I Am Not Goblin Slayer
Chapter 48: The Team's Top Dog

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the main force of Water Ghosts finally arrived near the trap. The nearest few immediately began eagerly fighting over the rotting corpses on the ground.

Their slender fingers with sharp nails continuously dug out soft, sticky pieces of bloody rotten flesh and stuffed them into their mouths. 

While feeding, they emitted low growls, appearing thoroughly delighted by the feast.

Gauss felt physically nauseated watching this, especially recalling the intense stench he'd smelled from afar while setting up the traps earlier. He nearly vomited just thinking about it.

Though they bore some superficial resemblance to humans, in terms of habits and nature, Water Ghosts were completely different creatures from humans.

Seeing how the Water Ghosts fought over those putrid corpses that smelled worse than feces as if they were delicacies, Gauss absolutely refused to believe the folk tales claiming Water Ghosts originated from drowned humans.

This misconception needed to be completely severed.

When the Water Ghosts were thoroughly engrossed in their feast and had let their guard down, Meva on the other side began signaling to Gauss with hand gestures.

Noticing her movements, Gauss immediately responded with a gesture of his own.

This was part of their prearranged plan - the signal to spring the trap.

Gauss then activated Mage Hand.

With a thought, an intangible ghostly hand materialized skillfully a short distance in front of him.

The Mage Hand floated several meters forward and triggered the pre-set mechanism.

"Whoosh!"

In the next instant, a large connected net sprang up from the ground, completely cutting off the Water Ghosts' retreat path back to the river.

Simultaneously, Meva activated her own mechanism on the other side.

Since the riverbank was relatively open with limited options for traps, Meva had prepared fire-based traps targeting the Water Ghosts' fear of flames.

"Thunk!"

A flaming arrow landed precisely among the prepared flammable materials - pine resin, dry reeds, and other combustibles soaked in oil.

"BOOM!!!"

Almost instantly, massive tongues of flame erupted around the arrow's impact point.

The nearest Water Ghosts were engulfed in flames, rolling on the ground while emitting hoarse, agonized shrieks.

"Screeeech!!!"

The surrounding Water Ghosts untouched by flames panicked, instinctively trying to flee back to the water, but their escape route was already blocked.

While the net barrier wasn't exceptionally sturdy, it was sufficient to delay them momentarily.

On either side of the net waited the rest of their ambush team.

The squad had the main Water Ghost force surrounded from two directions.

"Don't let any escape!"

Water Ghosts on land weren't particularly formidable opponents, but if they reached the water and gained environmental advantage, things would become much more troublesome.

Levin, Gauss and others stepped forward.

To catch bandits, first catch their leader.

Spotting the leader of the Water Ghost group still issuing commands, Gauss immediately swung his staff.

Magic power surged from within him into the staff.

A deep blue energy sphere condensed in front of him.

Locking onto the lead Water Ghost with his consciousness, with just a thought, the Magic Missile shot forth like an arrow released from its bow.

"Magic Missile!"

The lead Water Ghost noticed the shimmering light and instinctively tried to dodge.

But how could an ordinary Water Ghost possibly react fast enough to evade a 1st-circle spell?

"Thud!"

The Magic Missile struck true against the creature's rotting, softened neck. With a pulse of magical energy, the entire neck area was blasted apart, cleanly separating head from body.

"Thump!"

The head hit the ground and rolled some distance away.

"Water Ghost killed ×1"

"Total monsters killed: 41"

"Title unlocked [Water Ghost Hunter]. This title will improve as kills of this species increase!"

"Current title effect: Dancer. In combat against Water Ghosts, easier to predict enemy's next move and react accordingly. Current bonus: 10%."

Successfully killing a Water Ghost, Gauss unlocked his fourth Monster Encyclopedia entry while also earning the Water Ghost Hunter title.

Judging by the title's effect, it seemed to enhance his predictive reactions against Water Ghosts. Combined with his brain's accelerated processing state, ordinary Water Ghosts would have great difficulty landing attacks on him.

Securing his staff, Gauss drew his rapier, grabbed his round shield, and charged forward with Levin.

The reason he stopped after just one Magic Missile was because during dinner, Levin had privately shared some concerns with him.

At the time, Gauss had been asking Levin to help create more killing opportunities for him that night.

Levin agreed, but also shared his own ominous premonitions.

Though unsure how reliable Levin's intuition was, Gauss decided to conserve some magic power just in case.

In fact, if not for believing that taking out the leader first would throw the Water Ghosts into disarray and conserve their energy, he wouldn't have even used that first Magic Missile.

"Kill them all!"

Doyle excitedly charged at the forefront.

Gauss kept pace easily.

As his brain began accelerating, the world around him seemed to slow down once more.

But this time felt different from before - against Water Ghosts, he felt exceptionally in control.

It was as if he were an expert who'd studied Water Ghosts for years, able to predict their every move with just a glance.

The Dancer effect was reassuring.

Gauss closed in on a Water Ghost and raised his small round shield.

The shield appeared precisely in the path of the Water Ghost's claw swipe an instant before the attack, blocking it perfectly.

"Thud!"

The wooden shield resonated with the impact.

A flash of cold steel!

Without pause, Gauss's rapier darted out like a viper from behind the shield, piercing straight for the Water Ghost's heart.

The grayish-green slimy skin parted like a popped balloon at the sword's touch, followed by the soft, unresisting muscle tissue inside being completely impaled.

The rapier twisted inside the wound before withdrawing.

The round shield followed up by batting the now-limp Water Ghost away.

The entire sequence flowed like water!

"Water Ghost killed ×1"

"Total monsters killed: 42"

Just eight more!

"Gauss, over here!" Levin suddenly called from a distance.

Looking over, Gauss saw Levin had done exactly as they'd planned earlier.

Using his skills to knock several Water Ghosts away, creating perfect finishing opportunities.

Silently thanking him, Gauss didn't waste Levin's efforts.

Moving swiftly, rapier in hand, he charged forward to deliver the killing blows to the struggling Water Ghosts!

His rapier became Death's scythe harvesting lives - each flash claiming another Water Ghost.

"Water Ghost killed ×1"

"Water Ghost killed ×1"

......

Stabbing, slashing, shield bashing, treacherous arrows cutting through the night air...

First ambushed by traps, then losing their leader, the Water Ghosts were steadily pushed back, falling one after another to the team's onslaught.

"Total monsters killed: 49"

Seeing he needed just one more kill, Gauss scanned his surroundings - corpses already littered the ground.

Looking around, the only remaining Water Ghost was the one Doyle was currently engaging.

"Doyle, leave the last one to me!"

Not wanting to postpone this special opportunity until another mission, Gauss's tone carried unusual urgency.

Doyle, about to pounce for a killing strike, hesitated at Gauss's words. With a sigh, he withdrew several steps.

Without turning around, keeping his eyes on the Water Ghost, Doyle waved his hand, signaling he'd yield the opponent.

What could he do? After all, Gauss was now the team's top dog.

The situation dictated the hierarchy, and even the proud Doyle had to concede.