Gauss sprang into action.

His running speed was incredibly fast.

The strength in his legs seemed inexhaustible for a short time;

with just a light push, his body shot forward.

So light!

Even he himself was surprised.

The effect of gravity on him seemed to have completely vanished.

Perhaps his intent to advance was too obvious, as several burly Hobgoblins wearing neat iron armor along the way roared and charged at him.

At first glance, it was almost difficult to connect these large creatures with those short Goblins, aside from their skin color and equally ugly appearance. They seemed like completely different species.

Broad-shouldered, thick-set, strong and powerful... almost every adjective describing strength could be applied to them.

However, they didn't perform exceptionally well in terms of flexibility.

Gauss approached, leaped up, and slipped right through the blockade formed by several Hobgoblins.

Just as they tried to turn around and pursue him, a searing, stinging sensation immediately transmitted from the armor on their bodies.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle!"

The sturdy armor clinging to their skin became a hot potato.

Gauss's figure continued to advance rapidly.

By the time he approached the Goblin Shaman, it still hadn't fully reacted.

It didn't understand how he had so easily bypassed its tribesmen to reach its front.

Its turbid pupils rapidly dilated!

Danger!!!

All the hair on its body stood on end! Its wrinkled skin faintly transmitted a stinging sensation, its body's instinct warning it of the danger posed by the creature before it.

Gauss's figure continuously enlarged in its vision.

That terrifying, tangible oppressive feeling crashed over it like a tidal wave, almost causing it to faint.

The faint dragon fear combined with the pressure of the Goblin Slayer, when unleashed at close range, created an oppressive sensation that non-Goblin creatures couldn't comprehend.

In the eyes of this Goblin Shaman, the current Gauss was the most terrifying creature it had ever encountered in its life.

This judgment might be somewhat distorted, as Gauss's strength probably wasn't rare to the extent it had never seen before in its lifetime. But the relationship between the two was like that of a cat and a mouse, with an inherent bloodline restraint.

Even more severe than the cat-mouse relationship, because the fear of Dragons is also an instinct deeply engraved in the deepest parts of Goblin genes.

The Goblin race is at the bottom of the monster hierarchy, while Dragons are among the highest-level creatures.

Dragons capturing and destroying Goblins is as easy as humans catching grasshoppers.

For Goblins, Dragons are both Lords they wholeheartedly revere and moving, irresistible natural disasters.

Events of dragon claws descending from the sky and dragon breath flames destroying entire tribes are too numerous to count on this continent.

The Goblin Shaman's mind went blank. Fear gripped its heart, making it even begin to suffocate.

"Die!"

In the Goblin Shaman's brief moment of daze, Gauss had already flashed to its front.

With his right hand, now covered in scales and transformed into a dragon claw, raised high,

That intense stinging sensation finally awakened its survival instinct. A layer of transparent shield energy instinctively activated around its body.

But besides that, it couldn't do anything more.

Because Gauss's movements were simply too fast.

Gauss, descending from above, was like a smaller, human-shaped Dragon. His right claw tore through the air with a whistling sound, straightly grabbing toward its head.

If this claw struck solidly without any protection, even if it were the hardest rock, it would be pierced as easily as tofu, or even torn off entirely.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, the shield in front of it finally solidified.

'BANG!!!'

Gauss's dragon claw fiercely collided with the suddenly brightening transparent shield, producing a dull, loud noise.

The collision of energies erupted with dazzling sparks and flowing light.

However, the clash between the two energies—one offensive, one defensive—was decided in an extremely short time.

Around the point of contact with the dragon claw, the shield violently twisted and fluctuated. Before long, it shattered with a roar.

But at the most crucial moment, it had still fulfilled its mission, protecting its master's life.

"Boom!" The Goblin Shaman was sent flying by a huge recoil wave.

Crimson blood gushed from its mouth.

Blood soaked its teeth and gums. The intense pain made it grip its wooden staff tightly, its sharp nails almost digging into the staff itself.

A meaningless, hoarse cry came from its throat.

As it flew backward, a shield seemed to faintly begin forming around its body again.

Meanwhile, other elite Goblins, heeding the call, also fiercely charged toward Gauss. A red glow surged around them, making their already robust bodies swell another size larger.

Gauss's gaze remained tightly locked on the flying Goblin Shaman.

The next moment, he raised his right claw. A Magic Missile that had undergone spell-level enhancement materialized in his palm.

"Whoosh!"

