Time to Form a Raid

Elite Assassin Goblins were extremely rare, but they caused the Rescue Corps immense trouble.

These little creatures were incredibly agile. One careless mistake, and they could slip through an opening and drive a blade into someone's kidney.

Everyone responded cautiously, determined not to repeat their mistakes. However, the situation soon took a turn for the better.

It all began when the first Elite Assassin Goblin fell.

With a scream, the Elite Assassin Goblin facing Yang Yu collapsed to the ground and stopped moving.

The Elite Assassin Goblins had been darting freely through the Rescue Corps, slaughtering left and right. When they saw the one they had sent out get taken down so quickly, they were utterly stunned.

How was this possible? Why was he not the one who had fallen? It had only been three minutes since the battle began. Even if he did win, it should not have happened this quickly.

Elite Assassin Goblins were extraordinarily nimble. We should not have been killed by such an insignificant person, by someone who radiated the aura of a weakling from head to toe. That insignificant person should have been screaming miserably and lying in a pool of blood. Why were we the ones falling?

Reality was the exact opposite of what the Goblins had imagined.

How did he do it? Had he been hiding his strength all along? No, that was impossible. Elite Assassin Goblins had exceptionally sharp instincts, far beyond those of ordinary Goblins. Even if an opponent hid his strength, we would be able to tell. In this team, there was only one person we sensed as strong, and he was the only one.

In the Goblins' eyes, Yang Yu's strength was only below average within this team. His attack power was pitifully weak, like a walking punching bag, not worth mentioning at all.

No matter what, they could not accept this fact and tried their best to convince themselves otherwise.

Right, that brat was just incredibly lucky. He had swung wildly out of sheer luck and happened to hit the mark.

The Elite Assassin Goblins reached that conclusion almost simultaneously.

Only that conclusion could convince them. Yet at the very moment the Goblins successfully talked themselves into accepting it and let down their guard, they exposed an opening.

Andeno seized the opportunity, clamping two Goblins' heads beneath his arms and snapping their necks. The other adventurers also swung their weapons, heavily injuring the Elite Assassin Goblins.

The situation reversed in an instant. Before long, the Elite Assassin Goblins fell one after another, unable to rise again.

After that battle, Andeno regarded Yang Yu even more highly. This young man was no simple person. Had he stayed at the very back of the team all along because he had been guarding against something like this?

Seka Mens was even more astonished, inwardly full of admiration as well.

Who exactly was he? Had he actually calculated this far ahead? Had he vaguely figured out that they would send assassins to kill us? The way he fought just now was so composed. He took attacks head-on with his body, then counterattacked immediately. That kind of resolve was not something ordinary people possessed. If it had been me, I would have been too busy defending myself to find an opening to strike back. Yet he did not hesitate in the slightest.

Looking at the corpses of Elite Assassin Goblins scattered across the ground, Yang Yu only felt deeply dejected.

Were these NPCs not a little too reliable? In the blink of an eye, not a single Elite Goblin was left?

The experience bar jumped by a huge chunk for every Elite Assassin Goblin I killed. I thought I could safely reach level 20 after killing one or two more, but in the blink of an eye, all the lively experience points here were gone. I had even activated Sudden Killing Intent, planning to slaughter them with my speed. Now I could only stare helplessly and wait for the skill's effect to wear off.

This disturbance soon passed, and the Rescue Corps returned to calm. Thanks to Yang Yu's timely response, there were fewer injured than expected, though there were still deaths. But they had no time to grieve excessively or lose heart. The moment they entered the forest, all paths of retreat had already been cut off.

Even if reinforcements came, no one knew when they would arrive. The enemy moved so quickly that by the time the rescue team reached them, they might already have become fertilizer for the forest.

Rather than regret it, they had to think about how to defeat the hidden boss deep within the forest and carve out a path to survival.

After Andeno delivered a long inspirational speech, the entire team rallied and set off once more.

The closer they drew to the Goblins' main base, the more tense everyone became. Yet not a single person retreated. Goblin squads occasionally attacked along the way, but they could no longer stop this high-spirited team on their own.

"Report! The area ahead is covered in magical eyes. We circled around, but we could not find any route to bypass them," several mages reported after carefully examining the dense forest.

These eyes formed from magic power were extremely tiny and could only be discovered through careful detection.

If what they had detected before was a lone boat drifting on the ocean, what they detected now was a school of sardines packed tightly together in the sea. Several mages with trypophobia rolled their eyes and fainted on the spot after sensing them.

This place was under tight surveillance. The instant anyone passed through, they would be discovered.

Andeno planned to charge straight through, but Yang Yu grabbed him and whispered in his ear, telling him to destroy the eyes before advancing.

"Destroy them. Let them know we are here! Take your positions and be ready to fight at any time." Flexing his muscular arms, Andeno made his decision.

His spirited bearing greatly encouraged the Rescue Corps. For the first time, the fate of the world was closely tied to them. They absolutely could not relax now.

Yang Yu followed the crowd and took a deep breath. After walking for so long, it was finally time to form a raid.

His level 19 experience bar was only a tiny bit away from being full. If the NPCs had not been so good at stealing kills along the way, he probably would have reached level 25 long ago. At this point, though, there was no way to raise his level further.

He had even discussed it with Andeno, asking him to spar with him and then quickly admit defeat. However, Andeno believed Yang Yu wanted to test his strength, so he told Yang Yu to go home and train properly first.

There was no helping it. The matter of leveling up had come to nothing.

Now that they were about to begin a boss raid, level 19 and level 20 were not all that different, to be honest. Yang Yu had already decided to steal kills when the opportunity arose, rather than participate in the clash between ordinary adventurers and the Goblin army.

On one hand, ordinary adventurers were far too good at stealing kills, so fighting minor monsters was all effort for little reward. On the other hand, knowing the system's usual ways, if his party did not kill the boss, he probably would not even get a taste of the rewards.

Therefore, he naturally had to conserve plenty of stamina to deal with the boss and complete the legendary quest, Source Extermination.

Even if he failed, he had already prepared an escape route. Having the Rescue Corps spend effort destroying the eyes in the trees was also part of that preparation.