Chapter 48 - THE GOBLIN VILLAGE?

The trio walked deeper into the forest, hoping they would find some traces of the goblins."Hah!" William scoffed in annoyance, "We have been searching for the goblin village for two days. Why can't we find any traces of it?" Frustration was visible on his face as his amethyst eyes were dim due to exhaustion and his mouth drooped low since they couldn't find the village."We will find them soon, William. You need to have patience when you are searching for something in a forest as thick as this," Achlys taught as she swatted away a plant in front of her.Ever since they entered the forest, all they could see was green. Most of the monsters too adapted to this forest and turned green, making a very effective camouflage.William nodded his head at her and relaxed a little. But still, his brows were creased and tension was visible on his face as he walked up front.Achlys, who was behind William, turned to her side toward Seraphina; she had been silent for a few hours and kept her head down while walking."What happened? Why are you so silent?" Achlys asked while she placed her hand on Seraphina's shoulders.William too perked his ears up at her question; he was wondering what was up with her and what made her sad."Mhmm," Seraphina snapped out of her reverie when she felt Achlys's hand on her shoulder. "It's nothing; it's just that I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen."William and Achlys frowned at her reply. William checked his surroundings to see if that owl had been following them since he had gotten a bad feeling when he looked at the owl.Achlys too, narrowed her eyes when she listened to her. 'If Seraphina is getting a bad feeling means that something is wrong'RUSSLE RUSSLEAs they were about to continue on with their journey. The group heard something moving a few feet away from them.William and the girls exchanged knowing glances and retracted their auras.RUSSLE RUSSLEThey followed the movement carefully, trying not to make any sound. William was especially careful since he had made a mistake before.'I don't want to make a mistake again!' he said to himself. He checked the ground for any twigs before taking a step.The trio followed the sound; the closer they got, the more noise whatever was under the bushes made.KRRR KRRR KRRAs they were a few feet away from the monster, the group heard a noise coming from the source of the movement.William turned toward Seraphina and whispered, "Is that a goblin?" His eyes shone in anticipation while he prayed inwardly that it would be a goblin.Seraphina, watching William look at her with anticipation, smiled while she nodded her head. "It's a goblin," she confirmed.William smiled at her confirmation; he moved even more carefully and turned toward Achlys and mumbled, "Can your molds of darkness be used to track something?"Achlys's eyes widened a little at his ingenuity and answered, "Yes, I can track the goblins wherever they go for the next few hours."William's face lit up in excitement. "Then we will ca-" as he was about to tell his plan to the girls. The goblins, sensing something near them, came out of their hiding.Just like before, the goblins were in a group of four, but unlike the previous goblins, which only had one weapon shared among the group. Each carried their own weapon in this group.Their body was covered in animal skin, and one of them even had a female breastplate on his chest.William narrowed his eyes at the goblin with the breastplate; his eyes shone with anger when he noticed blood marks on them, indicating that they had been taken forcefully from a female.He gritted his teeth in fury and frustration since he couldn't kill them right away. Especially the goblin wearing the breastplate.'That goblin is special; it's the only one with armor.'KEE KEE KEEEThe goblins laughed sinisterly as they looked at the girls. Their green eyes shone with lust as their disgusting gazes traveled down their bodies.KRR KRR KR KRRRThe goblin with the breastplate made some noises while pointing his hand toward William.In the next moment, one of the goblins rushed at William with a broken sword in its hand.William's face turned red with anger when he understood the goblins' actions. "You want to kill me and take them away!""I will kill all of you!" he roared as he swung his hand down at the incoming goblin.'Earth'BANGSPLASHEverything happened in a split second; the moment the goblin reached William, it swung its hand toward his neck.But before the sword could connect, William swung his hand down on the goblin's head. His hand, which was imbued with earth mana, shattered the goblin's head upon contact.The goblin's brain splattered all over William, drenching him in green blood and goo."Ugh!" William's face contorted into one of disgust as he used wind mana to clean himself. While