If anyone were to look down from above at this battlefield swarming with goblins, they would certainly find it bizarre: why was there a slime slowly wriggling along the edge of the battlefield?
In fact, some goblins had already noticed a slime right next to them. Within a mere fraction of a second, they accepted the fact that a ridiculous humanoid-shaped slime had appeared on the battlefield.
Although they were a little confused as to why a slime would appear on the ninth floor, slimes were simply too weak. Not only monsters, but even many ordinary people regarded them as completely harmless. Even if a slime appeared in such a sensitive location, none of the goblins treated it as a threat.
The brains of common goblins, smaller than a potato, simply could not comprehend the concept of someone disguising themselves as a slime.
Ninety percent of their brains were occupied by the instinct to breed with various females, while the remaining ten percent was left to whatever primal urge—eating, sleeping, or plundering—could temporarily seize the intellectual high ground.
In fact, when the path was blocked, some goblins would even actively step aside to let Lu Mao pass.
Thus, Lu Mao made his way completely unimpeded right up to the Giant Goblin. Before the monster could react, he pulled out his Shadow Affinity Dagger, leaped up with all his might, and drove it toward the back of its neck.
Squelch!
The Giant Goblin was too tall; he missed the back of its neck, plunging the blade into its back instead.
“Roar!”
The Giant Goblin shrieked in pain and tried to reach back to fling the person clinging to its back off. However, under the rapid onset of the neurotoxin, it could do nothing but stand frozen in place.
This cry of agony drew the attention of everyone present. The forty-odd goblins and the two inside the altar's barrier all noticed a slime clinging to the Giant Goblin's back.
If the Giant Goblin gave the order, every single goblin present would undoubtedly swarm forward and tear this bizarrely behaving slime to shreds.
But it neither commanded nor moved, standing quietly in place like a puppet, which began to confuse the rest of the goblins.
“The toxin won't keep it under control for long. I need to stab it a few more times.”
Lu Mao gritted his teeth and pulled out the dagger, black blood spurting from the wound.
The Giant Goblin's muscles were as stiff as stone under the influence of the neurotoxin, but its heavy breathing and slight trembling showed that the monster was desperately fighting the paralysis.
Lu Mao did not hesitate. Grabbing the Giant Goblin's shoulder with his other hand, he pulled himself up with a hard tug, bringing the back of the Giant Goblin's head fully into his line of sight.
Now was his chance!
Lu Mao swung with all his might, driving the hand holding the dagger straight toward the monster's hairless back of the head.
Clang!
Just when Lu Mao thought his strike was guaranteed to land, an incredibly sharp, ear-splitting screech of metal clashing against metal erupted right in front of him.
He felt as if he had struck a solid steel plate. A massive recoil traveled from the blade to his wrist, jolting up his forearm all the way to his shoulder, instantly numbing half of his right arm.
Before he could comprehend what had happened, the air in front of him suddenly distorted violently—like an invisible hand tearing a transparent film.
Ripples spread outward from where the dagger had struck, and a dark silver metallic luster emerged from the void. First came the top of a helmet, then the ear guards on both sides, and finally the entire back of the headpiece, revealing its true form in a jigsaw of light and shadow.
It turned out to be a full-face helmet of solid dark silver. Its surface bore no decorative patterns, polished as smooth as a mirror.
There was a faint white scratch on the back of the helmet left by the dagger, but other than that, it was completely unscathed.
“What the hell is this?!”
Lu Mao was utterly dumbfounded.
The enemy actually had invisible armor on its head—yet Debao hadn't told him a single thing about it!
He knew his system was unreliable, but he never expected it to be this useless!
【Magic equipment detected—scanning...】
【Name: Void Helmet】
【Grade: Epic】
【Equipped Effects:
【Effect 1: Passive Invisibility—The helmet remains completely invisible when out of combat, giving the wearer's head the visual appearance of being unprotected.
【Effect 2: Anti-Magic Detection—Grants immunity to Mid-Tier and lower detection and scanning skills.
【Effect 3: Rigid Defense—Provides extremely high defense against physical slashing and piercing attacks. Defense rating scales with the wearer's magicule intensity.
【Effect 4: Pain Reduction—Significantly dampens pain feedback from head attacks when worn.】
【Remarks: The creator of this helmet was a Demon King candidate goblin who was exceptionally terrified of death. He spent three hundred years gathering materials and another two hundred years commissioning fallen dwarves to forge it, only to be trampled to death by a passing hero the very day after putting it on—
【Because the helmet only protects the head, leaving everything below the neck completely exposed. It is said the wearer's last words before dying were: “At least my head is still intact.”】
【Remarks 2: The helmet is currently in a charged, active state, with all effects fully operational. Magicule source: the wearer.】
Lu Mao had absolutely no time to carefully read the information provided by the system. He only knew that if he failed to strike a vital spot again, he would be the one getting killed.
Aiming for the exposed neck, Lu Mao silently prayed that there wouldn't be some “Void Neck Guard” or “Void Necklace” before driving the dagger down.
Although his entire right arm was weak and numb from the recoil, fortunately, the Shadow Affinity Dagger was exceptionally sharp. Even with a limp thrust, the tip easily pierced through the grayish-green skin.
