Goblin Chieftain

In the Mind Flayer's base, a Mind Flayer transformed from a Hobgoblin sat on a chair in the core area of the base.

The chair occupied almost one-sixth of the room's space, and within its nautilus-like material were subtly wriggling living tissues.

At this moment, the Mind Flayer had its hands inserted into cavities on both sides of the seat, exuding powerful psionic fluctuations.

Suddenly, the Mind Flayer on the seat trembled and slowly opened its eyes.

"That Rage Tribe chieftain doesn't seem very bright. His march was completely disorganized, as if he'd never commanded an army before."

"The Rage Tribe wasn't like this over forty years ago."

"Have they weakened again?"

Rapidly recalling its memories from when it was a Hobgoblin, the Mind Flayer pondered for a moment, and its expression gradually turned grim.

"Forty years have passed, and the average level of the Rage Tribe members has risen to around level 6, but the chieftain has become like this. I was chased and forced to flee by such a rabble?"

The tentacles on its face twisted and intertwined as the Mind Flayer rose abruptly from the seat.

The previous failure had already made it furious.

Now that it learned the ones who nearly killed it were such a group, it felt utterly humiliated.

After pacing back and forth in the room for a while, the Mind Flayer sat back down, reached into the cavity beside it, and began issuing commands to its subordinate Brain Eaters.

The perspective returned to the Rage Tribe.

Led by a Dire Goblin that had been controlled by a Brain Eater, a group of Rage Tribe barbarians arrived near the previous pool of water.

The Dire Goblin lying by the water immediately attracted everyone's attention. They all assumed it had fallen victim to the Mind Flayer's brutality, so they scanned the surroundings, alert for any anomalies.

The Hobgoblin chieftain stepped forward, turning over the body of the Dire Goblin to examine its injuries.

Suddenly, a cold glint flashed.

The Dire Goblin, presumed dead, swung its battle axe at the Hobgoblin chieftain.

The Dire Goblin that had been leading them cooperated with the attack, launching a sneak attack from behind.

At that moment, no one had time to react, including the Hobgoblin chieftain who was the target of the assassination.

However, as an 8th-level barbarian, the Hobgoblin chieftain's primal instincts reacted even before his consciousness.

With a grinding of bones accompanied by bulging muscles, the Hobgoblin chieftain instantly entered a state of berserk rage.

The Great Axe of Fury in his hand was grasped, and he immediately executed a sweeping spin, causing the axe to whistle through the air.

"Ding!"

"Clang!"

The simultaneous sneak attacks from front and back were blocked. The Hobgoblin chieftain, gripping the Great Axe of Fury, unleashed a leaping overhead chop at the guiding Dire Goblin.

Instantly, red and white splattered across the ground. The Brain Eater that had occupied the Dire Goblin's brain was also cleaved in half.

The one on the ground tried to get up, but was chopped into a bloody pulp by the other barbarians who had now reacted.

"Everyone, stay sharp! The enemy can manipulate our minds! Chop down all the vegetation you can see around here! I want to see where they can hide!"

Sometimes, a straightforward approach has its advantages.

After seeing the cross-section of the Dire Goblin he had split in two, the Hobgoblin chieftain immediately understood the reason for the sneak attack.

After all, he had chopped up plenty of goblins himself, but he had never seen one with claws growing out of its brain.

Combined with the reports from his subordinates about the Mind Flayers and Brain Eaters they had encountered, he easily deduced that the sneak attack by these two subordinates was due to the enemy.

While assigning his subordinates to clear the surrounding vegetation, the Hobgoblin chieftain held his battle axe level, pointing at another Dire Goblin in the group.

"You! The one who was with them! Stand there and don't move!"

The barbarian goblin who was with those two Dire Goblins was immediately surrounded by the other goblins.

Seeing that he had also been exposed, this goblin was about to charge towards the Hobgoblin chieftain.

But how could the surrounding goblins let him succeed?

As soon as he started to move, the surrounding goblins restrained him.

"Gurgle~"

A sound of soft tissue churning in viscous fluid was heard, and the Dire Goblin's head suddenly enlarged slightly.

The Hobgoblin chieftain's primal instinct activated again. He swiftly moved forward, grabbed the Dire Goblin's body, and hurled it towards the pool of water.

"Whoosh—"

A silent but intense psionic wave erupted from the Dire Goblin's brain, pushing the surrounding goblins away and leaving their minds blank.

At the same moment, the Brain Eaters that had been hidden in the surroundings, realizing they could no longer conceal themselves, jumped out, attempting to seize the brains of the temporarily incapacitated barbarians.

However, they had underestimated the combat power that a horde of barbarians could display when facing an enemy.

The moment they revealed themselves, countless throwing axes crisscrossed in the air.

The sound of blades entering flesh was constant, and one Brain Eater after another was cleaved open on the spot.

Several Brain Eaters had also seized the opportunity to replace the brains of certain barbarians, lurking within the goblin ranks and planning a new wave of attacks.

Soon, the goblins affected by the psionic wave awoke one by one.

The goblin chief knew that some among these individuals had been possessed by Brain Eaters, so he immediately ordered those goblins to have their limbs bound together with a single rope as they proceeded.

After they were restrained as ordered, a goblin dressed in a peculiar, ritualistic manner approached.

"Him! Him! Him! And him!"

Each time he pointed a finger at a goblin, the goblin chief would swiftly bring down his axe, splitting open that person's body.

Clawed brains were thus exposed. It turned out that all these individuals were goblins whose brains had been taken over by Brain Eaters.

Seeing that his subordinates had made no mistakes, the goblin chief smiled slightly.

"Hmph! I've always said that each path of the barbarian has its special uses, but the previous chief and his father were stubborn, only allowing barbarians of the Zealot path to hold power. Hmph! Ignorant fools, they deserved to die in a minor skirmish."

Weighing the Great Axe of Fury in his hand, the goblin chief looked at the barbarian goblin of the Wild Magic path beside him and nodded in satisfaction.

"At your service, Chief."

After identifying the hidden enemies with the magic sense trait, this goblin bowed and retreated back into the ranks.

"Two men! Burn their bodies on the spot! The entire group will encamp and rest for two hours before setting off again!"

Raising his axe, the goblin chief issued one command after another.

His control over the group was rapidly growing as he faced each challenge.

His methods of warfare were also being constantly honed in the process.

As the new chief who had ascended to power through sheer strength after the unexpected death of the former chief, he still had much to learn.