Green Monster Epic

The failure of the Shadow Jump was unexpected for Frank, but as a seasoned wilderness leader, he didn't show much panic when faced with the assassin's attack so close behind him. He immediately crouched down and, with a nimble roll, dodged the assassination attempt.

A thick cloud of white smoke suddenly burst from the ground, as Frank had thrown out a smoke alchemy tool, quickly enveloping the area within the force field prison, making it impossible to see the figures inside.

The mage in the pine tree, after just finishing a 7th-level chain spell, didn't stop and immediately began chanting a force field shockwave spell. Inside the prison, the two Shadow Demons, after failing their initial strike, swiftly moved, weaving through the smoke and searching for Frank's踪迹, determined not to give him a chance to hide.

Although the smoke enveloped the limited space within the force field prison, briefly obscuring Frank's figure, for the agile Shadow Demons, moving back and forth in this confined space to find Frank's trail again was only a matter of a few breaths.

"Ha!!"

However, unexpectedly, Frank didn't immediately use stealth skills. Instead, taking advantage of the smoke cover, he set up several alchemy traps on the ground.

When one of the Shadow Demons stepped on the trigger of a flame trap, the black gunpowder inside detonated, and several steel nails pierced the Shadow Demon's body. Stung by the pain, the Shadow Demon couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.

With the sound of the flame trap and the Shadow Demon's groan, Frank was given clear coordinates. His small figure darted out from a corner like a ghost, and a curved blade struck the Shadow Demon's body from behind in a vicious backstab. The entire foot-long curved blade plunged into the Shadow Demon's body, bringing with it a foul-smelling blood.

After the successful strike, Frank didn't linger and retreated back into the thick fog, not giving the other Shadow Demon a chance to find him.

"Bang! Snap! Crack!"

Various sounds came from inside the force field prison until the human mage's homologous force field shockwave spell struck the force field prison's dome. The spell's cone-shaped destructive force covered the prison's area and finally dispersed the smoke within the force field.

But now, in the prison, one Shadow Demon was already lying on the ground, seemingly dead.

When Alva and his group revealed themselves and attacked Frank's team, Allen and the others, who had been watching the battle from afar, had bright smiles on their faces.

Fallen Holy Warrior, Shadow Demon, archer—one by one, they appeared. Comparing them to the information Allen and his team had on Alva's team, they were now confident that the team that had suddenly appeared was the mission target they had been tracking.

However, when the human spellcaster, at least level 14, appeared, Allen and the others' expressions became more serious, and they turned their gaze to Richard, the meaning unspoken.

"I'll take care of this human spellcaster later!"

Richard didn't avert his gaze and quietly said to Allen and the others.

"Okay!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that they were afraid of the human spellcaster, but that most people were passively defensive against spellcasters. Kaya and Albion might be able to threaten the opponent for a short time, but it would still be difficult to completely restrain them.

The group had been crouching outside the battlefield and hadn't moved despite the several opportunities that had arisen in the battle. In their opinion, the more methods the opponent used on the goblins, the safer their battle would be.

Like now, Alva and the two Fallen Holy Warriors, facing the tactical siege of dozens of goblins, had been cooperating tacitly and defending almost flawlessly, handling the situation with ease. However, observing from the shadows, the frequency with which the opponents used divine spells was slowing down, a sign that their divine spell slots were becoming increasingly scarce.

As long as the opponent could expend a few more divine spells on the goblins, it would be easier for Allen and the others to attack them later.

"Aren't you going to help your fellow tribesman?"

Kaya leaned close to Allen and whispered in his ear. At this time, with the human mage's spell support in place on the pine tree, although one companion was lost, the remaining Shadow Demon was even more effective in chasing Frank.

On Frank's body, the leather armor, made of an unknown material, had been marked with more than a dozen scars by the aftermath of the spells and the Shadow Demon's thin sword. Even Frank's movements were somewhat awkward as he loudly called for the goblins not far away to come and help.

Several goblin warriors had already turned around and were pouncing toward Frank's location, but they were forced back step by step by the human spellcaster's spells, moving further away from the force field prison.

"If he dies here, that's his fate."

Allen's expression was indifferent. There were plenty of Allen's tribesmen in the wilderness, and he didn't have the energy or mood to help these tribesmen. Moreover, Allen's current identity was an adventurer, and he couldn't disrupt the agreed-upon plan for personal reasons, causing everyone's interests to suffer.

After saying this, Allen turned his head directly and ignored the human woman beside him. He always felt that she was intentionally approaching him, making him feel uncomfortable.

Seeing that Allen was no longer talking, Kaya rolled her eyes at Allen helplessly and turned her gaze back to the two teams fighting fiercely in the distance.

"Ah!!"

