Chapter 187 - 181 : A One-on-One Experience

It wasn't that the kobold chief wasn't strong but for a world class boss, Sato felt that it was quite weak. Though he was indeed on the lower hand of this fight, Sato could still hold on against the kobold chief. If Fudo were to be added to the equation, then beating it wouldn't be so difficult.

True, Sato and Fudo were both level 9 and quite strong but according to the information on the 10th level, going past level 9 was similar to a Carp leaping through the Dragon gate; both species, whether players, NPCs or monsters, would all become way much stronger than a level 9 player. However, the kobold chief didn't seem to be doing a good job proving this point.

Sato didn't know why but he had this nagging feeling that things weren't so simple.

Instinct and premonition were two abilities that were theorised to exist within creatures who have lived in the wild, dangling upon the thin line in between life and death. Even till now, the scientists and researchers of the world were yet to understand this phenomenal ability [1]. Humans had steadily advanced from the era of cold weapons, living a more peaceful life that led to them losing this ability. Going with the earlier train of thought, unless a human being were to dance regularly in the flames of war while bathing in the blood of their enemies[2], they wouldn't be able to regain this ability of premonitions and foreboding. Of course, there are a few who still possess this ability but they were few and far in between.

With the release of VR games, what people couldn't do in reality could be achieved here. Here, not only were their darkest desire not repressed, but they were freed like a pigeon from its cage, being left to wander and do as they pleased. This was even more so in the case of murder, which was like an everyday thing in VR games. As people feared getting killed in games and losing most of their progress, they began to train and push themselves to their limits; almost reliving the lives that their ancestors lived. As such, a couple of high ranking players were able to develop this 6th sense that prevented them from dying so easily.

A few years ago, Sato had a stunning record as a pro player. Added with the fact that he had been into gaming for more than 4 years; facing off against different players who used different tactics, he had refined his battle sense and abilities to a very high level. Having a 6th sense could be said to be very much expected from him.

'I have to figure out what this nagging sensation is...'

Even as Sato was thinking this, he didn't lose his focus on the monster in front of him.

When the kobold chief's strike was blocked by Sato, it was infuriated. Even though Sato was on the lower end of the round, the kobold chief didn't see any difference to it. If anything, it felt like that was an insult to it. Being a kobold with a purer bloodline, it had yet to encounter its match. Despite attacking this puny creature in front of it with a technique created by the legendary kobold warriors, it had only forced him back by two steps. If this wasn't insulting enough, then the fact that its bodyguard had managed to fling the other one across the place like a broken kite was more than enough to do the job. Sure, the kobold chief felt that when compared to the other puny creature, the one he battled was a lot stronger but that still didn't change the point; this weird being was close to matching up to it.

They say that what the strongest worry about is not having a worthy opponent to battle but the kobold chief never wanted such an opponent in the first place.

"Roar!"

Tightening its grip on the bone spear to the point that its muscles began to tighten, the kobold clamped down on the spear with its left hand before swinging it out in a sweeping motion, like a demonic warrior that was about to wreak havoc to the lands.

Just the wind by the side of the spear was enough to cleanly cut a ceramic plate in half while still being able to create a mark on steel plate. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that if this were in the real world, the spear wind could easily deflect a metal bullet and the spear could easily cleave a car in half. Then just imagine what would become of a human being if they got caught by this. Even if players' bodies were better enhanced to be much stronger than they were in reality, this attack would be capable of taking at least 49% of Sato's HP.

[Bone Sweep]!'

Sato didn't hesitate to bring up his sword in a defensive manner. The reason was because with the speed and the trajectory the spear approached from, he wouldn't be able to dodge it in time. As for attacking in an attempt to defend, against this skill, Sato felt that it was way too risky. This strike was far more dangerous than the last one and if he wasn't careful, he might not die do easily but he would surely take some damage. Without a healer to back them up, taking damage in this fight would eventually lead to a harmful result.

'[Chop]'

With a simple and straightforward motion, Sato brought down his sword with both hands in retaliation against the kobold chief's spear.

*Dang*

Unlike before, the sound of the two weapons colliding could easily let one know that things didn't end up as before.

This time around, Sato wasn't just forced back by a couple of simple, easy steps. He was almost sent flying as he was tossed backwards for at least 3 metres before he managed to land on his feet. Even so, Sato still staggered backwards with heavy steps for at least 7 steps. The worst part of all these was that he had actually lost 29 HP from that clash, despite narrowly blocking it.

The kobold chief wanted to rush towards him again but Fudo made an appearance on this battlefield, using the [Greater Fireball] he had been charging for a while to force it back. If not for this move of his, Sato might have been a goner.

'What was that?!' Sato was alarmed as he began to inspect his body. The kobold chief's previous attacks had never been this aggressively before. Just this strike alone was capable of forcing him back while still giving his internal organs such a massive shock that he had received a sustainable amount of damage from the clash. If that wasn't enough, his hands were still feeling a numbing sensation in them. That spear sweep had almost forced his sword out of his hands.

'It's a good thing I managed to change weapons otherwise, that [Bandit's Sword] would have been turned to scrap.' Sato thought.

Just with one attack, he had been forced back by this much. This wasn't only because of the kobold chief's strength but also because of his weapon. Sato speculated that the bone spear was on par to a Mid-tier Mortal rank weapon at the very least. A real unranked bone spear couldn't force him back that easily without suffering a crack from his own attack. The bone spear wasn't a normal weapon.

Even as he realized this, Sato didn't use this finding to comfort himself. He had inevitably lost to the kobold chief and his situation was forced to be worse than it was previously. He just hoped that the kobold chief wouldn't be able to perform such an attack again. At the same time, he actually it would. This was because having been forced to swallow such a loss, a strange feeling began creeping up from within him. Such a feeling wasn't new to him as in his previous exploits in Conquest, he had felt this before. This was desire to battle. The craving to clash against one stronger than himself and improve on his skills. This was Sato's fighting intent.

"Good. I was thinking that you were too weak to play with but now, you have done well in proving me wrong." Sato said as he wiped the blood that flowed from his mouth.

The kobold chief was annoyed that Sato was still standing but it didn't hurry to attack. This was because it had finally noticed the appearance of that pudgy figure that hid behind. If not for him, it would have eliminated this puny creature in front.

"Fudo, let me play a bit with this guy. Go help the others and try to finish off that other guy quickly." Sato said as he noticed the kobold chief's line of sight.

"But..." Fudo was unwilling to give up. Sato had just suffered a drastic loss and if not for him, it was highly possible that he would have died. Yet, Sato still asked him to retreat.

"Don't argue. I suffered that badly because I underestimated it. This fellow must have been holding back from the beginning, way back when it was chasing Lu Zhen.

"Go. Having you here is pointless. It would just waste more time and decrease out chances of success. Help the others to finish off that guy and we can all work together against the boss. Otherwise, if we keep going at it as we have been doing, the other kobolds might arrive soon." Sato explained.

"... alright."

In the end, Fudo acquiesced to his command and left for the other side.

Maybe it was because the kobold guard could guess what they were saying but it didn't bother about Fudo any longer. It set its sight on Sato as it grinned in a mocking fashion. It was as if it was looking at an idiot who threw his only chance of success out of the window. At the same time though, the kobold chief was infuriated because Sato believed that he could handle it alone.

Sato ignored whatever emotions the kobold chief expressed with its looks as he said,

"Now, it's just you and me.. Come on. Show me what you've got!"