Wildness and Masks

Goblins are cunning but not very smart.

Lustful and greedy, yet cowardly, they are a typical race that likes to bully the weak.

Unlike the goblin race tamed by the Truth Wizards, the evil of wild goblins is recognized as irredeemable.

Only goblins that have been tamed for more than two generations can become rational, greedy but not evil goblins.

In this sense, the relationship between goblins and goblins is quite similar to that of wolves and dogs.

"One hundred and thirty-two... one hundred and thirty-three..."

Ogre held his small hammer and fearlessly swept through, taking down one goblin with each swing.

He managed to instill a sense of panic in these low-intelligence creatures who rarely felt fear.

Although cunning goblins are used to setting traps using darkness and others' underestimation, expecting their simple minds to come up with any intricate setups is overestimating them.

"#%... Loo!"

(Goblin language: This guy is terrifying, he’s not afraid of the dark, he can see us!)

To the goblins, Ogre's presence was an overwhelming force; his leather armor and tough skin allowed him to ignore the arrows of these low-level goblins.

His eyes, which could see through the night, always helped him avoid traps and ambushes, granting him night vision far superior to that of the goblins, allowing him to strike key goblins from afar.

As for the weak paralyzing poison mist commonly used by goblins, it was ineffective against Ogre, who had deliberately trained his ogre physique.

The large quantities of Elf Green Tree Fruit he consumed earlier also ensured that Ogre had ample stamina for the ensuing slaughter.

His specially crafted weapon set gave him an astonishing advantage in the narrow and ever-changing caves.

But most importantly, Ogre's attitude towards goblins—contemptuous but never underestimating.

For apprentice-level professionals, goblins are easy to kill, but when their numbers grow, they can still turn the tables and kill apprentices. Such incidents happen every year, and these deaths are mostly due to underestimating the enemy and showing mercy.

"Loo ka ka!"

(Goblin language: Don’t run!)

A large goblin, with a body and mind clearly twice the size of other goblins, roared.

The dominance of higher-level demon beasts over their lower-level kin is nearly absolute. Under the call of this large goblin, the remaining scattered goblins overcame their fear and surrounded Ogre.

Seeing this, a rare smile appeared at the corner of Ogre's mouth beneath his mask; the one he was looking for had finally shown up.

Ogre then reached for the small wooden box at his waist.

Whoosh—!

Amidst the goblins' low growls, the sound of something cutting through the air wasn’t particularly noticeable.

But the effect of this attack was crucial.

A small goblin hiding behind the large goblin fell to the ground as the sound ended.

A nail was lodged in its head.

‘Goblin Shaman, dealt with.’

Naturally, it was Ogre who threw the nail. His target was never the robust large goblin.

It was the Goblin Shaman hiding behind the goblins and ready to cast spells at any moment!

The goblin race can also grasp low-quality magic, but due to their short lifespan and limited intelligence, many goblins die of old age or in battle before they can learn magic.

Only those who survive and are particularly smart can become mages among goblins—Goblin Shamans.

These goblin mages are usually born from human or elf mothers.

Once Ogre finds such a goblin, he never hesitates to shoot it down immediately.

The special iron nails in the small wooden box at his waist were prepared for such situations.

"Go! Loo ka... da si ta!"

(Goblin language: No! No—! Shaman Lord! Damn it, kill that human!)

Although Ogre couldn’t understand what these goblins were saying, just by observing the large goblin’s behavior, he could roughly guess its intentions.

However, whether the goblins were angry or not had nothing to do with him.

Destroying such creatures didn’t stir any significant emotions in Ogre.

The small hammer, connected by a rope, spun in Ogre's hand. Each swing took a goblin's life.

Not a single goblin wielding a knife could touch Ogre's body; they all died under this seemingly ordinary small hammer.

Ogre walked leisurely towards the large goblin.

For him, killing a low-level goblin was even easier than driving a nail.

Gathering them together saved him the trouble of chasing them down and throwing stones.

In just a few breaths, Ogre stood before the large goblin, with the dead low-level goblins unevenly scattered along the path he had walked, forming a road.

"Loo ka da!"

(Goblin language: Damn human! I will kill you!)

The large goblin hadn’t even launched an attack itself, and its underlings were nearly wiped out, leaving it all alone.

What exactly had it protected?

And all this happened in less than three breaths.

Facing the enraged, charging goblin.

Ogre merely grabbed the end of the rope, allowing gravity to lengthen it slightly, then with a powerful spin, he hurled the hammer like a slingshot.

The large goblin, just five steps away, demonstrated a different level of physical prowess in the face of the incoming hammer.

It managed to withstand a blow that could have shattered an ordinary person’s skull with its robust body.

However, its drooping left shoulder and limp left hand indicated that taking this powerful blow wasn’t easy.

"Gol!" The large goblin, accustomed to slaughter, let out a roar even more intense than before, filled with both pain and anger.

