“Silvia! Behind you!” Greg shouted in alarm.
Hearing his call, Silvia turned her head and immediately locked eyes with the Goblin Shaman's small, cunning, and cruel eyes, as well as the pulse of terrifying dark red energy coalescing at the tip of its bone staff.
Lacking practical combat experience, her mind went completely blank in panic, her legs giving out as she collapsed onto the ground.
“Gah-haha!”
The Goblin Shaman let out a triumphant, screeching laugh and swung its bone staff down. The dark red magic orb, carrying chaotic and corrosive energy, trailed an ominous streak as it shot straight toward the helpless, seated Silvia!
Too far!
Two Goblin Warriors were still tangled in between! Charging over in time was impossible!
At that moment, Greg could only think of one way that might directly kill the Goblin Shaman and save Silvia.
That was the other magic spell he had acquired after awakening Dark Magic Affinity: LV1 Dark Pulse!
Although he hadn't tested this spell yet and didn't know its exact effect, he could only pray that its damage was higher than his most practiced long-range attack, LV2 Water Gun.
Because using Water Gun definitely wouldn't kill the Goblin Shaman in one hit, which meant Silvia would still be in danger.
With that thought, Greg acted almost without thinking, following his combat instincts to channel his rapidly circulating dark mana into the Dark Pulse skill and blasting it toward the Goblin Shaman with all his strength!
He had envisioned something like a Hadouken, a shadow energy blast carrying a powerful impact.
However, what actually shot out from his palm was... an inconspicuous, pure black dot no bigger than a thumbnail.
Though it moved fast, Greg felt such a tiny thing couldn't possibly do any damage to the Goblin Shaman.
His heart sank instantly.
It was over!
What kind of useless skill was this?!
It probably couldn't even kill a fly!
Hajimi, you ruined me!
The Goblin Shaman obviously saw the tiny black dot flying toward it as well.
However, focused on attacking its easily attainable target, it sneered at this tiny thing that carried virtually no mana fluctuation. It didn't even bother dodging, casually waving its bone staff to sweep it away.
Meanwhile, the dark red magic orb it fired was already inches away from Silvia's terrified face.
Right at this critical moment—
The inconspicuous black dot lightly passed through the swinging bone staff as if it had no physical form, sinking precisely into the Shaman's chest.
There was no explosion, no flash, not even a sound.
Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
The next second—
The Goblin Shaman froze mid-swing.
The sneer on its face distorted and froze before turning into extreme agony and confusion.
The dark red magic orb dissolved into nothingness without a sound less than a foot from Silvia's nose.
Immediately after, a rapid series of system notifications spammed the corner of Greg's vision like crazy:
【Target inflicted with “Weakness”!】
【Target inflicted with “Blindness”!】
【Target inflicted with “Confusion”!】
【Target inflicted with “Fear”!】
【Target inflicted with “Mana Disorder”!】
【Target inflicted with “Life Drain”!】
【Target inflicted with “Sensory Deprivation”!】
【Target inflicted with “Limb Paralysis”!】
【Target inflicted with “Mental Breakdown”!】
【Target inflicted with “Instant Death Check”!】
...
The Goblin Shaman didn't even have time to let out a second scream.
Its short body twitched violently, the bone staff in its hand snapped in half with a crisp crack, and a foul black mist oozed simultaneously from its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
Then, like a felled log, it fell straight backward rigid under Silvia's stunned gaze, crashing onto the ground with a loud thud, completely lifeless.
The overwhelming stack of negative status effects had utterly destroyed all of its physical and mental functions in a single instant.
In the cave, only the meaningless guttural noises of the other Goblins remained, terrified out of their wits by the eerie scene.
Silvia sat paralyzed on the ground, staring dazed at the Goblin Shaman's rapidly decaying corpse, before slowly raising her head to look at Greg, who was still holding his palm out in the distance.
What... just happened?
That terrifying spell... vanished?
Did Senior Greg do this?
How on earth did he kill the Goblin Shaman so silently?
The exhaustion of surviving a near-death experience intertwined with overwhelming confusion, leaving her momentarily speechless.
Yet she knew for certain that it was all thanks to Greg—he had saved her!
After quickly finishing off the remaining few terrified Goblin Warriors, Greg immediately turned and walked briskly over to Silvia.
He squatted down and reached out his hand to the dazed, pink-haired girl still sitting on the ground.
“Silvia,” he said with clear concern in his voice. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
Silvia looked up, meeting Greg's amber eyes, which shone brightly even in the dim light.
After a moment's hesitation, she reached out and gently placed her hand into Greg's open palm.
However, the moment their hands touched, Silvia paused slightly.
She suddenly realized that Greg's hand was much larger than her own, carrying heat from the recent battle.
An unfamiliar yet comforting warmth quietly passed through their touching skin, making her heart skip a beat.
“I-I'm fine, really,” she murmured with a blush, using Greg's support to pull herself up.
Once on her feet, her eyes involuntarily drifted to the unnaturally stiff corpse of the Goblin Shaman nearby.
Noticing her gaze, Greg's heart tightened. Assuming she was traumatized by the Shaman's bizarre and gruesome death, he quickly apologized:
“I'm sorry, it was my oversight. I didn't realize there was a Shaman hiding among those Goblins, nor did I prepare for a long-range magic ambush... It's my fault.”
“N-No, Senior Greg, that's not what I meant...”
Silvia shook her head hastily, her long pink hair swaying gently with the movement.
She looked at Greg, her eyes filled more with curiosity and wonder than fear.
“I'm just... a bit curious. That Goblin Shaman died so suddenly... That was your doing, right, Senior Greg?”
Rate on N.U.
