Witch Redemption

..................

In the underground area, six shadowy figures stared blankly as large amounts of dark green blood seeped down from above. They couldn't understand why the guy was alone at first, but then suddenly had twelve accomplices.

They had finally waited until the twelve accomplices had left, giving them the opportunity to decide to hunt them down themselves. But the next second, a terrifying number of more than one hundred appeared out of nowhere.

"Captain Keno, are you still going to make a move?"

One of the dark figures emitted a crackling, ancient language. There was no fear in the sound; it seemed that as long as the captain gave the order, it would dare to go up and die like its comrades.

The shadowy figure known as Captain Keno fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, his mind racing with thoughts. "These monsters are the evil minions of the evil god that the king mentioned after the prophecy ritual, evil beings that must be annihilated. However, even the evil minions of the evil god vary in strength. Our deployment as junior guards is currently too scattered. When facing these evil monsters, we must target their weaknesses and defeat them one by one."

"Block the temporary entrance and track her movements. If she breaks into the Holy Land, notify the Holy Land guards to take action."

After giving the final command, the shadowy figures pressed their hands together onto the hard soil on both sides. The next second, the writhing soil blocked the path from the underground area to the surface area.

They are so resolute, without any hesitation.

One thing is certain: they have remembered this enemy, and they will continue to endure until the opportune moment arrives before revealing their ferocious fangs.

..................

The area where Li Lan was located was more than a thousand meters away from Luo Lina's location, and neither of them knew what the other had gone through.

Compared to Lolina and the others, Li Lan was obviously much more passive when exploring the monster area. After all, his profession was a priest, and he did not have any powerful perception skills. Even his own professional skills were somewhat useless.

That's why he's the most cautious of all the witches.

Ever since he crossed the hole in the city wall, he would check the surroundings before taking a few steps.

Just like now, having arrived at this somewhat deserted street, he felt a little uneasy and immediately stopped without hesitation. While checking the "Survey" page on his natal magic book, he looked around.

But on both sides of the street were dilapidated flat-roofed buildings. Looking through the rickety doors and windows, one could see that the dark rooms were empty, and there was no sign of any monsters lurking inside.

"Strange, there's no sign of monsters on this map..."

There were still some Shadow Monsters lurking near the outer perimeter, but after walking nearly a hundred meters, the Shadow Monsters around had completely disappeared, which was quite abnormal.

No, that's not quite right either; it's not exactly unusual.

Li Lan recalled the records in some books about the Empire. Adventurers who came to the Mo City Ruins mostly hunted Shadow Monsters on the outskirts. As for the city proper of the Mo City Ruins, they all seemed to have an unspoken agreement not to step into it.

Moreover, it is said that a large number of adventurers who came out of curiosity perished within the city above ground, and even those as strong as gold-level adventurers never returned. This is the reason why people are terrified of the city, and it is also the reason for the lack of information about the ruins of Mo City.

"Perhaps we shouldn't blindly trust what we find in the 'reconnaissance'. If the so-called goblins are really the rumored mid-level intelligent monsters, do they have a way to conceal their presence?"

Just as Li Lan reached this conclusion, the slime following closely behind him suddenly whispered at the top of its lungs, "Master, there's something underground..."

"Is there something?"

Li Lan was surprised. How did the slime know there was something underground, and did it know what was underneath?

“Similar to…” the slime hesitated for a moment, as if organizing its thoughts, “Similar to human auras, they are hidden in four locations.”

The slime gave instructions one by one, which startled Li Lan. According to the slime's instructions, if he took a few more steps, he would fall right into the encirclement of these unknown beings. If they suddenly launched an attack, Li Lan would be doomed.

His class in the spellbook is Priest. Although he has four permanent weak status effects, at this stage he can only use the Libra Cross Greatsword for basic attacks. His combat power is not that high, and he does not have Lana's ability to fight ten people at once.

"Are these hiding guys goblins?"

"What is a goblin?" the slime asked, puzzled.

"..." Li Lan then realized that slimes had absolutely no knowledge of goblins in this area, and besides, Li Lan himself didn't know much about goblins. If he didn't know, how could he possibly ask slimes for information?

