They had successfully located their enemies. The creatures moved swiftly as dark shadows behind the trees, and their number exceeded ten creatures. The number seemed daunting, but they were not overly afraid. Their strength had clearly increased since before. And the fact that these creatures used tactics of hiding while attacking might reveal that they were not very strong.
"What do you think, should we split up?" Saeldir asked.
"Yes. That way, we'll finish faster," Adrien said.
Saeldir waited, looking at Billy and Erend. No one complained about his suggestion, so he assumed they agreed.
"Alright," Saeldir said.
They spread out to four different sides. Because they already knew the location of their enemies, they immediately rushed towards them with a strong desire to kill.
They could not waste time here. If there were attackers, it was better to kill them as quickly as possible without bothering to think about the consequences. For their journey had more consequences than what would befall them from killing their enemies. That's what they had discussed before embarking on the journey.
The tall, skinny creatures were clearly visible in front of Erend. He accelerated his run.
It seemed that those creatures were caught off guard because their prey decided to attack. In Erend's eyes, he saw one of them look sideways with a confused expression.
Erend grinned, thinking that what he saw was very foolish because they really only reserved for a sneak attack without considering another plan. So now, when that plan was ruined, they were confused.
The creatures tried to flee as Erend got closer. But he didn't have a chance to outrun him. Erend accelerated his charge until he finally reached behind the creatures, seemingly in the blink of an eye.
He then snatched the skinny creature's neck and slammed it to the ground. Erend felt the crack of its neck within his grip.
Billy and Adrien killed a lot of creatures that became their enemies within minutes. When they were done, Erend and Adrien were also finished and were now behind them.
"You seem to be enjoying it, captain," Erend said, grinning.
Adrien grinned, wiping blood from his face. "It's not bad. They can provide a bit of entertainment on this boring journey."
A minute later, they regrouped. They said they had killed any creatures they found. Some tried to run, but they were able to chase and kill them.
"They look like Goblins," Saeldir said.
"You said they were small-bodied monsters," Billy said.
"Yes. Somehow, they seem to have evolved," Saeldir looked concerned. "This must be a change that comes because of the Great Calamity, or at least has something to do with it in some way."
"If that's the case, we should continue our journey as quickly as possible," Adrien said.
Realizing that the situation was getting worse so quickly, they didn't waste any more time. They even decided to postpone their rest time even longer.
The forest area turned out to be vast. Erend, Adrien, and Billy were surprised that even after walking for about five hours at a fast pace, they still hadn't found any way out. They encountered several evolved Goblins along the way.
They killed them as easily as the previous wave. Those Goblins weren't a dangerous threat, but they were annoying because they hindered their journey.
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