Chapter 200 - 194 : Beaten Black And Blue

After the kobold chief's aura had reached a breakpoint and it had combusted its bloodline, the kobold chief actually became shorter than it was. From its previous 3 metres height that dwarfed everyone, it became a slightly above 2 metres tall creature that barely towered over Katsuo. Though the overbearing feeling that came from its gigantic height was now gone, the aura it exuded was even more dangerous than before.

*Creak* *Creak*

*Crack* *Crack*

With a slight shake of its body, the kobold bones began cracking and creaking, as if undergoing an upgrade to make it much stronger and durable.

"Long-range players, stop staring and take it down before it finishes transforming." Sato yelled.

While in most shows and stuff, it was common to wait for the opponent to finish transforming, maybe because the attacker was unsure of what would happen if they attacked or probably wanted to give themselves a handicap, Sato reacted differently. It was pretty obvious that as the kobold chief was still adjusting to its new upgrade it would be in a weakened state, Sato wanted them to take the chance and attack. In a battle, only the results matter; as for the process, no one cares. As for the reason why the close combat players didn't move in, Sato's instincts warned him that they might die if they did so.

"[Fire Ray]."

"[Drill Shot]."

"[Fireball]."

The first two attacks had a much longer range and greater speed than regular basic attacks. They acted as the main force for this strike, heading directly towards the kobold chief as fast as possible. The third attack however, was slower than the two. It didn't aim at the kobold chief but moved from a blindspot towards the most probable position the Kobold would move to if it hoped to dodge the first two. Its slow movement and specified trajectory made it so that the kobold wouldn't notice it as quickly as it would the other two and would end up moving towards the targeted spot. Of the three attacks, the first two were done by Xue Yan and Seiichi respectively while the third attack was Fudo's.

While it was true that it was quite risky for the close combatants to move in, they didn't stand idle either. Some of them used this opportunity to recover their shape when the others surrounded the kobold chief, locking it down in place while still maintaining a close formation with one another. Sato positioned himself just in front of the long-range attackers while Katsuo stayed 5 metres away. Yato took a bottle of health potion from the corner as he locked down the area. As for Lu Zhen, he re-entered stealth mode and waited by the side for an opportunity to strike.

"!!!" Just as the fiery ray and darting arrow had entered the metre range from the kobold chief, the monster in question opened its eyes as it moved the hand that held the spear at an insane speed.

*Bang*

The air erupted as the spear collided with both the ray and the arrow, smashing them both to smithereens. The kobold chief didn't even take one step back from that collision and moved forward towards the attackers. Since the fireball wasn't aimed ta the kobold chief to start with, it was no threat to the target so it simply ignored it.

'Fast.' Sato exclaimed within as he hurriedly moved his body towards the kobold chief's path, hoping to intercept it before it reached the others.

Because he was closer to the long-range players, just in front of them, the kobold chief would have to go through him before it met them. Normally, this would be the position of an MT but because Katsuo was too weak to face the kobold chief, they had to make do with Sato.

Just as he got within attacking range of the kobold, Sato brandished his sword at the monster with full power. He didn't intend on holding back or testing the waters to see how strong it had gotten. From the get-go, Sato intended to use his entire strength to face it.

If Sato felt the same way for the kobold chief, the monster could be said to feel the same way about him. Though it had received a new boost in strength amthat enabled it to easily surpass all the players present, it still didn't hold back on its strength, intending to finish them all with its full power. Like killing an ant with a huge rock, the kobold chief didn't care if it was overkill or not. As long as they died, it didn't bother about this.

With a swing of its spear, the Kobold chief intended to bash him away like a baseball player would to a baseball. Even the air slightly vibrated at the motion of the spear as the air current was manipulated by the force of the spear.

"Hmph."

Sato put forth his best into his slash as his sword collided with the spear's shaft.

*Bang*

Rather than the usual clanging of metals, a miniature explosion of air was set off as Sato felt an overwhelming force swim through his sword and into his hands. Even as he tried to suppress the force, it was way too much for him to handle as he never expected. Forget about expecting it as even if he did, Sato doubted he could handle it.

