In the area outside the base, on the main road to the south, Shangguan Bing Xue watched with wondering eyes as the goblin army fled into the distance, and the first reason why the goblins were fleeing that came to her mind took the form of a young man who surprised her more and more every day and made her hopes in the male gender grow at least a bit.
This person was naturally Bai Zemin.
If it wasn't him who forced the goblins to retreat, then who else? Although Shangguan Bing Xue had no idea how Bai Zemin was able to get an army of tens of thousands of goblins to flee in panic, she had her own conclusions about it.
"Of the five terrifying auras from before, three of them disappeared completely and another one fled north…. The last one is in an extremely weakened state, to the point where it's hard to notice." She muttered quietly to herself.
"What do we do now?" Kang Lan approached her while still keeping her vigilance up.
Fu Xuefeng and the rest were still leading the troops of gunmen and soul evolvers to hold the defenses as they didn't know if the goblins would return or not. If they were caught off guard then the forces of mankind would be destroyed in an instant by the green-skinned creatures and they were well aware of it.
Shangguan Bing Xue listened to Kang Lan's question and after a brief pause of consideration calmly instructed, "Let everyone keep their positions. I will hold this ice bastion for another two or three minutes and if in that time nothing happens then I will go check on Bai Zemin."
"Alright." Kang Lan nodded hurriedly and did not discuss the matter. She was also worried about Bai Zemin since even though they had a soul contract that bound them to each other and assured the other that they were both alive, it wasn't as if Kang Lan was able to know if Bai Zemin was critically injured or not.
Shangguan Bing Xue's thoughts were similar to Kang Lan's. Although she wanted to think that he had not been injured or suffered any mishaps, somehow she felt that it might not necessarily be the case.
Time passed extremely slowly from the point of view of the survivors.
Regardless of whether they were an armed human, soul evolver, or a normal citizen; they were all tense as they cautiously and vigilantly surveyed their surroundings for anything green that moved other than the leaves on the trees.
Bushes in the distance would occasionally sway and a small wild beast would scurry off across the street before disappearing into the adjacent forest, scaring everyone to the marrow of their bones.
It was obvious to anyone that the fear of the large number of goblins that had assaulted them not too long ago as well as the ferocity of these creatures that were barely about three feet tall had left a deep mark on the hearts of most. This was understandable considering that only a few moments ago they were just one step away from crossing the gates of the underworld without being able to return to the world of the living ever again.
Fear was a rather complex and sometimes even a weird emotion. These battle troops feared the goblins even though some of them only received minor wounds during the fall of bone arrows, suffering zero casualties in the entire confrontation; on the other hand, they did not fear the wild beasts as much even though many of their battle companions have already died before the claws and fangs of these beasts.
The soldiers also feared the zombies horribly even though they were clearly slower and much weaker than the wild beasts. This was because the zombies not only had grotesque appearances as a result of the deterioration of their bodies due to the inability to control the mana that slowly corroded them but were also feared because of the factor that a mere scratch meant the end; even now, Shangguan Bing Xue and Bai Zemin were not immune to the invasion of infectious mana.
Approximately three minutes after the army of tens of thousands of goblins disappeared without a trace, Shangguan Bing Xue's Mana reserve dropped directly below 10% and her pretty face was almost as white as a sheet, barely with some blush on her cheeks due to mental exhaustion.
Finally, she deactivated her Ice Maker skill, and having lost the Mana supplement, the big ice bastion slowly began to lose its firmness.
The soul evolvers joined Shangguan Bing Xue to launch several powerful attacks and with Nangong Yi's final roar having activated his First Order Barbarian Strength skill, one of the walls finally fell, revealing a hole large enough for two big vehicles to drive through side by side.
"You all wait here." Shangguan Bing Xue instructed Lu Yan and the rest earnestly, "I will go check on Bai Zemin's situation. Leave the engines running and prepare to leave immediately."
"Roger."
Lu Yan, Fu Xuefeng, Nangong Yi, Nangong Lingxin, Evangeline, Kang Lan, as well as the various soul evolvers with some power and prestige nodded in unison upon hearing her words.
Shangguan Bing Xue didn't delay any longer after seeing everyone get to work and with a bit of vigor on the tip of her small foot she shot out towards the south gate of the former base, disappearing from everyone's sight in a few blinks of an eye.
* * *
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!….
Shangguan Bing Xue slowed her steps as she drew closer and closer to what she judged for obvious reasons was the center of the battlefield on which Bai Zemin and the main forces of the goblin army had clashed not long ago.
Her blue eyes looked casually and composedly at the surrounding mess.
Hundreds of buildings, houses, huts, and other types of human constructions were now nothing but a pile of rubble. Although there were several others still standing, their condition was so pitiful that it would probably be better to tear them down completely and build a new one there.
