Chapter 91: Chapter 91

Nearly killed, Zorn let out an angry shriek. It picked up a "small wooden stick" and pointed it toward Lin Mo.

In the next moment, Lin Mo felt his body become many times heavier, his movements turning extremely stiff.

So that's it, this is the slowing spell Halek mentioned?

The several Mutated Goblins brandished their weapons and attacked. Lin Mo retreated as quickly as possible, ultimately dodging three of the attacks, then cast [Resilience] on himself and swung his sword to block the assaults from the remaining two Mutated Goblins.

The damage reflection effect of [Resilience] activated. Combined with the original impact force from the collision, the two Sub-adult Mutated Goblins staggered and retreated several steps.

Simultaneously, the slowing curse on Lin Mo disappeared.

He quickly retreated some distance, evading the subsequent pursuit from the three Mutated Goblins.

One could only say it was fortunate that his current agility attribute was high enough. Even after being reduced by nearly half by the slowing curse, it was still sufficient to keep up with these Mutated Goblins. Otherwise...

Otherwise, he would definitely have gotten some skin cut just now.

Those five Sub-adult Mutated Goblins had almost no ability to harm him anymore.

Even if he took a direct hit head-on, it would only be at the level of breaking the skin.

Seeing Lin Mo's astonishing performance while fighting under the curse, Zorn immediately quieted down, stopped its strange cries, and without the slightest hesitation, directly called for the two Adult Mutated Goblins to follow and protect it, then turned and ran.

Lin Mo wanted to give chase, but as soon as he started moving, that bastard turned around and cast another slowing spell. The remaining Adult and five Sub-adult Mutated Goblins swarmed up together, forcing him to temporarily abandon the pursuit.

[Cross Slash]! ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel-fire.ɴet

Lin Mo retreated several steps under his heavy body, avoiding the Adult's attack, then immediately countered with a Cross Slash, clashing with one of the Sub-adult Mutated Goblins.

With a loud sound, the spiked club in the Mutated Goblin's hand flew away, its arm bone fractured instantly. It howled in pain and stumbled backward several steps.

The attacks from the other Sub-adult Mutated Goblins landed on Lin Mo, but under the effect of [Resilience], they were indeed nothing more than slight irritations.

As the slowed state ended, Lin Mo didn't linger in battle. Instead, he directly retreated, activated [Shadowmeld], and amidst the confused expressions of the several Mutated Goblins, chased after the Goblin Spellcaster.

Without the influence of the slowing spell, his high 20-point agility was exerted to the extreme. In just a few seconds, he caught up with his target.

Zorn seemed to realize something, raised its hand again, cast a protective spell on itself, and simultaneously commanded a Mutated Goblin to block in front of it.

Lin Mo had anticipated this. He twisted his body, leaped sideways, bypassing the Mutated Goblin's protection, and instantly executed [Cross Slash], landing a solid hit on the small figure before him.

The same invisible force field blocked most of the damage, but even so, it still left two terrifying sword marks on its body.

Zorn cried out in pain with a sharp shriek. Only then did the Mutated Goblin in front notice it was being ambushed, swinging its giant axe toward Lin Mo.

Lin Mo rolled upon landing using the momentum from his leap, fearlessly engaging it head-on.

When sword and axe met, the tremendous force transmitted from the other end caused the Adult Mutated Goblin's expression to change dramatically.

With 17 points of strength, plus the rebound effect brought by [Resilience], even an Adult Mutated Goblin could no longer contend with Lin Mo directly.

It staggered back several steps, only to find that Lin Mo had already charged toward its "king" again.

Another Mutated Goblin attempted to block, but Lin Mo's agile footwork toyed with it. Zorn raised its staff, pointing it at Lin Mo.

Clearly, it intended to cast the slowing spell again.

However, at that very moment, Lin Mo's figure suddenly vanished on the spot.

Zorn froze for a moment. By the time it regained its senses, the blade was already approaching its neck.

There was no time to cast protection. A head flew into the air, only to be split in half by a subsequent sword energy, dead beyond dead.

Lin Mo snorted coldly. Still trying to ambush him!

Previously, it was because he was unfamiliar with its spells and not proficient enough in using [Shadowmeld], but he wouldn't keep falling for the same trick.

[Shadowmeld] proficiency +10

[Cross Slash] proficiency +10

The proficiency points this guy provided were actually the same as that previous Earth Bear.

Well then, next, it's time to deal with the remaining few.

Lin Mo turned his head to look at the several Mutated Goblins.

Just now, he had to prioritize eliminating the enemy's core to prevent it from escaping, so he couldn't deal with these guys and found them quite annoying.

Now, without the interference of the Goblin Spellcaster, it's time to settle accounts with them!

Lin Mo stepped on the ground, his body shooting out like an arrow, heading straight for the two Adult Mutated Goblins.

In an instant, he closed the distance. A single [Strike] from his sword sent one stumbling backward. The other Mutated Goblin attacked from the side, but Lin Mo drew the dagger from his waist and smoothly executed an upward flick.

