Chương 22: [BL] 22. Taste of battle [4]

In an explosive after-wind, the Kobold half-dragon launched forward like a rocket toward the mound Willow stood upon. Pressure bore down on her as if gravity itself had turned its back against her and the guards. Willow's limbs locked down, and a creeping chill entered through her bones, gripping her like— [Kobold Half-dragon's Predatory Intent activated!] [-5% all attributes] [You resisted Fear]"Hold your spell! Not yet!"

The old guard's command was useless as one younger guard screamed and bashed his shield forward, summoning a bright, luminescent aegis in front of the half-dragon. Seeing the shield, the Kobold did not stop; instead, it pointed its spear forward and met the spell shield head-on. Upon contact, a chiming sound whistled through the air, and the aegis shattered into a burst of light as the kobold's spear carried through.

"No, no, no!" The young guard screamed.

"Aston! Calm down!" Jaquin reached Aston's shoulder.

"It's fear getting to you." [Guard—Level 4] Among the guards surrounding her, Aston was the lowest in rank, which was why they'd tasked him with only shielding Willow from arrows. But perhaps now that backfired.

"Get ready!" The old man yanked Aston down.

"Just summon your Spell Shields on command. We will do it together. On my command! Do you hear me, lad? The lass will fire her wind right after the Kobold stops moving."

"R-right, I can do that." As if it had listened to their plan, the Kobold opened its snout again, and a shriek blasted over them like a sonic wave. Once again the familiar pressure bore down on Willow's body. The second time, however, was much weaker. [Kobold Half-dragon's predatory intent activated!] [-1% all attributes] [You resisted fear] After the sound passed by her, Willow drew a deep breath and steadied herself under the four shields.

That was probably a waste of mana for the kobold, or at least she thought so until Aston let out a piercing scream that made Willow recoil backward.

"Idiot!" Jaquin shouted, but Aston already jumped and punched the air with his shield, sending a wave of blasts. The Kobold, in response, tucked its wings and glided downward, dodging the wind before flapping back up again. Aston followed with another Aegis, which did not even last one second as his Class outfit unraveled in an explosion of light. The man was left in cheap leather and almost dropped his shield when the Kobold mercilessly opened its snout again for another shout.

Willow was not looking forward to what its shout could do to an unclassed. She pulled Arnold back, and the man stumbled backward, meeting her gaze with clear fear in his eyes. Willow conjured Dark Wind on her right finger and sliced it toward the kobold. The Kobold slowed its momentum for a brief moment to catch Sever with its talons and crushed the wind with its magic-infused talons. It can do that too? She did not even realise when she back-stepped out of pure fear.

That was the first time this had happened to Sever. What to do now? Dismember or Ravenous Spear?

"Incoming!" The old guard shouted. They slammed their shields together. Ahead, an overlapping three bright blue aegis shone, banishing the cave darkness, and met the Kobold spear thrust. The first shield broke apart in a crack, and light shone like a miniature star. Motes of blue light danced downward, then the second broke apart as well. The kobold let out a roar, piercing through the third one. Willow had finished casting her Ravenous Spear.

The Dark spear danced between her palms, its shaft stretched above her shoulders and her hair rippling away from the hungry wind. She put more runes on this spear, and the dark wind rotated further, howling like a raging tempest. Seeing the deadly spear, the Kobold burst forward, probably intending to kill her before she could cast it, and that was a mistake.

"Again!" The old guard shouted. Another tiered Aegis was summoned, and the Kobold's spear met it; this time, its spear glowed with a slight red gleam, and it pierced the defensive Aegis in an instant. Whirlwind swirled atop the plateau they stood upon, blowing over debris and even the Kobold archers' bodies like rag dolls, whipping Willow's cloak and the guards' tabards. The spear soared with restless darkness straight toward the Kobold's head.

Instead of dodging, the Kobold welcomed it with its own spear shining like blinding sunlight. Vapor hissed above its spear, and it rammed into the Ravenous Spear. Heat and Wind clashed, and the Ravenous Spear blew away in an expanding gust. The recoil of the exchange pushed the kobold off, and it raised its hand against the sudden gust.

