"Damn humans." As Omar disappeared, the Goblin Priest looked around in confusion. His attacks hadn't been strong enough to destroy the shield—much less erase the human from existence.
Sure enough, the Goblin Priest soon spotted the fat human running into the forest.
"Chase after the humans and don't let them enter the town," the Goblin Priest ordered his royal servants.
As the four Hobgoblins chased after Omar and the rest, the Goblin Priest began casting the most powerful AOE spell in his arsenal.
He floated from his throne and hovered in mid-air. His eyes began to glow as he chanted in a strange language.
With every word that escaped the Goblin Priest's mouth, multiple fireballs appeared around him and floated into the sky like balloons.
"How do they walk—much less run—with so much weight on their back?" Omar complained as he grabbed the strap of the shield.
After entering the forest, Omar slowed his pace. This patch of forest was less than one kilometer from Blue Wing Town and firmly within human territory.
Even during the Monster Tide, few monsters dared to enter this area.
Omar wasn't the only one who relaxed the moment they entered the final stretch of the Dark Forest—everyone else did too.
"Henry, I have to—" After catching up with Henry, Omar was about to complain about the shield's weight when all his senses suddenly went haywire.
He reacted instantly—unstrapping the shield and diving behind it for cover.
Cling!
The sound of metal clashing rang out as a dagger struck the shield.
"Henry!" Knowing his sneak attack had failed, the Hobgoblin changed targets and lunged for Henry's head, which was exposed above the shield strapped to his back.
Fortunately, Henry reacted just in time and dodged the strike.
"Humans! How dare you hunt the goblins of our village? Today, I will avenge my people!" Without mercy, the Hobgoblin launched a ferocious attack on Omar and Henry.
Unlike other monsters that only gain intelligence after reaching Level 4, goblins are born with some intelligence and gain the ability to speak upon reaching Level 4.
As one of the Hobgoblins kept Omar and Henry busy, two went to deal with Tony and Eric, and the last chased after Oliver—intending to at least kill the injured human.
"Eric, leave him to me. You help Oliver," Tony, who wasn't having much difficulty dealing with the Hobgoblins, said after seeing that Oliver was struggling.
"Damn it! I'll remember this. Sooner or later, I'll destroy your village!" The Hobgoblin chasing Oliver turned out to be an archer. After closing the distance, he drew his bow and began shooting arrows at Oliver.
Seeing that Oliver was in trouble, Eric abandoned the Hobgoblin he had been fighting and rushed to help.
"This tree isn't enough… If only I had my shield," muttered Oliver. Hiding behind a tree for cover, the tank couldn't help but miss his shield.
Kai was still unconscious, and Oliver couldn't just leave him alone to charge at the archer Hobgoblin.
As Oliver contemplated how to deal with the Hobgoblin archer, the arrows hitting the tree suddenly stopped.
"This is my chance." Peeking from behind the tree, Oliver saw Eric charging toward the archer. The Hobgoblin immediately shifted his focus to Eric.
Making sure the other Hobgoblins were still occupied, Oliver mobilized his Ki and dashed toward the archer at full speed, dagger in hand.
Unlike Henry, who uses a sword and shield combo, Oliver mostly relies on his shield for both offense and defense. Still, he always keeps a dagger for emergencies.
"Now!!" Seeing Oliver preparing to attack the Hobgoblin archer, Eric gave up all defense and rushed in, not giving the Hobgoblin enough time to maintain a comfortable distance from either of them.
In less than a minute, both Eric and Oliver had closed the distance and attacked the Hobgoblin from both sides.
Eric gripped his sword with both hands and aimed to stab the Hobgoblin, while Oliver went for the Hobgoblin's head from behind.
Before either of their attacks could land, the Hobgoblin slammed his bow onto the ground and used it to vault into the air.
While airborne, he drew a small dagger made from monster fangs and struck at Eric.
However, Eric reacted quickly—blinking to the side and swinging his sword at the incoming arm.
"Graaaaa!!" the Hobgoblin screamed as his right hand was severed.
"I'll finish him off. Go help Tony," Oliver said, knowing the Hobgoblin had now lost both his weapons and an arm.
"Great!" Tony exclaimed, excited to see Eric successfully maim the Hobgoblin. He had been struggling against the other two Hobgoblins.
Although Hobgoblins are part of the goblin race, they are a stronger and more advanced variant. Every goblin has a very small chance of becoming a Hobgoblin upon reaching Level 4. However, only one in a thousand ever achieves that evolution.
In addition to being stronger and smarter than regular goblins, Hobgoblins have another notable trait: their corpses sell for a high price.
A Hobgoblin's corpse can go for as low as 100 gold coins—or as high as 500 gold coins, depending on the condition and demand.
"Let's finish him off first," Eric said, deciding not to rush to Tony's aid just yet.
Unlike Oliver, Eric understood that the title "Hobgoblin" wasn't just for show. Hobgoblins ranked among the top 10 Level 4 monsters, and letting one live, even injured, was too risky.
"Be careful, he's going into rage mode!!" Henry cried out as Eric and Oliver approached the Hobgoblin, who was panting heavily and clutching his right shoulder to stop the bleeding.
But it was too late—the Hobgoblin had already entered [Rage Mode] and launched himself at Eric and Oliver.
Once in [Rage Mode], the Hobgoblin's eyes turned a deep red, and his nails grew longer, resembling fangs.
"Omar! My shield!" Oliver shouted, calling out to Omar. Under the furious onslaught of the enraged Hobgoblin, both Eric and Oliver were struggling to defend themselves.
[Rage Mode] boosts all of a monster's stats by 10 times, meaning even a Level 4 monster can briefly match the power of a Level 5 for up to ten minutes.
"Coming! Henry, can you hold him off?" Omar asked as he heard Oliver's plea for the shield.
"Don't worry. Give Oliver his shield, then get Kai out of here," Henry responded firmly, gripping his sword tightly.
"Take care," Omar said before disappearing and reappearing beside the Hobgoblin in [Rage Mode] using [Blink].
Catching the Hobgoblin off guard—due to its uncontrollable rage—Omar slammed the shield into him, knocking the monster to the ground.
"I'll take Kai out of the forest," Omar said as he dropped the shield beside Oliver and the fallen Hobgoblin. Then, with another use of [Blink], he vanished once more.
Reappearing beside the tree where Kai lay unconscious, Omar picked him up, hoisted him over his back, and began heading toward Blue Wing Town.