"Silvia! Behind you!" Greg shouted urgently.
Hearing his voice, Silvia spun around. She came face-to-face with the Goblin Shaman, its small eyes glinting with cruelty and cunning. At the tip of its bone staff, a heart-stopping orb of dark red energy was condensing.
Lacking real combat experience, she was caught completely off guard. Her mind went blank, her legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the ground.
"Ga-ha-ha!"
The Goblin Shaman let out a triumphant, eerie cackle. It swung its bone staff down, and the dark red sphere—filled with energy of chaos and corrosion—trailed an ominous wake as it shot straight toward the defenseless Silvia.
The distance was too great!
Two Goblin Warriors were still tangling with Greg in between! He wouldn't make it in time if he just tried to rush over.
In that moment, Greg could only think of one way to potentially kill the Goblin Shaman and save Silvia.
It was the other magic he had obtained after awakening his Dark Magic Affinity: LV1: Dark Pulse!
He hadn't tested this spell yet and had no idea what its specific effects were.
But now, he could only pray that this spell's damage would be higher than his most proficient long-range attack, Water Gun LV2.
If he used Water Gun, it definitely wouldn't kill the Goblin Shaman in one hit, and Silvia would still be in danger.
Thinking of this, Greg didn't hesitate. Following his combat instincts, he concentrated the rapidly flowing dark mana within him into the Dark Pulse skill and blasted it toward the Goblin Shaman with all his might!
In his mind, he imagined it would be something like a "Hadoken" from Street Fighter—a projectile of shadow energy with a powerful impact.
However, what actually flew out of his palm was... an inconspicuous, pure black dot about the size of a thumbnail.
Although it moved quickly, Greg felt that such a tiny thing couldn't possibly cause any damage to the Goblin Shaman.
His heart sank instantly.
It's over!
What kind of skill is this? It's completely useless!
It probably couldn't even kill a fly!
Hajimi, you've failed me!
The Goblin Shaman clearly saw the incoming black dot as well.
But it was focused on attacking the easy target right in front of it. It sneered at the tiny thing that possessed no detectable mana fluctuations. It didn't even bother to dodge, simply waving its bone staff dismissively to brush it aside.
Meanwhile, its dark red orb was about to reach Silvia's terrified face.
In that split second—
The inconspicuous black dot drifted past the Shaman's waving bone staff as if it had no physical form, and then precisely sank into its chest.
There was no explosion, no flash, and not even a sound.
Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
The next second—
The Goblin Shaman's movement froze as it swung its staff.
The cruel sneer on its face twisted and locked in place, then turned into an expression of extreme pain and confusion.
The dark red orb silently dissipated and vanished less than a foot from Silvia's nose.
Immediately after, a series of system notifications that only Greg could see began to pop up frantically in the corner of his vision, like a scrolling chat window:
[Target afflicted with "Weakness"!]
[Target afflicted with "Blindness"!]
[Target afflicted with "Confusion"!]
[Target afflicted with "Fear"!]
[Target afflicted with "Mana Disorder"!]
[Target afflicted with "Life Drain"!]
[Target afflicted with "Sensory Deprivation"!]
[Target afflicted with "Limb Paralysis"!]
[Target afflicted with "Mental Breakdown"!]
[Target afflicted with "Instant Death Check"!]
...
The Goblin Shaman didn't even have time to let out a second scream.
Its short body twitched violently, and the bone staff in its hand snapped on its own with a loud crack. A black mist, looking like foul blood, seeped from its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth simultaneously.
Then, like a felled log, it fell straight backward while still in its rigid state, hitting the ground with a heavy thud right before the stunned Silvia. It never moved again.
The sheer variety of stacked negative status effects had instantly destroyed its every physiological and mental function.
The only sounds left in the cave were the meaningless gurgles of the other Goblins, who were paralyzed with fear by this bizarre scene.
Silvia sat on the ground, staring blankly at the corpse of the Goblin Shaman as the light of life rapidly faded from it. She then slowly looked up toward Greg, who was still holding his palm out in the distance.
What just... happened?
That terrifying spell... disappeared?
Did Greg-senpai do this?
How did he manage to kill the Goblin Shaman so silently?
The exhaustion of a narrow escape mixed with immense confusion, leaving her speechless for a moment.
But she knew this definitely had something to do with Greg. He must have saved her!
After quickly cleaning up the few remaining Goblin Warriors who were scared out of their wits, Greg immediately turned and walked over to Silvia.
He knelt down and reached out his hand toward the pink-haired girl who was still sitting on the ground, looking dazed.
"Silvia." His voice carried clear concern. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Silvia looked up, meeting Greg's amber eyes, which seemed bright even in the dim light.
After a moment's hesitation, she reached out and gently placed her hand in Greg's open palm.
But the moment their hands touched, Silvia froze slightly.
She suddenly realized that Greg's palm was much larger than hers, and it carried the heat of the battle.
An unfamiliar but reassuring sensation quietly traveled through their touching skin, making her heart skip a beat.
"I-I'm fine. It's nothing.", she whispered, her face flushing as she stood up with Greg's help.
Once she was steady, her gaze instinctively drifted toward the strangely posed corpse of the Goblin Shaman nearby.
Greg noticed her gaze and his heart tightened. Thinking the Shaman's terrifying and bizarre death had traumatized her, he quickly apologized.
"I'm sorry, that was my oversight. I didn't realize there was a Shaman hidden among them, and I didn't prepare for a long-range magic attack. I almost put you in danger... It's my responsibility."
"No, no, Greg-senpai, that's not what I meant..."
Silvia shook her head quickly, her long pink hair swaying 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 suddenly died... That was your doing, wasn't it, Greg-senpai?"
Rate on N.U.
