My job list is full of alien girls.

Chapter 19 The Strange Goblin Cave

"Why did you stop?"

Don Quixote, sword in hand, leaned closer, his eyes wide beneath his helmet. "Have you spotted a monster?"

"The hunter's mark has been interfered with, which is a bit strange," Rod paused, "but I'm sure it's inside."

Unfortunately, this cave entrance was two or three times larger than the one John had taken him to before, so the method of blocking the entrance and releasing smoke to force the monster out probably wouldn't work.

Not to mention there are two missing children inside.

Rhodes could only regretfully abandon the idea of ​​forcing his opponent into a fight.

"What should we do?" Susanna gripped her healing cane nervously, instinctively moving closer to Milan. "Should we... go back first?"

"We've come this far, are we really going to go back?" Milan frowned. "I can't afford to lose face like that."

Rhodes remained silent.

They have already reached this place, leaving behind scents and traces. Given the cunning and keenness of that goblin leader, it will inevitably be detected by the other party afterward.

Once the hunter's mark fades and the opponent moves to a new hideout and recovers from their injuries, things will likely become even more troublesome.

Especially for monsters like goblins that reproduce quickly, the difficulty of a goblin lair with a leader and one without one is completely different.

Rhodes certainly didn't want such a large and troublesome group of cunning monsters roaming the outskirts of his area of ​​operation.

By then, he might not have such a strong team of three warriors, mages, and priests by his side. If he misses this opportunity, who knows when he'll be able to gather all the necessary personnel again.

Even if he doesn't try this time, he might not dare to go in next time.

After much thought, Rhodes realized that the best time to kill the goblin leader was to finish it off while it was still heavily injured.

"Since we're already here, let's go in and take a look," Rhodes shook his head, gripping the ash wood longbow in his hand. "Let's probe the situation first, and retreat if it doesn't work out."

"Great!" Don Quixote excitedly brandished his greatsword. "We are about to embark on a great expedition!"

Milan raised an eyebrow, offering no objection to Rode's decision.

Although Susanna was scared, she thought that there might be surviving children inside, so she nodded and followed closely behind the group.

The four people entered the cave one after another.

As soon as they stepped into the cave, a stench ten times stronger than outside hit them, a mixture of rotting flesh and damp earth that nearly made Milan and Susanna vomit on the spot.

"Damn it..." She covered her nose and waved her staff. A gentle breeze swirled around her, barely blocking out some of the stench.

The light inside the cave dimmed rapidly, and before long, the sunlight streaming in from outside disappeared completely.

Fortunately, the Swift Ranger has Darksight, so for Rhodes, there isn't much of a barrier to movement in such low-visibility environments.

It's impossible to see the original color of an object; you can only distinguish things around you by their black and white brightness and shape.

"Illumination".

As Susanna finished speaking, a small ball of pure white light appeared on the staff in her hand.

This tiny ray of light illuminates the surrounding environment.

The moment they saw what was around them, everyone except Rhodes felt their hearts stop for a second.

They then discovered that the seemingly sandy mud beneath their feet was concealed by a number of gnawed bones, a white layer that occasionally made a soft "crunching" sound when stepped on.

The walls were covered with claw marks and dark red bloodstains, and in some places there were tattered strips of cloth and traces of flesh.

"How disgusting..." Alina's voice echoed in the consciousness space, filled with obvious discomfort, "This place stinks a hundred times more than a cemetery."

"It does smell a bit," Rod calmly stepped over what appeared to be a human leg bone, and thought for a moment, "but looking at the bones and the traces left behind, it's actually not too bad. It's much more comfortable than seeing a half-rotten corpse directly."

"Alright, you don't need to say anymore," Alina quickly interrupted.

She couldn't quite imagine such a scene, and she didn't want to see it.

They walked a little further in, but as they walked, Rod suddenly stopped.

"Something seems off," he said, glancing around.

"What's wrong?" Upon hearing this, Milan immediately raised her staff warily. "An ambush?"

"No," Rod pointed to the wall, "look."

Following his pointing finger, everyone looked and saw that the originally bare rock wall was now covered with a layer of lush green vegetation, which looked even better than the vegetation outside.

