At those words, everyone tensed, preparing for battle.

  Suddenly, the ground trembled violently, as if something enormous was about to erupt from beneath their feet.

  Next second—

  "SHWOOM!"

  Three razor-sharp bone spikes exploded out of the dirt right around Grul!

  Instant barbecue!

  The spikes impaled all three Gray Hat mages, skewering them as if they were kebabs.

  “Save… save me…”

  "My—my ass! It’s been impaled!"

  “AHHHHHHH!!”

  The three screamed in agony for a few seconds before falling silent.

  Gob Bene took a deep breath, relishing their contorted expressions and dying screams.

  "What beautiful screams... Boss, can I get more like this?"

  "Fuck off, you sick twisted fuck. Do whatever you want."

  Tian felt a wave of disgust. He knew Gob Bene was twisted, but this was a whole new level.

  Now he finally grasped the meaning behind "so many flowers blooming on the mountain."

  Sisuel, seeing this, raised his holy sword and charged at Gob Bene.

  This kind of attack should have been devastating against monsters, but Gob Bene didn’t even bother dodging. He simply whipped his bone tail, blocking the strike head-on.

  Then his left hand morphed into a long bone spear, thrusting it directly at Sisuel.

  "This guy’s tough!"

  Sisuel quickly retreated into the Blizzard formation.

  Holy light didn’t do extra damage to pure bone, making direct combat nearly impossible.

  Just then, Gob Kuang led a swarm of Greater Goblins in a ferocious charge.

  The mages were stunned by the sight of the skewered corpses—they didn’t dare cast any more offensive spells.

  All they could do was throw up defensive barriers to protect themselves.

  "What are you all standing around for?!"

  Grul, infuriated, stood up and began preparing a powerful spell to push the goblins back.

  But then he suddenly felt a cold sensation beneath him.

  He instantly jumped forward.

  "SHWOOM!"

  Another bone spike shot up from the ground.

  Grul panted, his face pale with terror.

  "That was close! I almost lost my ass!"

  "Too bad, Boss. Should we go all out?"

  Gob Bene asked, grinning eerily.

  Their formation was already in shambles. Tian just shrugged in response.

  "Forget it. Wipe them out."

  "ROAR!"

  Gob Kuang grabbed the shield knight’s silver shield with one hand, yanked it aside, then swung his massive axe with wild force.

  First swing—armor cracked.

  Second swing—the shield knight staggered, dazed.

  Third swing—his body was split clean in two.

  Over a hundred Greater Goblins rushed in at once.

  Facing this overwhelming tide, Sisuel finally panicked.

  "Run! Retreat! We walked right into a trap! Why are there so many Greater Goblins?!"

  Normally, a goblin tribe would be full of weak runts—easy to defeat.

  But now they faced over a hundred fully armed Greater variants.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Plus, there were Hero-tier goblins and even a Variant among them.

  Sisuel and the others tried to leap onto their warhorses and escape—

  But before they could—

  "SWISH SWISH SWISH!"

  A hail of arrows suddenly rained down from afar.

  Every warhorse was struck, panicking and scattering in all directions.

  There was no way to ride them now.

  Sisuel’s legs turned to jelly.

  "We’re doomed... I should’ve known! There are elves shooting from the trees! I should have realized!"

  He no longer cared about anyone else—he just sprinted forward in panic.

  Behind him, blood-curdling screams rang out.

  Sisuel glanced back and saw the most horrifying sight of his life. Tears threatened to fall.

  "I want to run! Please, Dad, just send the regular army! I give up!"

  Seven or eight people were skewered on bone spikes—impaled deliberately to avoid fatal spots so they wouldn’t die immediately.

  They writhed helplessly, like insects pinned for display.

  Their mouths let out faint, pathetic squeaks.

  "Heh... Gob Kuang, don’t kill them yet. Let me have my fun first."

  Gob Bene grinned like a fucking psycho.

  Gob Kuang casually grabbed Grul and thrust him onto a spike.

  “Sure.”

  "No! Sisuel! Help me!"

  Grul screamed, tears and snot running down his face, veins bulging on his forehead and his eyes wide with terror.

  But Sisuel had no time to care.

  He suddenly noticed something moving rapidly in the bushes beside him.

  It was too fast—catching up within seconds.

  "Help! Someone help me!"

  Sisuel finally broke down in tears—after all, he was just a nineteen-year-old who had barely entered adulthood.

  With death closing in from all sides, he could no longer hold himself together.

  Then he saw her—a figure clad head-to-toe in heavy armor, radiating an aura of safety.

  The Goblin Slayer!

  "Ma’am! Please, save me!"

  Sisuel reached out desperately, his face pleading.

  If he could, he would have dropped to his knees on the spot.

  The Goblin Slayer saw their pitiful state, exactly as she had anticipated.

  "Just one Variant? Fine... at least this will be interesting."

  Sisuel used every ounce of strength he had left—run, faster, faster!

  Get to her side!