Regardless, now that it's certain there might be something lying in ambush below, wouldn't it be like walking right into a trap if he foolishly went there anyway?

"How strong are these guys?" Li Lan asked again.

"Strong...?" The slime tilted its head slightly, as if still sensing the monster lurking below.

Li Lan didn't hear the slime's questioning tone for a moment. Upon hearing that it was very strong, he immediately felt threatened and gasped. In some ways, the slime was stronger than him. If it thought it was very strong, then Li Lan would have no chance of fighting it.

It seems we must strike first!

Hesitation leads to defeat!

Without hesitation, Li Lan took a few more steps and arrived at the hiding place of one of the monsters indicated by the slime, pretending to admire the scenery for a moment.

Sure enough, there seemed to be gaps in the floor tiles in this area, and the darkness beneath those gaps seemed rather unusual.

"Could it be hollow underneath? Are they waiting for me to fall into their encirclement before making their move?"

Li Lan had already approached one of their hiding places, and they hadn't made a move yet. Could it be that they didn't have any ill intentions?

Although Li Lan had such a suspicion in her heart, she didn't care whether these guys had any ill intentions or not. As soon as she arrived above this block, she summoned her professional artifact without hesitation.

"Revelation!"

An unbearable weight came into Li Lan's hands, but she didn't think too much and let the enormous hammer fall without hesitation.

"pat-"

First came the resounding crash of the sledgehammer shattering the ground. Then, the massive hammer, with its immense weight, smashed into the underground space with unstoppable force, followed by the chilling sound of bones cracking. A large amount of dark green liquid gushed out like a fountain.

"Just as the slime said, there is something down there!"

Just as Li Lan was smashing something to death, the stone slab in the other hiding place indicated by the slime was completely overturned, and a total of nine black and green figures suddenly rushed out and charged towards them with great momentum.

Slightly startled by the sudden turn of events, Li Lan exclaimed in surprise upon seeing these guys.

"Humans? No, goblins?"

Chapter 89 Horrific Carnage

These nine humanoid creatures that rushed towards them had features similar to humans, with strong, dark green muscle lines all over their bodies, wearing black shorts made of some unknown fiber, and with messy, jet-black hair on their heads.

However, what is most horrifying is their inhuman features. The skin on their limbs is composed of dark green scales, much like the skin of some kind of reptile, and their facial features are completely different from those of normal humans.

Beneath its hook-like black nose lay a gaping maw with jagged fangs, a truly terrifying sight. Looking upwards, one could see a pair of crimson-yellow beastly eyes, filled with intense hostility and rage. Then there were its long, pointed, strange ears, somewhat damaged, which added to the menacing aura of this approaching group.

"..."

Li Lan suddenly raised the Libra Cross Greatsword in his hand, and he was somewhat horrified to find that these terrifying guys were also holding weapons!

The weapons were mostly short or long swords, clearly sharp and effective. In addition, one of the men who looked like the leader had a weapon resembling a steam rifle strapped to his waist, which instilled a sense of fear in Li Lan.

"If these guys really are goblins, that would be terrible!"

They have cold weapons, and they can also use firearms. It's unimaginable what would have happened if these guys had used firearms to ambush him!

Instinctively, he wanted to defend with the Libra Cross Greatsword, but unexpectedly, the slime was a fraction faster than Li Lan. As soon as he saw that his master's life was in danger, the slime changed its appearance and exuded a chilling aura.

Li Lan remembered what this tremor was; he had felt it before when facing that mutated, mimicking chaos the size of a small mountain...

His lithe figure blurred into a streak of light, the raised black "Hassan's Blade" piercing through the sharp shriek, and in the blink of an eye, it swept across the throat of the first humanoid monster, a torrent of dark green blood gushing forth...

This is what makes the slime so terrifying after it levels up to level three. Its physical attributes are greatly enhanced, and when it hunts monsters together, it can unleash speed and power that Li Lan can hardly match. This is also why Li Lan was so pleasantly surprised back then.

In less than ten seconds, the slime that was fighting against the nine attacking humanoid monsters quickly became their biggest enemy, and they began to do everything in their power to kill the slime completely.

