Chapter Nine: The Death of the Blue-Haired Youth

How did the goblin reinforcements arrive so quickly?!

Mike was a seasoned professional adventurer, and he remembered precisely that goblin reinforcements only came eight to nine minutes after a sentinel’s death.

More accurately, it was between seven minutes fifty seconds and nine minutes five seconds.

But now, less than four minutes had passed since they saw that half-orc collecting the body.

Could the goblin lair really be this close to here?!

Mike couldn’t figure out the reasoning behind it.

This was understandable, because Mike had never dismembered a goblin out in the wild.

He hadn’t even seen one dismembered before.

Naturally, he had no idea that dismembering a goblin would speed up the arrival of goblin reinforcements.

It was only a few days ago that Rosh, after killing a goblin, decided to study its anatomy and proceeded to dissect it.

Later, while heading to kill a second goblin with Layla, they unexpectedly encountered a rushing group of goblins.

That was when they realized this fact.

The situation that day had been dire; master and servant almost perished at the hands of the goblins. Layla had even made a special note of the incident in her diary.

Today, this unusual experience came in handy.

Rosh dashed over to Layla’s side, scooped her up, and sprinted away.

The danger was far from over; goblins wouldn’t hesitate to attack him just because Rosh was the top goblin slayer in Wheel Town.

Now it was a race to see who could run faster.

Mike, standing at a distance, clearly realized this too.

He glanced at the blue-haired youth beside him, still frozen with fear, and shouted impatiently:

“What are you waiting for? Run!”

The blue-haired youth was jolted awake by Mike’s shout.

He looked at the goblin roaring as it charged at them, shivered, and took off at full speed.

Mike activated his “Divine Speed” skill, overtaking the youth by about a body length.

The two ran desperately, but the goblin behind the youth was closing the gap.

There was no other way; the blue-haired youth was only a first-tier assassin. Although agility was his strength, the skill bonuses at first-tier were too weak.

Listening to the growing roar, the youth felt like death itself was chasing him, his soul nearly abandoning him from terror.

He shouted to Mike ahead:

“Mike! Help me! It’s—it’s catching up!!”

“Shut up, idiot! Control your breathing! What else did the boss leave you? Get it out now!!!”

In this moment, Mike no longer cared about master-servant distinctions; he felt deeply frustrated.

As a survival-focused hunter, he was confident he could run faster than Rosh. Yet now, carrying a burden like this, running was impossible, and not running was even worse.

He glanced at the nearly broken blue-haired youth, tears and snot flying across his face, and his disgust deepened.

He resolved that if the youth didn’t have any life-saving tricks soon, he would just abandon him and never return to Bantanda.

The blue-haired youth, seeing the goblin about to catch him, was overwhelmed by terror.

He cried out recklessly:

“This time I only brought the Thorn Guard my father gave me, nothing else!!! Mike, please save me! If I die, you won’t survive either!!!”

The youth’s cries continued; he already felt the goblin’s oppressive presence just a few meters behind.

The sense of imminent death filled his mind, sending his nerves into overdrive.

Suddenly, his eyes widened with joy as he saw Mike turn back!!

He shouted excitedly:

“Mike, I knew you had a backup plan! I knew you wouldn’t—”

Pfft!!!

A sharp pain in his abdomen cut off his words, and countless droplets of ascitic fluid sprayed from his mouth.

He stared in disbelief at Mike, who had delivered a heavy kick.

Mike’s kicking right foot followed through, flicking the necklace around the youth’s neck up and onto his own, spitting:

“Damn, almost forgot this treasure.”

Then he launched another flying kick into the youth’s abdomen, sending him directly into the arms of the goblin.

The youth’s eyes went wide as he watched Mike sprint away.

It seemed that even at the final moment before death, he never understood why Mike treated him so cruelly.

Warm breath fell on his face, sticky saliva dripping down.

Like a puppet, he slowly raised his head to see the grotesque, hideous face looming over him, struggling one last time:

“No, no—ah!!!!!!”

Blood splattered as the sounds of feeding echoed through the forest.

Minutes later.

Mike stopped after confirming the goblin behind wouldn’t catch up.

Looking ahead, Rosh and Layla were nowhere in sight.

“They’ve already run off? Damn it, if I wasn’t stuck with this burden, the bastard would’ve been goblin bait for sure.”

Thinking of Rosh, Mike ground his teeth in rage.

Although he had obtained the Thorn Guard at last, somewhat compensating for the loss, he now had no place to stay in Bantanda city.

The team he had painstakingly built over half his life was completely destroyed.

He hated Rosh with a burning passion.

But fortunately, he still had a backup plan.

During the fight, he had left the “Scent Tracking” skill on Rosh.

As long as Rosh hadn’t gone too far by the time Mike recovered, he could track his scent.

Thinking of this, a sinister smile spread across Mike’s face:

“Get ready to face an ambush from a second-tier hunter.”

He looked up at the dense canopy overhead, carefully discerning directions.

He was now in the Northern Sunset Forest. Going south back to Wheel Town was impossible. West led to Bantanda’s main city, also out of the question.

That left only east, but east...

Mike hesitated.

Their team had just come from the east, and to be honest, he didn’t want to go back that way, but right now he had no choice.

After much thought, he decided to try heading east again.

“Damn it, if I survive this time, I’ll make that bastard regret ever being born!”

As he spoke, a familiar scent hit his nose.

Mike’s heart clenched suddenly!!

It was the “Scent Tracking” skill he had left!

That kid was turning back!

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