A second-circle missile, more than half again larger than a normal Magic Missile, shot forth.

It roared as it flew thundering toward the Goblin Shaman.

Invisible air waves rippled out in circles along the missile's flight path.

In the blink of an eye, it reached the front of the Goblin Shaman.

"Crash!" The not-yet-fully-formed shield was instantly shattered by the Magic Missile, countless glowing crystal fragments scattering everywhere.

"Whoosh!" Gauss immediately fired a second, then a third Magic Missile.

This time, there was no shield for protection. The Magic Missiles tore through the air and struck the still-flying-backward Goblin Shaman with heavy impact.

A huge explosion sounded in the air.

The missile, enhanced for spell power due to the level increase, hit the Goblin Shaman head-on, releasing powerful kinetic energy.

Compared to Hobgoblins, the Goblin Shaman's body wasn't outstanding to begin with, so it certainly couldn't withstand this attack.

The moment the shockwave spread, its skin was torn like fragile paper, followed by flesh and bones.

The Goblin Shaman's chest visibly caved in. Its entire body flew backward at an even faster speed, crashing onto the ground, finally landing.

When it was barely clinging to life, gasping its last breath, the final Magic Missile arrived!

Its already damaged body finally couldn't hold together in this explosion, splitting into dozens of pieces that flew out in all directions.

"Elite monster Goblin Shaman*1 killed."

The moment the Shaman died, an intangible wave swept across the entire area.

All the Goblins, whether ordinary Goblins or elite Goblins, halted their movements. The red, surging frenzy glow on their bodies gradually extinguished.

With the Shaman dead, the blessing buffs on them were abruptly removed.

The Goblin army was inevitably affected. Especially the ordinary Goblins, now having lost their buffs and facing that terrifying figure on the battlefield, had completely lost their will to fight. Some had already turned and fled.

But the clay creatures Gauss had created wouldn't let them go because of this, still quickly killing those ordinary Goblins.

The elite Goblins, however, charged toward Gauss even more furiously.

The nearest one, a two-headed Goblin holding a sword in one hand and a staff in the other, rushed over.

The moment it swung its sword down, the staff in its other hand didn't delay either.

Gauss felt as if his body was locked down by a restraining force.

Fortunately, after a brief moment, the surging power and dragon blood within him allowed him to break free from the restraint.

"Snap!" It seemed some spell had failed.

Gauss raised his dragon claw to block the great sword slashing down.

Sparks flickered as it scraped against the dragon scale surface.

"Magic Missile!"

He pressed the White Wand in his left hand against the Goblin's abdomen.

And fired an enhanced Magic Missile with a roar.

His body simultaneously used the force applied by the great sword on his right arm's dragon claw to fly backward.

This elite Goblin's strength wasn't as formidable as imagined. Of course, it might also be because its armor was removed, making its defense relatively weak.

The enhanced Magic Missile exploded at close range, directly blasting apart its lower abdomen.

It reached down with its hand in confusion.

First, it touched a cool, empty cavity, then a sticky, disgusting sensation. Slippery intestines slid over its rough fingertips, plopping onto the ground.

That sound seemed to raise the curtain, as internal organs and intestines continuously slid out from the wound.

The two-headed Goblin knelt on the ground, set down its great sword, and frantically tried to push its organs and tissues back in with its hands.

But it was all in vain. The faster it moved, the more severe the damage caused by the tearing motion.

"Cough cough!"

Blood gushed out like a spring as it coughed from its mouth.

Perhaps, in this moment approaching death, its muscle-filled brain would also be filled with endless regret, regretting provoking this humanoid creature that emitted such a terrifying, bane-like aura.

Gauss didn't pay attention to the two-headed Goblin. Soon, more elite Goblins pursued him.

Now, the hostility of most elite Goblins was focused on him, which was a good thing.

"BOOM!!!"

Another small earthquake-like disturbance occurred. Gauss knew it was likely Shadow's side being attacked by the Goblin Bat Knight from the sky.

He could only hope she was alright.

Besides the Goblin Bat Knight, several Goblin wolf cavalry had also pounced on Shadow and the other two.

What he needed to do was quickly resolve the group of warrior-type Hobgoblins and two-headed Goblins in front of him.

Lacking the Goblin Shaman's enhancements and healing, these warriors were like they had lost their brains.

They desperately wanted to catch Gauss, tear him apart with their bare hands, and devour him alive.

But Gauss was simply too agile, dodging and weaving through the forest like a loach.

