"Sylvia! Behind you!" Greg shouted urgently.
Sylvia turned at his shout, finding herself face-to-face with the Goblin shaman's tiny eyes, gleaming with cruelty and cunning, and the ominous dark-red orb of energy gathering atop its bone staff.
She lacked real combat experience, after all. Caught off guard, her mind went blank and her legs gave way, dropping her straight onto the ground.
"Gahahaha!"
The Goblin shaman let out a gloating cackle and swung its bone staff down. The dark-red spell orb, brimming with chaotic, corrosive energy, streaked toward the defenseless Sylvia with an ominous trail behind it!
Too far!
Two Goblin warriors were still fighting between them! There was no way he could reach her in time!
At that moment, Greg could think of only one way that might kill the Goblin shaman outright and save Sylvia.
It was the other spell he had gained after awakening his affinity for dark magic: LV1 · Dark Wave!
He had never tried the spell before and had no idea what it actually did.
But now, he could only pray that it would deal more damage than his other ranged attack spell, Water Gun LV2, which he had the greatest proficiency in.
If he used Water Gun, he certainly wouldn't be able to kill the Goblin shaman in a single hit, leaving Sylvia in danger.
With that thought, Greg acted almost without thinking. Following his combat instincts, he channeled the dark mana racing through his body into Dark Wave, then unleashed it toward the Goblin shaman with all his strength!
He had imagined something like a Hadouken from Street Fighter-a shadowy energy projectile that packed a punch.
What actually flew from his palm, however, was merely... an inconspicuous, pure-black speck the size of his thumbnail.
It was fast, but Greg felt there was no way such a tiny thing could hurt the Goblin shaman.
His confidence crumbled in an instant.
It's over!
What kind of skill is this? It's practically useless!
It probably couldn't even kill a fly!
Hakimi, you've screwed me over!
The Goblin shaman had clearly noticed the little black speck flying toward it, too.
But it was focused on attacking the target already within its grasp. It scoffed at the tiny thing, which gave off no mana fluctuations, and didn't even bother dodging. It merely waved its bone staff casually, intending to disperse it.
Meanwhile, its dark-red spell orb was about to touch Sylvia's terrified face.
At that critical instant-
The unremarkable black speck drifted straight through the Goblin shaman's swinging bone staff as though it had no substance, then sank squarely into its chest.
There was no explosion, no flash, not even a sound.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
The next second-
The Goblin shaman's swinging arm froze.
The vicious grin on its face twisted, locked in place, then gave way to utter agony and bewilderment.
Less than a foot from the tip of Sylvia's nose, the dark-red spell orb silently unraveled and vanished.
Immediately afterward, a string of system notifications visible only to Greg flooded the corner of his vision:
[Target afflicted with "Weakness"!] [Target afflicted with "Blindness"!] [Target afflicted with "Confusion"!] [Target afflicted with "Fear"!] [Target afflicted with "Mana disruption"!] [Target afflicted with "Life drain"!] [Target afflicted with "Sensory deprivation"!] [Target afflicted with "Limb paralysis"!] [Target afflicted with "Mental collapse"!] [Target subjected to an "Instant death check"!] ...
The Goblin shaman didn't even have time to scream a second time.
Its short body convulsed violently once. The bone staff in its hand snapped on its own with a crack, and black mist resembling tainted blood seeped from its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose all at once.
Then, under Sylvia's still-shaken gaze, it toppled straight backward like a felled stump, its body rigid, and hit the ground with a thud, never to move again.
The multitude of stacked debuffs had instantly destroyed every bodily function and shattered its mind.
The only sounds left in the cave were the other Goblins' incoherent grunts, stunned by the bizarre sight.
Sylvia sat limply on the ground, staring blankly at the Goblin shaman's corpse as the signs of life rapidly faded from it. Then she slowly looked up at Greg, who still stood some distance away with his palm extended.
What... just happened?
That terrifying spell... disappeared?
Did Senior Greg do that?
How had he managed to kill the Goblin shaman so silently?
The weakness that followed her narrow escape mingled with overwhelming confusion, leaving her momentarily speechless.
But she knew Greg had to be responsible for all of this. He must have saved her!
After swiftly finishing off the last few terrified Goblin warriors, Greg immediately turned and hurried over to Sylvia.
He crouched down and offered his hand to the pink-haired girl, who was still sitting on the ground in a daze.
"Sylvia." His voice carried unmistakable concern. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"
Sylvia looked up and met Greg's amber eyes, which still seemed bright in the dim light.
After a moment's hesitation, she reached out and gently placed her hand in his open palm.
But the instant their hands touched, Sylvia paused.
She had suddenly realized that Greg's hand was much larger than hers, and his palm was warm from the battle.
An unfamiliar yet comforting sensation quietly passed through their touching skin, making her heart skip a beat.
"I'm fine. I-I'm not hurt," she said softly, her face flushed as she let Greg help her to her feet.
Once she was standing steadily, however, her gaze drifted involuntarily toward the Goblin shaman's oddly positioned corpse nearby.
Greg noticed where she was looking, and his heart tightened. Assuming the shaman's gruesome, bizarre death had traumatized her, he hurried to apologize:
"I'm sorry. I was careless. I didn't notice there was a shaman hiding among these Goblins, and I didn't prepare for a ranged spell attack. I almost put you in danger... that's on me."
"No, that's not it, Senior Greg. That's not what I meant..."
Sylvia hastily shook her head, her long pink hair swaying gently with the motion.
She looked at Greg, her eyes showing more curiosity and inquisitiveness than fear.
"I was just... a little curious. That Goblin shaman suddenly died... you did that too, didn't you, Senior Greg?"
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