Zorn, who had narrowly escaped death, shrieked in fury. It picked up a "Little Wooden Stick" and pointed it at Lin Mo.

The next moment, Lin Mo felt his body become several times heavier, his movements growing incredibly stiff.

’So that’s what this is. Is this the Slow Technique Harlek mentioned?’

The few Mutated Goblins charged, swinging their weapons. Lin Mo retreated as fast as he could, managing to dodge three of the attacks before casting [Resilience] on himself and swinging his sword to block the remaining two Mutated Goblins.

The reflective damage from [Resilience] activated. Combined with the natural force of the impact, the two sub-adult Mutated Goblins staggered and retreated several steps.

At the same time, the Slow Curse on Lin Mo vanished.

He quickly fell back a good distance, dodging the pursuit of the other three Mutated Goblins.

’Thankfully, my Agility Attribute is high enough now. Even after the curse cut it by nearly half, I can still keep up with these Mutated Goblins. Otherwise...’

Otherwise, he would have definitely been wounded.

A high Constitution of 22, the protection of his Leather Armor, and the damage reduction from [Resilience]—these were Lin Mo’s greatest assets on this trip.

Those five sub-adult Mutated Goblins barely had the ability to injure him anymore.

Even taking a direct hit would, at most, just break the skin.

Seeing Lin Mo’s astonishing performance while under the Curse, Zorn instantly fell silent. It stopped its strange cries and, without the slightest hesitation, signaled for the two adult Mutated Goblins to protect it as it turned to flee.

Lin Mo started to give chase, but just as he moved, that little bastard turned and cast another Slow Technique. The remaining adult and five sub-adult Mutated Goblins swarmed him, forcing him to abandon the pursuit for now.

[Cross Slash]!

Lin Mo, his body heavy, retreated a few steps to dodge the adult’s attack. He immediately countered with a Cross Slash, clashing with one of the sub-adult Mutated Goblins.

DING—!

With a loud clang, the Wolf Fang Club was knocked from the Mutated Goblin’s hand. Its arm bone fractured, and it howled in pain as it stumbled back several steps.

The attacks from the other sub-adult Mutated Goblins landed on Lin Mo, but thanks to [Resilience], they felt like nothing more than a nuisance.

As the Slow effect ended, Lin Mo didn’t linger in the fight. He retreated, activated [Invisibility], and, while the Mutated Goblins stared in confusion, chased after the Goblin Caster.

Without the effect of the Slow Technique, his 20 points of Agility were pushed to the limit, and he caught up to his target in just a few seconds.

Zorn seemed to sense something. It raised its hand again, casting a protective barrier on itself while ordering a Mutated Goblin to block Lin Mo’s path.

Lin Mo had anticipated this. He twisted his body, leaped to the side over the defending Mutated Goblin, and instantly unleashed [Cross Slash], striking the small figure squarely.

The same invisible force field blocked most of the damage, but even so, two more ghastly sword wounds were carved into its body.

Zorn shrieked in pain. Only then did the Mutated Goblin in front realize its master had been ambushed, and it swung its Giant Axe down at Lin Mo.

Using the momentum from his leap, Lin Mo rolled as he landed and fearlessly met the attack head-on.

As sword met axe, the immense force transmitted from the other end made the adult Mutated Goblin’s expression change drastically.

With 17 points in Strength, plus the reflective effect of [Resilience], not even an adult Mutated Goblin could match Lin Mo in a direct confrontation anymore.

It staggered back a few steps, only to find that Lin Mo was already charging its "king" again.

The other Mutated Goblin tried to block him but was completely outmaneuvered by Lin Mo’s agile footwork. Zorn raised its staff and pointed it at Lin Mo.

Clearly, it intended to cast the Slow Technique again.

However, in that instant, Lin Mo’s figure suddenly vanished on the spot.

Zorn froze for a moment. By the time it came to its senses, the blade was already at its neck.

There was no time to cast a barrier. A head flew into the air, only to be sliced in two by a follow-up wave of Sword Qi. It couldn’t be more dead.

"Hmph!"

Lin Mo snorted coldly. ’It still thought it could ambush me!’

’Before, I wasn’t familiar with its Magic Technique and my use of [Invisibility] wasn’t polished enough, but I won’t fall for the same trick forever.’

[Invisibility] Skill Level +10

[Cross Slash] Skill Level +10

’The Skill Level this thing gives is actually the same as that Earth Bear from before.’

’Now then, time to take care of the rest of them.’

Lin Mo turned his head to look at the remaining Mutated Goblins.

’A moment ago, I had to cut down their core first to prevent it from escaping. I couldn’t deal with these guys, and they were a real pain in the ass.’

’Now that the Goblin Caster isn’t interfering, it’s time to settle the score!’

Lin Mo stomped the ground, his figure shooting out like an arrow straight toward the two adult Mutated Goblins.

In the blink of an eye, he was upon them. He unleashed a [Slashing] attack that forced one back, and as the other Mutated Goblin attacked from the side, Lin Mo drew the dagger from his waist and executed an Upward Slash.

DING—!

The dagger, less than twenty centimeters long, seemed tiny in the face of the Mutated Goblin’s Giant Axe. Yet, this small blade easily blocked the attack.

