Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Chapter 402 The Strength of a High-Rank Archmage

With a "whoosh," the longsword grazed Ciel's cheek and pierced the tree trunk behind him.

"What's wrong?" Charles raised an eyebrow. When the longsword was shot at him just now, his hair stood on end.

"I sensed someone watching us just now," Diana slowly drew another longsword and walked coldly to Charles's side. "I initially thought it was because I beat Little John too badly, and he was watching us from a distance. But now that he's gone, that feeling of being watched is still there."

As she spoke, she glanced around and frowned. "They're really well hidden."

"There doesn't seem to be anyone else here?" Charles looked around as well. Apart from the goblins who had heard Diana's roar and were preparing to approach, there seemed to be no one else around.

"Let's see where you hide now." With that, Diana raised her longsword to the sky, "Battle Glory."

As she shouted, a golden light shone around her. Then, a red light flashed in the distance, and Diana rushed forward with her sword. With a clang, a figure appeared in front of her as if it had emerged from a crack in space.

"The Crusaders?" the man in the black robe and hood said in surprise. The staff in his hand controlled a shield with a halo in front of him, which directly blocked Diana's slash.

"There really is someone." Charles looked at the two in shock and quickly stepped back.

The turn of events left him somewhat incredulous; he never imagined that someone was hiding right next to him.

Who is this person, and why are they spying on me?

"A petty scoundrel." Diana narrowed her eyes, staring at the mysterious man in front of her. The man held up his wand, seemingly without much effort in blocking her longsword, appearing completely unfazed.

However, she still had a backup plan. With a clang, a slashing sound rang out as the longsword that had just been fired shot towards her as she charged forward.

"A spirit object?" the mysterious man said again in surprise, as two longswords struck his magical shield, putting him in a vulnerable position.

"That voice sounds old." Charles pulled out the [Acceleration] scroll from behind him, ready to use it at any time.

This person could easily withstand Diana's attacks; he must be a powerful mage. "What is his purpose?"

"Are these goblins your pets?" The mysterious man raised his head slightly, looking at Diana from under the brim of his hat. He slowly raised the staff in his hand, and then a shockwave rippled outwards, directly knocking Diana away.

"Hmm?" Seeing that Diana hadn't been pushed far, a hint of interest appeared in his voice. "You seem to hold a fairly high position in the Crusades."

"Who are you?" Diana warily held her longsword horizontally in front of her. Her expression surprised Charles. He only showed this expression when facing the Lord and Spencer. He hadn't shown it when dealing with Little John, Red Eye, and Grass.

"You're not qualified to know my name." The mysterious man shook his head slightly, then turned to look at Charles not far away. "You've surprised me somewhat."

"Me?" Ciel pointed to his face. "Do I know you?"

"You don't know me, but you do know my apprentice." The mysterious man ignored the fully alert Diana and slowly walked towards Charles, staff in hand. "He came to the forest looking for you, but I never expected him to die here."

"Apprentice, a mage apprentice came looking for me? And died here?" Charles slowly took two steps back. He was puzzled by what the other party said. He hadn't killed many mage apprentices before, but judging from the other party's tone, it seemed that the guy had come specifically to find him.

"Great mage, are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else, or a goblin?" he asked hesitantly, but all he got in return was a cold laugh.

"There's no mistake, I cast a soul spell on him, and you are the last one to affect his soul."

""

"Could it be—" Charles's expression changed. In his memory, there was only one magician who died beside him, on the night he saw Lust. There was indeed a magician's corpse next to him at that time, and it seemed that he shouted something before he died.

Charles's expression surprised Diana as well. "You killed a mage all by yourself?"

"Ah, this—" Charles quickly waved his hand, wanting to say that he didn't do it, but that it was actually the demon lord Lust who did it.

His hesitant manner made Diana frown. However, the mysterious high-ranking mage spoke up directly, "It's nothing. This only makes me more interested in you. That apprentice was just someone I used to do things for me. I never intended to train him, but I didn't expect him to bring me the biggest surprise."

"A surprise? Are you referring to me?" Charles's expression hardened. The other person's words sounded like they didn't care much about human lives, but their face showed a look of delight.

