Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"My lord, the soldiers are ready," a knight reported loudly before Valentine.

"Alright." Count Valentine waved his hand, then stepped forward, his hand resting on the sword at his waist.

"Soldiers!" he shouted, rallying morale. "Today we will fight a battle here to defend our territory and our people."

"You've already won and killed those goblins, so do you think there's nothing special in Nightmare Woods, just those short, green-skinned bastards?"

"No, soldiers, this ruin contains terrifying creatures created by evil sorcerers. We must kill them all."

"Only in this way can we ensure that these disgusting creatures do not break out of the forest and devour your parents, wives, and children."

"Soldiers, are you afraid? The monsters inside might kill you and eat you."

"But I want to say," Valentine drew his sword with a "whoosh" and pointed it behind the soldiers, "that our home is right behind us, and we have nowhere to hide."

"For honor!" he roared, and swung his longsword forcefully towards the entrance of the tunnel.

"For honor."

"For honor."

The soldiers raised their weapons and shouted loudly, followed by knights directing the procession. Soon, a group of strong soldiers carrying tower shields stepped forward, and then torches were thrown into the stone chamber to ensure it was well lit.

After the tower shield warriors filed in, the other soldiers followed one after another. They quickly formed a battle formation to defend against the giant spiders and cave bees that might rush out at any moment.

The sound of rustling footsteps rang out, and monsters began to emerge one after another. Soldiers holding crossbows seized the opportunity and immediately fired their bolts. The giant spiders squeaked and charged forward, but the heavy tower shields blocked their attacks. In the gaps between the tower shields, spears kept thrusting out and retracting, each time bringing out a large amount of viscous monster blood.

"Hold on!" the commanding knights shouted, as more and more giant spiders and bees emerged from the passage.

However, the soldiers were not greatly affected. They were numerous and not only cooperated with each other to kill, but also had many archers shooting at the monsters that had not yet rushed up, and several mage apprentices were constantly casting spells into the passage.

The number of giant spiders and bees surging forward continued to increase, but many were blocked by corpses, which caused the number of these giant creatures charging forward each time to gradually decrease. This allowed the soldiers to begin their orderly killing spree.

"Have them drag out the monsters' corpses immediately, don't block the way, it will cause irreparable consequences," Valentine said, standing at the entrance of the passageway. The entire stone chamber was now filled with torches, and for the first time, he could see the whole chamber clearly.

"Yes, sir." Immediately, knights and soldiers went to drag away the corpses.

Compared to the previous knights, Valentine was much better prepared this time. Although these soldiers were not as good as the knights individually, they had the advantage of large numbers and tight formations. Nearly 100 people were stationed at each passage, and there were other soldiers rotating in. Basically, if a giant spider rushed in front of them, its head would be full of crossbow bolts, followed by the thrust of several spears.

This battle was completely different from the previous ones; it was more like soldiers surrounding the spawn point of the giant spiders and bees, relentlessly slaughtering them.

"Let's use up a batch first, and once those monsters are fewer in number, we'll rush into their lair and kill the Spider Queen and the Bee Queen." Valentine stood at the entrance, his eyes constantly scanning the two passages. "If that guy hiding behind the scenes doesn't come out soon, these monsters will all be dead."

He glanced menacingly at the corpse on the ground and shouted, "Get ready, we'll be entering the passage in a moment."

From the shadows in the distance, a plume of white smoke rose, gradually coalescing into the shape of a scarred man. "What are these humans doing?"

He cautiously approached, peeking his head out from behind the wall. When he saw what the human soldiers were doing, he prepared to come behind Valentine and possess him.

"No, this is not a good choice." Scarface stopped what he was doing. He remembered what Green Egg had done before. Back then, he, who was "powerful," was left under the tree to fight the Devilclaw Bear, which resulted in his death. Now it seemed that he could do the same thing.

Scarface disappeared back into the ground, floated to the side, and then began to "call out" in his mind, "Master, I've found the guys you mentioned. They're very strong, and I can't defeat them. You'd better come over immediately."

Meanwhile, at the Moonlight Inn, Alma, who was studying a magic book, immediately closed the book and ran out of the room.

"Finally found you, you damned goblin."

Her triumphant laughter echoed down the corridor.

…………

After a while, Alma, carrying the blue astral serpent, traversed the lush Nightmare Forest, getting closer and closer to the ruins.

She was overjoyed; she was about to find that goblin, the one that had caused her to lose face and ruined years of hard work.

"It's just a goblin." She laughed, a loud laugh, as if the hurt inflicted on her by the person in the mirror had been completely washed away by her joy.

