Chapter 26: Men’s Length Anxiety

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Men’s Length Anxiety

The alley they had come from was now completely blocked by a surging tide of goblins!

Baron Uer and the Guards formed the outermost line of defense. With every swing of their swords, their arms grew more numb. Sweat mixed with blood, soaking through the linings of their armor.

They held an absolute advantage in individual strength, and each blow easily felled a goblin, but... the sheer numbers!

The disparity in numbers made it clear: exhaustion was only a matter of time.

The Guards’ arms were growing numb, and sweat mixed with blood soaked their clothes.

Hesia knew he could no longer afford to conserve his Magic Power.

He unleashed the Earth Spike Technique in rapid succession.

In the direction of the Bell Tower, three half-meter-high Earth Spikes suddenly jutted out from the ground!

The moment the Earth Spikes broke through the ground, they impaled several nearby goblins that couldn’t dodge in time. Green blood flowed down the spikes.

The unluckiest goblin was violently thrown into the air by the rightmost Earth Spike, losing its balance and flailing to the left like a broken sack.

Its body and head slammed precisely onto the other two sharp Earth Spikes. It was instantly pierced through and hung there, twitching a few times before falling silent.

[Earth Spike Skill Proficiency +1, (2/10)]

Hesia’s heart skipped a beat. ’My proficiency increased? Was it because I got a kill?’

’Or was it because I didn’t just cast it blindly in battle? I’ll have to test it again later...’

The thought flashed through his mind, but he immediately suppressed it.

The bloody and shocking scene before them brought the frenzied goblin assault to a brief halt.

An instinctive fear of this unknown power flickered in their crimson eyes.

But the Shaman’s Frenzy Spell was still in effect.

After only a moment’s hesitation, the goblins charged forward with even greater madness!

However, Hesia’s goal had never been intimidation.

These three half-meter-high Earth Spikes, like a breakwater in a river, forcibly split the tide of goblins in the narrow alley!

Their charge was blocked, their path constricted.

Hesia looked at Baron Uer and pointed to the gap created by the rightmost Earth Spike.

Baron Uer understood instantly!

He pointed with his Longsword!

The Guards plunged into the gap on the right like a sharp knife.

Spears thrust forward and sword blades flashed.

The tightly packed goblins were cleared out in an instant.

Seizing the precious opportunity, they tore open a breach and pushed forward more than ten meters!

Hesia once again cast the Earth Spike Technique in succession.

This time, three vertical Earth Spikes blocked the other half of the goblins, dividing the alley in two.

They continued to push forward and finally broke out of the narrow alley’s entrance, stepping into the relatively open Bell Tower square!

The purplish-red Goblin Shaman, which had been cunningly maintaining a safe distance the whole time, now retreated into the shadows of the Bell Tower.

Seeing Hesia and the others break through its encirclement, the face beneath its bone mask twisted abruptly, and it violently raised the Bone Staff in its hand.

Its stooped body trembled slightly as a viscous wave of Magic Power transformed into an invisible spiderweb, descending upon the group.

[Slowdown Skill]

Hesia felt his body suddenly grow heavy!

It was as if he had been instantly submerged in a thick swamp, every movement becoming incredibly difficult.

Lifting an arm or taking a step felt like dragging a heavy weight.

Baron Uer and the Guards, clad in Leather Armor and wielding heavy weapons, moved as if in slow motion.

A Guard tried to raise his spear, but the weapon he usually handled with ease now felt as heavy as a boulder, his arm trembling uncontrollably.

The Bell Tower was so close!

The strange, black-haired clay doll was clearly visible in the moonlight.

But the short distance of a few dozen meters now felt like an impassable chasm.

At that moment, the Goblin Shaman grinned, revealing a mouthful of crooked, yellow teeth.

Hesia subconsciously wanted to aim the Earth Spike Technique at it, but he extinguished the thought as soon as it arose.

The distance was too great!

