“His Holiness, are you sure about this arrangement…?”
Mosen followed behind Muxuan, a trace of unease in his heart.
A Penetration Array… Mosen could only think of the Three-Ring Spell. It required a massive amount of magical materials and nearly all of his mana.
After all, according to Muxuan’s description, the goblins’ underground palace was located at an extreme depth. To be precise and penetrate that far was incredibly difficult.
“Focus on negotiation first. I have already given you the materials. Do your best; you are the only one who can complete this task.”
Luther Sage patted Mosen on the shoulder, his voice filled with trust.
Luther Sage had no objections to Muxuan’s arrangements; he merely adjusted the specific execution.
A direct assault was impossible. Negotiation was the priority. Without sufficient intelligence, Luther Sage did not recommend a forced entry unless the goblins chose to escalate the situation.
Having planned for so long, Luther Sage did not believe those goblins were unprepared.
They had likely used that source of Corruption to produce the Strange of the Moho layer.
The Strange of the Moho layer were entities capable of inflicting intense mental corruption just by being perceived.
Even Luther Sage had to take this seriously.
“Understood, Master.”
Mosen did not particularly enjoy following Muxuan’s orders. Historically, the Church and the mages minded their own business; when did mages ever take orders from the Church?
However, seeing his master speak this way, Mosen found it difficult to object further.
Mages might consider themselves noble and look down on others, even ignoring the arrangements of their superiors, but they would never disobey the master who taught them.
This was the fundamental bottom line in every mage’s heart!
Carrying the magical materials, Mosen’s figure soon vanished into the abandoned village.
Muxuan and Luther Sage, meanwhile, arrived at the previous entrance.
It had been blocked off again.
As expected, after his last visit, the goblins had begun to take precautions.
Sighing silently to himself, Muxuan had no choice but to find another way.
When he left, he had placed Lightforce in the passage as a signal, but now, sensing through the Lightforce, he found only darkness.
This meant the passage was almost completely sealed. Digging through was unrealistic.
Fortunately, Naar had provided another route — this was the backup plan for this mission.
“One moment, Your Holiness. There is no need for such trouble.”
Luther Sage tapped his shepherd’s staff on the ground, stopping Muxuan, who was about to head toward the back of the mountain.
“Goblins generally do not use reinforcement measures. I just tapped the ground; it is hollow below.”
“Luther Sage… you mean…”
“Yes. A violent solution will suffice.”
After speaking, Luther Sage raised his shepherd’s staff high and thrust it fiercely into the ground.
With a *crash*, the earth instantly collapsed. Before Luther Sage and Muxuan, an underground passage was revealed.
Muxuan’s eyes cleared instantly.
‘Good grief, if I didn’t know you were a Sage, I’d think you were some Orc who believes might makes right.’
This physical strength was terrifying!
“Your Holiness, we may proceed.”
Luther Sage smiled and leaned on his staff, looking at Muxuan.
“Of course.”
Muxuan nodded and raised his Crosier. Several lines of light extended, forming a net that cleared away the mixture of soil and stones.
Luther Sage said nothing more and jumped down, walking through the passage while constantly tapping his staff on the ground.
The original path was blocked, but based on the goblin habit of building mazes, there were bound to be several other paths leading to the underground palace.
“Your Holiness?”
Having seemingly found the way down again, Luther Sage looked at Muxuan tentatively.
He had never been to the goblin palace and did not know the exact direction; he needed Muxuan to confirm.
“From the entrance…” Muxuan murmured to himself, carefully sensing the direction of the Lightforce. “This way.”
Having received a positive answer, Luther Sage wasted no more words. After telling Muxuan to stand back, the ground shook once more.
After a few repetitions, Luther Sage stopped.
“Your Holiness, the area ahead is not suitable for this method.”
“It is a large open space without much support. It could easily lead to a massive collapse, burying us here.”
In short, they were almost there.
Muxuan nodded. After sensing again, he walked ahead of Luther Sage.
Although this passage was somewhat far from the marks he had left, they were indeed extremely close. Barring any accidents, following this tunnel would lead directly to the goblin palace.
However…
Looking at the wreckage behind him, Muxuan’s lips twitched. This method was convenient, but… it would be better not to use it next time.
Luther Sage followed Muxuan’s gaze and looked behind them. His expression did not change; he even nodded and said thoughtfully, “Next time, I should make it look more aesthetic.”
Muxuan couldn’t help but press his palm to his forehead, feeling speechless.
‘Respected Sage of the Eastern Tower, are you being serious?’
After leading Luther Sage through the winding passage for a long time, Muxuan finally reached the exit.
‘Are these goblins insane? A short distance was stretched out to more than ten times its length!’
‘Don’t they know that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line?’
Complaining inwardly, Muxuan prepared to face the goblins.
Muxuan had not allowed Gelifende to approach the village.
He had reason to suspect the goblins could sense movement on the surface. If Gelifende brought those ten knights along, it would likely cause the upcoming negotiations to fail.
“Halt!”
Before they could step out, two goblins armed with spears blocked the exit.
This was expected.
With the massive commotion Luther Sage had caused, it was impossible for the goblins not to notice.
Of course, more importantly, the reason Muxuan had allowed Luther Sage’s methods was that it served as an effective way to pressure the goblins.
Muxuan did not stop despite the two goblins’ interference. He carried the air of someone who would ignore all warnings and barge right in.
This made the two goblins feel a bit intimidated.
For the opponent to act this way, they were either bluffing or completely unafraid. However, the two goblins leaned toward the latter.
After all, the commotion from above earlier could not be faked. These two were very likely the ones who had caused it!
“It turns out to be the noble His Holiness! Quick, step aside! You are blocking our honored guests!”
Just as the two goblins hesitated over whether to seize the two men, a slippery voice came from behind them.
Without further hesitation, the two goblins quickly retracted their spears and turned to leave.