Armed with this critical information, Lilis immediately tried to warn her teammates.
"Captain! There might be danger ahead! Everyone, please stay alert and be prepared!" Lilis called out anxiously to the Warrior leader walking at the front.
Hearing her, the leader and the others all wore looks of confusion.
"Lilis, maybe you should just go back and rest," the leader said.
"Yeah, if you're too tired, maybe it's better if our Priestess sits this one out," the Wizard added.
"But we're almost there..." the Monk murmured.
The four teammates voiced different opinions. While they didn't outright criticize her, their words carried a clear impatience. Lilis's constant wariness was starting to grate on them.
Seeing the faint annoyance in her teammates' eyes, Lilis grew more anxious. Her warning came from a genuine place of concern—she knew a Goblin Lord lurked in that nest.
Yuki, observing the flustered Lilis facing her teammates' skepticism, felt a touch of sympathy. This Lilis was still a green adventurer, a far cry from the composed Sword Maiden of the original story. But the darkness that forged the Sword Maiden was something best avoided entirely.
Stepping forward, Yuki intervened on her behalf. "I think it would be wise to heed her caution and stay alert." His gaze, calm as still water, swept over the four of them. "From the moment we entered this forest, we've been watched by those goblins."
"What?!" all four exclaimed in surprise, though their expressions quickly settled.
"So what if we're being watched?" the Warrior leader scoffed.
"Exactly. Goblins are just goblins. Monsters even Porcelain-ranked adventurers can handle easily. They're nothing to us Iron-ranked folks," the Wizard chimed in.
"Right! They're just puny goblins. What does it matter if they know we're here? Are they going to come out and attack us?" the Monk added.
Only the elf Ranger remained silent, closing her eyes and twitching her ears slightly as she focused on detecting any movement in their surroundings.
Soon, a faint, rustling sound reached her long ears. It wasn't the wind brushing through leaves or grass, but the sound of something moving through the undergrowth. Beneath that sound, she could just make out slow, deliberate footsteps—the kind made by a predator stalking its prey.
Gathering this information, the elf Ranger's expression shifted subtly.
Yuki, noticing the change in the elf's demeanor, allowed a slight smile to touch his lips. "It seems your companion, has detected something," he said, his gaze shifting to her.
The others turned their attention to the elf as well.
Her expression was serious. She gave a slight nod and spoke softly, "Approximately two kilometers out, a large number of creatures are moving slowly towards us. They've already begun forming an encirclement."
"What?!" The others' expressions shifted to ones of shock and alarm.
If Yuki, a stranger, had said this, they might have doubted his word. But coming from their own teammate—someone they'd fought alongside for a while and who rarely joked—the words carried far more weight.
"Can you confirm they're goblins?" the Warrior leader asked the elf.
She shook her head. Glancing briefly at Yuki and Lilis, she hesitated for a moment before continuing, "From the sound of the footsteps, my initial judgment is that they're quadrupedal animals, like tigers or wolves. Very different from the bipedal gait of goblins." She shared her analysis based on experience.
Kneeling down, she placed a hand on the ground, closed her eyes, and felt for the subtle vibrations through the earth. "Moving as a group... it's highly likely to be a wolf pack."
The Warrior leader quickly processed this and made a decision.
"Prepare for battle!"
At his command, they swiftly drew their weapons: sword, staff, and bow drawn and ready. They formed a tight circular formation, each facing outward.
"Wolves aren't too difficult to deal with either. We just don't know the numbers yet. So they're not your 'goblins,'" the Wizard remarked towards the seemingly unconcerned Yuki.
"But... Yuki is right. It's very likely they are goblins," Lilis countered from beside him.
Yuki simply smiled. "Whether it's wolves or goblins, we'll find out soon enough." With that, he reached out and pulled Lilis close, positioning her beside him.
"Stay close to me," he whispered to her.
Lilis, who had been tense, felt a wave of calm wash over her the moment his warm hand closed around hers. In this world, only his presence could offer such a profound, unshakable sense of security. She gave a small nod. The hand he held subtly shifted, her fingers slipping between his, turning his protective grip into an intimate, intertwined clasp, palms pressed together.
Feeling her fingers interlace with his, Yuki paused briefly, then glanced over. Lilis was looking intently at the surrounding undergrowth, seemingly unaware of the change in their handhold. Yet Yuki noticed the faint blush on the tips of her ears—she was definitely conscious of it and feeling a bit shy. He chose not to comment, turning his attention back to their surroundings instead.
Just then, the sound of urgent footsteps erupted from all directions. The goblins, realizing their prey was alerted, had abandoned stealth for a direct assault.
"They're coming!" the Warrior leader growled.
A chorus of wolf howls pierced the air as dozens of figures burst from the brush, forming a tight, triple-layered encirclement with clear intent to leave no escape.
However, when the attackers' full forms were revealed, the expressions on the faces of Lilis's four teammates shifted through a spectrum of shock and disbelief—paling one moment, flushing the next.
They were wolves, alright. Over twenty wolves, each about half a person's height. But perched on the backs of these wolves were riders that should not have been there.
Green-skinned, short-statured, with cunning and lecherous faces, goblins brandishing spears rode upon the wolves. The wolves, completely under the control of their green-skinned riders, snarled ferociously at the adventurers.
Seeing this, the Warrior leader was struck speechless.
This was unprecedented. Those weak goblins... were actually commanding wolves, leading a pack. Were these really the same pathetic creatures even rookie adventurers looked down upon?!