Red Monster

Chapter 91: War Against the Kobold (2)

Red finished looting and retrieving his arrow from the bodies. He turned around, looking at the house that was still on fire. He expected the kobold to rush over to find him, but he hadn’t seen any coming for him.

’Do they think I am dead inside that fire?’

That was a possibility as to why the kobold stopped coming for him. But soon he found out that was just wishful thinking because three kobolds walked through the side of the fire.

They seemed to be looking at the ruined house at first, but one of them spotted him in the distance. Eight kobold bodies around him, and he was ready with his bow and arrow.

The moment they turned toward him, Red fired his first arrow. His right hand was already moved, taking the second arrow. When the second arrow was nocked on his bow, his first arrow hit a bullseye. It landed right between the eyes.

The second arrow flew from his bow, hitting the second kobold on the chest. By this time, more kobolds appeared. From the initial three, there were now six kobolds, excluding the one who died with an arrow in the head and the one who wriggled in pain.

Six of them were hissing, raising their respective weapons as they charged toward him.

Red didn’t waver even though they rushed toward him. The third arrow shot through, hitting the kobold that had just joined. He remained on the spot, his right hand nocked the fourth arrow as the kobolds charged at him. The fourth arrow flew as the kobolds took their third step. He fired the fifth arrow in their fifth step, and another one in their seventh step.

The last kobold from the initial six kobolds died in their thirteenth step. He killed six of them before he was even halfway through. However, more and more kobolds rushed, more than ten of them were charging him, not far from the initial six.

He stayed there for a moment, managing to shoot five arrows before turning around and making his escape. They were in the center of the village, close to a lot of houses.

Right in front of him were three houses, built connected to each other. He rushed toward the house in the middle. All the houses in the village had a similar design, a rectangular shape that was partitioned further into three rooms.

Red rushed ahead, going for the back door. It was the same tactic as the first one. He would bait them into the house, getting them clumped together, and presented the gift he had prepared, his fireball with extra mana on it.

He was staying at the back door, further back a little. Sure enough, the kobolds followed him. His right palm was directed toward them, and when he counted that more than eight kobolds were inside. He started the fireball, adding three times more mana than it needed before releasing the fireball.

Learning his lesson from his first attempt, Red quickly turned around after shooting the fireball. He quickly created some distance before the fireball exploded. He leaped forward, trying to get away from the explosion. That seemed to be a bad idea because the shock wave hit him before he could land.

He was sent flying in the air, sending him farther from the house. He landed with his chest first, his face bounced, and he hit the ground.

He was giddy for a moment, but he quickly recovered, getting back on his feet as fast as he could. He had succeeded in distracting the kobold. If he had to guess, more than forty kobolds should be chasing after him. He had killed more than twenty kobolds, and more would come for him.

It was time to go back to the main battle to help the Chief. The Chief was the only hope to fight off the five black-armored kobolds. Using the burning house as a cover, Red quickly got away from the kobold’s sight. He followed the clear path behind the house, making his way back to the main battle.

Red was now on the opposite side of the place he originally arrived at. He was on the roof again to get a better look. He could see the burning house. He was glad that it was a single house, as the fire might spread. That made him realize what happened to the second house he burned.

The fire might spread, most likely spread. He could see black smoke billowing from the burning house.

’That’s necessary. I just hope the fire doesn’t spread.’

He put the thoughts back on his head, focusing on what was ahead of him. He was relieved that he managed to pull half of the kobolds with his distraction. He could see that a few kobolds were going to the burning, making their way around.

Red believed he had killed more than twenty or even more than thirty kobolds. The fireball was effectively taking out around fifteen or maybe seventeen kobolds. He still had more than half of an arrow than he originally had, but that was far from enough.

He wished that the Chief and the hobgoblins could do more. As he thought so, his eyes scanned the battlefield. The five black-armored kobolds pushed the fight into the village hall. He spotted four more kobolds dead, and they lost half of the goblin.

That was bad news, but the good news was that they seemed to have managed to kill more kobolds. He noted the number of kobold dead bodies was increasing.

’They are clumped together... this might be my chance.’

Red didn’t pull his bow, but he aimed his right palm toward the crowd of kobolds below him. He activated a fireball and used five times his mana. If it were a normal activation, it would cost him thirty mana. He used one hundred and fifty mana for this shot.

He channeled more mana into his palm, adding it to the fire. The fire swirled in his palm, and it was getting wild, unstable. He realized that five times mana might be a bad idea.

Red quickly fired the fireball at the kobold below him. His fire quickly attracted the attention of the kobold. It was unstable, and the size was abnormally big.

Whoosh!

The fireball flew toward the kobold, and he was pushed backward just to release that fireball. He almost rolled backward, almost fell from the roof.

He first heard the kobolds screaming with their hissing voices. It seemed they were panicking. Then his fireball hit something. He heard a massive explosion, which was followed by a strong shock wave that shook the house where he hid.

Red crawled up to the roof to see, and the fire was raging. The kobold that got a direct hit was dead. He spotted six charred bodies. The fire spread out and burned the kobolds nearby. They were running around with fire on their bodies.

He quickly got into position, took his bow, and pulled his arrow. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation, he started to fire his bow. His target was the ones who were safe from the fire.

He had killed eleven before they finally noticed him. It was too chaotic for them to notice he was sniping their comrade one by one from the roof.

Then he heard a noise from behind him. Turning around, he saw three kobolds trying to climb the roof.

He put the bow aside and pulled his throwing spear, jabbing the kobold’s head with it. The kobold shrieked in pain as it fell off. His spear then moved toward the second kobold. He put more strength this time as the spear pierced through the skull. That killed the kobold right away, and then he kicked the last one in the head, sending it flying back down.

Red looked down and found more than twenty kobolds below him. It was fortunate that none of them was an archer, or else he would be shot to show his head like this.

More than one hundred! They bring more than a hundred just to attack our weakened village.’

He believed that he had killed more than fifty with that last fireball, but their number didn’t seem to be decreasing. More kobolds kept showing up.

Red put the spear back on his back and pulled his bow. He fired them from the top. It was much easier when they presented their heads to him like this. He targeted the one right below him.

He was getting full of himself, so he didn’t consider the kobolds throwing their weapons at him. That was his mistake, as one of them threw an axe at him.

He reacted late, letting himself fall backward as the axe grazed his right arm. The axe slit through his right hand, leaving a quite long gash as his blood gushed out. It was fortunate that it only grazed his right hand. It was hurt but still functional.

Red tried to think of his next move, realizing that the roof was no longer safe for him. That was when he sensed something. The roof was shaking. No, it was the house that was shaking.

Before he could figure out what happened, the house crumbled. He fell on his back, and something pierced the back of his left arm. He endured the pain as he quickly got back on his feet. Then he finally found out what caused the building to collapse.

He saw two tall silhouettes ten steps away from her, then he finally got a clear look. These two were the two black-armored kobolds. They left the Chief for him. He panicked for the first time.

’What do I do!?’