Chapter 7: Four of Them

Bugbears.

One of the variants of goblins.

Equally evil and greedy, but compared to their short and frail cousins, bugbears possess a robust physique and agile stance, looking as though they underwent a genetic mutation.

They are cold-blooded and ferocious, and they also possess a certain level of intelligence, with a basic grasp of both Goblin and Common languages.

Some assassin organizations located in the western part of the continent even specifically recruit young bugbears to train them into professional killers.

Almost every bugbear, upon reaching adulthood, possesses the ability to become the leader of a goblin tribe.

And once the goblins obtain a bugbear boss, their courage and hazard level will also explode by multiples due to the leader’s brutal rule and powerful strength.

But on the other hand, compared to the massive number of goblins that spread across the entire continent like cockroaches, bugbears are not particularly numerous.

Leaving their groups to become self-reliant after reaching adulthood, they are merely scattered sporadically among large and small goblin tribes.

Most of the time, with lackeys responsible for satisfying their greed for food and treasure, bugbears are even too lazy to take action personally, merely nesting in their own lairs like dragons.

If one is not overly greedy or truly unlucky, it is basically very difficult to encounter them within the activity range of bottom-tier adventurers.

But similarly, should anyone happen to run straight into the most powerful individual among these goblin-like creatures, the end for these adventurers who have not even obtained a class level is quite obvious.

Roar—

A low, aggression-filled roar echoed through the spacious cave.

A burly figure nearly seven feet tall loomed upright. Beneath his coarse, brownish-red hair were thick, knotted muscles like those of a brown bear. His yellowish-brown eyes revealed a dangerous color under the reflection of the firelight, and thick, foul-smelling drool slowly dripped from his two fangs protruding from his lower jaw.

And the most eye-catching thing was the morningstar by his feet, which was nearly half the height of a person.

The slender grip made the pitch-black head of the weapon exceptionally prominent. Looking at the muddy ground sinking slightly due to the weight and the steel spikes densely covering the surface of the morningstar, it was hard to imagine what kind of tragic result would occur if such a weapon directly smashed into a body.

“Gagu, hold it down!”

After a moment of panic, the hunter Maji, who possessed fairly rich combat experience, finally snapped back to his senses and shouted loudly at the half-orc at the very front of the team.

Fleeing was absolutely impossible.

Right now, they were only a dozen meters away from the bugbear. With the other party’s explosive power that far exceeded ordinary people, he could cross that distance in the blink of an eye.

And although the cave was relatively wide, it only allowed two people to walk side-by-side, far from a degree where they could scatter and escape.

Rashly turning around to flee and leaving their backs exposed to the opponent, they would probably be torn to pieces by the bugbear before all three could even manage to run to the cave entrance.

They had to take the initiative to attack!

“Xia Nan, you take care of those goblins on the side!”

A single bugbear already required them to fight with all their might.

If they still had to deal with those annoying green-skinned mice during the battle, their survival rate would probably drop by another level.

Therefore, Maji could only choose to believe in this rookie who had just displayed his capabilities, trusting that he could buy enough undisturbed space for the two of them to focus fire on the bugbear.

Maji’s tension-filled shout brought Xia Nan back to his senses instantly.

Before he could even process it, he watched with his own eyes as Gagu at the very front of the team, holding his heavy two-handed axe, charged at the bugbear with a wild roar.

Xia Nan realized something was wrong.

Unlike the other two in the team, the original owner of this body was just an ordinary farmer who had never even heard the name “bugbear,” so he naturally would not know how dangerous it was.

But judging solely by the performance of Maji and Gagu, it was enough to prove the urgency of the current situation.

At this moment, he had no time to think further.

As soon as the hunter’s words fell, he gripped his longsword tightly and braced himself to quickly charge toward the four goblins located at the side of the cave.

To be honest, Xia Nan felt a bit unsure of himself.

Unlike the chaotic melee when facing the ambush last night, without the containment and cover of his teammates, he needed to simultaneously face the frontal assault of four goblins in this spacious cave environment.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps he truly possessed some talent for combat.

Staring at the four green-skinned rats ahead who were hurriedly picking up their weapons, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind.

“Facing a four-on-one frontally is too dangerous. I must divide the battlefield and attack with all my strength to find a breakthrough point!”

Without a single shred of hesitation, Whirlwind Slash, which had been practiced diligently to Level 4 under the original owner’s years of hard work, stored power almost instinctively while he was running.

Buzz—

A cold light flashed fiercely!

The goblin closest to Xia Nan was cleanly sliced into two halves horizontally.

And at this moment, the other three green-skinned beasts had already rushed over side-by-side, clutching their wooden clubs.

Xia Nan, who had already immersed his entire focus into the battle, was quick of eye and deft of hand, kicking over a iron pot whose bottom was glowing red from the heat before him.

Boiling broth mixed with turbid grease poured out. The scalding temperature caused the goblins who had almost rushed in front of him to stop their paces subconsciously, and their originally uniform line was subsequently divided.

The plan succeeded!

Xia Nan fiercely took two steps forward, utilizing his advantage of being tall and large to thrust his one-handed sword forward with force. The sharp blade instantly pierced through the goblin’s fragile flesh and stabbed into its abdominal cavity.

A gust of wind neared. He lunged sideways, dodging a swinging blow smashed down by another goblin from the flank.

At the same time, without pulling out the blade that had pierced through the monster’s flesh, keeping it in a “meat skewer” posture, he unleashed Whirlwind Slash once again.

Slash!

The sharp longsword gathering the strength of his entire body tore through the goblin’s frail form, which possessed no defensive power to speak of, with an unstoppable force.

Cutting horizontally out from inside the first goblin’s body, accompanied by splattering striking blood, it hacked its other companion into upper and lower sections.

And not until now did the last green-skinned mutt barely manage to bypass the overturned iron pot and arrive before Xia Nan.

Subsequently, finding that it was the only one left on the field, the creature once again displayed its cowardice as a bottom-tier monster.

Dropping the wooden club in its hand, it turned around attempting to flee.

He strode forward to catch up, stabbing it to death with two strikes.

“Pant… pant…”

Xia Nan panted heavily.

Highly concentrated, the period of less than twenty seconds since the battle started had nearly exhausted most of his stamina, to the point that even the coarse cloth linen shirt on his body was drenched in sweat.

The one-handed sword was still gripped tightly in his palm, yet his right hand trembled uncontrollably, and a wave of hard-to-describe soreness traveled continuously from the muscles of his arm.

That was the side effect brought by using Whirlwind Slash twice in a short period of time.

At least he had completed the task given to him by the team.

Xia Nan thought to himself.

At the same time, he turned his head and lifted his gaze, looking toward the other side of the battlefield.

“The two of them should also…”

“Fuck!”

(End of Chapter)