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* **Spiritwood.**

After turning a corner, Treka completely vanished from Starry’s line of sight. Not only that, even the traces of her departure abruptly ended there. She had disappeared into thin air.

‘Where did she go?’ Starry could not sense anything, and the elemental fluctuations were calm, as if nothing had happened.

“…”

In any case, she decided to head left first.

Ten minutes later.

Starry stared at the surrounding trees and felt a strange sense of deja vu, as if she had already been here before.

***

On the outskirts of the Goblin camp in Crimson Plains, a large group of goblins and gray wolves had gathered together, standing in pairs. At a rough glance, there were at least three to four hundred of them.

The ground rumbled from time to time. With a tense expression, Yalu called out, “Everyone! A highly dangerous intruder has appeared. Lord Morthar has already held him back for us. In a moment, we will—”

Before he could finish speaking, the open ground to the right suddenly began to quake violently. In the next instant, a massive beetle burst out from beneath the earth. More precisely, it was sent flying.

The Sacred Scarab was shrouded in a faint purple halo, the unmistakable sign of the Magic Armor skill it had learned earlier. Even from afar, one could feel the terrifying defensive power contained within that glow.

However, at the very front of the halo, at Morthar’s head, a gaping hole had already been torn open. Its HP had dropped to only 20%, and it was still steadily falling.

Meanwhile, within the hollowed-out ground below, a small figure stood in place.

“Guh… quick, fire!” In his panic, Yalu shouted.

Yet the range of shortbows was nowhere near enough to reach the enemy. The few arrows that did fly out failed to pierce the defense at all, dealing only pitiful damage of a few dozen points.

“Damn it…” The intruder in the pit tore off his tattered cloak, revealing his true appearance.

Ash-gray skin, sharp and slender ears, and eyes filled with bloodshot veins.

“A fallen dark elf…?” Yalu exclaimed in shock.

“Very well,” the dark elf said coldly. “I have to admit, for lowly creatures, you have successfully angered me.” He raised both hands as vast amounts of dark energy surged toward them, condensing in the blink of an eye into a massive sphere of magic.

“This is bad… everyone, scatter!” As he shouted, the young goblin chieftain cast Iceflow Shield on himself and charged forward without hesitation.

He could not keep relying on others to protect him forever. Even though… he had no confidence he could withstand it.

The purple-black magic sphere swelled larger and larger, on the verge of being unleashed. At that moment, a sudden disturbance erupted behind the dark elf.

A tremendous force slammed into the intruder’s left leg.

‘What is this?’ Before he could even think, his left foot slipped out from under him. He stumbled and crashed to the ground.

“Hmph, I’m not someone you can mess with!” Lulu sheathed her dagger. If the goblins had not drawn his attention, and if that strange beetle had not dealt so much damage, she would never have found a chance to get close.

But… the moment she saw the magic sphere about to explode, she completely lost her composure.

Tears welled up in her pretty eyes. “No way! I just leveled back up!!!”

The mana orb did not wait for her to escape. After losing its owner’s control, the elements within instantly spiraled into chaos.

**Boom—!!!**

The dark elf suffered severe elemental backlash, instantly losing over twenty thousand HP. Combined with the damage he had already taken, his HP dropped to just 85%.

As for Lulu, she was instantly killed. With damage exceeding forty thousand, not even the gods could have saved her.

With reverence etched across his face, Yalu declared solemnly, “Great adventurer, your efforts will not be in vain!” Unfortunately, the one concerned could no longer hear him.

The enemy struggled to his feet, his body swaying unsteadily. Elemental backlash was not something one could endure lightly. Just as he tried to steady himself, the rapidly crawling beetle charged forward like a high-speed train and slammed straight into the dark elf!

Whee—up he went!

The slender figure was sent flying backward, dark red blood splattering across the ground. Seeing this, the scattered Snowfeather Goblins and gray wolves were invigorated. The gray wolves carried the goblins as they closed in on the enemy, forming a crescent-shaped encirclement.

**Pew! Pew! Pew!**

…

Waves of rapid shots and Icefeather Arrows struck the dark elf across every part of his body.

Although their individual attack power was not high, enough ants could still bite an elephant to death.

More importantly, the relentless barrage had already formed a suppression effect. The dark elf’s body was continuously battered by arrows, as if lagging, unable to execute any action at all. The situation had reversed!

84%
83%
82%

…

His body was riddled with arrows. Without looking closely, one might have mistaken him for a giant porcupine. Moreover, each arrow carried a trace of ice element, which, for a dark elf already suffering from elemental disorder, was nothing short of adding frost to snow.

Ten minutes later.

The dark elf’s HP had dropped to just 21%. Of course, the main source of damage was still Yalu. The others could barely break through his defenses at all, dealing little more than scratch damage.

Morthar watched from afar. Joining the fight rashly at this point could very well disrupt the suppression effect.

If any players were to witness this scene, they would probably think it was some sort of cult ritual. Hundreds of goblins, seated atop gray wolves, formed a massive circle and fired madly toward the center.

If this kept up… they should be able to win! Yalu thought to himself, not daring to relax in the slightest. “Hold steady, do not stop attacking! The enemy could stand up at any moment!”

“Yes!” came the unified response.

After witnessing that terrifying magic sphere earlier, no one dared to gamble with their life by slacking off.

20%

“I am still…” the dark elf said with great difficulty.

“He can still talk!?” Yalu’s expression changed drastically. “Increase the attack speed!”

“Urgh—” the enemy spat out a mouthful of blood. The dark elf was internally breaking down. ‘Damn it! Is it really that hard to let me finish one threatening line!?!?’

No longer hesitating, a faint glow spread across his body.

**Thud!**

In that instant, all the arrows were knocked away. At this very moment, the enemy regained his freedom!

However, seemingly uneasy about his remaining HP, he endured the discomfort and hurled out a Mana Bolt. A cluster of damage numbers exceeding ten thousand erupted, blowing apart more than a dozen goblins and gray wolves!

Then, he charged straight through the opening and fled.

With no time to mourn the fallen clansmen, Yalu looked toward the direction the dark elf had escaped to. ‘That’s the… Spiritwood!?’

***

Following the original path, they returned to the surface. Climbing back up had taken quite a bit of effort.

“What were those lines on the ground earlier? Why did they recharge the stone pillars?” Zane asked.

“I don’t know either…” Treka shook her head apologetically.

“Alright then…” After a brief silence. Zane was the first to break it. “Hey, do you still remember the direction those lines were pointing in?”

“The direction? Yes, I remember,” the elf nodded.

“Good. Then let’s follow one direction and keep going.”

Treka’s eyes lit up as she grasped Zane’s meaning. “You mean…”

“Yeah. Since there are several power banks, we’ll destroy them one by one before taking on the real challenge.”

“Power… bank? What’s that?”

“Uh… cough. It’s basically something that, once you go inside it, can recharge a surge of energy,” Zane replied solemnly.