Further on, you can even see a few slender vines hanging down from some stalactites, their leaves shimmering faintly in the darkness.

"How is this possible?" Milan frowned. "How can plants grow in a goblin's lair? Their excrement and the smell of blood would poison most of the weak plants."

"And there's no sunlight here," Susanna added softly, "How could these plants possibly survive?"

"Yes, but these are all common plants that are very common outside, except..." Rod tugged at their thick and sturdy root systems, "...they are growing a little too well."

"Be careful, something's strange here." Rhodes withdrew his hand and gripped his longbow tightly. "Slow down, and from now on, speak in hushed tones."

Upon hearing this, Don Quixote instinctively wanted to say yes, but immediately covered his mouth and nodded instead.

Everyone held their breath and carefully continued to move forward.

After rounding another bend, a pale green glow suddenly appeared ahead, accompanied by heavy breathing and the occasional howl of wolves.

Rhodes gestured for the others to step back, then peeked out and unexpectedly saw the goblin leader he had shot.

It was lying on the ground, greedily licking the wet stone platform, while its dire wolf stood by, drooling and watching with great envy.

The stalactite emits a soft green light, and liquid constantly condenses on its surface. Every now and then, a drop of emerald green liquid drips down onto the stone platform below.

As the juice was licked into his mouth, the horrific wound on the goblin leader's shoulder blade began to heal at a visible pace.

But that's not normal healing.

The skin and flesh around the wound rolled over and multiplied, growing clusters of dark red tumors of varying sizes. The tumors were covered with hideous blood vessels that rose and fell with its breathing, making it look terrifying.

The originally broken bone twisted and grew back, forming a strange protrusion.

"My God..." Alina, in her consciousness space, naturally noticed this scene as well. "What is that?"

"I don't know," Rhodes said gravely. "It seems that thing is what caused my hunter's mark to be interfered with..."

Rhodes slowly pulled his head back, his fingertips moving rapidly to his sides.

Don Quixote immediately understood. She quietly moved behind the boulder on the left, gripped her greatsword tightly, and waited for Rhodes's order to charge.

Milan silently retreated behind the thick stalactite on the right, his staff held horizontally in front of his chest, a faint purple light beginning to emanate from his fingertips, preparing to unleash a powerful burst of fire on the goblin leader.

Susanna followed closely behind Milan, her healing staff held upright in front of her chest, her lips slightly moving, ready to chant spells to assist others at any moment.

Only the goblin chieftain's greedy licking sounds and the occasional low whimpers of the dire wolf remained in the cave.

The emerald green liquid dripped onto the stone platform, splashing up tiny droplets.

The tumor on the goblin leader's shoulder blade swelled up even more. The wound, which was originally deep enough to expose the bone, was now covered by overgrown flesh, leaving only a hideous scar.

Milan's fingertips grew brighter and brighter, and the intense heat began to permeate the air.

She deliberately slowed down the rate at which the magic energy condensed, trying to minimize the fluctuations.

Even so, when the fireball condensed to the size of a fist, the goblin leader, who had been licking the juices with his head down, suddenly raised his head.

With its keen senses, a fierce glint flashed in its eyes, its nose twitched wildly, and finally it let out a deafening roar toward the direction where the magical fluctuations were most obvious, which was also the direction where Milan was hiding.

"Gurgle—!!!"

The dire wolf that was still drooling nearby suddenly bristled, arched its back, and bared its sharp fangs as it looked around.

Just then, Susanna's staff suddenly lit up.

A soft, blessed white light shot out like a shooting star and entered Don Quixote's body.

Don Quixote's armor seemed much lighter, and his grip on the greatsword felt stronger.

"We're going!" she roared, leaping out from behind the boulder and slashing her sword fiercely at the dire wolf that was charging at her.

"clang!"

The greatsword clashed with the dire wolf's fangs, sparks flying.

Normally, Don Quixote would have been forced back several steps by this immense force.

But at this moment, her feet were firmly planted on the ground, not moving an inch, while the dire wolf was shaken and staggered backward.

"Awooo!"

It let out a painful whimper, and several bloody teeth fell to the ground.

