Chapter 52 – Slightly Better

Emerging from the dense jungle, sunlight struck his face, dazzling and harsh.

“This is the Goblin Camp, and the Secret Realm Gate is inside.”Although this camp was larger in scale and the wild monsters were unexpectedly elite—with javelin throwers actually standing guard under the scorching sun, displaying great professionalism—it was still similar to the previous camp in that sewage and blood flowed freely everywhere, filled with indescribable bloodiness and cruelty that even an 18+ rating could hardly capture.”

Mu Yuan narrowed his eyes, observing the goblins in the distance who were already on high alert but had not yet charged out of the camp.

Bad news: The camp was teeming with goblins, roughly estimated at two to three hundred.

Good news: Not all of these two to three hundred goblins were as elite as the ones that had ambushed him that day.

If all these goblins were elite, Mu Yuan would… well, it seemed like he could still handle it?

He was no longer the same as before.

Although his forces for this expedition numbered only fifty, they were more elite than the elite, with over half being rare units.

With such an advantage, how could he lose?

“Ahem, of course, there might be Professional Tier enemies inside the Goblin Camp, and Deadbone has never faced such a formidable foe. But even if we can’t win…”

He still had the Mystic Crystal Lamp as a backup.

No need to panic, just charge ahead.

“Today’s battle will likely make it difficult to launch a surprise attack or employ any sophisticated tactics.”

Mu Yuan stroked his chin. The entire Goblin Camp was as solid as a fortress, seemingly only conquerable through brute force.

Brute force it is, then. His own troops were not incapable of fighting tough battles.

He glanced at Deadbone.

Once again, he entrusted the command of this battle to Deadbone, though Lord Mu himself played a crucial supporting role. He had arranged for several War Falcons to circle outside the camp, like reconnaissance drones deployed around the battlefield, feeding him real-time intelligence from different directions.

Commander Deadbone accepted the order.

He began his command.

Skeleton Warriors and Sharpshooters stepped forward one by one, drawing bone spears and raising bows.

In the distance, the intelligent Goblin Shaman was momentarily stunned. It shouted something unintelligible, and in the next moment, the front row of twenty to thirty elite javelin throwers stationed on the watchtowers—with their excellent visibility and height advantage—hurled their wooden spears with all their might.

Wave after wave.

For a moment, spears rained down, creating a spectacular but…

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

One after another, the wooden spears embedded themselves in the ground dozens of meters away. It was as if they had thrown nothing. Even the few spears that managed to reach far enough were completely inaccurate and lacked any real lethality.

After all, they were already out of range.

The intelligent Goblin Shaman on the other side understood this principle, but upon seeing the skeletons draw bone spears and raise bows, it thought it had misjudged. Little did it know, it had been tricked by that damned human’s feint.

Just as it thought this, it saw the skeletons in the distance hurling bone spears and the archers releasing their arrows.

But the distance was already beyond range, and they held the high ground advantage. How could they possibly…

Boom—

A goblin javelin thrower was struck by a bone spear, its entire green body shattering.

Thud, thud—

Two, then three elite javelin throwers were hit by arrows and toppled straight off the watchtowers.

This was within Deadbone’s expectations.The Skeleton Warrior unleashed a Charged Spear Throw, while the Sharpshooter fired either a Charged Arrow or a Triple Shot.

With skill enhancements, both the Bone Spears and feathered arrows flew faster and farther.

“Our range surpasses yours!”

Deadbone commanded, executing two rounds of precise strikes. Of course, some shots missed, but they still managed to eliminate over twenty elite spear throwers.

The remaining goblins almost all hid behind buildings.

That shaman across the way was also positioned quite far back… Deadbone thought with some regret.

Mu Yuan felt three parts surprise and seven parts pride: So there were tactics like this? Truly worthy of the General I trained.

…

Without war drums or battle cries, in complete silence just as the goblins were retreating in panic, Deadbone waved his hand and gave the order for the general assault.

He was a cautious skeleton, but at times like this he wouldn’t let other skeletons or Dolai take the vanguard.

He concentrated energy in his legs, charging ahead first—he would bear the greatest pressure.

Fight!

In mere moments, Deadbone had Charged to the entrance of the goblin camp. Numerous Wooden Spears came flying toward him, but he stood fearless.

