Red Monster

Chapter 92: War Against the Kobolds (3)

The two kobolds were much taller than Red despite being higher than most hobgoblins. The sword and armor somehow radiated a sinister aura; something was different about their equipment.

Fear, he felt fear from them, a gripping fear that caused him to freeze. This was the first creature that made him feel this way. He didn’t feel this way when he faced the Dire Wolf King.

Red could feel something in his head trying to force him to calm down, to suppress his fear. He figured out that it was Levelheaded trying to do something, but it was very hard to force himself to calm down when he faced the two black-armored kobolds.

He felt nothing from afar earlier when he used Appraisal, but it was totally different up close. His instinct screamed at him, telling him how dangerous these two were. He felt an overwhelming aura from these two. A wild aura that came for him as if he were the prey. It was similar to the aura radiated from the Chief.

His eyes widened, and he snapped when he remembered the Chief. That somehow helped him to break away from his fear. The Chief had something far scarier than them. They were weaker when he compared these two with the Chief.

He forced himself to calm down; maybe Levelheaded helped him. That didn’t matter; he calmed down now—he could think clearly. He realized that he just needed to distract these two kobolds away from the Chief. That might help them to win this battle.

His head was filled with thoughts that he didn’t notice one of the black-armored kobolds moving. A shadow hovered as the kobold, who was much taller than he, stood right in front of him.

It raised the sword up in the air, and Red quickly rolled to the right. He heard a loud booming sound behind him. He didn’t look back; his mind was in a mess, trying so hard to distract these two black-armored kobolds as long as possible for the Chief to beat the other three kobolds.

He ran to the next house, his mind was still thinking.

’Maybe Fireball will work on them!’

GRAAAAK!

The house was torn apart as the black sword cut through the wooden wall. He only saw one kobold until he sensed something coming from above. That was the second one, coming with its sword swinging down at him.

The thought of drawing his blade crossed his mind, but he quickly threw away the thought.

First, his blade was certainly inferior to their swords. Second, even if his blade was strong enough to receive that sword, he was weaker in terms of strength. He would be crushed with that strike.

He jumped to his right, and he felt the gush of the swing. That proved how strong that swing was. He was glad that he didn’t draw his blade.

’Fireball! I should try...’

But the first kobold that destroyed the house was already behind him. They were too fast for him to cast the Fireball. They didn’t give him the chance to do so.

He dashed forward, running to another house. That was when he prepared his fireball, thinking they would come from the front door. That was his mistake: thinking they would come through the front door.

KRAASH!

The kobold came from above, crashing down, landing just four steps away from him. He tried to activate the fireball, but the kobold was just too fast, covering the four steps in the following breath.

He couldn’t even activate his skill, pushing himself backward to dodge the swing. He didn’t make it in time as the tip of the sword grazed his leather armor. It cut through the leather armor easily, then cut his flesh beneath, leaving a gush down to his stomach.

It was fortunate that the sword didn’t reach further, or else his intestines might spill out.

Red landed on his back, but he quickly flipped his body around, quickly getting back up on his feet. He made his run to the back door.

’What do I do?’

’Fireball might work, but they don’t give me the chance to use the skill.’

It was as if the two recognized the danger of his Fireball that they persistently chased after him. As he left the back door, something heavy landed to his right. The second kobold was ready at the back door. He quickly turned to the other side, avoiding the sword strike.

He felt a loud boom behind him, didn’t look back, and kept running away. His mind spun, thinking of a way to resolve his situation. He might get killed before he could buy time for the Chief.

’Think, Red! Think!’

Red heard a notification that Levelheaded has reached level 20. It was the first skill that reached level 20, but that didn’t really make him happy.

’What’s the best I can do right now? What am I the best at?’

"Ah..."

His eyes widened as he figured out the next move. He ran as fast as he could, and surprisingly, he could outrun the two kobolds, keeping a safe distance.

He soon made his way out of the village. The kobolds stationed their people outside. He quickly turned toward the direction of the Marget area. The jungle was his territory, he believed, so he ran toward the jungle.

Red took a peek behind, and the two black-armored kobolds were behind him, ten steps behind. He followed the path, then he entered the jungle once he passed three trees. He didn’t quickly climb the tree. His goal was not to shake the pursuit but to lure these two away from the village.

To his delight, the plan worked as the two followed deep into the jungle. That was when he shook their pursuit, using a tree as cover to get out of their sight and climbed the same tree. He climbed as fast as he could, disappearing into the thick canopy, to the highest branch.

He didn’t stop there, making his way to another tree, creating a further distance. After ensuring he was quite safe, he sat down, leaning his back against the trunk.

Red calmed down, enduring the stinging pain in his chest and the back of his left arm. He looked down at the long gash wound on his chest down to his belly. His blood soaked his leather armor and pants.

The pain in the back of his left arm was worse. He reached out to the wound on his left, finding a big splinter on the back of his left arm. He pulled it off, a piece of broken wood that pierced his skin.

Pulling the splinter might be a bad idea as blood gushed out of the wound. He covered the wound with his palm, trying to stop the bleeding. He then looked at the gushing wound on his right arm. The bleeding stopped, leaving the wet flesh. It was still painful, but not as much as the one on his back and chest.

He quickly checked his Health, worried that he might be in a critical condition.

Health: 671 Stamina: 469 Mana: 1056

A sigh of relief escaped from his lips. He still had more than half of his original 900 Health. He still had half of his stamina, and he didn’t really use that much mana. He had shot three fireballs, a lot of Appraisal. Appraisal, however, didn’t really drain his mana.

Red took a deep breath, calming down. Now it would be his turn to counter. The jungle was his domain.

He checked his arrows, realizing that he had lost more than half what was left from the earlier scuffle. He also lost one of his throwing spears. Losing half of his arrows was not too bad since his arrows could not pierce the black armor. However, losing the spear might be bad since it was the only way to hurt the kobold once his Fireball was on cooldown.

"It’s still doable. I just need to delay them as long as I can."

Red jumped off one lower branch, looking down through the gap between the leaves. He spotted the two kobolds not far off, looking at the tree he climbed. They were looking at the trail of blood, his blood.

They knew he was up in the tree, but that changed nothing. He was confident when he was up here. He walked to the other tree, jumping to another branch next to his tree, positioning himself behind it.

He directed his right hand toward their back, activating Fireball. Five times of mana made his fireball unstable and hard to control. The two kobolds might notice him before he could shoot it; that was why he only used four times of mana this time.

The fireball was stable and under his control, burning the leaves, but he remained unnoticed. He released the fireball as it flew down toward the two black armored kobolds. They were not aware of the upcoming fireball as they didn’t even turn around.

The fireball went "KABOOM", swallowing them in fire as the fire raged upward.