The Earth Spike Technique required the ground as a medium to activate; it couldn’t be projected through the air.

And that cunning Shaman had kept itself at an absolutely safe distance from the very beginning, as if it had long since seen through the limits of his Magic.

Its current sneer was not just mockery.

It was more like a declaration—the real show was yet to begin.

Alarm bells screamed in Hesia’s mind!

’This purple-skinned runt is up to something! It has another trick up its sleeve!’

He fought against the heavy, sluggish feeling in his body, focusing all his awareness on his surroundings.

Just then! He noticed a figure nearly two meters tall at the edge of the square, standing out from the crowd of short goblins like a crane among chickens.

It was a monster nearly two meters tall.

Its face was savage, with four sharp tusks jutting from its lower jaw. Its dark red pupils glinted with bloodlust.

Its upper body was a mass of knotted muscle, but its abdomen was swollen like a giant stomach. It was dragging a tree trunk it had found somewhere.

’A giant goblin!?’

The monster instantly locked onto Hesia, who was still under the effects of the Slowdown Skill!

A savage grin spread across its ugly face!

Then, like an out-of-control battering ram, it knocked aside all the normal goblins in its way and charged straight for Hesia.

’Crap! It’s coming for me!’

Hesia’s pupils contracted sharply!

The shadow of death loomed over him.

In that split second, Hesia held nothing back!

The surrounding Earth Elements gathered in a frenzy!

He squeezed out every last drop of Magic Power from his body!

A thick Earth Spike erupted from the ground.

It didn’t shoot straight up.

Instead, it rose at an angle.

It precisely pierced the giant goblin’s tusk-filled, gaping maw.

It passed through its fat head without any resistance!

It exited the back of its skull, taking bits of red and white with it.

The giant goblin’s massive, charging body froze!

The light in its dark red pupils instantly vanished.

The tree trunk crashed to the ground.

But the Earth Spike didn’t stop.

Carrying the impaled corpse of the giant goblin, it continued to grow, to climb, surging upward toward the top of the Bell Tower with unstoppable momentum!

Hesia’s face was pale as paper. His body trembled violently from Magic Power exhaustion, and he could barely stand.

He stared intently at the tip of the rising Earth Spike!

’Faster! Just a little faster!’

’Just a little higher!’

However...

The Earth Spike’s ascent slowed at a visible rate...

And finally!

A full few meters away from the Bell Tower’s spire, from the strange clay doll swaying in the wind!

It came to an abrupt halt!

His Magic Power... was completely spent!

[Earth Spike Skill Proficiency +3, (5/10)]

At the top of the Earth Spike, the massive corpse of the giant goblin, its eyes wide open in death, swayed gently in the night wind.

The target was... so close!

And yet, so far!

Looking at the gap of several meters, Hesia was instantly overwhelmed by a feeling of powerlessness.

A man’s anxiety about length is truly universal.

’Just... a little bit more!’

’At a critical time like this?’

Afflicted by the Slowdown Skill, they moved like snails. Trying to fight their way out of the sea of goblins was nothing but a fool’s dream!

Their only hope was the clay doll on the Bell Tower!

But now...

A quick-eyed Guard caught Hesia as he swayed on his feet.

Baron Uer also saw the Earth Spike angled toward the Bell Tower.

A flicker of despair crossed his eyes.

’If we hadn’t been hit by the Slowdown Skill, a single sprint might have been enough to reach that clay doll!’

But he still pointed toward the massive Earth Spike.

It was their only way to survive.

With their backs to the Earth Spike, they could at least avoid facing goblins from one direction.

They could wait... for reinforcements that were likely already dead.

The Guards understood immediately. Shielding Hesia, they moved toward the giant Earth Spike under Baron Uer’s lead.

Under the influence of the Slowdown Skill, every step was incredibly difficult.

Though he couldn’t make a sound, Bruce would occasionally turn back and bare his teeth, trying to scare away the goblins that got too close.