CHAPTER 68: MASTERS OF ADAPTATION

The scarred leader clicked its tongue—a sound that sent chills down Lucien’s spine. Instantly, half the red goblins whipped their attention toward Adrian’s position.

The leader spoke, its fractured human speech somehow more terrifying than any roar.

"You... archer... too... predictable. You... shoot... from... same... spots."

Three red goblins began advancing on Adrian in a coordinated wedge formation, their shields raised, weaving unpredictably to avoid his arrows. Behind them, green goblins scattered to flank him from multiple angles.

"Adrian, move!"

)

Lucien tried to break through to help, but the remaining red goblins pressed him harder, their attacks becoming more vicious and precise.

Invisible blades flew through the air, but where two fell, four surged forward. They gave no space for openings, no matter how relentless and troublesome Lucien’s attacks were.

The scarred leader swung its axe in a horizontal arc. Lucien ducked, but a second red goblin was already thrusting upward with a crude sword. He parried desperately, only to find a third goblin’s mace crashing toward his ribs.

The impact sent him stumbling sideways, right into the path of the leader’s follow-up strike.

[You have lost 4 health points]

Blood ran down Lucien’s side as the axe bit into his armor. The leader’s yellow eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

"You... move... left... when... hurt. Always... left."

’How did it—’

Lucien’s analytical mind raced. The creature was right. When taking damage, he instinctively moved left to protect his dominant right side.

A spear thrust came from his left—exactly where he would have dodged.

Adrian’s situation was deteriorating rapidly. Thorned vines erupted around him, but the red goblins had learned to expect them. They hacked through the vegetation with systematic efficiency while the green goblins used the distraction to close distance.

"I can’t keep this up!"

Another arrow formed in the air and flew, but his shots were becoming more desperate, less accurate. One of the red goblins caught an arrow on its shield and actually seemed to study the trajectory before discarding it.

Adrian gritted his teeth. He spread his hand through the air, and four arrows instantaneously appeared in the air. This right now was his limit.

The scarred leader, seeing this, let out a longer, more complex series of clicks. The response was immediate and coordinated.

Two red goblins broke off from Lucien’s group and sprinted toward Adrian, while the ones already advancing on him suddenly changed their approach entirely. Instead of the predictable wedge, as the arrow flew, they scattered and began approaching from completely random angles.

Lucien glanced back, worried about his companion, but that moment of distraction cost him—a red goblin’s club smashed into Lucien’s jaw. His vision blurred as his head snapped back.

[You have have lost 3 health points]

The scarred leader stepped closer, its axe weaving in complex patterns.

"You... worry... about... friend. Make... mistakes."

It was right. Lucien’s concern for Adrian was making him sloppy, predictable. But he couldn’t just abandon his companion.

Adrian’s arrows were flying frantically now, but the red goblins had learned to use their shields effectively. They advanced like a medieval phalanx, protecting each other, closing the distance despite his desperate volleys.

One of the red goblins reaching Adrian’s position suddenly feinted left, causing Adrian to send an arrow in that direction. The moment the arrow flew, the goblin pivoted right and lunged with its spear.

Adrian barely managed to conjure a wall of thorned vines between himself and the blade, but the other goblins were already adapting, spreading out to flank the vegetation.

"You... both... think... too... much."

The scarred leader observed, pressing its advantage as Lucien was forced to defend against increasingly sophisticated combinations.

"Analyze... every... move. But... we... learn... faster."

A red goblin’s sword locked with Lucien’s blade while another struck from behind. Lucien spun to parry, but the leader’s axe was already arcing down toward his exposed back.

Time slowed as Lucien realized his mistake. He’d been fighting them like individual opponents, but they were functioning as a single, evolving entity. Every technique he used, every preference he showed, every weakness he displayed—they absorbed it all and adapted.

The axe descended, and Lucien knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge in time.

And there was not enough time for him to use Severance. Between his mental command and the falling axe, he was bound to sacrifice something.

’Stop thinking, damnit!’

Lucien yelled at himself internally and pushed forward without further thought. The axe fell, but he tilted his head away, letting it crash into his shoulder.

[You have lost 10 Health points]

However...

[You have dealt 123 damage]

One of Lucien’s swords had lunged into the scarred leader’s abdomen.

There was silence for a moment as both glared at each other. The red goblin found it unbelievable.

First, why was Lucien surviving his axe? Second, the opponent had actually taken his advice.

Lucien clenched tightly on his other sword and drove it in from the side. His hands moved fast—too fast—and the sword plunged into the goblin’s neck.

[You have dealt 344 damage]

[You have dealt critical damage]

[You have dealt 3,456 damage]

[You have dealt 518 damage]

Lucien yanked out his sword and watched as the scarred leader convulsed and collapsed to the ground. Blood pumped from its neck in morbid spurts as it shook violently on the ground.

With the leader down, the axe slipped free, leaving a gash on Lucien’s shoulder. Blood dripped through, but he was perfectly fine. His bones were unbroken, and his skin was more durable than it seemed.

It was already slowly mending itself.

Lucien looked at the rest of the goblins with a vicious white light burning in his eyes. The wolf mask made his realized visage even more menacing.

He was like a vicious monster that had crawled out of a bottomless abyss situated in some frostland.

Lucien stayed in position, waiting, while all of them hesitated. The goblin that had been coordinating them was dying on the floor, and they seemed to have lost all sense of what to do next.

Adrian was also beginning to recollect himself. He had regained his composure and was now creating long javelins instead of arrows. One of the javelins alone carried enough force that blocking it wasn’t enough—they’d definitely get knocked back.

Lucien lowered his stance, ready to strike.

[You are using Divine Fragment ability: Wrath]