Chapter 39: The Hunter Strikes

The swordsmen split apart, one circling to my left while the other moved right, trying to box me in so there was nowhere to escape.

Before they could close the trap, I bent my knees and exploded upward.

[Enhanced Legs] launched me clean over the formation, drawing a chorus of startled gasps from below.

"What the...?!"

I landed behind them before they could even turn around.

My axe swept upward in one fluid motion, cleanly taking the first swordsman’s head from his shoulders.

His body hadn’t even begun to fall before I pivoted toward the nearest spearman and sank my fangs into the exposed side of his neck.

The sudden attack caught him completely off guard, and his scream was cut short as the venom entered his bloodstream.

"P-Poison...!"

He staggered backward, clawing desperately at his throat as the venom spread through his body.

His face darkened with alarming speed before his legs finally gave out beneath him.

The shield bearer reacted almost instantly, spinning around with surprising speed and charging straight at me.

I ducked beneath the rim of his shield, drove my shoulder into his body, sending him crashing sideways into the approaching spearman.

The two collided, losing their balance before falling to the ground.

I didn’t give either of them a chance to recover.

My axe rose once, then came down twice in quick succession, blood spraying across the burning street. ℯ

The poisoned spearman collapsed beside them, his body convulsing as the venom rapidly took hold.

Only one remained.

The last swordsman stood rooted to the spot, his eyes darting from one fallen comrade to the next, unable to comprehend had just happened.

In the span of a few breaths, an entire squad had been wiped out by a single goblin.

"...Impossible."

I didn’t give him time to process it.

I rushed forward, and he answered with a desperate, clumsy swing born more from panic than skill.

I stepped inside his reach before the blade could gather any real force, then brought my axe across his body in one clean motion.

Steel bit through flesh, carving across his chest, and he crumpled to the ground without another word.

A flurry of notifications flooded my vision the moment the last soldier hit the ground.

[You have defeated Level 13, Human Warrior]

[You have defeated Level 15, Human Warrior]

[You have defeated Level 14, Human Warrior]

[You have defeated Level 13, Human Warrior]

[You have defeated Level 12, Human Warrior]

The messages didn’t stop there.

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

Three levels... all at once.

Another notification appeared.

[You have received +9 Free Stat Points.]

Combined with the points I’d been saving, I now had a total of twenty free stat points.

There was no point holding onto them in the middle of a battle.

I already knew exactly where they needed to go.

"System," I muttered without slowing down, "add all available stat points to Physical."

The familiar warmth spread through my body, making me groan as strength coursed through every muscle. It wasn’t painful, just... intense.

A smile slowly tugged at the corner of my lips.

Now we’re talking.

I could’ve grown even stronger by feasting on the brains of the corpses scattered across the battlefield, but I didn’t have the luxury of time.

The more time I wasted here the more goblins were killed.

Lifting my gaze, I surged forward.

A line of human soldiers advanced foward with shields locked together, while spearmen marched in perfect formation behind them.

Higher up, archers moved across rooftops and along the massive tree branches surrounding the village, searching for targets, and farther back stood three mages, calmly preparing their next spells as though this massacre were nothing more than another routine mission.

I narrowed my eyes, forcing myself to ignore the chaos unfolding around me as I quickly assessed the battlefield.

The warriors at the front weren’t the problem.

The mages were the ones setting homes ablaze, while the archers rained arrows into fleeing civilians and caught the goblin defenders off guard whenever they exposed themselves.

As long as those two remained untouched, the human formation would continue to dominate the battlefield.

Take out the backline first.

Lowering my body, I activated [Camouflage], my skin blending seamlessly into the darkness until I became little more than another shadow drifting through the smoke.

Instead of heading straight for the nearest soldier, I veered sharply off the road and sprinted toward one of the massive trees supporting the village, already forming a route through the branches above their heads.

The moment my feet touched the trunk, they stuck firmly to the bark.

[Sticky Grip] activated instantly, preventing me from falling as I sprinted straight up the massive tree as though gravity had simply stopped applying to me.

Below, human soldiers rushed beneath the branches, completely unaware of what was happening above them.

One glanced upward after hearing the faint scrape of bark, but returned his attention forward as he saw nothing.

Reaching the upper platforms, I pushed off with all my strength.

My enhanced legs launched me effortlessly across a gap that would’ve been impossible to clear just a day ago.

Wind roared past my ears before I landed silently behind another burning house, [Silent Step] absorbing the impact so completely that not even a footstep escaped.

Perfect

The three mages stood less than twenty meters away, completely absorbed in directing the assault.

"Prepare another volley."

"Burn the western quarter."

"Don’t let any escape."

My fingers tightened around the axe as I steadied my breathing.

One breath. Then I was gone.

My legs launched me through the smoke with explosive force, closing the distance before any of them realized what was happening.

One mage sensed something and started to turn, confusion flashing across his face, but my axe reached him first.

The blade sank into his neck, sending blood spraying across the burning street.

Before the body even hit the ground, I drove a kick into it, sending the corpse crashing into the second mage.

He stumbled backward in surprise, and I was already on him.

My jaws snapped shut around his forearm, drawing a bloodcurdling scream as [Venomous Bite] took effect.

I released him immediately, knowing the poison would do the rest.

"Enemy!"

The final mage finally reacted, mana surging into the staff clutched in his hands.

But...