Red Monster

Chapter 94: War Against the Kobolds (5)

Red’s vision blurred; he could not breathe for a moment. He almost passed out until his back hit a tree, very hard. His mind was fuzzy, his vision was blurry, and his chest was heavy.

Something snapped behind him, but that was not his priority. It was to breathe. It was like there was something clogged in his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. It took a while, but he managed to relieve that clog.

He managed to breathe, but it was heavy. His mind was clouded, dulled, and he could not think of anything at the moment. But there was something that kept him awake. The pain in his back.

His instinct was screaming at him, telling him the danger was coming. But his mind and body could not keep up with his instinct. His mind remained clouded, and his body was weak.

His body was the first one to react. His hand moved, supporting himself to get up. Even so, he leaned his back against the tree to remain standing. His sight remained blurred, but he caught a silhouette approaching.

Red knew the kobold was coming to him, angry. It was angry and more emotional than he thought. His mind slowly returned to him. The kobold was angry because he had killed the other one. He could feel it, its anger directed toward him.

Knowing he could not run, the kobold walked toward him unhurriedly. It was not holding the sword, which was fortunate. If the kobold had the sword, he might have been cut in half already.

’This kobold will kill me even without the sword.’

Another punch to the head might kill him.

’That’s right, another punch might kill me. Might as well use my skill to fight rather than dying helplessly!’

His mind was getting cleared, and it seemed Levelheaded was in action. The skill helped him regain his clear thinking. His mind was no longer fuzzy as he regained his clear thinking.

With a clear mind, he quickly found a solution. It was not a solution, more like a gamble. He still had one trump card aside from his fireball. It was Infernal Berserker. A skill that allowed him to increase his stat by ten times for sixty seconds, which he assumed to be sixty breaths.

The drawback was that his health would be reduced to 1 when the effect expired. The skill itself was a gamble; he didn’t use the skill unless he needed to. That was the only solution to get away from this situation.

’If I will die no matter what, I will die trying instead of giving up!’

Red activated his skill, Infernal Berserk. The feeling was amazing, not just that he regained his strength, but he became even more powerful. His mind cleared, his vision returned, and overflowed with strength.

He pulled the spear on his back and leaped toward the kobold. That was a spontaneous action instead of his usual calculated move. He just went with his new overflowing strength from the Infernal Berserk.

He leaped high even without running momentum, reaching the kobold’s head level. Raising his right knee, targeting the head. The kobold was clearly not expecting that he would spring into action like this. That caught it off guard and got his head smashed by the knee.

The black helmet dented inward from that knee strike, and the kobold was thrown down with the back of its head, and it hit the ground first.

Red landed on his feet, turning around with his spear raised above his head. His eyes gleamed in coldness as he brought the spear down.

KRRAANG!

The spear pierced the helmet, and he pushed it with all his strength. The spear went through, pierced the back of the helmet, and stuck to the ground. The kobold’s body convulsed, thrashing around. That only lasted for a few breaths before it came to an abrupt stop.

Red truly calmed down, looking down at the corpse below him. His eyes could not hide his surprise. He was surprised that the Infernal Berserk had such a drastic impact on his fight against this kobold.

It might be because he caught it off guard, but it was a surprise that he managed to kill it in two strikes. He shook his head.

’This is for later. I need to go back to the village before the Infernal Berserk expires.’

He was about to exchange the kobold for loot. His greed was finally fulfilled. He was curious what this body would give him.

HISSSSS!

A hissing voice that was close to a scream resounded from behind. That surprised him as he turned around and saw the black-armored kobold walking toward him.

Smoke billowed from the armor, outside and inside. The black armor turned red from the heat, yet it was still standing strong and walking toward him. It had left the burning area behind, glaring at red with its bloodshot eyes.

Six times the amount of mana was still not enough to kill that kobold. But it was obvious that the kobold was wounded. It didn’t have the same vigor as this one. It walked instead, dragging its sword of jumping like the one he killed. It sustained great injuries for sure.

Red gained some confidence after killing the first kobold. He delayed the loot exchange, pulling the spear from his back. He ran toward the kobold and threw the first spear.

The kobold tried to dodge, but its movement was sluggish, barely moving. The spear hit its right chest, causing it to stumble and almost fall to the side. But it still remained on its feet.

Red didn’t stop, taking another spear from his back and throwing it again. This time, he aimed the head. The pierced hit the head, hitting the spot below the right eye. Even so, it remained standing.

He didn’t stop, throwing his last spear at the chest. It pierced the chest, and when it looked like it was about to fall, it half a step back instead, anchoring itself.

Red pulled his blade, closing the distance, running through the root obstacles. He quickly closed the distance, and that was when he leaped again.

He noticed the kobold tried to raise its sword. His right hand was trembling, the sword as well. A sign that it was trying to raise the sword. It was struggling, not having the strength to do so.

Red thrust his blade at the gap for the eyes in the helmet. The bluish-purple blood spurted from that gash as the kobold finally fell with the push. He pulled the blade and stabbed the same spot again. That was just to ensure that he killed it.

Only then did he feel safe, but then he sensed something, as if he was being watched. He had a prickling sensation on his back. He turned around and could not find anything close by. That was when he remembered that he was in Marget Territory.

He quickly looked up and found not just one, but four pairs of eyes looking at him. Two Margets were together, and the other two were alone. He met with their eyes, and they quickly disappeared, as if they knew he was bad news for them.

He was about to get his loot until he received notifications.

[You have achieved a great feat [Against All Odds I] by defeating an opponent thirty levels above your own!]

[You have been rewarded a Tier Stat upgrade!]

[Please choose the Tier Stat upgrade [Might] [Magic]?]

[You have achieved a great feat [Against All Odds I] by defeating an opponent thirty levels above your own!]

[You have been rewarded a Tier Stat upgrade!]

[Please choose the Tier Stat upgrade [Might] [Magic]?]

That caught him off guard and also confused him. It still didn’t register to him what it meant, and he was still unsure about it. But again, he got two rewards, meaning he didn’t need to choose one. He picked Magic at first, then he picked Might after.

[You have reached Tier 1 Magic!]

[You have reached Tier 1 Might!]

He honestly still didn’t know what the tier meant, but that was for later to find. He was in the middle of a war, and he was on a time limit of the Infernal Berserk.

Red didn’t dawdle as he quickly exchanged the body for loot. The armor stayed behind as the body burst into light particles. He spotted the loot next to the body armor.

The loot was four cores, a golden stone that released the golden fume, and one silver coin. The golden stone was certainly a new type of loot, but he noticed the difference with the core before him.

He was disappointed at first that he only got four cores, but he noticed something different. The core was slightly bigger and more vibrant than the usual core. Two Might Cores and two Magic Cores.

He was sure that this core was different and used Appraisal on them one by one.

[Mediocre quality Might Core!]

[Mediocre quality Magic Core!]

Then he grabbed the golden stone, or maybe the core. There was no notification that he hoped for, so he quickly used Appraisal on it.

[Epic Class Stone: Mystic Chef!]