Immediately, the archer drew his longbow fully, aiming an arrow at the goblin's heart!
The arrow bounced off.
"It even has iron armor? How is that possible?" A man exclaimed in surprise.
The Silver Blade Captain, however, was not too surprised, "Perhaps it killed a human and took the iron armor. Nothing to be shocked about."
Seeing the bow and arrow were ineffective, the spearman began to gather strength!
He suddenly hurled his spear!
"Whoosh!"
The sound of it tearing through the air was deafening.
The goblin was directly pierced and pinned to a large tree behind it.
"Easy kill."
The spearman said proudly, looking very disdainful.
But then, the goblin moved! It slowly pulled out the spear embedded in its body.
This scene shocked everyone.
The spearman couldn't believe it, "How is this possible?! My attack can kill a third-tier monster! A mere goblin? Even a big goblin should be dead!"
He had killed many big goblins before.
This was the first time his full-strength attack failed to kill one.
"Something is off. Antu, hit it with a spell to finish it." The Silver Blade Captain ordered, frowning.
The mage started chanting, but a terrifying roar interrupted him.
"Roar!"
The roar of the big goblin echoed through the forest, causing birds to flee in panic!
There were movements all around.
One, two, three!
One after another, big goblins equipped with iron armor and swords appeared!
Antu was at a loss, "Damn, there are forty or fifty of them! Captain!"
"There are more. Look above. I spotted goblin assassins! What kind of goblin tribe did we provoke?"
The Silver Blade Captain dismounted, drawing a silver longsword engraved with holy runes.
The runes dealt extra damage to monsters.
He joked, "Do you think we can handle this? If not, we can retreat."
"Hmph, it's just a group of big goblins. We can handle it."
The spearman said confidently.
The others stayed silent, remaining very vigilant.
But it wasn't over.
The ground started to shake.
A massive entity was approaching, each step causing blood pressure to rise and hearts to race!
"Crack! Crack!"
In the distance, towering trees were falling and leaning.
The Silver Blade Captain and his men swallowed hard, "It's coming!"
Four scarlet eyes glowed ominously in the darkness, slowly approaching.
The height of those eyes indicated a massive creature, two to three meters tall!
They finally saw it clearly.
A large, gray goblin with green spots, bulging muscles, and a head much smaller compared to its body.
It had four arms!
It carried a longsword, a large beast's fang, and even a spear.
The other goblins made way for it!
It was Gobu Kuang!
The hulking goblin had evolved into a hero variant! A powerful goblin!
"Is he the leader of these goblins? Quite intimidating."
The Silver Blade Captain tightened his grip on his longsword.
The spearman took two spears from his horse, "A hero variant with four arms, I'll take him on first! Mid-tier Martial Skill: Storm Spear!"
He immediately hurled a spear!
It was a skill-powered attack!
The spear whistled through the air, aimed straight at Gobu Kuang's head.
Gobu Kuang caught the spear with one hand and threw it back!
At that moment, the other goblins attacked simultaneously!
They aimed to tear the humans apart.
The spearman's pupils contracted. He had a premonition he couldn't dodge the returning spear, so he quickly sidestepped.
The next second, his brown horse was pierced and pinned to a tree like a roasted lamb.
"Damn it!"
Watching his beloved horse die, the spearman was enraged! He began his attack!
"Mid-tier Martial Skill: Hurricane Spear!"
He enchanted his spear, each swing releasing powerful gusts.
It could push back big goblins.
But it was ineffective against Gobu Kuang. The four-armed goblin opened his arms and struck at the Silver Blade Captain with his longsword and the giant tooth.
Each clash of their weapons sent shocks through the captain's arms!
"Impossible! Does a hero variant have such monstrous strength?"
Sweat began to bead on the Silver Blade Captain's forehead.
Seeing he was unable to break free, the archer in the distance fully drew her bow and activated a skill, "Mid-tier Archery: Power Shot!"
If this hit the head, even a hero variant should fall!
However, it required thirty seconds to charge, hence the name "Power Shot."
Unbeknownst to her, a small figure was slowly approaching.
"Splurt!"
A sharp claw viciously pierced the female archer's abdomen! Dragging her away swiftly!
"Damn it! Dimi got ambushed! I told you there were goblin assassins! Why didn't you pay attention?!"
The Silver Blade Captain roared angrily, wanting to chase but was entangled, unable to break free.
The others were in the same situation.
Mage Antu's face showed panic, "Captain, didn't you notice something's wrong? These goblins are unusually tough! It's been so long and we still haven't killed one!"
"You think I don't know? This is insane!"