It easily found its balance and was about to launch at Willow again, before this time an actual spear took it by surprise from below—impaling the Kobold's side, causing it to veer off and flapping both wings for balance so it could hover upward again. The spear did not gore all the way through, but it was not enough to stop the Kobold's movement. It reached down to remove it—and blood fell down its legs and dripped toward where the human had taken care of the rest of the Kobolds down below.

Habel rode with the cavalry, and they raced toward Willow's position. The Kobold looked at her, then glanced at the human. It knew it could not kill her before backup arrived. So it turned, but not on her watch. Yeah, as if.

"Lass! Just stay put. What are you—" Willow pounced beyond the guards and swept both of them down, sending two Sever lashing at the kobold, who noticed. It dodged the first one with a quick beat of wings, but the second one it blocked with its right talon, banishing the dark wind. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The moment the second Sever hit it, Willow had already sent another Ravenous Spear that she quick-charged. She did not waste any time and released it.

The Kobold hovered backward and thrust its spear to meet the dark wind again, to the same result. But the second was all Willow needed. She pointed her hand and focused her sight, meeting the Kobold's scaly eyes. Dismember. A dark spiral wove around the Kobold, overtaking its wingspan and sweeping around it. The Kobold reacted accordingly and tucked its wings. But the Dark wind feasted upon the creature. A relentless shear tore apart the Kobold's body, carving between its scales.

Annoyingly, the Kobold's wings took the brunt of the damage as the Kobold itself began to free-fall, still protecting its body. Again. Willow cast another Dismember. The Kobold made the mistake of peeking, and the Dark Wind took apart one of its eyes—its exposed throat slit, and blood spurted down its body. Realising its mistake, the half-dragon tucked its wings again and hid its face. Oh come on. Willow cast another dismember, again and again.

The flaying of the rift-born's wings continued with relentless wind kept shredding it apart, and it was surprisingly durable for something that looked like a bat wing—but under relentless dark wind it stood no chance as finally, with a ripping sound—the wings shredded, and Dismember reached into the Kobold body. Infuriatingly for Willow, the Kobold went into a fall, and its side hit the edge of the second mound, causing it to tumble down a slope where it escaped Willow's gaze.

Cursing under her breath, Willow summoned another Ravenous Spear, her only spell that could reach all the way beyond the second mound. The big problem was that Willow could see the exit, a curving path that only left her with a slight opening where she could fire her spell. And it was far.

"Horseman! Turn around! Chase after it!" Willow screamed down, tossing her head back to see they unfortunately already rushed up her mound. She bit her cheek, and her eyes locked on Josha. Go. He immediately spurred Enzo and rode forward, skipping past Willow, billowing her hair.

"Go! Josha!" Enzo's hooves glowed bright white. Perhaps it was because of the Momentum Rune of Josha, which was very fitting. When Josha rode up the second mound, the Kobold half-dragon had already crossed toward the upslope of the third mound. Its wings lay tattered, with one completely gone. A strange satisfaction swirled inside Willow, and she fired her Ravenous Spear.

The Kobold had expected it, for it turned the moment it reached the top of the mound, spinning its bright spear and, like a typhoon in its hand, batted away the Dark Wind into a dissolving dark gust. Another spear streaked through the air, and the Kobold flexed its talon and sheared apart the spear in an upward slash. It then drew back its own spear and hurled it at Josha, who blocked it with his shield in time, but the blow sent Josha's shield off his hand and with it his body flew off Enzo's back.

The Kobold dashed for its life, stumbling down the slope, and Willow let out a frustrated hiss as the Ravenous Spear she built went into a waste. [Dark Wind: 3/18]"Josha!" Shera shouted and ran after the cavalry, all of whom lagged behind Josha. Willow and the rest of the guards followed. She slid down the mound, careful with her balance, as it was more slippery than she had thought. How the hell did Josha climb with Enzo so fast?

