Infinite Realm

"If this is all of you, then this battle is pretty much over. It will end with your deaths if you have nothing entertaining enough."

Arrogant, prideful, disdainful, conceited, domineering, overbearing.

All of these words were barely enough to describe the Kobold King's attitude from just those two sentences. Since he had began playing IR, no. Since they had begun playing IR, nobody on the team had ever seen a monster or even another player, looking at them with so much disdain and arrogance that it literally made them want to smack that face to the ground.

It was as if it didn't even place them in its eyes as an opponent but only as some street performer. The words 'if you have nothing entertaining enough' was more than enough to prove this. From beginning to end, despite being lured here, surrounded and outnumbered, there was no sign of worry on the Kobold King's face, only disappointment. Yes, disappointment. For some reason, the Kobold King was disappointed at the lineup standing against it.

'Wait a minute. The Kobold King possesses intelligence not necessarily less than that of a human being. Apart from that, it also has a bit of control over space to facilitate its movement. But despite that, Lu Zhen had managed to escape its grasp. No matter what, even if Lu Zhen was one level higher than he is now, he shouldn't have been able to escape. Even if the gap between them was large in the beginning, this lizard should have been able to catch up to him in a few seconds and dice him up in another. Therefore...this means that Lu Zhen didn't escape, it let him run.'

Reaching that final conclusion, Sato's blood then suddenly ran cold.

The Kobold King had previously displayed its distance shortening ability long ago. It wasn't a new thing to these guys and Lu Zhen had somewhat prepared himself for it. However, when it finally came down to the chase, the Kobold King didn't even use the skill. It was as if it had forgotten about it. Originally, Lu Zhen had praised the heavens while the rest praised his luck but seeing that look on the Kobold King's face, Sato realised something. It wasn't that Lu Zhen had escaped or that the Kobold King had forgotten about its spatial ability. It was that it probably wanted to fish out all other intruders and betrayers, so it played along with Lu Zhen and chased him 'furiously'. It was only with Sato and the others' appearance that the Kobold King finally decided to retire its act.

'Such a crafty move but for what reason exactly? Does it want to finish us all together? Is that why?'

Before Sato could even ponder in this anymore, Lu Zhen immediately sent them a message. He was afraid to use a typed message as it might affect their battle so he he simply sent a voice note.

"The kobolds have left the settlement. From the looks of it, they're heading this way."

Based on the original battle tactic, Sato and all the long-range players, apart from Xue Yan, would take on the Kobold King. As for the only exception, she would join up with Lu Zhen, Katsuo and Yato to battle the kobolds. The reason for sending their second strongest combatant out was because the kobold shad the numbers advantage. In such situation, AOE skills would prove the most useful but only Fudo and Xue Yan truly possessed such capabilities. Fudo was too weak so he might not be able to do much against such a horde but Xue Yan could do better. But now, Sato began contemplating on his previous decision.

The Kobold King was much stronger than anyone had anticipated so it was high probable that Fudo's attacks might not cause it any worry. In that case, it would be dumb to send Xue Yan away since Sato would have to focus on handling its aggro while they would still need someone with similar might to deal damage. Also, the entire motive for all of this was to let Xue Yan defeat the Kobold King as that was the priority of the mission. If she barely participated in the battle and only appeared to deal the final hit, her final evaluation would be lower than if she had a direct hand in its death.

"Change of plans. Fudo, you go with Lu Zhen and the others. Xue Yan, you stay with me."

"Okay." Fudo replied while Xue Yan simply nodded. None of them bothered to ask why Sato had suddenly changed the plan as they knew he probably had his reasons.

Without delaying any further, Fudo, Yato and Katsuo ran towards Lu Zhen and the four of them went forward to intercept the kobolds, leaving behind Sato, Xue Yan and Seiichi to face off against the Kobold King.

The Kobold King watched all this happen with an apathetic glance. It didn't seem bothered neither did it try to stop the four from running. In its eyes, those 4 were the weakest with only the mage and that assassin being slightly stronger than the others. They wouldn't be able to entertain it enough so it was better they died at the hands of its people. As long as the female mage and that swordsman remained behind, the Kobold King wouldn't care even if the archer behind them left too. The was the unbridled confidence that came from possessing the strength it did; from both its bloodline and potential.

Today, the Kobold King had decided that it would slay these few humans in front of it but would do so slowly and painfully.

Since young, the Kobold King had been held in the highest esteem by its people and had never met an opponent. Only when it was close to leaving the cave that it discovered that the world outside was huge and filled with powerful people, especially that 'little boy'. Just one glance was enough to make its body turn cold and retreat with its tail tucked between its legs. Because of that, the Kobold King was currently incensed. A being such as itself was being looked down upon by another. This had undoubtedly hurt its pride, and not by a small margin.

After thinking that it would never be able to express the anger outwards, that fellow had wreaked havoc to its home. As the tactic was quite similar, it guessed that there were others behind that fellow and ran after him but purposely left behind a survival path for him. When it saw Sato, it was happy and surprised. Happy that its conjecture was accurate and surprised that Sato's strength was similar to its. This had made it surprised but it soon calmed down down after recalling that 'little boy'.

Despite not being aware of the proverb, the Kobold King suddenly felt like a frog in a well who decided to take a look outside. It decided to kill this young man not because he had simply intruded upon its land but because he was like a thorn in its sight. However, the death would come slow and painfully, as a way to comfort it and heal its injured pride.

At that moment, while the Kobold King had a calm and emotionless look on its face, it was actually filled with rage and indignation.. It was unwilling to accept its fate of being unrivalled in the world and killing Sato was the only way it would calm down.