My job list is full of alien girls.

Chapter 16 It's not me, it's us.

"Damn monster, come and fight me head-on if you dare!"

No matter how much Don Quixote shouted, it was to no avail.

Even though they were all low-level monsters, with a leader in command, those goblins wouldn't be fooled by her ridiculous roar and lose their composure.

"quack!"

Some goblins even let out cunning laughs when they saw how anxious she was.

"..."

Don Quixote's eyes narrowed, and with a determined heart, he charged towards the goblin that was laughing the loudest, bracing himself against the attacks of the other goblins.

She met the ear-piercing laughter with a downward slash, cleaving the little creature in two from shoulder to waist, blood splattering onto the silver armor and flowing down.

The laughter around them stopped abruptly.

"Gurgle! Caw!"

Seeing this, the goblin leader, sitting on the largest dire wolf, let out an angry roar, and two dire wolf riders circled around to her left and right.

These two dire wolves were half a head taller than ordinary gray wolves, with glossy fur and sharp teeth that gleamed coldly.

The goblin rider on the back wore tattered leather armor and held a gleaming bone spear in his hand, the tip still stained with fresh blood, probably from when he was playing with his prey.

Instead of charging straight at him, they circled around Don Quixote slowly and deliberately.

"Awooo—"

The cavalryman on the left made the first move, urging his dire wolf to trot around Don Quixote, his bone spear constantly probing towards her visor.

"Get out of here!"

Don Quixote parried with his sword, and with a crisp clang, the bone spear was deflected by the greatsword.

But just as her attention was drawn to the left, the dire wolf on the right suddenly accelerated and circled around to her back.

The cavalryman thrust his bone spear fiercely toward the back of her head, trying to find a weak point to break through her defenses.

Don Quixote ducked sharply, and thanks to her height, the bone spear barely grazed her helmet, leaving a scratch on the metal surface.

"To launch a sneak attack, what a truly treacherous monster..."

She swung her sword backward, but the dire wolf had already nimbly jumped away and retreated to a safe distance.

The ordinary goblins around them also gathered around when they saw this. This time they learned their lesson and dared not get close to the greatsword's attack range. They just threw stones from a distance to harass the goblin.

"Huff, huff..." Before long, Don Quixote felt his strength starting to drain away rapidly.

These things are as annoying as flies; you can't hit them, you can't catch them, and they specifically target the weakest points in her armor.

She wanted to rush forward and take out one of the dire wolf riders first, but the enemy didn't give her the chance at all.

As soon as she took a step forward, the two dire wolves would immediately retreat and roam around, always hovering outside her attack range, yet preventing her from going to support other areas.

If they were facing off in a confined environment, she would have already cleaved these damned monsters in two.

If they were in the wild, Don Quixote could have simply chosen to retreat despite their harassment.

But right in front of him was a village, surrounded by villagers fleeing in all directions, with the cries of the old and children rising and falling. Don Quixote certainly couldn't let them run rampant in front of him.

If this continues, her stamina will eventually be worn down by these damned creatures.

"Explosive Flame!"

Just then, a blazing, ever-expanding fireball, trailing an orange-red tail, hurtled through the air and struck a dire wolf with pinpoint accuracy.

With a deafening roar, flames instantly engulfed the entire dire wolf, exploding outwards from its center.

The wolf let out a mournful howl, its body billowing black smoke as it collapsed to the ground, its fur charred black, its limbs twitching uncontrollably. It was clearly incapacitated, and the goblin elites on it were also knocked off.

"Awooooo—"

The shockwave from the fireball explosion also reached the five closest goblins, who crashed to the ground and turned into rolling flames, letting out painful screams.

"Coo coo coo coo—"

On the other side, the dire wolf and goblin who had narrowly escaped death were so frightened that they dared not move for a moment and hurriedly moved away from Don Quixote.

"Phew...just in time."

Don Quixote took the opportunity to step back two steps, wipe the blood off his face, and finally got a moment to catch his breath.

She swiftly killed several goblins that weren't quite dead yet, then glanced up in the direction from which the spell had come.

"Don't let your guard down, come here quickly."

Milan, holding a staff, called out to her, his previous languid expression vanishing, replaced by calmness and solemnity, as he moved closer to Don Quixote.

"Gurgle!!"

Upon seeing this, the goblin leader let out another furious roar.

