No one could answer the confusion in Gauss's heart.

What he now faced were goblins with unknown strength, unknown numbers, and who were leading numerous minions to surround them in the darkness.

If they were all ordinary goblins, unless their numbers reached army-level scale of thousands upon thousands, they would basically be delivering themselves to him on a platter.

But if there were powerful elite goblins among them, that would be another matter entirely.

That goblin bat knight hovered in the sky above, and while its exact strength level couldn't be clearly determined yet, the destructive power of that throwing attack from earlier indicated it posed considerable threat.

Most importantly, the opponent controlled air superiority—they were only on land and couldn't effectively threaten it.

Whether to fight, stay, or pursue, it could freely decide at any moment.

This made Gauss think to himself: after this mission ends and he collects the guild rewards, he must consider enhancing his anti-air combat capabilities.

Whether through spells, mounts, or other means.

"For now, let's deal with the enemies in front of us first."

Gauss looked at his companion beside him, Shadow.

"Shadow, I need you to watch for attacks from the sky."

If they were to engage in combat with ground enemies, they would inevitably be somewhat negligent of the bat knight watching menacingly from above.

Even though he was now aware of the opponent's presence, combat itself required concentrated focus. Unless his strength completely overwhelmed the enemies before him, it would be difficult to pay attention to everything.

"Don't worry. I'll watch." Shadow was, as always, sparing with words. "I'll watch the others too."

But after personally experiencing her transfer ability earlier, Gauss felt a genuine sense of security from her calm words.

She stood silently behind Gauss like this, allowing him to fight with peace of mind without needing to divide his attention worrying about other things.

Gauss gripped the White Wand tightly in his left hand.

The next moment.

Tremendous energy instantly filled his entire body from inside out.

The muscles on Gauss's body surface slightly bulged, and a layer of energy scales reactivated, clinging closely to cover his fair skin.

As his right hand clenched, the energy scales on his forearm and fist burst with intense light, transforming, extending, becoming sharp, ultimately condensing into an extremely sharp dragon claw.

A pair of jade-green eyes also slowly took on a golden glow.

Any creature that met his gaze would involuntarily feel a faint, elusive pressure.

It also gave his originally fair complexion a kind of sharp, majestic, unusual beauty.

He tilted his head left and right, his neck emitting a series of crisp joint cracks.

【Is this the special form he mentioned?】

Behind him, those closely watching Gauss included not only Shadow, but also her shadow, Shade.

Both were simultaneously shocked by Gauss's transformation form.

The aura he emitted was far beyond what ordinary level 3 professionals could match.

【My master, can you defeat him in his current state?】

Hearing Shade's voice, Shadow shook her head with a confused expression.

She suddenly realized why the other party had been so confident when they met Gauss's team at the Adventurers Guild.

"Our team's levels aren't particularly high, but our actual combat strength is quite good."

That was how Gauss had introduced himself back then.

Although Shadow hadn't voiced any opinion, she had vaguely felt in her heart that the other party was saying these words with some attempt to save face.

But now it seemed he hadn't been lying.

Was this his confidence?

While her thoughts raced, Gauss's figure had already moved.

The ordinary goblins that had approached earlier, holding various melee weapons—spears, short blades, swords—surged toward him from all directions.

As if receiving some command, or like puppets controlled by remote strings.

Even though these goblins were already shaking like sieves after Gauss activated 【Sturdy Scale Bloodline】, emitting a strange pressure, and stacking with the original 【Goblin Slayer】 pressure against goblins.

But the next moment, they all quickly calmed down.

"Is it you?"

Gauss's gaze turned toward a certain direction in the forest.

In a very distant direction, a short goblin, flanked by two hobgoblins, was frequently waving a wooden staff that emitted faint light.

Goblin Shaman.

And judging by the aura, it should be considerably stronger than the shaman Gauss encountered during a commission some time ago.

He withdrew his attention.

This was actually good news for him.

"Total monsters killed: 3970"

Almost there.

Gauss silently recited in his heart.

Just 30 more.

Although currently, aside from that bat knight above, none of the other goblins could pose any serious threat to him.

But if he could improve before formally engaging in combat, that would naturally be better.

There was no need to additionally increase the difficulty for himself.

As for those elite goblins that looked fierce but hadn't stepped forward yet, Gauss vaguely guessed their intention.

Were they planning to use these ordinary goblins to deplete his effective strength?

For these elite goblins, ordinary goblins were just cannon fodder that could be recruited from the surroundings at any time.

