Chapter 106: Didn’t see it coming part 1

Brenda decapitated the chieftain right in front of the remaining hunting party. The girls had expected that after seeing their leader killed in battle, the other goblins would suddenly panic and collapse, finishing the fight automatically. They thought the goblins would start to flee so they could finish them off easily. But what they didn’t expect was that the goblins had a totally different reaction.

?At first, when Brenda was dueling with the chieftain, it was like a silent agreement where the two sides did not intervene in their personal combat. But right after Brenda slew the chieftain, the nearby goblins who witnessed the situation changed drastically. Although previously these goblins were filled with malice and hatred and were fighting with immense ferocity, that was largely under the support of their chieftain, who could boost their morale.

?Instead of being filled with fear and running for their lives, these enraged goblins completely lost their minds at that moment. While they were fighting with fervor before, they now started to fight desperately, throwing away their lives. The pressure suddenly doubled, making the situation very desperate. The girls had to exert a limitless amount of effort because they were momentarily caught totally off guard.

?They even disregarded their own safety. Their eyes were all bloodshot as they looked at Brenda as if they wanted to devour her. All their effort was focused on avenging their chieftain, and they began to swamp toward Brenda. Even when Magenta and Fiona shifted their attention to help, the goblins’ focus remained solely on Brenda.

?Brenda, seeing this, did not panic. She also realized this was a great opportunity. Using the situation where the hunting party had completely lost their minds, she suddenly changed her formation. Brenda and her pawns momentarily pulled backward, creating a buffer area between her and the goblins who were charging forward to get revenge.

?Fiona was directly in front of Brenda to absorb damage while Magenta was on the flanks to output maximum damage. Because the goblins’ attention was entirely fixed on Brenda, the two flanking girls did not encounter any trouble or face retaliation from the front. They started to cut down enemies even more easily than before.

?This transformed the situation. Instead of a spike in difficulty, they created a suitable environment to kill the enemies easily. After a series of fierce fights, the goblins’ eyes were still bloodshot, and they remained completely focused on Brenda, even as their companions nearby were cut down and smashed to death by Magenta and Fiona. They simply did not care; their only focus was on Brenda.

?Even the two flankers ,Velvet and Valeria did not find it troublesome, they went around the hunting party’s formation and started to cut down enemies from the rear. The girls then entered an extreme damage output state where every second they killed more than twenty goblins.

?This state remained for more than a minute. Then, after a full minute had passed, when Magenta finally swung a heavy battle axes, cleaving the remaining goblin of the hunting party in half, she prepared to swing again. However, upon checking the battlefield, she found that there were no enemies remaining.

?Magenta put down her axe. Seeing that there were no other enemies left, the girls deactivated their titles to catch their breath because they were mentally exhausted from the final moments. Although the battle had lasted for less than five minutes, it was intensely brutal, requiring both sides to give it their all.

?The battlefield was now filled with corpses and blood. As the girls caught their breath, the air itself was filled with the thick metallic stench of fresh blood flowing across the ground. After resting for a short bit, while they were still very mentally drained, the girls suddenly turned their faces toward the nearby settlement. At that moment, even Smith and Sarafina, who had been protected during the fight, looked in the same direction.

?They found that near the settlement, energy was suddenly gathering as if something was forming. The girls instantly tensed up and returned to a state of high vigilance because they did not know what was going on.

?After a few seconds, a light like a white dot floated in mid-air. It began to act like a warp, gathering energy while slowly expanding. After gathering energy for a few minutes, it suddenly grew to a size of more than three meters, completely forming before the power output abruptly stopped.

?As it solidified and remained in that state, the girls suddenly remembered that this was the exit of the dungeon. They realized that a dungeon exit in a new dungeon usually appears after the players clear a settlement, area, or gathering place of the local creatures. Once all of them are cleared, the dungeon exit will form and appear. This was the normal procedure.

?However, for them, this was entirely new because the previous dungeons they had entered were special dungeons, meaning they had never witnessed the formation of a dungeon exit before. That is why they had been so vigilant.

