Steven ran forward and cried out a battle cry as he attacked the goblin that fell. Blue blood splattered through the air as his sword cut through the goblin’s neck. Grace, Amanda, Hailey, and Tom all began their volley on the outside of the barrier while everyone else, Adel included, began fighting the ones I let in. Well, everyone except me. Everyone was so gung-ho that I didn’t even get a chance to move after I gave out orders.

I could only keep opening the barrier to let more goblins in, but there was something bothering me. I originally only counted twenty goblins, but between those killed inside and those killed outside, the number did not seem to go down. I wanted to go inspect what was going on since detection was not working, but I dared not leave.

I stood there watching Adel casually standing there with a sword in her hand, casting stop on any goblin that pounced at her. Sei and Sophie were at her side, protecting her from any extras that might sneak up on them. Steven and the boys were rampaging around on the battlefield while Sally…. “Hmm, where is Sally?”

“I am here, Young Miss. My job is to protect you, Young Miss.” Sally replied from behind me, causing me to almost jump out of my skin. I turned around to see her there with her back straight, her hammer resting on the ground as she held the handle with the other.-.Ah! I almost forgot that Sally was my personal guard. I was still not used to that. Well, I guess it was okay since Sally did not seem like someone who needed combat experience in the first place. From what I have seen, the rabbit was an amazing fighter as it was.

“Alright, but please! Please tell me if you are going to stand behind me!” I really did not know how she does it, but she is like a ghost who could appear anywhere at will silently.

“As you wish, Young Miss.” Sally replied while bowing her head. I really wished she would loosen up some. But I guess after years of working for that stupid cat, she would not be able to change her habits easily.

The battle kept going and going, and I could tell some of them were getting tired. Hailey was already sitting on the ground, her mana must be almost depleted while the others were slowing down their movements. Seeing this, I decided it was my time to move. “Everyone fall back and rest! I will handle the rest.”

“Thanks, Boss!” Steven yelled out. His hair was soaked in sweat, which was to be expected after he ran around like a crazy man.But I had to thank the goblins for doing a wonderful job of coming here and giving everyone some practice time. To be honest, I was very impressed with how well everyone was fighting. While some got a few wounds here and there, it was nothing we could not easily heal.

I walked over to the barrier and stood at the very edge, causing the goblins to frantically slam against the barrier with their bodies. I could see the crazed frenzy in their eyes. It was as if they were starving, but these guys only had one thing in mind, which could be easily seen if you looked below their waist.

I reached up with my hand and placed it against the barrier. My eyes began to glow with magic circles as I softly spoke: “Flame Pillar!”

A medium area of effect spell. It caused many pillars of fire to shoot up from the ground and burn everything that they touched to ash. One of which shot up right in front of me on the other side of the barrier. Once it died down and I saw that the goblins had dispersed, my eyes glowed once more: “Flame wall!” two rows of flames stretched out before me, blocking the left and right sides of a small opening in front of me. I then stepped outside the barrier.

“Boss!” “Faith!”

“Are you crazy? Come back here!” I heard Adel yell out. But before she could run out and give chase, I set up another barrier around the original, blocking anyone from exiting. I just couldn’t shake the idea that something was seriously wrong with this place.

With my mana shield up, I walked forward into the darkness, looking for any signs of something that might be causing these goblins to appear. I felt that maybe since the dungeon core could create monsters that made, there was something else that might create them as well. But even as I killed globins that jumped at me left and right, I found myself not making any progress. Because they just kept coming at me in masses. I would have jumped in the air to escape them, but the rocky ceiling was too low.

“Ahhh! So annoying! Where the hell is that Gobslayer man when I need him!” I shouted in annoyance. Gobslayer man was a light novel series I read back on Earth when I was reading a lot of fantasy novels. It was about an old man who went around slaying goblins. This was where I learned mostly all my knowledge about goblins.

My eyes lit up once more as I stomped my foot, causing the entire area in front of me to suddenly turn into a field of ice: “Ice Field!”

Every goblin in a large area around me turned into a gobsicle. I then sent out a bunch of light balls to figure out what was going on. And that was when I spotted it. A blackish purple portal swirled around at the entrance to the next room. And what was coming out of it was goblin after goblin. I really do not see how this was fair unless we set off some kind of trap that we do not know about, but whatever the reason, it was a bit over the top. If anything, this could be considered hard mode. Or some kind of time trial where you kill a million goblins. But now I at least know what is going on but the only issue is that there are so many goblins, I can’t get a clear read on the portal itself to use appraisal since it is so dark. “I guess I can only get closer…. So annoying….”