Finally, when Frank was frozen and slowed down by the human mage's use of ice magic, the Shadow Demon who had been chasing him closely delivered a backstab from behind, piercing Frank's back. Frank let out a shrill and gradually weakening scream before slowly falling down.

At the same time as Frank fell, the human mage on the short pine tree, who was being chased by the goblins and interfered with by various clumsy means, immediately threw out a pre-prepared dispel magic scroll, ending the duration of the force field prison and releasing the Shadow Demon inside.

"Prepare to retreat!!"

Alva and his two companions, who had been holding off a group of goblins, issued a retreat signal when they saw the mission target die.

"Move!"

At the same time, Richard and Kaya both took action, throwing their long-awaited attack spells and moves directly at the human mage on the short pine tree.

Although Richard had said earlier that he would be responsible for the human mage, in the first wave of the attack, Kaya, Albion, and Richard launched an assassination attempt on the human mage with great tacit understanding.

"Clang! Clang!"

The human mage had already applied various protective spells to himself. When the first powerful arrow shot towards him, a protective arrow spell had already guided the arrow away from the target, brushing past the human mage.

However, the two arrows that followed were not blocked by the protective arrow spell. The previous powerful flying arrow had already consumed the remaining energy of the protective arrow spell. However, just as the two feathered arrows were about to pierce the human mage's body, a translucent magic shield suddenly rose, blocking the two feathered arrows.

Before the magic shield had been present for long, a dispel magic ray directly collided with the magic shield. The energy in the two spells dissolved each other, and the shield dissipated into a bubble in the air.

At this moment, the human spellcaster on the tree finally turned his head, a somewhat pale face searching for the attacker. Unexpectedly, behind him, a figure materialized from the void, a sharp dagger in hand, stabbing fiercely towards his neck.

The cold blade was a hair's breadth away from slicing open the human spellcaster's throat, silencing him forever. However, at the last moment, the brilliant crystal atop the human mage's staff glowed, unleashing a stored burst of air towards his own body.

"Crack!"

"Hmph!"

The human spellcaster's ribs shattered from the force of the air blast, but the reaction propelled him directly into Albi'an's embrace, and the two tumbled from the tall pine tree.

Upon landing, the human had already unfurled a scroll, an 'Dimension Door' spell, to help him escape his current predicament. However, before the scroll could activate, Richard, not far away, completed a 4th-level 'Dimensional Anchor' spell. As the spell formed a curse mark enveloping the human spellcaster, it completely nullified the scroll's effect.

Albi'an recovered his stance a step ahead of the human. Just as the human was about to unleash another life-saving measure, Albi'an, gripping his daggers in a forward and reverse grip, seized the human's neck.

"Pfft!!"

Before Albi'an's dagger could pierce the human's neck, an arrow shot directly through the human spellcaster's eye socket. The sharp arrowhead penetrated the human's skull, passing close to Albi'an's shoulder.

"You're welcome!"

Kaiya blinked her innocent eyes, giving Albi'an a radiant smile. Enraged, Albi'an added a final stab to the human mage's neck before abandoning his opponent to chase after the escaping Assassin Devil.

With a shadow leap, Albi'an, seemingly provoked by Kaiya stealing his prey, unleashed his life-saving skill without hesitation, solely to catch up with the fleeing Assassin Devil and vent his pent-up frustration.

With the human spellcaster dead, Richard and Kaiya had a better stage to perform. Their staffs and bows pointed directly at the three figures of Alva and her companions, who were attempting to retreat.

While Kaiya and Richard coordinated to kill the human spellcaster, Allen had already charged ahead, targeting one of the archers maneuvering in the trees. Following closely behind Allen was Alba, who, at Kaiya's urging, took a slight detour to intercept Alva and her group's escape route, buying Allen and the goblins some time.

However, the goblin force that had surrounded Alva and her group became somewhat chaotic the moment Allen and his companions appeared. Furthermore, with the death of their chieftain, Frank, many goblins abandoned their opponents, turned tail, and fled.

Frank's death and the sudden arrival of Allen and his companions caused the goblins, already anxious and lacking a leader, to waver. Although their losses weren't significant, few retained the will to fight. As some began to flee, more and more goblin warriors joined the retreat.

The expressions of Alva and her two companions shifted from green to white at the sudden appearance of Allen and his group, but then from white to red as they witnessed the goblins' change of heart. Daring not to delay, Alva swung her mace, chanting incantations. A halo enveloped her and her two companions, a 'Mass Haste' spell, making them move with greater agility.

"Alba, stop them!!"

Allen had just cleaved through a pine tree as thick as a man's embrace, but failed to hit the human archer who had been in that position. As he was about to continue pursuing the archer, he heard Kaiya's shout.

