CHAPTER 33
They silently crept into the cavern, which possessed no physical door, making their invasion as quiet as humanly possible.
Upon walking in, they found that the interior appeared to be the exact same cramped size as it had looked from the outside, with a solid stone wall standing directly in front of them, blocking their path.
"Hold on, that's not right. This is definitely the place; I'm certain of it," Randin insisted, his voice hushed as he carefully examined the rock face and the surrounding cave walls.
"It is the right place, alright. I have encountered this type of enchantment before, and I have even cast it myself," Grey replied.
He began pacing around the small perimeter of the cave, his eyes scanning for a specific trigger.
'This is the exact same runic illusion spell I created back in my own hideout. How do the goblins know such magic? Are they working alongside a mage?
Or are the Otherworlders mages themselves? No! I don't think that's possible. For now, I simply need to disable the weave, and for that, I must locate the magic circle acting as the anchor,' Grey thought as he shuffled around the dusty floor.
"What exactly are you looking for?" Randin asked, watching Grey's strange movements.
"The ma…" Grey's voice trailed off when he finally felt a familiar tingle against his senses.
'This spot has the highest mana concentration,' he realized.
He stood firmly to the right of the cave entrance and performed a series of rapid, intricate hand signs.
"Illusion desperso!" he commanded.
He thrust his hand forward, and a concentrated gust of wind slammed into the section of the wall he was targeting.
Immediately upon impact, the area erupted in a brilliant white light.
Glowing symbols manifested on the ground, twisting and turning in a complex, rhythmic dance.
Finally, the massive wall Randin had been standing in front of began to grind aside, making heavy creaking noises as it revealed a hidden passage.
"C'mon, let's go quickly!" Grey urged.
He pushed himself forward with a burst of wind magic and slipped through the narrowing opening with Randin following directly behind his heels.
The moment Grey crossed the threshold into the inner chamber, his instincts flared.
He quickly conjured a wall to his left, and a sharp Clang—! echoed through the air as a weapon struck the stone.
Dropping the shield just as quickly, he launched a fireball at his hidden attacker, engulfing the creature in roiling flames.
'That was a close call,' he thought, standing tall to finally examine the true interior.
Just as Randin had described, the cave was gargantuan—wide and high enough to serve as a proper battlefield.
At that very moment, approximately fifty goblins stood in a jagged line in front of Grey, their weapons drawn and ready.
Off to the far side, Grey spotted a heavy door, likely leading to the inner sanctum where the Goblin Lord resided.
The massive chamber was illuminated by clusters of glowing blue crystals embedded in the rock, supplemented by flickering torches lining the walls.
The goblins facing them all held spears that began to sparkle with a lethal blue energy.
Grey knew exactly what was coming next, and Randin tightened his grip on his shield in anticipation.
Right on cue, the goblins unleashed a coordinated volley of lightning bolts toward the intruders.
"Earth magic! Earth wall!" Grey roared.
A massive barrier of dense stone surged up from the floor, absorbing the electrical discharge and shielding him and Randin from the onslaught.
'Good thing they aren't truly intelligent enough to comprehend the trap I'm about to set. It is time for that new Earth skill I managed to decipher from the book,' Grey thought.
He gritted his teeth and shoved his palms toward the ceiling.
Immediately, the stone wall surged upward, reshaping itself into a wide canopy that hung ominously over the goblins' heads.
With his other hand outstretched, Grey called upon his second element.
"Fire magic!"
A fierce stream of orange flames erupted from his palm, circling the goblin ranks and trapping them within a ring of fire.
The creatures stood momentarily frozen, looking confused and terrified at the human standing before them.
'Now, that should keep them stationary for a moment,' he thought, before calling out his next command.
"Earth magic! Bind!" he shouted, swinging his arms downward with a violent force.
On command, the stone canopy plummeted toward the trapped creatures.
The goblins, sensing their imminent doom, unleashed frantic, continuous streams of lightning bolts at the descending mass of rock.
However, their desperate electrical strikes were futile; the Earth magic was too dense to be deterred.
The stone swiftly encased the entire group, molding itself into a massive, spherical structure that trapped all fifty soldiers inside along with the roaring ring of fire Grey had manifested earlier.
The sphere was gargantuan and perfectly round, humming with the contained energy of the trapped monsters and the sweltering heat within.
"Now for the final touch—Explomb!" he roared.
Right on cue, a violent internal combustion occurred inside the ball.
The fire expanded with nowhere to go, creating a high-pressure explosion that incinerated every single goblin within the stone shell, reducing them to nothing but charred remains.
"Disperse!" he commanded.
The earthen ball slowly receded back into the ground, leaving Grey and Randin standing before a grim landscape of smoldering goblin carcasses, with thick, grey smoke rising toward the cavern ceiling.
"Just how powerful have you become?" Randin asked, his voice trembling slightly.
He stared at the carnage Grey had orchestrated in a mere minute.
The young mage had neutralized fifty enemies with such fluid, terrifying efficiency that it felt more like a performance than a fight.
"Apparently not strong enough for a certain annoying familiar to bother making an appearance!" Grey shouted toward the ceiling, his irritation clearly directed at the presence within his palm.
'Those combined spells definitely took a significant toll on my mana reserves, but fortunately, being a 2-star mage provides enough of a cushion to keep me standing,' he thought.
He walked forward until he stood before the heavy wooden door he suspected hid their true target.
"Allow me!" Randin declared, stepping in front of the entrance.
With a powerful, wide arc, he swung his heavy blade, slicing the door into splinters.
Grey drew his own sword in a sharp, metallic ring as they both crossed the threshold into a truly massive chamber.
"Oh! So I was correct—this is indeed where you have been lurking," Grey remarked.
At the far end of the hall, a crudely fashioned throne sat upon a raised platform.
Seated there was a gargantuan, muscular goblin adorned with a jagged crown.
Positioned directly before the throne were a dozen elite, bulky goblins, each wielding a heavy sword or a long spear with practiced ease.
Filling the space between them and the intruders were the remaining fifty goblin soldiers, all of whom had their weapons leveled and ready for blood.
"Well, this just became significantly more complicated," Grey sighed, his eyes narrowing as he calculated the odds against the formidable adversaries before him.