Originally, it thought Don Quixote was the biggest threat, but it never expected that the young woman it saw as frail and even needing a cane would have such destructive power.

This must be addressed as a priority.

It immediately raised its hand and pointed in the direction of Milan.

The two dire wolves, their eyes gleaming with a fierce green light, immediately charged towards Milan.

"Damn it..." Milan cursed under his breath, retreating while gathering his magic.

She originally intended to meet up with Don Quixote first, have her cover her up, and make it easier to gather magic to launch a counterattack.

Unfortunately, the two dire wolves' attack route happened to be right in their path.

"Don't go over there!"

Seeing this, Don Quixote rushed over to help Milan.

But concern clouded her judgment, and she forgot about the dire wolf that was originally there. Suddenly, the wolf lunged out and bit her arm.

"Awooo—"

Two deep serrations instantly appeared on his arm guard. Although Don Quixote was not seriously injured, his weapon slipped from his hand, and his greatsword was flung away.

"Don't worry about me, mind your own business!" Milan quickly instructed upon seeing this.

Just then, the dire wolves were about to enter the range of her spell. Seeing this, Milan's purple staff lit up again and pointed at one of the dire wolves.

whoosh-

A fireball flew over, but completely dissipated just before it touched the target. The few remaining flames only slightly charred its fur and did not cause any real damage.

"Aww~"

Feeling the intense heat on its body, the wolf let out an annoyed howl.

"Tch... It actually dissipated right at the limit."

Milan looked somewhat displeased, assuming it was due to his lack of proficiency with these spells. He then decided to spend some time conjuring another Explosive Flame spell to blast them all into the sky.

"A bunch of beasts who only know how to hide! Try hiding again this time!"

A noticeable magical fluctuation began to appear around her body, her purple staff shone brightly, and a scorching temperature began to permeate the air.

"Awooooo!"

"Gurgle!"

Just then, the two dire wolves suddenly rushed over again, their ferocious appearance suggesting they wanted to bite off her head.

"Too late..." Milan's expression changed upon seeing this, and she was forced to interrupt the chanting of the Explosive Flame spell, retreating while gathering other minor spells.

"A fireball spell alone can defeat you!" Milan raised his staff and pointed it at them, and a fireball quickly condensed.

But just then, the two dire wolves that were about to rush over suddenly moved away from her, as if they had never intended to get close to her.

They circled Milan at an incredible speed, so fast that only two black shadows could be seen.

Milan couldn't lock onto any target at all, and could only watch the fireball in their hands dissipate.

This cycle repeated itself until Milan finally realized the treacherous nature of these monsters.

As soon as the staff shows signs of rapidly condensing spells, the two dire wolves will retreat outside the range of her small spells, waiting for the spells to miss or dissipate on their own.

The opponent would quickly pounce on spells with longer range and greater power, creating pressure and forcing Milan to interrupt her chanting.

For them, a distance of a few dozen meters doesn't take too long; it's enough time to rush to Milan and take her down.

Milan couldn't stop this foolish behavior of constantly consuming her magic power. If she showed any signs of exhaustion, the two dire wolves would pounce on her and tear her to pieces in the next second.

The battle had reached a complete stalemate, and Milan's face grew paler and paler.

She clearly had the ability to blast those two beasts to ash with a single fireball, but she didn't even have a chance to make a move. Even as a researcher, she had never fought such a frustrating battle before.

"Where's that Hero? Isn't he a knight-errant... tsk!"

Milan suddenly found it somewhat amusing that she was actually trying to ask for help from that unknown guy she had hired to guide her in her time of crisis.

Even a dignified mage like her couldn't do it, so what could a mere ranger like Hiro, no matter how powerful, possibly do?

And on the other side,

In a panic, the young priestess Susanna could only grab the nearby children and run with the villagers back into the village, praying that the fence would keep out the monsters.

While everyone's attention was drawn to the injured child, little did they know that the monster had already approached the village.

The sudden attack forced her to separate from her teammates Don Quixote and Milan, and now she is completely unable to look after them in battle.

Unfortunately, as a pastor, she herself did not possess any combat abilities, and could only rely on instinct to lead the children around her and follow the villagers to a safe place.

"Hurry, faster! We'll be safe once we're inside!"

Susanna urged the child beside her, her forehead damp with cold sweat, her bangs already soaked with sweat.