Red blood had stained the entire area and the putrid smell of iron filled the entire atmosphere. If not for the fact that Shangguan Bing Xue had already gotten used to this peculiar smell after experiencing so many things and going through so many battles from the beginning of the apocalypse she would definitely not have been able to continue walking as casually and calmly as she was doing now.
The mutilated bodies of tens and tens of thousands were piled up everywhere. No matter where her beautiful eyes fell, it was impossible not to see at least a few goblins torn into several pieces littering the ground in a disorderly manner.
Although Shangguan Bing Xue was clearly aware that many of these goblins had been killed by the shockwaves resulting from the clash between powers far above them, her eyes could not help but glitter with a hint of surprise.
"Just how many goblins did he kill?" She muttered in disbelief.
Bai Zemin was powerful, there was no room for doubt. Shangguan Bing Xue had seen his power personally, it wasn't something someone else had told her. However, he was, at the end of the day, a human who as far as she knew had not yet broken through to the next stage of power on the rank of Orders.
A human, no matter how strong he or she might be, should have limits to what he or she can do alone. One must know that what Bai Zemin was facing was over a hundred thousand goblins that despite being Unclassified existences were only one stage below him and he was also facing dozens of First Order goblins just like him; finally, he was also facing five supreme Second Order existences.
But not only did he kill four of those five Second Order creatures (since Shangguan Bing Xue could not sense the aura of the fourth one more now), he had also inflicted such losses on the goblin army…. Only now did she finally understand how he had forced the goblins to retreat.
She clenched her small white fists and gently bit her lower lip. Her sky-colored eyes shone with resolution; she was definitely not willing to be left behind. Even if she couldn't be as powerful as Bai Zemin was, her pride as a woman and her own self wouldn't allow it.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!….
"What's that?" She muttered under her breath as she raised her guard a little more.
Wasn't the battle already over? Then where were those constant explosions coming from?
Soon, she arrived at the place where Bai Zemin fought the Second Order goblins and understood the origin of those explosions.
The body of a goblin that was clearly different from the others lay lifeless on the ground. Judging from the aura that the creature's body exuded, Shangguan Bing Xue did not take long to understand that this goblin was a Second Order existence when it was still alive. Moreover, she could also see the corpses of three other goblins whose aura was somehow close or similar to that of the first goblin.
The problem was this:
Just over the dead body of the first and biggest goblin, a person wearing a full body armor as black as the starless night was shaking his fists at the speed of lightning.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!….
The fists fell heavily on the face of the goblin corpse without pause. What was once a face, at this moment, was nothing more than an absolutely unrecognizable pile of pulp flesh and the once black gloves that the attacker wore were now completely bloodstained as was the front of the armor and some of the once jet black hair.
"Bai Zemin? What are you doing?" Shangguan Bing Xue asked dumbfounded and was about to approach when a slightly cold voice made her footsteps stop dead in their tracks.
"Don't come closer…. Wait a little longer, it will soon end."
The voice was filled with warning as well as a bit of fear, surprise, and a hint of reluctance. Although it was extremely difficult to comprehend, Shangguan Bing Xue instinctively felt that it was better to obey and wait rather than approach carelessly.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!….
Just like a machine that had been broken, Bai Zemin punched and punched Geminder's corpse over and over again. Even though the head of the once main leader of the goblin race in the northern area of China had already exploded and the flesh turned into liquid after being crushed again and again, he continued.
When the flesh that had turned into red liquid evaporated after being smashed by Bai Zemin's hot and powerful fists, about ten minutes later, he stopped and slowly stood up.
"Finally, it's over." He sighed and his shoulders slumped as if he was exhausted.
When Bai Zemin raised his head and his eyes met Shangguan Bing Xue's, she could barely restrain herself from taking a step back and finally understood the reason why he had warned her earlier and why his voice sounded so foreign and distant.
Bai Zemin's eyes, which had previously been black as gems, magically acquired a slight rim of crimson around the edges. It was just a flash and that crimson color disappeared so quickly that Shangguan Bing Xue even believed for an instant that it was an optical illusion.
However, she fully trusted what her eyes had just seen.
"What… What happened to you?" She asked with concern and a slight frown.
Hearing the tone of the woman in front of him, Bai Zemin felt slightly moved. He was aware that a woman like Shangguan Bing Xue, who was cold as ice to everyone, would definitely not fake her tone of voice just to act friendly. Since she sounded concerned about him it meant that she really saw him as an important friend.
In the end, he sighed and said exhaustedly, "Apparently, I just acquired another annoying skill."
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Thank you very much to everyone who voted for Blood Warlock with Golden Tickets! <3