The dagger, less than twenty centimeters long, seemed minuscule compared to the giant axe in the Mutated Goblin's hand. Yet, this small knife effortlessly blocked the opponent's attack.

Lin Mo shouted angrily, exerted force suddenly, deflected the giant axe, and in the next moment, his figure disappeared directly. He dodged sideways to avoid the renewed attack from the previously repelled Mutated Goblin, then quickly circled behind it and executed a [Cross Slash], giving it a back carving.

The sword energy left two deep, bone-visible wounds on the Mutated Goblin's robust body. It cried out in pain, swinging its giant axe toward its back.

Lin Mo leaned backward, bending at the waist to dodge this strike, smoothly delivering a precise kick right between its legs.

Seeing this scene, the other Mutated Goblin finally completely lost its will to fight, hurriedly fleeing toward the forest.

Along with it were the several Mutated Goblins that had chased over earlier. As soon as they got close, they immediately fled in panic in different directions.

These guys weren't too stupid after all, knowing to run separately. Lin Mo quickly gave chase but only managed to kill three Sub-adult Mutated Goblins. The remaining two Adults and two Sub-adults had already run far away, making pursuit difficult.

Lin Mo exhaled a turbid breath, wiped his dagger clean, and approached the several bound young women, cutting the ropes restraining them.

"Thank you! Thank you..."

The young women continuously expressed their gratitude, tears streaming uncontrollably down their faces as they looked at their savior with immense gratitude.

Lin Mo waved his hand dismissively and looked toward the direction of the village.

After he killed the Goblin Spellcaster, no more goblins would join the fight later. The goblins had lost their backbone and should soon fall into chaos.

Although the village would still inevitably suffer heavy losses, this was already the best they could do.

He brought the young women to the recuperating Halek. Although Halek's injuries were only half recovered, he was after all a professional. Ordinary goblins posed no threat to him. Taking a detour, protecting these young women back to the village was more than sufficient.

As for Lin Mo, he headed toward the goblin army from the rear.

This was a rare opportunity; he wanted to grind as much proficiency as possible...

"Leader, we can't hold on much longer..."

Back at Falling Leaves Village, as the battle dragged on, not only the villagers but also the adventurers' stamina began to fail.

Solan's hands trembled, almost unable to even draw his bowstring anymore.

"Even if we can't hold on, we must hold on!"

Alden was also panting heavily. Looking at the seemingly endless goblin army ahead, his eyes couldn't help but show some confusion.

The villagers had suffered heavy losses, many had perished in battle, and numerous others were seriously injured. Few young people could still fight. Elderly villagers strained to hold various "weapons," risking their lives to protect their children and grandchildren.

The battle situation grew increasingly grim, with no visible hope of victory.

Ellie swiftly slit the throats of two goblins with her sword. At this point in the battle, there was no luxury of time for decapitations.

Throat-cutting and heart-piercing were the quickest and most effort-saving methods.

"Almost an hour has passed."

Rick's voice was somber. There was no news from either Halek or Lin Mo. Although he didn't want to think it, the terrible battle situation made it hard not to consider pessimistic possibilities.

"They might already be... Leader, it's time to retreat."

Alden fell into silence. Both Rick and Carson had sustained minor injuries. He knew clearly that if they chose to withdraw now, although somewhat difficult, there was still considerable hope of breaking through and escaping.

If they delayed any longer, when their stamina was completely depleted, retreat would truly become impossible.

Ellie pushed away the several goblins rushing toward her with difficulty, quickly killing them one by one with her sword: "He'll be fine..."

As if hypnotizing herself, she muttered while venting her anger by continuously slashing at the goblins before her.

Clearly, reason also told her that after such a long time without returning, the possibility of Lin Mo being safe and sound was very low.

Alden fought while wrestling with his thoughts, extremely conflicted.

"Wait five more minutes... the final five minutes..."

Everyone remained silent, seemingly acquiescing to his decision.

They had done everything they could. Even if Falling Leaves Village still fell, it would be unavoidable.

After all, they were adventurers; they couldn't stake their lives on a single mission... or for others' safety.

From the moment Alden spoke those words, time seemed to accelerate. The five minutes passed quickly, yet the situation before them remained unchanged.

Alden took a deep breath: "Everyone, prepare to withdraw!"

Ellie gripped her sword tightly and shouted, but didn't continue.

She didn't know what to say. Ellie understood clearly that the leader's decision was correct, but—

Lin Mo's face appeared before her eyes. These past few days felt like a beautiful dream that passed in a rush.

It seemed she was about to return to her former days, back to the past where everyone kept their distance from her.

But what could staying accomplish? He might already be dead.

That gentle smile might never appear before her again.

Complex emotions threw Ellie's mind into chaos. She bit her lip tightly, her knuckles turning white from gripping her sword.

"Ellie, it's time to go..."

Alden lowered his gaze, sinking into deep self-blame: "It's my fault. I shouldn't have let him go."

"Leader, the goblin rear seems to be falling into chaos!"

At that moment, Carson, accustomed to constant reconnaissance, suddenly noticed something unusual.