novelraw Chapter 196: Undead Appear, Behira the City Lord's Hidden Move
Chapter 196: Undead Appear, Behira the City Lord's Hidden Move
Chapter 196: Undead Appear, Behira the City Lord's Hidden Move"Humans... don't even think about escaping!"
The Silver Goblin spellcaster held a staff that shone entirely silver—clearly forged from mithril!
As it raised the staff, a powerful fire elemental instantly began to condense, forming a beam-like line of flame that shot straight toward Lin Mo and Sherfilia.
The "beam" skimmed past Lin Mo's side, almost hitting him.
"How can he see us?!"
Lin Mo was stunned. He and Sherfilia had both activated their assassin-class stealth skills and vanished from sight.
Could it be these surrounding goblins?
They were currently deep within the goblin horde—either they squeezed through or literally walked over goblin heads to move.
If this Silver Goblin had a way to communicate broadly with its kin—or even share perception and instantly read information—then it could indeed know their positions.
This was trouble...This situation exceeded Lin Mo's expectations.
Another fire "beam" came. Sherfilia scooped Lin Mo up at the waist and darted aside.
One beam could be a coincidence, but twice—then more beams continuing the same way—meant Lin Mo's suspicion was right: stealth skills were useless here.
Held in front by Sherfilia, Lin Mo turned his head and watched the direction the beams were coming from. The instant he saw a flash of red, he warned her. Sherfilia dove aside in time, barely avoiding it.
That magic—so fast!
Lin Mo's pupils constricted. From the moment he saw the red to the beam passing their side, less than a second had elapsed!
"Left!"
Another fire "beam" flew in the next moment. Even with Lin Mo's warning, Sherfilia couldn't fully evade this time. She turned to shield Lin Mo;
the scorching beam grazed her left shoulder with a sizzling sound. Sherfilia groaned and trembled but quickly regained balance and kept running.
But the red beams kept coming—one after another with almost no pause.
The heat burned both their bodies red;
even without direct hits, their skin was singed.
Lin Mo downed his last basic mana potion and, with the recovered mana, cast a Greater Healing Art on Sherfilia while continuing to call out the beams' directions.
"Left!"
"Right!"
They were gradually widening the distance. If they could put enough ground between them, the caster's magic should no longer reach them...
Yet as Lin Mo thought this, several Bronze Goblins suddenly leapt out at Sherfilia.
Their target wasn't Lin Mo but Sherfilia.
Lin Mo frowned and formed a roaring ball of flame in his palm.
Fireball!
Given his current state, using low-level spells wasn't ideal.
But Fireball would suffice. The scorching orb hit and instantly killed one Bronze Goblin.
Then an ice spike flew from his other hand.
Ice Spike!
......
"Leave these guys to me... left!"
Sherfilia nodded and darted right.
Lin Mo's mana was nearly gone.
Repeated use of Flash earlier had drained a lot of mana—its cost was high, even more than some excellent-grade skills—he'd almost used up all his mana potions. R̃ἁ₦ŏBΕ𝐬
But he still had a hidden reserve...
The Flame Ring on his hand could store fire elemental mana—enough to cast eight excellent-grade skills, equivalent to thirty-two normal spells—more than enough for the current crisis.
Fireballs kept launching, slaughtering the goblins that dared ambush them.
Finally, they escaped the Silver Goblin spellcaster;
the continuous beams stopped.
Lin Mo breathed out. Sherfilia's stamina had reached the limit. She set him down, collapsed to her knees, bracing her hands on the ground, breathing erratically.
She had fought for a long time and didn't have Lin Mo's constitution;
her endurance had been drained. In truth, she'd been operating on willpower alone.
Now that danger had passed, her taut nerves loosened and she completely lost mobility.
Lin Mo still had some stamina and immediately rose to clear goblins approaching them—one swing could fell many.
But the moment he swung his sword again, his pupils suddenly shrank as he looked to the side.
He sensed an elemental fluctuation.
Sure enough, an ice spear was flying at Sherfilia at incredible speed!
Sherfilia was utterly exhausted;
her consciousness was fogging and she had no strength to dodge.
Lin Mo rushed forward and tackled her;
the ice spear struck down onto his back.
Sherfilia froze, then finally realized what had happened and panicked.
A crisp shattering sounded behind Lin Mo.
He had no mana left to cast Frost Guard, but he still had a means to defend against the ice spear.
Yes—the Flame Ring.
Equip Skill: Flame Barrier—triggers automatically when receiving a powerful attack, forming a flame barrier that blocks damage for 30 seconds. Long cooldown after use (12 hours).
Buying this Flame Ring with extra money had indeed been the right choice.
"I'm fine."
Seeing Sherfilia's trembling eyes, Lin Mo quickly scooped her up. "This isn't a good place to stay. We move now."
The attacker who tried to ambush them had likely been a level-5 Bronze Goblin spellcaster. Annoying, but Lin Mo couldn't afford to linger in the enemy ranks right then—he let it go for the moment and vowed to avenge it later.
He activated Swiftness and rapidly withdrew toward the rear defensive line.
Along the way they were repeatedly attacked by Bronze Goblins and Giant Goblins—clearly ordered by that Silver Goblin spellcaster, the goblin leader, to chase them down.
