'Missy, what will you do?'

Davy-chan asked with concern, noticing Chang Long's level was lower than everyone else in the group.

'I'll manage. We're sticking together, and the Sovereign Sword is very sharp, making it easy to injure those who attack us,'

Chang Long replied mentally while swinging her sword to fend off the fearless goblins charging at them.

Goblins, being quite clever, tried to separate their enemies to deal with them more easily. Siegfried, aware of this, ordered everyone to stay as close to each other as possible. However, it was difficult to maintain the formation as those on the outskirts were constantly under attack.

'Missy, you're drifting away from the group!'

Davy-chan warned as he saw Chang Long moving away from the others.

'That's okay, Davy-chan. Once I'm out of their sight, I'll call you to possess me.'

Chang Long shared her plan.

'Is that so? Alright, I'll keep watch.'

Davy-chan nodded, floating beside Chang Long to alert her of any incoming attacks.

"Chang Long!!"

Siegfried shouted upon seeing her being pushed far from the group.

"Stay put, Sieg! If you run out to help Chang Long, we'll be doomed,"

Rafael cautioned.

"No need to come after me, everyone. I can handle this!"

Chang Long yelled back, ensuring Siegfried heard her and did not recklessly come to her aid.

Seeing Chang Long heavily surrounded, Peach Blossom hurled a massive fireball at the group of goblins converging on her.

"Thanks, Peach Blossom!"

Chang Long shouted her gratitude, then dashed towards the path that had been cleared, making Peach Blossom beam with pride and renewed vigor.

"Davy-chan, Spirit Possession!"

At the right moment, Chang Long activated her skill, allowing Davy-chan's spirit to swiftly merge with her. Suddenly, her silhouette seemed to have a slightly larger dark shadow overlapping. She felt an immense power coursing through her, reminiscent of previous times.

Chang Long drew a circle around herself with the Sovereign Sword to keep the enemies at bay. She then attempted to summon the Sea of Flames skill, but to her surprise, no flames burst forth from the Eye of Fire as before.

"What's happening!"

Chang Long exclaimed in shock, examining the Eye of Fire on her sword, only to find the once fiery gem had turned into a clear, sparkling orb.

With no time to ponder the anomaly further, Chang Long faced an onslaught from dozens of goblins from all directions.

"Darn! No choice now, release Kitsune,"

Chang Long summoned her trusted pet from the ring. Kitsune, utterly bewildered upon materializing amidst a horde of enemies, yelped in surprise.

'M...Master, what's going on?!!'

Kitsune, in its evolved flame fox form, asked in panic.

'Don't ask. Just breathe fire on them, quickly.'

Chang Long commanded without looking back, as she too was preoccupied.

'Yes, Master!'

Kitsune complied and immediately began to spew fire all around, knowing the situation was dire and not bothering to question further.

The goblins, when scorched by Kitsune's intense flames, retreated several steps back, none daring to approach Chang Long again. Seizing the moment of their hesitation, Chang Long and Kitsune switched to offense. Kitsune, with its sharp fangs and claws, managed to take down several foes. Whenever the goblins overwhelmed them, Kitsune would breathe fire again, forcing them to retreat.

'This won't do, Master,'

Kitsune assessed the situation, realizing the difficulty of breaking through the encirclement of dozens of goblins, which kept increasing.

'We have no choice, Kitsune. Even if we try to flee back to the town, they will follow,'

Chang Long communicated mentally while feeding Kitsune a rejuvenating crystal. She herself wore buppha garland that naturally rejuvenated her energy, so she did not need to consume a crystal.

'Master, something fell to the ground,'

Kitsune noticed a large red envelope falling from Chang Long's bag while she was retrieving the rejuvenating crystal.

'What's this?'

Chang Long bent down to pick it up, as Kitsune turned to spew fire at another wave of goblins.

Opening the envelope, Chang Long found a 'Tenfold Experience Multiplier Talisman' inside, making her eyes widen in astonishment. She immediately activated the talisman, seeing no better opportunity to use an experience multiplier than now.

