Chapter 92: The Moonlight is Beautiful

On the other side of the river, among the gravel forest, three groups of ragged, dark-green-skinned goblins were gathered in circles, emitting harsh arguing.

That was a massive group of about forty goblins.

In their midst, several armored crocodiles had been gnawed beyond recognition, their skeletal remains exuding a thick, foul stench.

Internal strife.

Clearly, these greedy little monsters were furiously arguing over an uneven distribution of spoils.

However, when Balke’s group appeared on the opposite bank, the green-skinned monsters immediately stopped arguing.

Their murky, greenish-yellow eyes swiveled as one toward them.

“Giriguru!”

Accompanied by sickening howls, the goblins brandished rusty machetes, broken swords, sharpened wooden sticks, and a few even held crude slings, charging across the ankle-deep water like a green tide.

“Damn it, never-ending.”

Balke spat on the ground, his greatsword held horizontally in front of him, his eyes instantly turning cold and fierce.

“Brenda, same as usual—protect the Young Master with your life! The rest of you, go all out, don’t let a single one escape!”

The battle erupted instantly.

The bald giant Brenda stood firmly in front of Leo like an insurmountable iron wall.

He planted the huge Ebony tower shield onto the gravel ground with a dull thud, easily deflecting several flying stones.

Behind the shadow, Leo gripped his short wand tightly, hiding behind the massive shield.

The rapidly spreading scent of blood in the air brought an unprecedented sense of frustration and helplessness.

He watched Sailin cursing as he swung his iron-tipped wooden staff, smashing goblin heads like smashing watermelons, brains and green blood flying everywhere.

He watched Misi pull the crossbow trigger, the bolt precisely piercing through a goblin’s eye socket.

He watched the last one, Ailiya.

But what shook him the most—even sent a chill down his spine—was her.

Her black-and-white figure flitted lightly among the rocks and splashing water, each flash accompanied by a cold, deep blue light.

pfft! pfft!

Ailiya had no unnecessary movements, no flashy techniques, not even a break in her breathing rhythm.

Her dining knife precisely sliced through goblin cervical vertebrae or stabbed directly into their brains through an eye socket.

Three seconds.

In just three seconds, four goblins that had surrounded her were reduced to cold corpses without even a scream.

“. . . Fast.”

Leo murmured.

This was the first time he had observed Ailiya’s combat from such close range and with full concentration.

Just then, a few cunning goblins lurked in the water, using the mist as cover, and circled around to Brenda’s flank and rear.

They let out a sinister growl, raised their rusty iron swords, and swung viciously at the stunned Leo.

“Young Master, watch out!”

Brenda sensed the movement behind him and swept his heavy shield sideways, directly smashing the three goblins to death.

But Leo did not retreat.

So what if he had no magic power?

He casually tucked the short wand, which had temporarily become a wooden stick, back into his waist, then bent down and snatched a battered sword covered in notches and reeking of rust from the hand of a freshly killed goblin corpse at his feet.

Facing the goblin charging straight at him.

“Come on, who’s afraid of who!”

Leo roared, scenes of being beaten with a mop handle by Ailiya in the Kastian manor training ground flashing through his mind.

He suddenly ducked, avoiding the goblin’s completely unskilled horizontal slash.

With his left hand, he quickly pulled a pinch of white powder from his pouch.

That was his tear-inducing powder, usually used for pranks.

Whoosh!

The powder scattered, hitting the goblin square in the face.

The green-skinned monster let out a piercing scream, dropped its weapon, and clutched its eyes tightly.

Leo seized the moment, took a big step forward, gripped the broken sword with both hands, and slashed upward with all his strength.

Thud!

Because the iron sword was too dull, it wasn’t as smooth as expected.

The rough resistance of the blade cutting into flesh and catching in bone transmitted directly to Leo’s palm through the hilt.

But he didn’t let go, his eyes fierce.

The goblin let out a shrill scream.

Leo took advantage of the turn, following the combat power technique Ailiya had taught him, jumped up and kicked the goblin hard in the back of the knee.

Crack!

