After leaving the team, the adventurer ladies regretted it deeply

```

When heavily hit, the fragile Mage class would die instantly, and even the Heavy Armored Warrior, adept at defense, had to take cover behind shields.

The Goblin Prince's Stone Rain aimed for what's called a 'First Encounter Kill'.

The first adventure team to battle this Magical Creature paid in blood to leave a strategy for future generations.

Like Bervis, who had battled the Goblin Prince on the tenth floor and knew of the existence of this Stone Rain technique.

If he were in Lin Da's shoes, becoming a level 23 adventurer, he would have had no confidence in surviving this barrage of Stone Rain.

The only option would have been to rip open a Town Portal Scroll and escape the Magical Creature.

But what really happened?

Bervis seemed to understand why Aiko claimed he hadn't done his homework on Lin Da.

Stone Rain came head-on.

All that could be heard was the 'clang, clang, clang' of impacts.

In addition to the Emerald Light Shields, the Phoenix Tail Flower members had another layer of pale golden Light Shields on them.

The pebbles struck against it, completely blocked by the Light Shields.

With Lin Da in the lead, not only did the four at the front not retreat, but they also advanced step by step.

The quantity of stones was immense, depleting the first layer of Light Shields.

But beneath it was another almost equally thick Verdant Shield.

The "Stone Rain," which should have inflicted severe injuries on the adventurers, left the whole team unscathed under Lin Da's Double Shields!

"Dark Whip!"

Lin Da threw out the energy whip, and with a snap, it struck the Goblin Prince's face.

Visibly, a gash was torn across the Goblin Prince's cheek.

"Aow, aow-aow!"

The Goblin Prince froze for a moment, and seeing none of Lin Da's team injured, he jumped around in frustration and rage.

"All-out attack!"

Lin Da seized the Goblin Prince's moment of confusion to leap forward, his Azure Sword slashing down.

Lulu and the others followed close behind.

The three girls showed their prowess.

Beast claws, rapier, Greatsword, they descended in quick succession.

They battered the Goblin Prince, causing him to bleed profusely and howl in pain.

"A Two-Star Epic Monster is just like this!"

As Lia passed by the sensor ladybug, her face was brimming with confidence, and she made a point to say this phrase deliberately.

"Lia, your arrogance is really annoying, and maybe that's why we don't get along," Isa said as she elegantly passed Lia, her silver hair fluttering.

"But what I said is the truth!"

"You're wrong. Without Lin Da's shield, a casual hit from the Goblin Prince would have severely wounded us," Isa said calmly. "A strong support can reduce the difficulty of a battle. Lin Da's shield can almost be termed miraculous; it's not that we are incredible, it's that Lin Da's shield is too useful."

With the Double Shields in place, even the Goblin Prince's "Stone Rain" could be withstood.

They ought to have been thrice careful, taking cover behind the Heavy Armored Warrior's shields, but instead, they could advance under the barrage of the Stone Rain.

This was Isa's first time shielded by Lin Da.

The sense of security, almost like having an extra life, was hard not to become addicted to.

Usually, when battling Magical Creatures, Isa was cautious to the point of restricting herself for the sake of safety, giving up many opportunities to attack.

She never overreached. When it was time to roll, she rolled, when it was time to retreat, she retreated, only seizing those 100% safe opportunities to attack.

This was why Isa's damage output was relatively low.

But against a training dummy, she was no worse than Lia. One was sustained damage, the other burst damage; the total was similar.

Now with Lin Da's shield, Isa felt as though she'd shed a heavy burden, her steps lightened by a factor of two!

Thinking of this, Isa's regret only grew deeper—why hadn't she made a greater effort to recruit Lin Da when he had just left Snow Goose?

Back then, Lin Da had not yet formed the Phoenix Tail Flower and was a solo adventurer.

If she had made the 'Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage,' she might have truly taken him under her wing.

Lia, hearing Isa's words, scratched her ear and looked dark.

The force with which she swung her Greatsword at the Goblin Prince increased several-fold.

...

The hall of the Adventurers' Guild.

```

Seeing Phoenix Tail Flower walk through the Stone Rain unscathed, Bervis fell silent.

The face of this Moon rank adventurer felt somewhat hot.

It turned out that in addition to its notable damage, the "Guardian Sword" could also stack an extremely thick shield for Lin Da and the other three.

It could be described as the perfect ultimate skill that integrated offense and defense.

If Bervis could still accept these facts, the fact that the light shield from the Guardian Sword and the Verdant Shield could stack with each other left him utterly speechless.

There are not many professions that can enhance shields in the first place.

Skills of the same nature can easily clash.

For instance, the Mage's "Magic Amplification" and the Bard's "Song of Mana" could not be stacked.

Defensive skills were even more strict, and shield skills were among the most valuable.

Among the professions that could enhance shields was the Druid, with its signature skill "Nature's Shield."

According to Bervis's estimate, the thickness of the "Nature's Shield" was not even half that of Lin Da's "Verdant Shield."

What Bervis found most unacceptable was that not only was Lin Da's shield thick, but he also used double shields.

The twin shields could perfectly protect the back line.

The safety of the front line would also be greatly secured.

Putting it on a Heavy Armored Warrior was like creating a wall that drove Magical Creatures to despair.

Bervis now understood why Aiko was fascinated by Lin Da.

Not just Aiko, Bervis felt that if he were a woman, he too would be attracted by Lin Da's thick and heavy double shields and find himself unable to move on.

Any adventure team that could get Lin Da would see their combat power increase by at least thirty percent!

Aiko looked at Bervis with a smile.

That meant, you should acknowledge Lin Da's prowess now, right?

The wager, you've lost!

Bervis chuckled weakly, "Your judgement is indeed not bad."

"But if you think Lin Da has won, that's quite premature."

"What do you mean?"

"Simple."

Bervis pointed at the Goblin Prince on the screen who was being beaten into a dire retreat, seemingly powerless to resist, and said:

"This magical creature has not used its ultimate skill yet."

Bervis's words were like a prophecy.

The Goblin Prince roared angrily, swung the greatsword wildly, and forced the Phoenix Tail Flower Group to retreat.

Lin Da also realized what was about to happen.

He nodded at Isa.

Isa then looked at Lia.

The six people present immediately split into two groups.

The Isalia Group.

And the Phoenix Tail Flower Group led by Lin Da.

The Goblin Prince, panting and leaning on his knees, had his belly swelling up, round and bulging like a pregnant woman.

Suddenly, the Goblin Prince opened his mouth wide and spat out two green oval eggs.

The eggshells cracked and broke apart.

Two goblins, each one and a half meters tall, lean and muscular, crawled out from the eggshells with a sinister laugh.

They were armed with a bone knife in hand.

Though small in stature, their aura was impressive.

Their level was the same as the Goblin Prince's, reaching level 25.

A string of information flashed through Lin Da's mind: the Goblin Prince's ultimate skill, "Call for Help."

It was triggered when the Goblin Prince's Hit Points dropped to 25%.

The two Goblin Guards had considerable Hit Points, equivalent to the Goblin Prince's current health.

If the guards were not killed within three minutes, the Goblin Prince would use "Devour" to consume the guards, recovering a large amount of health and increasing All Attributes. Discover exclusive tales on empire

This situation must be avoided!

Therefore, Lin Da had instructed his teammates to hold back their ultimate skills.

So far, he was the only one who had used the Guardian Sword in order to counter the Stone Rain.