"What is that?"
Oliver, who was already out of the Dark Forest and about to enter Blue Wing Town, spotted a massive shadow.
Looking up, he saw a giant ball of fire hovering over the outskirts of the Dark Forest.
"Oh no."
Knowing that everyone was still inside the forest, Oliver felt a wave of panic.
"That looks like a powerful spell."
"Do you think someone's going to attack the town?"
"Everyone in there is going to be cooked!"
Soon, everyone at the gate of Blue Wing Town began discussing the giant fireball hovering near the forest.
"This... it's a fireball!!"
Henry, who was just about to exit the forest, looked up and was stunned.
He quickened his pace and sprinted toward the gate of Blue Wing Town with all his might.
—————
"Doctor! Doctor!"
Upon entering the town, Omar headed straight for the doctor's.
Although Kai's condition had improved after taking a healing potion, Omar still brought him in without delay.
"Having quite the adventures, are we?"
As Omar laid Kai on a bed—with help from a fairy—the old Fairy doctor came in, fluttered his wings, and immediately recognized him.
In just one month, this was the third time a member of Omar's party had been injured badly enough to need a doctor.
Most injuries hunters face while monster hunting are usually handled with healing potions, so visiting a doctor is rare.
Seeing the same faces again in the same month—let alone three times—was even rarer.
"Doctor, please check him. He was running at high speed and crashed into a tree," Omar explained, relief washing over him at the sight of the doctor.
"Call me by my name—it's Eldon."
Unlike humans, fairies feel insulted when called by their job title.
"He's quite an amateur. His legs are almost ruined. If he had used Ki a little longer, he would have lost both of them. His arms are fine—just some minor injuries."
Eldon examined Kai and began using his [Healing Touch].
As the green light from Eldon's hands touched Kai's legs, the redness faded, and his legs returned to normal in no time.
After healing the legs, Eldon moved to the elbows. Under the magical effects of [Healing Touch], Kai's torn muscles visibly regenerated, and new skin quickly formed.
—————
"Graaaaa!!!"
As the giant fireball began to take shape, the three Hobgoblins in [Rage Mode] started celebrating gleefully.
They weren't afraid of death—after all, in the next monster tide, they would be resurrected anyway. But these humans who dared to target their village were going to die.
"Eric, we need to stop the Goblin Priest before it's too late," Tony said, snapping Eric out of his daze as he stared up at the massive fireball forming above them.
"But how are we supposed to do that? We're not as strong as the Rave Team—they're the ones who can kill a Priest before it finishes casting a spell like that!"
Looking at the growing fireball above, Eric felt their only option was to run.
"We don't need to kill the Goblin Priest—just distract it."
Unlike Eric, who had never seen a Goblin Priest's giant spell in action, Tony had once participated in a raid against one alongside the Raven and Blade teams.
He knew how fragile the casting process could be. If the Goblin Priest's chanting was interrupted even for a second, the fireball would explode in mid-air.
"What about the Hobgoblins?"
Eric wasn't entirely convinced, but he chose to trust Tony. Still, they couldn't ignore the three Hobgoblins in [Rage Mode] if they wanted to reach the Priest.
"Let's get rid of them as quickly as possible."
Tony wanted to leave the Hobgoblins to Eric and head straight for the Goblin Priest, but he knew Eric wasn't strong enough to handle all three alone.
Knowing time was short, Tony locked onto one of the Hobgoblins and left the other two to Eric.
Facing his target head-on, Tony launched an all-out assault, unleashing everything in his arsenal—from sword slashes to Unbreakable Fortress.
Fighting with unmatched ferocity, he finally brought down the Hobgoblin.
"Eric, I need to recover my Ki. Can you hold on?"
After killing the Hobgoblin, Tony asked while catching his breath. He had used up most of his Ki during the fight.
"Does it look like I can continue?!"
Eric shouted back as he retreated, narrowly dodging the Hobgoblin's sharp claws.
"Don't worry, ten minutes are almost up…"
As Tony said that the [Rage Mode] duration was nearly over, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. His eyes shot upward.
When Tony had participated in the Goblin village raid, he hadn't fought on the front lines like the Raven and Blade Teams. Instead, like most others, he had handled low-level Goblins.
But since he had taken part in the raid, he had been given detailed information on all the enemies—including the Goblin Priest.
And now, he remembered: the Goblin Priest only needed 15 minutes to charge up a large-scale AOE spell.
They had entered the final stretch of the Dark Forest more than ten minutes ago. That meant the Goblin Priest was likely about to finish chanting the massive fireball spell.
"Eric, how much do you have left?"
Realizing there was no time to rest, Tony abandoned the idea of recovering his Ki and jumped back into the fight.
"About half,"
Finally gaining some breathing room, Eric tightened his grip on his weapon and began attacking the Hobgoblins with full force.
Unlike Tony, who relied on Ki, most of Eric's strength came from his Gift.
"Good. Leave these two to me—go distract the Goblin Priest. You just need to interrupt his chant. Nothing more."
Tony was relieved to hear Eric still had enough energy left. He immediately directed him to stop the Priest.
"But how am I supposed to do that?"
Eric had never encountered a Goblin Priest before. He wasn't sure how to distract one—and wasn't it better to finish the Hobgoblins first?
"We don't have much time left. Once he finishes chanting, that enormous fireball is going to burn us to ashes!"
Forcing the Hobgoblin back, Tony shouted in urgency.
"Fine. I just need to stop him from chanting, right?"
Though Eric had never faced a Goblin Priest before, he felt confident he could at least interrupt the spell.
Leaving Tony alone to deal with two Hobgoblins in [Rage Mode], Eric sprinted toward the Goblin Priest.
[Unbreakable Fortress]—
Activating his defensive Gift, Tony let the Hobgoblins charge at him as he prepared a devastating sword slash, pouring all of his remaining Ki into it.