Marni Wilf regretted it so much that his intestines turned green.
He was a traveling merchant belonging to the Silver Chimes guild, and to shorten the time it took to transport goods, he had chosen the dangerous path through Dray Forest two days ago.
After all, there had never been any dangerous magical beasts in Dray Forest, and while there had been reports of goblins sightings recently, a single goblin wasn't dangerous. Moreover, Dray Forest was huge, and he didn't think that he would be so unlucky as to run into a goblin horde …
And now, they really did run into one, and it was their caravan that had run headlong into a migrating goblin horde due to a lack of food.
The goblins, red-eyed with hunger, displayed extraordinary combat ability. Leaving aside the fact that the caravan's camel beasts were all killed, even a few of the skilled mercenaries were injured.
It was fortunate that the Goddess of Riches took pity on them. Just as they were about to be wiped out, five hill-folk children jumped out of nowhere, and used some mystical ability that could have been divine or magical to temporarily delay the goblin horde's advance.
Be that as it may, the advantage of confusion from their ambush vanished, the five children were caught in the quagmire of the goblins' horde tactics.
The burliest warrior that Marni had mistaken for an adult was pinned down by a horde of goblins in a human pyramid, unable to move.
The imp with the crossbow could only run all over the place when the goblins closed in on him, occasionally turning around and sliding to knock a goblin to the ground before continuing to run …
The older girl stopped buffing the others and instead shielded the other girl, using a cross that greatly contrasted with her physique to knock the approaching goblins away.
As for the younger girl, she kept casting healing spells, although Marni couldn't tell if it was from the Temple of Life or the Brilliant White Church even with his knowledge. Either way, it was thanks to her that the children were able to hold on until now.
Their leader (Edward) wasn't able to keep casting spells like before either. Instead, he was running all over the place, only casting a spell after a long time while mumbling weird things like 'My blue bar is empty', 'Move, Joe, why aren't you moving' or 'Eleena, heal Doggie's eggs, he's dying'. But in the end, he still couldn't escape. Surrounded by four goblins, they stabbed him in the stomach with their rusty iron swords.
Though the Wizard imp knocked the Goblin to the ground and pulled out the rusty sword from his body, he held his breath and stabbed the Goblin to death. But the Wizard imp was not going to survive.
It seemed like everything had come to an end.
Although he was sorry, it seemed that the remaining children would not be able to escape the fate of being killed by the Goblins.
Marni began to think about what he should do next — should he incite the mercenaries to fight to the end, or should he look for a chance to escape?
However, at this moment, he suddenly noticed a strange smile on the mage's face.
"Gosh, the Goblin experience is high. I leveled up!"
After saying those words, the Goblins, who were in a sorry state after being chased, started casting magic again, blasting the Goblins who had the upper hand and were careless to the ground.
Looking at his lively appearance, it was impossible to tell that he had just been stabbed by the Goblin.
Then, Marni noticed that though the clothes over the young mage's abdomen were torn, there was no wound on his body at all!
That's not right. He clearly saw that the Rusty Iron Sword had stabbed him in the stomach, and the flesh around the wound had curled and blood was gushing out. But now, the bloodstains on his clothes were clearly there, so why was the wound gone? What about the huge wound?
Then, something that defied Marni's common sense even more happened.
The young warrior who had been squashed by a pile of Goblins and was almost minced into meat paste, and was only hanging on thanks to the silver-haired twin-ponytailed girl's divine healing spell suddenly burst out.
The Goblins that were squashing him were sent flying for some reason, while all the wounds on his body vanished. Even his panting from the intense battle was gone, and he became spirited instead, as if all the effort he used was fake.
"It's true! I leveled up too!"
He said happily, staring blankly at the air in front of him. Then, he simply pulled out a Goblin's weapon and yelled, "Damn it! Even a goblin's wooden club has more damage than the best sword in our village!" Then, he dashed towards the still dazed Goblins.
Compared to the flick and back throw just now, his swordsmanship seemed to have improved, and he had learned an attack that allowed him to stab twice consecutively. Not only could this Flurry Stab deal two damage to the Goblins, but it could also push the Goblins back a certain distance.
Still, he didn't seem to have mastered it, and needed a run-up to unleash it. That was why he was seen running back and forth with a bunch of Goblins …
And it wasn't just the two of them — even the crossbow-wielding youth seemed to have suddenly become stronger. Even though he had been running all over the place just now … he was still running all over the place. Still, compared to his ragged state just now, he could often turn around and unleash rapid bursts of arrows, taking out a Goblin almost every time.
Bloody hell. How many arrows did he actually have?
Marni quietly counted the number of arrows the man had used, and couldn't help wondering where he had hidden them.
"I leveled up too." The slightly older girl stopped waving her cross in astonishment. She said softly, "Is it so profitable to fight against goblins …"
"That's great! Sister Jessica, you have to use Slow Heal! That way, I'll be free!" The little girl she was protecting cheered happily, before running towards the Goblins despite the other girl's attempts to stop her.
Marni couldn't help frowning at the thoughtless act, feeling that something was wrong.
The reason they could last until now was because the little girl kept casting her healing spells — it wasn't just the hill-folk brats either — even the mercenaries on their side were being taken care of, and if it wasn't for her healing spells, at least half of them would have fallen!
But now, she was strutting right in front of the Goblins. Wasn't that just suicide?!
Unable to hold back, Marni wanted the mercenaries to help protect the girl, or at least prevent her from being killed by the Goblins.
And that was when he saw the most shocking sight he had seen so far.
The air seemed to have frozen as endless golden radiance gathered in the girl's hand. Apart from the girl and the light in her hand, the entire world seemed to have lost all color, and even the Goblins' movements slowed countless times.
In the next split second, the surging holy power that even bystanders could feel in awe condensed into a colossal, dazzling spear.
The spear was elegant and beautiful. Even if it was just a shape given by the flowing light, it was like a divine relic, and no one could tear their eyes away from its pure beauty.