It didn't take long for the group to find the next squadron of goblins. Armed with a variety of weapons like clubs, swords, shields and daggers, the goblins charged the party of 4 head on. With a quick observation by Lily, she counted there were at least 2 dozen goblins this time around.
Luna once again was the first to charge in, her hatchets flying from her hands to embed themselves into 2 reckless goblins who were at the forefront of the charge. Her status upgrade to level 2 had caused her already strong offensive ability to blossom even more, each of her blows proving to be lethal.
Leo was not far behind her, twisting his body to use his arms as metal whips, often aimed at the weapons from goblins trying to flank his sister who had chosen to completely neglect her defence
. The ear piercing sounds of rusty metal weapons scraping against Astras metal surface was akin to nails on a chalkboard, causing Leo to wince occasionally. Yet even then, he had no hesitation to continue this way, he would protect his sister no matter the cost.
Ouroboros chose to separate himself from his party in an attempt to flank the goblins. Using the cover of trees, he successfully circled behind the charging squadron and began picking them off one by one.
When a goblin noticed him by chance, he gave them a taunting smirk before disengaging, slipping behind a tree and disappearing into the foliage. With the limited mental capacity of the monster, it was instantly enraged and chased after the snake.
What it failed to notice though was that it was being lured into a trap. The snake eyed human stopped running after about a minute, hand on his knees as if out of breath. This caused the goblin to grin and charge with its rusty iron sword raised high.
Thinking it had won, it was careless and didn't notice the tripwire a few metres away from the man. Falling forwards, a wooden spike rapidly grew bigger in its eyes followed by a loud squelching noise as the goblins' vision cut to black.
Lily was working in tandem with Ouroboros to set traps for the goblins using her wooden spikes while also providing support for Luna and Leo. Lily could feel her brain hurting from splitting her focus in 3 separate directions.
Nausea threatened to make her throw up as she used her innate wood magic to trip, maim and even skewer the goblin warriors but she did her best to hide it, she couldn't be the weak link that could get her best friends only remaining family member killed. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she failed Luna now.
Luna on the other hand was all smiles, the looming danger far from her thoughts at the moment as she indulged in the battle. She may enjoy the thrill of combat despite her cool and suave exterior, she was actually over the moon with joy that the system had recognized her bond with Leo and had granted them a unique skill that only the two of them shared.
She entrusted her back to Leo as she adjusted her fighting style in an attempt to make use of her new [Rabbit Legs] skill. Her hatchets became mere accessories as she delivered powerful and devastating kicks to the weak points of Goblins like their neck and head.
Leo was fascinated by how fast Luna was adapting to their new shared skill courtesy of Astra. He couldn't help but admit that she was indeed a bonafide prodigy in the physical arts as he noted that now even her legs were quickly becoming drenched in the blood of goblins.
'Your sister is very fierce. We are very impressed'
Even Astra couldn't help but make a remark about Lunas proficiency in the art of slaughter while Leo himself finished off a goblin by using his clawed hand to tear its throat.
'Such a vicious beast in a tiny package!'
Leo had a moment of panic as Luna shot his wrist a glare. It was as if she had heard what Astra was saying.
'Oh god we might be in danger.... Please don't figure out what this stupid brat just said!'
Leo could only pray Lunas senses weren't that sharp while he chastised Astra. Size was a taboo topic with his sister and a careless remark could be a death sentence for everyone involved.
He looked around seeing if there were any more goblins coming as Luna dealt with the last goblin. It had tears in its eyes as Luna crushed both of its wrists with an iron vice-like grip. Luna then raised her leg and kicked it in the chest. With a sickening crunch, the goblin screamed in agony as its body fell apart, both of its arms ripped out of its socket, remaining in Lunas hands.
The rest of the party was too afraid to admit but they all quietly agreed that Luna was definitely the scariest party member.
Her arms and legs were coated with goblins blood, splatters on her face making her once snow white but now eerily cherry blossom pink hair resembled a beautiful blood moon and her ruby eyes appear like beacons of liquid fire, her ice cold expression had melted into a wide maniacal smile having enjoyed the fight , no longer holding back.
Ouroboros sidled up to Leo and whispered softly in his ear.
"Hey. I gotta ask about your sister....Why is she so fucking terrifying?...".
Even the snake was unnerved by the bloodthirsty rabbit who had become a little unhinged during the battle.
"I have no clue. If you want to ask her yourself, be my guest. I won't help you though if she goes after you next. That will be on you."
"Nevermind. I like my arms where they are right now"
They may be a party but Leo was definitely not going to save Horo if he crossed Lunas bottom line and even the snake himself didn't want to test that today either.
After the screams died down again, it took a few moments for Luna to calm herself down. She was unsure why she was feeling . Sure, she was someone who liked a good fight but she wasn't this bloodthirsty before.
It made no sense to her that she was acting this way. The euphoric high of battle was acting like a drug, her heartbeat raced and it felt like the world was slowing to a crawl as she fought and even the sound of flesh being torn was like a symphony of music to her.
She inwardly shuddered as she then remembered she had a skill called [Bloodlust]. Was it something that was amplifying her own bloodthirst? Didn't that mean the game was not only changing peoples physical features but also their own mentalities and thoughts?
The thought of that alone terrified Luna but she couldn't bring herself to bring up now. They already had so much on their plate, the four of them didn't need another thing to worry about now.