CHAPTER 145: THE HOLY CHURCH

"Brother Liang, lately we’ve been running into only goblins. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?" Evelyn whispered as she smashed her heel into a short, sturdy green goblin, crushing it in the process.

"Revenge?" Liang laughed as he punched a goblin, blowing its head into millions of pieces. "The goblins have been around since the arrival of the system... you think they’ll suddenly come and attack the human race now?"

"That... it’s a bit complicated, but I think these recent numbers could be because of the incident that happened a few days ago." Evelyn pressed her lips together with an uncertain expression.

A frown appeared on Liang’s face as he placed his palm on the head of a muscular goblin, stopping its frontal charge.

"What incident?" he asked.

Growl! The goblins growled and kicked the ground, sending dust upward as one of them pushed with all its might and punched forward. However, the only thing it hit was empty air.

’Right, all he does is cultivate in the temple... he probably doesn’t know about it.’ She facepalmed, then began to explain.

"Well, a few days ago, a goblin settlement was destroyed, and all its inhabitants were slaughtered. I have a hunch they came out in these numbers because they thought the act was done by a human."

"Goblins are one of the most intelligent monsters and can endure the cold. The few you might see roaming around are those not affiliated with any camp."

At her words, Liang furrowed his brows and clenched the goblin’s head. It began to pulse like a heartbeat before exploding.

"Where is the settlement located?" he asked.

"It was between Iron Gate and Whitebridge Town," she replied.

"We can’t just jump to conclusions jus—"

ROOOAR!

A fierce shockwave slammed into them, temporarily halting the fight. Both Evelyn and Liang’s eyes snapped toward the source. A silhouette slowly emerged behind the goblins, this one far larger than the rest.

Behind Liang, the players—who had seen clips of Gabriel and Scarlett’s fight against a goblin general in the forum—sucked in a cold breath.

The dust parted just enough for them to see it clearly. It was a red-skinned goblin roughly the size of an adult male.

"A goblin general," Liang muttered in disbelief, not expecting to see such a rare species here.

"This one’s bigger than the one Scarlett and Sir Broken are fighting!" a player gasped.

"Stop being negative, it’s the same size!" another slapped his friend with a bittersweet smile—before admitting, "Shit... you’re not wrong, it’s massive."

Indeed, the red-skinned goblin was noticeably taller and more robust than any goblin general.

"This is no longer a general-type goblin," Evelyn said calmly.

Liang tilted his head slightly, studying the creature’s posture and the way the other goblins acted around it. "It’s higher rank."

The goblin commander straightened, its gaze shifting briefly toward Evelyn before settling on Liang. It took a single, deliberate step forward—

FWOOOSH!

It vanished from sight.

Evelyn barely had time to shout a warning before a massive club appeared out of nowhere, swinging horizontally with enough force to split a tree in half. Liang ducked low, the wind from the swing cutting across his face.

FWOOOOOM! BOOOM!

The blow didn’t stop. The club smashed into the ground beside him, leaving a crater and sending dirt flying in all directions.

"That speed..." Evelyn muttered, tightening her grip on her weapon.

Liang didn’t respond. He was already moving, closing the distance between them. Coating his fist in spirit qi, he punched forward violently.

CRAAACK!

The impact sent a ripple through the air, forcing both to slide back a few steps.

The goblin showed its sharp teeth in what could only be described as amusement. "Human... strong."

"I know that." Liang smirked. "I’m Tianlan’s finest prodigy, after all!"

At his cocky attitude, the goblin general growled and charged. Liang kicked the ground and bolted forward.

---

At that moment, Jack Arefield also halted mid-step when he saw two reddish goblins slowly emerging from the sea of enemies they had been fighting.

"I’ll handle them. Deal with the normal goblins," Jack whispered to Aria.

Most of Olympus’ forces were stationed at their Bastion; only a small number of guild members had participated in the event.

The reason was simple—Olympus didn’t believe in numbers; they believed in individual strength.

’Taking down two of those should give us enough points to snatch the lead.’ He smirked as he started spinning his golden spear.

Shifting his leg back, he used only a fraction of his strength to launch the spear at the red-skinned goblin on the far side of the battlefield.

SWOOOOSH!

The golden aura surrounding the spear tore through the horde like paper, ripping goblins apart before they could even react.

Blood sprayed in a long, continuous arc, yet the speed never faltered—it was still locked on its target.

The first goblin general snarled and tried to stop the approaching spear.

SPLAAASH!

-17,000

Its arm was obliterated clean from the shoulder. The goblin general stared at the spot where its arm used to be with wide eyes.

Jack snapped his fingers as the spear returned to his outstretched palm. He calmly rested it on his shoulder as he approached. "Stopping my spear is no different from digging your own grave."

The goblin general was still in shock, as was its comrade. Before it could recover—

FLASH!

-23,000 (Fatal Hit!)

The goblin general found the world upside down before its headless body collapsed to the ground.

Although Olympus had just taken down a level 100 monster in seconds, Jack’s face showed no satisfaction. He quickly turned toward the remaining goblin and drove his spear into its chest.

-11,000

ROOOAR!

The goblin roared in agony, but Jack followed with another strike.

-11,000

STAB!

-19,000 (Critical Hit!)

After killing off the second goblin general, Jack slowly raised his head and looked at the rankings—but what he saw made his eyes widen in disbelief.

1. Holy Church – 2,000 points