Chương 21: [BL] 21. Taste of battle [3]

The battlefield once again descended into chaos as shrieking Kobolds roared their lungs out. They snarled as they tried to reach for the human, but one swoop of the blade from atop a horse was enough to carve through their scales and send them toppling down. Habel spun his spears to point their ends downward and, without looking, the [Legionary] stabbed them through two Kobolds, then lifted the spears and, with brutal efficiency, drove them forward to puncture another Kobold's chest.

Willow had built Dark Wind by her left fingertip, but the horse's speed was too much for her, and she had to grip the saddle with her right hand. She glanced back at the line of Kobolds chasing them. If I fall, then I'm dead.

"My Lady, are you prepared?" Habel shouted the question. Willow's hair riffled around her ear, and with the sounds of battle, she almost missed his words.

"Yes! Drop me anytime!" Willow shouted back, exhaling her nervousness as the cavalry began to turn. Because of their numbers, the plan was to take one of the three huge earth mounds and ignore the others. Ahead, Josha started to kill his momentum and slow Enzo down. Shera stayed behind him with a Mist hand ready to shoot at any Kobolds that tried to stop Enzo's charge. The fog came to a stop with her. When Habel's horse came to a halt, Willow did not waste time and dismounted.

Four guards had dismounted ahead of her and started their ascent. Out of the mist, they dashed forward and met five Kobolds defending the archers. Each Kobold held a spear. Even to a beginner like her, it was obvious how foolish this uphill charge was, especially against spear-wielders—unless she was helping. Willow sheathed her sword and conjured Sever on both hands.

"Hold a bit!" Willow commanded, and the guards held their ground with their shields raised against a hail of arrows. She swept her hand down, sending a dark slice of wind—taller even than the kobolds—streaking across. Two razor-sharp lashes ripped through two of them. Their heads were bisected down to their necks, and they toppled, their bodies rolling across the mound. With the gap now open, the guards surged forward, redirecting the Kobolds' spears. Three Kobolds' bodies rolled down.

Willow jumped as one Kobold with a gaping neck almost crashed into her. When she landed, she pounced forward, drawing her sword and ascending to the plateau. [Kobold Archer—Level 5] There were seven, no eight of them, and they stood no chance as the human's charge was too overwhelming. They had no means of defense, and each was taken down either by shield or sword. Credit to the Kobolds, however; they immediately separated into two groups. The humans split into one to three thanks to that.

The lone guard facing four Kobolds was Josha's brother, Jaquin. His bloodstained sword already marked one kill. He bashed his shield into another and sliced its throat with a sweeping motion. The last two kobolds split apart, and each did a quick draw to fire at Jaquin. Willow marveled briefly at the potential of archery in close-quarters combat. Jaquin blocked one arrow, but the other one dug into his back hip.

"Jaquin!" one guard called.

"I'm fine!" Jaquin groaned and lashed into one of them. That caused the other one to have a free shot at him as it drew. Not on my watch, Willow pointed at the Kobold and uttered,"Sever." Dark Wind appeared upward and shrieked through the kobold's arm and severed it. It took the Kobold a couple of seconds before realising his arm had become a stump and splurged with blood. The Kobold shrieked until Jaquin slashed at its throat, kicking it off the mound. The man looked at her and gave her a hesitant nod.

Willow chewed her lips, not liking how inefficient that was. It cost her two Runes while a normal Sever would cost her one; sure, it would be close to an instant kill, but on the other hand she would not get her Dark Wind rune back because Sever did not kill the target. Is there a way to target their necks? She still needed to experiment. Her current conclusion was that she did not like the spell, and she could only use it for monsters five levels below her and with less Arcanic too.

"Mound secured!" The guard shouted. At that, the Cavalry raised a spear, and they charged to the left toward another mound, carrying with them their cold fog. Willow felt cold sweat run down the back of her neck. Below them, no one guarded the mound's bottom, so the kobolds could freely charge at them. Also… She looked to the side where, atop the two other mounds, the archers aimed for them.

"Jaquin, Jack! You two protect the low-ground! And you lass, get behind our shield!" Willow obeyed the command and crouched down. She settled her hand atop a dead kobold's body, a reminder of what would become of her if she messed up. She eyed the bow fallen by the body and took it and its quiver aside so she could take them later. An arrow slammed against one shield, causing Willow to flinch. Another dangerously hit the ground beside her leg. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve.

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"Can't do anything about a lucky shot like that," the older guard said.

"Look properly; most of their shot will miss. These bastards are too scared to shoot properly." True to that, most of the arrows were wobbly by the time they arched down toward them. Below the Kobolds' mounds, the cavalry gradually made their way to threaten the archer's position, and the Kobolds' archer had gotten the front seat on how their position got taken in a flash. But that was not Habel's plan. With Shera's cold serving as a cover for the horsemen, they masked their movement.

Willow glanced backward when the two lone guards were about to clash against dozens of Kobolds who were desperate to take back this high ground, only for the horsemen to pivot and, through the fog, thunder toward them. The move was unexpected, and the kobolds hastily formed a defense. The two guards did not let that happen.

Jaquin and the other guard punched their shields forward, sending a shockwave down, disrupting the kobold formation, and the slaughter began when Josha, with his momentum core, descended upon the poor creature with both of his spears moving like a scythe carving through the rift-borns. Willow had a job to do, and that was to take down the rest of the archers. She stood and judged their distance: twenty meters? Maybe thirty? She didn't care. What she knew was that she could reach them.

