The next day, before dawn broke, Evan was already hiding behind a dense bush, watching the wooden fortress that served as the goblins’ headquarters from a distance. He had gone alone, while Anna was nowhere to be seen.
Evan gripped a wooden slingshot tightly, along with several stones he had carefully sanded smooth.
"Now it’s time to lure them out..." Evan muttered softly, narrowing his eyes. "Whether this works or not... I might as well give it a try first."
Moving stealthily like a wildcat, Evan crawled toward the fortress’s outer barricade. Atop the watchtower, two goblin sentries could be seen spitting and lazily looking around.
Evan pulled the slingshot’s band as far as he could, taking careful aim.
TWANG!
"KRAKK!" The first goblin let out a shrill scream when the stone struck it squarely in the middle of its forehead, causing it to stumble and fall from the tower.
TWANG! TWANG!
"Got you! Damn it, if I’d known this would happen, I should’ve made a bow and arrows yesterday too," Evan cursed as he quickly spun around.
The other two goblin sentries collapsed instantly. However, the attack triggered an alarm. The loud sound of animal-skin drums echoed from within the fortress!
Without wasting any time, Evan grabbed a fist-sized clay ball from his waist pouch. The ball was filled with a mixture of sulfur powder, dried chili, and dried animal dung.
He lit the fuse, then hurled the ball over the wooden fortress. "Take a whiff of this, you stupid goblins!"
FUSH—BOOM!
Thick black smoke with an incredibly pungent, throat-burning stench erupted violently inside the fortress! Almost immediately, panicked screams, hysterical coughing, and tremendous chaos erupted from within the monster’s base.
Evan stepped back several meters to keep a safe distance.
Not long after, the fortress’s wooden gate swung wide open. Dozens of goblins leaped out with red, watery eyes from the smoke. They brandished bone spears, rusty swords, and wooden clubs, pointing them toward Evan in a fury.
Evan flashed an extremely provocative, mocking smile. He loaded his slingshot again and fired straight into the eye of the goblin at the front.
"Come on! Chase me if you dare, you little Green Dwarfs!" Evan shouted loudly.
As soon as the dozens of goblins growled and rushed after him, Evan immediately turned around and sprinted along the forest path he had marked beforehand.
In the middle of the chase, three goblins at the front hurled their bone spears toward Evan’s back.
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Evan quickly leaped to the side, allowing the spears to harmlessly embed themselves in tree trunks.
"Missed me, idiots! Go back to throwing school and learn how to aim!" Evan taunted as he continued luring them closer to the trap trench.
"GRAAAARRGH!" The goblins grew even more enraged, charging forward recklessly.
And just as Evan had planned... CRUNCH! STAB! BLAAM!
Dozens of goblins at the front immediately plunged into the concealed trap trench! The sharp wooden stakes pierced through their chests, stomachs, and necks. The stench of blood filled the air, accompanied by horrifying death screams.
Evan stopped running and turned around, wiping the sweat from his forehead. A victorious smile spread across his face.
But... that smile slowly faded.
Evan frowned in confusion. "????????... ?????? ?????? ?????????? ???????? ???????????? ???????????? ???? ????????? ?????????? ?????? ?????? ???????????????? ???? ?????????? ??????????????? ??????????’?? ?????????? ?????????????"
Just then, the morning wind blew past, carrying an all-too-familiar acrid smell. Evan raised his head and stared toward the distant sky, in the direction of the village settlement.
There, thick black smoke billowed high into the sky, stretching across the clouds.
Evan’s heart seemed to stop beating. His blood suddenly ran cold.
"???? ??????..." Evan thought, trembling.
"Damn it! That clever goblin from yesterday wasn’t just watching... that monster used this small army as BAIT!"
It turned out that while Evan had been busy luring this bait force into the trap trench, the goblins’ main force had attacked and massacred the defenseless village settlement!
"BASTARDS!" Evan screamed in frustration. He immediately sprinted toward the village, gasping for breath. "All of this was pointless if they were going to die in the end."
When Evan reached the edge of the village, a scene straight out of hell greeted his eyes.
The wooden houses were engulfed in flames, furniture was scattered everywhere, and the corpses of villagers lay drenched in blood along the streets. The village that had once been peaceful had now been transformed into a silent and horrifying slaughterhouse.
Evan fell to his knees in the middle of the dirt road, clenching his fists against the ground until they bled. His eyes reddened as immense regret and anger welled within them.
The plan he had been so proud of had been easily seen through by the goblin leader. He had thought he was hunting the monsters, when in reality, he was the one being played.
"I... I’m too late..." Evan muttered as he bit his lip tightly. Grief and guilt crushed against his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.
However, Evan let out a long breath and forced himself to raise his eyes sharply. As a man who had repeatedly tasted the bitterness of betrayal and witnessed death in this harsh world, he realized... lamenting would not change anything. This was the reality of the world. Cruel, unfair, and merciless. Evan accepted the bitter truth and straightened himself once more.
"Evan!"
Evan turned around. Anna emerged from the forest. Her clothes were slightly stained with goblin blood, and behind her stood a dozen terrified village women, the women Anna had managed to rescue from captivity inside the goblin headquarters.
It turned out that while Evan had been luring the bait force away, Anna had secretly infiltrated the goblins’ main headquarters alone, slaughtering the remaining guards and freeing the human captives.
"Anna... you managed to save them?" Evan whispered as he looked at the women, who were crying tears of relief.
"Of course. But..." Anna looked around at the village that had been burned to the ground, then turned her gaze toward Evan’s gloomy expression.
In an instant, Anna’s crimson eyes turned incredibly cold and murderous.
"Who... dared to make my Husband wear such a sad expression?" Anna whispered in a voice so intimidating that it sent chills down the spine.
A BLACK GUST OF WIND!
From behind the burning ruins of the Village Chief’s house, a tall, skinny goblin stepped out. The monster wore a skull robe and held a wooden staff carved with demonic symbols that radiated a deep green magical glow, the Goblin Shaman!
Surrounding him, dozens of elite goblin warriors brandished swords that were still dripping with the villagers’ blood.
"Kekeke! Stupid human..." The Goblin Shaman chuckled hoarsely in a sickening voice, speaking in broken human language. "You think... you’re clever? You’re just bait... for our blood feast!"
The Goblin Shaman raised his staff toward the sky. Layers of magic circles appeared around his body, creating dozens of blazing green fireballs!
"Die... human!" the Goblin Shaman screamed as he fired all of his magical fireballs, sending them hurtling toward Evan!
However, before the magical flames could touch Evan—
BOOOOM!!
A gigantic golden-red magical barrier suddenly formed in front of Evan, blasting all the fiery attacks away until they vanished without a trace!
Anna stepped forward in front of Evan. Her long hair floated wildly in the air as a tremendous amount of magic radiated violently from her body. Her eyes glowed bright red like those of a true monster.
"Low-level magic from disgusting creatures like you..." Anna raised her hand, forming a destructive magic symbol in the air. "...how dare you hurt my Husband’s feelings!"
The earth trembled violently. The climactic battle between the Forbidden Witch and the Goblin Shaman had begun!