"Now!" As soon as the Hobgoblin hit the ground, Eric knew this was their chance to kill it. Both he and Oliver, who had been keeping their distance ever since the Hobgoblin entered [Rage Mode], attacked simultaneously.
Quickly closing the gap, Eric slashed at the Hobgoblin, who was trying to get up.
As Eric's sword drew near, the Hobgoblin's senses went haywire. Although entering [Rage Mode] reduces a monster's intelligence, it simultaneously heightens its other senses.
Sensing danger, the Hobgoblin swiftly brought his arm up to block the sword, saving himself from being decapitated.
"Damn it! Oliver, it's up to you!" Seeing his sword stuck in the Hobgoblin's arm bones, Eric didn't retreat. Instead, he pressed his foot against the Hobgoblin and used all his strength to pin it to the ground.
Oliver was right behind Eric. In case Eric's attack missed, he knew what had to be done.
"On it!" Oliver shouted, rushing forward and stabbing the Hobgoblin in the head with his dagger, ruthlessly.
"Human!!!"
As Oliver's dagger was about to pierce the Hobgoblin's skull, the other Hobgoblins roared in unison.
But Oliver ignored their screams. After two savage stabs, the Hobgoblin lay dead.
"Human! Graaaaaaa!!! Graaa!!"
Seeing one of their companions killed by humans, the remaining three Hobgoblins went mad and simultaneously entered [Rage Mode].
"Guys, I think we should retreat," Henry suggested. He had already been struggling before the Hobgoblins entered [Rage Mode].
As a Tank, all of Henry's Gifts were heavily focused on defense, and his offensive capabilities left much to be desired. With his current strength, he wasn't confident he could handle a Level 5 monster for a full ten minutes.
"Oliver, collect the Ki and pick up the Hobgoblin's carcass—you'll be responsible for it. Eric and I will cover you," Tony said, not foolish enough to think they could defeat three enraged Hobgoblins. He quickly gave the order and began retreating.
"No way, I have to carry this ugly thing on my back? Storage bag! Where's the storage bag?"
Oliver was weirded out by the idea of carrying a Hobgoblin on his back and immediately asked for the storage bag.
"The storage bag is with Omar. Now hurry up—they're going to catch up to us!"
Pouring cold water on Oliver's hopes, Eric rushed toward Henry to help him, as he was lagging behind.
"That fatty better have a treat ready for me..."
While collecting the Ki, Oliver grumbled about Omar, then placed the carcass on his shield and started running toward Blue Wind Town.
"How am I going to get away at this rate?"
Henry thought to himself as he used his shield to defend against the relentless attacks of a Hobgoblin in [Rage Mode].
As Eric reached him, the Hobgoblin shifted its focus, abandoning Henry and charging at Eric. After all, it was Eric who had pinned its companion to the ground and enabled the human to kill him—a great humiliation for a superior Goblin warrior.
"I'm going to rush ahead!"
Finally getting a chance to catch his breath, Henry immediately turned and ran.
Unlike the others, Henry had poor Ki control and couldn't mobilize his Ki while fighting. Even for running, it took immense concentration.
He started slow, but soon began to pick up speed. Within moments, he disappeared from sight.
"Eric, let's get going."
Satisfied that Henry and Oliver were safe, Tony made the call to retreat. He had struggled greatly while holding off two Hobgoblins in [Rage Mode].
"Okay!"
Hearing those words, Eric allowed his tense body to relax slightly. Then, taking full advantage of his excellent Ki control, he mobilized his Ki and bolted.
As Eric ran, the Hobgoblins were left dazed. One of them couldn't understand why the human was fleeing. After all, Master was nearly done with his preparations...
Seeing Eric take off, Tony didn't wait a moment longer and followed in his footsteps.
"I have to say, you're even better than me at this!"
Catching up to Eric, Tony commented. After all, the last time he checked, Eric's Ki control wasn't even half as good as his.
"This way! I heard someone fighting."
As Eric and Tony got just a few hundred meters away from the Hobgoblins, a group of hunters arrived at their previous location—coming face-to-face with the Hobgoblins in [Rage Mode].
"Those are Hobgoblins—run!!!"
The entire party was already exhausted from hunting monsters, and they couldn't take on even one Hobgoblin—let alone three at the same time.
So, the moment they spotted them, they turned around and fled.
However, the Hobgoblins, still in [Rage Mode], saw an easy target and stopped chasing Eric and Tony.
"Graaaa! Graaaa! Graaaa!"
"Which bastard led these Hobgoblins here?!"
Being chased by the enraged monsters, the whole party cursed as they ran for their lives.
"Tony, it seems they're chasing some passerby team now."
Since they were surrounded by trees, Eric couldn't clearly see the party that got caught in the crossfire.
"Then check it out. If it's a strong team, let them handle it. But if they're just some newcomers, help them get away."
Slowing down, Tony asked Eric to assess the situation.
"Okay, but aren't you coming?"
Eric asked, wondering why Tony wasn't going with him.
"I'm running low on juice. I'll follow once I recover a bit."
Tony replied. After all, fighting two Hobgoblins in [Rage Mode] had drained most of his Ki.
Knowing that Tony was going to recover his Ki, Eric didn't ask any more questions and immediately chased after the other party.
As Eric left, Tony sat down and began gathering the surrounding Ki to speed up his recovery.
Instead of forming Ki cycles, Tony directly guided the Ki entering his body toward his Source Ki.
In less than a minute, he recovered some of his lost Ki.
After all, he was just recovering Ki—not expanding his Source Ki so it could accumulate more.
Spending a few more minutes, Tony recovered a large chunk of Ki, got up, and followed Eric toward the Hobgoblins.
"I swear I'm going to hunt the goblins to extinction."
Being chased by a group of three Hobgoblins—who were in [Rage Mode], no less—the whole party ran for their lives, not forgetting to curse every now and then.
"They're just a bunch of kids."
Seeing that the party consisted of young adults, Eric couldn't help but complain.
He had been hoping they were an experienced party so they could join forces to kill the Hobgoblins together.
But now it seemed impossible, because the strongest member in the party was only Level 3.
The whole group wouldn't be able to hunt a single Level 4 monster—let alone fight Hobgoblins in [Rage Mode].
"Green monkeys, over here!" Eric shouted to attract the Hobgoblins' attention.
"Graaaa!!!"
The Hobgoblins roared in unison when they heard someone insulting them.
Seeing that it was the same human who had insulted their fallen comrade and helped kill him, they stopped chasing the other party and changed their target to Eric.
"Tony, you better..."
As Eric was about to face the combined attack of three Hobgoblins, the sky above him darkened.
"This can't be!!"
Looking up, Eric was both shocked and terrified.