Chapter 485: Who Was the Real Monster?

Lyra POV

She was doing everything in her power not to die. These stupid goblin-like monsters were stupidly fast and surprisingly sturdy. They also had this annoying ability that disrupted her mana, primarily her mana-based enforcement skill. Some of their weapons were covered with this skill as well.

She was beset by three of these goblins. She backed up as two goblins almost shoved their swords in her face; the other one she barely managed to smack aside with her dagger. However, she saw an opening for a fraction of a second, and her training ensured that she took it.

She used her movement skill to dash over to the separated goblin. The monster had overextended slightly, and its arm was in range of her dagger. She whipped out her arm and swiped at the beast.

The goblin was fast and was able to pull back its arm, but she still managed to nick it. That was enough.

The poison should be working through the monster’s body shortly; all she needed to do was wait until its movements started to slow down. That was precisely what she did; she made sure that she stayed safe until she began to see signs of the poison working.

These daggers were a gift from her father; he had always insisted that she learn how to fight close combat, despite her desires not to. He had trained for years until he felt like she could defend herself. Afterwards, he had gifted her this beautiful set of daggers.

They had three main effects. One was a general durability enchantment that protected the blade from damage, while also enhancing its sharpness. They would be able to cut through almost anything in Tier 3. The other enchantment was a self-repairing function, in case she cracked the blade or it got damaged. As long as she had some material and mana on hand, the blade would fix itself.

The final and most potent addition was a powerful poison enchantment that would inflict her opponent with severe nausea and paralysis. It didn’t take much; as long as she cut them, they would be in big trouble.

She was very glad that she had these daggers at the moment. The goblin she had nicked was already showing signs of slowing down. She continued to dance in between the goblins, letting her superior perception help her do so.

It was still quite dangerous. She almost got stabbed in the shoulder a couple of times when she was a split second too slow to turn. However, she had only gotten a small scratch so far. She didn’t sense any poison on their blades, but she was keeping an eye on her small wound.

Eventually, she was given another opening. This time around, she created an arrow in front of her face and shot it quickly at the approaching goblin. She didn’t need a bow to shoot her arrows; the weapon simply enhanced her attacks. She was still able to shoot them without it, albeit at a slower speed. However, that wasn’t her purpose for her attack.

It was just a distraction to give her time to focus on one of the healthy remaining goblins. Her plan worked. The goblin she shot her arrow at took a step back and avoided the projectile. Then, while it was distracted, she ducked underneath the goblin’s swift swing and scored a long slice across its abdomen.

She used her movement skill to jump back, the wind mana increasing her speed by a significant margin.

At this point, the first goblin she had nicked was already sluggish, and the second one was close behind. That last slice had been much deeper, and the poison should work much quicker because of that.

Sure enough, that was precisely what happened, and when she noticed that, she finally began to be more aggressive. She gathered a bunch of wind mana and hurled it at the healthy goblin, sending it flying backwards. Then, before the poisoned goblins could grasp the situation, she tore into them. Their disruptive skill was less effective now that her poison afflicted them.

She pushed her body hard. She wanted to finish them before their comrade could return and help. Her daggers smashed aside their weapons, and one of them found the face of the goblin. The monster reeled back as half of its face was cut open, more poison seeping into it.

This allowed her to face the last goblin alone. She stepped in close, allowing its blade to pass by her shoulder, and shoved her dagger right into the goblin’s eye. She was forced to leave it in there because the healthy goblin had finally collected itself and was attacking her. Its frenzied attack was hard to deal with, but since she had already taken care of one and another clawing at its sliced face, she was able to dance backwards as she waited for her moment.

She led the monster around until she finally returned to the dead goblin, retrieved her dagger from its eye socket, and then punished the now tired monster. She forced it on the defensive, and since it was exhausted, she was able to push it back easily. Eventually, it slipped, and she stepped in, stabbing her dagger into the monster’s throat.

She flinched when its nasty blood sprayed her. Her arm wiped her face and spat out anything that made it into her mouth. Then she walked over to the goblin, whose face was split open, and quickly shot an arrow into its skull. Only then did she glance over at her new ally and see how he was doing.

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Her face went white as she saw the carnage around him. There were over a dozen dead goblins all around the area. A number of them had their heads ripped clean off their shoulders. One of them was nothing more than a smear on the ravine walls—gruesome deaths.

As for Julius, he was cackling like a maniac. His hands were lit with brilliant azure flames, waving them around like a kid with a new sword. Despite being surrounded by a dozen more goblins, he didn’t look the least bit stressed. From what she could see, he was having the time of his life.

He was covered with their sickly green blood, slamming his fists into the goblins with devastating force.

“Mage my ass,” she muttered quietly as she observed the boy move with breathtaking speed and finesse. She wasn’t a slouch when it came to close combat. Her father made sure of that. However, seeing him tear across the area made her feel like a toddler in comparison.

He was just as fast, if not faster, than she was, and he was definitely stronger. One strike was enough to remove the head of a goblin, and these monsters were desperately trying to fend him off. Not only that, but he looked like he could predict the future. He was always in the correct position and was never caught off guard.

She could feel the fear in the goblins’ auras as he continued to slaughter them one by one. But they didn’t stop. They continued to throw themselves at him, as if hoping that would be enough.

It wasn’t.

If his fists didn’t kill them, then the flames he surrounded them with were enough to finish the job. These flames were searing hot; she could feel the heat all the way from where she was standing.