The underground room was huge and probably used as a warehouse in the past. But after so many years, there was nothing left, if not some rotten wooden crates.
It made no sense for the young man to stay there and waste more time, so after quickly inspecting the area for something useful, he headed for what looked like stairs to the surface.
The road was not much, and the young man found himself inside a small structure partly ruined after a few minutes.
'Mhm?! Am I back on the surface?'
The young man silently approached the partially destroyed wall and peered outside.
'Finally... That pile of crystals in the ceiling is proof of this. I'm inside the Stronghold. I don't know how many goblins remain, but it's better to split them and kill those beasts separately.'
The young man's plan was simple, but to implement it, he had to act in the shadows and hit as many enemies as possible with craftiness.
To work, his plan relied mainly on the Darkisher, but Atlas was uncertain about the operation's success with the bluish light produced by those crystals.
Wrapped in his cloak and hidden in the darkness, Atlas bypassed the central part of the Stronghold from which the loud noises came
and headed towards the walls, where there were several goblins.
Atlas thought about a plan to hide his movements from the goblins and alert the entire Stronghold teeming with enemies.
The first, second, and third lonely goblins perished after a few well-placed stealth chops, but later, the story became rough.
Those assassinations had taken place in total silence and in a secluded area, but luck tends to change sometimes and backfire on even the luckiest man in the world.
'Heck... a group of three! Fighting against them will surely attract others... Better to avoid them for the moment...'
Atlas avoided the first group but was forced to evade the following two groups, consisting of three and two Goblins.
Atlas did not let himself be overwhelmed by numerous creatures around him and instead continued to scour every corner of the Stronghold to confirm the exact number of enemies.
Moving slowly and in the shadows, the young man took a long time to finish the search. Nevertheless, it was not all in vain because he obtained a lot of information, including places to hide and the approximate number of goblins in the Stronghold.
'In addition to the first three groups... Four sentinels are positioned at the top of the walls and... and that damn monster! They are all comparable to Advanced Stage Primordial Chaos Realm except that monster that is definitely at the level of a Peak Stage Primordial Chaos Realm... It will be tough...'
Atlas had scoured the area with great care and eventually discovered that there were still thirteen goblins, including the big fellow who was madly roaring in the innermost part of the Stronghold.
'That bastard must be the leader of this group, and it was definitely that creature, with its stupid actions, who sent me into that abyss.'
The one ruling over those greedy creatures was undoubtedly one with greater intellect and fighting strength than all the others of inferior rank, making him a fearsome opponent.
'Before fighting with that thug, I have to minimize its allies, but I can't waste any more time either. Otherwise, the absence of the fallen will alert the others... Hmm...'
During the investigation, he had already identified excellent points to place traps or diversions, so he implemented the second part of his plan without wasting any more time.
'First of all, I have to divide those small groups, but also avoid the prying eyes of the sentinels... It won't be easy!'
A few steps away from the group with two goblins, there was a ruined house perfect for his first assassination.
The diversion was trivial but more than enough for stupid creatures like goblins.
After all, for them, greed was one of the most remarkable qualities...
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A strange noise caught the attention of the Goblin Soldier.
Initially, that noise only caused the creature to turn its head in that direction. But its small body moved towards that place when his bright eyes noticed something shining among a pile of rubble.
That sound had been very light but enough to attract only one of them.
It was evident from its shining eyes that something incredible had attracted the creature there since not even his mouth could remain closed.
That stupid creature could not keep quiet, but luckily, the others didn't glance in its direction even once.
The goblin entered the house full of rubble without fear because it was sure that no one else was there. But unfortunately for it, that creature was not the only living being in that place.
The goblin acted quickly, and within moments, the rocks hiding the treasure were removed, revealing a beautiful pile of gold and silver stones.
Of course, that creature did not wonder how all those precious things had ended up in that place and instead moved forward, ready to grab them quickly. Alas, when its green hand was a few inches from the treasure, an icy blade mowed down the goblin's head...
Atlas didn't let the head touch the ground and instead caught it midair to avoid alerting the enemy still located outside the house.
'Out one...'
Clearing the area, Atlas waited no longer and threw one of the gold stones at the door edge to a spot visible from the other goblin.
Of course, the noise and that brilliant thing pushed the other creature to leave his position and follow the horrible fate of its companion.
'With these two, it went well. But given the difficult position of the next groups, I will have to think about another plan or... Improve the one just implemented... Hmm...'
The number of enemies was simply too high to handle alone and keep his life away from the icy, sharp jaws of death, so Atlas exploited the most potent weapon of any intelligent creature: his craftiness.