The goblin archers, sensing the palpable threat, swiftly drew their poisoned arrows and unleashed them. Yet, even with their swiftness, Bai Xia, her focus razor-sharp, effortlessly evaded the deadly projectiles.
Though she successfully dodged the poisoned arrows, she couldn’t escape the earth spikes that erupted abruptly from the ground beneath her feet. This assault, while costing Bai Xia a portion of her health, ultimately failed to inflict any significant damage.
Having closed the distance with startling speed, she executed a Shadow Harvest, phasing directly through one of the goblin archers. Appearing behind it in a flash, she backhanded her dagger across its throat.
Goblin archers, being creatures of a lower tier, resorted to crude, stiff, and woefully ineffective melee attacks, merely bludgeoning foes with their wooden bows. Thus, when the second archer lunged to strike, Bai Xia didn’t even bother to dodge, swiftly dispatching the creature before her with a flurry of precise slashes.
The two goblin mages, however, proved surprisingly cunning. As Bai Xia cut down the archers, they shrewdly retreated, taking cover behind the two goblin guards who had lumbered forward.
Bai Xia paid them no mind. With the first goblin archer slain, Shadow Harvest’s cooldown accelerated rapidly. The instant it reset, she executed an instantaneous shift, materializing directly behind the second goblin archer. Her reinforced normal attack, delivered with a dagger that blazed like black flame, plunged deep into its back, simultaneously allowing her to evade two successive earth spikes.
Having efficiently dispatched the second goblin archer, Bai Xia found herself finally encircled by the two formidable-looking goblin guards.
Yet, with Bai Xia single-handedly drawing the aggro of eight monsters, a significant burden was undeniably lifted from Tian Zheng.
While his initial tactic of drawing four monsters to enable Bai Xia’s breakthrough had cost him some health, the absence of a backline threat meant it was only a matter of time before he systematically eliminated the four goblin guards surrounding him.
Nevertheless, a crease formed between his brows as he observed the young woman, who now appeared to be in dire straits.
Bai Xia, being an assassin, possessed a notoriously fragile constitution. Her health, already precarious from taking several hits to breach the backline, was now dangerously low. Confronted by a swarm of encircling goblins, a single misstep could prove instantly fatal.
With this thought, Tian Zheng unleashed a Reincarnation Slash, crippling all the surrounding goblin guards. Rather than finishing them off, he capitalized on their airborne state and his own accelerated movement, surging directly towards Bai Xia.
Meanwhile, Bai Xia was still frowning, realizing she might have gravely underestimated these goblins.
While she had dispatched two goblin archers with apparent ease, this maneuver had undeniably plunged her into a perilous predicament.
Her health bar had plummeted by more than a third. As the goblin guards closed in, the goblin mages were already channeling their spells, and the remaining two goblin archers had smartly repositioned themselves at a safe distance.
At this juncture, she was vulnerable to attacks from all directions—front, back, and even from below. Should she become ensnared, her dwindling health would likely fail to sustain her for more than a few exchanges.
‘Tsk.’
With a flicker of annoyance, she sidestepped a sweeping longsword attack from a goblin guard. Just then, magical ripples emanated from the ground beneath her; she twisted her body to evade, only for a heavy arrow to pierce her shoulder from behind.
Her health bar plummeted another segment. Bai Xia, her resolve hardening, no longer hesitated, charging directly towards the goblin archers who had maintained their distance. ‘Indeed,’ she thought, ‘these insidious wretches must be eliminated first!’
Yet, in the act of turning, her back was inevitably exposed once more to the goblin guards.
Precisely as Bai Xia braced herself to endure another blow, Tian Zheng arrived, seizing her and pulling her close. With a swift motion, he brought his weapon up, expertly parrying the goblin guard’s furious swing.
Taken completely by surprise, Bai Xia collided heavily into Tian Zheng’s embrace. Before she could even register what had happened, he had already pulled her safely behind him.
“Be careful,” he warned. “I’ll take the hits.”
Bai Xia spared him a quick glance. The moment he engaged the goblin guards, she spun around, charging without hesitation towards the two goblin archers still lurking nearby.
