Chapter 74: MAgus
After thoroughly assessing the situation, Cole finally decided it was time to act.
A plan had already begun taking shape in his mind.
The hobgoblins were undeniably powerful. Their naturally robust physiques gave them an advantage that ordinary humans could hardly match, and the five Moon Knight Realm hobgoblins were particularly troublesome.
However, they had a weakness.....
Their senses were surprisingly dull.
During the past three days of observation, Cole had noticed it repeatedly. On several occasions, the hobgoblin guards had failed to react even when faint disturbances occurred some distance away. Their powerful bodies allowed them to withstand tremendous damage, but their perception seemed to lag far behind their physical strength.
For Cole, that was enough.
If their senses were poor, then stealth was the obvious choice.
Rather than attacking the tribe directly and allowing all thirty hobgoblins to surround him, Cole would eliminate them one by one.
First, the five Moon Knight elites.
Then, once the strongest defenders had been quietly removed, he would deal with the tribe leader.
As for the remaining hobgoblins...
A faint killing intent flickered deep within Cole’s eyes.
Their fate would be the same.
Cole had no intention of leaving behind potential threats that could expose his presence or pursue him later.
The strategy was already decided.
But he still didn’t attack immediately.
A good hunter didn’t rush simply because the prey had entered his sights.
Cole took a slow breath and sat down beneath the cover of the trees. He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing his thoughts to settle before gently issuing a command.
"A.I. Chip, run a simulation of me fighting the hobgoblin tribe alone. Suggest the most optimal strategy while minimizing the risk and maximizing the potential reward."
The response came almost instantly.
[Processing request.]
[Running simulation based on collected data...]
Cole quietly waited.
A faint glow appeared within his eyes as the A.I. Chip began processing the enormous amount of information he had gathered over the past three days.
Every hobgoblin’s movement.
Their patrol patterns.
Their individual strengths.
The tribe’s layout.
The surrounding terrain.
The locations where their guards were most likely to notice an intruder.
All of it was fed into the simulation.
After his breakthrough, the A.I. Chip had undergone another significant improvement.
It could now perform up to 1.5 million simulations.
That was a considerable increase compared to its previous capabilities.
For most people, planning an attack against a tribe containing five Moon Knights and a peak Moon Knight leader would already be an extremely difficult task.
For Cole, however, the situation was different.
He wasn’t relying solely on instinct.
He had data.
And now, he had one and a half million possible outcomes to examine before making his move.
Cole simply sat there and waited for the results.
While Cole waited for the A.I. Chip to finish its calculations, he suddenly felt a gaze lingering on him.
It carried a faint sense of curiosity.
Cole raised his head and looked over.
The woman was staring at him.
The moment their eyes met, she immediately turned her head away, pretending that she hadn’t been watching him. The movement was so obvious that Cole couldn’t help frowning slightly.
He had been focused on the upcoming operation, but now he had another problem to deal with.
In a moment, he would be carrying out an extremely dangerous operation inside the hobgoblin tribe. Having an injured human following him around was not exactly ideal. If she interfered at the wrong moment, she could easily become a liability.
Cole was just about to speak when the woman suddenly opened her mouth.
"Thank you for saving me..."
Her voice was soft, almost ethereal, and unlike her earlier frightened cries, there was no trace of panic in it.
Only sincerity.
Cole’s expression remained completely impassive.
He looked at her for a moment before calmly saying,
"Leave."
The woman froze.
Cole didn’t elaborate.
He had saved her on a whim. At the time, he had simply happened to see the hobgoblin dragging her toward the tribe and decided to intervene.
That didn’t mean he intended to take responsibility for her afterward.
In fact, allowing her to leave now was the safer choice for both of them.
He was about to attack an entire hobgoblin tribe.
If she remained nearby and accidentally got caught in the battle, there was no guarantee he would be able to save her a second time.
However, the woman slowly shook her head.
Her large eyes, which had previously been filled with fear, now carried a fierce and unmistakable killing intent.
"No... I can’t leave while this tribe of monsters still stands."
Her voice trembled slightly, but her determination did not waver.
"If I leave now, then the sacrifice of my comrades would have been for nothing."
Cole quietly looked at her.
He didn’t say anything.
From those few words, he could already tell there was a story behind her presence here.
Her comrades had apparently been killed by the hobgoblins, and somehow she had survived long enough to be captured and dragged back to the tribe.
But Cole wasn’t interested.
He could clearly feel the determination radiating from her. No matter how many times he told her to leave, she probably wouldn’t change her mind.
More importantly, Cole had no intention of wasting time trying to persuade her.
He might have saved her life, but keeping her alive was not his responsibility.
Everyone had their own reasons for doing what they did.
Everyone had their own grudges, regrets, and stories.
Cole had his own troubles already.
Who in this world doesn’t have a story?
With that thought, Cole silently shook his head.
He didn’t ask about her past.
He didn’t ask about her dead comrades.
And he certainly didn’t intend to involve himself in whatever revenge she was seeking.
His attention returned to the hobgoblin tribe below.
For now, that was the only thing that mattered.
Just then, as Cole’s gaze casually swept over the woman, something caught his attention.
The emblem engraved upon her armor was unmistakable. Two swords crossed before a willow tree, its intricate design representing Divine Brilliance Academy, the most prestigious academy in the entire Divine Brilliance Empire. It was a place renowned for producing geniuses, with countless powerful figures having once walked through its gates.
At one time, even his father had wanted him to join that academy.
But when Cole had shown no talent, Theodore Saint had never brought up the matter again. There had been no disappointment in his father’s words, nor any pressure to try harder. The subject had simply disappeared, as though it had never existed in the first place.
Seeing that Cole remained silent, the woman spoke again.
"You are going to attack that hobgoblin tribe, aren’t you?"
Her eyes remained fixed on Cole as she spoke, carefully watching his face. She seemed to be searching for even the slightest change in his expression, perhaps hoping that his reaction would confirm her suspicion.
However, even after hearing her question, Cole remained completely indifferent. He simply nodded.
The moment she received confirmation, a faint shock surfaced within the woman’s heart.
To actually dare to attack a hobgoblin tribe alone...
Either this man was a supreme expert with absolute confidence in his strength, or he was simply a madman who did not fear death.
There was no third possibility.
Cole, meanwhile, was slightly puzzled by her question. Just as he was wondering why she was so interested in his plans, the woman suddenly spoke again.
"I will go with you."
Her voice was calm and firm.
It was not a request.
She was not asking for his permission.
She was simply declaring what she had decided.
Cole’s expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he was slightly moved.
He knew exactly what she was thinking. She understood the danger waiting ahead, yet despite knowing that, she still chose to move forward.
That courage was something Cole could not help but admire.
He dared to be this arrogant and willful because he possessed the strength to back up his actions. He knew exactly how dangerous the hobgoblin tribe was, yet he was confident that he could deal with them.
But the woman...
Cole’s gaze faltered slightly.
Now that he thought about it, he had never actually checked her strength.
With that realization, Cole finally gave the woman a serious look.
The moment his perception swept across her body, a trace of surprise appeared in his eyes.
Moon Magus.
Despite her slender and seemingly delicate figure, her body contained an astonishing amount of strength. Beneath her skin, Cole could clearly sense powerful physical energy coursing through her body, while her arteries and veins had been thoroughly tempered by mana.
She was not merely a magus who relied on spells.
Nor was she simply a warrior who possessed considerable physical strength.
She was a master of both paths.
A full-fledged magus.
His gaze turned slightly curious, it was his first time seeing someone like her.