  Unfortunately, disaster was always one step ahead.

  The Goblin Assassins hidden in the bushes leapt out, swarming him, stabbing and biting furiously.

  Luckily, his armor was thick—he took no real damage.

  But his movements slowed to a crawl.

  He staggered, unable to walk straight.

  The goblins clung to him relentlessly.

  His weapon was snatched away first.

  (Tian had specifically trained them for this—steal the weapon first if possible.)

  Suddenly, everything went dark in front of Sisuel.

  Gob Tian had leapt onto his face.

  His claws were sharper than any shortsword.

  With a few swipes, the helmet was shredded.

  Gob Tian opened his mouth, filled with saw-like teeth and reeking of rot, ready to take a bite—

  Like facing an all-you-can-eat buffet.

  "SWISH!"

  A dagger suddenly flew in, stabbing into Gob Tian’s back.

  The pain made him jump off at once, rolling on the ground in agony, twisting as if possessed.

  Sensing something was wrong, the other Goblin Assassins struck by daggers did the same—writhing and screaming as if their bones were breaking.

  With one final shriek, they all fell still.

  They lay dead, twisted into grotesque shapes.

  Terrified, Sisuel crawled on his hands and knees to the Goblin Slayer’s feet.

  "Thank you! Thank you! I’ll repay you, I swear!"

  "Will you listen?"

  The Goblin Slayer asked calmly, picking up her dagger.

  Sisuel nodded frantically.

  Only then did she continue speaking.

  "If you’re obedient, then get away from me. As far as you can go, pathetic kid."

  "What are you doing?! Don’t go over there! This isn’t a normal goblin tribe—there’s definitely a Goblin Overlord! I’ve never seen a tribe where every single one is Greater! Don’t go!"

  Sisuel nearly screamed, wishing he could drop to his knees and beg on the spot.

  But the Goblin Slayer didn’t care.

  "Really? I was actually worried there wouldn’t be a Goblin Overlord. The more, the better. That’s what makes this fun for me."

  She strode forward, her steps calm and confident.

  At that moment, Gob Bene and the others were still tormenting Grul and the rest on the spikes.

  With dozens of eyes staring at them as if they were meat on a grill, they were on the verge of collapse.

  It was too cruel, too terrifying.

  They would have preferred death; this slow torture was a thousand times worse.

  "SWISH!"

  Suddenly, a small dagger flew in.

  It stabbed directly into Gob Kuang’s body.

  It barely fazed him—he casually pulled it out.

  "What is this thing?"

  While he was still wondering, his eyes suddenly trembled.

  A violent, searing pain shot from the wound straight to his brain.

  His muscles bulged, veins popped, and teeth clenched—he began smashing into everything around him like a mad bull.

  He knocked down trees, then slammed headfirst into a giant boulder and passed out cold.

  "What’s wrong with you, Gob Kuang? Have you gone mad?!"

  Gob Bene looked stunned. The other Greater Goblins stared at each other in confusion.

  Grul and the others finally noticed her.

  "Goblin... Slayer!"

  They looked at her as if she were their savior.

  They wanted to cry out for help, but didn’t dare—any loud noise felt like it would tear them apart.

  (As an aside: some say shouting makes you tense up involuntarily.

  It’s even worse if you’re already hurt.)

  Tian had noticed her arrival long ago, but he couldn’t figure out what kind of ability this was.

  Defeating Goblin Assassins was one thing, but now Gob Kuang and Gob Tian were both down.

  He couldn’t even tell if they were dead or alive.

  Gob Bene spotted her too. He whipped his bone tail and stabbed at her viciously.

  The Goblin Slayer simply grabbed the tail with one hand, drew the massive rusted greatsword from her back, and—

  CHOP!

  The entire tail was severed in a single, clean swing.

  Gob Bene didn’t feel pain, but he had just lost a weapon.

  The Goblin Slayer tossed the tail aside, shouldered her greatsword, and asked casually,

  "Are you the boss of this goblin pack?"

  Her tone was skeptical.

  How did this ragtag bunch manage to defeat the Sword Saint?

  Strength? Impossible.

  Intelligence? Even less likely, judging by their appearance.

  Gob Bene roared in fury.

  "Kill her!"

  The moment he gave the order, every Greater Goblin around him charged.

  The Goblin Slayer didn’t flinch.

  She spun—like a whirlwind.

  One full rotation with that massive sword!

  A dozen Greater Goblins were instantly maimed—arms, legs, and torsos sliced open.

  Not quite instant kills.

  But then the same strange phenomenon occurred again.

  Every wounded goblin began screaming and thrashing as if possessed.

  Within less than a minute, thirty to forty Greater Goblins dropped dead.

  Rushing in again would be suicide.

  Up in the sky, Tian’s expression turned grave.

  "What is her trick? The system shows her skills are just ordinary attacks—no magic at all?"

  But right now, they had suffered their heaviest losses yet.

  In such a short time.

  The surviving Greater Goblins were too afraid to approach.