Chapter 7: Growing Fewer

The two wounded little goblins and the one unscathed goblin, which had luckily stayed out of the attack range, all screamed at once. Surprisingly, the uninjured one cried out even louder than its two injured companions.

Then, as if rehearsed countless times, they each bolted desperately in three different directions— even the goblin that had been cut in half at the waist displayed a fierce will to survive at this moment. Its twig-thin, weak arms scrambled rapidly across the ground, scattering dirt everywhere.

But due to this violent struggle, life drained swiftly from its body, and within mere seconds, it breathed its last.

After delivering the first strike, Li Rui did not continue attacking the two injured monsters. Instead, he took long strides and charged straight at the still intact goblin.

As long as he could kill this one, the three of them would pose absolutely no threat!

With a sudden lunge and a swipe of his rusted sword, a spray of hot blood erupted— goblin blood, like human blood, was red.

When the goblin’s head hit the ground, Li Rui’s gaze immediately shifted toward the last goblin, which was missing an arm.

Only the rustling green leaves of the bushes met his eyes.

It seemed that losing one arm had somehow unleashed 120% of that goblin’s sprinting speed.

If the little creature who just lost its head could run as fast as this one-armed goblin, Li Rui estimated it'd take him over ten seconds to catch up.

He instinctively took a few long strides to pursue but stopped after only two steps.

Having been busy fighting before, he hadn’t paid attention to the direction. Now he realized the one-armed goblin was heading straight toward the main goblin horde, which was still calling out loudly.

Although Li Rui was confident he could kill the one-armed goblin before it reached the horde, he was not sure he could avoid being spotted by the goblin group.

If he happened to be in the goblins’ line of sight when he struck down the one-armed goblin… that would be awkward.

So he made up his mind immediately.

“Don’t pursue a cornered enemy.”

He turned and quickly began rummaging through the bodies of the two fallen men.

It was more practical to gather some gear before the goblin horde returned.

Although the equipment on the two men had suffered some damage in the earlier battle and was stained with blood, it was still much better than Li Rui’s current set—corroded by slime and tattered by branches, like a beggar’s rags.

He swiftly stripped one man down, piling the items into a heap without bothering to change clothes on the spot, then began on the second.

What he didn’t expect was that the second man was not yet dead.

“Ugh!”

The man had been lying face down, but when Li Rui flipped him over, he emitted a weak, pained cry.

However, Li Rui glanced at the gaping wound on his chest that exposed internal organs, and the massive chunk of flesh torn from his thigh by the goblin.

The man was at death’s door, with no chance of survival.

So Li Rui ignored the faint moans and stripped off his clothing.

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