He Xi's consciousness broke free from the darkness, and the intense dizziness began to ease.
He opened his eyes. Before him, Baron Ul and the guards were putting up a desperate resistance in slow motion.
Under the effects of [Slow Technique], every swing of their swords and every thrust became more difficult.
The Goblins surged forward in wave after wave, like an inexhaustible tide, biting at their tottering defenses!
"Damn it..." He Xi's heart sank. "We were so close..."
"If I hadn't been hit by this damn Slow Technique... or if I'd had a little more mana..."
His gaze swept across the battlefield, instinctively searching for a chance to turn things around.
Suddenly, his eyes fixed on a brown figure darting nimbly between the sluggish people and the Goblins—Bruce!
It hadn't been hit by [Slow Technique].
Its four legs were still nimble as it leaped and dodged, occasionally snapping at a Goblin's ankle to create an opening for the guards.
"If it's Bruce!"
He Xi fixed his gaze on Bruce.
Bruce seemed to sense something and suddenly looked back. Its doggy eyes met He Xi's.
He Xi couldn't speak, and didn't try. He simply gave Bruce a signal.
Target—the tip of the bell tower!
Bruce understood the hope in He Xi's eyes.
No words were needed between them!
It stopped circling the Goblins around it, crouched low, and shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow!
It moved astonishingly fast! Using all four paws, it scrambled up the rough, jagged slope of the stone spike as easily as if it were running on flat ground.
"Not good!"
A memory from He Xi's previous life struck him like lightning—a memory about sound!
He immediately started gesturing frantically at Baron Ul and the guards.
Cover your ears.
Baron Ul didn't understand why, but when he saw He Xi's nearly frantic expression and his gestures toward Bruce, he instantly realized what was going on.
He immediately covered his ears too.
The guards had already learned to trust He Xi, and they clamped their hands over their ears.
In the moonlight, a heart-stopping distance separated the strange Mud Doll swaying in the wind from the tip of the stone spike...
Bruce leaped from the tip of the spike, carried forward by its momentum!
It cut through the silent night sky!
With perfect accuracy, it sank its teeth into the Mud Doll's head.
Its sharp canine teeth pierced the rough clay in an instant.
Then it whipped its head violently!
"Crash!"
The Mud Doll's head shattered on the spot, crumbling into dust! The long black hair covering its head lost its support and drifted away on the night wind.
The instant the Mud Doll shattered—
Brrrr—
Brrrrr—
BRRRRR—
A deafening rumble swept across all of Plint Town!
Even with his ears covered, He Xi felt a sharp ringing pain in his ears.
In an instant, absolute silence gave way to a deafening uproar!
Only one utterly absurd thought remained in He Xi's mind:
"This... this damn thing..."
"It's just like that idiot from my past life who could never get his mic settings right while gaming!"
"Every time we queued up, it was either dead silent on his end or he'd suddenly yell out a deafening greeting:
"'Hello?! Hello?! Can you hear me?! Is my mic that blown out?!'"
And now all of Plint Town was getting the full experience of that same "blown-out mic"!
For Goblins, whose hearing far surpassed that of humans, the sudden change in sound pressure was even more devastating!
"GUAH—!!!"
"GAAAH—!!!"
Their distorted, bloodcurdling screams rang through the sky.
Every Goblin in the square clapped its hands over its ears in agony.
They writhed and convulsed on the ground.
The intense pain overpowered the berserk spell cast by the Shaman.
Bruce landed lightly on the stone ledge of the bell tower's arched window. It shook its slightly dazed head and looked down at the Goblins roiling like boiling water in the square. Good thing I'm far away!
A moment later, Baron Ul and the guards lowered their hands.
The sounds of the world returned. Their ears were still ringing, but at least they could talk to one another again.
"Take this chance and kill the ones around us!" Baron Ul ordered, his voice tight with pent-up emotion.
The guards' spirits soared!
While the Goblins around them were still reeling in agony, they fought to clear the ones nearby.
