Entrusting Each Other's Lives

Those Who Entrusted Their Lives to Each Other

In the dark, damp, narrow sewer, the Hobgoblin's furious roar rang out continuously, its eyes filled with rage. The bone club in its hands whistled as it smashed forward, while the iron round shield had already visibly warped under the unending barrage of attacks.

Bang!

The next second, the Hobgoblin's skin turned blood-red, the veins on its arms bulging one after another. The bone club came crashing down with a string of afterimages, striking the round shield. The sudden, overwhelming attack sent the shield flying from Tuka's hands, and his body involuntarily toppled backward.

"Despicable humans, die!"

Seeing that the humans' tortoise shell had finally been shattered by his blow, the Hobgoblin let out a sinister laugh. It gripped the bone club with both hands and raised it high, bloodthirsty and brutal red light flaring in its eyes. It could hardly wait to see the human who had ambushed it smashed into a bloody pulp, with flesh and blood flying everywhere.

"Captain!"

Faced with the Hobgoblin's sudden outburst, Keith and Nina were startled as well. Seeing their captain fall before them while the sneering Hobgoblin raised its bone club, they hurriedly charged forward, wanting to save Tuka.

"Die, human!"

Amid its sinister laughter, the Hobgoblin watched the two rushing to the rescue and swung down with all its strength. The white bone club tore through the air with a howl like a vengeful ghost, smashing toward Tuka's head.

"Heh!"

In midair, Tuka looked at the bone club coming toward him and gave a soft laugh. There was not the slightest trace of fear or panic on his face. The way he looked at the Hobgoblin was like looking at a corpse.

Smack!

Just as Tuka's body fell into the viscous, pitch-black, foul-smelling sludge, a figure burst from the shadows. The short sword in his left hand lightly deflected the bone club's trajectory. Then his right hand rose slightly and pierced straight through the Hobgoblin's heart.

Boom!

The next second, a tremendous roar rang out. The white bone club smashed down beside Tuka, splashing filthy sludge over everyone present. The stench filled the air, making them want to retch.

However, none of them had time to care about such a minor matter. Keith and Nina, who had been charging toward Tuka, stood rooted to the spot. They stared at their captain lying in the sludge and at Gordon, his entire body shrouded in a black robe, extending an arm toward Tuka. Behind them, the Hobgoblin's body crashed heavily to the ground.

"Cough, cough! I almost died. I owe you another life this time."

Tuka grabbed Gordon's outstretched arm, pulled himself up, and covered his chest while coughing several times. Then he glanced at the deformed shield lying nearby and the Hobgoblin collapsed on the ground before shaking his head and giving Gordon a wry smile.

According to his original plan, he had coated the trap with poison long ago. Although goblins had lived in the sewers for years and possessed a certain resistance to poison, that would only make the poison take effect more slowly.

Moreover, while the poison was taking effect, it could effectively weaken the Hobgoblin's physical condition. With his iron round shield, he could completely stall until all the poison in the Hobgoblin's body took effect, then kill it easily.

The problem was that, although the plan had been perfect, he had not expected this Hobgoblin to possess a berserk-type skill. There was a very good chance that after realizing it had been poisoned and knowing it was doomed to die, the Hobgoblin had activated its berserk state, hoping to kill him before it died.

And if it had succeeded in killing him, then without their captain's command and frontline protection, the remaining goblins might truly have caused considerable trouble for the others.

Unfortunately, Gordon had noticed the Hobgoblin's final strike while lying in wait nearby for the perfect chance to ambush it. He had rushed out to save Tuka, then taken advantage of the opening exposed by the Hobgoblin's all-out attack to pierce straight through its heart.

"You're doing this again. Don't forget—we've long since become companions who entrusted our lives to each other!"

Gordon patted the shoulder of the wryly smiling Tuka. As teammates, they had long since entrusted their lives to one another. Just as Tuka, their captain, trusted them enough to hand over his back and life completely, they would never betray his trust.

Whoosh!

"Ah!"

"Hey, hey! Captain, Big Brother Gordon, this isn't the place for you two to deepen your bond."

Just then, an arrow flew over Tuka and Gordon's heads. A goblin attempting to ambush them from behind let out a scream and fell straight into the sewer sludge. Across from them, Nina lowered her bow, puffed out her lips, and angrily lectured the two men.

However, despite saying that, Nana could not hide the smile at the corners of her mouth.

"Hahaha! We made our Nana angry. But she's right—this really isn't a good place!"

Tuka looked at Nina glaring at him across the way, then turned to exchange a smile with Gordon. They picked up their respective weapons and looked toward the seven or eight goblins remaining behind them. Across from them, those seven or eight goblins had already been scared witless when the Hobgoblin died. When they saw the murderous gazes of the four humans before them—

They threw down their weapons without hesitation and turned to run. The two goblins closest to Tuka and the others even began attacking the goblins blocking their path so they could escape faster.

"Kill them! Once this mission is over, I'll pay for a huge feast for everyone!"

Tuka laughed heartily as he watched the goblins flee in panic. He raised his longsword and chased after them, not even bothering with the shield lying by his feet.

"The captain's treating! Yay!"

"But Captain, aren't you afraid your wife will find out and not let you into the house?"

At the back, Nana cheered when she heard that their captain was treating. She raised her bow and fired an arrow at the goblins ahead. Beside her, Keith chased after Tuka with his sword in hand. After cleaving a goblin's head apart with one stroke, he recklessly asked Tuka the question.

"Brat, how could I possibly be afraid of my wife? Also, you're not included in tonight's feast!"

Tuka had still been laughing heartily, but when he heard Keith's words, the corner of his mouth twitched. He turned around and glared fiercely at Keith, insisting that he was not afraid of his wife while also making it clear that Keith would not be included in tonight's feast.

"How can you do this?"

Amid Keith's pitiful complaints and the laughter of the others, they followed the passage into the former goblin camp and chased after the fleeing goblins. Several minutes after they left, a round, chubby slime appeared silently from the shadows in a corner.

"So these are the adventurers of this world?"

Lu Minghao hid in the shadows and observed the scene ahead. Earlier, while these adventurers were still fighting the Hobgoblin, Lu Minghao had already used his new skill to quietly sneak over. However, after discovering the Hobgoblin and the adventurers battling it, he chose to observe from the darkness. Only after they left and he confirmed that it was temporarily safe did he dare to appear.