I'm not a Witcher anymore.

Three guards who had flanked from both sides rushed forward.

Two of them headed straight for Zig.

Zig pushed off with his feet, twisted his body in mid-air, and swept outwards with the force of his spinning boots.

The first kick landed on its face, the bone cracking with a dull thud; the second slap landed on its jaw, knocking its head to the side.

The two goblin guards were swept away by the kick and crashed sideways into the wooden walls on either side.

The wall panel trembled, dust fell in a flurry, and their necks snapped the moment they hit it. Their bodies slid softly down the wall and remained motionless.

The one that pounced on Ravenna was closer.

Using its companion's charge as cover, it darted down from below, its claws and daggers reaching for her chest.

Ravenna didn't even have time to put the bow away before she simply swung it and threw the short bow at its face.

The guard instinctively blocked, creating a brief opening.

enough.

Ravenna charged at it, her shoulder slamming into its chest, knocking the goblin guard to the ground.

The wooden plank made a dull thud, and she followed up by straddling it, pressing her knee into its chest, and thrusting the short sword in her hand straight down into its eye socket, aiming at the swaying head.

Just then, a sudden gust of wind rushed past my ear.

Something flew towards her.

She almost instinctively tried to step aside, but when she glanced at the scene out of the corner of her eye, her heart tightened.

What flew towards us was neither a battle axe nor a corpse.

It's a girl.

The girl looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, and her hands and feet were still bound with ropes. She had obviously been thrown over by the big goblin.

Ravenna didn't have time to think. She released the short sword and reached out to catch it.

Despite her small stature, the strength in her arms and shoulders was considerable. However, the impact was too strong, and the girl was heavier than she had anticipated. The immense force caused her to lose her balance.

The two of them rolled off the floor.

Planks, debris, and dust swirled up, and Ravenna's back went numb from the impact, but her arms remained tightly wrapped around the person in her embrace.

She used the roll to pull the girl to her side, preventing her head from hitting the pile of overturned wooden crates next to her.

In that brief moment, the eldest goblin reached out to grab the second girl.

Valeria did not give it that chance.

She threw the kite-shaped shield aside, and using the momentum of her charge, she leaped up, slashing her longsword down at the goblin's head.

The goblin roared, flipped its arms, and raised its giant axe horizontally, trying to block the sword.

But just as Valeria leaped and struck down on its head, a dark green shadow suddenly fell between the broken beam and the shadow above.

The deadly poisonous vine that had been lying on the ceiling finally moved.

The vine, like a venomous snake brimming with constricting power, coiled around the goblin's neck and tightened its grip.

Its axe-wielding parry suddenly became distorted, and the force that should have been applied dissipated.

Valeria remained in mid-air, her sword strikes unabated.

The longsword pressed down on the crooked axe handle and plunged hard into the goblin's left shoulder.

The sword penetrated very deep into the flesh, almost piercing the entire shoulder and arm.

The goblin roared in pain, but its neck was still tightly strangled by the venomous vines. Its ugly face turned purple, and strings of saliva and blood spurted from between its fangs.

As soon as Valeria's feet touched the ground, she quickly rolled away.

Almost at the same moment she left her spot, Zieg's bowstring twanged.

Arrow.

Another arrow.

The third arrow followed closely behind, piercing through the air.

Three arrows pierced the goblin's upturned face in quick succession. The first pierced its right eye, the second went through its nose, and the third missed its mouth, which was agape in pain.

The goblin jerked its body, its giant axe slipped from its grasp and slammed into the ground. Its massive body swayed backward before finally crashing to the ground.

Valeria pulled the sword from the goblin's shoulder and plunged it deep into its heart until the entire blade was embedded. Only then did she withdraw the sword and quickly walk to Ravenna's side, crouching down to check on her condition.

Ravenna was still protecting the girl she had caught, her arms still around her, but her breathing was erratic.