The child running ahead slipped and almost fell. Susanna quickly pulled her up and tried to carry her, which slowed them down a bit.

"They're...they're catching up..."

The footsteps behind her grew closer, and heavy breathing and goblin cries were right next to her ears, making Susanna's heart pound.

"Hide, hide inside..."

She instinctively shielded the two children behind her and turned to hide in the nearby pile of firewood.

It's late.

An ordinary goblin had already caught up. With its back arched, it let out an excited cry when it saw the small prey it was about to catch.

"Gurgle!"

With drool dripping from the corner of his mouth, he suddenly pounced on her.

Susanna froze in terror, instinctively closing her eyes. She could even clearly smell the stench emanating from the goblin. She tightly shielded the child behind her, her heart filled with despair.

The expected pain did not come.

Susanna only heard a "whoosh" sound of wind passing through, followed by the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.

Susanna opened her eyes in fear and saw the goblin lying stiffly on the ground.

An arrow, shrouded in a faint blue light, pierced its heart with pinpoint accuracy. The arrow's fletching was still trembling slightly when it was pinned to the ground before it could even let out a scream.

Still shaken, she looked up, ducked into a nearby house, and looked around for a long time before finally spotting a familiar figure on a nearby rooftop.

It's Hero!

The tall and imposing ranger stood atop the tower, his cloak billowing in the wind. He held a white ash longbow in his hand, occasionally drawing a quiver from his quiver to aim at the enemy, appearing remarkably calm amidst the chaos.

Before Susanna could react, two more arrows shot through the air, carrying faint blue magical particles, and accurately struck two goblins chasing villagers not far away.

The two goblins fell to the ground instantly, killed in one blow. The magic attached to them dissipated so quickly that it seemed like an illusion.

Having witnessed the entire process, Susanna suddenly realized that Hiro's movements were astonishingly fast; he drew the bow and released the arrow in one smooth motion, without the slightest hesitation.

Even more terrifying was that every arrow he fired hit vital points with pinpoint accuracy, and those goblins, whom she considered extremely ferocious, fell down in unison with a "whoosh."

"Truly powerful..." Susanna looked at the man with some envy, only to find that he had suddenly disappeared.

"Phew...that was close, I almost got discovered." Rhodes suddenly jumped off the roof and landed lightly in a haystack, holding his breath.

In his keen senses, the goblin leader had just cast a glance his way and almost noticed him shooting at them from the shadows.

Fortunately, with the boost from the [Armed Upgrade], the ordinary arrows became fast and accurate, almost silently eliminating several goblins that had entered the village, minimizing casualties among the villagers.

Having done all this, Rhodes put away his ash longbow and ran toward the lookout tower at the village entrance, intending to find a high vantage point to assist Don Quixote and Milan, who were struggling in the battle.

"Hmm...this seems a bit troublesome." Standing on the observation deck with a superb vantage point, Rhodes looked down at the battle situation before him and was momentarily at a loss.

According to his observation, ordinary arrows with the [Armor Upgrade] effect are very effective at killing ordinary goblins.

But when it comes to dealing with those faster, elite war wolves, Rhodes has to consider whether he might miss the target or even accidentally injure his teammates who are fighting them.

"They seem to be on the verge of collapse." Alina's voice came from the consciousness space, clearly knowing what he was worried about.

Having lost his weapons, Don Quixote struggles to withstand the onslaught and tries to reach Milan in the distance, but he faces numerous obstacles and finds it difficult to make any progress.

She had considered retrieving her weapon halfway and dealing with the monster in front of her, but the wolf demon was very clever. Seeing that she wanted the weapon, it grabbed the sword hilt and dragged her away, forcing her to run in the opposite direction from Milan.

After several rounds, the distance between the two widened, making it even more difficult for them to support each other, and they could only get caught up in an endless war of attrition.

"How about we take care of the goblins next to us? That would at least relieve some of the pressure on them?"

Alina looked at the ordinary goblins who kept harassing her from the side and trying to enter the village and asked.

Rhodes shook his head and looked at the goblin leader who was constantly wandering around the battlefield in the distance, saying:

"To catch the thief, you must first catch the king; only by taking him down can you reverse the situation."

"Huh? Who?"

Hearing this, Alina was shocked. Looking at the enormous and terrifying goblin leader, she couldn't help but point at herself and ask:

"Me?"

“It wasn’t me,” Rod replied firmly. “It was us.”