Chương 96: Sacrificial Pawns

Mirevale, southern walls. With the activation of the ritual and the appearance of the hexagonal barrier covering the town, the battle between humans and goblins quickly reached a white-hot stage.

"Gah!" A goblin brandished its wooden mace, breaking a guard's knees only to be pierced by the spear of another guard. Countless goblin corpses filled the shallow moat beneath the town's walls, but that didn't seem to deter them. Hundreds of goblins still surged towards the breach in the wall with bloodthirsty expressions, only to be struck by the guards' arrows or spears.

A goblin assassin suddenly sprang from the shadows, its dagger stealthily piercing towards a guard's back, but a spear suddenly flew from the side, piercing through its torso before getting stuck in the hardened walls.

"Keep focus! The goblins won't hold out for long." Varn said, crushing the goblin assassin's neck and then pulling his spear. Varn's expression wrinkled as the smell of blood, corpses, and rot assaulted his nose. Sweat flowed down his forehead and into his clothes. However, he kept his expression composed, not showing any fear. As the commander of the guards, showing fear or confusion would only lower morale.

"Commander, the guards won't hold out for long. Even though we implemented the rotational system, they are near their breaking point." Varn's adjutant said with a serious expression on his face. He sliced the head of a charging goblin and added.

"The church's priests are also starting to get overwhelmed." Varn didn't respond; he looked gloomily at the horde of goblins still rushing out from the various underground entrances without slowing. Ever since the red barrier appeared, the goblins seemed as if they had gone mad. Attacking every human they saw like rabid dogs. No one could have imagined that the usually cowardly goblins could become so ferocious.

"It's undoubtedly the fault of that barrier." Varn looked at the countless red dots rising into the sky with a solemn expression. The number of guards was just over 1000, adding the 500 soldiers under Commander Kaelen, the 300 soldiers from the Silver Chevron, and the hundreds of adventurers; their forces were just over 2000. However, tens of thousands of goblins had appeared so far, and they didn't seem to slow down.

Even though they had the cover of the walls, and the average guard or soldier could easily deal with the average goblin, the difference in numbers was so great that no matter how many they killed, the goblins never seemed to end. The morale of the guards was starting to falter. Even so, Varn didn't panic. This was an extraordinary world. The power of mighty individuals overrode that of armies. The true battle that decided the outcome of this war was between four individuals.

Varn glanced at the battlefield at the eastern edge of the hexagonal barrier.

"Commander, hurry up," Varn muttered under his breath. Two figures moved so fast they were barely visible, just blurs that collided several times every second across hundreds of meters. Each collision created a massive shockwave, gouging large craters on the ground. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Varn watched with a mesmerized look.

He had seen Commander Kaelen fight in the past, and he'd thought that was the pinnacle of combat, but only now did he realize how wrong he was. On the western edge of the barrier, magic spells flew at super speed, either crashing into each other or landing on the ground. Each collision cratered the ground. Wind blades and lightning bolts collided with green fireballs and energy beams. Two figures stood over a hundred meters away from each other, each one enveloped by a dazzling energy barrier.

Yet, they didn't remain still. They moved across the battlefield like the wind, crossing over a hundred meters in a second, all while hurling spells at the other and intercepting or dodging the other's spells. Though the two were fiercely clashing, anyone could see that the figure hidden beneath the purple energy barrier was suppressing the one under the green barrier. It was only a matter of time before it was defeated. ….

"You're not bad for a mere goblin shaman. It seems that you've gained a lot from your interaction with the cult." Selene intercepted a corrosive energy arrow and said. She appeared at ease even though she was in the midst of a fierce battlefield, her robe barely ruffled. On the other side, the goblin shaman cautiously confronted her, his robe tattered, his skin scorched, and his body filled with injuries. Sweat and blood flowed down his huge pointy nose and down his shark-like teeth.

He didn't even have the energy to reply. It took everything of him to fend off her attacks.

"The battle on the other side is about to end. I can't waste time with you here anymore." Selene glanced at the battlefield filled with afterimages and collision sounds. One of them was trying to run away, but the other was hot on his tail. She raised her staff and chanted. Her voice seemed to resonate with the air as words left her mouth at an extremely high speed. She was using quick chanting.

Her spirit guided her mana from the mana core in her mind into her staff, forming an extremely complex spell model in just a few seconds. The spell model quickly absorbed the external magic energy like a whale sucking the water, forming a condensed lightning magic sphere the size of a watermelon in front of her. The goblin shaman's face twisted as he tried to interrupt her spellcasting, but his meager remaining mana reserves weren't enough for him to release a spell powerful enough to break through her barrier.

"6th-circle spell, [Lightning Nova]." Selene slowly said, releasing the lightning sphere in front of her. The lightning sphere flew at supersonic speed, instantly breaking through the energy barriers placed by the goblin shaman in front of him.

"Boom!" White light swept through the battlefield as a large energy sphere, dozens of meters wide, enveloped the goblin shaman. The wind caused Selene's robe to flutter. She simply held her hat to prevent it from flying before shifting her gaze to the other side of the battlefield. ….. The giant hobgoblin lay on the ground, his armor nothing but scraps, and his left arm broken. His body was filled with giant gashes, oozing blood, which quickly transformed into red dots and flew into the sky.

The hobgoblin had a resentful look on his face; his eyes were bloodshot.

"Your invasion is over. Tell me what the purpose of that magic ritual is, and you'll receive a painless death." Kaelen said as he approached the giant hobgoblin. His armor was dented and scratched, and he looked a bit tired, but Kaelen looked fine overall. He didn't have a single scratch on his body. After all, he wasn't only the holder of the special class [Wind Knight]; he was also at level 9, very close to the peak of rank 2, making him the strongest being in the Duskwood Barony.

Of course, the current president and vice-president of the adventurers' guild didn't count. They were exceptions.

"Heh, don't tell me that you think I'm the goblin lord, human?" The giant hobgoblin sneered. Kaelen raised his eyebrows but didn't interrupt, allowing the hobgoblin to continue.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not. I'm just an abandoned pawn, a sacrifice just like you." The hobgoblin said, his face filled with resentment.

"What do you mean by that? You're a high hobgoblin." Kaelen's expression changed. He quickly walked forward and placed his sword on the hobgoblin's neck, pressing it for answers. For this, the hobgoblin just sneered. His eyes turned blood-red as veins popped out from every corner of his head, twisting his face into a hideous shape. In the next moment, his head exploded, causing his body to land back on the ground, twitching a few times before stopping completely. Kaelen's expression was solemn.

It seemed that things were far from over.

"We need to interrupt this ritual, no matter what its purpose is." He glanced at the hexagonal barrier covering the town before walking towards Selene. Only an accomplished mage like her could decipher the ritual and stop it.