Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 303 Deadly Battle and the Quagmire

The mingling mist and the thick, yellowish-green poisonous miasma trembled slightly amidst the sharp, terrifying hissing sounds, while the black, viscous liquid splashed and flew about under the force of the surging power from the depths of the mud pit.

What was just a small, inconspicuous pile of mud and withered branches has now transformed into a ferocious insect-beast filled with an aura of death and misfortune.

The first impression this monster gives is that of a twisted, unnatural, and bizarre fusion.

It resembles a giant, deformed deep-sea lobster, or a mutated underwater spider.

Encased in a hard, yellowish-brown chitinous segmented shell, with a rough, matte texture, the surface is covered with fine scratches, etchings, and occasional nodular protrusions, giving it a cold, damp feel, as if it comes from the depths of the earth, with an unsettling chill and a slimy texture.

Its head also has the characteristics of an insect, but its color is significantly darker, as if it were forcibly welded onto some other corpse. A pair of cold, black and white eyes are filled with chaos and savagery. Its mouthparts are composed of several long, strong, and sticky tentacles that twist and entangle with each other, making one's skin crawl.

Its most striking feature is a pair of huge, asymmetrical pincers that grow from the front sides of its body.

These pincers are extremely well-developed, with a structure similar to that of a lobster or scorpion, but in a more exaggerated proportion, appearing somewhat deformed and distorted from a distance.

As for the destructive power it can cause... the terrifyingly crisp sound produced by the pincers colliding and clamping together when they close out of thin air is enough to demonstrate its power.

This strange monster, which looks like a lobster, attacked from behind the squad.

This allowed Margaret, who was originally lagging behind, to stand in the closest position to him.

That's why she was the first to sense the strong fishy and putrid smell emanating from the monster.

The brain works at lightning speed, trying to retrieve relevant information from its memory to identify the other person, while also devising a corresponding strategy based on their physical characteristics.

But before that, muscle memory and survival instincts had already made Margaret subconsciously control her body, leaping to the side to avoid the huge claw that was about to smash down on her head.

With a flick of the wrist, the longsword rubbed against the monster's carapace, producing a teeth-grinding noise as dazzling sparks flashed briefly at the edge of the blade, leaving only a few pale white scratches on its surface.

Landed in a mess.

The golden braid tied at the back of her head swayed, already stained with a few drops of sticky mud.

Only then did her brain finally complete its search, rummaging through the memories buried deep within her mind to find information about the monster before her.

Yes……

"Armored Monster!?"

This is definitely not a name that should appear in a misty forest.

In fact, even the adventurers who frequented the tavern rarely mentioned this monster.

One reason is that it inhabits dark places or deep ocean areas.

It rarely appears elsewhere.

On the other hand, it is also due to their extremely rare numbers and formidable individual strength.

Often, adventurers who encountered it didn't even have a chance to send back any information before they died from its enormous pincers, capable of crushing rock and iron.

Margaret's wheat-colored, spirited face suddenly turned ugly.

The challenge level of the Armored Monster is "4".

This means that at least a squad of four well-positioned level 4 professionals is needed to defeat it without casualties, provided they are in good condition and well-supplied.

As for the current "Oath Keeper Blackwood" team, she, Soldin, and Shajin may meet the requirements, but the mage Joshua's class level is only lv1.

Perhaps due to the special nature of spellcasters, they possess powerful functionalities that ordinary professionals cannot match, but in such high-intensity battles, they will undoubtedly become the weak point of the entire team.

"Fake."

Margaret cursed under her breath, her eyes fixed on the armored monster in front of her, her hands turning white as she gripped the hilt of her sword so tightly.

"Razg (Dwarven language, meaning 'beast'), look here!"

As he pondered this, a rough, angry roar suddenly rang out from the other side.

Faced with the enemy's sudden attack, the dwarf warrior Soldin in the front row of the team did not hesitate at all and stepped forward.

With a roar, he slammed his right-hand hammer against the iron shield he held in his left arm.

"Bang..."

Invisible sound waves stirred up tangible ripples in the miasma.

As if containing some special power, the armored monster, which had missed its first attack and was about to continue chasing Margaret, suddenly stopped.

