Chapter 139 Fire and Teleportation

"Something's wrong. There is definitely a problem with these goblins!"

Cornell stared at the goblins before him. Cloaked in thick, pus-green light from the black-robed goblin's spell, their bodies had swollen to nearly twice their original size.

'This is bad,' he thought.

Even before entering the Misty Forest, he knew this seemingly ordinary "Goblin Extermination Quest" would not be simple.

After all, if it were just a common nest of a few dozen goblins and a Bugbear, the Association wouldn't have bothered hiring high-ranking adventurers like them.

Based on his past experience and the reward tier offered by the Adventurers' Association, he had deduced that it would at most be a large goblin settlement led by a "hobgoblin" with a Class Level, or perhaps a lucky goblin Cleric who had received a divine blessing. It fundamentally shouldn't have posed a threat to them.

But right now, the seemingly endless tide of frenzied goblins surrounding the squad showed no signs of fear or retreat no matter how many were killed. Coupled with the black-robed goblin standing quietly on the altar—who had reduced their squad's numbers with a single strike—the situation had clearly exceeded his expectations.

The situation was gradually slipping out of Cornell's control.

And for a Spellcaster who had buried himself in countless complex data and experiments under his mentor since his apprentice days, someone accustomed to holding everything firmly in his grasp, this was absolutely unacceptable.

The teammates on his flanks cleared out the continuously surging goblins, giving Cornell a chance to observe and think.

His calm and composed gaze swept across the battlefield as his brain rapidly compiled and processed the gathered information.

First, the Silver-White Device hovering over the altar not only inflicted heavy gravitational pressure on them, but it also possessed the ability to defend against ranged spells.

This didn't just apply to the 5th Circle conjuration spell [Cloudkill] he had just cast, but also included [Fireball], [Erupting Earth], and the handful of other spells he had mastered from different schools.

Often, right as they closed in and before they could even strike the enemy, the spells were neutralized and absorbed by the device, reduced to chaotic, ineffective streams of turbulent energy.

Without observing any magic particle fluctuations, Cornell couldn't even tell if this was some bizarre spell he had never seen before or a special power entirely outside his realm of knowledge.

It was like a natural predator of Spellcasters. Even if his spell repertoire were twice as deep, he still wouldn't be able to cast a thing.

As for closing the distance and engaging in melee combat...

The half-orc's corpse—currently suspended in midair alongside countless splatters of blood and crushed stone, slowly orbiting the Silver-White Device—clearly demonstrated the consequences of doing so.

Unless there was no other choice, rashly approaching the enemy was not a rational move.

As a veteran adventurer whose strength approached the Transcendent Tier, and a mage with a Class Level as high as 9, he still had many unrevealed trump cards. The current situation was far from a true dead end.

But compared to the potential gains, the risks they had to face were undoubtedly greater.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, he made his decision.

He raised his head and took one last look at the black-robed goblin on the altar ahead, as if to brand that hunched, scrawny figure deeply into his mind.

Cornell suddenly raised his hand and slammed his staff down.

Hum—

A dazzling silver-white light flared at the base of the staff. Dense, intricate patterns rapidly spread out, forming a massive, brightly glowing runic array at the mage's feet.

"Prepare to retreat!"

The squad's teamwork was incredibly practiced.

The moment Cornell's words fell, the two teammates clearing out the green-skinned goblins around him instantly reacted.

Swish!

Wrapped in an emerald light thick with the aura of life, the dancing rapier in the blond Elf's hand abruptly paused.

The gentle breeze rippling around him suddenly turned violent, howling and surging outward, shredding the throngs of goblins into mangled limbs.

The heavily armored human Warrior remained exactly as before, silently swinging the reddish-brown longsword in his hands.

But it was clear that the force behind his swings had increased significantly. Like a meat grinder, he pulverized any goblin daring to approach into scattered chunks of flesh.

With both of them exerting their full strength simultaneously, the goblins swarming the squad were instantly cleared out, expanding the open space around the mage to a radius of forty chi.

At almost the exact same moment, the heavy Warrior and the blond Elf abruptly retracted their swords and turned, sprinting toward the mage.

Their timing was impeccably precise.

Right as the two charged into the array, the incantation tumbling from Cornell's lips reached its end.

—5th Circle, Conjuration, [Teleportation Circle].

But just then, the black-robed goblin—who had noticed the mage's actions early on and had remained motionless ever since instantly killing the half-orc Volga—suddenly raised its right arm.

A shriveled, wrinkled right hand, like a dead branch, reached out from under its robes. Its pitch-black claws reflected a gloomy luster in the light of the torches on the stone walls.

It pointed from afar.