Without an outlet for it, the force rampaged through his body and shook his internal organs as Sato was sent back 3 metres in a flying rampant manner. Upon landing on the floor, Sato couldn't resist it anymore as a sudden spurt of blood moved through his throat and spewed out from his mouth in a horrific manner.

"Sato!"

Before the others could even know much about his status, the kobold chief suddenly stabbed its spear at an empty spot in space. No one understood the meaning of its actions until a silhouette was sent flying farther than Sato did. Somehow, the kobold chief had managed to sense Lu Zhen, despite him using [Fade], and struck at him.

"Damn it." Fudo cursed.

The increase in abilities to the kobold chief by burning its bloodline wasn't only limited to a percentage increase in attributes but also a boost in all other hidden areas for example, its perception. Because of this, the kobold chief could easily sense Lu Zhen even if he used [Fade] to hide himself. This was even more so since Lu Zhen was much weaker than the monster so his skills would suffer a weakened effect in it.

The kobold chief didn't stop at Lu Zhen as it ignored him and headed for the mages. In its opinion, these guys were the most dangerous as they had continuously interrupted its attack at crucial moments and had caused it severe injuries.

Yato was about to make a move in the monster but as he did so, the Kobold chief reacted equally.

"Roar!"

[Kobold Supreme Roar]

At the sound of the roar, Fudo, Xue Yan, Seiichi and everyone else that was still left standing, felt an unprecedented and formidable pressure descend upon them. It felt as if the weight of a boulder was dropped on their shoulders as they felt their abilities begin to decrease slowly.

[[System Interface :

You have been affected by [Kobold Supreme Roar]. Since you do not possess a draconic it kobold class bloodline weaker than the user, effects is limited.

Judging prerequisites...

Judge completed.

Possessing both weaker strength but slightly higher life order than target, effect is limited to 5% decrease in Main attributes. ]]

Previously, the kobold chief was reluctant to use the skill [Kobold Supreme Roar] because it came at the cost of an injury to its bloodline. For a skill that allowed it to reign among its kind, this was understandable. Having now burnt a majority of its bloodline, the kobold chief didn't care about the after-effects of the skill any longer; only hoping to eliminate these 'creatures'.

With the [Enraged] state activated, most of the skills of the kobold chief would experience a small rise in power. Now added with the effects of [Fury], the increase was marginal. Normally, [Kobold Supreme Roar] had a 3%-5% attribute reduction effect on non-kobold class monsters or beings but with the dual enhancement, it now had a 5%-10% attribute reduction effect. This was a 100% increase in effects!

Even though it had combusted its bloodline and increased its strength, the kobold chief was still a kobold so its life order was still lower than that of the players' [Chosen Ones] bloodline. However, since its strength was superior to theirs, the effect still took place. For Fudo, it was a 5% decrease in attributes. As for the rest, they all had a 7% decrease in attributes without exception. This skill had undoubtedly increased the difficulty of the raid for the team by more than 200%!

"Shit." Fudo was losing it.

At this time, Sato had just slightly recovered from the previous blow and stood up. Even though he had been knocked down, the effects of [Kobold Supreme Roar] still affected him. Unless one was dead, even if knocked unconscious, it would still affect them. This was because despite being unconscious, the target's brain would still be active. The skill moves in the form of a sound wave towards the target's brain and body, and exhibits a pressure on the target's bloodline and abilities. So being unconscious doesn't prevent one from being affected. Unless one can seal all the pores and openings of their body, prevent sound from passing or moving through it, they would undoubtedly be affected.

While it looked like the raid was almost lost at this point, Sato didn't give up so soon. He already knew that it would be difficult from the start and he had even expected a few casualties and losses. When he had seen the two skills, [Kobold Supreme Roar] and [Fury], they had helped affrim this belief of his.

Rather than to react with fear and throw in the towel, Sato took on a serious expression as he tightened his grasp on his sword and wiped the left over blood on his lips.

"Fudo, get ready."