Kyle crossed the distance between him and the giant goblin in less than a second and slashed at the tendons in its right leg.
“Roar!”
The giant goblin roared with fury and pain. It swung its giant club at Kyle, tearing through the air and smashing it on the ground, creating a giant crater.
However, Kyle had already jumped several meters away. Feeling a sting from behind, he forcibly twisted his waist and flicked the dagger thrown at him with the spine of his sword, landing safely on the ground and jumping backward, creating more distance.
“That bastard, Evan! Can’t he even do a proper investigation?! Is this what he calls a somewhat skilled rookie adventurer?!”
Joe shouted as he ran back, creating some distance. He was the one who threw the dagger. He lost most of his combat effectiveness after losing his bow. He can sneak attack and harass Kyle at most now.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. That reaction speed, battle awareness, combat instincts, and those skills… He’ll believe it if they tell him that he was a veteran who had waded through mountains of corpses.
A teenage rookie adventurer? And one that came from some backwater village? How is that possible?
“We might have a genius on our hands.” Denise coldly said, killing intent flashing through her eyes. This makes it even more necessary to get rid of him here once and for all.
She pounced on Kyle again, her daggers striking for his throat, ribs, and arteries, with Joe assisting on the side, but Kyle calmly neutralised her attacks and counterattacked.
They moved across the battlefield in bursts—clashing, separating, striking again.
One moment, they were assisting Mike—the next, they turned on each other
Kyle had several scratches on his arms and feet, a testament to Denise’s outstanding technique. However, she wasn’t unscathed either. Blood dripped from a long wound on her waist.
The situation was stalemated. If things remained like this, Mike would soon be killed, followed by Joe. Afterwards, either Denise and Kyle would restrain the other until they’re both killed, or they would rely on their speed to escape the giant goblin’s pursuit.
That is, if no one interferes…
Suddenly, just as Kyle distracted the giant goblin and deflected Denise’s attack, a shadow dropped from the trees, heading straight for Kyle, who was mid-air.
The attack’s timing was ingenious, striking just at the moment when Kyle was unable to use his strength, having just deflected Denise’s daggers with his sword.
“Piercing strike!”
Kyle’s pupils shrank as he felt the sharp incoming wind; he barely had time to raise his arm, using his vambrace to defend against the attack. However, the dagger directly penetrated the leather and steel vambrace, piercing deeply into Kyle’s forearm.
As the two fell to the ground, the shadow jumped back, barely avoiding Kyle’s knee strike.
Kyle used his other palm to slap the ground and somersault, landing on his feet and taking a stance. Cold sweat ran down his face as pain flared through his arm.
He quietly clenched and unclenched his fist, confirming that his arm was usable, before quickly circulating mana around the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
Kyle coldly looked at the masked, black-haired man not far away.
‘So this was the sneaky guy that was hiding in the dark. I finally drew him out. But… He looks a bit familiar.’
Kyle squinted his eyes and carefully observed the man in front of him.
“Evan, you bastard! You finally decided to show up!” Mike shouted as he constantly ran around the giant goblin. He was in a sorry state, with scratches and bruises everywhere. His right arm was swollen and dark purple, and blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth. He was barely holding on.
The masked young man took this in before pulling out a glass bottle from the bag hanging on his waist and throwing it at Denise. Kyle’s eyes flashed, moving to intercept it, but the masked man blocked his advance and took off his mask.
“It’s you, the rogue from Marcus’s party!” Kyle shouted, his eyes wide with surprise.
‘Evan! Yeah, this guy is called Evan! His presence was so faint that I forgot his name not long after talking with Marcus.’
Kyle took a deep breath and reigned in his shock.
“So you’re the one who orchestrated this trap… Why did you ambush me? And did Marcus and the others play any role in this?” Kyle calmly asked.
“Who knows? Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. As for why we ambushed you…Heh! It’s obviously for your sword! Where did you get that dwarven sword from, farm boy? Did you steal it from somewhere? Ah, a friend of mine had lost his sword some time ago, so you’re the thief!”
Evan raised his hand and exaggeratedly said, a big grin splattered on his face. He didn’t hide the malice and disdain on his face at all.
Veins bulged across Kyle’s forehead as he felt a burst of rage boiling within him. He could barely contain the urge to cut him into pieces.
‘Calm down, Kyle. He’s obviously provoking you. Don’t let rage consume you. You have to at least understand the whole situation first before killing them.’ Kyle cheered himself; He took a few deep breaths, and only then was he able to contain his rage and regain his calm.
“So this entire ambush was for the sake of this sword?” Kyle raised the sword in his hand and asked.
“Duh! Do you possess any other value otherwise? Oh, now that I look at you, you’re pretty good-looking. Capturing you and selling you to some noble with ’particular’ hobbies might be a good prospect. How about this: drop your sword and surrender, and you won’t die. A good proposition, right?” Evan grinned and said.
“Heh!” Kyle sneered, giving him the middle finger.
‘He’s stalling.’ Kyle glanced at Denise from the corner of his eye.
She had uncorked the glass bottle and splashed some of its contents on her wound before bandaging it. Now, she’s distracting the giant goblin as Mike drinks some of it and splashes the rest on his swollen arm.
‘A healing potion, huh?’ Kyle thought as he looked at the empty glass bottle on the ground. Generally speaking, he should have tried to stop them from consuming it at all costs.
However, Kyle didn’t care because, after ascertaining the situation and drawing out the hidden snake, he was not going to hold back anymore.