"Yes," the mysterious magician looked the goblin up and down, "your soul is exactly what I need. My research has hit a bottleneck lately. Ordinary goblins simply cannot withstand the plague experiments. Even though I carefully dismember their bodies to preserve their brain activity, they still cannot endure it in the end. But you—"

He extended a thin finger and pointed it at Charles. "Your soul is very resilient, unlike that of a goblin. With such a resilient soul, my research will surely make a breakthrough."

"What did you say?" Charles's eyes turned cold. The magician in front of him must be one of those guys Spencer had mentioned before who liked to conduct life experiments.

"I told you you should be glad you're going to be my best guinea pig."

As the magician spoke, he opened his arms wide. Completely ignoring Charles's serious expression, he turned to Diana, who was on high alert, and said, "I'm taking this goblin with me. You can tell your teacher or his master. But there are quite a few goblins here, so this one shouldn't be a problem."

"You scoundrel, Green Egg is no ordinary goblin."

Diana gripped the two longswords and flicked them into the air. With a "whoosh," a beam of light crashed down, and a pair of enormous white wings appeared on her back.

She immediately activated [Angelic Appearance].

"You've got some skill." The high-ranking mage's tone was indifferent, as if Diana, who was charging towards him, was not much of a threat. Then, he glanced at the goblins surrounding him, and slightly raised his staff. "Boom!" Several loud bangs rang out, and several magical ripples spread outwards.

"What is this?" The ripples rushed through his body, and Ciel's knees buckled, causing him to kneel down on one knee.

Diana, standing before him, also plummeted to the ground. She braced her longsword against the earth and struggled to straighten herself. "You are a dark mage, of the cursed faction."

Upon hearing this, Charles quickly brought up his control panel, and then his eyes widened in shock.

In the section for his own status, he was shocked to find that he had several new spells: [Curse of Weakness] [Curse of Pain]

Chaos Curse.

"This—" Charles felt weak all over and couldn't even stand up for a moment. Moreover, he felt all sorts of thoughts rising in his mind, and his destructive desires grew stronger.

"Is this the curse spell?" He braced himself against his legs and tried his best to stand up. Not far away, his subordinates were already fighting on the ground. Affected by the [Curse of Chaos], these goblins had no ability to resist. They grabbed their companions and started punching and biting them. Fortunately, the [Curse of Weakness] was also in effect at the same time, so the goblins could only roll around on the ground in a huddle.

"Fortunately, no one directly swung the hammer." Charles gritted his teeth. He was alright because, thanks to the blessing of the God of Earth and Life, his personal magic resistance slightly resisted the effects of these cursed spells.

"You were able to resist my spell?" The high-ranking mage looked at Sharl in surprise again. "It seems your research value has increased considerably."

"You scoundrel!" Diana gripped her longsword and cast several spells on herself, barely managing to stay upright. However, the opponent's spells were clearly more effective, and it was evident that her combat strength had been greatly diminished.

"Tell the people behind you that I'm taking this goblin." The mage ignored Diana, who was charging at him, and instead raised his hand to cast several more spells, which forced Diana to kneel on one knee.

"I can only use a magic scroll. I need to escape first." Charles frowned, gripping the [Acceleration] scroll with both hands. However, he was so weak, and [Hero's Heart] hadn't finished cooling down yet. Even if the scroll took effect, there was no guarantee that he could escape.

"Wait, I have another spell." His eyes lit up. There was a spell in his personal spellbook called [Dimensional Gate]. This spell could instantly open a portal to another area, and he could escape from his opponent as soon as he passed through the portal.

The only problem is that he doesn't know what's going on on the other side of the door. Even if he anchors himself at the White Shell Merchant Guild in Giraffe Town, he doesn't know if Mary is meeting with other people right now.

"However, now is not the time to worry about that." Charles clenched his fist, silently chanted, and summoned his [Spellbook].

But just as he was about to cast [Dimensional Gate], a cry of an eagle suddenly came from the sky, followed by a huge figure swooping down.

"A gift from nature!" A delicate shout rang out, and immediately Diana and Charles were surrounded by a circle of emerald green light.