The same pus-green beam that had just turned countless goblins into deformed war machines shot forward, crossing the spatial distance in an instant to arrive right in front of the squad.

The heavy Warrior abruptly stepped forward, as if to block the attack for his teammates.

Yet for some reason, despite its ferocious momentum, the beam abruptly twisted and melted away about five chi in front of the squad.

The Elf, the Warrior, and the mage—not a single one of them was hurt.

But the moment the pus-green beam dissipated, the fully formed array at Cornell's feet collapsed right along with it.

The squad, whose bodies had been cloaked in silver light and were gradually turning illusory under the teleportation array's effect, instantly solidified, planting them firmly back on the ground.

"Damn it!"

The magical radiance reflected in his eyes vanished, and Cornell cursed inwardly.

He wanted to cast the spell again, but through his spiritual perception, he found that the spatial barriers around him—which were originally as soft as a sponge, easily penetrated and crossed—were now completely coated in pus-green light, sealing up every single loophole.

Teleportation spells were disabled.

Sweat dripped down his cheek, splashing into tiny drops on the smooth floor.

Cornell gripped his staff tightly with his right hand, glaring at the black-robed goblin on the altar ahead.

A look of ruthlessness surfaced on his refined face.

"You brought this on yourself!"

He raised his left hand to his chest, his five fingers splayed wide.

Invisible spiritual intent transmitted through the air. Two rings embedded with different gemstones on his ring and index fingers successively burst with magical brilliance.

Magic particles operated according to the principles of a long-prepared spell model.

A goblin screeching as it rushed the mage with a wooden club suddenly felt a burning heat under its feet.

Looking down, it saw a pitch-black scorch mark splitting open across the ground.

Before this stupid, ignorant low-level monster could figure out what it was, a dazzling firelight abruptly erupted a second later. Ferocious, blazing flames spewed from the scorch mark, swallowing it along with a dozen nearby goblins and turning them into humanoid torches.

Within mere seconds, it rapidly spread and expanded, erecting a winding, twisted, and towering wall of flames within the cave.

—4th Circle, Evocation, [Wall of Fire].

The battlefield was instantly split.

Meanwhile, the spinning vortex of fire that had materialized out of thin air under the power of Cornell's index-finger ring finally coalesced into shape.

The temperature throughout the cave immediately skyrocketed.

The blindingly white core radiated layers of orange-red heat waves. As if bound by some invisible force, the flames were compressed into an unseen container, forming a towering, blurry humanoid figure.

It had no facial features, save for two shifting chunks of charcoal suspended in the fire that formed hollow, eerie eyes. Its two long, twisted, whip-like arms swayed and thrashed, leaving trails of fire in their wake; its lower body lacked any concept of "legs," consisting entirely of a churning, swirling pillar of flame.

—5th Circle, Conjuration, [Summon Elemental Creature]: Fire Elemental, Challenge Rating 5.

He wasn't done yet!

While triggering his left-hand rings to release the pre-stored spells, Cornell multi-tasked, connecting to the Magic Weave and chanting an incantation, pouring his mana into the spell model.

A thick stench of sulfur suddenly filled the air.

Roar—

A maddened roar, brimming with brutality and savagery, caused the billowing flames on the battlefield to distort.

An eight-chi-tall muscular monster, covered in orange fur like an ape, crashed down from midair.

A pair of massive hands, capable of crushing an adult human like a maggot, smashed into the ground like hammers. The resulting cobweb-like fissures were instantly filled with the crushed flesh and blood of goblins.

—5th Circle, Conjuration, [Summon Greater Demon]: Barlgura, Challenge Rating 5.

The subterranean nest, originally swarming with countless goblins and bathed in eerie green, was instantly enveloped by restless, scalding firelight.

The towering, winding wall of fire roasted and repelled the goblins, splitting them apart. The Fire Elemental howled back and forth along the wall, recklessly lashing its two flame whips to melt throngs of goblins into smoking, cooked meat. The Barlgura, natively dwelling in the Bottomless Abyss filled with magma and oceans of blood, had a natural resistance to fire. The heat only excited it further as it threw punch after punch, grinding countless goblins into meat paste.

The tide of battle reversed in an instant.

On the other side, confirming that retreat was no longer possible and watching the squad's Spellcaster turn the tide, the other two members also took action in unison.

There was no battlefield communication, nor was there any need for extra words.

As longtime teammates, they displayed unmatched decisiveness and synergy in this moment.

Simply by observing the types of spells cast by the mage—the core of their squad—and the effects generated on the battlefield, they clearly knew what they had to do.

Even the human Warrior, who hadn't left the mage's side until now, split off with the blond Elf. Taking the left and right, they followed the paths carved out by the wall of fire and charged at the black-robed goblin from both sides.