The Cavalry barely made it to the top by the time Willow was about to ascend, and they galloped downward. All Willow could do was pray that they managed to pin down the Kobold half-dragon. She found Josha groaning, his head above Shera's thigh; his shield lay pulverised inward, and Enzo pranced around, lifting his legs up and down. One guard took Enzo's rein, calming him down. Jaquin rushed off his horse and gave the reins to Willow.

He ran to Josha, who just barely lifted his head before being forced down by Shera again. When Willow approached, she heard Josha whine out loud.

"I'm fine, seriously. Just get me up; I need to check on Enzo." Unimpressed, Shera glowered at him, but helped him up regardless. His brother steadied Josha's wobbly body, lending him his arm, and they hobbled forward toward Enzo.

"Sorry about that." Josha gave her a pained grin.

"I'm not fast enough."

"Nonsense," Willow smiled, tapping Enzo's neck, who raised it almost haughtily, and he snorted through his nose. Josha raised an eyebrow at his horse, and the horse stared back, meeting the stare.

"Do I want to know?" Willow asked.

"No, you don't."

"My lady," Jaquin nodded his head, which was probably a bowing attempt. He let Josha off, and Willow handed him Enzo's rein. The Rider and his horse continued to communicate telepathically. Probably battle assessment. [Hunt Party 3/3] [Hunter—Level 1] [Rider—Level 8] [Frost Witch—Level 5] Hm, Willow thought Josha would be higher-level considering how many kobolds he had killed. It looked like that experience requirement for every level was bigger than Willow had thought.

"You have used a lot of spells. I'll find some Rune Flowers for you." Jaquin said.

"Oh, thanks, that's kind of you." Jaquin this time bowed and left toward their supply horse. After he was gone, Shera openly glared at his back.

"I never saw Jaquin that nice before. Remember how he treated us, Josha?" Josha winced as he reached into his saddlebag. But no word came out of him. Someone doesn't want to insult his brother.

"Look, when you're out of his ear reach, he insulted us with peculiar words," Shera said, crossing her arms. Well, to be fair…

"He has good reason to, Shera," Josha said in a low voice, and that earned a sharp look from Shera. Before the mood turned further sour, Willow spoke up, "So… you said only tier-one monsters should be in a green rift. Above level twenty means that flying kobold is a tier two, right? I'd thought that at the very best the Kobold Half-dragon would be level eighteen or nineteen." Josha picked one runic flower and offered it to Willow, who refused.

"Your rune is useful. You should eat it. I can recover it by killing."

"Well, if you said so," he ate the flower and munched it.

"Yes, that Kobold is abnormal. Under normal circumstances, it probably held the Dungeon Core."

"And the Dungeon Core is?"

"Source of energy that powered this Dungeon, or more accurately, this world. You see, a rift is like a pocket reality of the world of mana, but they needed a Core to power it. Every Rift usually has a boss-monster or some sort, and the most powerful one usually held a Dungeon Core inside its heart—which would boost its power. In exchange, however, they could never leave its rift." That's similar to the Ritual the Witches do, by using body parts of rift-born who held a class stone inside their heart.

"It's likely the case," Shera said.

"The heat spell it uses? I think it originated from a Dungeon Core. It's too powerful for a green portal boss." Shera chewed her lip.

"What is it?" Willow prompted.

"If. If this is not caused by the Cycles and the Kobold truly held the Dungeon Core… That means it held an Ascendant Class Stone inside it."

"Oh, that's good, right?" Willow asked.

"You don't get it, Willow. An Ascendant stone-well, to put it simply… overpowered. Level one of Ascendant class can take a level ten, they said. Their worth is comparable to your class, which is already abnormal."

"Okay? So good, right?"

"It is, if people are not greedy for it," Josha said. Soon, Habel led the cavalry, and he shook his head at Willow. The Kobold half-dragon escaped, and they had to hunt it down.

"We move now. The Kobold is injured, and I suspect, like no doubt many of you do, that it held the Dungeon Core inside its heart. Now, let me give everyone here a warning. No one breaks formation for the Class Stone. Regardless of who kills it, the Class Stone will be under the purview of Bright Lady Willow." Every eye went to Willow, most with jealousy. Shera and Josha blinked at her, with the latter giving her a sly grin. Why me?