Chapter 1667: Chapter 1665: The Fate of Ordinary Adventurers (Sleeping Like a Crying Cat)

The stench behind them gradually faded, but this did not calm the adventurers’ hearts. The red-haired mage clutched her magic wand tightly, her teeth clenched. Her companion beside her also lowered their head, silently. Mel looked at the scene before her, feeling somewhat at a loss.

This was not their first adventure, but before this, in the minds of these young women, the so-called adventure was more about accepting commissions and then slaying creatures. Before this, they had also taken commissions from the Adventurers’ Guild, but mostly it was about killing demon beasts that threatened fields, driving off goblins harassing villages, or hunting rock lizards needed by merchants.

The caravan commission from Fang Zheng counted as their first attempt at a different guard mission, and this time... it was a task they had never encountered before.

But no matter what, delving into a goblin lair to rescue the daughter of the village elder who had been kidnapped seemed much like the kind of work Mel "imagined" an adventurer would do.

However, reality hit them like a hammer.

The villagers kidnapped by goblins wouldn’t stand around in their cells like NPCs in video games, cheering when the hero arrived, saying "Thank you, hero, for saving me," and then giving out experience points and items.

On the contrary, she was humiliated and harmed, looking like a toy discarded in a garbage heap, left to rot and die. This gave Mel an unprecedented shock; she even felt her body tremble, despite having enough strength, and Mel believed that with her strength, she could easily wipe out all the goblins here.

But now, looking at the pitch-black corridors and passages, Mel for the first time felt a sense of fear.

This had nothing to do with power; it seemed to be something deeper...

Finally, the group reached the end of the passage. The priestess of the goddess crouched down and hid behind a nearby column, then gestured for the others to follow. Mel also forcibly suppressed her anxiety and followed them into the shadows, where she instinctively peered out and looked below.

Then she witnessed a scene she would never forget.

Not far below, in the square under the dim firelight, it looked like purgatory.

Three adventurers were surrounded by goblins, screaming, crying, pleading. But it was to no avail, as the goblins laughed insanely.

"Kill me! Kill me, please!!!"

The mage screamed as she waved her arms, instinctively struggling to push away the goblins around her. But it was futile; the goblins, holding spears, happily stabbed her body. Again, and again. They seemed to enjoy the adventurers’ screams, and whenever the mage stopped screaming, they would prod her again to make her cry out.

As for the cleric, she was dragged by her hair into a pool nearby by goblins and held down in the water. Soon, the survival instinct made the cleric struggle desperately, but those little monsters just pressed her head down, laughing all the while.

Just seeing all this made Mel’s brain feel like it was going to burn.

She wanted to turn her head away, not wanting to see this, but at the moment, she could not tear her eyes away.

"These damn creatures..."

The red-haired mage also clenched her teeth, extremely angry.

"Let’s make a move!"

"Wait a moment."

Hearing the red-haired mage, the priestess of the goddess quickly lowered her voice to speak.

Upon hearing this word, Mel felt like something in her head snapped, and the next moment, she suddenly drew her longsword and rushed towards the goblins below!

"Miss Mel!"

Seeing Mel actually take direct action, the priestess of the goddess also exclaimed in surprise, and at this time, Mel’s two companions also stood up.

"Let’s go too!"

Shouting, they followed Mel and charged forward.

"Those idiots!"

Watching the three charge ahead, Megumin cursed in a low voice, helplessly looking at the priestess of the goddess.

"What do we do now?"

"No choice, we’ll have to change the plan."

Facing Megumin’s question, the priestess of the goddess sighed helplessly, then gripped her staff and stood up.

Attack!

Mel’s eyes were red as she leapt high into the air, then flicked her hand to release several fireballs. Quickly, the fireballs rained down, exploding among the goblins and burning several into ash. The goblins under attack croaked, starting to search for the intruders.

"Fireball Technique!"

"High-Temperature Water Gun!"

At this moment, behind Mel, the red-haired sorceress Rena and Berlin also cast spells, striking the goblins. But to their surprise, these goblins did not scatter in panic like those they had seen in the wild. Instead, they let out sharp cries like fierce wolves, charging at them!

How could this happen?

Facing the goblins pouncing towards them, the red-haired sorceress and her companion were momentarily at a loss. This was completely different from their plan; originally, they thought that as long as a raid was launched, these cowardly and timid creatures would scatter. But the scene before them was entirely different from what they imagined.

Thus, in an instant, the offense and defense shifted.

"Scorching Flame!"

"Ice Fog!"

Although they kept casting spells, they couldn’t stop the goblins that seemed fearless of death, attacking them from all directions. Burnt to charcoal by flames, pierced by ice pillars, they showed no fear.

Moreover...

"Bang!"

"Ah!"

Just as the female mage was chanting a spell again, a stone suddenly flew out from the nearby shadows, hitting her heavily on the back of her head. She let out a scream, falling to the ground. Though her head wasn’t smashed, it was enough to daze her, and as a result, her continuous magic suddenly showed a gap. The goblins seized this opportunity, pinning the female mage to the ground.

"Wait, don’t, don’t come over!"

At this moment, the female mage seemed to finally realize the situation she was in. The scene she had witnessed played vividly in her mind.

Could it be that she would suffer the same fate?

