Chapter 66

The True Lord

“It was hard to tell in the darkness, but it looks like there is an entrance over in the corner over there…”

It was the far corner of the dome. There was a hole under the shadow where the rock walls protruded. It was about the same size as the hole that we had come through. Judging by the direction that the presence seemed to be coming, it would probably appear from that hole.

“Hmm…It is very fast. We will not have any time to lay traps.”

We both unsheathed our swords and took the position. It was now in view.

“Here it comes!”

“Aye!”

I launched a fireball as a flare. And then a black shadow leaped out from the shadows of the hole.

“I thought things had gotten clamorous in here. Ah, so it is humans.”

A large kobold who was covered in thick black hair and armor had appeared. Its arms were folded as it spoke.

“What business do you have in my domain?”

“Your domain?”

I parroted it in response. Was this abandoned mine his domain?

“This is my Kobold Kingdom. And I am the king. An assault kobold.”

“So you’re an assault kobold after all…what do you think, Daniela?”

“He has no opening. And our attacks won’t reach him from here.”

We whispered to each other while we stared hard at the assault kobold. This guy was clearly confident in his speed, we would be killed in an instant if we let our guards down.

“So? And what are you two?”

“We are Adventurers.”

“And what business do you Adventurers have here?”

“We’ve determined that there is a risk of a stampede. And we intend to prevent it in advance.”

I answer simply. The assault kobold glares at us at it slowly unfolds its arms and mutters. There was anger in its voice.

“Ahh, humans… And I was just thinking about striking the surface soon. And here you are, to try and stop me!!”

GGGWARGH!!! The assault kobold howled and immediately began to dash forward.

“He’s coming, Asagi!”

“Yeah, I’ll make him regret this!!”

Daniela and I moved towards opposite directions in order to attack from both sides. It seemed like the assault kobold was going to fight with its bare hands. One of its arms shot down towards me, which I dodged by jumping into the air. Now that I was behind him, I moved to slash down on his back with the ancient elven sword, but then a sudden pain shot through the side of my stomach.

“Gggaah! What!?”

My face contorted with pain as I moved away and looked down at my waist. There were four slashes there, and I could see that it had gone through my skin. Damn it…! My clothes were normal and so they offered no protection! And where had it been hiding its weapons!?

“Asagi!”

Daniela shouted as she charged with her sword.

“Oh, this scratch is nothing!”

“GGRAAGH!!”

“Kk…!”

The assault kobold’s arm went up again before swinging down with tremendous force. Daniela somehow managed to block the attack with her sword, and she snarled. My eyes widened when I saw the arm that was now still.

“The claws!!”

The assault kobold must have heard me, as it turned around and smiled. Yes, the ends of his fingers had thin and long nails. His nails had not been so long when his arms were folded. He must be able to elongate them at will. That is how he caught me in the stomach…!

“These claws are not my only weapon!”

The kobold said as he unleashed a kick into Daniela. She blocked it with her gauntlets, but could not stop being thrown against the wall behind her. Now it turned around to face me. I had already generated a second sword of ice now, and I slashed at him. The kobold didn’t block, instead, he dodged my attacks and came back with his claws, which I blocked with the swords.

After several blows had been repeated, the kobold let out a groan.

“Grr… You fight well for a human…!”

“Don’t underestimate me!”

“Oh, I am not! I will fight you with everything that I have!”

And in the next instant, the kobold seemed to vanish.

“Egh…ggphhhaagh!!”

A monstrous blow caught me in the back and I was blown off of my feet. I rolled clumsily on the ground, trying to regain my footing, but then another blow came, throwing me violently back in the direction that we had come.

“GGahh…!”

I felt a rising urge to vomit that I had to try hard to repress. But there was no strength in my legs now. Even if my armor was good, it couldn’t stop the damage on me internally. I shook my head to try and regain clarity after having been rattled. Just as my eyes were starting to focus again, I saw that the assault kobold was swinging its arm down at me. Its elongated claws were clearly visible. Damn, I would not be able to protect myself in time!!

