Red Monster

Chapter 90: War Against the Kobold (1)

He rushed toward the village hall, but he didn’t take the road, moving between houses. He saw bodies of goblins, female goblins, and workers who were killed.

Then he quickly made his way to the village hall, where the main battlefield was. The Chief was alive along with the hobgoblin, but they were being outnumbered and surrounded by the kobolds.

The Chief, fourteen hobgoblins, and twelve goblins were surrounded by a lot of kobolds. A lot, as if in more than fifty kobolds, might be over a hundred because he could not really tell from his current position.

Red made his way to the back of the house, climbing up the house to get on the roof. He put himself in a better position, getting a better look at the situation.

’Might be really more than a hundred... It’s not far off from a hundred, even if it is less than a hundred.’

The front village hall was destroyed, bodies strewn all over. He spotted seven hobgoblins’ bodies among them, and a lot of goblins. There were also the kobolds’ bodies, but there were more goblins than the kobolds.

He was quickly attracted to the five kobolds who were facing the chief. They were taller than the other kobolds, almost matching the Chief’s height. They were still lacking in terms of bulkiness. The Chief still looked stronger with the brawny build. However, it was compensated for by the armor they wore.

Red never saw armor like that. There was almost no gap in those armors. From the head down to the feet was covered. The armor was black in color, making it look imposing. Even their tail was covered in that same black metal.

It was clear that the armor was clearly made for them, not something they stole, just like the goblin’s equipment. The goblin stole the weapon and armor from the human, using the one that fit them, and threw the rest as junk.

This one was different, something armed with kobolds. At least that armor was purposely made for those kobolds. Each of them held a sword, holding it with both hands.

The sword was also black, made with the same material as the armor. It was wide, twice his palm, and it was longer than all goblins, two times taller than the goblin.

He quickly used his Appraisal on them, but what he got was [???]. It didn’t even tell him what kind of kobold it was. It usually returned with Kobold Hunter, Kobold Warrior, or Kobold Archer, and the level was filled with three question marks. This was just three question marks, not a single clue.

The other four black-armored kobolds gave him the same result. Then he started appraising the kobolds, trying to identify the high-level kobolds.

It was not a question of whether he should fight or not. It was about how he should approach the fight. He needed to take down the strong ones. He would fight without a doubt, not because of loyalty to the Chief or the village. Just because this was his home. That was enough reason to fight.

Red identified a lot of kobolds, and his Appraisal skill went up by one level. He noted the high-level, more like a kobold’s with three question marks level.

As of now, the five black-armored kobolds were ganging up on the Chief. The others ganged on the hobs and goblins, cornering back to the half-ruined village hall.

Red set up, the bow rested in his left hand, taking a deep breath. There were more than forty arrows in his quiver. It was clearly not enough, meaning he could not keep his fireball secret anymore. He must use everything to turn the tide.

He nocked an arrow and aimed at the black-armored kobold. Even though it was a tempered arrow, he felt like his arrow was not strong enough to pierce that armor. There was no gap to shoot at as well, so he must pierce the armor to hurt the kobold.

He had this gut feeling that it was a waste to use his first shot, the most crucial shot on the black-armored kobold. But it was worth a try. His tempered arrow might work. He fired his first shot with that in mind.

Whish!

The arrow whistled through the air and landed a hit on the head. However, the arrowhead shattered as it bounced off the helmet. All it did was just break the kobold’s balance. It turned its head toward his direction, but it seemed it didn’t spot him yet.

The black-armored kobold and a few others noticed the arrow, but they hadn’t found out his position yet. He was hidden on the other side of the roof, where only half his body could be seen from the same level. But he was pretty much covered since the kobold was on the lower ground.

Red didn’t break from his stance as the second arrow was already in his bow. He was right that the armor was hard to break. He changed his target to the Kobold Archer with question mark level.

Swish!

A second arrow also hit the target, killing the archer with one shot. Not long after, the third arrow flew and killed the second Kobold Archer.

Red didn’t move from his spot; the only part that moved was his right hand. His right hand retrieved an arrow and pulled the string. His left hand only moved slightly to adjust his aim.

Whish! Whish! Whish!

He kept firing the arrow, and he was getting faster and faster with it. His accuracy remained the same, and he kept hitting the headshot. By the seventh arrow, the kobold found his location.

Red remained calm, changing his target again. This time, he shot the one closest to him, killing them before they got to him.

The kobolds were getting closer and closer, coming in a big group. He didn’t lose his composure as the arrow kept flying from his bow.

Whish! Whish! Whish! Whish!

He didn’t sacrifice his power and accuracy despite how fast he shot the arrow. Levelheaded might have played a big part in this, but he didn’t really know because he put his entire focus on his shot and his target.

He didn’t know how many arrows he shot, but he stopped when the first kobold entered the house where he was.

Red put his bow on his back and jumped off to the back of the house. He didn’t really pay attention during the main battle as he focused on shooting. He didn’t know if the distraction he created would be enough for them.

That was for later to find out when dozens of kobolds came to him. He jumped off the back door. The sound of steps coming from the house was loud, as if they were announcing their arrival.

Red activated his skill, Fireball, using three times the mana the skill required, to add more power to the fireball. He opened the door and directed his right hand inside.

The kobolds were six to seven steps away from where he was. It was not a good distance to release the fireball, but he didn’t have a choice.

The fire swirled in his right palm, forming a swirling fire in the shape of a ball that was as big as his head. He shot the fireball, hitting the closest kobold , and it went with a boom.

Boom!

The fireball exploded upon impact, and then it was followed by the shock wave. The shock wave was strong enough to send him flying backward. His body flew thirteen steps backward, landing on his back.

Red’s eyes widened as he realized the bow on his back. He was afraid that his prized bow snapped—getting back on his feet quickly, immediately checking the bow. He was relieved that the bow was fine, sturdier than he thought.

Then his attention was back on the house that had fallen over and was ruined, burning in the fire. It was a pity that he could not get the loot from the body in that fire, but the battle was more important than the loot for now.

He was about to pull his bow again, shooting whatever was coming from the ruined building. He pulled his bow; his grip on the bow became even more natural than he thought. Then his right hand pulled an arrow, and then he heard noise coming from his right.

The sound of hissing, something he heard when the kobolds were talking. He snapped to the right, and sure enough, a group of eight was approaching. They were poorly equipped compared to the kobolds that he attacked just now.

This group might be a similar group he encountered close to his house early, a ragtag group to clean up the village. The group was more than twenty steps away from him.

Without him realizing it, his right hand moved. Taking an arrow and starting to aim at one of the kobolds. His action was swift, natural, as if he had been doing it for a long time, as an arrow flew within one breath. The second arrow was fired in the next breath.

At the same time, the kobolds rushed toward him, raising their rusty weapons. But the kobolds started to fall one by one. When the fifth kobold fell down, the remaining three turned around.

Red thought of letting them flee to save his arrows, but then he needed them dead for loot. He needed to keep increasing his attributes as the fight went on. The remaining three kobolds fell in two breaths. He was getting quicker and quicker. A notification rang in his head when he killed the last kobold.

[Bow Mastery (Passive) has reached level 5!]

He rushed over, exchanged the body for loot while retrieving his arrow. He got seven cores from the eight bodies, or to be exact, he got seven cores from three bodies, as the remaining five gave him the useless coins.

Red immediately absorbed the core each time his hand picked it. The battle just started for him, and he needed to carefully pick where he fought. It was important since his main weapon was a bow.