Chapter 683: Going Under?

Compared to the already dead goblin, this thing was clearly more worthy of investigation.

Meanwhile, with the enormous goblin’s death, the goblin army that had been attacking relentlessly finally descended into chaos.

"The commander is dead!"

"Run!"

No one knew who shouted first as panic spread rapidly.

Large numbers of goblins began retreating toward the underground passage. However, the troops behind them, which had yet to emerge from the entrance, were still pushing forward.

The two groups collided, and the formation they had barely managed to maintain instantly collapsed.

The elite goblins that had rushed toward Sophie had already been stopped by the elves, while the silver masked captain remained trapped within Edgar’s threads.

Seeing this, Edgar finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Without their commander, the goblins would be much easier to deal with.

But just as he was about to organize the elves to pursue them, Gabriel suddenly spoke.

"Don’t let them escape."

Edgar turned toward him.

"What?"

Gabriel had already raised Crimson Judgement again.

"I said, don’t let them escape."

Edgar froze for a moment, his expression turning dark.

"Don’t tell me you’re planning to kill every last one of them?"

"Is there a problem?"

"There are still several thousand down there!"

"Which is exactly why we can’t let them escape."

Gabriel’s answer sounded perfectly reasonable.

For a moment, Edgar didn’t know what to say.

However, thinking about it carefully, Gabriel wasn’t entirely wrong.

Now that the goblins had lost their commander, this was the perfect opportunity to inflict a devastating blow on them.

With that thought, Edgar finally stopped objecting.

"I’ll have the elves outside seal off the forest routes."

"Good." Gabriel nodded. "Sophie."

The young girl immediately raised her head.

"What is it?"

"Can you make the forest trap them here?"

Sophie glanced at the goblin army retreating in chaos. Then she nodded gently.

"I can try." She closed her eyes as golden green light once again emerged around her body.

RUMBLE!

Countless tree roots burst from the ground around the old altar, rapidly sealing off the routes the goblins could use to escape deeper into the forest.

Meanwhile, several enormous roots began intertwining near the underground passage entrance, narrowing the originally spacious opening into a confined area.

The goblin army fell into complete chaos.

Those attempting to flee into the surrounding forest found their paths blocked by dense roots, while the goblins rushing toward the underground entrance began trampling one another in their desperation to escape.

Nevertheless, the passage hadn’t been completely sealed.

Some goblins were still squeezing through the narrowed entrance, disappearing into the darkness below.

Standing before the remaining goblins, Gabriel was already approaching with Crimson Judgement in hand.

Looking at the densely packed enemies before him, a smile appeared on his face once again.

"Alright. Now we can take our time."

...

Half an hour later.

The area surrounding the old altar finally fell silent again.

Countless goblin corpses lay piled around the underground entrance. Blood flowed continuously across the shattered stone slabs, and the air was filled with a thick stench of blood.

After losing their commander, the goblin army had been completely incapable of organizing any effective resistance.

Especially after Sophie used the forest to seal their escape routes, the vast majority of the goblins that had reached the surface were eliminated by Gabriel and the elves.

The remaining goblins had fled desperately into the depths underground.

Although they hadn’t managed to annihilate the entire army, this battle had already dealt it a devastating blow.

Gabriel stood among the corpses.

His armor was completely stained with blood.

However, he was in an exceptionally good mood because, on his system panel, the number of Extraction Points had increased considerably.

During the final pursuit, he had personally killed quite a few goblins, and the notifications had continued appearing before his eyes.

[Ding! You have received +210 EP.]

[Ding! You have received +100 EP.]

[Ding! You have received...]

Similar notifications had appeared repeatedly throughout the battle.

Gabriel looked at his accumulated Extraction Points.

The corners of his mouth slowly curved upward.

However, he wasn’t in a hurry to examine his status now.

Instead, he walked toward the black spear.

At this moment, the spear was still embedded near the edge of the altar.

Without its owner, the dark red patterns covering its surface had dimmed considerably. Nevertheless, Gabriel could still sense an extremely unusual power lingering within it.

He reached out and grasped the spear shaft.

The moment he did, the Godslayer Bloodline Spark within his body suddenly grew warm.

He examined the dark red engravings covering the spear.

The corrupting power lingering within them had not completely disappeared, but without the goblin commander’s mana to activate it, the weapon remained quiet.

Gabriel tightened his grip around the shaft.

A weapon capable of drawing corruption from one of the Sacred Tree’s primary roots was clearly not something an ordinary goblin commander should possess.

More importantly, the commander had been sent here specifically to retrieve whatever was sealed underground.

Perhaps this spear was connected to that objective.

He pulled the black spear free from the ground and examined it briefly before putting it away.

Regardless of whether he could use it himself, a weapon of this quality was far too valuable to abandon.

Sophie’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Gabriel."

He turned around.

The young girl was standing beside the withered primary root.

The corruption spreading across its surface had weakened slightly, but the root was still badly withered, and the three black nails remained embedded within it.

There was a strange expression on her face.

"I heard that voice again just now."

Gabriel frowned slightly.

"The Sacred Tree?"

Sophie nodded, and she looked toward the ground beneath them.

"It said..."

The young girl paused, seemingly trying to confirm what she had just heard.

A moment later, she slowly spoke.

"The thing down there must not be taken away by anyone."

Gabriel’s expression became thoughtful.

"Did it tell you what that thing is?" Gabriel asked.

Sophie shook her head. "No. But I can feel that it’s very important."

She hesitated briefly before continuing.

"And dangerous."

Gabriel had already guessed as much. However, rather than making him retreat, this discovery only strengthened his curiosity.

He glanced toward the underground passage.

Although the entrance had been narrowed by Sophie’s roots, it still led deep beneath the old altar, where the remnants of the goblin army had fled.

There were undoubtedly more enemies waiting below.

And perhaps even greater dangers.

But there were also answers.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly smiled.

"Looks like... we’ll have to make another trip down there."