Hunting Alone (II)

Charles charged forward with his sword, trusting in his armor and fearing these goblins not at all.

Of the three powerful goblins, one had been hit. Now the ordinary goblins rushed forward the fastest instead.

"Awoooah!"

The goblin roared, swinging its wooden club down at Charles.

But this goblin was far too weak, and its intent to attack was far too obvious.

With an upward flick of his longsword, Charles knocked the goblin's club aside, then followed the motion with a slash of his blade.

"Aah!"

One stroke sliced off the goblin's fingers, and it howled in agony.

But Charles's attacks flowed without pause. The very next instant, his blade slit the goblin's throat.

Blood gushed from the huge gash in the goblin's neck.

Charles, meanwhile, had already continued charging forward.

He hid behind his iron shield and launched himself into a full-on boar-like charge.

Boom!

The goblin in front of him had already injured its knee and was hesitating over whether to keep charging.

Instead, Charles had rushed at it first.

The goblin was only around 1.6 meters tall. Though it possessed the strength of a human knight, their true combat strength was still worlds apart.

The goblin before him was sent tumbling by Charles's charge, falling to the ground in a dizzy haze.

The other two goblins immediately lost their nerve.

Goblins were bold when there were many of them, but of the original eleven, only two were still standing.

And both were cripples, lame and unsteady on their feet. How could they dare keep fighting?

They did not dare fight, and Charles did not pursue them. Instead, he raised his iron shield and smashed it down on the goblin that had just climbed back up.

"Aah!"

After two consecutive shield blows, the goblin finally went limp. Its scalp was split and mangled, and it passed out completely.

The two goblins that had already had no desire to fight saw that Charles had no intention of chasing them. Delighted, they dragged their broken legs and fled deeper into the tunnels.

Charles quietly watched their retreating backs. After they had run more than ten meters, he began casting.

By the time the goblins had reached twenty or thirty meters away, Charles had finished casting Bone Needle Bee.

Three bone spikes hovered in the air.

"Go!"

Charles gave a low shout, and the three bone spikes shot out in an instant.

The faint whisper of wind went unnoticed by the goblins.

All three bone spikes struck the same goblin.

One hit the hollow behind each knee. One of its legs had already been injured and could barely exert any strength.

Now that leg snapped outright, while the other fared no better and lost all strength as well.

The remaining bone spike pierced the goblin's weapon-holding right arm. The agonizing pain made it drop its weapon to the ground.

The unfortunate goblin fell straight to the ground and began howling in pain.

Its howl chilled the other goblin to the bone, making it want to run even faster.

For goblins, it did not matter if they could not outrun the enemy—as long as they could outrun their companions!

Charles gave chase with sword and iron shield in hand, trailing behind at an unhurried pace.

The next round of Bone Needle Bee had finished casting.

This time, it targeted the goblin that had fled another dozen meters away.

The old routine: break both legs first, then knock the weapon from its right hand.

Now, these two goblins had basically no room left to resist.

Charles rushed forward with his shield. The goblins crawling on the ground hurriedly turned around, baring their teeth and claws as they tried to frighten him.

But in their current state, they were utterly useless against Charles.

One slap of the iron shield sent the goblin's flailing hand flying aside, and the searing pain made it squeal.

Before it could squeal twice, Charles's next shield blow smashed into its face, knocking out a mouthful of yellow teeth.

The two crippled goblins did not take Charles much time.

After knocking out the three knight-level goblins, Charles called over the servants waiting in the distance.

Within these sewer tunnels, even the slightest sound could carry a great distance.

From far away, the servants listened to the goblins' shrieks and howls echoing through the passages, distorted by the sewers.

Their bodies trembled at the sound.

But the noise came quickly and went quickly.

Charles's battle had not lasted more than two minutes in total, and that was only because he had slowed down later to avoid getting injured.

One servant pricked up his ears. Upon hearing Charles's voice, he hurriedly said, "Quick, Lord Charles is calling us."

The other two heard it and immediately grabbed the prepared chains and shackles, rushing toward Charles.

Charles had already lit a torch here.

Once the servants arrived, Charles ordered, "Quick, tie up those three living ones first, and gag their mouths."

"Cut off the corpses' ears, then throw the rest straight into the water. Get some water and wash the blood off the ground too!"

"Yes, Lord Charles!"

The three servants immediately got busy.

Looking at the corpses all around them, even they clicked their tongues despite being bold enough.

The servants moved quickly, because there was no telling when these unconscious goblins might wake up.

If that happened, they would have to spend more effort dealing with them.

The goblins were tied up, and their wounds were simply bandaged to stop the bleeding. They could not be allowed to bleed to death.

Living goblins were valuable. Dead goblins were only worth the price of their ears.

The servants carried away the three goblins and placed them in the rear to wait.

The bait needed time to work. More goblins might come later.

Charles restored his magic power and waited in a corner for the next wave of goblins.

This time, Charles had earned nine Magic Stones in a single day, with an investment of only one Magic Stone.

The returns were quite impressive.

After waiting for more than half an hour, sounds gradually came from another passage.

Charles looked toward the noise and immediately felt that something was wrong.

The sounds were far too loud, and utterly chaotic.

Sure enough, a group of goblins emerged from the end of the passage. Just by looking at their numbers, there were no fewer than thirty or forty of them.

Charles felt bitter. There were simply too many goblins.

If there had only been a dozen or so, he could still have tried something with an ambush. But now their numbers had doubled, and Charles did not even dare make a move.

Some goblins had already found the bait, as well as the goblin corpses thrown into the sewers.

Some fought over the bait to eat, while others jumped straight into the water and dragged the goblin corpses back out.

Clearly, these corpses would not be left to rot naturally.

There were too many goblins. Though they were eating the bait for now, Charles did not dare strike, and it was not even safe for him to stay here. Holding his iron shield, he began retreating in a crouch.

The spot Charles had chosen was where several waterways converged, and he himself was tucked around a corner.

There were too many goblins for him to remain any longer, so he headed straight back.

Who knew whether that group of goblins would continue forward after finishing the bait?

Holding his iron shield and longsword, he crept backward in a crouch for a stretch, then suddenly broke into a run.

That was not all. He also cast Serpentine Glide, further increasing his escape speed.

Only when he reached the vicinity of the three servants did he stop, taking this haul of spoils and fleeing the sewers.