Goblin Dependency

"It's over..."

"It's all over."

The metal longbow, with sand grains clinging to its surface, trembled slightly, the bowstring made of pure energy drawn to full length.

Between the translucent scales of her fingers, covered with a thin callus, the energy bow and arrow hummed with a slight buzz, ready to be released.

Sarisa had once perched atop a tall mast amidst a storm, accurately hitting the Pirate Leader on the distant deck amidst the rolling waves; she had also patiently stalked from a treetop, pinning a rare demon just emerging from a burrow entrance.

Now, the distance between her and the enemy wasn't that far. Even if the opponent was moving, with her battle-tested skill as a professional-level archer, she could easily release the light arrow, almost certainly hitting her target.

But Sarisa hesitated.

From deep within her, a feeling far more tormenting than physical exhaustion, something she didn't want to acknowledge but undeniably existed—"fear"—was infiltrating the archer's mind, as bone-chilling as the deepest cold.

There weren't many adventurers still alive on the field.

Just moments ago, when she saw Xia Nan, the black-haired adventurer known as "Haiya" with exceptional prowess, leap out of the sea, withstand several terrifying spells, and slash the aged fishman priest, the commander, to death with one sword, she thought the battle was nearing its end.

Until that suffocating blood-red light exploded out of the shark beast, nearly wiping out the Sword of Vengeance adventurer team she had placed her hopes on.

The situation on the battlefield drastically reversed.

She watched as four professional adventurers, who barely escaped from the encirclement of the Sha Hua Fishman and attempted to replace the Sword of Vengeance members to delay the shark beast, couldn't last more than three rounds before being brutally torn into pieces by the blood-covered shark beast.

There was a skilled wanderer trying to use the shadows to stealthily approach for a surprise attack on the shark beast's vital points.

But they were yanked directly from the shadows by the webbed claw and had their skull crushed.

There were also archers with long-range attack capabilities, like herself, releasing sharp arrows from afar.

As for the result...

It was the blood-soaked arrow feathers still left in the shark beast's back, and the archer lying motionless on the ground, their head smashed into their chest cavity.

Faced with the grim shark beast summoned here, far more terrifying than any demon she'd encountered in her adventurer career, the adventurers on the field were turning into lifeless husks at a despairing speed for her.

What should she do?

Shoot this arrow, or... turn and run away?

Sarisa knew clearly that Stodd Island had been surrounded by the Sha Hua Fishman. Even if she managed to escape the battlefield temporarily, there was no way to leave the nearby sea.

At that point, without the distraction from other adventurers, staying on the island would only be waiting for death.

But if she really chose to shoot this arrow...

Images of the horrifyingly disfigured bodies of several adventurers involuntarily surfaced in her mind.

Sarisa's fingers gripping the light arrow loosening slightly.

"Maybe... it's better to retreat for now."

"Algae Scale" Dodd was dead beyond dead, and even his body had been used as a sacrificial offering by the Fishman. She no longer had any obsession in her heart.

Facing such a powerful demon, with few survivors, no one would blame her for failing to release this arrow.

Even if staying on the island only prolonged her life for a few hours or perhaps half a day, she might wait for support.

Then disappear from these waters, burying everything happening today as a nightmare deep in her memory.

She wanted to survive.

A thought, like poison, slowly spread in her mind.

And just when Sarisa's fingers loosened their grip on the bowstring, with the light arrow almost dissipating.

A cry of pain came from ahead.

That man, named Ellison, said to be the brother of the Sword of Vengeance captain, was punched by the Blood Skin Shark Beast, spewing blood as he flew backward, unconscious as he rolled to the ground.

The melodious music that once echoed over the coast halted once more.

Replaced by the small figure of the half orc dodging under the shark beast's attack.

As a Minstrel, his position was even further back than hers, yet he actively advanced to hold the shark beast, providing some relief to the collapsing battlefield situation.

Predictably, in the upcoming rounds, he would also meet the same fate as the adventurers she had previously witnessed, becoming a body torn apart by brute force.

For some reason, at this moment of utter confusion, even her consciousness becoming gradually dazed, Sarisa heard a voice in her mind:

"Do not let emotions influence your decision, my child."

"Do what you want to do, follow your heart."

She had almost forgotten how and when her mother said these words to her.

And, like her mother's blurred face, she could no longer recall her reaction at the time.

But at this moment, when a choice that could determine the trajectory of her future life appeared.

When these words resurfaced after years to her mind.

Sarisa's previously tangled, disorderly thoughts suddenly became crystal clear.

No more hesitation, no more delay.

She chose to follow her heart.

And so the dissipated light arrow reconsolidated.

Just like the countless times she had done before.