Energy output tripled;

Cleave combined with Charge to unleash a six-meter-long black sword aura;

He silently chanted, and instantly the black mist on his Greatsword seemed to boil, continuously emerging and intertwining to form a terrifying black aura several meters long. As he gripped it with both hands and swung horizontally, the dark sword aura tore through everything before him.

A ball of flame split in two;

Wooden palisades and watchtowers were Devoured and annihilated in the darkness;

Three large goblins that had roared and lunged at Deadbone also had half their bodies Devoured by the black aura while still three or four meters away.

With this single strike, he demonstrated invincible might!

Other goblins continued to charge forward fearlessly, but the shaman nearby grew frightened and attempted to tactically retreat.

At that moment, the wind howled as terrifying pressure assaulted from above.

The shaman swiftly dodged, catching only a glimpse of a giant palm descending from the sky out of the corner of his eye.

Dorae God Palm!!

Boom—

The earth trembled, wood chips and fragments of stone flew, and billowing dust obscured everything within over ten meters.

Meanwhile, the other Silver Slimes followed Dolai’s lead, using Enlarge + Leap Strike to descend from the sky one after another, dealing heavy blows to the goblins.

The Silver Slimes’ killing power was far inferior to Dolai’s, but they severely disrupted the enemy formation, filling the entire camp with rising dust.

The great melee thus began.

At this moment, the corpses of fallen goblins suddenly withered, their skin and flesh drying up as if unzipped from both sides. One after another, hunched “goblin-brand” skeletons slowly climbed up, abruptly grabbing or holding onto other goblins.

The next moment, the Greatsword fell.

Boom—

The scene was utter chaos as Skeleton Soldiers, Skeleton Warriors, and countless goblins fought together with extreme fearlessness.

However, several Sharpshooters, Imperial Guards, and Silver Slimes, under Deadbone’s command, merely skirmished on the battlefield’s periphery, fighting quite cautiously.

Dolai, using its palm technique of descending from the sky, struck wherever it pointed, having already eliminated countless backline forces—even a goblin shaman had fallen by its hand.

“Three goblin warriors, two goblin shamans—but all only at Tier 0, Level 9.”

Though this camp was elite, it seemed it hadn’t existed for long.Comparing the gate guardian monsters of the Secret Realm Gate shared by some second-generation lords on the forums, Mu Yuan felt he was a bit unlucky, but not to an exaggerated extent.

It was just a few rare monsters and a few hundred ordinary ones… meh.

The Rank 7 Bone Two and Bone Three completely suppressed the Goblin Warriors, while Dolai chased the last remaining shaman around wildly.

But at that moment, a burly figure, like a small giant, appeared in their field of vision. With just one punch, it shattered a Skeleton Soldier into pieces, then grabbed a Rank 6 Skeleton Warrior, slammed it hard into the ground, and threw it far away.

It was like a giant beating up children.

Mu Yuan narrowed his eyes.

“This is a Goblin… Commander!”

「Goblin Commander (Rare★★★): Rank 0, Level 9.」

It was the same grade as Deadbone, but one level higher.

It grinned at Deadbone, its mouth full of sharp fangs still stained with bits of flesh. It made a tearing gesture, then charged forward like a heavy truck.

Deadbone did not retreat.

It had to bear the greatest pressure and hold its ground against this formidable enemy.

Gripping its sword with both hands, the massive energy reserves from its innate Death Siphon surged forth almost without restraint at this moment.

Energy output increased by 500%!

Compressed three times through the Charge skill, then gathered and intertwined via the Cleave skill!

It poured into the blade of the Greatsword and spread throughout its entire body, the billowing black mist enveloping its silver armor.

Deadbone resembled a ghostly deity emerging from the depths of hell, bathed in black ‘flames’ that scorched the earth. It cast its full-force strike at the Goblin Commander, who was charging toward it with the Charge skill but whose face grew increasingly twisted and pale.

Boom—

The black radiance erupted like a waterfall, devouring the entire area ahead, and the ground was split open by a deep gash.

Within the crevice, the black glow shimmered faintly, covering a mangled, burly corpse.

Deadbone wiped away nonexistent sweat, “Fortunately, I was still slightly superior.”

Posting a chapter now to avoid showing no updates for over a day; the next chapter will still be at the usual morning time.

And as usual, asking for votes and all kinds of data—just a little bit away from the top ten for the new book QAQ.

(End of Chapter)