The Greater Goblin was dead—completely dead.
Its heart shattered, internal organs burned to ashes, skin and flesh charred and torn apart.
In this state, even an Undead Mage would shake their head in defeat.
Yet, out of caution, Krexia chose to deliver the finishing blow.
Using the remaining mana of the Burning Bone Flame Shackles, she manipulated the iron chains to sever the Greater Goblin’s corpse into several pieces.
Only then did she finally relax and dispel her magic.
The battle was over.
Although Krexia hadn’t been injured, her heart still pounded with unease.
A mutated Greater Goblin—whether in terms of physical constitution or the intensity of its magical power—was far beyond a normal Greater Goblin’s reach, even surpassing typical Fourth-Tier Magic Crystal beasts.
“Damn it, I need more pay, absolutely more pay!”
Krexia muttered as she approached the corpse, though thinking about how the mutation was caused by the Witch’s Power leaking from her own body made her hesitate to complain aloud.
Peeling open the goblin’s skull, she unsurprisingly found a Fourth-Tier Magic Crystal inside.
It was darker than a normal crystal, but it was clear the mana contained within was much stronger and wilder than that of a typical Fourth-Tier Magic Crystal.
After storing the crystal, Krexia searched the bodies of the other Second-Tier adult goblins she had shot earlier.
In the end, she collected six Second-Tier Magic Crystals, but four of the corpses were empty shells.
She also found twenty First-Tier Magic Crystals—a decent yield overall.
“Right, the intel said there were three Greater Goblins, but it looks like there’s only one here. Haven’t seen the other two anywhere…”
Recalling the green blood staining the mutated Greater Goblin and the chunks of flesh hanging from its fangs, an idea popped into her head.
She glanced at the cave in the rocky cliff nearby.
Lighting a glow candle, she stepped inside the cave.
An unbearable stench hit her immediately.
Once the candle’s light dispersed the darkness, a grim scene came into view.
Several mangled corpses lay scattered in disarray, their shapes barely recognizable.
Blood from various monsters mixed on the floor, pooling everywhere.
The bodies were severely damaged—clearly gnawed on by something.
Krexia pinched her nose and frowned as she surveyed the carnage, then turned and left.
She already knew where the other two Greater Goblins—and the possible Shaman—had gone.
They had moved on to a world where no mutated Greater Goblin existed.
As for the magical materials that might have been on the bodies, she had just scanned the area.
The mana in this part of the cave was completely depleted; there was no chance of any Magic Crystal remaining.
Most likely, they had all ended up inside the belly of that big brute outside.
And, this damned place really smelled terrible.
***
Leaving the Goblin Settlement behind, Krexia returned to the Mageling Forest, planning to retrace her steps.
“Ko-san, I’m starting to get curious about your identity.”
A normal Greater Goblin, though larger than an average adult human male, would top out at around two meters tall.
But the big guy from before?
A Greater Goblin standing next to it looked like a child.
And those exaggerated muscles—good grief.
How many steroid shots does it take to reach that level?
Just leaking a bit of the Witch’s Power Krexia possessed was enough to turn a Greater Goblin into a humanoid bulldozer.
That reaction was ridiculously intense.
Even her enhanced body, casting Third-Tier magic, could only inflict superficial wounds on it.
“I already told you when we first met, didn’t I? I am Coutia, the original Witch, an Old God, and my rank is very high.”
“It’s normal for a low-ranked life form to undergo mutation when suddenly exposed to high-ranked power.”
“So what about me? Aren’t you afraid that putting such dangerous power into my body will turn me into a big brute, too?”
“Of course I am.”
“?”
“Ha, just kidding. Your body is specially made by me, and your soul is unique. Whether in terms of life essence or soul level, you can’t be considered a mere human anymore.”
“Accepting this power is naturally no problem.”
“So, does that mean if other humans come into contact with this power, they’ll turn into goblin brutes like that?”
“No. Monsters are monsters, humans are humans.
The part of this power I gave you mainly affects mana. Humans have so little mana to begin with; it’s hard for the Witch’s Power to get excited about it.”
Tsk, the logic was sound, but somehow hearing it from her mouth made it sound strange.
“I have another question.”
“Go ahead, no problem.”
“I wasn’t at the front lines, right? How could the monsters so far away be affected?”
“Hmm… I don’t know.”
That felt right. This was the real Coutia.
“What use are you?”
“I resurrected you and gave you power; can’t you show a little respect to your goddess?”
“Turn me back into a man, and I swear I’ll treat you with all due reverence. I’ll even carry your talisman everywhere and offer you three incense sticks every day—no problem.”
“Ungrateful wretch.”
As she continued walking, perhaps drawn by the recent battle sounds, the number of nearby monsters increased.
But they were mostly First and Second-Tier minions.
If it were mercenaries, there might be some casualties, but threatening Krexia was still a stretch.
With cash literally handed to her, Krexia happily shot them one by one with her rifle.
Thus, she fought and traveled for over an hour, approaching the outskirts of the Mageling Forest.
It was midday, the sun hanging high in the sky, but the early spring sunlight was not very intense.
“Wait, what’s this?”
Krexia suddenly noticed abnormal mana fluctuations around her.
The Mageling Forest had many monsters, but few posed real threats.
They generally stayed deep within the forest and didn’t venture outside.
High-level monsters that liked to roam outside had already been dealt with by the big shots in Vanor City.
Sensing something wrong, Krexia moved toward the source of the mana.
As she advanced, the surroundings changed slightly.
Many trees had been destroyed.
The ground was pockmarked with craters and blast marks from magic.
About a dozen trees that looked several decades old lay uprooted and broken, their fractures jagged as if snapped by brute force.
The fresh-looking marks on the ground and tree stumps didn’t resemble old battle scars.
Mercenaries wouldn’t have caused such massive destruction either.
This made Krexia think of that big brute once again.
Moving forward, this time she saw human corpses.
Their clothing was familiar—the same kind she’d seen on Adventurers when accepting the commission earlier that morning.
(1/2)