?When the girls and Smith saw that it was only the formation of a dungeon exit and not a sudden ambush by new enemies, they relaxed and continued to clear the battlefield. Smith knew that the girls’ reaction was very normal. He thought to himself about why the dungeon exit had not appeared when they were ambushed yesterday. He suddenly realized that maybe they hadn’t cleared the original residents of that settlement. The black-robed goblin must have gathered the original residents, integrated them, and led the ambush without the core members of the settlement being entirely wiped out, which prevented the dungeon exit from forming.

?That explained why they had been so cautious. Still, he didn’t care much because they could exit the dungeon at any time now. But they couldn’t leave just yet since they still had their mission to complete, and leaving now would make all their previous efforts a waste. Furthermore, they did not have any urgent matters back home, so they decided against leaving immediately.

?while the others were clearing the battlefield, Velvet came to Smith’s side and asked, "So Smith, what is our next step from here on?"

?After hearing that question, Smith paused for a moment, tilted his head, and replied, "For now, because we still have a lot of time, why don’t we scout the area? If possible, we still need to do our mission. But as we know, we have some fellow whose location we do not know. He is still out there, and we know he will be the greatest obstacle to completing this mission."

?Although the last time they had been ambushed by that mysterious figure they had survived, the guy might be afraid or have alternative plans that made him retreat. Because of their first clash, that guy had already seen what the girls were capable of. Even if they clashed again, that guy wouldn’t use the same tactic; he would change his approach to deal with them. Even though they had gotten a small power-up from increased aura points, dealing with a shifting strategy would be very troublesome.

?Without a way to handle his mysterious spying methods, they would remain in a passive situation at a severe disadvantage. They could only be extremely careful, though not knowing where the next ambush would come from would surely slow down their progress.

?Suddenly, Velvet put on a mysterious and knowing smile. "Smith, I have a way. Although that guy will be very troublesome to deal with but if everything goes well, I have a plan that will give us the ability to lure him out of the shadows and give us a chance to take him down. Even if things go more smoothly than planned, we could even locate the settlement of that guy."

?Upon hearing Velvet’s proposal, Smith became curious and asked, "Is that way safe, or does it have any risks?"

?Velvet shook her head and said, "It all depends on the reaction of the other side. I can only say there might be some risks, but I can assure you that even if something goes totally wrong, we still have the ability to protect ourselves."

?Smith nodded and said, "Okay, you can do whatever you want. You have to remember that you are the commander of this group, so I can only approve."

?Velvet smiled and replied, "Okay."

?From the very beginning, it seemed like Velvet was asking for permission from Smith, but she knew that Smith would always prioritize the safety of the girls over the success of their mission. She knew that if her plan carried too much risk, Smith would directly object and would rather spend months grinding for points than try something dangerous. That was why, when she decided to reveal this plan to Smith, she had already thought through every possible situation. She was just informing Smith, knowing he would agree if it was beneficial to them.

?After the other girls finished clearing the battlefield, they gathered around Velvet and Smith, who were still talking.

?Once everyone had gathered, Velvet announced, "Okay girls, now that we have finished this battle, we still have to continue our mission. We will rest for half an hour, and after that, we will continue to search for nearby settlements."

?Upon hearing this, the other girls did not object. All of them knew that although they had undergone a fierce battle just then, they did not have a lot of time to waste and wanted to continue the mission.

?Velvet then added another sentence. "And as we know, we still have that troublesome fellow. But I have a foolproof plan where we can directly confront that guy, and if it succeeds, we can trap that guy as easily as catching a turtle in a jar."

?Hearing this, the girls were visibly happy. They knew that if that guy was truly trapped, getting rid of him would be for the best.

?Velvet concluded, "Okay, rest for a bit. After that, while we are doing our mission, we will be performing our plan for capturing that guy, and that plan will be put into motion."

?After hearing these instructions, Smith directly took out food from the storage artifact. The group ate and replenished their food reserves. After resting for a bit, they sprang back into motion, adopting their usual formation and slowly stepped into the forest, where the grand plan to counter the black-robed goblin officially began.