"Player Chang Long has activated a Tenfold Experience Multiplier Talisman at 11:10. The talisman will be effective for about 30 minutes. Make the most out of it,"

the system announced as soon as Chang Long activated the talisman, which then burnt to ashes instantly.

Realizing this limitation, Chang Long could not help but commend the game company. A tenfold increase for thirty minutes clearly showed the system's profitability. Killing a beast of equal level took at least 5-10 minutes, so managing to kill three beasts would just exhaust the time. However, Chang Long was fortunate to have numerous beasts attacking her and Kitsune's assistance, even if it meant halving the experience. Despite the split, it was still profitable.

'Master, there seem to be leaders over there, giving orders for the lower-ranked ones to attack us!'

Kitsune, alarmed his master.

"Pfft! Those big ones standing back there, not daring to come forward themselves, just using their minions as shields. They're going to get it!!"

Chang Long looked in the direction Kitsune indicated and saw several goblin cheiftains and generals standing behind, commanding from a distance without engaging in the fight themselves.

'Master, what will you do? They're so far away.'

Kitsune asked as he slashed at an enemy, causing blood to spurt.

"This is what I'll do: Reaper Soul Harvest!!"

Chang Long activated a skill she acquired with the title of Reaper once again.

As her voice faded, a menacing white skeletal figure in a tattered black cloak, towering like a giant, appeared, extending its bony hand towards the goblin cheiftains and generals who were a considerable distance away. The temperature plummeted rapidly.

The goblins about to attack Chang Long were startled, as was Kitsune, seeing Chang Long's reaper in full form for the first time, causing its fur to bristle in fright almost instinctively growling at it.

The giant reaper in the tattered cloak, as tall as the thirty-meter-high trees of the Fairy Forest, with deep, compassionless dark eyes, reached towards the nearly hundred goblin creatures with its large skeletal hand. The goblins scrambled away in fear, but the reaper managed to grasp nearly all of them effortlessly.

The goblins screamed in horror as they saw another skeletal hand hovering above them, slowly descending. They were petrified as the hand clenched slowly, coming to a stop just one foot above their heads.

The screams of the goblin souls were even more chilling than the first time she used Reaper Soul Harvest skill, echoing throughout the forest, audible even to Siegfried and the others fighting at a distance. Everyone paused and turned to look in unison at the sight of the giant skeletal figure in the tattered black cloak consuming the souls of nearly a hundred goblins in one go.

"What is that..."

Peach Blossom's voice trembled.

"A reaper!?"

Oliang gaped, stunned no less than the others.

"Definitely, I've seen it in the game manual,"

Aden nodded in agreement with Oliang.

Siegfried's group, despite not being blocked by large trees, recognized the being before them as a reaper. Considering that there was a shiny black scythe attached to the skeleton's back, intricately carved with images of a reaper holding chains tethered to numerous souls along its shaft. The long, sharply curved blade made it believable that a mere touch could easily sever a head.

"How did a reaper appear here?"

Rafael asked, puzzled. The goblin beasts they were fighting also turned their attention towards the reaper, giving them a brief respite.

"Could it be Chang Long? Doesn't she summon ghosts?"

Wet Trash Can speculated.

"I don't think so. We all heard that Chang Long's ghost is named Davy-chan. Plus, a reaper only manifests when summoned by someone with its title,"

Draco explained, having thoroughly researched this topic, as he was among the many players hoping to acquire the title of Reaper.

"So how do we explain what just happened?"

Rafael questioned as they watched the reaper's form dissipate after consuming all the souls it had grasped.

"We'll have to ask Chang Long; that's the only way. I saw her head in that direction. Besides, we're about to be attacked again,"

Siegfried, who had been quietly listening, reminded them to refocus on their own battle.

"Damn it, I haven't had a chance to use a single crystal yet. I'm so exhausted!!"

Draco complained, realizing they were about to engage in battle again, his gaze fixed on the reaper with adoration, forgetting he was in the midst of a fight.

"Hey you! You stared at the reaper. I wasn't sure if you wanted its title or... something else from it. Ha ha ha!"

Rafael teased, offering Draco three colors crystals, two of each color, eliciting hearty laughter from the group, lightening the mood after a tense period.

