Chapter 198: No Time to Rest

The shack of woods and branches, with hardened mud, crumbled as two axes were thrown from the inside.

Along the throw were roaring, then figures jumped out from the shattered makeshift living quarter.

Hunter Jo caught one of the axes as the other one passes through his barrier of Terra magic. The hunter, who for now, has been soloing most of the beast took a small step backward as he snapped the edge of the ax with both of the flats of his hands. With his weight, and the ax's, Hunter Jo pivoted and spun to gain momentum. He then hurled the ax toward the figure that landed almost ten meters from him.

Green liquid squirted from the side of the bulking goblin, that Ned now remembered being called as the Champions from the Chance Arrow Game. The dead body thudded not far from Hunter Jo.

One of the goblin Champions fell with an ax sticking his side. The other growled in anger as he noticed his brother fell, dead.

The other goblin Champion bolted forward Hunter Jo. One of the axes split open a tree behind Hunter Jo and sparkled as it struck the boulder to where Ned and the rest of the team remained impassive.

Baso and Swift jumped away from the boulder, while traces of dust and rubbles trailed them.

Ned remained behind as he watched the Twins enjoying the scene. There, Ned thought they hated the goblins.

The goblin Champion roared, its yeast covered teeth exposed under the setting sun, he then struck his chest and tackled himself toward Hunter Jo.

The Hallowguard's team leader revealed his worth, as what he was doing for a moment now. He gripped the hilt of his mana-conjured blade and swung it wide.

The goblin Champion didn't mean much just like its other counterpart. His mossy green torso split in half as the blade passes through it. Upper and lower body spun countless times before they were thrown back to the destroyed shack.

There, in the middle of the shack, or what was left of it, was the goblin shaman. Before the rest of the team could react. The shaman already conjured its siphoning magic. The fire salamanders turned to a bone inside the Terra conjured cage. The first Goblin Champion didn't look like much, ivory skull gleamed as the last of the light sucked its flesh going back to the source.

The Goblin Shaman raised its totem staff, then emitted a blinding light. After which, its body turned dark green with brown stripes running all over its body. Fur stood like that of a wire, copper and brown in color. After it absorbs the champion, its body enlarged. Wide shoulders, and long arms as well as legs. But the shaman wasn't a big fan of being static. The moment the last of the light vanished, he sprung forward the culprit of the havoc. The shaman turned warrior, turned enrage, and roared as it raised the totem-staff angled for a good strike.

Hunter Jo blocked the attack with its massive blade, he tried pushing back the shaman-warrior but to no avail, he was pushed otherwise.

The shaman-warrior's strength doubled, perhaps tripled. It didn't wait for Hunter Jo to prepare himself. He dashed forward, waved his staff, and hit Hunter Jo on his side, making him grunt and thrown with a roll going inside the dimming forest. His sword vanished as he lost his link with it.

"Gon," Sujiro cried. He stepped a foot forward, ready to intercept the shaman-warrior but was halted on his track as Hunter Ja rested an arm over his shoulder.

As if the transformation has a limit, the shaman-warrior rushed toward Ned, ignoring the three hunters: Sujiro, Ulysses, and Ja. Which made the three even more enraged.

Hunter Ja blocked the shaman-warrior with his spear—now connected. The crystal spear hummed in front of the beast.

Without a second thought, the shaman-warrior jumped backward, evading a stranged light that almost cut him in half. It then raised its staff, releasing two fireballs in succession.

The ground to where Hunter Ja stood was enveloped with smoke, trails of dust followed through.

The shaman-warrior then dashed with a speed faster than Sujiro, or the knight Ulysses. Passing stream, and grasses, it reached the boulder and pulled the ax that was stuck. It then raised it upward. Staff to his right, and an ax to his left.

The Twins jumped off their feet but instantly recovered as the shaman-warrior struck the ax between them. They cried for a moment there.

Ned jumped backward. Swift dashed to her right. Surprisingly, Baso the team's Porter pulled a short metallic sword from his porter bag and held it across his chest in a defensive position. He then jumped together with Swift, evading the stones that were left uncheck flying toward him. He stumbled with his butt followed by a stone scratching his forehead. Swift pulled him further from the point of impact. While the Twins nimbly evaded the attack with a grin plastered on their faces.

Behind the smoke was an obscured image of the shaman-warrior. It stood there struggling with something. As the wind blew, erasing the smoke, it was clear that the shaman-warrior was being bound with green vines. It kept on struggling as the leafy vines wrapping his limbs, neck, and chest. A series of interlocking vines pulled the shaman-warrior from behind, keeping it off-balance.

