Mutant Goblin

"Dodge! It's a spell!" Nia, the archer at the rear, spotted the blue glow at almost the same instant and shouted a warning.

But Thor and the other two had been focused on killing the Goblins in front of them and hadn't noticed it. By the time they heard Nia's warning and looked up, the blue-white beam had already reached them.

Boom!

The blue-white beam burst apart, spilling a wave of biting cold in every direction!

Even Rain and the others, twenty meters away, felt an icy wind strike their faces.

Startled, Rain looked closely.

Thor was clutching his right hand in horror. His longsword had fallen to the ground.

A thick layer of frost covered the hand that had held the sword and spread all the way to his shoulder. His chest and right arm were both white with ice.

To Rain's shock, he realized that the white coating was a layer of ice several centimeters thick.

Thor hadn't been frozen solid, but his pale face and trembling body made it clear that he could no longer fight.

Evans, the man with two daggers, took several hurried steps back, panic in his eyes.

"Damn it! That's the Zero-Ring Spell Freezing Ray!" the man with the greatsword roared.

He hastily swung his greatsword in a sweeping arc, then grabbed Thor and pulled him back.

That left most of the cave entrance, which the three of them had been blocking, wide open.

As if coordinating with the spell, more than five Goblins suddenly rushed out of the cave.

Among them, two spear-wielding Goblins escorted another Goblin out. It looked distinctly different and wore a filthy linen coat.

"Watch out!"

"It's a Mutant Goblin!"

"How did our team run into something this rare?" Nia the archer muttered, her expression changing.

What had been an easy slaughter had instantly become a battle with an uncertain outcome.

Thud!

Rain drove his pitchfork into a dagger-wielding Goblin that had nearly reached Nia, killing it on the spot.

"Thanks!"

"Of course!"

Rain had been just as stunned as everyone else by the Mutant Goblin's appearance, but he was the first of the villagers to snap out of it.

He was astonished by the blue-white beam the Mutant Goblin had cast. So that's a spell? Then another thought struck him, and excitement surged through him.

If I kill that Mutant Goblin, I should be able to obtain its Mutant Bloodline, shouldn't I?

The immense temptation of killing a creature that could cast spells sent adrenaline surging through Rain. He stared straight at the Mutant Goblin.

Unlike the others, he felt almost no fear.

All he felt was a longing for that mysterious spell.

Besides, the battle was hardly desperate.

At least, as Rain saw it, if the villagers rushed in alongside the four Adventurers, they would have eight people against five Goblins.

Even with one of their own unable to fight and one of the enemy mutated, their chances of winning were still above ninety percent!

He refused to believe the Mutant Goblin could cast spells without limit. What was it going to do, fire them off like a Gatling gun?

"Get in there and help! These five Goblins should be all that's left!"

Rain charged first!

Seeing him rush forward, the other three villagers exchanged glances and charged after him.

Two of those villagers still had daughters in the cave who needed rescuing. If Rain, an outsider, was charging in, how could their fathers hang back?

Besides, there weren't many Goblins in front of them apart from the mutated one—only five in total, against eight of them!

Thud!

Rain thrust his pitchfork again. With the passive talent Robust lv1 boosting his strength and agility by one point each, his thrust was faster and more forceful than before.

Another Goblin screamed and died on his pitchfork.

Nia, standing nearby, saw it happen.

Her eyes trembled. The force of Rain's thrust had caught her attention, but what she truly struggled to understand was his almost reckless courage.

The sudden arrival of Rain and the other Oak Village villagers threw the Goblins, including the Mutant Goblin, into a panic.

Goblins were low-level monsters. Faced with eight humans, how could they not panic?

Even the Mutant Goblin's eyes darted about as it chattered urgently, but the remaining three Goblins were already glancing around, looking ready to flee.

The Adventurer team, meanwhile, rallied with the four villagers' arrival!

The tide turned again.

Seeing the situation turn against it, the Mutant Goblin quickly raised a hand as though to cast another spell at the group.

But the next instant, an arrow whistled through the air and struck its raised arm.

"Squeak, squeak!"

Nia's arrow had pierced the Mutant Goblin's arm, and now it panicked completely. Clutching its wounded arm, it abandoned the remaining Goblins and dashed toward a nearby thicket.

Neither the greatsword wielder, who was supporting Thor, nor Evans gave chase. They seemed wary that the Mutant Goblin might still be able to cast another spell.

Two of the villagers were desperate to rescue their families and had no reason to chase it. Instead, they rushed toward the three Goblins still at the cave entrance.

So Rain was the only one who immediately went after it.

In the dim light, Rain's Dim-Light Vision kept the Mutant Goblin in sight as it fled through the sparse undergrowth.

Still wary that it might cast a second spell, he did not get too close.

After several sharp turns, he caught it during a brief pause and skidded to a stop. Drawing his arm back like a javelin thrower, Rain stretched out and hurled his pitchfork with all his might.

Whoosh!

The pitchfork skimmed through the sparse weeds and struck the linen-clad Goblin in the left shoulder.

It screamed, stumbled, and fell face-first to the ground.

Delighted, Rain dashed forward. As the Mutant Goblin struggled to rise, he leaped and kicked out!

His foot slammed into its head just as it started to lift it.

Bang!

Its green head was driven hard into the ground. Rain pulled the pitchfork free and stabbed the still-struggling Mutant Goblin several times.

Thud!

Thud!

Blood sprayed everywhere!

Rain did not stop stabbing until the Mutant Goblin beneath his foot lay still.

"Hah... hah..."

Rain gasped for breath. Chasing it down and stabbing with all his strength had left him tired, even with the boost from Vigorous lv1.

He had no idea how many times he had stabbed it.

All he had wanted was to kill it before it could cast that powerful spell again, so he had kept stabbing.

Looking down, he saw that the Mutant Goblin's body was riddled with holes. He must have stabbed it at least a dozen times.

No wonder I'm so tired!