Her Shadow Stealth, now off cooldown, activated once more, allowing her to deftly evade two incoming goblin attacks. Reappearing, she unleashed a practiced flurry of skills and normal attacks, swiftly felling the third goblin archer. The final archer attempted to flee, but Bai Xia, having endured one of its arrows, relentlessly pursued and brutally cut it down.
With all the goblin archers eradicated on her side, Tian Zheng’s situation on the other flank remained far from ideal. The four injured goblin guards from earlier had quickly converged on him.
Even Tian Zheng, formidable as he was, found himself outmatched; two fists could scarcely contend with four. After felling two of the goblin guards, his own health had plummeted to a dangerously low level.
Consequently, Bai Xia, having just finished off the archers, afforded herself no respite. She rummaged through her backpack, pulled out a healing potion, gulped it down, and immediately turned to join the fray.
Despite Bai Xia’s return to the battle, Tian Zheng’s predicament hardly eased. Bai Xia’s condition was still dire, leaving her unable to endure any further attacks.
It was fortunate, too, that she had previously changed her equipment; otherwise, their current situation would undoubtedly have been far more desperate.
The ensuing skirmish was fought with extreme caution. Time and again, Bai Xia only managed to evade lethal blows through the timely activation of Shadow Stealth and Tian Zheng’s intervention.
Yet, the assassin’s formidable burst damage also shone through. Given the slightest opening, a single swift assault from Bai Xia proved sufficient to instantly fell any goblin whose health had already been significantly depleted.
“Hoooh—!”
At last, as the final goblin guard dissolved into a shimmering white light before her, Bai Xia, her health bar reduced to a mere sliver, lacked even the energy to gather the various items scattered across the ground. With a distinct lack of grace, she simply collapsed onto the earth.
She had intended to lie down completely, yet the unyielding hardness of the ground offered little appeal. Thus, when Tian Zheng, having sheathed his weapon, settled beside her, Bai Xia, in a moment of exhaustion-induced impulsiveness, found herself leaning softly against him before she quite realized what she was doing.
The man visibly stiffened for a beat. Recovering quickly, however, he offered no reprimand, merely a soft chuckle. “The battle isn’t over yet,” he murmured. “No time to relax just yet.”
Tian Zheng’s gaze was directed towards the Goblin Lord at the very rear of the lair. In its current evolutionary phase, the creature was immobile and incapable of attack. Thus, despite its initial furious glare at their intrusion, it had, regrettably, proven utterly useless.
During the preceding battle, both Bai Xia and Tian Zheng had consciously steered clear of that area, wary of inadvertently provoking any unforeseen complications. Even now, with the fight concluded, the creature remained as inert as a statue. Yet, Bai Xia, of course, wouldn’t simply disregard this true BOSS; her momentary relaxation was merely due to its temporary lack of threat. Nevertheless, the instant she leaned against Tian Zheng, a wave of regret washed over her.
It had been an entirely subconscious action, a sudden impulse born of exhaustion. Her mind, momentarily blank, had simply registered that leaning against Tian Zheng would surely be more comfortable than the hard ground, and so she had acted, utterly devoid of any ulterior motive.
Now, however, recalling the incident, a flush of genuine embarrassment spread through her.
Bai Xia shook her head, quickly scrambling to her feet. Despite her health being reduced to a mere thread, she didn’t wait for recovery. Instead, she immediately began collecting the scattered loot, a frantic effort to mask her momentary emotional disarray.
The goblins, having been felled in scattered positions across the lair, had left behind a veritable treasure trove of items, creating a surprisingly satisfying spectacle. Though, upon closer inspection and after collecting everything, it would likely prove to be more visually impressive than truly valuable.
Goblins, after all, were notoriously impoverished creatures, and Bai Xia, for her part, possessed a voracious appetite for loot.
The very next moment, her eerie gaze settled upon the lone, remaining Goblin Lord. That avaricious stare caused the monstrous creature to shiver involuntarily, struck by an inexplicable premonition that it might soon lose even its very loincloth.