When Allen glanced at the previously intense battlefield, he saw that, aside from a few goblins lying on the ground unable to move, the rest of the goblin warriors had already taken to their heels, disappearing into the sparse forest.

Allen unleashed two intersecting strikes of 'Wrathful Cut' towards the human archer before abandoning his immediate target, kicking off the tree trunk to propel himself towards the fleeing Alva and her companions.

"AF… RD…"

A Fallen Paladin unleashed a black light from his greatsword towards Allen, the aura of 'Fear' spell triggering Allen's memories.

However, Allen was no longer the naive youth he once was. Before the 'Fear' spell could engulf him, he preemptively activated the 'Mechanized Mind' on his 'Iceheart Vambraces'. Suppressing the emotional fluctuations of a sapient being, Allen charged headfirst into the 'Fear' spell, remaining completely unaffected.

Alba, having taken a slight detour, managed to intercept Alva and her group only a few breaths before Allen. With a thrust of his spear, Alba created a cluster of blossoming spear flowers in front of Alva, completely concealing the true target of his spear.

Undaunted by her feminine allure, Alba didn't hold back. Alva could only raise her light shield, slamming it towards the incoming spear shadows.

"Clang!"

The spear tip landed squarely on the center of the light shield. Alba's renowned strength forced Alva, who was fortified with divine spells such as 'Endurance' and 'Bless', to retreat two steps to dissipate the force of Alba's spear.

Missing his target with the initial thrust, Alba turned his spear into a staff. With a sweeping motion of the seven-foot-long spear, he single-handedly challenged the two Fallen Paladins.

The two Fallen Paladins were not intimidated, directly raising their swords to meet the attack. The three clashed fiercely, then separated in an instant, each taking a step back. Facing two opponents alone, Alba was still able to hold his own in terms of strength, showing his significant progress over the years.

At this moment, Allen finally arrived, 'Bonecleaver' already ablaze. He unleashed his strongest 'Wrathful Heavy Strike', directly cleaving towards Alva, who was about to take the opportunity to raise her shield and attack the ogre teammate.

Alva's mace, imbued with intense magical fluctuations, collided with Allen's 'Wrathful Heavy Strike' in mid-air, directly being deflected by Allen's 'Bonecleaver'. Although the attached 'Spike Growth' and 'Unholy Aura' caused Allen some trouble, under the effect of the 'Mechanized Mind', the physical pain and stimulation did not weaken Allen's grip on 'Bonecleaver' by much.

As Alva retreated to dissipate the force of Allen's massive blow, Allen once again surged forward, unleashing 'Triple Wave' towards her graceful figure.

"Clang!"

Alva raised her shield, her legs firmly planted on the ground, barely managing to withstand Allen's powerful impact. In terms of physical strength, Alba was significantly weaker than Allen back in the day. Although Alba's strength has increased considerably, he has not broken through the physical limitations of a 9th-level warrior, and is still slightly weaker than Allen.

"Hehe, did this warrior mistake us for someone else? Why the sudden attack?"

Alva's eyes showed a hint of apprehension. Her physical strength was formidable. She could cope for a short time, but if the divine spell effects on her body disappeared and she exhausted her divine spell slots, she would no longer be a match for him. Therefore, while dealing with Allen's attacks, Alva displayed her alluring face, trying to seduce and bewilder him.

"Anyone who dares to collude with demons is someone I, from the wilderness, must kill!"

Allen remained unmoved by her beautiful face. This was partly due to the influence of his mechanized mind, and partly because he seemed inherently uninterested in matters of procreation and carnal desires.

After casually replying, Allen stopped talking and increased the force behind the Bone Cleaver in his hand, fiercely hacking at her.

A trace of confusion flickered in Alva's eyes. He was clearly prepared, but their team's movements were never fixed. How did these adventurers find them?

Although she had many questions, Alva couldn't get any answers at this moment. Facing Allen's increasingly deadly attacks, she had to concentrate all her attention and exert all her strength to cope.

On the other side, Alba was indeed finding it difficult to face two Fallen Holy Warriors alone, but he wasn't in mortal danger yet. With Richard occasionally casting spells to either strengthen Alba or weaken the two Fallen Holy Warriors, dispelling the magical effects on them, Alba was able to hold on for the time being.

This highlighted the profound impact of the initial focus fire on the human spellcaster. If he were still alive and cooperating with Alva and the others, the battle would be even more difficult, and Allen wouldn't be able to charge so recklessly at the mastermind of this team.

Allen didn't divert his attention to help Alva because, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Alba could still hold on. He then focused all his attention on Alva. During the previous advance, Allen had already forced Alva out of the protection range of the two Fallen Holy Warriors. Now, with Alba holding back the two Fallen Holy Warriors, it would be easier for Allen to fight Alva, the combat priest, one-on-one.

