Chapter 18: Power of a legendary title

When the pawn directly clashed with the goblins, it operated automatically without the Queen’s direct control. Without taking the time to manually direct its movements, Velvet allowed it to fight freely. The pawn did not disappoint. Having activated its title, its attack speed received a noticeable boost.

​It didn’t even bother dodging the incoming goblins. With a single horizontal slash, it cut down two ordinary goblins charging at the front. Immediately after, two Big Goblins seized the opportunity to thrust their weapons toward the pawn. Because the pawn’s defense remained at its base level, even with armor, the force of the two attacks pushed it back. The momentary lag allowed other ordinary goblins to swarm, but the pawn ignored them, shifting its focus entirely toward the two Big Goblins.

​It delivered a diagonal slash from the west. The first Big Goblin dodged to the side, believing it had evaded the strike. However, the pawn had merely feinted the initial attack; following through with a swift horizontal slash, it severed the goblin’s neck.

​This exposed the pawn’s back to the second Big Goblin, who struck immediately, throwing the pawn off balance. The surrounding ordinary goblins capitalized on the opening, attacking the temporarily vulnerable summon. Once the pawn stabilized itself, it had sustained several injuries, though because the attackers were ordinary goblins, the damage was minor.

​Regaining its footing, the pawn charged straight ahead with another diagonal slash. Seeing its companion fall to the same motion earlier, the remaining Big Goblin assumed it was another feint and didn’t prepare to dodge, however this time the strike was real. without proper defense, the Big Goblin was slashed open from waist to shoulder.

​With both Big Goblins eliminated, the pawn turned its attention back to the remaining ordinary goblins, clearing them out in a few swift moves. The entire engagement took less than a minute.

​Meanwhile, Velvet charged directly toward the main host, dual wielding her two katanas. Upon activating her title, she transformed into a red streak of light, blitzing the primary formation.

​The Hobgoblin didn’t stand idly by. He activated an enhancement, raising his Aura from 32 to 39 points—a boost of roughly 120%. To Velvet, however, it made little difference. As enemy who was an archer fired a volley at her, she deflected the arrows with her katanas and dodged the rest. Even though her Aura matched the Intermediate rank, her base defense was still at the Beginner novice rank; while her armor provided protection, absorbing arrow impacts would ruin her momentum, making evasion the smarter choice.

​Realizing his arrows couldn’t hit her as she closed the distance, the Hobgoblin ordered his vanguard to charge. The surrounding goblins surged forward, while the remaining Big Goblins stayed behind to guard him.

​Velvet used no fancy footwork this time. She swung her blades in a clean horizontal arc, felling four ordinary goblins in an instant. Driven by Intermediate rank power, her slashes sliced through wooden clubs and weapons as easily as the goblins wielding them. She cut through their ranks like scythes through grass each strike decapitating an opponent before they could react or counter. Moving with blinding speed, she resembled a red butterfly fluttering through a swarm of goblins, leaving a trail of rolling heads in her wake.

​Title boosts, however, cannot be sustained indefinitely. Though this was her first time relying on her title in combat, Velvet managed her output wisely. In that single initial engagement, she slaughtered nearly 30 ordinary goblins.

​When no more goblins dared throw themselves at her, she stood amidst a mountain of corpses, deactivating her title. She surveyed the survivors. The remaining goblins refused to step within her killing radius, frozen by pure survival instinct. Even with their low intelligence, they recognized a god of slaughter when they saw one.

​Even the Hobgoblin stood silently, staring at Velvet in a tense standstill.

​Seeing that they refused to attack, Velvet made a move that caught everyone off guard even Smith was caught off guard. She executed a rapid backward retreat.

​Seeing the threat that had just slaughtered his vanguard suddenly pull back, the Hobgoblin grew enraged and fired an arrow at her. Velvet, while retreating, remained facing the horde. She casually deflected the arrow and continued her backward movement.

​Frustrated, the Hobgoblin commanded his remaining troops to pursue the "fleeing" enemy. The command temporarily boosted the goblins’ morale as they surged forward in a loose formation, with all the Big Goblins grouped together.

​little did they know that they had walked right into her trap.

​As soon as the goblins where in their pursuit, Velvet halted her retreat, re activated her title, and charged straight back into their loose formation. Targeting the Big Goblins.

​By the time the Hobgoblin realized the trap and tried to call a retreat, it was too late. Velvet tore into them like a tiger among sheep. Each strike dropped a Big Goblin in one or two hits. With her superior attributes and high grade equipment, there was virtually no difference to her between an ordinary goblin and a Big Goblin.

​When the goblins finally processed their commander’s retreat order, they realized the "fleeing target" had turned back into a predator. By the time they regrouped around the Hobgoblin, only two Big Goblins and five ordinary goblins remained alive.

​Seeing his forces decimated, the Hobgoblin’s eyes flushed red with humiliation and fury. Abandoning all defensive caution, he snatched a sword from a fallen Big Goblin and charged alongside his last remaining minions.

​This time, Velvet didn’t fight them all herself. She summoned two pawns, directing them to intercept the Big Goblins and ordinary goblins, leaving the Hobgoblin isolated against her.

​Though the Hobgoblin possessed the raw physical strength of an Intermediate rank and together with the physical enhancement he was a formidable opponent but he lacked refined technique. He swung the sword wildly, relying on brute force. Velvet easily dodged his clumsy swings, counterattacking with swift slashes that left deep wounds across his body.

​After several exchanges, weakened by a severe blow to the abdomen and massive blood loss, the Hobgoblin collapsed into his own pool of blood.

​By the time Velvet finished her fight, her two pawns had already eliminated the remaining goblins concluding the battle.

​Standing on the sidelines, Smith, Brian, and Jack stared at the scene completely stunned. None of them had anticipated the battle unfolding so one sidedly. Lily and Anna, who were supposed to provide support, stood frozen in shock. None of them had ever seen a novice fight with such brutal efficiency. What was meant to be a controlled training exercise had turned into a total massacre.

​Velvet nonchalantly flicked the blood off her blades, sheathed them in her scabbards, and walked up to Smith with an innocent smile.

​"Brother, did I do well?"

​Smith blinked, recovering his composure. "You did... far beyond my expectations."

​Velvet leaned in and suddenly kissed Smith on the cheek. Caught off guard by the sudden gesture, Smith froze, unsure of how to react.

​Noticing the awkward silence, Brian quickly stepped in. "Alright! Take a moment to rest and recover. Lily and Anna, go search the area and gather the loot."

​As Brian walked off to help clean up the battlefield alongside Lily, Jack and Anna, his mind raced.

​Is this really a novice ranked Queen,She just wiped out an entire goblin tribe led by an Intermediate-rank Hobgoblin without losing a single pawn or taking serious damage...

​Brian came to a quiet decision. Once they cleared this dungeon, he needed to tell Smith something critically important—something that would fundamentally shape their future.