Chapter 678: Since You’re Already Here, Don’t Leave

The giant goblin looked at her. Then at the roots responding to her wishes. Its dark red eyes slowly narrowed.

"You. The one chosen by the Sacred Tree."

The moment those words were spoken, the captain’s attack visibly paused.

Gabriel also raised his head in interest.

The giant goblin smiled.

"Good. Then there’s no need to keep searching."

It suddenly abandoned the captain, turned around, and headed directly toward Sophie.

At that exact moment, the final second of Blood Exhaustion passed.

[Blood Exhaustion has ended.]

The heaviness that had weighed on Gabriel’s body for an entire minute rapidly faded. Strength returned to his limbs. His mana began flowing normally again. Gabriel rolled his right shoulder.

But just as the giant goblin took its first step, a massive crimson sword was already blocking its path.

Clang!

The black spear stopped. The giant goblin lowered its gaze. At some point, Gabriel had already walked over. He looked at the nearly three meter tall goblin before him.

"And who are you?" Gabriel asked.

The giant goblin clearly had no idea what had just happened. It merely stared at the human blocking its path, the killing intent in its eyes growing stronger. Then, it noticed the red hair. And Crimson Judgement.

"You."

It suddenly spoke. Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

"You know me?"

"Third Defensive Line." The giant goblin stared at him. "My commander."

Gabriel thought for two seconds. He could not remember. He really had killed quite a lot of goblins recently.

"Dead," he said.

The black spear in the giant goblin’s hand slowly rose.

"I know."

Of course it knew. Not only did it know, it even knew exactly how many goblins the human before it had killed at the Third Defensive Line. That was why, after entering the Sacred Forest, it had originally intended to find him personally. It had not expected to encounter him this early.

"I’ll hang your head at the entrance."

Gabriel glanced at it. Then his gaze moved past it. Behind the underground opening, more and more goblins were already climbing upward.

Ordinary goblins. Heavily armored goblins. Archers. Some carrying human magical weapons. And several elite individuals whose auras were clearly much stronger.

Their numbers were still increasing. Gabriel watched for a few seconds. Then he suddenly smiled.

So many Extraction Points.

The giant goblin frowned.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing." Gabriel looked back at it.

"I just realized it’s pretty good that all of you came."

The giant goblin did not understand, and the human had no intention of explaining. He simply rested Crimson Judgement back on his shoulder. Then he turned and glanced at Edgar.

"Keep the goblins and captives away from Sophie and the remaining three nails."

Edgar frowned. "What are you planning to do?"

Gabriel looked toward the underground opening. The answer was already obvious.

Edgar’s expression instantly darkened.

"There are thousands down there. And we don’t even know how many more haven’t come up yet."

"That’s exactly why we can’t let them spread out."

For a moment, Edgar actually did not know how to argue with that. Because from a certain perspective, Gabriel was right. Once these thousands of goblins fully entered the Sacred Forest, even if the elves eventually managed to eliminate them, no one knew how great the price would be. The best solution was to stop them here.

It was just that when other people said something like that, they were probably thinking about defense. Gabriel clearly was not. He was thinking about how to kill them.

The giant goblin had clearly lost its patience.

"Kill him."

The next moment, large numbers of goblins began surging upward from the underground opening.

The forest surrounding the altar, which had only just settled down, began shaking once again. Still beside the withered primary root, Sophie raised her head. Golden green light reappeared in her eyes.

Edgar tightened his grip on his weapon and moved to guard Sophie and the nails, keeping watch over the captives as well. The six elves on the perimeter also began moving closer.

Meanwhile, the captain silently took a step backward. He wanted to leave.

Gabriel saw it. But he did not stop him because the goblin army was the immediate threat. He had not forgotten the captain’s white divine mark.

Besides, the forest and the other elves still blocked the surface routes. The captain would not escape so easily.

Gabriel looked ahead again. The first wave of goblins had already reached him.

Tightening his grip on Crimson Judgement, he slashed.

Boom!

The goblins at the front were smashed directly into the ground. The ranks behind them fell into momentary chaos.

Gabriel stood before the opening, his eyes narrowed.

The underground passage was wide. But the opening through which they could actually enter the altar was only this large for now. So what if there were thousands of goblins? Only so many could come up at once.

The moment he realized this, he suddenly liked this place even more. He did not even need to chase them. They were coming one at a time!

The giant goblin clearly realized the problem as well. Its expression gradually darkened. Then, the black spear slammed heavily into the ground.

Boom!

The opening expanded again. More rocks collapsed. The entrance, which had originally only been wide enough for a dozen or so goblins to pass through simultaneously, rapidly expanded to nearly twice its previous size.

Seeing this, the smile on Gabriel’s face only grew wider.

"Yeah. A little bigger."

The giant goblin: "..."

"Better yet, let them all come up together."

At that moment, even Edgar could not help glancing at him. The giant goblin, meanwhile, completely lost any desire to speak.

Behind it, more and more goblins poured out from underground. And beyond the old altar, the entire Sacred Forest, which had already begun responding to Sophie, erupted into motion.

Roots rose from the earth. Branches and leaves trembled. Golden green natural mana gathered from every direction.

On one side, a goblin army continuously pouring out from underground. On the other, the entire Sacred Forest awakening.

Gabriel stood at the very center, looking at the ever increasing number of enemies before him.