As Evan climbed out of the massive crater and began surveying his surroundings, a series of hurried footsteps echoed through the forest.
Without hesitation, he activated Nightstep. His presence dimmed into the darkness as he silently climbed the nearest tree, concealing himself among the dense canopy.
Whether they were allies or enemies...
Revealing himself now was the last thing he could afford.
Especially with ninety-five percent of his strength sealed away.
'Who could be approaching this quickly?' Evan narrowed his eyes.
'After an explosion like that, any normal survivor should be hiding... not charging toward the battlefield.'
The sounds grew louder.
Seconds later...
Several figures finally emerged beneath the moonlight.
Mounted on large Mountain Wolves, a squad of small humanoid creatures swept through the forest with practised coordination.
The moment Evan saw them...
His expression froze.
...Goblins?
His eyes carefully observed every detail.
Dark green skin blended naturally with the surrounding foliage.
Lean bodies barely four feet tall.
Primitive leather armour reinforced with bark and bone.
Each carried crude-looking weapons, yet none of them looked careless.
Instead...
They moved with the discipline of trained hunters.
The wolves beneath them advanced silently, sniffing the air while their riders communicated through low whistles and guttural growls.
Wolves growled while looking around at the crater.
Then...
Recognition struck him.
'Grimbark Goblins...'
His pupils narrowed.
'Why are they here?'
Memories from his previous lives surfaced one after another.
The Grimbark Goblins were a specialised goblin tribe that dwelled deep within the ancient forests of the Second Expanse.
Unlike ordinary goblins, they weren't mindless scavengers.
They were born hunters.
An entire tribe evolved to stalk prey beneath endless trees.
Their affinity with forests and nature far surpassed that of any common goblin variant.
Within dense woodlands...
They were predators capable of patiently tracking prey for days without making a single mistake.
'Something's wrong...'
Evan slowly held his breath.
'If this were the real Darkwood Forest... I would've already sensed Tier-1 and even Tier-2 beasts wandering nearby.'
The oppressive aura of the ancient forest...
The towering trees...
The terrain...
Everything resembled that infamous region.
Yet something felt... incomplete.
'The Trial recreated the Darkwood Forest.
Not the real one. I am really dumb to forget that...'
That realisation eased him slightly.
Had this truly been the Second Expanse...
He doubted he would've survived long enough to climb out of the crater.
Even so...
That didn't make his situation any safer.
Against his current strength...
Even Grimbark Goblin scouts were deadly opponents.
Below him, the goblins spread out across the battlefield.
They exchanged short phrases in their native tongue before beginning a systematic search around the crater.
Not a single movement was wasted.
They weren't looting.
They were searching.
Searching for the survivors.
'They're making sure no one escaped.' Evan's eyes sharpened.
Without making a sound, he carefully descended the opposite side of the tree.
The moment both feet touched the ground, he slipped deeper into the forest.
Leaving unnoticed was his best option.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side.
One of the mounted goblins suddenly steered its wolf toward his direction.
Evan instantly dove into a nearby bush.
Without hesitation, he grabbed handfuls of damp soil and smeared them across his clothes and exposed skin, masking the lingering scent of blood.
The goblins themselves weren't the biggest threat.
Their wolves were.
Their sense of smell could easily expose him.
He remained completely motionless.
Even his breathing slowed to the absolute minimum.
The wolf gradually approached.
Its nose twitched repeatedly as it sniffed the air.
For a moment...
It continued walking.
Evan almost relaxed.
Then—
The beast suddenly stopped.
A massive paw landed barely a few steps away from his hiding place.
The wolf slowly turned its head.
Its golden eyes scanned the bushes while its nose continued working tirelessly.
Evan felt every muscle tighten.
'Not now...'
'I can't fight fourteen scouts at once.'
He quietly observed them through the leaves.
Each Grimbark Goblin was approximately Level 80.
The Mountain Wolves ranged around Level 50.
Under normal circumstances...
This squad wouldn't even deserve his attention.
Now...
They were more than enough to kill him.
'If it comes to combat... Every attack must be fatal.'
The wolf continued sniffing around, clearly sensing that something wasn't right.
However...
Its rider seemed less convinced.
The goblin tugged impatiently on the wolf's mane, attempting to rejoin the rest of the scouting party.
Most of the others had already moved dozens of meters away.
Reluctantly...
The wolf began following.
Just then—
A faint rustling sound echoed from the right.
The wolf immediately turned toward it.
The goblin clicked its tongue before jumping off its back, deciding to investigate on foot while leaving the wolf behind.
Exactly...
As Evan had planned.
The stone he had quietly thrown moments earlier had landed perfectly.
The goblin advanced toward the noise.
The wolf remained where it was.
The distance between them slowly widened.
Five steps...
Eight...
Ten.
Evan's eyes flashed.
'Now.'
His fingers moved slightly.
The ground beneath the unsuspecting wolf trembled.
The beast sensed danger almost instantly.
But it was already too late.
An earthen spike erupted violently from beneath the soil.
