Thrust! Slash!
The sound of Jonah's spear impaling the goblin's flesh and Shanny's sword tearing off the monster's limb resounded throughout the forest.
We were hastily charging through the trees and making our way toward the hills ahead.
Thanks to my fire spell, a path surrounded by huge fire walls was carved toward the hills. It did not quite reach the hills yet, but it would get us closer to the destination.
The fire walls around the path provided us protection from the monsters that were not eliminated during my previous assault.
Around ten goblins managed to survive my spell, but they were not things we could not handle.
As we ran through the fiery path, some of the goblins forced their way through the fire walls, burning themselves in the process.
They proceeded to give chase to us without a care to their burning selves.
Kekeke!
Two goblins emerged from the fire walls ahead of us and blocked our path.
Presented with this obstacle, while holding his main spear with his left hand, Jonah reached for one of the throwing spears strapped on his back with his right hand.
He then forcefully threw the shorter-and-lighter spear ahead and impaled the two goblins at once.
At the same time, a goblin with a crossbow was standing by somewhere to our side. It aimed its weapon right at me and pulled the trigger.
Clang!
Before I could react to protect myself, Shanny lunged forward and intercepted the bolt with her shield.
She pulled her leg back and swung it forward with all her might, launching a palm-sized rock on the ground right to the goblin's head.
We continued running through the forest.
Just when we were about to reach the edge of the fiery trail, echoes of goblins' sinister laugh resounded from deeper within the forest.
[Goblins Lv.4 x37] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x18]
Another wave of goblins was lying awaited for us.
However, we did not falter.
Jonah and Shanny immediately took place around me and set up a defensive line. All so that I could cast my spell.
[Maha Jwala]
Whooshh! Crash! Boom!
Within five seconds, another meteor-like blaze ran through the thick of the forest in front of us.
The flame devoured most of the goblins blocking our path.
"Go!"
I ordered as I finished casting.
We sprinted through the forest while eliminating any goblins that dared to stand in our way.
Even without my support, Jonah and Shanny were fully capable in taking them down easily.
It was not long after my second casting that we reached the foot of the hills.
Krahhh!
More goblins were emerging from various parts of the forest, giving chase to us.
[Goblins Lv.4 x56] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x28]
"Up the hills! Hurry!"
I urged my comrades.
With nimble movement, Jonah and Shanny ran up the slope.
The weight of their weapons and armors did not hold them back. Mostly because they had been enchanted to become lighter.
Trailing behind them, I stopped in the middle of the hike and looked back to the forest.
[Davah Shashanam]
I waved my hand on the ground beneath me and caused a huge landslide that devoured the goblins behind us.
In the process, a steep cliff was carved out of the hill, providing great difficulties for the monsters to climb after our party.
The goblins tried to climb up but they would only end up falling due to the cliff's crumbling.
The vile creatures had to make a long detour to safely climb the hill and give chase to us.
Having impeded the pursuing forces temporarily, I joined Jonah and Shanny at the top of the hill.
They were both staring curiously at something in the distance.
"Serafina, come take a look!"
Jonah told me.
I turned my head and saw what was catching their attention.
Beyond us could be found several more ranges of hills betwixt dense forests which spanned about four times the size of the one we just passed through.
What was interesting was the thing at the end of these rows of hills.
Pitted between the heaven and the earth, right at the horizon, was an object which shined like the brightest evening star.
It lied right beyond the fourth hill range from where we stood, fifth hill if we counted the one we were on.
I waved my palm once more and created a magnifying lens on one of my eyes.
With improved vision, I examined the shining object.
It appeared to resemble a humanoid figure. Unfortunately, that was all I could make out from this far.
"What do you see? Is it an enemy?"
Shanny asked as I deactivated the lens spell.
"I'm not sure. I think it's merely an object though. A peculiar one."
"What should we do about it? Do we just ignore it?"
Jonah asked.
I stared back to our trail. The ogre legions were about to enter the forest behind us.
"We'll head for the shining object."
I instructed.
"But what if it's dangerous? Even though it's just an object, we never know what it could do to us."
"Our mission is to escape. We've been looking for something that could indicate where we needed to go. That shining object is the closest thing we could get."
I pointed back to the thousands of ogres trampling through the forest behind us.
"Plus, given our location and the direction from where the ogres are coming from, we need to head toward the shining object anyway."
After hearing my explanation, Jonah and Shanny did not launch any more rebuttals.
They quickly nodded and readied themselves to march once more.
"We'll use the same tactic as before. I'll first open up a path using my fire. You two deal with any monster that get in our way after."
I instructed my comrades before we go down the hill.
Preparing to resume our escape, I turned my gaze toward the next forest expanse before us.
Howl!
Kekeke!
[Goblins Lv.3 x83] [Goblin Archers Lv.3 x54] [Direwolves Lv.4 x37]
As expected, more monsters were lying in wait to block our path.
Individually they were really weak, given our experience in the lower floors, but their number would be a pain to deal with.
Still, I entered this trial knowing it would not be easy. So I tried not to dwell much on it.
Crack! Dun! Boom!
A great thunder suddenly roared on the sky above.
Numerous shining silver streaks flickered through the dark clouds as rainwater began to drop upon us.
"Unbelievable…"
I sighed.
This was going to be a long trial.