Under this magical effect, Sharl clearly felt those curse spells being gradually cleared away.

"Hmm? Druid healing magic?" The high-ranking mage stopped and frowned as he watched Sophia casting spells continuously. "There's something to do with the Church of Life here."

"Who are you?" Sophia shouted, and her movements caused Diana to stand up again.

"I'm just a magician. Are you the one who raises these goblins?" The magician sized up Sophia, the church robes she wore making him hesitate. "I didn't expect that Luther was indeed conducting life experiments, no, perhaps the Church of Life is doing it."

As he spoke, he looked at Charles again, his eyes even more eager, "It seems they have achieved some initial success, that's great."

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Charles gritted his teeth and stretched out his palm directly towards the high-level mage. A semi-transparent stream of air rushed towards the opponent like an arrow released from a bow.

With a loud "boom," smoke and dust billowed up as the magician's cloak billowed and his hood was blown off.

"Magic Explosion? No, it's even stronger than Magic Explosion." Ignoring his surroundings, the mage stretched out his hands and looked at Sharl with a somewhat crazed expression. "The experiment seems to be a success. It even allowed goblins to cast spells, and the spell's effect is so strong. You are my one-in-a-million experimental material."

Several halos of light surrounded his body, directly helping him resist the damage from the [True Magic Explosion]. However, Xia's spell was not entirely ineffective; several cracks clearly appeared on those halos, obviously a consequence of resisting magic.

"Unfortunately, I can't use Magic Burst too many times," Charles gritted his teeth and stretched out his palm towards the other party again, but this time, a dragon roar rang out beside him.

Sophia bent down slightly, and then dragon scales began to appear on her fair skin. Suddenly, she leaped into the sky, and with a "whoosh," a pair of membranous wings stretched out from her back.

"Roar—" A dragon's roar resounded, and a white two-legged dragon flew directly towards the magic book. Immediately afterwards, the dragon spewed out raging flames from its mouth.

"Dragon Transformation?" The high-ranking mage's expression turned serious, and he quickly dodged to the side. However, his magical shield was still hit by Sophia's dragonfire. With a crisp "crack," the cracks in the halo became even clearer, and the sound of shattering was clearly heard by Charles and Diana.

"What's going on with you, goblin?" The mage gripped his staff tightly, looking at Sharl for the first time. First, a swordsman who appeared to be a Crusader was protecting the goblin, and he was even able to cast [Angel's Appearance], a spell that ordinary Crusaders wouldn't know. Then, a high-ranking druid from the Church of Life appeared—no, he should be called a high-ranking member of the Church of Life.

Dragon transformation magic has been unheard of for a long time. When did someone in the Church of Life master this spell again?

Moreover, this goblin not only speaks Common, but is also clearly quite intelligent, and can even cast powerful magic.

This is no ordinary goblin; there must be something wrong with his soul.

"Annihilation Curse." The mage waved his staff, and soon the wyvern crashed to the ground with a wail. One of its membranous wings and the forepaws connecting it to the wing disappeared.

"I remember who you are." Sophia deactivated the transformation spell. At this moment, a deep wound appeared on one of her arms, exposing the bone. The flesh that had been there seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"You are Cunningham, a high-ranking dark archmage wanted by the Sorcerer's Guild." She gritted her teeth, her eyes fixed on the other person.

In front of her, Diana had already rushed to her position, raising her twin swords to protect the druid behind her.

"A wanted archmage?" Charles frowned, staring at the somewhat gaunt Cunningham.

"It's me. As for the wanted notice, it's just a minor obstacle." Cunningham completely ignored Sophia's words and didn't even glance at the druid. His eyes were only on the goblins and Sharl.

"This is troublesome." Charles pursed his lips. Even if he escaped, he didn't know if the other party would kill Diana and Sophia, since they had seen through his true identity.

Even if I manage to escape, there's no way I can come back from here. Who knows if that bastard will be guarding this place?

If that's the case, then the Forest City, the counterattack plan, and even our own country will all become nonsense.

"What should we do?" Charles frowned, staring intently at Cunningham.

However, a polite greeting drew everyone's attention.

"Another wanted person?"

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