It had never faced such a formidable enemy before, one so small...

This reminded it of a time in its childhood when it fled from a human who slaughtered its kin, a human of similar size to this one, who had reaped its kin like weeds.

But this time, it wouldn’t retreat!

This was the king's task!

It was also its defiance against fate after surviving!

Perhaps with such a belief, this pained large goblin didn’t choose to flee but instead charged straight at Ogre.

Its eyes were red as it lifted its uninjured right hand, holding a club, and lunged at Ogre.

It believed that at this distance, the unarmed human before it couldn’t possibly dodge!

The distance it gained would surely avenge the Shaman Lord... It would surely protect the nest, safeguarding the newborns for the king...

It couldn’t retreat; behind it lay the hope of the goblin race...

It was about to hit, this human was doomed!

Even as its head left its body, the large goblin still believed it could win...

‘Why is my body not under my control...’ Only when its head fell onto the muddy ground of the dark cave did it begin to lose consciousness...

‘I am not reconciled...’

A foot stepped on its still-conscious large head, the last thing it saw was a familiar hammer.

"You do have some bravery..."

Facing the bravery of this large goblin, Ogre rarely praised it, though it could no longer hear.

After dealing with this most troublesome large goblin, Ogre turned his head and scanned the area. Once he confirmed there were no living goblins in sight, he manually reset the mechanism to retract the sleeve sword on his left hand.

Before launching his attack, Ogre had already disengaged the safety on the sleeve sword on his left hand.

As long as he raised his hand, the sharp, venom-coated sleeve sword would instantly spring out from his left arm!

Ogre’s sleeve sword wasn’t of traditional length—it was two-segmented, and when fully extended, it could rival a medium-short sword.

It was probably longer than Ogre’s forearm.

This ejection length could be used for sneak attacks at close range, which was the original purpose of Ogre creating this weapon.

But as his strength grew, the sleeve sword became less and less useful.

Ogre rarely used this sleeve sword anymore.

One main reason was that the sleeve sword wasn’t as handy as the new hammer, and each battle would damage the sword blade and consume the Silver Needle Bee Venom coated on it, requiring reapplication after two uses.

Although the bee venom wasn’t expensive, purchasing it was troublesome, as there weren’t many places selling Silver Needle Bee Venom on the black market. It was mainly due to the difficulty in collecting it, and it was usually only readily available in summer and autumn.

In terms of cost-effectiveness and efficiency, it was far less practical than the hammer, and Ogre would only use it when he ran out of weapons, serving as a small backup.

"If you hadn’t charged directly, I might have had a hard time swiftly chopping off your head... Rest in peace, don’t be a goblin in your next life."

Ogre sighed as he untied the rope buckle on his right arm guard, retracting the rope tied to the hammer handle ring, and then switched hands to hold the small hammer.

After securing the safety on the sleeve sword, he began preparing to explore deeper into the cave.

If Ogre guessed correctly—the remaining area should be where the goblins kept captives for breeding.

With only the remaining small goblins and female goblins inside, Ogre felt there was no need to use the Meteor Hammer tactic.

The hammer thrown with a rope could be troublesome if it missed the target, and it could easily harm the captive women.

The Meteor Hammer tactic was mainly used to deal with hordes of enemies.

"As for the ones that ran away, hmm... I’ll leave them to Foucault and the others, can’t let them come for nothing."

Before leaving, Ogre approached the Goblin Shaman who died before it could achieve anything and gave its head another hammer blow.

After confirming it was dead beyond any doubt.

Ogre picked up a few stones from the ground, holding them in his right hand as new 'ammunition.'

For goblins that would flee, throwing weapons were still the most effective.

For ordinary goblins, Ogre could kill them with stones alone; only for key targets would he use special nails.

"With such a poor setup, there probably won’t be any good treasures."

But he wasn’t here for treasure in the first place; goblins and treasure were unimportant. The absence of goblins was what mattered to Ogre.

Compared to living goblins.

Ogre preferred to converse with dead goblins.

——————

Item Encyclopedia: Silver Needle Bee Venom.

The venom of the Silver Needle Bee can momentarily relax and soften the target's muscle tissue upon contact.

Due to its properties, Silver Needle Bee Venom is a very useful surgical drug and sedative—it can be well absorbed by most life forms.

The specific duration of its effects depends on the dosage.

But generally, the duration is not long (high-dose injections won’t last more than three minutes), with similar effects whether ingested or applied externally. Overdose (half a liter or more) may cause the target's heart to stop abruptly, leading to death.

Due to its muscle defense-breaking properties, it can be used to temporarily ‘enchant’ weapons.

However, it has zero defense-breaking effect on Battle Qi, metal armor, and other non-living entities, and is also ineffective against targets with scales. It is only suitable for use below the level of true professionals.

Ogre’s ability to decapitate the large goblin in one strike was significantly aided by the Silver Needle Bee Venom, along with his understanding of goblin skeletal structure.