C10 Choice 210

Ducking beneath the massive siege hammer, Lin Yuan swung his blade at the commander.

The commander parried with his sword, but the assailant spun around and delivered a powerful kick, launching Lin Yuan into the air.

Dozens of elite archers drew their bows and loosed a volley of arrows, peppering Lin Yuan until he resembled a giant porcupine.

Luckily, his high level and sturdy armor meant the arrows only broke his skin without inflicting serious damage.

"Charge!"

Lin Yuan hit the ground running and barreled into the archers, his hands a blur as he cut down two in an instant. Yet before he could turn his blade on the rest, the siege hammer came crashing down once more.

How could it strike so swiftly?

Lin Yuan rolled away, only to find the Goblin commander poised to strike with the Jungle Blade.

The Goblins' teamwork was impeccable!

Lin Yuan drew his blade in defense, then spun into a counterattack, slicing horizontally!

"Pfft!"

Both combatants were struck simultaneously. The Goblin commander's chest was cleaved open, a smile of relief crossing his lips before his eyes closed for the last time.

Lin Yuan's shoulder bore the brunt of a return blow, a thick slab of flesh sheared away to the bone, blood gushing forth.

"Boom!"

Before Lin Yuan could recover, the siege hammer pounded into his back, blood spurting from his mouth as he was hurled through the air.

He twisted mid-flight, landing with poise, a surge of shock running through him.

The night before had been a blur, but now he saw clearly—the Goblin commander's eyes brimmed with intelligence, a stark contrast to the brutish stares he remembered from his past life.

"Roar!" The siege hammer swung again.

Lin Yuan flipped over it, then pivoted into a chopping sidestep!

"Aooo!"

The Goblin with the siege hammer collapsed, its entire right foot severed by Lin Yuan's strike.

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!"

The elite archers unleashed another flurry of arrows. Lin Yuan ignored them, allowing the arrows to pierce his face as he delivered a fatal slash to the siege hammer wielder's neck!

The massive head tumbled away from its body, the look on the Goblin siege hammer's face mirroring that of the commander's—a smile of relief.

Lin Yuan's confusion deepened, but this was no time for pondering. With no Goblin in the thousand-man squad left to challenge him, it was an opportune moment to slay the enemy and level up!

Young Master Soong and his companions were perched atop the second-floor guardhouse, their hearts pounding as they witnessed the carnage below. They'd often encountered such scenes in novels, but never imagined they'd witness a thousand-man army in the flesh.

Reality proved far more gruesome than any literary depiction they'd read. Limbs and green blood were scattered in all directions, some even reaching the rooftop. Not a single Goblin could breach the meter around Lin Yuan. The ground swiftly became drenched in blood, exuding a bizarre and ghastly aura.

"Lin Yuan is terrifying," Liu Sanli managed to say, his throat tight. The Goblins that they struggled to defeat were mere fodder before Lin Yuan, easily cleaved in two with a single stroke of his blade.

"Are you certain that's Lin Yuan?"

"He looks more like a demon to me."

Yang Yang was ashen-faced. Lin Yuan's burns had healed significantly since his advancement, but his body was still marred with scars, his hair and eyebrows singed away.

Adorned with arrows sticking out all over, he resembled a demon clawing its way out of hell, invoking a primal terror in those who saw him.

Lin Yuan swung his blade with wide, sweeping strokes—left, right, a horizontal slash! No Goblin before him posed any threat. The sensation of harvesting their lives was exhilarating.

With one swift cut, he bisected the last Goblin, its thick blood gushing forth to form a greenish pool. The school's entrance had been transformed into a vast abattoir.

Without hesitation, Lin Yuan charged into the second thousand-man squad, his blade dancing in a relentless slaughter.

"General, where did he acquire such a skill? There shouldn't be any skills available in the new student area."

"He took it from the Goblin chieftain."

The Goblin general watched the ongoing bloodshed and responded in a hushed tone.

"How could that be? Surely, no other goblins besides you possess such skills, right?" The commander of the three thousand goblins asked in astonishment. The general simply shook his head:

"One of the captains does; he's of royal blood."

"Royal blood? Why would royalty be invading our ranks?"

The general shook his head again, offering no further explanation.

With a single stroke, Lin Yuan had slain a thousand commanders, healing a third of his injuries. Now a Dark Iron Ninth Rank, he was just one step away from the Tenth Rank!

"General, he has reached the Ninth Rank. Shall I confront him?"

After a moment's consideration, the Goblin General gave a slight nod:

"Proceed."

Lin Yuan brandished the Jungle Blade, furiously hacking at the Goblin Assaultant. His strength now far exceeded that of the Assaultant, and his speed was several times greater. He could easily overpower him!

The Assaultant's massive frame stumbled backward, his enormous siege hammer marred with deep gashes, on the verge of breaking apart. His body was riddled with wounds, and Lin Yuan was close to delivering the final blow.

"Die!"

With a powerful swing, Lin Yuan knocked the siege hammer aside and delivered a decisive slash to the exposed Goblin Assaultant.

"Clang!"

The Brave Warrior's axe caught the Jungle Blade, the resulting tremor sending numbness through Lin Yuan's hands.

A commander of three thousand?

Lin Yuan leaped back to create distance, his mind racing. He had no recollection of a three thousand-man commander among the Goblin forces in his past life.

Then again, perhaps he had been too weak back then; even an ordinary Goblin could have bested him, let alone encountering such formidable combat prowess.

"I'll take you on!"

The three thousand-man commander gestured for the Goblins to spread out, speaking in a gruff tone.

Lin Yuan's skin prickled – the commander could speak the human tongue?

Sweeping through the ranks!

Before Lin Yuan could regain his composure, the Brave Warrior's razor-sharp axe was already bearing down on him.

Lin Yuan angled his blade to deflect the blow at a fifty-degree angle, then swiftly countered with a backhanded thrust.

The three thousand-man commander arched back to avoid the strike, then immediately followed up with three consecutive leaping slashes!

Lin Yuan staggered backward from the immense force, his arm tingling with numbness. He couldn't fathom how these commanders, barely reaching a height of one and a half meters, could wield such incredible strength.

As the commander of 3,000 exhausted his tactics, Lin Yuan let out a fierce roar, retaliating with a swift strike of his Jungle Blade.

The Goblin General glanced skyward; the sky was clear, yet the distant rumble of thunder signaled that time was running short.

With eight thousand-man squads still behind him, he couldn't afford further delays. If they didn't act soon, they'd face grave consequences.

Goblin leaders could keep their wits about them, but the rank-and-file were growing restless. Despite their limited intellect, their sense of impending danger was acute, and they were increasingly losing control as the sense of an imminent disaster loomed.

Lin Yuan and the Goblin commander clashed with gusto, their battle a symphony of steel.

Both were formidable Ninth Rank Dark Iron warriors—one with brute strength, the other with agility, both endowed with remarkable endurance. It was a classic match of equals, making it impossible to predict the outcome in such a short skirmish.

As their weapons met with a resounding clang, Lin Yuan, gasping for breath, demanded, "How can you speak our language?"

"Don't lump me in with those fools!" the commander retorted, shoving Lin Yuan back as he too struggled for air.

Lin Yuan charged again, blade at the ready, as they continued their verbal sparring amidst the physical duel.

"To think a Goblin of such low intellect could produce someone as clever as you!"

"Intelligent Goblins are not as rare as you think; you're just too ignorant to realize it!"