The Witch Hunter System

"In the end, you came to help me anyway, Marquis Ember," Astoria casually said, her lips curved into a slight smile.

"It was originally my job to clean up these dogs, to begin with. What would I do if you get yourself killed?" Ember coolly replied before she furrowed her brows. "Nevertheless, it's true that the Curse of the Purple Umbala does not affect Specialized Magic."

"Perhaps it has something to do with the cohesiveness of mana in Specialized Magic," Astoria guessed.

"I've tested it earlier, but it seems like the Curse of the Purple Umbala has a weak dismantling effect. Mana gets pulled apart when it is exposed to the Curse of the Purple Umbala in the air—"

[Great Sword Wave]

Astoria cleaved away the goblins and hobgoblins as they charged at her. They had no interest in listening to her talk with Marquis Ember.

At the same time, the B-rank hunters from the Assembly of Silent Night hid within the goblin horde, awaiting their next chance to strike.

However, Astoria's monstrous strength kept them from getting close.

"How rude of them to interrupt you, Headmaster Astoria. Well, I guess I can't expect much from these primitive creatures of lesser intelligence," Ember coolly said as she took a few steps forward and stared at them with disdain and disgust. "Such ugly creatures should disappear."

Vroosh!

With a wave of her hand, a violent storm of purgatory flames surged from her body to towering heights, erasing everything in its path.

Tree branches and leaves it touched quickly disintegrated into black ashes under its scorching-hot temperatures.

Kreuk!

Countless goblins and hobgoblins cried as they were set ablaze.

The terrible heat tormented their minds and broke their abnormal mental states, causing pure chaos in their ranks.

However, the goblins and hobgoblins only struggled for a few breaths before becoming motionless, blackened corpses that crumbled into ashes when the wind blew over them.

In a short instance, a huge area of land and trees turned black, including more than two thousand goblins and a hundred hobgoblins.

Nevertheless, the B-rank hunters from the Assembly of Silent Night were smart enough to flee before the terrifying flames could reach them.

Even so, the destructiveness of Ember's purgatory flames could not be denied. However, her mana consumption was equally great.

"Are you trying to burn all your mana in one go, Marquis Ember?" Astoria slightly frowned at Ember's extravagant usage of mana. "You'll be vulnerable once you deplete all your mana."

"You don't need to worry, Headmaster Astoria. I've stocked plenty of excess mana and Mana Restoration Potions in my Magic Domain, solely for this expedition," Ember coolly assured.

Shortly after, she sent another terrifying huge wave of fire to burn her enemies.

However, her second attack wasn't as effective as the first time. Several magic barriers were conjured by Rank 3 Goblin Shamans to block it.

As a result, only several hundred goblins and dozens of hobgoblins died instead.

"Oh? There are quite a few Rank 3 Goblin Shamans in this goblin horde. Could there be Peak Rank 3 Goblin Chiefs or even a Goblin King?" Ember uttered with surprise.

…

Meanwhile, Silver Hawk and his people retreated a great distance from the goblin horde and the two High Witches with lingering fears.

"Such terrifying flames and destructiveness! How are we supposed to defeat two High Witches at once? They don't seem to be affected by the Curse of the Purple Umbala at all!" a Peak B-rank hunter with a completely transformed wolf head exclaimed.

"We've miscalculated the effectiveness of the Curse of the Purple Umbala. It doesn't work against the witches' Specialize Magic," Silver Hawk uttered with a serious look.

"However, their mana isn't endless. We'll have our chance once they completely exhaust their mana. Even if we have to sacrifice the entire goblin horde, we have to make it happen! We can't let them regroup with the others!"

"Definitely not!" the other B-rank hunters quickly agreed.

Although they had to face two High Witches at once, they couldn't have hoped for a better situation. It was much better than facing the entire punitive expedition force.

Shortly after, the B-rank hunters assumed command of the goblin horde and had them circle to the rear of Headmaster Astoria and Marquis Ember, cutting off their path of retreat.

"As expected, these dogs indeed have the ability to command the goblins. It looks like they really don't want us to regroup with our troops," Ember uttered before her lips curved into a disdainful smile. "Unfortunately, it takes more than numbers to stop us."

Vroosh!

Ember summoned another violent wave of purgatory flames with her hands and reduced hundreds of goblins into scorched-black corpses without a care for the environment.

…

…

…

Ding!

<You have killed a thousand Rank 1 goblin-type monsters>

<Your Killing Intent (Low rank) has improved>

<Killing Intent (Low rank) → Killing Intent (Mid rank)>

<Your Killing Intent's special trait, Goblin Hunter, has upgraded to Goblin Slayer>

=====

[Killing Intent (Mid rank)]

Overview: When directing your killing intent at other living beings, there is a slight chance of inflicting fear to intimidate or break their fighting spirit.

Effect 1 [Normal]: 10% chance to inflict fear on Rank 2 beings. The chance increases by onefold on weaker beings for each rank difference.

Effect 2 [Goblin Slayer]: There's a 40% higher chance of inflicting fear on Rank 2 goblin-type monsters or weaker.

=====

A series of system notifications appeared after Vaan decimated the thousand-strong goblin force.

Countless headless goblin corpses scattered across the area, and their blood soaked the ground, filling the region with a pungent stench.

Vaan stood in the middle of it all.

Shortly after casually swiping his gunblades at the empty air to clean the goblin blood off them, his calm eyes suddenly flickered with sharpness.

"You can stop watching and come out now," Vaan stated.

Moments later, several other men with wolf-like features stepped out from behind their trees in the distance. They were all Peak C-rank hunters.

Clap, clap, clap!

"Very impressive senses you have," Black Crow casually clapped his hands and boldly approached Vaan.

"But what's more impressive is your killing method; no wasted movement, and each strike are aimed to kill."

"What do you want?"