CHAPTER 545: CHAPTER 285: GOBLIN SYNDROME

"This is a brilliant plan. Bowang Slope is flanked by hills with withered grass everywhere. Tonight is a windy night. We can surely burn the enemy to ashes."

Buwana instantly comprehended Zhuge Bulin’s strategy.

Zhuge Bulin gently fanned himself with a feather fan, his expression profound.

"Goblins fear fire, so humans fear fire."

"Is it that simple?!"

Despite his doubts, Buwana still refined the strategy and implemented it.

That night.

To reach Ueldo City as soon as possible, Mason led his troops to march even at night.

The vast army of Esper Royal Capital traveled along the main road.

Throughout the journey, Mason’s brows were tightly furrowed, his mind filled with the image of goblins.

Do goblins truly exist that can form military formations like an army? Can goblins establish a regular army?

The thought seemed implausible, as there had never been any historical records of such a thing.

But if it were true, it would pose a deadly disaster to the Human Kingdom.

Goblins, with their extraordinarily high reproductive ability, may not have an army as powerful as humans, but they have an endless supply of new recruits.

This replenishment ability could exhaust any kingdom.

They must investigate thoroughly!

At this moment, as the army marched into the valley, the silent and dark valley suddenly erupted with countless flames as goblin archers unleashed a rain of flaming arrows. Countless bundles of dry grass rolled down the slopes fueled by the night wind, engulfing the army in flames in an instant.

The echoes of goblins’ sounds resonated in the valley, akin to the sorrowful wails of demons, sending chills down one’s spine.

"What’s going on?"

Mason quickly emerged from the carriage, wielding his heavy hammer, surveying the surroundings.

A sea of flames met his eyes. The shadows of goblins appeared everywhere in the valley, and the entire army fell into chaos immediately.

"Lord Mason, we’ve been ambushed by goblins! They’ve hurled flames from various points on the slopes; our long formation has been scattered! It seems there are at least five thousand goblins ambushing us!"

The nearby soldiers quickly reported the situation.

"How is this possible? Not long ago, there were only a few hundred goblins, and now suddenly there are five thousand?"

Though Mason, as a general, held significant prestige within the army, as he stepped up, the chaos gradually lessened.

He mounted his horse and charged in different directions, using his heavy hammer to crush many goblins hidden in the darkness, thus rallying the spirit of the army.

"Quickly send men to guard the supplies, and dispatch a small squad to distance the horses; ensure they are not scared by the fire."

Mason swiftly issued orders to the army.

"Report! A group of goblin bone horse riders appeared at the rear, seizing all our supplies and herd! The infantry at the front is under rolling log attacks!"

"What?!"

This was dire. The situation was extremely dire.

This coordinated assault wasn’t a mere goblin raid on a village where they would get ousted by the villagers, but rather a meticulously strategized enemy tactic!

Mason’s face turned pale, gazing upward towards the top of the valley.

In the blaze of fire, he immediately recognized that familiar face.

Buwana, the green goblin, watched silently from a high vantage point.

Having come to subdue the goblins, they must allow humans to see the consequences of confronting them.

Buwana raised the Hammer Sword in his hand, signaling a charge.

"Let me take him on."

Buwana looked at Mason with fervor in his eyes.

Countless goblins surged from both sides of the valley, like a tide of ink pouring into the valley’s center, scattering the army that had just regained its formation in mere moments.

"Help!"

"Demons!"

"Demon goblins!"

Countless soldiers were so frightened their legs went weak, collapsing to the ground, powerless to resist.

On Mason’s side, under his heavy hammer, hundreds of goblins had already perished.

At this moment, Buwana, the armored goblin, rode a bone horse towards Mason, and they tangled fiercely in the fire and night.

The green goblin grew bolder with each battle, swinging his Long Sword, knocking Mason’s helmet off with a single blow.

In that moment, Mason seemed to see his own head fall, the goblins’ roars drowned out the human soldiers’ screams, sawing into his ears like a woodcutter. Countless pairs of red eyes gazed at him like wolves.

Hidden goblins pounced on him, biting him until he was covered in wounds, flesh and blood in tatters.

"Lord Mason?! We’re near collapse! The goblins’ numbers are incalculable! We’ve killed so many, yet still, countless goblins surge forward!"

The adjutant’s voice brought Mason back to his senses, his face and neck covered in cold sweat.

Illusion, a hallucination?

That single strike had scared him into believing he was about to die, even inducing hallucinations?

Seeing the disarrayed army, Mason gritted his teeth, his heart hardened as he issued the order to retreat in the direction they came from.

"Retreat!"

Only once they retreated far enough did the army slow its pace.

The remaining troops numbered only about a thousand, trudging forward with tattered clothes and dejected spirits. Mason looked at his hands, still trembling slightly, his expression vacant, as if everyone had lost their souls.

——

Demon Realm.

A sunny day.

Shami sat on a swing hanging from the branches of the Wisteria Tree Spirit, holding a cup of coffee, sipping it slowly while listening to the Wisteria Tree Spirit’s live broadcast of the morning news.

This morning program was established by the Demon Lord to eliminate information gaps and strengthen the intelligence awareness among the demon race’s upper echelons.