"Shut it!! Sieg, let's head that way. Maybe we'll find some clues about that reaper,"

Draco suggested, playfully hitting his friend before subtly coaxing Siegfried, who, as the highest-level and tactically adept leader, naturally took charge.

"Right! We should also look for Lord Long. She's been gone for a while, and I'm worried,"

Peach Blossom, holding hands with Sabia, agreed.

"That way... leads to the Elf City,"

Sabia mentioned softly, too scared to look up since entering the Fairy Forest.

"Then let's hurry up now, before the goblins regain their courage,"

Siegfried, concerned for Chang Long and impatient to assist her, took the lead as if he could not wait any longer.

"Look at him go! He's been wanting to rush over for a while now, I can tell,"

Rafael whispered to Draco so only he could hear. Draco smiled knowingly back before they resumed their journey, watchful for any danger.

After Chang Long and everyone else, were astounded by the Reaper Soul Harvest skill. Chang Long found that the goblin beasts feared her to the point of shrinking away. None dared to attack her again, including the higher-ranking goblins like cheiftains and generals, who collectively retreated several tens of meters but still refused to clear a path for her escape.

'Master, your friends are heading this way,'

Kitsune, with his exceptionally sharp hearing, informed his master.

'Damn... it seems the Reaper Soul Harvest skill worked better than expected. Look, all the goblins are terrified of me. I'm going to seal you now. I won't summon you unless absolutely necessary because we have a chatterbox in our group,"

Chang Long glanced around. Not seeing Siegfried's group yet, she quickly sealed Kitsune back into the ring.

After sealing Kitsune, Siegfried's group arrived just in time. Chang Long released Davy-chan from her body and then slumped down, muscle pain shooting through her. She quickly drank the black rose tea Elder An had prepared in her portable water bottle to alleviate the muscle pain.

"Chang Long... are you there!?"

Siegfried called out to Chang Long, concerned.

"I'm here. I'm fine, no need to worry!"

Chang Long shouted back. As the goblins' fear subsided, they began to attack their foes once more.

Fortunately, they charged at Siegfried's group instead of Chang Long, still too scared to face another encounter with the Reaper. This allowed Chang Long to run towards Siegfried's group without any goblins blocking her path.

"Ugh!! Why are there so many of them? I can't take it anymore. I'm reaching my limit of exhaustion,"

Peach Blossom complained loudly. No matter how many goblins they killed, their numbers seemed undiminished.

"We need to find a safe place to rest, Sieg. Everyone's energy is running low,"

Draco observed, seeing his teammates drenched in sweat.

"Up there... everyone, we need to get up into the trees,"

Chang Long suggested, pointing towards a large, lush tree that stood out among the rest with its green, dense leaves, unlike the surrounding trees that were brown and shedding.

"That tree is inhabited by a dryad!"

Sabia exclaimed happily.

"A dryad!?"

Everyone gasped in unison. Even amidst the battle, they could still listen and respond to the conversation without missing a beat.

"Yes, if we can get up there, the goblins won't be able to reach us. The dryad will protect us,"

Sabia explained with a smile, her fear lessening at the sight of the beautiful dryad waving at them.

"The problem is how we're going to get up there. Look, it's so high, and the branches we can step on are about ten meters apart,"

Wet Trash Can expressed his concern, noting his lack of martial artist's mobility compared to Oliang's ability to leap between distant branches with ease.

"I'll handle it... I'll take a rope up and tie it to a branch above. Then, we can climb up the rope one by one, how about that?"

Oliang volunteered.

"It's too risky. Don't forget, they have archers,"

Rafael disagreed, showing concern as he speared through the skulls of three goblin warriors in quick succession.

"It'll be fine as long as we get within 10 meters of that tree,"

Sabia asserted confidently.

"Alright! Then let's make our way towards that tree,"

Chang Long nodded and immediately charged at the goblin beasts blocking their path.

Chang Long's group quickly managed to reach within 10 meters of the giant tree protected by the dryad, causing the goblin monsters to scatter in fear. They remained wary of Chang Long, the one who could summon the Reaper, leaving the young men in the group baffled.

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