"Ha!"

Lin Mo roared, putting his strength into it and knocking the Giant Axe aside. The next moment, his figure vanished as he sidestepped an attack from the Goblin he’d just pushed back. He then quickly circled behind it and unleashed a [Cross Slash], cutting open its back.

The Sword Qi left two bone-deep gashes on the Mutated Goblin’s powerful body. It cried out in pain and swung its Giant Axe behind it.

Lin Mo bent backward at the waist to dodge the blow, then followed up with a precise kick to the gap between its legs.

The Mutated Goblin let out a wretched howl and jumped, only to be run through the heart by the Wolf Bone Sword.

Seeing this, the other Mutated Goblin finally lost all will to fight and hastily fled toward the forest.

Along with it were the few Mutated Goblins that had been chasing from behind. The moment they got close, they immediately scattered and fled in different directions.

These guys weren’t too stupid; they knew to run in different directions. Lin Mo quickly pursued but only managed to kill three of the sub-adult Mutated Goblins. The remaining two adults and two sub-adults had already gotten too far away to make chasing them worthwhile.

Lin Mo let out a breath, wiped his dagger clean, and walked over to the bound young women, cutting the ropes that held them.

"Thank you! Thank you..."

The young women thanked him repeatedly, tears streaming down their faces as they looked at their savior with immense gratitude.

Lin Mo waved his hand and looked toward the village.

’Now that I’ve killed the Goblin Caster, no more Goblins will join the fray. Without their backbone, the Goblins should fall into chaos soon.’

’The village will still inevitably suffer heavy losses, but this is the best they could have hoped for.’

He took the young women and found the recuperating Harlek. Although Harlek was only half-healed, he was a Professional. Ordinary Goblins posed no threat to him, so taking a detour to escort these women back to the village was more than manageable.

As for Lin Mo, he charged into the Goblin Army from the rear.

’This is a rare opportunity. I need to grind as much Skill Level as I can...’

----------

"Captain, we can’t hold on much longer..."

Back at Falling Leaves Village, as the battle dragged on, not just the villagers, but the Adventurers’ Physical Strength was also beginning to fail.

Solan’s hands were trembling so much he could barely draw his bowstring.

"We have to hold on, whether we can or not!"

Alton was also gasping for breath. Staring at the seemingly endless Goblin Army, his eyes couldn’t help but fill with a bit of dazed despair.

The villagers had suffered heavy losses. Many had died in battle, and many more were seriously injured. Few of the young people could still fight. The elderly wielded all sorts of "weapons" with great effort, risking their old lives to protect their children and grandchildren.

The battle grew increasingly brutal, with no hope of victory in sight.

Ali once again slit the throats of two Goblins with her sword. At this stage of the battle, she no longer had the luxury of going for decapitations.

Slitting throats and piercing hearts were the fastest, most energy-efficient methods.

"It’s been almost an hour."

Rick’s voice was heavy. There was still no news from Harlek or Lin Mo. Although he didn’t want to think it, the grim situation made it hard not to consider the worst.

"They might already be... Captain, we should retreat."

Alton fell silent. Rick and Carson were already lightly injured. He knew that if they chose to retreat now, it would be difficult, but there was still a decent chance of breaking through the encirclement.

If they waited any longer, once their Physical Strength was completely depleted, they wouldn’t even be able to escape.

"No!"

Ali struggled to push back the Goblins charging at her, killing them one by one with quick sword strikes. "He’s fine..."

As if trying to hypnotize herself, she murmured the words, relentlessly cutting down the Goblins before her as if to vent her frustration.

It was obvious that her rational mind was telling her the same thing: after this long, the chances of Lin Mo being safe were slim.

Alton fought on, his mind wracked with indecision.

"Five more minutes... just five more minutes..."

Everyone fell silent, seemingly accepting his decision by default.

They had already done everything they could. Even if Falling Leaves Village still fell, there was nothing more to be done.

They were Adventurers, after all. They couldn’t be expected to sacrifice their own lives for a single mission... for the safety of others.

After Alton spoke, time seemed to accelerate. Five minutes passed quickly, but the situation before them remained unchanged.

"Captain..."

Rick prompted.

Alton took a deep breath. "Everyone, prepare to retreat!"

"Captain!"

Ali gripped her sword tightly and cried out, but she didn’t say anything more.

She didn’t know what to say. Ali knew the captain was making the right decision, but—

’Are we just going to leave?’

Lin Mo’s face appeared in her mind. The past few days had been like a beautiful, fleeting dream.

It felt like she was about to return to her old life, to that past where everyone kept their distance from her.

’But what good would staying do? He’s probably already dead.’

’That gentle smile... I might never see it again.’

A storm of complex emotions threw Ali’s mind into chaos. She bit her lip hard, her knuckles turning white as she clenched her fist.

"Ali, it’s time to go..."

Alton’s eyes were downcast as he sank into deep self-blame. "It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have let him go."

"Captain, the Goblin rear guard... it looks like they’re falling into chaos!"

Just then, Carson, who was accustomed to constantly scouting his surroundings, suddenly noticed something amiss.