<h4>Chapter 516 - Strikes Last</h4>


    The group walked for nearly ten minutes, Kenji leading the way and making sure they do not walk right into a group of goblins.


    However, it took them nearly ten minutes to find any. The goblins they found also seemed to be readying for war, so they tailed them to figure out what was going on.


    Not muchter, they arrived at one of the entrances to a massive cavern,rge enough to house a dragon.


    There, the goblins were all gathering. Wearing whatever armor they might have scavenged, waving their swords, spear, axes, and staves in the air. From the looks of it, they were being rallied.


    The trio could not hear what the speaking goblin was saying, but guessing who that goblin was did not take a genius; obviously, it was the king. Not only was he over two meters tall (6.6ft), he was also d in full armor and had two longswords strapped to his sides.


    The rally was happening too far for Observe or mana sense to work, but from the looks of it, there were well over a thousand goblins. And not the normal weak goblins, these were all hobgoblins, with a tenth being goblin knights. The number of shamans was also truly impressive at seventeen.


    Behind the goblin king, a massive demonic-looking blob seemed to be beating like a heart. Tendrils of a darkish green and ck mixture slowly reached out to the corpses of animals and other monsters that the normal goblins were offering it.


    [{Eldrian} - That must be the Folia]


    [{Therdul} - Can you cast from here?]


    The spot they were was truly ideal, but it was far.


    [{Eldrian} - Maybe, I am not sure. First time trying this spell for real.]


    [{Kenji} - Seriously?]


    [{Eldrian} - Buy me time.]


    With that, Eldrian moved to the side of the ramp they hade out to. It went along the cavern wall to the bottom where the goblins were.


    ''I really hope the idd and other creatures in that mix can''t climb the slope''s sides.'' Eldrian mumbled as he readied himself.


    He didn''t have much anger to call upon, however, he didn''t need his personal anger for this case. He simply thought of the situation those poor women in the Avgi caves had been in. How, even after all they had suffered, they had all died.


    Life was truly cruel, and worse, these goblins made it utter hell for those that they captured.


    Innate hatred towards these vile creatures slowly expanded in Eldrian as he thought of all the sorrow and pain this race had caused others. Creatures created with the sole purpose to hurt.


    It might not be entirely their choice to be as they are, but they were who they were. Eldrian realized this, that it was the only way a colony of goblins could survive if theycked a Folia. However, that did not excuse their actions. Nor did it lessen his hate and anger at their acts.


    There were certainly other ways to go about securing their race''s survival. A way that did not involve hunting for women and then constantly raping them until they died.


    This thought was the me Eldrian needed, looking at the horde below, he knew that giving them a chance would only bring suffering.


    Hands extended towards the horde, Eldrian filled with overwhelming anger.


    A small bright blue me slowly came into existence near his hands. It did not stay small for long. In seconds it expanded to the size of a football, and in a few seconds more it nearly reached the size of Eldrian''s chest.


    The goblins had of course all realized that they were being ambushed by now. The horde rushed towards them, the sound of their charge echoing through the caves and even reaching the yers at the entrance.


    Around thirty secondster, [{Therdul} - How much longer?]


    Eldrian did not register Therdul''s message, nor that he and Kenji were busy fighting five goblin knights on the slope while having spells aimed at them.


    Of course, the goblins also aimed spells at Eldrian. However, the elements around him were so chaotic that the spells did not manage to reach him. Acting almost like a natural barrier.


    "Incinerate!" Eldrian shouted as a spear came flying his way, passing under the spell and throwing him against the cave wall.


    Coughing blood, Eldrian managed to lift his head to see the ball of white and blue mes grow in size to about a meter in diameter. Before suddenly condensing to ten centimeters.


    Following this, an explosion like none other arrived.


    Blinding everyone in the cave and nursing everyone''s eardrums. Sending them flying against the cave walls. The goblins of weaker constitution dying upon contact. The following heatwave killed anotherrge number as the struggle to breathe and having their ribs broken ended up too much.


    XP rewards resounded in Eldrian''s ears. And by no means small amounts.


    [217 Hobgoblins killed: XP rewarded - 2.6M]


    [48 Goblin Knights killed: XP rewarded - 7.5M]


    [14 Goblin Shamans killed: XP rewarded - 37M]


    [82 Goblin Mutants killed: XP rewarded - 44.7M]


    It went without saying, anyone in the st radius had died on impact. All but one.


    This one coughed out mes as he used healing and water spells to slow the damage that the mes were doing to him. However, he couldn''t best the mes without casting a proper spell, which he couldn''t do while he was coughing out mes.


    Retreating to the Folia, the king focused on recovering while ordering the surviving goblins to action. However, the mes made it impossible for them to reach the trio.


    Coughing from the searing heat, Kenji asked, "Couldn''t you- warned us?"


    Smiling, Eldrian coughed himself as he struggled to stand. Even with Chelona having blocked the spear, the hit had still hurt a lot.


    It had done nearly a hundred damage to him, the following shock- and heatwave had done another hundred. They were currently still losing health slowly due to the heat.


    Luckily, with all his recent progress he had nearly six hundred HP, so he was still fine. Just hurt.


    "Sorry- Didn''t think- I would manage- So strong" Eldrian replied midsts coughs as the trio quickly started retreating the way they hade. Not wishing to wait until the goblins on the ramp recovered.


    While Eldrian might be able to cast the spell again, the goblins were all quickly recovering and they had no idea how long the mes would exist. They also had no idea when and if they could be surrounded, if there were other tunnels connecting them to the ground of that cavern.


    After just crossing twenty or so meters, the trio could already hear the sound of pursuit.


    "Screw it!" Eldrian summoned two Fos spells to allow them to see, even if it would be a beacon for the goblins to follow. They were too close to them for that to matter.


    So the three ran with all they had in them, goblins appearing from time to time from connecting tunnels and attempting to block their path. Eldrian''s quick spells always put an instant end to them.


    Luckily, they were moving too fast for the shamans or king to block their spells with a barrier.


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