“DIE!!”

“Damnable…!”

Even if it was pointless, my arms went up to cover my face.

“GGAAAGHH!!”

I saw the assault kobold howl behind my arms. His attack never came. I cautiously dropped my arms and saw a very familiar butt right in front of my eyes.

“How are you holding up, Asagi!”

“Daniela!”

Daniela stood between me and the assault kobold, her sword held in front of her. The assault kobold was now holding the arm that it had swung and glared at Daniela with immense hatred.

“Scoundrellll! …You, you have taken my arm…!!”

I looked at his arm and saw that there was now nothing passed the elbow. What I suspected was his arm now lay between them on the ground.

“I only placed my sword in its path. Was it not you who came to cut through someone?”

“GGGRRRR…I will never forgive you!!!”

The assault kobold seemed to vanish yet again. This was the speed at which he could move! Now that I knew that he would attack from behind, I created a wall of ice behind my back. I even poured some extra magic into it for durability. Then, BAM! The sound and vibrations came from behind me. Damn, he was an idiot.

If he couldn’t do it from the back, then how about the sides? I pulled Daniela next to me and created walls of ice on our left and right. Just as they were finished, the kobold slammed into the right side wall. I pulled Daniela even closer into me and activated ‘Legs of the Forest Wolf.’ Even in such a time, Master Daniela’s cheeks flushed a little, but I had to ignore it for now. I would give her lots of attention later.

And so we then dodged the expected attack from the front by jumping upwards. With ‘Legs of the Forest Wolf,’ I could jump up to the ceiling even while carrying Daniela. We stayed suspended up there over the roof of the ice chamber I had created, just in time to see the black shadow jump inside.

“Let’s go! Follow my lead!”

“Aye! We have this!”

The assault kobold inside of the ice chamber now realized that we were not inside, it looks up frantically and sees us. But it was too late. Much too late. He should have run the moment that his attack failed. We point our swords at him.

“HAAAAAHHHH!!!”

We both shouted together as we flew down from the ceiling and towards the grounds.

With ‘Legs of the Forest Wolf’ at full throttle, our attack was boosted as it came down like a comet. The assault kobold had no chance of escaping us, and in an instant, its chest was pierced by our blades. The walls of ice shattered from the impact.

“HHHHHAA…GGG…”

The assault kobold fell to its knees as it spat out dark red bursts of blood. I pulled my sword out from its chest.

“It was a good fight…but we’ve won.”

“Damn…humans…to lose against…humans…”

“Don’t underestimate us.”

We looked down as the kobold was breathing his last breaths. There was no need to prolong this. I raised my sword.

“Kkk…haaa…my…country…it will end as a…dream…ahhh…my country…”

“Sleep in peace.”

I swung down and removed the assault kobold’s head from its body.

“And now it is finished…”

“Aye, we have done it.”

“Yes…thank god.”

It was all over. We had killed the king…of this kobold kingdom in the mines. When realization came, it was accompanied with a heavy sense of fatigue. The side of my stomach also hurt. But there were things to do.

“His nails and hide…also fangs. We should take them. Something from him should serve a purpose for his efforts.”

“You are right…but you rest, Asagi. I will do it.”

“Mm…thanks.”

I dragged my tired body away and picked up the lantern that we had left near the entrance. After lighting it with a small flame, I returned to Daniela and sat down. There were clean cloths stored inside of the hollow bag which I used to tightly wrap around my waist where the wound had been made. Now that was finally taken care of. In front of me, Daniela worked quickly in spite of being tired as well. She had the assault kobold skinned in no time and also pulled out its claws by the roots. These materials would probably be used for weapons and armor. The kobold king would be allowed to travel and see the world like this in a way. I imagined such things, as my consciousness suddenly began to fade in a pit of darkness.