For the second time, shadow toxin flowed along the blade, injecting deep into the Giant Goblin's neck and straight into its central nervous system.
The Giant Goblin's left eyeball bulged violently, its pupil instantly shrinking to a pinprick.
It opened its mouth, trying to issue one final command, but only a string of gurgled noises escaped its throat as its massive body seemed to lose all its bones.
Its knees buckled, and it collapsed heavily to the ground. Its entire upper body fell forward, slamming onto the stone floor and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Flung off by the momentum, Lu Mao rolled twice across the ground before crashing into the corridor's stone wall. His back slammed hard against the uneven stone surface, making him grimace in pain.
The dagger was still embedded in the back of the Giant Goblin's neck; he hadn't had time to pull it out.
【Killed Giant Goblin. Gained 15 system energy points.】
【Detected Shadow Affinity Dagger absorbing the target's monster core energy. Growth progress +8% (Cumulative: +14%)】
【Current experience has overflowed. Please complete the Level Breakthrough Quest as soon as possible.】
【Level Breakthrough Quest: Kill any ten monsters to break through to Level 3.】
【Achievement Unlocked: Are You High-Tier or Not?】
【Achievement Requirement: Defeat a High-Tier monster for the first time.】
【Achievement Reward: Extra Death Return charge +1 (Current remaining: 4)】
The surrounding horde of goblins erupted into absolute chaos.
With the Giant Goblin dead, the few hobgoblins that were still trying to organize the ranks instantly lost their authority over the others. With no one left to unify and command them, the forty-odd goblins began to act on their own:
Some shrieked as they rushed toward Lu Mao to avenge their boss, while others took advantage of the chaos to loot the gear from the Giant Goblin's corpse—though after realizing it was too heavy to carry, they also ran off screaming.
Even more goblins turned and fled deep into the corridor, clearly intending to escape this cursed place where even their leader had met his end.
But the dozen or so that charged forward to seek revenge were already deadly enough.
The light in the corridor was as dim as if it were covered by a layer of dirty gauze. Lu Mao leaned against the cold stone wall, gasping heavily, his chest heaving.
The Giant Goblin's corpse lay just five paces away. The Shadow Affinity Dagger was still stuck in the back of its neck, the blade mostly submerged, leaving only a dusty hilt exposed.
Dark green blood gushed from the wound, pooling on the stone floor into a viscous puddle that reeked of rust.
But Lu Mao had absolutely no chance to retrieve his weapon.
Because the dozen or so rushing goblins had already arrived right in front of him.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck—”
Scrambling, he pushed himself up from the ground. His right hand was still numb, and his entire arm felt as if a pound of vinegar had been poured into the bone—sore, weak, and completely impossible to lift.
He could only grab a corner of his cloak with his left hand, holding it up in front of him in a haphazard shield, while desperately retreating toward the altar.
Charging at the very front was a hobgoblin, standing a full head taller than the common goblins. It clutched a golden broken sword in its hand, with a few shredded bits of flesh still hanging from the blade.
Its eyes were blood-red, and a shrill screech escaped its mouth as it raised its blade high, hacking down toward Lu Mao's head.
It was over.
Those were the only words left in Lu Mao's mind.
He was already beginning to mentally plan his route for after he reloaded—if he died and went back this time, he would have to factor in the Giant Goblin's invisible helmet beforehand. He couldn't afford to make the same mistake twice—
Just bear with the pain. I hope this goblin's sword is sharp and its strength is high. It'd be best if it aims straight for a vital spot; just don't leave me half-dead and suffering.
A beam of blazing white light flashed past his ear, the searing wave of heat leaving the tip of his ear burning and numb.
The beam struck the hobgoblin squarely in the chest, blasting the monster backward. It flipped two and a half times in midair, knocking over three or four goblins behind it before slamming into the stone wall and sliding down. A fist-sized hole in its chest was still emitting wisps of black smoke, and after twitching twice, it fell completely still.
“Get down!”
A hoarse, sharp cry rang out from behind him.
Instinctively, Lu Mao dove forward, flattening himself against the cold stone floor, his chin slamming painfully against the ground.
A split second later, a circular shockwave of holy light swept over his head, its blinding white brilliance illuminating the entire altar area as bright as day.
Wherever the shockwave passed, the seven or eight goblins rushing at the very front were blasted backward as if struck by an invisible sledgehammer. They crashed into the stone walls and the floor, the sickening sound of cracking bones echoing one after another.
The remaining few finally grew terrified.
With no Giant Goblin to anchor them and no hobgoblins to lead the charge, the survival instincts of this disorganized rabble finally overrode their urge for revenge. Screaming, they scattered and fled in all directions, with some running so frantically they dropped their weapons, clattering to the floor.
The corridor fell silent.
Nothing remained but the sound of heavy panting and the echoing footsteps of the fleeing goblins in the distance.
Lu Mao lay on the ground, his cheek pressed against the cold stone, his heart still drumming frantically against his ribs.
He tried moving his fingers—they worked. He tried lifting his arm—it also worked.
He wasn't missing any limbs, his intestines weren't spilling out, and there was no pigman hunching over him chewing on his organs.
He was still alive.
He hadn't reloaded.
Rate on N.U.