Lin Mo cradled Sherfilia's small frame with one arm and held the Steel-Cleaving Sword in the other, cutting down any who dared approach.
His mana was depleted, but his qi and blood still had reserves—enough to use normal and excellent-grade skills.
Consecutive Thrusts!
Swift Rushing Punch!
Gripping the sword, he delivered a punch so fierce it sent a Giant Goblin flying;
its sternum shattered.
He couldn't bother to finish it off and kept fleeing.
.....
Sherfilia was wrapped under his mage robes. Lin Mo held her tightly;
her cheek pressed against his chest. The warmth made her feel faint for a moment.
The strong metallic tang of blood reminded her she was still on a battlefield, but she lacked the strength to feel anxious—her body went limp, her mind blank, expression vacant.
Only when Lin Mo set her down did Ellie rush over, her face full of worry, and Sherfilia snapped back to awareness.
"Where's Finnie?"
Lin Mo looked around. They were now at the rear of the front line. Ellie had pulled back because she was wounded.
"Miss Finnie forcefully healed me and then passed out..."
Ellie pressed a half-bandaged wound, feeling low. "I still can't do much to help."
Lin Mo ruffled her hair as consolation.
He then took a mid-level Life Potion from his Spatial Ring, gave Sherfilia a big gulp, then some to Ellie, and drank the remainder himself.
The burn on Sherfilia's shoulder had been half-healed by Lin Mo's Greater Healing Art;
combined with the potion, it was mostly recovered.
Ellie's wounds, treated by Finnie, weren't severe. Sherfilia had protected Lin Mo well—he'd taken little real damage.
Wounds gradually closed, but stamina still needed time to recover.
Lin Mo turned to survey the battlefield.
Even from a distance he could see faint points of extinguished light.
Chairman Vic seemed to be entangled with that Silver Goblin spellcaster, holding it back so it couldn't massacre ordinary soldiers and adventurers.
But the defensive line still looked terrible—collapse seemed likely.
This battle, as anticipated before it began, was harsh.
Lin Mo walked up to the watchtower. Commander Joel, who coordinated defenses, stood there looking very strained.
"They should be arriving soon..."
He too was badly wounded, sipping a Life Potion while watching the battle.
"What?"
Lin Mo asked in confusion.
"Look over there..."
Joel pointed to the flank of the battlefield. Not long after he spoke, faint black mist began to spread from the horizon on both sides!
Lin Mo's face darkened. He knew this aura well.
"Undead creatures!"
Yes—recently, besides goblins, undead had often appeared near Silverstream City, posing a significant threat to adventurers entering the forest.
Of course these creatures had colluded with the goblins.
So when goblins besieged the city, the undead came to assist...
But for this scenario, Lin Mo thought Lady Behira would likely have foreseen it and prepared contingencies.
Sure enough, as the undead gathered on the battlefield flanks trying to smash the defenses, a squad in bright silver armor suddenly appeared on one side. On the right side came a team clad in black cloth armor.
Lin Mo had heard of two elite units in Silverstream City—the Silverplate Guard and the Shadow Squad. These must be them.
But would just these two elite squads be enough?
From Commander Joel's tense expression, probably not.
At that moment, another wave of personnel joined the battlefield.
They looked like adventurers—more precisely, large-scale adventuring companies.
A sizable group of a couple hundred arrived;
if their formation weren't loose and broken into small teams, Lin Mo might have mistaken them for hidden city troops.
Most Silverstream City adventurers should already be fighting.
Lin Mo glanced sideways and saw Joel's previously tense face relax into elation.
"Great, they finally made it!"
"Who are they?"
Lin Mo asked curiously.
"They were hired at great expense by the City Lord and Chairman Vic through the Adventurers' Association—two mercenary guilds: the Falcon Adventuring Company and the Lion Adventuring Company! They traveled all the way from Fargard City hundreds of miles away. With them here, those undead shouldn't be much of a threat."
"I see..."
Lin Mo nodded. Besides the forces the city could muster, it was natural to seek outside help.
But he was puzzled: for such a major goblin siege, why had the Kingdom sent no support? It seemed left to Lady Behira, the city lord, to hire adventuring companies herself.
Also, the goblin populations in Roland Forest had clearly been deliberately allowed to grow. Could they be intended solely to trouble Silverstream City? That seemed too risky.
Could some vested interests—some vested interests—be behind this?
Were they deliberately letting goblins multiply to achieve some gain?
Although uncertain now, if Lin Mo's suspicions were true, this whole affair would be a shameless tragedy born of greed.
He furrowed his brow—he had seriously underestimated how low some nobles would stoop.
The flank battle was too far to see details, but Joel's confidence suggested these adventuring companies were powerful and could handle the undead.
Lin Mo had no energy to run that far, but he could still help the front lines.
He glanced at his status panel. Compared to other professions, his Knight level was indeed a bit low.
Constitution is usually not needed, but when it is, it's crucial.
Notably, during the recent fight, his Fortitude skill had finally leveled up and gained substantial proficiency.
"Skill Fortitude Lv5 (180/180) upgraded!"
"Current Skill Fortitude Lv6 (31/300)"
Indeed, intense battles increased skill proficiency faster.
But he still needed over two hundred points of proficiency to fully evolve it.
However, the Knight skill Earth-Rending Slam was both useful and easy to train for the current situation.