No, I don’t want that! I don’t want that!!

Overwhelming fear completely shattered the female mage’s courage at this moment. The incantations in her mind, and even the chanting and meditation techniques Mel had taught her, were all thrown away. She just desperately waved her magic wand, trying to banish the goblins.

"Berlin, wait, I’m coming to save you, ack!!"

The red-haired sorceress, seeing her companion surrounded, immediately shifted her focus. Just then, a goblin suddenly leapt from the darkness, plunging a rusty dagger deep into the sorceress’ shoulder, knocking her to the ground.

"Ugh... you all... ugh..."

The red-haired mage turned her head angrily, but all she saw was the sneering creature that had already climbed onto her.

"No, don’t..."

At this moment, fear also appeared in the heart of the red-haired mage. She wanted to struggle, but the goblins clung to her tightly, leaving the red-haired mage unable to move.

Then, at that moment...

"Oh Earth Mother Goddess, please grant us light to illuminate the darkness! Holy Light!!"

A dazzling white light exploded instantly, filling the previously dim space, leaving the red-haired mage’s vision blank. Next, she could only hear the screams of the goblins and the sound of the wind, as warm liquid sprayed towards her face, she could even smell a hint of stench.

As the white light gradually faded, the red-haired mage’s eyes adjusted to the brightness, and she saw the goblins that had surrounded them had been wiped out. Not far in front of them, Ais stood silently, blood dripping from the longsword in her hand.

"Ugh...!"

Her body was covered in goblin corpses, but the red-haired mage didn’t care at this moment, she quickly pushed away the bodies and stood next to her companions.

"Berlin, are you okay? Berlin!?"

"I-I’m okay... Rena..."

Hearing the red-haired mage’s call, the spellcaster named Berlin replied shakily with a pale face. But at this moment, Megumin’s annoyed voice came through.

"Alright, there’s no time for this nonsense, we need to get those three people and move on quickly! Hurry, the goblins are almost here!"

Everyone heard the chaotic footsteps coming from the passage behind, and the two immediately stopped talking, and quickly ran to the plaza with Megumin to hold up the three severely injured adventurers.

"Quick, this way, your companions went this way, let’s hope we catch up... Seriously, why are you all so disobedient, what’s the point of you being here?!"

At this moment, Mel was still in battle.

After releasing several fireballs, instantly killing the goblins in the plaza, Mel fixed her gaze on the largest goblin, continually pursuing it. Mel understood the principle of capturing the king first to pacify the bandits; as far as she was concerned, killing the Goblin King would mean the rest would be inconsequential.

However, the goblin seemed aware of Mel’s target, and without hesitation, immediately turned and fled, with Mel in hot pursuit.

Goblins tried to block her way, but Mel easily dispatched them.

Yet, this didn’t quell the fire of anger in Mel’s heart; on the contrary, her inner flames grew even hotter.

How dare you, how dare you do such a thing!!!

In her past life, Mel had seen similar works, but artistic works were processed, yet reality never compromises with censorship, there was no blackout, no holy light, no mosaic, nor any deleted segments.

Whether you want to see it or not, reality would tear off this most real, bloody side and place it in front of you.

"Stop right there!"

The big goblin had already run to the end of the corridor and entered a room. Mel, without hesitation, roared and kicked the door open.

However, what Mel didn’t expect was that as she charged in, what appeared before her was a naked blonde girl, who was tossed like a rag doll at Mel, smashing into her.

"Eh? Eh?"

This scene was too unexpected, causing Mel to freeze for a moment, unsure of what to do. Still, she instinctively adjusted her weapon and tried to catch the girl.

But just then, a sharp blade suddenly emerged from the girl’s abdomen, stabbing towards Mel’s chest.

If it were an ordinary adventurer, they might have fallen for it, but fortunately, Mel wasn’t an ordinary adventurer.

"Clang."

With a clear sound, the longsword hit the girl’s chest and deflected as if it had collided with a rock, merely ripping a long tear in Mel’s clothes.

Mel was directly shocked.

She gripped the longsword, staring at the blade that sliced past her chest.

Then Mel abruptly exploded.

"Die———!!!"

When the group of priestesses arrived, they saw Mel covered in blood, and the big goblin already chopped into mincemeat.

"Mel, are you alright!"

"I... I’m fine!"

Upon hearing the red-haired mage’s concern, Mel shook her head.

"What should we do now?"

"We’re surrounded! There are lots of goblins behind us!"

"Is there no exit here!"

"No need for an exit!"

As everyone panicked, the priestess suddenly spoke.

"Miss Mel, everyone, bring out your strongest defensive magic, quickly!"

Speaking as she raised her hand.

"Merciful Earth Mother Goddess, protect your children, Holy Shield!"

"Gridded Barrier!"

"Flame Shield!"

Though they didn’t know what the priestess intended, everyone immediately released their defensive spells, and once everything was ready, the priestess looked at Megumin.

"Megumin, leave it to you!"

"That’s why I didn’t want to come down, but now, watch me!"

Speaking as Megumin raised her hand.

"Pitch black undead, follow my will, under my call be born, erase all things of this world, destroy what blocks our path, turn it all to ash———Explosion!"

In the next instant, dazzling flames soared into the sky, completely leveling the entire ruin.