She had rolled on the floor from back and shoulder, and was still clearly not recovered. Her ears were ringing, and her vision was blurry. She tried to sit up, but as soon as she did, she swayed and almost fell.

Zig also came over.

"How is she?"

Valeria rested her hand on the back of Ravenna's neck and examined her pupils and complexion closely.

"She hit her head pretty hard; she needs to catch her breath."

Ravenna wrinkled her nose, as if she wanted to say that she was fine, but the words were on the tip of her tongue. She just took a breath, and the dull pain and dizziness in her head had not yet dissipated. In the end, she did not try to be brave.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from the front hall.

A villager stumbled in, his face pale.

"That priestess is about to collapse!"

Without uttering a single unnecessary word, Valeria hurried outside.

Zig did not move with her.

He first walked to the giant goblin's corpse, bent down, grabbed its messy hair, and with a swift stroke of his steel sword, cleanly and neatly severed its ugly and hideous head.

Blood gushed from the severed wound, pooling on the ground. He picked up the severed head and then followed him out.

The light in the foyer was brighter than inside, and the air felt more oppressive.

Lucy was still standing inside the entrance, holding the holy emblem in her hands, her face already deathly pale.

Her lips were tightly pursed, her forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and her shoulders were trembling uncontrollably.

The milky-white sacred wall that had originally sealed the entrance was now much dimmer, its edges flickering as if it might collapse at any moment.

The goblins outside continued their relentless assault, the muffled thuds echoing through the light barrier, causing the entire door frame to tremble.

"Get out of the way!"

The old hunter and the two villagers who were guarding the sacred wall felt as if they had been granted a pardon and quickly retreated to the side.

With a flick of his wrist, Sieg hurled the goblin's head away.

The head flew over the light barrier and smashed into the head of a goblin that was hacking at something with a weapon. The goblin was knocked backward, knocking over several other goblins behind it, and the head rolled to the ground.

The first few were stunned, and the others followed suit and fell silent.

Those ugly faces stood frozen, their eyes fixed on the bloodied head on the ground, as if they still didn't understand what had happened.

The area outside the front hall suddenly became eerily quiet, with only Lucy's rapid but carefully controlled breathing remaining.

"Zig."

He turned around.

Valeria stood a few steps away and tossed him a stamina potion.

Zig caught it, popped the cork with his thumb, and tilted his head back to gulp it down.

The medicine slid down my throat into my chest, initially causing a slight burning sensation, which then transformed into a clear warmth that spread throughout my body.

The fatigue accumulated from the repeated advances, archery, and fighting since entering the fortress was quickly suppressed, and the previously heavy shoulders, back, and arms regained their strength.

Valeria only said one word.

"Walk."

The two of them simultaneously leaped over the sacred wall and rushed outwards.

The goblins outside the door were already stunned by the severed head, and their morale had been greatly diminished.

When they saw Sieg and Valeria burst out from inside, the front row immediately went into chaos.

They were unable to regain their footing or put up any decent resistance, and within a short time, more than a dozen fell down.

Those who remained could no longer hold on and began to flee. No one cared about anyone else, and chaos ensued as people pushed, shoved, and trampled each other.

Several of them, in their panic, stumbled into the traps in the fortress.

But just as Zieg had predicted, there weren't many actual killing devices in this place; most of what went off were just alarms.

Wooden whistles, rope bells, and signaling devices buried behind crumbling walls and wooden planks were all activated in succession, and sharp, chaotic sounds exploded throughout the stronghold, which only made the fleeing goblins even more panicked.

Zieg sheathed his steel sword and replaced it with a yew longbow.

He stepped over the broken walls and rubble to climb onto the roof of the adjacent house, standing in a position where he could see the exit of the outer village, and began firing his bow repeatedly.

The arrows pierced the wind, pinning down one by one the fleeing figures amidst the crumbling walls, muddy ground, and wooden fences.

Most of the goblins failed to escape; only a few actually broke out of the stronghold.