Then it turned around and let out a sharp screech at the dwarf.

The hatred has shifted.

Boom!

The enormous pincers, encased in a brownish-yellow chitinous shell, suddenly fell, leaving a blank space in the air filled with yellowish-green poisonous miasma.

There was no way to dodge, or rather, there was no ability to dodge at all.

Soldin only had time to raise his iron shield above his head before the pincers slammed down.

His short figure disappeared from the sight of the people on the field almost instantly, like a screw hammered into a wooden board, completely sinking into the depths of the mud.

Soldin's combat skills were very effective. Even though he was smashed into the ground, leaving only a shield like a nut embedded in the bottom of the mud, the armored monster continued to smash him as if it were going crazy.

At the same time, his teammates naturally couldn't just stand by and watch.

The shadow flickered.

A ghostly figure suddenly leaped into the air, its slender form landing lightly on the back of the armored monster.

The dagger, wreathed in the power of inky black shadow, stung down like a bee's sting, precisely embedding itself in the gap between the monster's carapace at the back of its neck.

Erosion, explosion.

A black mist composed of pure shadow energy could be clearly seen bursting from the surface of the dagger, turning the surrounding armor black and corroding it at a visible speed.

Unfortunately, the armored monster was too large. Such a clean strike would have been fatal to the woodland brown bear from before.

However, for the monster in front of us, it only managed to break through its defenses, penetrating the thick chitinous protective shell, but couldn't reach the inside at all.

The next second, the giant pincers kicked the Wanderer Sandgold off the Armored Monster's back.

hum-

A high-frequency sound of energy whistling flashed through the air.

Three fist-sized, ochre-red orbs of light swayed and streaked through the mist, hurtling towards the monster.

One-ring energy system - Magic Missile.

The unique effect of force field energy ignoring defense, along with its relatively low learning cost and casting difficulty, makes it one of the most common and practical basic spells among spellcasters.

Joshua deliberately aimed at the direction of the wound that Sand Gold had just caused, hoping to use the gaps created by the shadow energy to pour in the magic missiles one by one, causing damage.

Unfortunately, his mental control was still lacking. Of the three missiles, only one penetrated the wound, while the other two landed on the nearby carapace, leaving two dents.

"hold head high!"

A sharp, agonizing scream echoed across the field.

Hitting the back of the neck, the small magic missile straightened the armored monster's body, making it stand up halfway, its two pincers swinging up and down.

Unfortunately, that's all.

After all, he wasn't some high-level spellcaster with masterful mental control. If Joshua could actually manipulate three magic missiles to accurately strike the same spot one after another, he might actually be able to inflict substantial damage on the armored monster.

But right now, all that remains is pain and a moment of paralysis.

That was enough. With her teammates holding them off for several rounds, Margaret, the [Swordsman] class leader, finally completed her charge-up.

Having practiced tens of thousands of times, he had long since mastered it, and his class-specific combat skill, [Charged Slash], erupted in an instant.

The extremely refined sword light suddenly bloomed at the edge of the longsword in his hand, transforming into an extremely thin and long, dazzling arc of light that vanished in an instant in the air.

"Shoot."

As it stood upright, the massive body of the armored monster stiffened for a moment.

The brown-green worm gushed blood.

A small section of the tail, along with half of the hind leg and claw, was neatly cut off.

Without a doubt, even for a monster of this level, this is a serious injury that could affect the balance of victory.

But Margaret, who swung the sword, showed no joy or ease on her face; instead, she appeared even more somber and serious.

【Charged Slash】is already the most powerful and lethal combat skill she has mastered.

In the past, during battles with enemies, with the help of Soldin and others to restrain them, their fully charged strikes were virtually invincible.

Every move he makes marks the end of the battle.

Just now, she naturally held the same expectation in her heart.

Even if we can't kill the opponent on the spot, it would be good to inflict some injuries that significantly affect our combat strength.

However, the armored monster's defensive capabilities exceeded Margaret's expectations.

The sword light, which should have cleaved the carapace in two, was completely worn away after squeezing in just a few inches.

The severed tail and half a claw... would only become fuel to completely ignite the beast's rage.

