Chapter 383: Goblin Nest

The wave of monsters appearing around the Valla Empire had not only been a great obstacle for adventures entering her borders in search of treasure, it was also a serious problem for the people who want to leave Valla.

“Don’t be afraid! Goblins are the lowest of beasts and cowards. Kill some of them quickly and the others would be discouraged!”

Kristina was barking orders at her men who were preventing their perimeter from being overrun by goblins that outnumbered them ten-to-one.

She did not make an OMO face either, and was simply watching.

As the religion of Kratos, the God of War, the Temple of Glory naturally would not rank people in importance on their so-called ‘qualifications’.

While it was not to hostile extents of ‘survival of the fittest’, no person would hold a high and stable position in the Temple of Glory without sufficient ability or bravery in combat.

That was perhaps why the Temple of Glory and the Brilliant White Church would end up losing out slightly in their administrationeven the leader of the Temple of Glory who was in his sixties was all muscles. He was a super macho man who could punch a Dragonfang to death, and while there were elements of the God of War’s grace, he had basically punched and kicked his way to his current title.

And since their leader was such a man, one could already imagine what the other hierarchs of the Temple of Glory would be like. That was why they would never best the old foxes of the Brilliant White Church at power play or political intrigue.

Naturally, the Brilliant White Church would only take sneaky jabs to trip their adversaries while never crossing the line, let alone resort to vile actions that assure mutual destruction with the Temple of Glory (which other churches often resort to). That was because they know that the hierarchs of the Temple of Glory were all machos who were lacking in the brain department-pushing them too far would make them drop all restraints such as the ‘greater good’ or ‘humankind’s future in the next hundred years’, and take up their swords to go amok…

But that was getting sidetracked. Either way, as a Scepter of the Temple of Glory, Kirstina had naturally learned combat aura, and had become a champion with outstanding strength.

Moreover, she was one of the rare few superhumans whom the main temple of the Temple of Glory had sent into the Valla Empire.

And now, she summoned the Chaos Staff-a sacred object that only Scepters possess. Then, with a loud cry, she joined the battle. Although the Chaos Truncheon had a ‘staff’ in its name, it actually resembled a Chinese halberd albeit with a larger blade that was almost semi-circular.

The staff itself would accumulate the user’s combat aura day after day, unleashing air blades that had no element attributes in battle and could attack from long ranges.

And being a sacred object of the Temple of Glory, users wielding it could add various cool lights or special effects to the air blades-it would not increase the power of the attack, but it still looks rather cool.

After all, the Scepters basically had the rank of imperial envoys. They were few in number, but they were spread across the entire continent.

But despite being one of the two strongest religion of this age, the Temple of Glory was not rich enough to provide each Scepter with a genuine sacred relic.

Under such circumstances, those cool effects would not cost much in materials or divine grace. Moreover, looking from that perspective, the quality-price ratio for Chaos Staffs that could be mass produced would be quite high…

And once Kristina joined the battle, she easily cut down over ten goblins with the long-range strikes of the Chaos Staff. The goblins that were advancing in waves were at once stunned by her might, and became much slower.

On the other hand, the other Temple of Glory believers were encouraged and became quicker as they cut down the goblins, downing one after another as if harvesting wheat…

And yet, the plan to repel the goblins with one swift stroke was foiled.

Kristina had sharply caught sight of a burly bear-goblin at a nearby thicket, with the phantom figures of several wolf-riding goblins disappearing in a flash nearby.

“No wonder there aren’t any monsters nearby. It seems that there is Goblin Nest-a high-level magical beast which danger level is above XX appearing nearby. It might grow into a Subterranean City if we allow it to keep growing…”

When large goblins tribes move around in this region, humans of nearby towns would definitely spot their grand advance, and governors would send out armors to clear these beings that would threaten their cities and towns.

But according to Kristina’s information up till now, it seemed that nobody had noticed them. It could only mean that these creatures did not live in the Prime Material Plane, but was brought here by a Goblin Nest posing as a cavern.

The Goblin Nest creature resembled a massive, earthen-yellow bag. The lower-half of its body was hidden underground and it only had a large maw exposed to the air. In fact, its insides were a pocket dimension which provided a much larger space that could fit the populace of an entire city. Low-level pack beasts, such as kobolds and goblins would often form a symbiotic relationship with the Goblin Nest within its belly.

And when the Goblin Nest grows to a certain extent, the space within its body would develop. The symbiotic monsters would hence increase in numbers, species, and powerwhen that time comes, it would no longer be an ordinary monster but a living Subterranean City.

Whenever such a Subterranean City shows up, one or multiple human cities would be attacked by its symbiotic beasts. As such, most churches decided that it was a great threat even though a Goblin Nest had no power on its own.

“Hold on, if that’s the case, could it be that the Goblin Nest had already evolved into a Subterranean City what with so many beasts showing up nearby?”.

But despite Kristina’s shock, her hands never stopped moving as she continued harvesting goblin lives.

However, although the cannon-fodder goblins were left utterly demoralized, they did not have the guts to run away with the bear-goblins and the wolf-riding goblins overseeing the battle from behind, instead bracing themselves to continue charging at the humans and die.

While it appeared that the Temple of Glory had the advantage, they actually could not afford to have this go on.

After all, combat aura was an energy combined from Divine Grace and lifeforce-it was not endless, and they would eventually die from exhaustion if they kept this up.

Worse, they could not break through the goblins’ circle, just as they would be stopped by endless cannon fodders if they tried to advance.

And there was also the bear-goblins holding the rear, as well as the highly-mobile wolf-riding goblins leering at them if they tried to scatter and run.

Oh no.

Even so, just when everyone felt like they had their backs against the wall, a young voice suddenly shouted, “Get down!”

Although the believers of the Temple of Glory were blanking out a little in the ceaseless slaughter, they all did as the voice told even if they could not recognize whether it was Kristina’s orders.

And once they got down, a turbid stream shot out from behind, scattering the thick droves of goblins. Since they did not have any formations in the first place, their movement was left in an utter mess that neither the bear-goblins nor the wolf-riding goblins could rally them for the time being.

Kristina promptly understood their rescuer’s intention.

“We’re breaking through! Follow me!” The girl shouted like Saint Joan of Arc, raising her Chaos Staff high in the air.