Upon seeing this, the goblin leader roared and bypassed Don Quixote, heading straight for Milan.

It knew that the woman radiating intense magic was its most deadly threat.

Rhodes had already drawn his bowstring taut.

Several arrows, trailing a blue glow, shot through the air, aiming for the goblin leader's eyes and knees respectively.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Two arrows pierced its knees, and green blood spurted out.

The goblin leader screamed, his knees buckled, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.

The third arrow grazed its eye socket, leaving a deep bloody gash on its face.

In that brief pause, Don Quixote had already created distance, giving Milan space to attack.

"Explosive Flame!"

Milan's voice suddenly rang out.

A massive, blazing fireball, trailing a long tail of flame, roared as it crashed into the goblin leader and the stone platform behind him.

A loud bang.

The blazing flames instantly engulfed the entire platform, turning the narrow cave into the perfect furnace.

The flames spread along the rock wall, crackling and burning the surrounding vines and moss.

"Awooo—!"

The dire wolf didn't even have time to howl before it was engulfed by flames and instantly turned into a charred mess.

The goblin leader rolled and roared madly in the sea of ​​fire, his tumors bursting open one by one, spewing out a disgusting, viscous green liquid.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

The flames gradually died down.

Only two charred corpses remained on the stone platform, still emitting wisps of black smoke.

Don Quixote, leaning on his greatsword, panted heavily, a victorious smile on his face.

Milan wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, and just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, her pupils suddenly contracted.

The charred corpse of the goblin leader suddenly convulsed violently.

Then, it suddenly sprang up from the ground.

Half of his head was burned away, revealing the white brain matter inside, but the remaining eye burned with a frenzied killing intent.

Completely ignoring Don Quixote chasing behind it, it used its last bit of strength to charge towards Milan and Susanna.

It moved so fast that it left only a blur.

Don Quixote's greatsword missed its mark, and he could only watch helplessly as it drew closer and closer to his two teammates.

"Don't go over there!"

"ah--"

Susanna turned pale with fright and instinctively raised her healing staff to shield herself.

Milan hastily tried to conjure a spell, but for a short time, only a small purple light shone from the tip of his staff.

Her mind went blank; she couldn't think of any spell to defend against the terrifying attack.

call out--

Just then, a figure in cyan rushed over like lightning.

Rod held the ash longbow across his chest, drew the dagger from his waist, and straddled Milan and Susanna to block the terrifying claw attack.

"Bang!"

The goblin leader slammed into the bow.

The immense impact slammed into Rhodes' chest like a hammer blow, sending him crashing heavily against the rock wall behind him with a dull thud.

The goblin leader was also completely drained of his life force by this collision.

It fell heavily to the ground, twitched a few times, and then lay still.

Goblin leader, successfully defeated.

"Mr. Hero!"

Susanna was the first to react and rushed over to help Rod up.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her voice trembled with tears: "How are you? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing." Rhodes waved his hand, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and struggled to stand up.

He moved his shoulders and found that apart from some chest tightness and pain, he was fine.

The chainmail armor that Lucius gave me is indeed a fine piece.

Don Quixote also ran over, and seeing Rhodes's pale face, he scratched his head with some guilt: "I'm sorry, it was us who couldn't stop it."

"It's not your fault." Rhodes shook his head and walked to the goblin leader's corpse.

He drew his dagger, cleanly chopped off its head, wrapped it in a tattered cloth, and tied it around his waist.

This is hard currency that can be exchanged for a lot of bounties, so we can't waste it.

"I..." Milan looked at him, paused, and then whispered, "Thank you."

"Um."

"..." Milan paused, seemingly unsure of what to say, so she changed the subject, "I just discovered that there's another hole behind it."

She pointed to a dark hole behind the stone platform.

Rod looked in the direction she was pointing.

Sure enough, on the side of the stone platform, there was a hole about half a person's height, hidden by vines. In such a dim environment, it was impossible to find without careful observation.

"Shall we go take a look?"

"Walk."

Rhodes gripped his longbow and went in first, followed closely by Don Quixote, Milan, and Susanna.

After passing through the narrow passage, the view suddenly opened up, only to reveal a particularly terrifying and bizarre scene.