Roar!
As if sensing Vaan’s provocation, the large Rank 2 Green Hobgoblins, standing over nine feet tall, beat their chests with one hand and roared while holding up their huge clubs with their other hands.
Kree! Kikiki!
The smaller Rank 1 Green Goblins also cried in response as if they doing a war cry to raise their morale.
Nevertheless, Vaan didn’t wait for them to attack.
No, he made his move first.
Swish!
Vaan lunged forward toward the goblins.
As he closed the gap between them and directed his killing intent at the goblins ahead, a few dozens of the Rank 1 Green Goblins in the vanguard immediately felt intimidated by his gaze.
However, one of the Rank 2 Green Hobgoblin snapped them out of their cowering state with a roar and pointed their club at him.
The vanguard quickly knelt and over two hundred goblin archers aimed their arrows at him..
Not only did the Rank 2 Green Hobgoblins possess enhanced senses, but they were also capable of commanding the grunts under them, exhibiting greater intelligence than regular Rank 2 Green Hobgoblins.
Vaan’s eyes flickered sharply.
He canceled his advancement and made a side dash for the cover of a big tree, which cause another Rank 2 Green Hobgoblin to roar and stop their grunts from wasting arrows.
Roar!
Under the other Rank 2 Green Hobgoblins’ command, the Rank 1 Green Goblins spread out to encircle Vaan.
However, he didn’t wait for that to happen.
He increased heat in the blade of his gunblades with Heat Manipulation, then made several slashes at the thick trunk of the tree at very specific angles, following up with a strong body ram.
Creak!
The huge tree started to tilt forward towards the goblins and hobgoblins ahead.
As the huge tree fell towards them, one of the Rank 2 Green Hobgoblin tried to hold up the tree to save a few dozen other goblins from getting crushed to death.
However, the tree far outweighed the strength the Rank 2 Green Hobgoblin could endure. It ended up getting crushed to death along with the few dozen Rank 1 Green Goblins without smashing into any other trees in the area.
At the same time, Vaan had run up along the tree trunk as it was falling and hopped off the split moment before the tree smashed against the ground.
Boom!
The ground shook under the weight of the impact while Vaan landed right in the middle of the large goblin group. The Rank 1 Green Goblins immediately panicked under his cold gaze as they awaited orders from their commanding hobgoblins.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Several dozen goblin heads quickly dropped in a flurry of quick slashes that drew black lines in the air. Each goblin head was cleanly cut with precision.
Roar!
The Rank 2 Green Hobgoblins tried to restore their formation by giving out commands to the Rank 1 Green Goblins.
While most of the Rank 1 Green Goblins moved as commanded of them, at least three dozens failed to follow. They were the ones at the front, facing Vaan directly.
Nevertheless, their numbers dropped drastically as Vaan lopped off their heads with his gunblades.
A Rank 2 Green Hobgoblin quickly stepped forward and swung down on him with its huge club, but he sidestepped it before he ran up its arm and…
Puchi!
Blood gushed out from the Rank 2 Green Hobgoblin’s neck after Vaan cut off its head with a cross slash in a single instance.
Roar!
Right after several hobgoblins roared, goblin archers fired their arrows at Vaan.
However, he quickly stowed away his gunblades and grabbed the huge headless hobgoblin by the leg, and hurled it around to block all the incoming projectiles.
Having hundreds of arrows fired at him, some were bound to get through with such a method of blocking. But strangely, the stone-tip arrows all froze as if they struck an invisible wall.
Vaan ended up blocking some arrows with Earth Manipulation and dodging the rest with skillful body maneuvers, all while still gripping onto the huge headless hobgoblin body dripping with blood.
He hurled the huge headless hobgoblin body at a group of goblins in the distance shortly after, collapsing rows of goblins as it smashed against them.
Ka-cha!
Numerous bones broke under the impact, and several goblins at the forefront of it died on the spot.
Nevertheless, following Vaan’s toss, he withdrew his gunblades from Heaven-Swallowing Space again, each loaded with ammunition, and rushed toward another group of goblins.
Although he never managed to procure gunpowder for them, it was not a problem.
He raised his gunblades and fired ahead by applying Earth Acceleration on his bullets, emptying his clips in a couple of short breaths.
More than dozen goblins collapsed amidst the goblins’ ranks soundlessly with bullet holes in their foreheads from the short burst of fire.
There was no loud exploding noise of gunpowder, only the whistling noise of bullets cutting through the air.
Ding!
<You have created a new skill, Rapid Fire (Low rank)>
<Your firearm mastery proficiency has increased>
Click!
Vaan released the empty clips from their handles, storing them in his Heaven-Swallowing Space.
At the same time, two new loaded clips fell out before finding themselves slotted in their rightful places with another two clicks.
Kreuk!
The goblins ahead cried with fear as he dashed swiftly towards them.
His killing intent had grown with each kill and placed a greater effect on the Rank 1 Green Goblins, causing them to break formation as they cowered backward a few steps.
Roar!
The hobgoblin in charge of them roared furious at them, but it proved to be less effective than before. Over twenty goblins were still under the effect of fear and intimidation.
As a result, Vaan easily reaped their lives and continued his killing frenzy.
The hobgoblin in the back of the goblin ranks was furious at the cowardly grunts under its command and shoved them aside.
It ended up throwing its heavy club at him with a powerful toss, intending to kill him under its weight.
However, Vaan easily evaded it with minimum movement and effort. Even if he didn’t, the club force wouldn’t have hurt his Early-level Rank 3 defense body.
In retaliation, he raised one of his gunblade and fired one shot back at the hobgoblin. The bullet pierced through its eye to get to its brain before killing it.