"This is going to hurt a lot!"
Kai brought his hands in front of his face and braced himself for the pain he was about to experience.
"Ahhhhhhhh!!!"
Kai's agonizing scream echoed throughout the Dark Forest as he collided with a tree.
"Damn it. Oliver, check up on him!"
Tony shouted while dodging an attack from the Goblin Priest.
As the distance between them shortened, the Goblin Priest began attacking with fireballs.
Sitting on his throne, the Goblin Priest casually waved his hand, spawning hundreds of fireballs in a massive area-of-effect (AOE) assault.
The fireball attacks didn't deal significant damage to the team but were enough to slow them down.
"Kai, stop using your Ki! You're going to destroy your legs!"
Using his own Ki, Oliver dashed to the spot where Kai lay screaming in agony.
"Ahhhhh, don't touch me!"
At that moment, both of Kai's elbows were broken, and his legs had started to roast from the inside out.
"Kai, Kai, listen to me. You need to stop using your Ki!"
Seeing that Kai was in a daze, Oliver urged him again.
Source Ki isn't like other natural awakenings that strengthen the body as one's Ki reserves increase.
Source Ki stores all the energy within itself without reinforcing the body.
It wasn't entirely Source Ki's fault—normal humans simply aren't born with the kind of physique required to endure internal strengthening by Ki.
Since there are no natural pathways for using Ki safely, overusing it for extended periods can cause serious internal damage.
"Stop Ki... stop..."
Kai's mind was numb from the pain—like dipping his legs into lava—but he kept hearing a voice.
As Oliver's words continued to echo in his mind, Kai slowly regained his senses, and his Gift [Clear Mind] deactivated.
"Ahhhh!"
As [Clear Mind] deactivated, Kai fully felt the burning agony in his legs.
He immediately pulled all the Ki back into his Source Ki, which significantly reduced the burning sensation.
"Here, take this."
Seeing Kai return to his senses, Oliver shoved a Healing Potion down his throat.
As the potion entered Kai's body, it quickly took effect—numbing the pain and stimulating cellular repair throughout his body.
"Eric, get my shield!"
After administering the potion, Oliver slung Kai onto his back and dropped his shield to reduce the load.
Just as he ran a few meters, a massive fireball hurtled toward them, incinerating everything in its path.
While chasing the humans, the Goblin Priest had noticed the injured Kai and decided to finish him off first.
After all, these damn humans had killed his only son.
Earlier that day, the Goblin Priest had been meditating—seeking guidance from the High Goblins—when someone disrupted him with the news that his son had been slain by humans.
In a fit of rage, he stormed out of his chambers to personally hunt down the culprits. But when he left the village, he found no sign of them.
Expecting the humans to return, he had ordered his guards to monitor any suspicious activity near the village.
"Die, human."
Determined to avenge his only talented son, the Goblin Priest concentrated his power, forming a massive fireball and launching it directly at Oliver and Kai.
"A little help here, guys!"
Oliver desperately tried to dodge, but the fireball was locked onto his position—turning sharply and continuing the chase.
"Pick up the pace. Leave it to me!"
Seeing the danger, Tony rushed forward to intercept.
Stepping between Oliver and the incoming fireball, Tony raised his sword, channeling most of his Ki to the blade's tip.
"Sword Slash!"
As Tony activated the [Sword Slash] skill, a massive arc of Ki surged forward and collided with the fireball.
As the giant fireball and the sword slash collided, they both halted for a moment. But ultimately, the sword slash—powered by the majority of Tony's Ki—won out and sliced the fireball into two.
After cutting through the fireball, the sword slash continued on, destroying a few trees in its path, before finally dissipating.
"Way to go, Tony! Why don't you spawn a few more of those at the Goblin Priest?"
Omar, who had been ready to jump in if Tony failed, praised him and added jokingly.
"Do you think my Ki reserves are unlimited? That attack drained a third of my tank. I know you've got that fancy escape Gift, but this is a Goblin Priest—take it seriously."
Tony snapped back, clearly annoyed that Omar still had room for jokes in such a dangerous situation.
Omar had recently acquired a pretty good Gift that made escaping easier, so he wasn't as worried about the Goblin Priest as everyone else.
"Damn it!"
Henry, still at the rear, was struggling to deal with the hundreds of fireballs the Goblin Priest kept spamming.
"Don't just stand there—go help him!"
Seeing Henry pinned behind his shield under the relentless barrage, Tony urged Omar into action.
"Eric, pass me the shield. I'll distract the Priest."
Omar requested Oliver's shield from Eric, confident in his newly acquired C-rank Gift, [Blink].
[Blink] worked much like teleportation, but with a limitation: it only allowed the user to teleport to a location within their field of vision, by focusing on the target point.
Grabbing the shield from Eric, Omar immediately dashed off to support Henry.
"Leave this to me."
Omar blocked the incoming fireballs, giving Henry a moment to catch his breath.
"Are you sure?" Henry asked, concerned—after all, Omar didn't have a single defensive Gift; most of his Gifts were support-type.
"Don't worry about it," Omar replied, struggling to keep the shield steady under the impact of the countless fireballs.
Seeing Tony easily destroy the giant fireball he had spent a lot of energy creating, the Goblin Priest decided to let Oliver and Kai go, since they had already entered the outskirts of the Dark Forest.
Beyond that was the human town, and the Goblin Priest wasn't foolish enough to attack the town and risk being roasted by Fairies. So instead, he focused on Henry, who was lagging behind.
Rather than continuing with the wide-area fireball attacks, the Goblin Priest used a bit of his power to mark Henry.
Every second, dozens of fireballs would spawn and chase Henry, giving him no time to dodge or retreat.
As Omar bore the brunt of the relentless fireballs, Henry channeled his Ki and made a run for it.
"I think this is enough," Omar said, seeing that Henry had gotten far enough away. He tightened his grip on the shield and looked toward the forest where everyone was retreating.
Focusing on a tree in the distance, Omar activated [Blink] and instantly vanished.
All the fireballs, having lost their target, slammed into the ground where Omar had been standing moments ago.
As for Omar, in the blink of an eye, he appeared hundreds of meters away, under the shade of a tree.