Wrapped in clear winds and emerald light, the Elf's movement speed soared to an unbelievable level. The cold gleam of his rapier looked sharp enough to pierce the very darkness in the air.

Thorn-like emerald patterns surfaced on his fair, flawless face, and his overall physical attributes surged drastically.

Yet he maintained his reason, stepping on the wind to weave and kite around the black-robed goblin.

The half-orc's disastrous fate served as a warning, making him keep his distance. He didn't close in carelessly, instead using his emerald light and sword gales to carve deep gashes into the black robes.

Bleeding wounds could faintly be seen beneath them.

It was highly effective.

Seeming to have seen through the enemy's foundation, the Elf's agile attack style genuinely left the black-robed goblin unable to retaliate after a few exchanges.

Even with the exaggerated explosive power that had instantly killed the half-orc, the goblin couldn't bring it to bear against an opponent whose movements it couldn't catch.

Suddenly, that shriveled, bony arm raised.

Hum—

The suspended, spinning Silver-White Iron Ball behind it abruptly accelerated, sending a low-frequency hum vibrating through the air.

The gravity pressing down on the Elf—which he was barely resisting using his emerald light—violently doubled. His high-speed movements instantly slowed as if he had plunged into a quagmire.

But before the black-robed goblin could make another move, a gale reeking of iron roared over.

The human Warrior, clad in full heavy armor and crashing his way through, had arrived just a step slower than the Elf. In the first moment after closing in on the enemy, he didn't choose to attack. Instead, facing his sluggish teammate struggling under the crushing gravity, he abruptly reversed the hilt of his sword.

Boom—

In an instant, the blond Elf's movements became nimble and swift once more—even faster than before!

It was as if even the initial gravitational suppression had completely vanished.

Meanwhile, the tall body of the human Warrior violently sank.

His feet sank deep into the ground. Even the iron armor on his body warped and compressed under the abruptly doubled gravity, emitting sharp, ear-piercing shrieks.

In the blink of an eye, he had transferred all the extra gravity weighing on the Elf onto himself.

The sword blade was icy cold, the emerald light blinding.

Sensing that the scales of victory were tilting the other way, the black-robed goblin stopped holding back.

Its originally hunched, scrawny body abruptly swelled and deformed. Its shriveled muscles inflated as if pumped with air, its bones expanding and stretching, while two razor-sharp fangs dripping with saliva jutted out from beneath its hood.

In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a giant Bugbear standing ten chi tall, covered in hideous scars, and sporting a physique even more burly and robust than the Barlgura nearby.

The once-baggy robes draped over its body were now reduced to a tight-fitting short shirt that could barely cover its upper torso.

Its combat style sharply contrasted with its Cleric Class Level. It was as violently fierce as a Barbarian, stirring up surging torrents of air with every swing of its arms.

However, an agile enemy like the Elf seemed to perfectly exploit its weakness.

It was no different from before its transformation; it could only passively endure the Elf's damage.

A flash of human-like cunning flickered deep within its vicious, muddy beast-eyes as it made a decision.

As it exerted force, its body suddenly tilted to the side, appearing to lose its balance and fall over, deliberately selling a flaw.

It lured the Elf close.

Squelch—

Sword light flashed. The rapier's blade was stained with blood as the black-robed goblin's severed, muscular right arm flew high into the air before crashing to the ground.

But at the same time, its left hand clamped firmly onto the blond Elf's neck.

Even though the human Warrior's longsword from behind had already pierced straight through its chest, it didn't hesitate in the slightest to exert its strength and crush.

"Roar!!!"

Throwing its head back and roaring furiously, specks of green light spewed from its throat, forming intricate patterns in the air that shrouded both the black-robed goblin and the Silver-White Device above its head.

In the distance, Cornell, who was constantly monitoring the battlefield, noticed the familiar pattern in the air.

The bracelet on his right wrist flashed with silver light.

A scroll had already dropped into his palm.

"Trying to run!?"

Exerting force with both hands, he ripped the scroll apart.

Accompanied by a sudden burst of magic particles, the space within the nest was locked down.

The green runic array above the black-robed goblin's head dissipated.

It turned with a frenzied roar, seemingly intending to use the corpse in its hand as a weapon.

The human Warrior, whose body felt entirely unburdened now that he no longer needed to endure the gravity suppression following his teammate's death, silently pushed his strength to the limit.

The reddish-brown sword piercing the enemy's chest gleamed faintly as he violently slashed upward.

Squelch—

Blood sprayed.

The massive corpse, clad in the torn black shirt, collapsed with a dull thud.

Yet above the altar behind it, the Silver-White Device suspended in midair had already vanished.

All that remained in the air were faint specks of ghostly light fading out like dying fireflies.