Willow hid a smile and built two dark winds. Before the next hail of arrows came, she had already sent the howling darkness forward, cutting through the arrows, and from afar she saw one of the archers fall backward. But the other one was harmless. [You recover one Dark Wind Rune] Eight left. She ducked for cover, and after arrows hit into the shields, she hovered upward again and sliced her finger forward. One archer had its head cut apart from its neck.

[You recover one Dark Wind Rune]"By the light, nice—" Willow sent another Sever, and this time, the Kobold ducked it. When it raised again, Willow could swear she caught a grin. Seven arrows arced down upon them, and Willow had to swallow her pride and get cover again. When it was her turn again, she did not hold back. Two Dark Wind rushed forward, but to her horror, every single kobold went sprawling down, and her Dark Wind just skipped through the air.

"What are you doing!" the guard—a young guy whined.

"Shut up!" Willow snapped.

"They're celebrating," the middle-aged guard pointed. And indeed they did, especially the middle one that had dodged Willow's dark Wind two times. Two! Oh, screw this. Willow pointed at the middle kobold and a snarling smile split her face.

"Sever." Its chest split apart and blood burst like a water fountain as the Dark Wind appeared and passed in quick succession. Slowly, it stumbled and fell over. Willow failed to hide her cackle, and the two Guards openly shuddered. [You recover one Dark Wind Rune] The fall counted as her kill. Good to know. Willow noticed that the rest of the Kobolds looked bewildered at their fallen brethren, and that caused them to pause. Fool. Willow showed no mercy and tore the air downward.

When they realised it was far too late. Two bodies followed down, one split apart from the chest down. [You recover two Dark Wind Runes] [You grow Stronger] In reflex, Willow ducked again and prepared herself to launch another Dark Wind. She'd be willing to commit to instant-Sever if necessary rather than wasting her Runes. For some reason, the two guards in front of her were both so stiff—especially the young one.

"I will not eat you, you know?" Willow whispered, and he yelped.

"Are you done, lass? My arm is getting heavy," the old guard said.

"That depends on them," Willow said.

"And them too, she muttered backward at the field of dead Kobolds by the mound's base. The smell of blood wafted upward toward them, and Willow scrunched her nose. Not only was the cave filled with Kobolds' dump and now mixed with this unpleasant smell… She battled her need to retch and peeked upward to see no more archers there. On the farthest mound, there were still archers shooting at the battle below.

Ten of them, to be exact, but it looked like the Kobolds had abandoned the middle mound and tried their luck in close combat.

"We're moving to the middle mound," Willow said.

"Can't we just leave it to them? Look at them! The kobolds shooting into Shera's fog. They're not going to hit anything. We should just focus on searching for Class Stone." The young man may have made a good point, but Willow did not miss how his eyes lit up at the mention of Class Stones. He eagerly pointed toward the corpses of kobolds and sent a flirtatious smile to Willow. She narrowed her eyes, and he flinched.

"I'm not going to pocket it."

"Nay, the lass is correct. We should help. C'mon lads! Jaquin! Jack! We're moving! Get the horse ready." The young guard grumbled incoherently as he stood. Willow took the bow and quiver, inspecting the weapons, which both seemed poorly made. The bow's body might as well be a twig, and it was built small to fit the kobold's armspan. Worse were the arrows; their fletching was very short, and the bow's shaft was chipped for god-unknown reason. Willow huffed, throwing both away, and they rolled down the mound.

The fighting had been dying down, and the Kobold's annoying shrieks turned into a pitiful wail as soon as most of their force had been decimated with only a few running into the deeper cave. Willow watched the ledge that crept around the cave wall, making sure no kobold sneaked upward. Thankfully, it looked like their burrow system did not connect there. She chomped a rune flower given by one of the guards and recovered some of her runes.

When the old man lent his hand to her, a new kobold's scream blasted through the air. Willow whirled around and watched a flying Kobold with wings that looked like overgrown bat wings, and its size was that of a human—two times larger than the normal Kobold. The Kobold's skin, made of a reinforced carapace of brown scales, armoured from head to toe.

"What in the light is that?" the young man wondered. The Kobold flapped its wings, and it swooped down. Willow broke into a run to the edge of the mound to cast her Ravenous Spear. A glint of spear-end peeked as it glided downward in its arm as it flew in crescent swoop toward the horseman. A cry echoed, and when the Kobold rose again near the Cave ceiling, a human screamed—a young man whose chest was impaled and flailed uselessly in the air.

Opening its wings, the flying kobold dropped the body from its blood slicked spear. For a moment, no one spoke until the kobolds below cried out a war cry and got a second wind. When the flying kobold tucked its wings to swoop up another human, Willow did not let it. She sent the Ravenous Spear through the space between them, and mid-air the Kobold opened its wings again and flapped once to dodge. With its legs, the Kobold gripped the dark spear shaft and gripped it tight, dissolving it into nothing.

Hovering above, it turned, and the Kobold's eyes locked toward Willow. [Kobold Half-Dragon—Level 25]"Level 25… A tier-two monster," the young guard said, his jaw slackening.

"W—What is it doing in a green portal?"

"The quest already reminded us, remember?" Willow said to him.

"All three of your shields! Lock shields! It's coming for us!" The Guards moved and locked their shields for Willow, who ducked behind them, and she prepared Sever and Dismember if necessary.

"But this is still a green portal!" the young man pointed out behind his shield. They talked among themselves, and the old man said, "Only two possible explanations, lad. One is that Kobold is the Dungeon Core, hence it's stronger than it's supposed to be. The other is this is just how it is during the Cycle. You better hope it's the former."