The spearman cursed. He was already injured but had only managed to kill one goblin.
In the distance.
The goblin that had grabbed Dimi finally revealed itself.
Unlike the goblin assassins, it was even shorter than a low-level goblin!
About the size of a pet dog.
Its entire body was black-purple.
Naked, grotesque, with eyes so large they nearly took up its entire face, resembling an alien.
Both its feet and clawed hands were exceptionally sharp. Despite its small size, it was incredibly strong, effortlessly dragging a much larger human while running swiftly.
"Hehehehehehehehe!"
It laughed sinisterly while running.
This was Gobu Tian, who had evolved into a hero variant! The Dark Goblin.
A ghostly presence.
It then ran up a tree, carrying the female archer. Even without using its hands, it easily reached the treetop.
And hung her on a branch.
Using the blood hole in her abdomen, impaling her on the branch.
"Ahhh! It hurts! Someone save me, Captain, Sword Saintess! Cough, cough!"
Dimi screamed in agony, blood continuously gushing from her mouth, choking her.
Seeing the grotesque Gobu Tian nearby, she screamed in horror, "Ghost! Monster!"
But screaming caused her abdominal pain to almost make her faint!
"My intestines are torn, liver and lungs punctured, my stomach feels like it's falling out. I don't want to die. I want to go home and eat my mom's pumpkin pie, boohoo…"
Despair and terror overwhelmed her mind, everything happened so suddenly, as if she had fallen into hell instantly.
The memory of her mom's pumpkin pie was the only thing she could think of that gave her a sense of security.
But, it was merely a deathbed hallucination.
…
Back in the forest battle.
Everyone was injured, no matter how much they roared or struggled, it was futile.
The Silver Blade Captain could only fight Gobu Kuang with all his might, unable to care for the situation behind him.
He got stabbed twice.
The severe pain rendered him powerless, as Gobu Kuang grabbed him.
The remaining members were also gravely wounded, caught by Gobu Kuang, unable to break free.
The spearman's hands trembled with fear, "No, I need to get reinforcements!"
With the team captured and Dimi's fate unknown, continuing to fight was meaningless. He turned to flee.
Suddenly!
A grotesque creature hung upside down from a treetop, its two abyssal black eyes staring at him.
He staggered in fright.
It was Gobu Tian.
The spearman forced himself to keep running, but Gobu Tian climbed onto his back, tearing at him, shredding his iron armor and ripping chunks of flesh away!
Fueled by adrenaline, the spearman ignored the pain and charged forward!
Then suddenly, he felt his left foot lose balance and fell to the ground.
Seeing clearly, he screamed in horror, "Ahhh! My foot! Where's my foot?!"
Following the blood trail, he saw his severed foot ahead, being picked up and gnawed on by a goblin assassin!
"Hell! This is hell!"
Luckily, Gobu Tian was thrown off. The spearman activated a high-tier skill, "Wind God! Take me away! Wind's Blessing!"
A violent windstorm erupted in the forest!
A whirlwind swept the spearman into the air, rapidly leaving the enchanted forest.
During this time, he saw a horrific scene, "Ahhh! Dimi!"
Her gruesome death nearly broke him.
"He escaped."
Looking up, Gobu Kuang said calmly.
Gobu Tian returned with Dimi's corpse, saying, "Kekeke, let's go! We need to report back to the boss!"
The remaining goblins danced and cheered.
It was almost becoming goblin corporate culture.
In this battle, only three goblin warriors and one goblin assassin were lost.
The loss was minimal.
In the Tian Kuang Tribe, Lin Tian watched the forest, hearing the commotion from afar but unclear about what happened.
Loder's face was full of pride, "It must be the Sword Saintess coming to rescue me! The imperial family will surely send someone too! Your death is near! Hahaha! Hahaha! My time has come! My time has come!"
His voice was almost hysterical.
The wait had been too long, the torment too painful!
He was like Fan Jin passing the imperial exam.
Lin Tian also felt doubtful, ready to flee with Gobu Yue at any moment. The others could die, but Loder had to be killed before leaving.
Ifreya had been successfully brainwashed and could be spared for some fun.
But when he saw the group of goblins returning, his heart finally eased a bit.
He almost thought the madwoman Sword Saintess had come.
Seeing Gobu Tian and Gobu Kuang's appearance, he was pleasantly surprised.
Gobu Kuang held four people, with Gobu Tian perched on his shoulder, leading dozens of big goblins back.
"Oh? They captured so many people? Wait! Isn't their presence a bit too intense?"
Lin Tian was happy but suddenly felt pressure!
He almost forgot they had evolved into hero variants! Could they possibly turn on him?