Chapter 62: The Prodigious Alchemist 10

Far in the distance, a pillar of flame suddenly erupted into the air.

For an instant, the entire underground passage was illuminated as brightly as day.

But that was only the beginning.

The moment the first explosion sounded, one burst of fire after another began erupting throughout the two-kilometer stretch occupied by the kobolds.

And the chain of explosions rapidly spread toward Kent’s position.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Kobolds were blasted high into the air.

Some spun helplessly before crashing back to the ground like broken sacks.

Others landed directly on top of their companions.

And then something even more terrifying happened.

The combined weight of the fallen kobolds and those trapped beneath them exceeded the pressure limit of the mines buried below.

Another mine was triggered.

Then another.

And another.

The entire passage suddenly sounded like an enormous string of firecrackers being set off underground.

Explosions raced through the kobold formation one after another.

Bodies flew through the air.

Flames flashed across the cavern.

The earth itself seemed to tremble beneath their feet.

Clang!

Clatter!

Kent was still staring excitedly at the battlefield when the noises around him startled him.

He turned his head.

Then froze.

Whether they were gnomes, dwarves, or even the dark elves—who were famous for maintaining elegance under almost any circumstance—

Every one of them had turned pale.

Their legs were trembling.

Some could barely stand.

Weapons slipped from numb fingers and fell to the ground one after another.

No one seemed capable of speaking.

They had all been completely stunned by what they had just witnessed.

The explosions continued for nearly two full minutes.

When they finally stopped...

The passage that had once been packed shoulder to shoulder with kobolds had become something entirely different.

A sea of shattered flesh.

Blood covered the ground.

Broken limbs lay everywhere.

The thick smell of blood and burned flesh drifted toward the defenders.

Here and there, a surviving kobold could still be heard crying out weakly.

But the massive formation that had once filled the tunnel...

Was gone.

At another defensive position, Darkya had just released the final enchanted arrow from her bow.

The arrow tore through the darkness.

Its terrifying penetrating power carried it straight through three kobolds before finally losing momentum.

That attack brought Darkya’s total kill count to—

One thousand and eight.

She lowered her bow with a satisfied expression.

Then she turned toward the City Lord.

Hark and his brothers were nearby, having been assigned to witness the wager.

Their expressions looked unpleasant.

But inside, they were secretly delighted.

Because as far as anyone knew...

Kent had not personally killed a single kobold yet.

Darkya smiled triumphantly.

“City Lord.”

“I have now killed my one thousand and eighth kobold.”

“I ask that Your Excellency give a fair judgment regarding our—”

She never finished.

A thunderous explosion suddenly echoed through the tunnel.

Then another.

Then another.

The sound rolled through the underground passage like thunder.

The dazzling flashes of fire could be seen even from where Darkya stood.

Severed limbs flew high into the air.

Pieces of flesh scattered across the cavern.

The smell of blood rushed toward them.

And beneath the explosions came the terrified screams of countless kobolds.

Everyone stared ahead in disbelief.

They all knew that Kent had buried some strange objects in the passage.

But almost no one had taken them seriously.

The things had been ugly.

Crude.

Made from cheap materials.

And worst of all...

They had emitted absolutely no magical fluctuations.

In the common understanding of this world, the principle was simple.

The stronger the magical fluctuation...

The greater the power of the magical weapon.

Therefore, something that produced no detectable magical energy was naturally assumed to be harmless.

But now...

That belief was being shattered right in front of them.

“This...”

Hark swallowed hard.

His voice became unusually quiet.

“There must be more than ten thousand kobolds dead over there...”

Darkya’s face instantly turned pale.

She spun around and shouted at him.

“You damned dwarf!”

“Get lost!”

“I haven’t lost to you!”

Hark stared at her in shock.

Dark elves could certainly curse when angry.

But hearing a high-ranking Magic Archer lose her composure so completely was still rare.

Even so, Hark cautiously continued.

“But...”

“There are still five other passages.”

“We don’t know what happened at those—”

Darkya’s expression became even worse.

“Everyone!”

The City Lord suddenly shouted.

“Attack!”

Before Darkya could completely lose her temper, the City Lord had already drawn his weapon and charged forward.

The others immediately followed.

Dark elves.

Dwarves.

Gnomes.

The defenders surged down the passage.

The ground ahead was covered with blood and shattered remains.

Occasionally, they encountered a kobold that had somehow survived the explosions.

But most of those survivors simply stood there blankly.

Their minds had already collapsed under the shock.

They barely reacted before the advancing defenders cut them down.

When the City Lord reached the far end of the devastated passage, however...

The scene before him surprised even him.

The kobolds were fighting among themselves.

The warriors in the front desperately wanted to retreat.

The kobolds behind them, however, were still trying to push forward.

Neither side understood what had happened.

The rear ranks had no idea why those in front were suddenly fleeing.

The front ranks only knew one thing.

They wanted to escape.

Immediately.

And so...

Disaster followed.

All of this was more or less within Kent’s expectations.

