Chapter 177: Ceaseless Battle (6)

Red always did his best to avoid close combat during his early hunts. From his perspective, it was stupid to fight up close, putting his life at risk when he could kill his enemy from a distance. But he slowly changed his mind now. In the war against the kobolds, and the fight against the Kobold Scouts now.

The fight was pretty much simpler after he ambushed the first two groups. With his long-range sword, he cut two more kobolds before they could get closer to him.

As he expected, the second group of six kobolds tried to circle him. They came from behind and above, but he heard them coming. The Kobold Scouts made noise; the rustling leaves alerted him.

He easily dodged the ambush as three kobolds jumped at him at the same time. He only needed to take two steps to the side, and the three goblins were within his sight and rage. Before they could land on the branch after failing to ambush him, his sword cut through their body.

Once his sword was coated with mana, he cut their bodies like his sword cutting the leaves. The three bodies split into two, falling to the ground as blood splattered around.

Then he jumped at the three kobolds that came from the front of him. He swung his sword in the air, and that caused the kobolds to step back to avoid his sword. The moment his feet gained footing, he swung three hundred and sixty degrees.

The three kobolds died instead, getting their body split just like the others. The split bodies slid through the branch and fell to the ground. At that moment, the remaining two Kobold Scouts jumped at him from above.

Red expected them to run after he slaughtered their allies. He was surprised they were still coming after him. He jumped to the side, avoiding their short sword. Then he followed with a thrust. His swords pierced through the two kobolds, bringing them toward the trunk.

His sword pierced both kobolds’ chests. Then he ripped them apart. He shook the blood off, taking a deep breath. Every time he was in close combat, he seemed to be in a weird state where he became aware of his surroundings. Weirdly enough, his senses became sharp.

The first ambush failed because of his sharp hearing; this time he sensed danger. He just knew that the last two Kobold Scouts were coming from above. He could not explain what happened; weird.

He didn’t like close combat, but now he was getting addicted to it. The satisfaction and the sensation from the close combat fight were addictive. He wanted more fights each time he finished a fight. Then Levelheaded was triggered, helping him to calm down.

"That was satisfying, but quite dangerous..." He muttered, shaking his head, "I need to get the rest of the Kobold Scouts!"

Red followed where the earlier group of Kobold Scouts passed. He guessed where they might be based on the direction and ideal location for them to stay hidden, and he found them.

The excitement after the fight was dangerous. He might get carried away and put himself in a situation where he had to risk his life. However, it didn’t stop him from fighting up close with his sword.

The reason was simple: he had to kill them as fast as he could. Killing them with his sword was faster. There might be another group of Kobold Scouts toward the left of the village as well. He needed to clean them and join the main battle.

It started with an ambush; he killed a group of seven Kobold Scouts within a few seconds. He coated his sword with mana. His sword cut them as if they were leaves.

There were twenty-five of them, and he started by eliminating seven of them. The closest group of six Kobold Scouts charged at him. They were slow; he saw them coming and anticipated each of their moves.

The fight was pretty much straightforward and simple. Relying on his sword’s longer reach, he cut the kobold before they got closer to him. It was fortunate the scouts were not armed with a bow. That would change things, not that much, though, because he could always target the one with bows first.

From that fight, he realized something. He was overpowering them in terms of strength and speed. He moved faster; his strike hit harder. One of the Kobold Scouts tried to block his sword. The Kobold Scout couldn’t block his strike. The short sword flew off, spinning upward into the air as the sword sliced through the kobold’s chest.

His reaction to the following attack was faster as well, so fast the Kobold Scouts were helpless in his unrelenting attacks. He finished the second big group of Kobold Scouts within a few minutes.

Red was about to go to the left side, checking that side, ensuring there would be no more Kobold Scouts. But then he heard the clash inside the village. The main battle had started.

If there was a kobold on the left side of the village, then they had snuck into the village. He was aware that the Chief might be expecting his Fireball as well. He must return first, informing him of the situation.

Red jumped off the tree and ran as fast as he could. Once he was close to the wall, he used Burst Leap to jump over the wall. He sprinted toward the Chief, and they were still hiding behind the house.

They couldn’t come out until he distracted the Elite Kobold Archers. The good news was that the battle hadn’t started. It was just the scream from the kobolds. The kobolds’ screams could be heard from the other side of the wall. The traps did their work already.

"Why are you here? Kill those archers!" The Chief furrowed, clearly displeased that Red hadn’t fired the first fireball.

"The Kobold Scouts! I was fighting them. I have killed two big groups of the Kobold Scouts, around sixty of them!" Red explained the situation: how the Kobold Scouts attempted to sneak into the village from an unguarded area.

He then pointed at the left side of the village. "There might be another group from there, and they might be inside the village already! Do you want me to check and take care of them, or will you send Hobgoblins to handle them?"

"We can send ten hobs to guard that side! You need to fire your fireball now!"

"Ten is not enough! Their number is around twenty to thirty! You will send them to their death." Red didn’t like the idea of sending them hobgoblins to fight the Kobold Scouts that were level 20 to level 24.

"Their level is much higher than a freshly evolved hobgoblin as well!"

The Chief looked toward the wall, then he looked at the left side. If those Kobold Scouts were truly higher in level than the newly evolved kobold, then sending ten hobgoblins was pointless but just a suicidal move.

"Shoot your fireball first, then you take care of those Kobold Scouts! We can’t split the hobgoblins when a horde is coming from the front door!"

The Goblin Champion Red named Observer responded. That was a logical move, but there was one thing the Observer failed to consider.

"The distance is too far! If I shoot from the village, those archers would dodge my fire. By then, we will lose the element of surprise from my fireball!"

Red felt like it was a bad idea to force his fireball. What was important was not just the firepower behind his fireball, but also its element of surprise. The kobolds were not expecting one of the goblins to fire an arrow. He needed to get them from their blind spot and kill as many kobolds as he could.

"Then you kill those Kobold Scouts first! Kill them as fast as possible, then kill the archers! It will be hard for us to move with those archers around!" The Fool finally said something meaningful.

"Then I need those ten hobs to look for the Kobold Scouts if they manage to sneak into the village already!"

’Maybe I should change his name... but that’s for later.’

Red was quick, calling ten hobgoblins to follow him. He needed their eyes and ears to look for the kobolds if they were already inside the village.

He moved on the roof, and the ten hobgoblins were searching each house. He told them to scream if they found the kobolds. Meanwhile, he ran to the left side of the village, to the wall. Since the kobold army hadn’t entered the village, there was a chance the Kobold Scouts were still waiting.

Luck was on his side this time because the moment he arrived at the wall side, he saw four Kobold Scouts and jumped off the wall. He quickly pulled his bow and started to shoot them.

He didn’t need to coat his arrow with mana, and that increased his fire rate. He shot three arrows within five seconds. Each arrow hit the head.