doing so, he glanced at Achlys.Achlys, who had already spread molds of darkness on the goblins, nodded at William in confirmation.'Wind'William then used wind mana to create a wind slash and aimed it at the tree behind the goblins to scare them.FWOOSHSLASHThe wind slash easily cut through the tree trunk and split the tree in half.BOOMThe tree fell to the ground with a boom, scaring the goblins and some small monsters nearby. The goblin with the breastplate looked at William, horrified.Its green pupils shrank in fear while its legs quivered vigorously. With its hand shaking, it pushed the remaining two goblins toward William while it shouted.KREE KREE KREEEEIt then turned around and fled the scene, turning back once in a while.The remaining two looked at William in fright. Their hands and legs shook, terrified of their impending death.They clasped their hands together as if begging for mercy, but would William show any mercy to the monsters."Absolutely not!" he mumbled and rushed toward them. 'Earth' Using earth mana on his hands, he punched the goblins right in their heads.BOOMSPLASHJust like before, the goblins' brains rained down on William, making him grumble in annoyance while cleaning his clothes.CHUCKLESeraphina chuckled at William, who was wiping off the mess while cursing the goblins for the mess."What?" William asked, still annoyed by the mess he had created.Seraphina shook her head and replied, "It's nothing; I just think that you are cute." She said, her lips curled into a smile while her golden eyes glinted at him, clearly amused.William stiffened at her words, his cheeks reddening a little in embarrassment. But as he was about to reply,AHEMAchlys cleared her throat and glared at Seraphina, 'Hmph, annoying woman!' She snorted inwardly and muttered, "We have to follow that goblin or else we might lose it."Even though she could track the goblin for the next few hours, she didn't want to see Seraphina make advances at William.'I wish I could punch her face! Hmph!' she grumbled inwardly as she saw Seraphina smirk at her.William turned serious at Achlys's words and said, "She is correct; we should follow that goblin. It might lead us to the village."He clenched his fists in anticipation while his amethyst eyes shone with determination to annihilate the goblins."Lead the way, 'Sister,'" Seraphina muttered while she emphasized 'Sister.'Achlys pursed her lips and began to run in the direction in which the goblin had escaped.The trio followed the goblin for a few hours and kept some distance between them and the goblin.On their way, some small monsters wanted to attack them, but the moment they released their aura, they ran away. Never disturbing them again.The goblin too increased its pace when it sensed the powerful humans following it. It looked out on the horizon to see the sun setting into the distance; it smirked as it increased the pace, thinking that it might outrun them in the night.As time passed, the light in the forest began to fade away. If the forest could be described as green during the day. Now it could only be described as black.The area they were in is now thick with trees and bushes, blocking all the moonlight and starlight.'I feel like I am back in the pitch-black darkness,' William mumbled as he recalled the void he used to train in.Wherever he looked, it was black. He didn't know if he was looking at a tree, a bush, or a monster. Seraphina was a little better off than William since she was a master, but she too had trouble deducing which was which.But if they can't see anything, then how could they even be running, you might wonder. It's because of Achlys.Achlys was the princess of the entire Ravina continent. The continent which was known to be cursed with eternal night. This pitch darkness felt like home to her.She grabbed both William and Seraphina's hands and effortlessly guided them through the forest like it was a piece of cake.They continued in the darkness for another few hours before Achlys stopped and informed, "We have arrived."William and Seraphina's eyes widened when they saw flickering torches of light standing in front of them, neatly arranged in a row like that of an army.The light from the torches fell on the goblins, who were holding the torches. Their green eyes shone under the light as they stared at them menacingly."This isn't a village, its a city!" Seraphina asked, her voice barely a whisper as she stared at thousands of goblins standing in front of what seemed like a city.KRRR KRRR KRRRThe goblins growled at the trio, releasing their aura at them. Thousands of green auras hit the group like a tsunami."Humans! KRR You have come to die! KRRR"If the trio had no problem wiping out the goblin army before, now, though, "This will be a little tricky," Seraphina muttered, looking at a master-stage goblin.