"Who goes there?" A loud shout came, stopping Alma's laughter.

"Are there any humans left here?" She jumped off the giant python and took two steps forward.

When she emerged from behind the tree, she was astonished to find a large group of people standing in front of her. These people did not look like adventurers; they had an almost uniform style and looked more like soldiers.

"What are you doing here?" A soldier carrying a crossbow walked towards her. These soldiers were guards around the entrance to the ruins, preventing any strange people from appearing and stopping Count Valentine from killing the giant bees and spiders.

Hiss, the Astral Serpent emerged from behind the tree, raised its forebody, which was about the height of a person, and stared at the soldier in front of it.

"Yes, it's that evil sorcerer!" the soldier shouted, retreating in panic. He was terrified by the giant python, and the other soldiers were also frightened and immediately raised their crossbows. "Such a huge snake, those monsters must have been her doing."

"What are you talking about?" Alma frowned, feeling that something must have gone wrong.

With a "whoosh," a crossbow bolt grazed her cheek, leaving only a bloody mark, which was immediately healed.

As the crossbow bolt struck, the other soldiers immediately pulled their triggers, and the sound of arrows piercing the air filled the air. Alma had no choice but to summon the Astral Serpent to protect herself.

"What are these soldiers saying, studying monsters?" She didn't understand what they meant, but she immediately realized that Scarface might have lied to her. "Damn goblins, goblins deserve to be torn to pieces."

But now Alma has no choice but to fight; if she turns and runs away, she will become a sitting duck.

"Magic Energy Explosion." She waved her palm forward, and a green light flashed in front of a soldier, followed by a burst of energy that knocked over several soldiers.

Upon seeing this, the remaining soldiers immediately scattered, some even seeking cover in trees, while others ran back to report to the Earl, "The evil sorcerer has appeared."

"It seems like there are a lot of them." Alma had to seriously assess the situation. She hadn't left the inn for days, afraid of being recognized by some experienced adventurers, but she had also heard that a lot of soldiers seemed to have come to Giraffe Town.

"I have to run away as fast as I can." She unleashed several magic bursts in succession, and then cast a large-scale hypnosis spell in front of her.

Seeing several soldiers stagger and fall to the ground, she immediately endured the pain and hugged the Astral Serpent. Two crossbow bolts had just broken through her magical shield and pierced her body.

"Let's go!" Alma shouted, and the Astral Serpent swiftly slithered away, disappearing from the area.

Meanwhile, Count Valentine stood in the middle of the stone chamber, his soldiers having already passed through two tunnels and were now besieging the enormous monsters in the lair of giant spiders and bees.

"My lord, we have just driven away an evil sorcerer." A knight ran up to the count and stood at attention to report.

"An evil warlock?" Valentine turned his head to look at the other person. "What kind of warlock?"

"A woman, possessing a huge blue python, burst out of the woods and attempted to attack us," the knight shouted. "Our soldiers immediately returned fire with crossbows, and after several men died, the sorcerer fled."

"Okay, I understand." Valentine nodded and dismissed the knight. "There really were sorcerers. It seems our deduction was correct; this is where they conduct biological cultivation."

"The Storm Brotherhood," he muttered through gritted teeth, "they must have discovered this place while exploring the forest and then used this ruin to frame me."

"Once we get back, we must issue a full-scale manhunt for these people and report their misdeeds to His Majesty the King."

"Reporting, sir, a giant spider has been discovered. The knight says it might be the Spider Queen." A soldier ran out of the passage and came to Valentine.

"Is it easy to kill?" Valentine asked anxiously.

"The knight said it's not difficult, but it requires cooperation and will take some time."

"Alright, go outside and find that knight at the gate, and have him take another group of men to provide support." Valentine immediately added more men. If the Spider Queen was dealt with, then there would be no more giant spiders in the future.

"Hmph, evil sorcerer, your scheme has been foiled." He laughed triumphantly. After finding and killing the queen bee, he would burn this place to the ground, utterly thwarting the evil sorcerer's disgusting experiment.

"Next, it's time to show the results to the people in the territory." Valentine stroked his goatee, squinted, and pondered how to write a moving and impressive announcement to post in various administrative offices to demonstrate his "diligence and love for the people."

"My lord, the Spider Queen is dead. The knight says he found a high-grade beast core," a soldier reported, standing at attention. "However, many of us have died."

"I understand." Valentine immediately adopted a somber expression. "They all died for the people of this land."

After dismissing the soldiers, he immediately smirked, "The Third Prince's gift is ready."