"Captain Kadan! I can hear again!"
Near a cellar entrance, a young guard shouted excitedly.
Kadan, the burly, middle-aged guard captain, nodded.
When the chaos of the Goblin invasion and the eerie silence had descended at the same time, it was Kadan who had used his battlefield instincts and courage to quickly rally the surviving guards and townspeople.
They had split into two groups and hidden in two adjoining, sturdy cellars.
The air inside was foul, and darkness and soundless fear gnawed at everyone's nerves like venomous snakes.
But Kadan had stayed calm throughout.
Not long ago, he had noticed that the number of Goblins attacking the cellar was dwindling. He immediately realized that Lord Ul had led people inside!
Now, hearing the deafening crash outside and the Goblins' screams, Kadan knew it was time to strike back!
"Open the cellar door!" Kadan's voice rang out, steady and forceful. "Men! Take up your weapons! Lord Ul is in the square! Follow me! We'll drive those green-skinned bastards out of Plint!"
"Kill!!!"
The fear they had held in for so long turned into a towering rage! The surviving guards and able-bodied townspeople roared as they grabbed whatever weapons they could find—swords, spears, pitchforks, even kitchen knives and wooden clubs!
Kadan led the vengeful crowd as they charged straight toward the bell tower square, where the Goblins were thickest.
At a glance, he spotted Baron Ul and the others in the middle of the square, surrounded by Goblins and fighting desperately, covered in blood!
He also saw the purple-red figure beneath the bell tower's shadow—the Goblin Shaman!
"Go support Lord Ul!" Kadan's voice boomed like thunder. "I'll deal with that purple-skinned bastard!"
Before the words had even left his mouth—
The muscles in Kadan's legs suddenly tensed!
[Charge]!
His body became an arrow loosed from a bow. Unable to go straight for the Shaman, he used an ordinary Goblin blocking his path as a stepping stone!
"ROAR!!!"
A [Roar] like that of a lion burst from Kadan's mouth!
The invisible shock wave slammed into the eardrums of the surrounding Goblins like a heavy hammer!
The Goblins that had just recovered from the pain of the "blown-out mic" instantly grew dizzy again, staggering as if drunk.
Kadan didn't even look at them. He kicked the dazed Goblin in front of him away.
He had only one target—the Goblin Shaman!
"Die!!!"
The steel longsword in Kadan's hand shrieked through the air as it came crashing down on the panicked Shaman!
The Goblin Shaman was scared out of its wits! It reflexively raised its bone staff to block!
"Crack!"
The staff snapped with a sharp sound!
Kadan's sword was checked and slowed for an instant!
Using that opening, the Goblin Shaman rolled backward like a startled rabbit.
"Gak-ga-puh!" (Stop him!)
The surrounding Goblins had just recovered from their dizziness. They immediately shrieked and pounced on Kadan.
Kadan swept his sword sideways, cutting down two of them, but more Goblins surged forward and temporarily blocked his pursuit!
Meanwhile, He Xi had already fixed his gaze on the battle. He dodged the minor enemies as he quietly moved toward the Shaman.
His mana had recovered by about half during the brief respite.
The moment he saw the Goblin Shaman sprawled on the ground, trying to scramble up and flee—
"I've waited all night for this moment!"
He raised his hand!
[Earth Spike Technique]!
Thrust!
A sharp stone spike burst from the ground beneath the Goblin Shaman!
It pierced straight through its hunched body.
The Goblin Shaman's body stiffened!
Its two points of ghostly green light fixed on He Xi, filled with resentment and disbelief!
Then the light quickly faded.
Its head drooped, and it fell completely silent.
[Earth Spike Technique proficiency +3, (8/10)]
In the square, without the Shaman's command or the berserk spell's boost, the Goblins were finally crushed by the combined attack from Kadan, Baron Ul, and the others.
They shrieked and scattered in every direction like headless flies.
Shouts of battle and cries of agony mingled in the night sky above Plint Town.
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