Chapter 169 - 164 : The Ritual

The kobold chief stood reverently in front of the statue together with its guards. Beside the statue was a small altar that had been setup by a few other kobolds with some instruments dropped in it.

The statue that stood right at the centre of the settlement, was that of a kobold, quite different from the rest. Even though it was just a statue, it looked overbearing with it's 7 metres height. The kobold statue had horns longer than an average kobold. Apart from having a few discrepancies in looks, the most noticeable feature was the wings that hung behind it. There were also a few streaks of brownish red that looked like a strange paint randomly splashed on the statue. All these features added together made the statue have a strange beauty to it. It was undeniable that the kobold that was carved in to this statue was one with a bloodline far more purer than the current Kobold chief. With a far purer bloodline than even the current kobold chief, it was understandable why it was venerated so much that a statue was created in honour of it.

"That's impressive..." Fudo stared at the statue in amazement.

"Roar!!!" The kobold chief roared.

*Slam*

Immediately, more than 500 kobolds suddenly dropped to their knees with a reverent expression on their faces. Only the three leading kobolds -the kobold chief and the two pure bloods- were left standing.

"Kraw!!!!"

The kobold chief let out a strange high pitched roar as if addressing the crowd.

"Roar!"

The kobolds roared in response to the kobold chief's scream.

Following that the entire kobold horde suddenly dropped their heads low, as if paying respects to their ancestors. The two pure bloods beside the kobold chief then kneeled on the floor with the kobold chief being the only one left standing.

The kobolds repeated a series of roars and kowtows with a serious expression while the kobold chief performed a ritual on the small altar that was set up beside the statue. A little monster that looked like a rabbit but was a bit different from it, was grabbed by the kobold chief. The 'rabbit' had streaks of blue, red, white and grey on it skin with a tiny horn centered right between it's brows. If a [Druid] were to focus carefully on it, they would notice that the mana in the environment passively circulated round this little guy.

Using it's sharp claws, the kobold chief tore the 'rabbit' into two as the blood spilled on a stone bowl underneath. The kobold chief squeezed the corpse dry, filling the stone bowl, before devouring the flesh in a boorish and hurried manner.

With the blood in the bowl, the kobold chief walked towards the statue and splashed the blood on it. From the looks of things, it could now be presumed that the brownish-red stains on the statue was actually blood stains from other 'rabbits' or creatures that had dried up with the passage of time.

*Gulp* *Gulp*

The kobold chief left a bit of blood in the bone bowl which it gulped down swiftly.

"Roar!!!" Once the bowl was cleaned empty, the kobold chief lifted it and roared out loud.

In response to the roar, none of the kobolds roared back but their reverent expressions strengthened as if they had all taken a dosage of Viagra or a very potent aphrodisiac. Some of them even began huffing and puffing violently like a bunch of 'hungry' males.

"What are they doing?" Xue Yan suddenly asked. The sight looked confusing not just to her but to everyone else.

"I think, they are praying or probably paying respects to the statue." Sato said, a bit unsure of his words.

"When do we attack?" Yato suddenly asked.

"Why the rush, man?" Fudo asked him.

"I don't know why but I'm getting a bit nervous. My instincts are warning. Something bad might soon happen." Lu Zhen replied.

"Same here." Sato said with a serious expression.

"... something like what?" Fudo asked.

"I don't know." Lu Zhen sighed.

Sato stared at the kobold square, watching the kobolds go on with their 'honouring ceremony', his thoughts unknown.

"Let's wait a bit more." Sato said. "It's too soon to make a move and even if we want to, we can't just rush in there; we would inevitably die without achieving much."

"Yeah, you're right." Fudo supported him.

"Alright." Lu Zhen agreed.

"Whether it's a prayer session or they are paying respects to their ancestors, there's nothing much we can do except to wait. They will eventually have to leave. The only problem though, is the other players." Sato narrowed his eyes.

. . . . .

The kobold ceremony had went on for at least 30 minutes. During this time, Sato and his team had made different plans for battling the kobold chief in different scenarios. For the scenario that the kobolds' ceremony would last beyond an hour, they decided that they would either try to assassinate the kobold chief or wait for the other players to arrive here. If they other guild players were to come here, they could then use them as cannon-fodders and look for an opportunity to play the boss. Though this plan didn't look so righteous or anything good, none of the players in Sato's team was bothered about this. In VR games, the laws of reality don't work here. You either eat or get eaten, kill or get killed and no third option. So rather than diving into the horde and getting killed trying to eliminate the boss while also reducing the kobold horde for the nearing players, they would instead turn those players to their knife while they wait for a chance.

Luckily for them, there was no need for that as the ceremony looked to have entered it's closing stages.

The kobold chief grabbed its bone spear with both arms and stabbed it right in front of the statue. It then picked up a bone dagger from the altar and cut a slit on it's right hand. As the wound bled, it sprinkled its blood on the spear and the statue before kneeling down with a reverent expression. The statue suddenly glowed a dull red colour. If it was outside, one might not notice this glow, but here in Black Grill's Cave, the statue stood out like a sore thumb.

A 30 seconds moment of silence was observed before the kobold chief finally stood up with a serious expression. At the same time, the glow of the statue slowly faded till the statue returned to it's quiet form. It grabbed its spear with one hand before uprooting it from the ground.

"Roar!"

Lifting the spear up, it roared once more, this time though, it faced the kobold horde.

"It looks like it's over." Fudo said. He was right.

After the kobolds seemed to roar and growl in jubilation, they began to depart and head to their various spots or houses. In the end, it was only the kobold chief and it's two guards that were left.

"Do we move in now?" Yato asked.

"Are you stupid or what?" Fudo glanced at him with a face that seemed to say 'what the hell?!'

"Not yet." Sato answered Yato.

They watched as the kobold chief finally departed from the square with it's guards. From the looks of things, it was heading to a building close by.

"If we keep waiting, we might not get another chance." Even Lu Zhen began to urge Sato.

"If we go in now, our battle would undoubtedly attract the attention of the others." Sato reprimanded him.

"If we keep waiting, we might lose it for God knows when. As for attracting their attention, if we give it our best with everything we've got, we can probably finish the boss within a minute" Lu Zhen replied without giving up. His statement was not without proof.

Back when he and Sato returned to town, they had got quite a few scrolls and explosives. They converted a majority of their funds to consumables and weapons that would help strengthen them. Though it would be far-fetched to say that they could take down a town with them, taking down a level 10 boss is still quite doable.

Even Xue Yan had the expression of 'what are we waiting for ? Lets go in'. Lu Zhen's statement had even affected Katsuo and Seiichi's stand as they also glanced at Sato, waiting for him to make a decision.

Sato still had his eyes in the kobold chief, his expression serious as he began pondering in their options.

Finally, Sato spoke but what he said shocked the group.

"You can go in if you want to. In fact,anyone of you can, but don't drag me in with you. If you get into some deep sh*t, don't expect me to help you."

"You..." Lu Zhen was stunned. This was sthe first time he had heard such words from Sato.

"Sato..." Xue Yan too couldn't believe what Sato had said.

"...fine." Lu Zhen sighed indignantly.

"Sato, what did you find?" Fudo asked Sato. If there was anyone who knew Sato best, it would be him.

Hearing Fudo's question, everyone turned to glance at Sato.

"If I am correct, then something is wrong here." Sato said.

"Something is wrong?" Xue Yan asked.

Sato replied "I can't put my finger on it yet or rather, I don't have any proof yet.. But if we go in now, we will surely die."