The bulky goblin roared in annoyance. His green yet flaring eyes glared at Ned, not to the Twins.

The vines squeaked as it kept on struggling with the beast. Its head turning pale as the flow of blood was cut from the neck.

Holly raised her hands with palms sticking with each other. She muttered words and maneuvered her fingers in a gesture that would let her mana flow from her body toward the tip of her fingers. Whistle comes first followed by a distortion surrounding her hand then an invisible form of magic conjured. Her tied-to-bun hair bounced as the wind magic kept on forming from her hand. The jade bracelet shone green.

"Fragor," Holly cried. "Volvo!"

Before anyone could feel the change in the surrounding, the shaman-warrior was put to a continuous burst of wind magic. Like bubbles popping, the beast let out a scream as the wind magic popped on his solar plexus, followed by a pop on legs, then neck, then chest. From his back, from his side. The torture ended as one massive ball of air popped right in front of the beast.

Silence settled in, smoke and dust vanished. After a few seconds, the shaman-warrior came into view with a limb cut off from its base. Green liquid leaking off its eyes, ears, and mangled nose. The surface of the skull was visible on its forehead. Below its neck, a chamber was formed. Ribs dangling, lungs of green tissue inflates, and one a-foot in diameter Core kept on pumping life to the dying beast. The Core radiated a soft thumping light of green and white. Veins trying to hold the Core together was mangled to half.

Molly's vines weren't needed anymore as the shaman-warrior fell on its knees, dying. Its head lowered, touching its chest, saliva drooling, and shoulder lurching up and down in a slow and steady-state. The totem-staff must be an heirloom considering that the beast held it with much force, rather than its life—unable, or unwilling to let go. Its breath was a wheeze.

The Twins blew out a victorious whistle in unison.

Baso remained in his butt.

Swift let out steam under her mask. The sun was nearly set, and the warm was bidding goodbye to welcome the cold accompanied by treacherous darkness.

"Can't do much when bound?" Asked Molly. Looking at the dying beast with mocking eyes.

"Can't do much when you can't—"

The ivory skull of the baby human attached at the tip of the staff glowed red as the shaman-warrior raised it for one last atta—

Sujiro appeared behind and slam the knife from the back of its neck. Skin, tissues, and cartilages pierced as the tip of the knife exited from its throat. Foam of green blood gurgled from the wound.

Together with the rouge was Hunter Ja's crystal spear boring from behind the thick skull of the beast. Bone and brains mangled as the spear passed through its skull and ended with the eyeball sticking at the tip of the spear. The green eyeball dimmed to black along with its Core turning dead.

The shaman-warrior let go of the totem-staff over its last breath.

"What a waste," Hunter Jo said.

Ned wasn't sure how he appeared behind Swift and Baso. The last thing he knew, he was thrown inside the forest.

And as if the leader's surprise appearance was a normal occurrence, Hunter Sujiro answered him nonchalantly, "Not all, Gon." He then threw the knife that pierced the shaman-warrior's throat. This made Ned wondered, why not keep it?

"Yes," Ulysses said. Lifting his metal boots with care as he crosses the stream. His tower shield slung behind his back with the sword hanging his waist, both made a rattling sound against his metal armor.

Hunter Ja pulled the spear off the beast's skull. The eyeball rolled and stopped between rocks. He then spun around where he could exert strength to lift the dead body of the shaman-warrior. It turned out, he doesn't need to as the bulking size of the dead goblin was slowly deflating to its original size. Hunter Ja turned the shaman down-side-up with its hollow chest ready to be viewed with the rest of the team.

"See?" Sujiro said walking near the body of the goblin shaman. He flicked his hand and a knife, with a thin and curving shape appeared. He then knelt, ready to cut the veins that holding the Core.

"No," Swift said from Ned's right. All eyes turned to her. "I'm the Looter here." Her voice was bold under the mask, trying to sound manly. "Let me at least do my job."

Sujiro nodded, for the first time Ned saw him with a faint smile. He then threw his knife near the stream, again, along with his smile.

After Swift carefully looted the Core. Hunter Jo pulled a bottle out of Baso's bag. The bottle was made of glass with strange markings surrounding it. It was difficult for Ned to understand, but he assumed it as a Rune marking. Swift then gave the Core to him then put it inside the bottle. Keeping it from any foreign elements.

"Let's go," Ned said. This time, all eyes turned toward him. He smiled. "No time to rest."

Instead of despondent reactions, Ned was answered with a smile except for Sujiro and Baso. Swift nodded in agreement.

In fact, no need to rest. After the fight, Ned could feel the team's excitement meter striking high.

The team left the first major settlement. Leaving monster parts and havoc behind.