The situation is about to reach its most dangerous moment.

The "Oath-Keeping Blackwood" squad must be prepared to suffer heavy losses, or even lose manpower, in this battle.

"Be careful!"

Margaret shouted loudly to her teammates.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the dwarf Soldin, who had been completely smashed into the depths of the mud and was now motionless, and then looked at the wanderer Shajin, who was protecting Joshua as he retreated.

Teeth clenched.

Their steps, which were originally intended to retreat, suddenly changed direction, and they rushed towards the direction of the armored monster.

The dwarf's aggro effect has dissipated, and he will be unable to extricate himself from the quagmire for some time.

He was the only one left in the team capable of close combat with the armored monster.

If they turned and ran, not to mention whether they could escape in the end, Joshua and Shakin would certainly not be foolish enough to stay in the same place. In that case, the dwarf Saldin would definitely die.

After killing Soldin, the target chosen by the armored monster among the three would most likely not survive if caught.

In this way, the team that had been painstakingly assembled was reduced to just two people, which was no different from a complete collapse and disbandment.

This was unacceptable to Margaret.

"Three people...we still have a spellcaster in our team, so it's not entirely hopeless!"

The previous few rounds of combat have already proven that challenging the level 4 Armored Monster is not the kind of overwhelming or insurmountable enemy.

They can also leave scars on each other.

If we pay a sufficient price, even if we only temporarily repel them, let alone completely defeat them, perhaps...

With these thoughts in mind, Margaret took two steps with her strong, long legs toward the monster.

The situation on the field suddenly took an unexpected turn.

The armored monster, whose tail and lower legs had been severed, did not choose to launch a more ferocious attack on them after suffering its pain.

After letting out a few mournful cries, it swayed its body and plunged into the depths of the nearby mud pit.

The mud churned and disappeared completely from their sight within a few breaths.

"This……"

Margaret paused in surprise.

He urged his teammates not to let their guard down, worried that the monster might be disguising itself to lure them into revealing a weakness, while actually lying in ambush nearby.

They stood back to back, on guard, for several minutes.

Finally, a muscular, thick arm emerged from the mud beside him, and a rough voice coughed and choked, reaching his ears, which finally put his mind at ease.

"Cough, cough... Help me out, I can't get out by myself."

……

……

At the same time, deep underground.

Abi gazed at the pitch-black mud pool before him, stretching into the deep, dark depths of the cave, his voice tinged with doubt:
"Lord Saloyan, is this direction... correct?"

Saloyan did not reply, nor was he angry at the questioning of this weak human.

Because he himself knew perfectly well that they seemed to have... gone down the wrong path again.

He became even more convinced of his decision to immediately send the devil in charge of the intelligence network to the "bloodbath" upon returning.

The complexity of this passage through the dark underworld, leading down from the petrified lizard's lair, far exceeded his expectations.

He might be able to vaguely determine the direction through the location information provided by intelligence, but like a long river with countless tributaries, the gaps and caves of all shapes and sizes in the dark region became the biggest enemy that delayed their progress.

In the past few days, I've seen far more than just murky, deep mud pits and dead ends like this one; I've also seen the lairs of various dangerous monsters and towering, sheer underground cliffs.

On the most dangerous occasion, he even discovered a passageway that appeared to be haunted by the "Green-footed Dragon Snake".

That is to say, he was secretly protecting him; otherwise, with the strength he possessed in this low-level adventurer, he would probably have died in some unknown corner long ago.

"Okay, let's turn back and find another way."

A husky, magnetic male voice echoed in the cranial cavity.

Abby nodded obediently and turned around.

"Yes, Lord Saloyan."

Just as I was about to lift my right foot, I was suddenly tripped by something, lost my balance, and almost fell.

He staggered two steps before managing to regain his footing.

Looking down, I found a small, brownish-yellow fragment of carapace embedded deep in the mud.

It seems to come from some kind of insect?

Abby shook her head, not thinking much of it.

Just as he was about to continue towards the exit and find another way,

Behind them, in the sticky mud, a sudden "gurgling" sound came from behind, faintly accompanied by the high-frequency hissing sound unique to insects.

(End of this chapter)