Fear of Insufficient Firepower

Since the Elves had already left, the defensive and warning barriers that were supposed to be set up around this fortress had all disappeared with the passage of time. Therefore, except for medium-armor units like Lin Yun, others could easily climb the trees. The most agile among them was the Halfling Ranger. She climbed up the fortress, which was entirely formed from a giant tree trunk, as easily as a gecko, and then hid. She gave Lin Yun and the others an OK gesture.

Next was not so easy. Due to the Elves' expertise in climbing trees, the Elf Female Mage became the second to climb up.

Although there were some bumps and scrapes, at least this Elven Magician didn't make too much of a fool of herself. Yes, she didn't make too much of a fool of herself.

Next was Lin Yun's Female Mage. However... it was clear that as a city-raised girl, she had no experience with climbing trees. After all, a Magician needed to be elegant.

So... when she was halfway up, she lost her grip and fell directly onto the Goddess Priestess. This was because the Goddess Priestess was the next one to climb up...

It was a shame it wasn't someone else. The cliff was quite high, being a former fortress, at least over 10 meters tall.

Fortunately, both girls were cloth-armor classes, so their fall didn't make much noise. This was because the Elf Female Mage had very accurately cast Feather Fall at that moment, allowing the Female Mage to land safely on the Goddess Priestess. So at least they didn't scream.

...Alright, it seems that all those novels I used to read about Elves jumping down from trees so lightly and gracefully weren't due to skill or race. It was actually because of Feather Fall.

I think I've discovered something important.

The Halfling Ranger looked at the extremely embarrassed Female Mage and Goddess Priestess below, scratched her head, and took out a bundle of rope from her pocket, throwing it down. Well, after all, she was a Steel-level adventurer, so she was quite well-prepared.

Having a rope certainly made things much easier.

Thus, except for the Female Paladin, Lin Yun, the Young Warrior, and the Centaur, all other adventurers made it to the top. Their next task was to begin the assault.

The Young Warrior's heavy crossbow was given to the Human Priestess. The Bard, responsible for guarding, could not use crossbows to attack. Lin Yun and the others were ready to charge in at any time.

The attack began. Since it was noon, it was almost like midnight for the Goblins. Thus, except for a few, almost all of them were asleep. Only four Goblins were awake.

Looking down from the treetop, the Halfling Ranger couldn't help but gasp. She wiped her forehead, realizing that on the ground below the tree trunk, there were at least forty Goblins. Even more terrifyingly, there were over 3 Giant Goblins. And this was only the part visible from the tree trunk; there might be even more inside, possibly including leaders.

To the Halfling Ranger's dismay, there were hardly any girls left on the ground. If anything, there were only parts or bones of some girls. It was clear that most of the girls had been completely devoured by these Goblins.

Actually, there was one nearly dead woman, used as a trap. She should be the girl who went missing from the village. However, due to the large number of Goblins and Lin Yun's warning, the Halfling Ranger was not overly agitated this time.

If the Goblin Slayer were here, perhaps they could have analyzed that there were no Shamans or particularly intelligent Goblins present. Shamans and the like were generally smart enough to understand the importance of sustainable development. Human women were a necessity, so they would usually order their Goblins not to break their toys and not to kill the women carelessly. However, this tribe showed no such regard, instead acting purely on their wild instincts and committing unforgivable acts.

It was believed that soon, due to their need for reproduction, they would launch large-scale attacks on more humans again.

If, without the Steel Squad coming to their deaths, the Goblin Slayer were to descend from the sky, then perhaps...

Now, the two Female Mages nodded. One Female Mage was responsible for one target, the Elven Magician for two, and the Goddess Priestess and the Priestess for one. The Halfling Ranger was responsible for finishing them off. If anyone missed, Lin Yun, the Bard, and even the Female Paladin were prepared to provide support. In short, they couldn't let the Goblins wake up so quickly.

