Chapter 100: broken teeth part 4

The momentum of the charge was staggering. The Special Detachment moved as a single mass, their boots thundering against the ground as their full concentration was entirely on the threat directly ahead. Their minds consumed by a single goal: the complete elimination of the formidable targets in front of them. They were mere inches from impact, when the trap sprung.

?From a nearby tent right alongside their charging path, three figures burst out into the open.

?Velvet led the ambush, lunging straight toward the exposed flank of the rushing formation. The Hobgoblins were moving far too fast to notice or maneuver away. Before they could react, Velvet swung her katanas in a sudden, razor-sharp arc. Her blades bit deep into the vulnerable side of the formation. Together with her pawns, Velvet began to tear through the formation, slicing down Hobgoblins from the flank.

?Valeria, moving alongside her pawns, observed Velvet’s successful entry into the fray and immediately took action. Though the Hobgoblin detachment was being shredded from the side, their forward momentum was so massive that the column could not instantly halt. Recognizing this, Valeria lowered her weapon and, together with her pawns, executed a physical maneuver that defied normal biology.

?They violently twisted their bodies sideways at full speed—a sudden, jarring motion that would have instantly snapped the spine of any ordinary combatant. However, thanks to her Elastic Body skill, her frame bent seamlessly under the force. Twisting mid-stride, Valeria and her pawns dived beneath the rows of leveled spears without missing a beat.

?They didn’t stop there. Once inside the enemy’s guard, Valeria’s companions executed a massive, sweeping attack against the front line. The sheer force of the sweep slammed into the lead Hobgoblins. Though the initial impact did not kill them outright, the violent shock disoriented the front rank entirely.

?When the leading Hobgoblins fell down, Unable to brake, the Hobgoblins behind stumbled forward, tumbling into one another in a chaotic chain reaction.

?This sudden collapse created an even greater opening for Velvet. The formation, which only a moment prior had been charging with terrifying power, was now completely paralyzed and jammed together. Velvet capitalized on the disaster, ramping up her slaughter from the side. Bound by their tight formation, the Hobgoblins found themselves physically unable to turn their long spears to defend their flanks. They could only stand helpless, trapped in place as Velvet’s blades reaped through their ranks.

?Valeria did not stand idly by watching the carnage. Unlike Velvet, who was indiscriminately cutting through the ranks, Valeria deliberately shifted her focus to a different target.

?She thrust her spear straight toward a Hobgoblin who stared back in sheer panic. Watching the deadly point surge directly toward his face as he braced for the end, closing his eyes tightly as he awaited the fatal strike. A second passed. Then another. Feeling nothing, he hesitantly opened his eyes, only to witness something impossible.

?Valeria’s spear had bent unnaturally, coiling mid-thrust like a striking serpent. It had completely altered its trajectory in mid-air, bypassing him entirely to strike the one standing directly behind him.

?From the very beginning, Valeria had pinpointed this special Hobgoblin trapped deep within the dense crowd. Activating her Elastic skill, she flexed her weapon, guiding the spearhead seamlessly through the narrow gap between two front-line soldiers. The spear point pierced the throat of the target with absolute accuracy.

?The special Hobgoblin died instantly. Even in death, his wide, disbelieving eyes showed no sign of resistance—he had never imagined that among the dozens of tightly packed soldiers, he would be the one singled out and struck down. Crimson blood gushed from his throat before he could even register what had occurred.

?Instead of withdrawing her spear in a straight line, Valeria manipulated the weapon’s shape once more. She curved the spearhead into a sharp, sickle-like hook. With a powerful, backward jerk of her arm, the curved blade ripped through the neck of the front-line Hobgoblin who had just believed himself lucky to survive. His head was torn clean from his shoulders, sending a spray of blood into the air.

?Taking full advantage of the enemy’s paralysis, Valeria began controlling her spear to bend at impossible, erratic angles. She executed a relentless combination of curved slashes and thrusts, harvesting the helpless Hobgoblins who remained frozen in place.

? When a soldier was killed, the body had nowhere to fall; the corpses remained pinned upright, wedged tightly between the living. Trapped without room to swing a weapon or dodge, the remaining Hobgoblins were reduced to helpless prey, slaughtered from both the front and the flank.

?Realizing that the formation was on the verge of total annihilation, the leader of the Special Detachment made a split-second decision and roared the order to fall back.

?it still have to be remembered that these Hobgoblins were disciplined elites. The front rank facing the two girls did not attempt to run; instead, they threw themselves forward into a suicidal hold, sacrificing their lives to buy their companions precious seconds to disengage and retreat.

?It had to be said that this delay tactic was remarkably effective. Valeria’s flexible spear required a wider radius to manipulate properly, forcing her to step back to maintain sufficient operating space rather than rushing forward blindly. On the other side, Velvet’s katana style required room to flow; as the sacrificial Hobgoblins aggressively surged forward to block the immediate area, Velvet was likewise forced to yield a step and adjust her footing.