To someone from Earth, a mass stampede was hardly an unfamiliar concept.

When a dense crowd suddenly panicked, people no longer behaved rationally.

Those in front tried to flee.

Those behind continued pushing forward.

Once someone fell...

More would fall after them.

But the kobolds of this world clearly had no understanding of such a phenomenon.

And there was another problem.

The kobolds at the front were generally the strongest warriors in the army.

When they saw the dark elves, dwarves, and gnomes charging toward them from behind...

They became even more desperate to escape.

So they raised their weapons.

Anyone blocking their path—

Friend or enemy—

Was cut down.

The retreat quickly became chaos.

And the chaos became slaughter.

Before Muan City’s defenders had even fully launched their counterattack...

The kobold army had already begun tearing itself apart.

At first, only one kobold fell.

But soon...

The surrounding kobolds realized something.

Running over the bodies of their own companions was faster than pushing through the crowd.

And then...

The tragedy happened again.

More and more kobolds began stepping over the fallen.

Those behind them followed closely.

Those who had already exhausted themselves from fighting and killing were quickly overtaken by the advancing defenders and ended by their blades.

The terrifying screams echoed through the passage.

And those screams only made the kobolds in front become even more desperate.

They swung their weapons harder.

They ran faster.

They pushed forward without caring who stood in their way.

A massive army of hundreds of thousands of kobolds had formed a line stretching for more than ten kilometers through the underground passage.

But that line was no longer an army.

It was a river of panic.

Under the command of the City Lord, the pursuit lasted for an entire day.

When the warriors finally returned, every single one of them looked exhausted.

Their weapons were damaged beyond repair.

Their armor was covered in blood.

Their bodies were stained red from head to toe.

No one had expected that the battle would end this way.

Meanwhile...

Kent stood proudly near the bridge, waiting for Darkya.

The change in how people looked at him was obvious.

Anyone who saw Kent would quietly move farther away.

Their eyes were filled with admiration.

And...

A faint trace of fear.

The same person they had once considered a Level-Two mage...

Had just changed the fate of an entire city.

Darkya did not even know how many times she had swung her rapier.

The weapon had already broken.

Her arm felt numb.

Her entire body was exhausted.

Yet the kobolds before her had already collapsed.

Some of them simply lay on the ground, unable to resist, allowing the defenders to finish them.

But inside Darkya’s mind...

There was only one thing repeating again and again.

Kent’s annoying smile.

That arrogant expression.

That irritating confidence.

She wanted to prove him wrong.

She wanted to win.

But now...

There were no more kobolds left.

Darkya had no choice but to return to Muan City.

Technically, she could have simply left.

After all, the wager had already become meaningless.

But the honor of a dark elf would not allow her to run away.

Far away, the City Lord watched this scene.

He could only sigh.

“Hahaha!”

“Kent, well done!”

“You did it!”

Hark’s three brothers and Kobi spotted Kent from a distance.

They shouted excitedly.

Then they rushed over and gave him a huge hug.

Kent was almost knocked backward.

“Kent!”

“The mines killed more than one hundred thousand kobolds!”

Kobi’s face was full of excitement.

“And five kobold leaders!”

“One of them escaped because that passage had too many branches.”

“Hehe...”

Kobi laughed mischievously.

“But that was just bad luck.”

Kent smiled.

“Hehe.”

“This victory belongs to everyone.”

“The most important factor was that the kobolds were too densely packed.”

“If they had not gathered so tightly together...”

“The results would never have been this impressive.”

Kent understood the true power of his mines.

The greatest advantage was not raw destructive strength.

It was surprise.

The kobolds had no idea what they were facing.

They had walked directly into the trap.

“Hoho.”

“Kent.”

“This is where you are wrong.”

A voice came from behind.

“You achieved such an incredible victory.”

“And you are still trying to be humble.”

Kent turned around.

The City Lord had returned.

Kent immediately asked:

“My Lord...”

“With so many corpses here...”

“Will they attract powerful magical beasts?”

The City Lord laughed.

“No.”

“The kobolds have already cleared the surrounding area for thousands of kilometers.”

“There are almost no large magical beasts nearby.”

“And before any beasts arrive...”

“We will have already dealt with everything.”

After saying this, the City Lord quickly left.

He still had countless matters to handle.

Behind him...

Darkya quietly lowered her head.

She was trying to walk around Kent.

She hoped he would not notice her.

But unfortunately...

Kent had been waiting for this moment.

“Stop.”

Darkya froze.

Kent looked at her.

“Go take a bath.”

“I told you before.”

“Wash yourself properly.”

“Look at you now.”

“You look nothing like a servant.”

Darkya’s face instantly turned red.

She clenched her fists.

But she could not refute him.

Because she had lost.

And according to the wager...

She had to accept the consequences.

Kent looked at the Level-Eight Magic Archer standing before him.

A smile appeared on his face.

After all...

Having an eighth-level Magic Archer as a personal maid...

That was quite a prestigious thing.