Unfortunately, slimes possess the ability to regenerate at high speed. As long as their two most vulnerable points, the intelligence core and the magic core, are not hit, they are virtually unstoppable. They can withstand a large number of attacks at any time and kill all enemies by trading their lives for their own.

What surprised Li Lan even more was that none of the humanoid monsters that were killed during this time made any screams, nor did they show any fear or retreat. They all died in silent slaughter, trying their best to inflict the greatest damage on the slime, even at the cost of their lives.

..................

In the underground area, several dark figures were watching the battle above, waiting for the best opportunity to strike.

However, in just twenty seconds, their companions lay dead in pools of blood, while the strange creature that had almost self-mutilated itself to kill them was rapidly healing its numerous wounds.

"Captain Nikolai, if we don't act now, we'll miss our chance."

One of the tall, dark figures emitted an anxious hissing sound, a sound filled with anger and urgency.

"Retreat and seal off the temporary entrance. If she breaks into the Holy Land through the fixed entrance, the Holy Land guards will need to intervene."

"But......"

"Peng Sheng, this is an order!"

At the command of the shadowy figure known as Captain Nikolai, the other shadowy figures around him simultaneously placed their hands on the hard soil beside them. The next second, the entrance ahead was completely buried, and no more sounds could be heard from ahead.

"Captain Nikolai, if..."

The first shadowy figure to speak was clearly still bothered by the captain's earlier hesitation and wanted to express its dissatisfaction, but before it could finish speaking, the latter immediately interrupted it.

“Peng Sheng, that immortal summon is a follower of that evil god’s henchman. If we want to take her down, we will have to pay a heavy price, and we may even be wiped out.”

"Impossible. Since she's a servant of that evil god's henchman, we just need to..."

"It's not that easy. She never entered our encirclement from the beginning. Instead, she killed Gino and the other man first. And that strange hammer has the effect of restraining us. What does this mean? It means that she has a way to find out our location. Maybe even those of us who are a little farther away have already been detected!"

The shadowy figure, referred to as Captain Nikolai, made a judgment with absolute certainty: "She only made one move, leaving the rest to her servants. Given that servants are generally weaker than their masters, it means she disdained to fight. With such strength, probably only the Holy Land Guardians could deal with her. Next, we need to find a way to pinpoint her location before making a decision."

..................

Li Lan had no idea that there were many humanoid monsters lurking underground, nor did he expect that his being a step too slow for the slime to act would lead to the wild imagination of a certain goblin captain.

If Li Lan had been ambushed again at that time, although the cautious man might have been caught off guard, he would definitely not be standing here as easily as he is now.

"My lord, what should we do next?"

The slime stood respectfully to the side, as if it had just done something insignificant.

"Are there any other things lurking below?"

Li Lan is a very cautious person and dares not be careless in the slightest.

The slime lowered its head slightly and responded uncertainly, its voice as loud as boiling water, "Probably... no more."

"Okay, I'll leave the rest of the security to you."

After receiving the servant's reply, Li Lan was in high spirits. He quickly summoned servants number one to three, buffed them with the "Courage" status, and asked them to check what might be in these deep caves.

As a result, they only managed to move out two mangled corpses and found nothing else.

"Are these what they call goblins?"

Li Lan approached one of the strange corpses and confirmed it again. Indeed, these humanoid monsters had many human characteristics, but also many non-human characteristics. Overall, they were somewhat like the settings she had seen in many fantasy novels.

"There are differences, and it doesn't feel like a monster..."

For example, the dark green blood and the dark green flesh look disgusting.

But for some reason, Li Lan felt that these strange humanoid monsters were not the kind of demons she had seen before, but rather intelligent beings similar to humans. At least from the fact that they used special cloth to cover their bodies, they must have a basic sense of shame.

Picking up a few of the knives they used, Li Lan noticed that they were all hand-sharpened, and their sharpness was no less than, and perhaps even better than, the weapons sold in the weapon shops in Mori City on the border.

"This shows that these goblins have an amazing tradition of craftsmanship and a standardized production line."