13: Damn it, the rescuers have finally arrived!

As the County Princess departed, the team members still hadn't recovered from their shock.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" Evil Axe slapped his own face hard, trying to clear his head.

"We haven't done anything to offend the Employer along the way, have we?" Hawkeye recalled his previous attitude and started to panic, sinking into specific memories.

Hearing this, Shield Mountain also hurriedly began to reflect, wondering if he had accidentally said something wrong.

"I say, now is not the time to be thinking about that, is it?"

Ronan really couldn't understand what these three were thinking, having the leisure to worry about such trivialities. He casually put away the loot and spoke up to remind them,

"Have you forgotten that we're surrounded?"

This question was like a key to the next scene; not only did it snap Shield Mountain's trio back to reality, but even the Goblins lurking in the distance stood up at the Centurion's command.

They cautiously formed a perimeter, gradually closing in on the team.

"Forty or fifty Goblins, plus a Centurion... Did that mercenary say he was coming back to rescue us?"

Evil Axe was afraid someone would tell him: You're just hearing things; he never said that at all.

"He said he'd come back to help us after escorting the County Princess," Hawkeye said, his tone a bit uncertain. "He can't fail to do what he promised the County Princess, right?"

"Hold out for a while first. Into the cave!" At Shield Mountain's command, everyone ran into the cave entrance.

Although the cave passage had collapsed, the remaining entrance could serve as a natural bunker.

With cover available, there was no need to stay exposed; otherwise, the Goblins would show you what a hail of stones felt like.

Ronan's Spiritual Power had recovered only limitedly; he couldn't unleash many decent attacks.

Although he had 1 point of wish power left, which could be used to wish for the restoration of his Spiritual Power.

But this was his last resort; he wouldn't use it lightly unless absolutely necessary.

He always felt an impulse to expend all his Spiritual Power to fire a full-strength "Scorching Ray."

Unfortunately, even with full Spiritual Power, a single Ray couldn't eliminate such a large, widely dispersed group of Goblins.

But restricting his Spiritual Power output always made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Most importantly, even if he wanted to fire a power-limited version of "Scorching Ray," his current Spiritual Power could only sustain it a few more times.

As soon as the four ducked into the cave, a rain of stones followed in quick succession.

Although these Goblins weren't as strong as the one Wolf Fang controlled, and the power of their thrown stones was limited...

...under the weight of their numbers, quantity led to a qualitative change, instantly making up for any shortcomings.

The four at the cave entrance were suppressed by this offensive, not daring to show their heads.

"What do we do, Captain?" Evil Axe couldn't see the situation outside due to his height, but he could tell things were bad just from the sound.

"It's a pity my shield is gone, and Wolf Fang's concentrated elemental orb seems to have been taken by the mercenary..." Shield Mountain habitually tucked his hands inward; without the heavy weight of his greatshield, the gesture seemed a bit flighty.

"Hawkeye, wait for this volley of stones to end, then wait for the Goblins to get closer and use Corrosive Arrow to scare them."

"Evil Axe, fight from here, don't go out. Leave a few corpses for yourself to use as blood-qi packs, and pile the rest outside the cave entrance."

"White Night, how many more spells can you cast?"

"Not many. Unless you can line them up for me, don't expect me to kill many of them." Ronan spread his hands, indicating he was powerless.

"Then don't act. Continue to recover your Spiritual Power. When we can't hold out anymore, look for an opportunity to see if you can take out the leader directly."

It had to be said that, as a captain, Shield Mountain's tactical deployment was commendable.

"Captain, what about you?" Evil Axe asked curiously. "Are you still going to stand at the very front?"

"Do I look like I can stand at the front right now?!"

Shield Mountain gestured with his hands; usually, at a time like this, his greatshield would whip up a gust of wind with his movements. "I'll try my best to block the entrance and wall them in with Goblins!"

Once the arrangements were made, the Goblins' stone barrage happened to cease.

Hawkeye held his breath, listening to the bustling footsteps drawing closer. Once he judged the distance, he suddenly stood up and leapt out of the cave entrance.

Within half a second, he drew his bow and notched an arrow; in another half-second, he had fired a pitch-black arrow and retreated back into the cave.

The foremost Goblin saw a figure flash at the cave entrance and vanish an instant later; before it could react, it lost consciousness.

But losing consciousness didn't mean its body would simply fall.

On the contrary, its skin and muscles began to fester, and its limbs flailed and spun wildly like a top, flinging rotting flesh onto the other Goblins.

The other Goblins were initially just disgusted by the rotten meat splattering onto them, until the same decay began to spread across their own bodies. Only then did they cry out to warn their kin to stay away.

This was the true power of the Corrosive Arrow; with a specialized arrowhead modified by the Grey Elves, it could maximize the spread of corrosive power across the battlefield.

The Goblins at the front fell into chaos, with the foremost ones quickly corroded into mere skeletons.

This caused the Goblins behind them to hesitate, not daring to step forward.

Seeing this through his spiritual power web, Ronan was also amazed by the infectious capability of the Corrosive Arrow. On a battlefield dominated by cold weapons, this was absolutely a strategic weapon of mass destruction.

Of course, in a fantasy world, that was a different matter.

The Goblins' riot was finally barely quelled by the Centurion's war cry. Hawkeye's arrow had intimidated a large number of Goblins, forcing the Centurion to take action personally.

It took a horn from its waist and blew; the dull sound of the horn echoed through the Monster Forest.

Dozens of Goblins maintained a relatively safe distance, surrounding the cave entrance so tightly that not even water could leak through, but they did not charge in recklessly.

"Crap, the Centurion is calling for backup!" Shield Mountain's expression changed as he realized the enemy's intent.

"How many Goblins can a Centurion call?" Evil Axe asked.

"Less than a hundred." Hawkeye was much more relaxed than before; his Corrosive Arrow was absolutely devastating here. "Half of them are already outside; at most, another hundred will come."

"Are you out of your damn mind? That's not a lot?!"

Evil Axe's voice rose in pitch as he forcibly suppressed the urge to swing his axe at Hawkeye.

As time passed, more and more Goblins gathered around.

Under the Centurion's intimidation, all the Goblins were uniform and silent, forming a rough siege formation.

The situation grew increasingly dire.

Until a figure appeared, finally breaking the dead silence.

The Goblins' encirclement was brutally torn open by a powerful pressure—a familiar way of making an entrance.

"The damn rescue is finally here!" Evil Axe couldn't help but want to cheer.

Slightly curly blond hair paired with silver armor, outlining a robust physique—a familiar build.

"Phew! Looks like I can save a few more Corrosive Arrows." Hawkeye had a smile in his eyes as he looked at Shield Mountain. "I'm going to need to be reimbursed for the consumption when we get back, alright?"

The tense expression on Shield Mountain's face finally relaxed, and he nodded with a smile. "Sure."

And, that familiar lazy tone—

"So slow. What's with these green-skinned creatures? They're simply wasting my precious time."

Russell drew a silver longsword from his waist, the flowing light on the blade soaring into the sky. "It seems I have to handle this personally..."

"...and completely bury this group of Adventurer scum."