Goblins.
Infamous creatures within Japan's doujinshi circles—symbols of lechery and representatives of weakness.
Under normal circumstances, even an eleven or twelve-year-old child could defeat an adult goblin without weapons.
Provided they had enough courage and weren't afraid of being scratched by the goblin's filthy, bacteria-ridden teeth and nails.
"Still, I never expected to encounter goblins in an Abyss world..."
Without even needing to think, Luo Shu bestowed the calamity of lightning upon the goblins, then stood before their charred remains with a sigh.
"Goblins, of all things..."
Mai couldn't help but take a step back, her face filled with disgust.
According to common knowledge within the Divine Pantheon, creatures like goblins—generally malevolent toward humans—typically emerged in Abyss worlds associated with swords and magic.
Usually, worlds capable of spawning goblins also contained dragonkin, mythical creatures whom the goblins often served as slaves.
Perhaps due to their allegiance to dragons, goblins had a notorious tendency to abduct female creatures for reproductive purposes.
Facing this evil race, Mai Sakurajima felt goosebumps rise all over her body:
"Goblins appearing here means there might be dragonkin living nearby?"
"No, I haven't sensed any powerful energy in the vicinity."
Luo Shu scanned the surroundings, confirming the absence of creatures like dragonkin before remarking with some surprise:
"Didn't find any dragonkin, but discovered quite a few goblins instead."
From the depths of the jungle, pairs of eyes flickered to life like will-o'-the-wisps.
Soon, Mai Sakurajima realised the problem - goblins surrounded them!
"What's wrong with this Abyss world?"
Mai couldn't help but complain. A goblin infestation? What kind of rubbish place is this!
Most crucially, as Mai looked around at the countless pairs of eyes in the undergrowth, she nearly stopped breathing.
"Did we just stumble into a goblin den?"
"You're right." Luo Shu shook his head, then pointed towards the dense forest to the right front: "There's a cave about 200 metres away that seems to be their nest."
Surveying the surrounding goblins who were eyeing them hungrily, drooling and cackling eerily, Luo Shu sighed:
"Looks like we're being treated as prey."
"Can they really not sense the difference in strength? These goblins..."
At that moment, Mai erased her own presence, grabbed the floating Ai Hoshino beside her, and quietly moved behind Luo Shu before whispering:
"Sorry, my Chief God, but my ability can only protect one person at most. So it seems you'll have to escape alone~"
Having just awakened her Existence Manipulation ability, Mai could extend it to only one other person.
With herself and Ai Hoshino, both girls facing creatures like goblins, Mai naturally chose to protect her fellow female.
As for telling Luo Shu to escape alone, that was obviously a joke.
She didn't believe these goblins could actually force Luo Shu to flee.
Her words simply conveyed that she could take care of Ai, allowing Luo Shu to act without restraint.
As the two girls vanished from the goblins' perception, the creatures grew restless, seemingly confused about mobilising such numbers just to surround one useless male.
Noticing this reaction and guessing its implications, Mai desperately wanted to leave.
After all, being surrounded by goblins was utterly spine-chilling.
Yet just then, Luo Shu suddenly murmured:
"This world... is somewhat strange..."
Strange how? Mai froze, then watched as countless goblins collapsed lifelessly.
Dark green corpses carpeted the ground like verdant flooring.
Judging by the numbers, over a thousand goblins had been annihilated in an instant.
A thousand goblins wiped out in a blink?
This is the power of a Demigod...?
"What exactly did you just do?" Mai couldn't help asking.
Luo Shu replied calmly, "Just used Concept Entanglement."
"Gather the Calamity Concept onto intangible mental energy, then detonate it the moment it spreads out, thereby executing an area attack."
"Although compared to wrapping it around the hand for a pinpoint explosion, this method of Concept Entanglement has less than a tenth of the power, it still seems a bit excessive for dealing with goblins."
Hearing Luo Shu say this, Mai Sakurajima was momentarily stunned: "You used Concept Entanglement? But there weren't any black lightning flashes?"
"That's exactly why I said this Abyss world is a bit strange."
Luo Shu frowned, his expression thoughtful as he explained:
"In the real world, black lightning appears when using Concept Entanglement because a Demigod's conceptual power clashes with the real world's concepts—that's the main cause of the phenomenon."
"The absence of black lightning only means one thing."
"What does it mean?" Mai Sakurajima asked curiously.
Luo Shu's tone turned serious as he replied:
"It proves the concepts in this Abyss world are far weaker compared to reality."
"In other words, all of a Demigod's abilities would be significantly amplified here."
"Though not directly confirmed, my intuition tells me that if I were to use a Demigod's Greater Abilities here, I might actually shatter this world's space."
For Luo Shu, whose Class was Child of Apocalypse, intuition was practically indistinguishable from fate's revelation.
So even without testing it, he was likely truly capable of breaking this world's space.
"Breaking space?" Mai Sakurajima felt her scalp tingle. "Are all Demigods this terrifying?"
"In reality, it might not be the case, but in an Abyss world, that's another matter."
Luo Shu stroked his chin with keen interest as he spoke:
"The SDS's Abyss exploration records have never documented Demigods exploring the Abyss world, so I can't confirm whether this is a universal phenomenon there."
"Frankly, there's no detailed data in the SDS about how much power a Demigod can exert in the Abyss world either."
"But since I'm already here, I might as well fill in this research gap."
As he spoke, Luo Shu narrowed his eyes and turned towards the direction of the goblin nest. He spotted what appeared to be an adventurer party, the goblins surrounding them, and those mysterious presences gazing down upon this scene from some impossibly distant height.
"Conveniently enough, there are plenty of test subjects nearby."