Normally, this thinking was absolutely sound.

Using some completely insignificant small fry to exchange for human mana or stamina, waiting for the opponent to be somewhat depleted, while their own side could engage in combat fully prepared, thus gaining maximum advantage.

After all, even if all the bottom-tier goblins died, it wouldn't be long before they sprouted like weeds by the roadside—with one spring breeze, new shoots would emerge batch after batch.

Except, this time they encountered Gauss.

A freak who grew stronger by killing monsters.

"Boom!"

Gauss swung his right arm, and the weapons several red-eyed goblins were thrusting toward him instantly shattered and broke crisply, their bodies simultaneously sent flying backward as if struck by a heavy hammer.

Faintly, one could hear sounds like air leaking from balloons—the sound of goblins' fragile lives withering and shattering in Gauss's hands.

Too weak!

"Total monsters killed: 3975"

This scene truly illustrated the fragility of life.

Like the thin wings of autumn cicadas, with just a light fold, they shatter at the fingertips.

Simultaneously, a heat flow continuously flowed from the dead goblins into Gauss's body, like a trickling stream, restoring his depleted stamina.

That was the second effect of 【Goblin Slayer】, Bloodthirsty, being triggered.

With his minimal stamina restored, Gauss continued moving without pause.

Arrows poured down from the distance, yet he didn't dodge or avoid them at all.

Arrowheads collided with the energy scales on his body surface, stirring up faint halos and sporadic sparks, emitting a series of "ding-dang" crisp sounds before being deflected.

Lethal weapons for ordinary people felt like painless drifting snowflakes on him.

His forward momentum didn't hesitate in the slightest.

Like a thunderbolt, he crashed into the goblin group with a swift and fierce posture.

"Bang!!"

The surrounding goblins were all sent flying by this whirlwind-like blitz.

The enormous power almost released massive destructive force the instant it contacted their bodies.

The force directly shattered the organs, heart, and spinal cord inside their bodies.

They wanted to escape, but the ground beneath them quietly grew sprouts.

That verdant green, symbolizing vitality, now became the nightmare that strangled their last shred of hope.

"Ugh ah!!!" Miserable screams continuously sounded.

Gauss's body flashed about, continuously slaughtering the surrounding goblins.

The numbers in his consciousness rapidly jumped.

"3980"

"3984"

"3988"

"3996"

"3999"

Finally, as several more goblins were sent flying like ragged cloth.

"Goblin killed *1"

The number in Gauss's consciousness crossed 4000 and quickly jumped to 4002.

A prompt finally appeared before his eyes.

"Total monsters killed: 4002/4000, achieved 4000 kills milestone accomplishment."

"Reward obtained: 2nd circle spell 【Cloud of Daggers】"

"Reward obtained: Constitution +1"

"Next stage: Total monsters killed cumulatively reach 10000."

Below also appeared a progress bar, with two additional intermediate nodes between 【4000】 and 【10000】, seemingly transition rewards between major stages.

Before he could check, heat flow surged within Gauss's body.

The stamina he had consumed earlier instantly replenished to peak condition, and noticeably increased by a notch.

The Constitution attribute was extremely crucial for him now.

Because activating Sturdy Scale Bloodline required consuming mana, and would subsequently consume stamina.

Increased Constitution meant he could maintain combat posture longer.

Moreover, the spell rewarded this time was also a quite good attack-type spell.

【Cloud of Daggers】 was a very practical 2nd circle Conjuration school spell.

It could create a continuously lethal area on the battlefield.

The designated area would be filled with magically formed spinning daggers, just like a cloud of daggers—any creature entering the covered area would be attacked by it.

Furthermore, this "lethal cloud" could be moved according to the caster's will, equivalent to a flexible area AOE damage.

Strength: 10

Agility: 9

Constitution: 9→10

Intelligence: 13

Perception: 9(8)

Charisma: 10(9)

Gauss's attribute panel completed its changes.

After completing the upgrade, he finally turned his gaze toward the other goblins.

The bat knight in the sky had somehow retrieved its thrown javelin again.

As ominous red light flashed on its hand, that javelin like blazing flames was thrown down once more.

"Boom!"

The attack fell like a red lightning strike.

So fast it was almost impossible to react.

Well, actually Gauss could barely react—his current condition was excellent, plus Sturdy Scale Bloodline had granted him stronger reactions.

But Shadow was faster than him.