Because those above needed to focus on the Goblins, Lin Yun and the others would be too loud and wake them up. And once the battle started, their voices might not even be heard. Therefore, command was temporarily handed over to the theoretically older... Elven Magician... cough cough cough. After all, she was an Elf. In any world, Elves had the longest lifespan among humanoid races.

As the Elf Female Mage gave the starting gesture, the two Female Mages began to cast spells. Both cast Magic Missile. However, because the Elven Magician's abilities were stronger than the Female Mage's, her Magic Missile had 5 projectiles instead of 3. This was also why she could be responsible for two targets.

As they each extended a hand, blue magical orbs were released. They twisted in strange curves, appearing to miss their targets. In reality, they struck the targets locked by their mental focus. A total of three Goblins, holding weapons and shields, yawning sleepily but still awake, were hit.

The Goblin that the Female Mage was responsible for was hit by three Magic Missiles. Two of them struck its head almost simultaneously from both sides before the Goblin could react, making it look like a squashed sandwich. The last, pitiful Magic Missile then struck one of its fingers. The intense pain almost made the Goblin instinctively want to cry out, but unfortunately, it had already lost consciousness.

On this side, one Magic Missile from the Elven Magician struck the first Goblin's chest, another hit its shoulder, and the last one directly hit its mouth as it was about to instinctively open to shout, knocking it down. As for the other Goblin, one Magic Missile hit its stomach, and another hit its foot. This time, however, it wasn't knocked to the ground.

Just as everyone was startled, an arrow shot out, hitting the Goblin directly in the chest. Whether it hit its heart or not was unknown, but the Goblin successfully fell, bringing some relief.

Almost simultaneously, the crossbow attacks from the Goddess Priestess and the Priestess began. Well, it was a bit gruesome.

Who would have thought that the seemingly gentle Goddess Priestess would... cough, alright.

As usual, the Goddess Priestess closed her eyes the moment she pulled the trigger, as if praying for divine forgiveness, and then pulled it. This shot directly hit the last Goblin's skull, pinning it to the wall. Almost half of the crossbow bolt was embedded in the Goblin's head. The Priestess's crossbow bolt only managed to hit the Goblin's hand, causing only minor damage.

The first phase of the operation was temporarily considered complete. Everyone couldn't help but sigh in relief. The real action was about to begin.

The remaining awake Goblins were all knocked unconscious. So, the next step was for those above to wreak havoc. Incidentally, from a high vantage point, there was a +1 environmental bonus to hit. So their hits were basically effortless.

The Elven Magician, being an Elf, took out a longbow instead of a crossbow and began to demonstrate that Elves didn't just live for a long time to become the oldest homebodies.

Under the Elven Magician's command, or rather, under the guidance of Lin Yun, who suffered from severe fear of insufficient firepower, they divided into two groups. Each group was responsible for jointly firing at one target. The targets were designated by the Elven Magician. The more stable shooters, the Elven Magician, the Goddess Priestess, and the Female Mage formed one group. Then there were the Ranger and the Priestess. As agreed, the Bard was responsible for guarding the surroundings, checking for any other developments.

Thus, several rounds passed. The Goblins sleeping on the ground were in a prone position. Theoretically, in such a situation, they would have an advantage against ranged attacks. Otherwise, modern warfare wouldn't start with everyone going prone.

While it was advantageous to dodge flat-trajectory ranged attacks, it offered no advantage against attacks from above. Unless something was blocking them, they would be even easier to hit.

Because of this, after one round of concentrated fire, basically, those who should have died were dead. Unknowingly, at least over 10 Goblins had been killed.

In their sleep. However, although everything went smoothly, not everything in this world goes smoothly. Although the crossbow unit above acted very smoothly, the arrows stuck in the Goblins didn't bleed much at first. Initially, the smell of Goblin excrement and sweat masked it, but once it began to spread, like a girl's holy water, it alerted the Goblins' sense of smell.

At least three Goblins suddenly woke up, looking confused, as if they needed to go relieve themselves at night. Although they weren't actually going to the bathroom, they smelled something suspicious.

With a series of Goblin shouts, the somewhat silent fortress began to become restless.