"Haha." Nova laughed, then took his stance and vanished.
Lydia's eyes widened. This was no ordinary speed; it was a movement skill and definitely a top-tier one at that. She had seen movement skills before, even top-tier ones from the MPU. But this? This was something else entirely. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at where Nova had been.
"Who... exactly are you?"
*Slash*
Nova swung both swords in his hands, carving through the horde that was about to surround him.
SPURT!
Blood sprayed like a fountain as the goblins fell to the ground. Though Lydia had killed half of the seeker goblins, more still came rushing forward, seeking vengeance for their slain brothers.
Nova remained calm. His face was covered in the green blood of the seeker goblins as he continued cutting through the horde of these ugly bastards. As they kept coming, Nova was dumbfounded.
"What the hell are they feeding their females?" Nova wondered. "Do they lay eggs?"
It was really baffling.
Nova thought it was plausible. A mammal couldn't possibly give birth to thirty or more a day, right? As he continued to cut them down, he guessed — if his count was right — that he must have already killed close to a hundred or more.
He didn't have any problem killing even a thousand. The issue was that they just kept coming, pouring in from every direction, trying to surround him.
Then Nova finally noticed something: the blood of the goblins had slowly flowed into the lake, and the water was now gradually turning green. He felt annoyed, but he since he still had some water left in his bottle, he cool down a bit. He could find another source later.
While Nova was busy slaughtering the seeker goblins, he didn't notice the pair of eyes watching him intently. Lydia stared wide-eyed, unconsciously tracking his every movement. Her gaze never left him once.
From the beginning she'd had a feeling Nova wasn't someone ordinary, and this spectacle was more than enough to confirm her guess.
She also noticed the strange way he held his swords. Instead of gripping them straight like a normal person, he held them sideways. The way he wielded the dual blades — twisting and cutting through the horde of ugly creatures — made it look like a graceful bird soaring through the sky.
Finally, the goblins stopped coming. Nova cut down the last one. Now he stood in the middle of the carnage, catching his breath.
Lydia felt a slight thud in her heart as she watched the scene. He looked... cool. The thought echoed in her mind. "What are you thinking, Lydia? Don't forget he killed Tim." She slapped her own face with both hands.
But it seemed what Nova had done had drastically changed her impression of him.
Nova dragged his drenched body toward a nearby clean rock that wasn't covered in goblin blood and sat down. He wanted to take off his hood, but he felt it would be a bad idea. Noah had warned him that nobody should know who he was, and now he finally understood why. "But why did Uncle Noah bring me to the God's Ruins, and how did he even get me in?" He then secretly checked his arm to see if he had the mark. Nothing. Just his flawless skin. For a guy, Nova had unusually clean, smooth skin.
"Then how did I get in?" Nova's thoughts spiraled into chaos. "I'm really starting to worry. Everything lately feels like a dream."
"And I really don't want to wake up." a small smile tugged at his lips.
Lydia walked over and looked at him coldly.
"Who said you could kill all the seeker goblins?" she asked with a small pout.
Nova stared at Lydia in front of him. Unlike her annoying side, she was really beautiful. Fierce pink eyes glaring straight at him, her hourglass figure that could make any make swallow at the sight, and a pretty face that could draw the gazes of many.
"You were too slow." Nova said smugly, spreading his hands helplessly.
"Excuse me? Remember, I was the one who let you kill some," Lydia snapped, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Yeah, yeah," Nova said with a slight smile.
"When we leave the God's Ruins and return to the MPU, you're going to compensate me for my rabbit," Lydia said, still pouting.
Nova looked at her. "How do you actually leave the God's Ruins?"
Lydia stared at him.
That was the most ridiculous question Nova had asked her so far. She began to wonder if this guy was actually stupid.
"Is he pretending… or is he really this clueless? He's behaving like someone who was dumped here."
Before she could respond—
BOOM!
BOOOM!
BOOOOM!
Heavy footsteps echoed through the forest. leaving a trail of fallen trees in its wake. Lydia's expression instantly changed. Her calm composure vanished, replaced by pure panic.
Nova frowned. "What is that?"
He listened carefully to the sound. "Another swarm of goblins?" he wondered. But when he saw the panic written all over Lydia's face, he knew immediately this was something far worse.
Nova stood up, gripping his swords, ready for a fight. But Lydia suddenly grabbed his right hand. "We need to leave. Now. Before it arrives."
"What do you mean 'before it arrives'? Let's just stand and fight," Nova frowned.