?As the surviving members of the detachment retreated, their leader suddenly felt an unease growing in him.

? As the remaining Hobgoblins fell back and attempted to regroup, the leader frantically scanned his surroundings to pinpoint the source of his growing unease. That was when the horrifying truth dawned on him: the area was completely devoid of support.

?He wanted to use the waves of Red Goblins as meat shields to cover a retreat, just as the first detachment had done. But as he looked around, there were no Red Goblins anywhere in sight. A heavy, suffocating premonition settled over him. They had walked directly into a death sentence.

?Over on the flank, Velvet flashed a cold, knowing smile. She had anticipated this exact scenario from the start.

?Having observed the first detachment’s escape tactics, Velvet knew the enemy may relay on the Red Goblins as a meat shields. Thus, when this small detachment first entered the settlement to hunt them down, Velvet had intentionally avoided a direct engagement. Her earlier "escape" had not been a retreat at all; it was a deliberate sweep to wipe out every single Red Goblin in the immediate vicinity while Valeria stalled them.

?With the surrounding meat shields entirely eliminated, the second phase of their plan was falling perfectly into place. This calculated strategy was the exact reason neither girl had felt compelled to rush their attacks earlier in the encirclement.

?Seeing their sacrificial rear guard rapidly crumbling, the detachment leader abandoned all pretense of formation. He immediately shouted to run for the settlement wall at full speed.

?Driven by strict military training and raw survival instinct, the remaining Hobgoblins stabilized their shattered morale. They turned as one and sprinted at top speed toward the settlement perimeter, desperate to put distance between themselves and the girls.

?However, it was already too late.

?Velvet had just finished off the last one. Watching the fleeing enemy reveal their backs—a fatal mistake on any battlefield—she gave chase alongside her pawns.

?Noticing Velvet rapidly closing the gap, the leader gritted his teeth and made another brutal call. He ordered another small squad to turn back and obstruct her path, ensuring the rest of the unit might survive. Though the squad knew it meant certain death, their discipline held. They halted their escape, willingly standing their ground to cover their comrades’ flight.

?Before Velvet had to slow down to deal with them, a blur flashed past her side. It was Valeria, who had already cleared her own part. Without breaking stride, Valeria intercepted the delay squad head-on, freeing Velvet to accelerate into an adjacent alleyway to cut off the main escaping force.

?When the leader glanced back and saw no one immediately behind him, he let out a short sigh of relief as he saw they were nearing the settlement wall, he believed his desperate gamble had succeeded.

?But just as he reached the shadow of the wall, a figure flashed out from a side alley. Velvet charged directly on their flank once again. Because the retreating Hobgoblins had broken their tight formation to sprint, they were completely disorganized. When Velvet struck, there was not even a shred of resistance. Her katanas carved through the scattered lines effortlessly.

?Horrified, the leader looked back toward the delay squad, only to see Valeria charging up from the opposite direction, her spear bathed in blood. The realization hit him like an iron weight: his small detachment was completely doomed.

?Refusing to die like cornered stock, the leader rallied his final reserves of courage. He bellowed to his remaining men to Fight with everything they have and Take at least one of them down with them.

?Before even finishing his speech an arrow whistled through the air, aimed squarely at his temple. Being a seasoned combatant, his instincts kicked in, and he managed to deflect the arrow with his spear shaft.

?However, in that split second of distraction, a silver flash caught the sunlight.

?Alarm bells screamed in his head. The leader scrambled to reposition his weapon to block the incoming strike, but Valeria was not an opponent who could be stopped by conventional guards.

?Manipulating her flexible weapon, Valeria caused her spearhead to curve dramatically around the shaft of his defensive block. In utter horror, the leader watched his parry slip completely into empty air as the spearhead altered its path mid-strike.

?Before he could pull back, the silver point plunged deep into his throat, the sharp tip bursting out from the back of his neck.

?Valeria didn’t hesitate for a single second. She ripped her spear free from his neck and continued her forward momentum into the surrounding survivors.

?With their leader struck down in the middle of his rally cry, the detachment’s remaining discipline collapsed entirely. Panic seized the remaining Hobgoblins as they tried desperately to scramble away, but escape was impossible. Valeria and Velvet—two master specialists in absolute speed—moved through the panicked ranks like wolves inside a sheep flock.

?Within minutes, the brutal clash inside the settlement came to an end. Silence descended over, leaving the entire Special Detachment wiped out without a single survivor.

?Yet, as the two girls stood amid the stillness, their breathing steady and weapons ready, they knew the battle was far from over. They adjusted their stances and scanned the shadows, acutely aware that the mysterious Black-Robed Goblin likely had even more tricks.