Thud!
The sharpened pillar tore clean through the wolf's abdomen before impaling it high into the air.
A miserable howl echoed through the forest.
Blood poured down the stone spike as the wolf struggled helplessly for only a brief moment before going still.
The goblin whipped around.
The moment it saw its mount hanging lifeless above the ground...
Its eyes filled with murderous rage.
Its claws extended instinctively.
Then, without hesitation, it pulled a narrow wooden blowpipe from its waist.
Rather than charging recklessly...
The goblin carefully scanned the darkness.
It wanted to regroup.
Whoever had attacked possessed magic.
Fighting alone would be foolish.
It slowly backed away, preparing to alert the other scouts.
But before it could retreat—
The bush where Evan was hiding suddenly rustled.
The goblin's gaze locked onto it instantly.
Without wasting even a heartbeat...
It loaded a venom-coated dart into the blowpipe.
Fwoosh!
The dart shot through the darkness with deadly precision.
Yet instead of piercing flesh...
Clink!
A metallic sound echoed through the forest.
The dart had struck something far harder than any human body.
Before the goblin could understand what had happened—
A small projectile shot straight toward its face.
Its instincts reacted immediately.
The goblin twisted sideways, avoiding the object before glaring at the ground.
A stone.
Its eyes narrowed with anger.
A distraction.
Without lowering its guard, it slowly retreated, intending to regroup with the other scouts.
But the moment it took another step—
Something burst out from the bushes.
The figure was fast.
Too fast to make out clearly in the darkness.
The goblin immediately raised its blowpipe and fired another venom-coated dart.
Ting!
The dart struck metal.
The attacker never slowed down.
Moonlight briefly reflected off a crimson blade.
It was Evan.
'I have to finish this before the others arrive.
The moment these scouts start tracking me together... escaping this forest will become nearly impossible.'
His body crackled with faint arcs of lightning.
Elemental Manipulation surged through his legs, forcefully enhancing his weakened body.
His speed exploded.
The goblin instinctively attempted to dodge sideways.
Then its expression changed.
Its feet wouldn't move.
Without it noticing...
The soil beneath its legs had already hardened around its ankles.
Evan had prepared everything before revealing himself.
The thrown stone...
The first probing attack...
Even the wolf's death...
Everything had been done to study the goblin's reactions and lure it into the perfect position.
At the same moment...
Dark mist spread across the surrounding area.
Dark Veil.
The goblin's vision blurred for an instant.
That single opening was all Evan needed.
Crimson Edge sliced straight toward its neck.
Clang!
Instead of cleanly severing the head...
The blade lodged halfway into its neck.
Evan's eyes narrowed.
'Its body is tougher than I expected...'
Blood immediately burst from the wound.
Although the strike wasn't fatal enough to decapitate it instantly...
The injury was deep.
Very deep.
The goblin staggered as crimson blood soaked its chest.
Then—
It opened its mouth.
"SKREEEEEEE!!"
The piercing scream echoed throughout the forest.
Evan's expression darkened.
'Damn it.'
He immediately gripped Crimson Edge with both hands.
Mana surged into the weapon.
The crimson engravings across the blade began glowing.
Heat rapidly spread through the metal.
The flesh around the wound began to burn as the weapon's inherent ability awakened.
Smoke rose from the goblin's neck.
The muscles weakened.
With one final pull—
Slash!
The head separated completely.
The scream stopped.
Silence returned.
...For less than a second.
Deep within the forest...
Multiple wolf howls answered.
One.
Three.
Then many more.
The remaining scouts had heard everything.
Evan exhaled quietly before pulling Crimson Edge free.
There wasn't even time to wipe the blood from its blade.
His eyes briefly fell upon the two corpses.
The wolf.
The goblin.
For a moment, he considered raising them as undead.
Unfortunately...
Reality quickly crushed that thought.
His current mana reserves had already fallen by nearly half after using Elemental Manipulation, Dark Veil, and enhancing his body.
High-level undead required enormous mana to summon.
Right now...
He simply couldn't afford it.
Just as he prepared to leave—
His eyes suddenly stopped on the goblin's corpse.
A thought surfaced.
He remained still for a brief moment before crouching beside it.
"...This might work."
After pulling Crimson Edge free, he stored the goblin's corpse inside his inventory.
His storage was almost completely sealed.
Only a single usable slot remained.
Originally reserved for Crimson Edge.
Instead...
He sacrificed that convenience and stored the corpse.
A risky gamble.
But one that might dramatically reduce the Trial's difficulty if his assumption proved correct.
'If this works...
Everything becomes much easier.
If it doesn't...
I'll have every goblin in this forest hunting me until the Trial ends.'
Behind him—
The sound of charging wolves rapidly grew closer.
No more hesitation.
Evan immediately activated Nightstep once again.
His presence melted into the darkness.
Without looking back, he vanished between the trees, carrying nothing except a single goblin corpse...
...and a plan that would either become his greatest advantage—
Or the biggest mistake of the entire Trial.