Chapter 167 The Third Gate

>WHUUUUSHHHH<

Making good use of my Coordination skill, I was able to aptly multitask. Since they were all frozen, I turned on my <Automatic Summon> SubSkill and caused my weapons to deal damage as I made my way through the crowd.

My eyes darted all around as I searched for the Hobgoblin Casters among the others. They were sure to look different, as was the case with the other Hobgoblins I had met so far. I just needed to spot one…

“Aha!” I shouted in delight as soon as I spotted an odd one among a cluster of Hobgoblin Tankers.

At this point, I didn’t even bother controlling the volume of my voice since no one could hear me. They were all frozen!

Not literally, of course.

Drawing closer to the Demon, its Status Information popped up instantly.

[System Information]

– Name: Hobgoblin (Caster)

– Level: 80

– Race: Demon (Lesser) – Grade: 1

– Age: 90 days

[Stats]

– HP: 500

– MP: 1,200

– Strength: 100

– Agility: 500

– Vitality: 600

– Intelligence: 900

[End Of Information]

There was such a huge difference between the Casters and other variants of Hobgoblins. Not only was their health way too low for their level, compared to others, but they also had a huge reserve of MP. Their intelligence Stats were also the highest I had seen Demons possess since I started hunting their kind.

‘Well, you need Intelligence to cast magic…’ I reasoned, uttering the basics of any RPG that existed.

In any case, I couldn’t dawdle around when time was running out. I tapped the Hobgoblin, sending it straight into [Subspace] since it would prove to be a valuable specimen.

I just needed to search for others and kill a few while I was at it so I could learn whatever Skill they had in store for me.

On my way, searching for more Casters, I made sure to tap as many Demons as I wanted so they went into [Subspace] while using <Spike Attack> and <Venomous Spikes> to deal damage to others. Of course, my weapons were also attacking at the same time.

It was an absolutely efficient way to kill so many birds with one stone, or was I supposed to say several.

“Found another!”

“Ah, there’s that one!”

“Oh, a few are here!”

I made noises while catching my prey hiding among the more buff Demons, cleverly working on spells before they froze.

A window suddenly appeared, stopping my joyride.

[System Alert!]

~Your Skill <Parlor Tricks> Will Soon End~

(Time Remaining: 5 Seconds Left)

[End Of Information]

“Well, shit!” I found myself blurting out.

Couldn’t rhe System have told me sooner? I was basically trapped at the center of a bunch of Demons. If they regained their composure while I was caught in such a condition, it pained me to wonder what would befall me.

‘Oh, wait, they should still be blind, right?’

Using normal measurements, the ‘Blind’ Status Ailment was supposed to have elapsed since over 5 minutes had passed since I used the Skill, but since the Hobgoblins had been entirely suspended due to the effects of <The Hanged Man>, their Status Ailments experienced the same fate.

They were all still going to be blind and poisoned. However, it still wasn’t safe to be at the center of such a huge crowd. About a thousand were still left. They weren’t that much, but I would rather not be caught in their midst.

Strengthening my legs with <Muscularity> and <Aura>, I took to my heels and headed in the opposite direction they faced. In essence, I decided to go behind them.

Leaping high into the air, I avoided any physical contact with any of them and was able to transverse all of them in an instant.

>BEEP!!!<

I heard a loud alarm echo in my head signaling the end of my Skill. At that moment, the noise of the Demons resumed as they all charged forward.

‘Pfft, this is funny.’ I nearly laughed.

It was possible to wait things out until they died, or pick them off one after the other. But, I had grown quite bored of the whole thing. After experiencing all my Skills firsthand, there was no need to delay things any further.

‘Let’s end this, shall we?’

“<Summon>”

In an instant, the several fireballs that had been launched at me appeared above all the Hobgoblins. Hundreds of destructive fireballs fell from great heights and charged at them. From my location, I could feel the heat and it didn’t take the monsters to halt and look above them in response to the stimulus.

Though blind, they were able to sense that something big was approaching.

“G-GUR-GURUIIIKKKKK!!!” They made one final cry of resistance before the flames descended upon them in their hundreds.

>BOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!<

Shockwaves were sent flying across the large compound and dust rose to an unimaginable degree. Of course, I took my queue and collected all the smoke into [Subspace], since they would be useful later on.

>SHUUUUUU<

The charred remains of the earth sizzled in heat as its scarred surface still emitted vestiges of the smoke I had taken away. In a couple of minutes, the ground would cool off. I wasn’t going to be present when it did, though since it still had that amber glow coupled with blackness that existed in burnt firewood.

Turning behind me as I ignored the sounds of burning earth, I looked behind me. I was at the other end of the second compound, and as expected, existing at the rear was yet another gate.

I moved closer to it, lightly trodding the grounds, and in a blink, I was there already. I had barely exerted myself in this fight, so the last thing I felt was exhaustion.

‘Plus, I leveled up a few after all that, so my Vitality is chock full…’ I reasoned.

The third Gate was similar to the first, having wood as its only element. It was made of sturdier wood, though, and the compound fence that marked the end of the second portion of the Hobgoblin territory stretched way higher into the sky than the previous ones.

“Interesting… I’m feeling quite lively. Should I…?”