Lydia looked at him like he had lost his mind. "You fool, don't you recognize that sound?"
Nova shook his head.
"That's a Champion Goblin, you dumbass."
"A Champion Goblin?" Nova asked.
Lydia gave him a cold look. "It's the third strongest and biggest goblin in a tribe after the General and the King. And It's a hundred times stronger than the seeker goblins you just fought. Didn't the MPU teach you these things?"
"A hundred times stronger…?" Nova thought. For once, he actually agreed with her. "Yeah… maybe running is a good idea," Nova said. But just as they prepared to escape—
BOOM!
Something crashed into the ground in front of them. Dust exploded into the air, completely crushing the bodies of the dead goblins and splattering blood everywhere.
When the dust finally cleared, a massive boulder lay before them. Then they slowly turned around. Behind them stood a monstrous, ugly bastard of a goblin staring at them like worthless bugs. It was about eleven feet tall, its body massive and muscular, its dark-green skin covered in scars. It towered over them like a small giant.
Nova stared at it, thoughts racing. "So this is a Champion Goblin…?"
Even he could feel the difference. The pressure coming from this creature was on a completely different level than the seeker goblins. But he didn't flinch. To Nova, he felt he could take it out.
But then things got worse. From the trees around them, more goblins began to appear. Seekers, and others… with red skin.
Nova looked confused. He leaned toward Lydia and whispered, "What are those red ones?"
"They're Hunter Goblins," Lydia answered absentmindedly, eyes fixed on the big ugly bastard.
"But I thought seeker goblins were hunters," Nova said, still confused.
"They are," Lydia replied. "But those red ones are the real hunters of the tribe. They're far stronger."
Now they were completely surrounded: seeker goblins and the hunter goblins to their left and right, the Champion Goblin in front, and the boulder behind. The lake nearby was now stained green with goblin blood and jumping in was a terrible idea.
That left them with only one option. Fight.
The goblins shrieked loudly as they charged.
Several hunter goblins raised crude bows and fired arrows toward them.
Nova's eyes widened slightly. "Goblins… using bows?" The arrows shot through the air, but he moved instantly.
Clang!
He deflected some arrows with his swords while dodging the others that rained down relentlessly with fluid movements. These truly were the real hunters — their shots were accurate. Beside him, Lydia was doing the same, using her dagger to knock arrows away. Then she spotted something: her dagger, still embedded in the head of a seeker goblin lying near a tree.
Without hesitation, Lydia dashed forward through the storm of arrows. Nova blinked in surprise. This girl actually ran straight into the barrage.
Arrows whizzed past her, but she skillfully deflected them, grabbed her dagger from the goblin's head, then leaped onto a tree branch.
From above, she began moving branch to branch, striking down seeker goblins and hunter goblins alike.
Nova watched, impressed. But their success only enraged the Champion Goblin. With a furious roar, the giant creature swung its massive hand toward Lydia, trying to swat her like an insect.
But before the attack could land, Nova vanished from where he stood, leaving the hunter goblins shooting at him confused. He instantly appeared in front of Lydia using his movement skill. Both swords spun in his hands. His body twisted like a drill.
SLASH!
His blades burrowed straight through the Champion Goblin's massive hand. Blood exploded into the air. The giant hand was completely shredded — its five fingers and palm were shredded into chunks of flesh falling to the ground as Nova landed lightly on his feet.
ROAR!
The Champion Goblin screamed in agony. Its roar shook the forest. Even some goblins fell from the trees because of the loud, piercing cry. It then collapsed to one knee as blood poured from its mutilated stump.
Lydia stared in disbelief. "He… cut apart a Champion Goblin's hand?" She had thought she was going to die, but Nova saved her and even severed the hand of the big ugly bastard. Her impression of him rose yet again. Without realizing it, a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
ROAR!
The Champion Goblin continued roaring with rage. Using its remaining hand, it tried to smash Nova into the ground — to squash the insolent tiny human.
But Nova moved like a phantom, using his movement skill.
BOOM!
The giant hand slammed into the ground, shaking everything, but he weaved past the attack effortlessly. He vanished again and appeared near the creature's legs, eyes bloodshot as he swung both blades.
Slash!
Slash!
His swords flashed. One by one, the ugly giant's ankles were cut apart.
SHRRK!
The Champion Goblin's ankles were sliced clean through. Blood erupted as the massive legs collapsed beneath it. Silence consumed the world for about half a second, then the big bast*rd began to fall...
Thud!
The Champion Goblin crashed face-first into the ground.