A crisp bone-breaking sound.

The goblin fell to its knees.

Without hesitation, Leo stabbed the rusty sword downward, straight through the goblin’s nape.

Blood splattered half his sleeve, warm and sticky.

Leo panted heavily, his heart pounding as if it would jump out of his throat, and the hand holding the sword was still trembling slightly.

This was the first time he had personally killed an enemy without relying on any magic, using only his body and the combat skills beaten into him.

“Oho? Not bad, Young Master!”

Balke, having finished off the last wave of enemies, sheathed his greatsword and let out an unexpected whistle.

“That counter was pretty ruthless. Who taught you that? That kind of sneaky… ahem, practical approach.”

Leo didn’t answer.

He just stared at the still-twitching corpse on the ground.

Then he raised his head, searching the chaotic battlefield for Ailiya’s figure, and eventually met the gaze of Ailiya, who stood not far away, her skirt not even stained with a single drop of water.

“I… am not just a useless coward hiding behind.”

Leo leaned on his knees, somewhat exhausted, and showed Ailiya a smile that was tired, still stained with blood and dirt, but exceptionally confident.

Ailiya glanced at the dripping broken sword in Leo’s hand, then at his face covered in mud and blood, and spoke calmly:

“Though your movements are as stiff as a puppy learning to walk, but…”

She looked away, and though her tone was still sharp, it rarely carried less of its usual coldness.

“To reach this level with your magic power exhausted, I guess you didn’t get beaten for nothing.”

Receiving this extremely sparse “praise,” Leo puffed out his chest again as if he had received a great medal.

“Of course! I’m a genius!”

“Alright, little genius, throw away that piece of junk. The smell is really strong.”

Balke laughed loudly and called everyone to set up camp.

After crossing the White Water River, the Wind and Moon Squad established a camp near a higher rock formation on the opposite bank.

Night fell again.

The campfire crackled.

Ailiya sat quietly on a nearby tilted tree trunk, hidden in the half-light, half-dark shadows.

At this moment, Balke and the others were holding bowls of soup made from dried meat, bland and somewhat tough.

“Looking at this dry jerky, I just remember that bowl of porridge this morning. That taste, tsk…”

Misi sighed, shaking his head nostalgically.

“You can say that again.”

Sailin chimed in, his face full of grievance.

“Usually when Sid is around, at least she can make us some decent soup. Now eating this stuff, it’s like grinding teeth.”

Sailin sighed, and his eyes involuntarily drifted toward Ailiya on the tree trunk not far away.

“Boss, do you think…”

Sailin lowered his voice, nudging Balke with his elbow, and kept signaling with his eyes toward Leo.

“Could we ask that Miss Maid to show her skills again?”

Balke’s eyes flickered.

He was tempted too, but he really didn’t dare to provoke that woman.

So, all eyes turned intentionally or unintentionally toward Leo, who was sitting nearby in a daze.

On the tree trunk not far away, Ailiya’s wolf ears hidden in her hair twitched slightly.

These guys were whispering, but in her perception, she could hear every one of their schemes clearly.

Balke leaned close to Leo’s ear, whispering something with a wink, and kept hinting toward Ailiya.

Leo’s eyes widened in surprise.

He sensed Uncle Balke’s meaningful gaze, then looked at the tough jerky in his own hand.

He hesitated for a moment, then secretly turned his gaze toward Ailiya in the shadows.

At that moment, Ailiya also tilted her head, her ice-blue eyes looking at him without any emotion.

Their eyes met.

Leo instantly froze.

The words he had prepared were frozen in his throat by that cold stare, his embarrassment so intense he wished he could crawl into the fire.

Ailiya turned her head boredly, redirecting her gaze toward the dark forest.

She changed her posture, elegantly crossing her long legs, and her tail lazily swept behind her.

“Boring…”

She murmured softly, not intending to pay any attention to these guys who wanted to use her as a free cook.

After a moment of silence, under everyone’s expectant gaze, Leo stiffly raised his head and blurted out a ridiculous line.

“Ah… uh, the night is really beautiful tonight, Ailiya…”