Chapter 107: Didn’t see it coming part 3

Velvet was merely two meters away from the black-robed goblin, the trap had successfully sprung. Even in the pitch darkness, Velvet could see the the silhouette of a smile on the his face, knowing that the human had fallen right into his snare.

?It had to be credited as a meticulous and well-planned maneuver. He had used himself as bait, luring them into a dire and precarious situation. As the battle progressed, he had intentionally exposed himself, tricking the girls into thinking there was an opportunity to take his head and turn the tables. Little did they know, he had already drawn one of them into his trap and his calculations.

?Right in front of him, one of those human females was trapped, and he was eagerly waiting to witness her death. Once he killed her, although he wasn’t sure how the others would react, he knew it wouldn’t be long before he picked them off one by one. This was just one of his many plans, and since it had already succeeded, he watched in anticipation as the human neared her end.

?Yet, something puzzled him.

?The human clearly trapped before him showed no signs of panic. She was as calm as could be, which left him completely baffled. Does this human not realize she is about to die, or has she already accepted her fate? If it was the latter, it would save him a lot of trouble, as he preferred not to deal with desperate people who might fight back with reckless abandon. But regardless of her thoughts, one thing remained certain: the human in front of him was going to die.

?Though it felt like a long time had passed, all of these thoughts happened in less than a second inside the black-robed goblin’s head. Just as he anticipated the dagger biting into the neck of the human and seeing blood for the first time from one of these troublesome enemies, Velvet—staring eye-to-eye with the goblin—suddenly smirked, curving her lips upward into a knowing smile.

?Seeing that smile, a chilling sense of premonition hit the black-robed goblin.

?Before he could react, when the dagger was mere inches from Velvet’s neck, a sharp clunk echoed through the night. It sounded like metal violently crashing against metal, rather than a blade piercing flesh. At that exact moment, the goblin’s heart skipped a beat.

?Looking closer, he realized that standing directly behind the human was a shadowy figure.

?Upon seeing this figure, the black-robed goblin knew his plan had completely failed. While the human in front of him was still technically bound by the situation, he let out a sharp cry and rapidly retreated backward, desperately trying to put distance between them before Velvet could free herself.

?The shadowy figure behind Velvet was none other than Vesper.

?Having deflected the sudden sneak attack, Velvet saw the black-robed goblin retreating and immediately issued a command to Vesper: "You go and deal with that sneak attacker. I will go chase down that guy—this is our opportunity!"

?With a quick twist, Velvet directly freed herself from the entanglement of the special hobgoblins and with a quick and fast strikes she directly killed them in seconds when she Bolted forward chasing after the black-robed goblin, determined not to let their carefully laid plans go to waste.

?Earlier when she saw the exposed black robbed Goblin in the back of the ranks, Velvet had immediately recognized that something was wrong. Having served as a battle commander who had fought many enemy commanders, she understood that commanding armies required a very high brain capacity and a sharp, calculative mind. Thanks to her own tactical brilliance, she had seen right through this trap from the very first glance. This was why she had reached this stage, turning the tables on their pursuer.

?Meanwhile, back with Vesper:

?Vesper had been following closely behind Velvet when they charged. Thanks to her skill, Shadow Cloak, her presence was heavily muffled. In the shadows and the darkness, this skill allowed her to tail Velvet undetected, hidden amidst the chaos of the battlefield where enemies had no time to check the shadows.

?Now that Velvet had left to chase the main goblin commander, Vesper was left face-to-face with the sneak attacker.

?Focusing her attention on her opponent, she saw that the attacker was also a goblin, wearing tight black leather armor that wrapped tightly around a frame the size of an ordinary goblin. However, when she sensed the creature’s aura level, it was clearly a peak intermediate-rank creature.

?Rather than having the bulky, muscular build of a hobgoblin, this assassin had the lighter frame of a normal goblin, but its aura level didn’t lie. Even the strike she had just deflected carried an immense amount of weight and power. Furthermore, this goblin’s skin wasn’t the typical dark green of like of the special hobgoblin; it had a deep, shadowy shade leaning toward pitch black and Its enhancements were clearly built entirely around speed rather than the usual attack like of the others.

?As Vesper observed the goblin, the goblin was also observing her. The staring contest lasted only mere seconds before a sudden feeling of familiarity washed over Vesper.

?As the seconds ticked by, she stared into the goblin’s eyes—yellow, slit-like pupils—and the mystery was finally solved. These were the very same eyes that had been observing them from the very beginning. This was the guy who had caused them so much trouble! Realizing the truth she decided that she couldn’t let him escape so to end the stalemate, Vesper initiated the first move.

?Although the goblin was a peak intermediate-rank creature and together with their physical enhancement the goblin had a total of 72 Aura points, and it might seem reckless but Through the early statements extermination,relentless ambushes and harassment of the past few days, the girls hadn’t been stagnant and they had gained some aura points like Vesper whose base aura points were 18 which will scale to 54 after activating her title —to challenge a speed-oriented creature with an almost 20-point disadvantage, the truth was far more complex.

? Vesper still had her Shadow Movement skill, which increased her movement speed in the dark. Combined with the night environment, which pushed her capabilities close to their full potential, her raw speed can surpassed the goblin’s. While she couldn’t match its raw power, her speed put them on nearly equal footing, giving her the confidence to strike first.

?Bending her knees and leaning forward, Vesper burst into motion with blinding speed, reactivating Shadow Cloak. Under the cover of night, she looked like a passing shadow, invisible to any ordinary set of eyes.

?However, the goblin was an expert in its own right and tracked her movement instantly. It sprinted forward meeting her head-on, weapons clashing in the silent night as the two figures rapidly exchanged blows. Sparks flew as they traded strikes, fighting their way farther and farther away from the main battlefield.

?After trading more than six rapid moves, they broke apart and stared at each other. The goblin had sustained nearly zero damage, while Vesper had a nasty cut on her left hand; during one of the exchanges, the goblin’s overwhelming strength had accidentally injured her, rendering her left hand almost entirely unusable.

?Following a brief stalemate, Vesper decided to end it.

?She charged forward once again. The goblin smiled, thinking the human was no match for him, and moved in to crush her. But what the goblin didn’t know was that Vesper had been carefully studying his fighting pattern the entire time.

?As she rapidly closed the distance, the goblin slashed toward her head with his dagger held in a reverse grip. Using her injured left arm, Vesper deliberately blocked the strike along its trajectory. Because of her injured arm, the blow pushed her backward, but the goblin took the bait, aggressively pushing forward right into her space.

?Just as the goblin’s blade neared her neck, Vesper smiled and said, "Are you goblins stupid or what?"

?The goblin was momentarily stunned that his prey was speaking, but as realization hit, he tried to rapidly retract his arm but It was already too late.

?Vesper released her grip on the weapon she had been holding with her left hand and instantly grabbed the goblin’s wrist. Using the momentum of the goblin trying to retract his hand, she pulled herself forward.

?The goblin’s face filled with horror. In a matter of an instant, closing the distance to zero, Vesper used her remaining right hand—which was holding a hidden dagger—and violently stabbed it straight into the goblin’s stomach.

?As the creature’s struggles weakened, she yanked the dagger free and immediately thrust it through its neck, finishing it off once and for all.

?Standing up over the fallen foe, Vesper shook her head slightly. Throughout their entire exchange, she had purposely kept one dagger hidden, giving the goblin the false illusion that she only possessed a single weapon. When she caught his wrist, trapping his own weapon, he had panicked upon realizing the truth, but it was far too late.

?Finishing her task, Vesper stood up and looked off in the direction where Velvet went.