The shadow at his feet quickly enveloped him again.

As his body was dragged down by the shadow and merged into the ground, his figure instantly disappeared from where he stood.

Reappearing beside Shadow.

"Crush!!"

Deafening noise erupted.

About twenty goblins in the vicinity were directly shattered by this violent red lightning shockwave, killed in one strike.

The remaining goblins scattered in panic, avoiding the burning fiery pit.

"Don't..."

The goblin bat knight in the sky showed no sympathy for the goblins dying below in misery—it only fell into furious rage, having failed to hit Gauss, and twice in a row at that.

This flying knight had accumulated full fury in its heart.

The way it stared at Gauss was like looking at a mosquito that just wouldn't die no matter how you swatted it.

Simultaneously, it also noticed Shadow beside Gauss.

The target had transferred to that woman's side twice consecutively—naturally it could detect who was using such methods.

"It seems to have set its sights on you. Be careful of its next attack."

Gauss glanced upward.

The bat knight's attacks seemed to have a "cooldown" preparation time, but their power was indeed substantial.

He wasn't clear if the opponent had specifically reached Transcendent level, but in his feeling, even if not, it was probably among the top elite levels.

In terms of destructive power, it should be able to touch the bottom threshold of Transcendent monsters.

"Don't worry." Shadow, who had been targeted, remained extremely calm.

From when Gauss first met her, aside from that first night when she jumped down from the rooftop balcony and their eyes met.

He could sense obvious emotional changes in her eyes that time, but in the many days of contact since, her emotions had always been very stable—at least as they appeared.

"Gauss, Shadow, let me cast Blessing Spell on you."

Serlandul said.

The duration of Blessing Spell wasn't long, but since combat was about to enter the white-hot stage, it was time to apply it.

"Mm."

Gauss nodded.

He was the main combat member.

And Shadow's powerful ability to transfer teammates could also ensure the safety of every member in the team.

Their need to benefit from enhancement effects was most urgent.

Besides Blessing Spell, Serlandul also cast a 2nd circle Aid spell on Gauss.

This divine spell could temporarily improve Gauss's vitality and various levels of bodily function activity.

Put in easy-to-understand terms, it increased Gauss's maximum health.

This divine spell was something he learned after reaching level 4.

After being enhanced, Gauss only felt even stronger energy surging through his entire body.

That trace of dragon blood also seemed to be agitated, becoming more active.

The energy scales occupying his neck slowly climbed up to his chin position.

Making the aura on his body become even stronger.

"Huu—"

Gauss's golden eyes shimmered brilliantly in the dark night.

His condition had reached an unprecedented peak.

Having obtained rewards, refreshed his tired state, improved constitution, plus level 4 Serlandul's Blessing Spell and Aid spell bonuses, Goblin Slayer title bonus, Sturdy Scale Bloodline...

Everything combined pushed his condition to a new peak in a short time!

Shadow watched as the Blessing Spell and Aid spell on him shimmered with faint light, the energy surging around him almost becoming tangible.

Her eyes slowly widened.

Perhaps because the night was too dark, she vaguely felt the humanoid figure before her had disappeared.

The surrounding noises—goblin screams, the crackling of burning flames—all seemed to slowly fade away.

Replaced by a majestic, ancient, terrifying giant beast that emitted soul-trembling pressure.

Its body constantly grew taller and expanded in the illusion, muscle contours swelling and surging beneath scales.

A pair of enormous shadows suddenly spread open behind it—that was the sky-blotting dragon wings.

This illusion was so real, so heavy.

As if she stood at the feet of a real dragon.

"Shadow—"

Only when Gauss's clear voice sounded did it instantly shatter the suffocating illusion and pull her back to reality.

Shadow suddenly returned to her senses, cold sweat already soaking her back.

The Gauss before her eyes, though still maintaining his semi-dragonized combat form, had not transformed into a dragon.

"Prepare for combat."

She took a deep breath and nodded.

Seeing this, Gauss no longer divided his attention.

He looked toward the elite goblins that were already eager to move.

They seemed to realize that ordinary goblins fundamentally couldn't harm him and were preparing to enter the fray themselves.

Gauss twisted his fine-scale-covered neck, emitting a slight cracking sound.

Golden pupils looked past those eagerly stirring elite goblins in the darkness toward that distant shaman waving its wooden staff.

He wanted to quickly kill that goblin shaman that enhanced the entire group.

This was a universally known truth.

In team fights, kill the support first!