The goblin archer seemed to sense the threat too—drawing a poisoned arrow and firing instantly. But Bai Xia, focus razor-sharp, dodged it effortlessly.

She avoided the arrow, yet couldn’t evade the earth spikes erupting beneath her feet. Still, aside from costing her a bit more health, the spikes did little real damage.

Closing in swiftly, she activated Shadow Reap, phasing through the archer’s body. Materializing behind it, she slashed its neck with a reverse grip.

As low-level monsters, goblin archers resorted to bashing with wooden bows up close—crude, stiff, and pitifully weak. Bai Xia didn’t even dodge the next swing, cutting the archer down with swift, precise strikes.

Meanwhile, the two nearby goblin mages proved clever, ducking behind two advancing goblin guards while Bai Xia was occupied.

She paid them no mind. After felling the first archer, Shadow Reap’s cooldown accelerated. The moment it reset, she teleported behind the second archer. Her dagger—glowing with dark, fiery brilliance—plunged deep into its back while she sidestepped two consecutive earth spikes.

She eliminated the second archer cleanly. Just then, the two burly goblin guards finally closed in.

Still, Bai Xia alone had drawn the attention of eight monsters, greatly easing pressure on Tianzheng. Though luring four initially cost her health during the breakthrough, with ranged threats gone, wiping out the remaining guards was only a matter of time for him.

Watching the girl seemingly in peril, he frowned.

Bai Xia was, after all, just an assassin—fragile by nature. Having tanked several hits to reach the backline, her health was dangerously low. Surrounded now, one misstep could mean instant death.

Realizing this, Tianzheng unleashed a Samsara Slash, crippling all nearby guards. Without finishing them, he charged toward Bai Xia mid-air, leveraging his speed boost.

Bai Xia was still frowning—she’d underestimated these goblins. Taking down two archers had left her perilously exposed. Over a third of her health was gone. As guards closed in, mages chanted spells and the last two archers kept their distance.

Attacks could come from front, back, or below. If pinned, her sliver of health wouldn’t last two rounds.

“Tch.”

Annoyed, she dodged a guard’s sword swing. Sensing magic beneath her feet, she sidestepped—only to take a heavy arrow to the shoulder from behind.

Her health bar dropped another segment. No hesitation. She charged the distant archers. “As expected—gotta take out these sneaky bastards first!”

Turning exposed her back to the guards. Just as she braced to tank another hit, Tianzheng yanked her aside and parried the swing.

Caught off guard, Bai Xia slammed into his chest, then was swiftly pulled behind him.

“Be careful. I’ll tank it.”

She shot him a glance, then charged the two remaining archers as he engaged the guards.

Shadow Step off cooldown, she vanished to evade two attacks. Reappearing, she executed a fluid combo of skills and enhanced strikes, felling the third archer. The last tried to flee—but Bai Xia, arrow still stinging her shoulder, chased it down and hacked it to death.

All archers eliminated. But Tianzheng’s situation remained grim—the four crippled guards had regrouped around him. Even he couldn’t fight four alone. After downing two, his own health ran critically low.

Bai Xia chugged a healing potion and rushed to help. Her presence didn’t ease things much—she was too battered to take more hits. Thankfully, her earlier gear swap kept things from worsening.

Every move demanded precision. Multiple times, only Shadow Step and Tianzheng’s cover saved her from fatal blows. Yet the assassin’s burst shone through—any opening, and her combo instantly finished a weakened goblin.

“Phew—!”

As the final guard dissolved into white light, Bai Xia—health clinging to a sliver—ignored the scattered loot and plopped unceremoniously onto the hard ground. Too stiff to lie flat, she leaned softly against Tianzheng the moment he sat beside her.

He froze briefly, then chuckled. “Fight’s not over. Can’t relax yet.”

He meant the goblin lord at the cave’s rear—trapped mid-evolution, immobile and harmless. It had glared furiously since their intrusion… utterly useless. They’d avoided it deliberately during battle. Post-fight, it stood statue-still. Bai Xia wouldn’t ignore the true boss—but with no immediate threat, a brief respite was earned. Still, the second she realized she’d leaned on him, regret hit hard.

Pure instinct. Mind blank. *His shoulder’s softer than stone.* Zero ulterior motive.

…Now? Yeah. Pretty embarrassing.

She shook her head, scrambled up, and began looting—health still a sliver—to mask her fluster.

Scattered corpses left loot everywhere—a strangely satisfying sight. Until gathered: mostly flashy junk. Goblins were notoriously poor. And Bai Xia had the appetite of a taotie.

Her gaze—dark, greedy—locked onto the lone goblin lord. Even the monster shuddered, inexplicably fearing it might lose even its underwear next.