Being able to rely on a three-person formation to entangle with dozens of goblin troops until their companions killed the target, Alva and the two Fallen Holy Warriors' coordination was far stronger than their individual combat abilities.

Sword followed sword relentlessly. Although Allen didn't use the Fury skill, his formidable strength was enough to suppress Alva, the combat priest.

Of course, while Alva was forced to retreat step by step by Allen and gradually accumulated some wounds, as a priest, she constantly applied healing spells and buffing spells to herself. At the same time, she also used soul-targeting divine spells to deal with Allen, making Allen feel very棘手 (棘手, jíshǒu, troublesome).

The mental pain was directly suppressed by Allen's mechanized mind. However, as the mechanized mind spell dissipated, a sharp pain almost caused Allen to lose his grip on the Bone Cleaver. It was as if someone was constantly stabbing inside his brain with a knife. Allen didn't show many injuries on the surface, but in reality, his mind was constantly suffering from the damage of Alva's mind blast and other divine spells, until he released another mechanized mind spell.

Allen increased the power and speed of the Bone Cleaver's hacking, but facing a combat priest, any injury Allen inflicted on her was smoothed over by her powerful recovery ability and the healing divine light emitted from her morningstar from time to time.

In terms of prolonged combat, the combat priest could be said to be an unsurpassed melee professional, and also the most important part of a team.

"Thwack!"

Just then, an arrow came from Kaya in the distance, which Alva managed to block with her shield at the last moment, but it revealed a flaw. Allen took the opportunity to chop away her morningstar with a single sword strike, and then followed up, sending a slender arm flying into the sky. This was the first substantial progress Allen had made after a long time of attacking.

Of course, if Allen had used the Fury skill, he might have broken the stalemate earlier.

However, cooperating with outsiders like Kaya and the others, Allen really didn't dare to completely entrust himself to these teammates. This was an idea that more or less every wilderness person had.

"Leave a prisoner alive!"

After receiving Kaya's support, it would be too embarrassing for Allen not to be able to handle a combat priest who had lost an arm. Therefore, after gaining the upper hand, he became even more merciless, hacking sword after sword at Alva, who was losing her composure, forcing her to retreat. Her eyes revealed a look of sorrow and despair, and she wanted to beg for mercy but hesitated to speak.

Once one embarked on the path of a heretic god's believer, it was almost impossible to escape. Not to mention the damage that the heretic god's believers and demons had caused to the wilderness over the past year or so, making the indigenous people of the wilderness want to kill them all, but just the deity that Alva believed in would not tolerate her betrayal. This made Alva think that after begging for mercy, she would soon be subjected to the deity's revenge and torture, so she could only fight to the death with her opponent.

Just as Allen's sword broke through the light shield in Alva's hand, and then he raised his sword for a clean and swift heavy slash that was about to fall, Richard, who had just solved a human archer in the distance, shouted loudly.

Allen's Bone Cleaver couldn't help but pause, and the action of swinging it down wasn't so resolute. But suddenly, an arrow flew from the side and pierced through the temple of Alva, the human female. It was Kaya, the female archer, who fired a long arrow, stealing Allen's kill again, just like before.

"Ah!"

At this time, Kaya exclaimed. When Allen looked back at her, she slightly stuck out her tongue, revealing an embarrassed expression: "Sorry, I got carried away with the killing and forgot about this!"

"But fortunately, there are still two survivors on Alba's side. This time, I will definitely hold back and leave them alive!"

"… …"

Allen ignored Kaya's cute expression and turned to head straight for Alba not far away. He didn't have much dissatisfaction with Kaya's behavior of stealing his target and making a supplementary shot. Anyway, everyone had formed a team, and the income was distributed according to the size of the contribution. There wouldn't be too many variables due to Kaya stealing kills, which would damage his own interests.

This was also the habit of Kaya and the others, who had been wandering in the adventure circle for a long time. Sometimes, in order to steal kills, there were even incidents of infighting and causing hatred. Kaya's behavior now was just that she hadn't completely changed her solo style.

On the contrary, Richard, who was next to Kaya, glared at Kaya with quite dissatisfaction. He had told Kaya and the others about this problem earlier, but he forgot to remind everyone again at this time, and it became like this now, which really made him a little unwilling.

However, what could he do if he was unhappy? Things had already happened. There was no priest among them who could summon the other party's soul for interrogation. Richard could only turn his attention to the two Fallen Holy Warriors in front of Allen and Alba to see if he could learn something from their mouths.

This adventure was not useless. Although it was a little plain, it was a foreshadowing for the connection, so everyone should be patient first.