Chương 82: Gotcha

Kyle looked at the goblin shaman, his gaze sharp. It was looking back at him, its murky eyes glowing an eerie green.

'I need to get rid of one of them.' His gaze drifted to the hobgoblin before bursting towards the goblin shaman.

'I'll get rid of the long-range attacker first!' Kyle crossed the distance between them in less than a second, then swung his sword in a flash.

"Clang!" His sword struck a green semi-sphere barrier, causing a tiny crack to form. Kyle's eyes sharpened, his sword leaving afterimages as it struck the same spot on the barrier, widening the crack with a speed visible to the naked eye. But before he could break the barrier, Lex came howling, thrusting his spear towards his back.

"Tch!" Kyle clicked his tongue as he jumped away, forced to give up. He stood over a dozen meters away, confronting the hobgoblin ahead and the goblin shaman behind him.

'The goblin shaman didn't display any control or lock-on attack spells so far, making it far inferior to human mages.' Kyle eyed the hunched goblin. He felt that it was natural, as the goblin shaman didn't learn sophisticated casting techniques or advanced spells in a magic academy; most of its spells should have been bloodline-endowed.

Each one of its spells took a certain period of time to cast, and the mana buildup caused him to emit very obvious fluctuations, making his spells not difficult to anticipate and dodge, especially for a super-quick attacker like Kyle. That made the goblin shaman a lower threat than the hobgoblin. In fact, if he faced either one of them, it wouldn't have taken him long to get rid of him, but two at the same time was tricky. Kyle's eyes landed on the shaman.

He felt that he was the easier target of the two and the priority target. The goblin shaman couldn't use two spells simultaneously, but it could prepare one while casting the other. Its shield had already dissipated, but the mana fluctuations around it were only getting more intense. Kyle could faintly hear a low sound of chanting.

'It's preparing another spell.' Kyle gripped his sword; his mana flowed through his body. But before he could attack, Lex suddenly howled and pounced on him. The two quickly exchanged blows, their afterimages filling the camp. Lex was a bit stronger, but he was at a severe disadvantage in terms of speed.

"Die!" Lex howled as he thrust his spear, but it only struck Kyle's afterimage. His pupils shrank as he felt the air shifting behind him, quickly shifting his position to block, but it was too late. Kyle's sword had already touched his exposed flank. Just as he was about to pierce the hobgoblin's waist, Kyle frowned and pulled back just in time to dodge a flame arrow. He shifted his center of gravity and rushed towards the goblin shaman.

"Gah!" The goblin shaman screamed as it pushed its mana through its staff, casting its barrier spell just in time to intercept Kyle's thrust. Its face was pale. Its mana was starting to run low. Sweat flowed down Kyle's face as well. Fighting two opponents relative to his level at the same time wasn't easy, but there wasn't a trace of fear in his eyes. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

He quickly struck the magic barrier, launching almost a dozen strikes in a second. Feeling the airflow and hearing the hobgoblin's feet step on the blood-soaked ground, approaching him with murderous intent, Kyle didn't budge. He continued to strike the magic barrier at breakneck speed, causing it to crack further and further.

"Haa!" The hobgoblin Lex thrust his spear at Kyle's back, vigilantly anticipating his next move, but to his surprise, Kyle didn't budge. The goblin shaman's shield was just a few strikes away from breaking, but Lex's spear was less than a meter from Kyle's neck. Time seemed to slow down. Lex's eyes widened in excitement as his spear gradually approached Kyle's neck. He was anticipating his spear piercing through Kyle's neck and decapitating him.

Though he didn't know why Kyle didn't dodge, he didn't think much of it, focusing on ending his life. However…

"Clang!" Lex's spear collided with a thin layer of energy that had just enveloped Kyle's body. A look of shock slowly appeared on his face. At the same time.

"Boom!" The energy shield surrounding the goblin shaman shattered. In the next second, amidst its terrified expression, Kyle coldly beheaded it. The goblin shaman's head rotated several times in the air before falling down, rolling across the ground to Lex's feet. The camp fell silent as Kyle slowly turned around, his eyes coldly fixed on Lex. The familiar hum of his Moonveil Barrier Pendant pulsed against his chest as the [Arcane Armor] protecting his body slowly dissipated.

He could only use it two more times today.

"You're next." He sternly said, pointing his sword at him. Without the goblin shaman's interference, it wouldn't be difficult to get rid of the hobgoblin. Kyle swung his sword to the side, flicking the blood off it before sheathing it and slowly lowering his stance. He placed his palm on the sword hilt and coldly looked at Lex, deciding to end this battle with his new technique. [Phantom Sword Dance]. Lex silently looked at the goblin shaman next to his leg before looking back at Kyle.

He suddenly kicked the head away and pulled out a red prism crystal.

"I didn't want to use this, but you didn't leave me a choice, human," Lex said with a grin on his face. Kyle frowned, his gaze landing on the red prism. His intuition told him that that thing was dangerous.

"You see, I don't really trust those cult humans, but I have to admit that much of their stuff is quite amazing," Lex exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked. He decided to try getting information from the hobgoblin.

"We would have attacked your towns a long time ago if it were not for them. They even asked us to spread around and build camps through the forest and the surrounding areas. I really don't know why the boss trusts them so much." Lex shook his head. Kyle's eyes flickered.

'That was a lot of information. Boss? Is it the leader of the goblins in the surrounding areas?'

"It doesn't matter, though; our invasion shall start soon," Lex said with a toothy grin, his yellow teeth exposed to the air. Looking at the attentive Kyle, Lex grinned, his gaze drifting to the camp. It was a mess filled with goblin corpses and blood.

"That's about it; the head of that filthy shaman should have reached the right position." The toothy grin on Lex's face slowly disappeared, replaced with excitement and madness. Kyle's heart skipped a beat; he sharply turned his head, looking at the disheveled main tent. He could see the goblin shaman's head stop just at the center of the tent. A few faint lines could be seen on the ground.

'A magic circle!' Kyle exclaimed internally. He looked back at Lex, just in time to see him crush the crystal prism.

"Gotcha!" Lex said with a maddened grin, the corner of his mouth almost reaching his ear. Kyle tried to rush forward and kill him, but it was too late. The crystal flakes hovered in front of Lex, glowing a piercing red. Following this, a magic signature flashed in the main tent. The magic circle below the shaman's head glowed, absorbing the shaman's remaining mana and blood and flesh, leaving just the skull behind.

The entire camp seemed to glow red as the blood and flesh of the goblins flowed towards the crystal flakes in front of Lex, turning into a blood cocoon that enveloped him, blocking Kyle's strikes.

"This is bad; I underestimated him." Kyle's face was grim. He quickly struck the blood cocoon, his sword leaving afterimages behind. Each of his strikes dented the cocoon, but it would bounce back the second he pulled his sword back.

"I can't damage it," Kyle muttered. He jumped back, quickly stopping next to the entrance of the camp, intending to run immediately if the situation got out of hand. The cocoon bulged and shrank repeatedly. Finally, a few seconds later, it burst, and blood and traces of flesh flowed onto the ground. Squish-Squish A monstrosity slowly walked out of it, almost three meters tall and without skin. Its muscles were completely exposed to the air, oozing blood and pus.

Its eyes no longer held that cunning light, filled with madness and hunger.

"Roar!" It heaved an earth-shattering howl, splashing the blood around it for dozens of meters. Kyle slowly wiped the drop of blood that landed on his cheek; caution and confusion filled his face.

"What the hell is that?"