, not only would he not have to deliberately dodge the beam, but he also wouldn't expose any weaknesses due to changes in his physical abilities.
Once Kevin was sure that the goblin shaman had not made any further moves, he directly joined the frontal battle against the two goblins. The shield-wielding goblin's combat ability was greatly weakened due to the injury to its left hand and the effect of the death aura, and it was quickly defeated with the cooperation of Kevin and Alex.
On the other side, the goblin shaman was puzzled as to why its "ingenious" plan had not worked and was momentarily stunned. When it tried to interfere with the battle again, it found that the two ordinary goblins on its left had already been killed. It was now somewhat afraid and barked a few orders at the goblin warrior.
The goblin warrior, hearing the orders, growled back in displeasure and reluctantly retreated, guarding the shaman instead of focusing on fighting Owen. Kevin continued to give instructions, "Alex, go to Owen's side and use taunt to draw away the goblin warrior. Work together with Owen to hold him off; you don't need to defeat him, just hold him back." After saying this, Kevin cast a Rejuvenation spell on both Alex and Owen to restore their condition. Meanwhile, the goblin shaman, hiding behind the goblin warrior, had finished chanting its spell, applying the enhancement effect to the goblin warrior and the crossbow-wielding goblin.
Seeing this, Kevin said to Melissa, "Melissa, just stay behind Alex and occasionally use magic bullets on the crossbow-wielding goblin and the goblin warrior. You don't necessarily have to hit them, just disrupt them. When I get over there, stop using it and focus on protecting yourself."
Although it was unreasonable and dangerous for a cleric to engage in combat with the enemy, Melissa and the others had already recognized Kevin's combat ability through their many previous collaborations. As a cleric, Kevin could play the role of a secondary vanguard. So Melissa did not try to dissuade Kevin, but followed his instructions and moved behind Alex to disrupt the crossbow-wielding goblin and the goblin shaman.
Kevin sheathed his sword at his waist and picked up the short sword of the fallen sword-wielding goblin with his left hand, equipping the shield and poisoned dagger from the shield-wielding goblin in his right hand. He cast an Activation on himself, then circled around the goblin warrior's right side and quickly approached the crossbow-wielding goblin.
Seeing Kevin approach, the crossbow-wielding goblin immediately fired a bolt at him. Kevin blocked the bolt with his shield and then forcefully hurled the shield at the sneaky goblin shaman, followed by the poisoned dagger. The shield sent the shaman staggering backward, and the dagger pierced its thigh.
"Aaah!"
Hearing the shaman's scream, Kevin shifted his attention to the crossbow-wielding goblin in front of him. He slowed down slightly and, as the goblin finished reloading, Kevin swung his sword with both hands. With his enhanced strength and swordsmanship, the crossbow-wielding goblin was killed by this single strike. Kevin picked up the loaded crossbow and shot the arrow at the struggling shaman's staff-wielding hand.
The arrow pierced through its palm, and the pain from the injuries on its body and hand forced it to release its staff. However, before the goblin shaman could scream again, Kevin threw his short sword, piercing its body. Kevin used his Dead Eye skill to monitor the shaman's HP.
As a high-ranking goblin, the shaman had more HP than ordinary goblins, and not much less than a goblin warrior. But now, its HP had dropped to about one-sixth, and the remaining HP was a semi-transparent red, meaning that even if they left the shaman alone, it would die over time.
To prevent any accidents, Kevin walked up to the shaman, drew his sword, and severed its neck, using Dead Eye to confirm its HP had reached zero. He turned around to see that the goblin warrior, having lost the shaman's enhancement, was struggling under the combined frontal attacks of Owen and Alex and the side interference from Melissa.
Kevin chose not to join the attack but instead rested to recover his stamina. Suddenly joining an ongoing attack could cause problems, and the goblin warrior could be left to his teammates.
Sure enough, within a minute, the goblin warrior let out its final scream and fell to the ground under Owen's attack, never to rise again. Kevin used Dead Eye to confirm its death. Their team had successfully defeated the goblin shaman, goblin warrior, and other goblins in this stronghold!