Chương 90: Scorched Earth

The massive plasma sphere fell, its immense speed and the intense energy it radiated tearing the air around it, turning it scorching hot. As it was about to collide with the ground, a large green fire skull, almost ten meters tall, flew out of the ground and collided with it. The plasma sphere and the green skull collided, tearing the air around them and creating a huge shockwave. The two locked in a brief stalemate before the sphere broke through the green skull and fell onto the earth.

"Boom!!!" The plasma sphere burst upon impacting the ground, expanding into a massive destructive lightning sphere over 100 meters wide. The blinding light forced Kyle to shield his eyes. What followed was an earth-shaking shockwave, spreading from the point of impact into the town, shaking the houses on the way, and sending any creature still standing on the open ground flying.

"Holy shit!" Barrett exclaimed as he placed his shield in front of him. Rowan and Kyle rushed to hide behind him. A few seconds later, the massive shockwave reached them.

"Ugh!" Barrett grunted as the shockwave hit his shield. His muscles bulged and his feet dug into the ground, sliding back nearly a meter before he steadied himself. Kyle gripped Barrett's shoulder to brace himself, his hair and clothes whipping violently behind him. The heat stung his exposed skin. A few seconds later, the shockwave passed. Kyle stepped out from behind the shield, his ears ringing. Silas had hidden behind them at some point, promptly disappearing after the shockwave passed.

Kyle, Barrett, and Rowan just stood there, looking at the teetering wall in the distance.

"What kind of monster drops something like that?" Barrett muttered, lowering his shield and rolling his aching shoulder. Kyle didn't respond. He looked toward the distant prairie beyond the walls, where a massive column of smoke rose from the point of impact. Even from here, the air smelled faintly of scorched earth.

'Is this the power of a high-level mage? She's just a rank 2, so the most powerful spell she could use is 6th circle spells.' A myriad of thoughts swirled across Kyle's mind. Seeing what mages could do even at rank 2, Kyle was shocked. Of course, he knew that not all mages were capable of such destructive capability. Even among 6th circle spells, that spell should be among the most destructive. Moreover, Selene had a special class, making her among the most powerful at her level.

In the end, Kyle shook his head and stored those thoughts away. He was still in the midst of battle. After a brief pause, goblins started rushing out from the underground entrance again, forcing them to focus on blocking them. The number of corpses around the hole grew more and more, yet the goblins didn't seem to stop. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"We can't keep going on like this; my stamina wouldn't hold on for much longer." Barrett panted; he wiped the mixture of sweat and blood on his face, smudging it even further. Kyle was also starting to get tired. He didn't count exactly how many goblins he had killed or how many times he had swung his sword, but it was at least over a hundred. His arms were getting sore, and his mana was also dwindling.

Although he rarely used other combat skills other than the basic [Mana Enhancement], his mana was still hovering around 50% capacity.

"Don't worry. I talked to a guard captain I know, and he told me that an earth mage would soon arrive to plug the underground entrance. We only need to hold on until he arrives." Rowan said, swinging his sword at a goblin that tried jumping over him, bisecting it. A few seconds later, a few figures appeared from the corner of the wrecked street. A mage and three knights.

"Just in time!" Rowan said, a smile appearing on his face. The mage and the knights reached them in just a few seconds; they looked disheveled, their faces were also covered with sweat, and the knights' swords and armor were covered with blood, but they still had proud and spirited expressions. Kyle noticed the silver chariot emblem on their spaulders; a golden inverted V was inscribed on the chariot's armor. They were knights under the Silver Chevron.

"We'll take over this entrance. Go assist Lord Matthias at the largest underground hole." The mage ordered them expressionlessly, not giving them the chance to speak. The three of them looked at each other, unhappy with the mage's bossy tone, but they decided that contradicting the mage at this critical moment wasn't a good idea.

"Understood." They just nodded and rushed towards the largest underground entrance, not forgetting to kill goblins and rescue civilians along the way. With their nearly superhuman strength, it wasn't difficult for the three of them to move rubble covering civilians and rescue them. All civilians who could still move headed toward other districts. Guards had already established defensive points at the intersection of the southern district, preventing goblins from heading to other parts of the town.

Of course, whether they would allow the commoners and thugs to head towards other districts was another matter. Kyle didn't bother thinking of that. The fate of civilians who lost their home and whether they were stopped from entering other districts was beyond his power. The most he could do at the moment was kill all the goblins in his way.

'There are too many.' Kyle never thought that so many goblins were hiding in Silverbark, despite the many goblin hunting tasks adventurers completed every day. Even he, alone, had killed over a hundred goblins over the past few months, and now he killed two hundred more, but their number didn't seem to diminish. Even he was starting to feel tired. He couldn't imagine how those iron-grade adventurers who weren't even apprentices would feel. An adventurer was someone who sought payment to complete quests.

Many were definitely dissatisfied with being forcibly conscripted to fight monsters. Moreover, they didn't even know whether they would receive remuneration after the battle. In such a complex environment and with such a large number of goblins, no one had the time to cut off goblin ears after the battle; thus, it was difficult to determine who killed each goblin.

'How would they determine who killed each goblin, who worked hard, and who slacked? In fact, I imagine that quite a few adventurers might be hiding in some corner; some might even take the opportunity to steal or ambush others for wealth or vendetta.' Kyle's thoughts churned. He felt that since even he could think of this, there was no reason the guild and the rulers of the town didn't think of it. Either they didn't care, or it was beyond their control.

'There's also a third possibility.' Kyle looked up. The thick clouds from Selene's spell were gradually dissipating.

'They have a way to observe the entire process of the battle.' Kyle felt that this was the greatest possibility. He shook his head and focused on the matter at hand. They had arrived at the largest underground entrance. Hundreds of guards, along with over a dozen knights, surrounded a giant hole with a radius of more than 20 meters, killing any goblin that rushed out. Dozens of adventurers stood not far behind the guards, dealing with the goblins that slipped by.

Not far away, a young man in flashy silver armor stood, arms crossed, observing the battlefield. An old man wearing light armor stood behind him. Seemingly noticing their arrival, the young man turned to look at them, and a playful smile appeared on his face. Kyle glanced at his side. Rowan and Barrett's expressions looked extremely dark. They could barely hide their anger and hatred for that young man.