The Goblin warriors, who had more than enough brute force but lacked finesse, found themselves unable to effectively use their strength against this hexagonal warrior.

Strength, constitution, Agility, perception—not a single weakness.

On the surface, he appeared to be a spellcaster, but in reality, even without using spells, his close combat ability could overwhelm many professional warriors, including these monsters before him.

Moreover, he could flexibly utilize various spells from time to time, creating opportunities for lethal strikes.

Heat Metal, Burning Hands, Magic Missile....

Mana fluctuations continuously surged in the dark forest.

Crimson blood and dark green skin fragments flew about constantly.

"Boom!"

As another dragon claw, radiating a magical halo, struck the surface of a Hobgoblin's body.

A burst of intensified light flashed.

Gauss was no stranger to this.

"Another critical hit!"

The dragon claw pierced through the heavy wooden shield as if it were tofu, ultimately smashing the Hobgoblin into the ground.

The powerful impact force blasted a large crater in the ground. The Hobgoblin's body exploded, turning into pulp in an instant.

"Elite monster Hobgoblin*1 killed."

Gauss exhaled a turbid breath and pulled his arm out from the large shield and the pulp.

Standing up, he surveyed the battlefield. Around him, not a single intact Goblin could be seen.

All the Goblins were dead!

His chest heaved as he panted several times. Continuously killing eight elite Goblins had also consumed a significant amount of his stamina.

This was him;

otherwise, if any other Bronze-rank adventurer were here, it would be impossible to single-handedly kill so many elite Goblins in such a short time.

Spellcasting, dodging, blocking, close combat attacks—each aspect consumed large amounts of mana and stamina. Fortunately, he had the extra energy supply from his Energy Storage Gland, otherwise he'd probably be completely drained by now.

Gauss chewed on some food while looking toward Shadow's direction.

Throughout his entire fight, the ground beneath his feet had been constantly shaking. The Bat Knight above must have been enraged, continuously launching attacks.

But the fact that it was attacking so frequently also indicated that it hadn't managed to harm Shadow.

Sure enough, when Gauss focused his gaze.

He saw Shadow's figure in the distance.

Now, she was entirely pitch-black, as if wearing a flowing, constantly shifting dark gauze garment.

This layer of shadow made her originally not very strong presence even more elusive and mysterious, as if blending into the surrounding night. Only when she moved occasionally would a faint outline be sketched.

The several Goblin wolf cavalry were nowhere to be seen;

they had probably perished under the coordination of the three of them.

Only the Goblin Bat Knight in the air remained, also the strongest combatant in this night raid against their group.

Gauss narrowed his eyes slightly.

That Bat Knight was quite cautious.

It never descended in altitude the entire time.

Maintaining a distance beyond the attack range of his Magic Missile.

It seemed to sense that the commotion on Gauss's side had ceased.

Its attention shifted away from the troublesome black figure below, and it turned its head to look in the other direction.

What it saw made its pupils dilate in shock.

All dead?

This discovery made its heartbeat accelerate uncontrollably.

The moment Gauss actively engaged those eight elite Goblins—the largest group on the field—it had shifted its attention away from Gauss.

And now it was being told that a full eight companions had been slaughtered so quickly?

It swallowed hard.

Completely unable to comprehend how Gauss had managed it.

Were they all useless?

But normally, even it couldn't directly confront so many tribesmen without its mount beneath it.

Seeing the terrifying look in Gauss's eyes as he simultaneously glanced over, the anger of the Goblin Bat Knight in the sky gradually subsided, replaced by panic.

An intangible oppressive feeling seemed to transmit through the air to its location, growing increasingly solid.

The Goblin Bat Knight began to feel uneasy.

After a brief moment of hesitation.

It patted the bat beneath it.

The giant bat, as if receiving a command, let out a sharp cry, flapped its wings, and flew toward the higher sky.

Before long, it disappeared into the clouds, completely gone.

"Ran... ran away?"

Gauss blinked, somewhat incredulous.

The imposing manner with which the Goblin Bat Knight had made its entrance was still vivid in his mind.

And it turned out to be such a soft bone?

So what if he killed all your tribesmen?

Why not try fighting a bit more to avenge your people, you cowardly green skin?

And also...

Gauss frowned.

Since it ran away like that, did that mean he was really going to become famous among the Goblin tribes?

As their levels increased, even Goblins began to possess a certain level of intelligence.

Would more Goblins start hunting him down after this?

Hmm...

That might not necessarily be a bad thing.