Chapter 37: Flash

Wouldn't this be enough to call myself a proper magician?

「Using Basic Elemental Magic: Water lv2.」

「Using Basic Elemental Magic: Fire lv3.」

「Using Basic Elemental Magic: Earth lv4.」

「Using Basic Elemental Magic: Wind lv2.」

I use all four types of magic I can cast.

Fire spews from my mouth, water splashes in the air, and the ground trembles and vibrates.

Each phenomenon wasn't particularly impressive on its own.

But using all four types of magic simultaneously created quite a spectacle.

Of course, I couldn't keep this up for long.

Done!

「Magic power has been depleted.」

My magic reservoir wasn't that large to begin with.

Spewing out four types of magic at maximum output quickly depleted my magic power.

When magic is depleted, it makes you terribly sleepy. Not to mention how tired your body feels.

Moreover, I had run back at full speed as soon as I saw the Croc tribe warriors, so I felt like I could collapse at any moment.

But I forcibly kept my body upright.

It might be okay for Whitey, but as Ullullullu, I couldn't just collapse like this.

The effort was worth it.

Silence fell over the crowd.

Even the goblins who had been chanting "Ullullullu" closed their mouths.

They all had their heads bowed.

Those who believed me to be the legendary snake were praying with their hands clasped.

Only one person had their head raised.

Nanaluk.

She was looking at me with a bright smile.

I'm glad Nanaluk came.

It would have been difficult to explain the current situation to the other goblins.

"Ullullullu, you're back."

Nanaluk, who hadn't called me that before, said so.

There was a hint of playfulness in her voice.

But right now, I'm very serious.

Snakes don't have vocal cords.

So I had no choice but to explain the current situation using magic, my tail, and a few objects.

Over the hill, quite far from here, there are more than a hundred Croc tribe warriors.

When night falls, they'll attack this place. Everyone needs to prepare!

Explaining such content without speaking was an incredibly difficult task.

First, I took out a Croc tribe necklace I had obtained as spoils before from my spatial storage.

Then I wrote the goblin numeral for 100 on the ground, pointed at the hill, and mimicked a goblin thrusting a spear with my tail while.

Coming this way, then that way, ururu ulullulu.

The cries of a hundred goblins fill the valley, and the army of Skull Crusher floods in like a tidal wave.

Huff, huff.

It's as exhausting as performing a solo pansori of "The Battle of Red Cliffs."

As I looked around, the other goblins were staring blankly.

I thought it might be too much to convey such a lofty message to these foolish ones, but...

Nanaluk exclaimed in shock.

"The Croc tribe's goblin warriors are coming!"

"What?"

"Is, is it true?"

They say one friend who understands you is enough.

I was newly grateful for Nanaluk, who got it right away.

No, it's almost strange how well she understood.

Anyway, from now on, I just had to nod.

Sighs and gasps of shock erupted here and there.

"Lord Ullullullu, is this true?"

The old woman with tattoos all over her face, the Grand Shaman, thrust her face close.

Mm-hmm, yes, yes. It's surprising but true.

I nodded once more to confirm.

It seems using Ullullullu's authority was the right move after all.

"No new title has been created."

I had wondered if a new title might appear, but it didn't.

Considering that I'm already called Ullullullu by many goblins, perhaps I need to show actions befitting that name.

"The more impressive the title, the harder it is to obtain."

That's what Pelerian said.

Well, that makes sense.

Nanaluk's expression turned cold and stern.

"Jadiram, ride an ostrich and go check right away. Take a flag with you."

As expected of a goblin who strictly separates public and private matters.

A hobgoblin named Jadiram began to ride away on an ostrich.

"All warriors, arm yourselves. Thirty hobgoblins means they must be Croc tribe elites."

Following her orders, the goblins dispersed to prepare their weapons.

"Was the Croc chieftain there too? He wears a skull necklace and is about two heads taller than me." S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

I shook my head.

Their leader was a goblin called Skull Crusher Ayutar.

"That's somewhat fortunate."

Nanaluk sighed in relief.

Is that Croc chieftain that strong? I'd like to see him once.

The goblins didn't seem to doubt my claim.

I wasn't sure if it was because they believed me to be Ullullullu, or if they were just an inherently gullible species.

The Lunga tribe began preparing for battle.

Amidst the busy preparations,

a goblin with a protruding belly appeared and shouted loudly.

"What do you all think you're doing!"

It was none other than the chieftain.

"That thing being Ullullullu, it's just a snake covered in black mud!"

Gasp, I guess genetics are genetics.

Like Nanaluk before, the chieftain didn't seem to believe I was Ullullullu.

"What are you saying, Chieftain!"

The old Grand Shaman woman shouted sternly.

The chieftain pretended not to hear.

"There's no way Croc Chieftain would suddenly send warriors. The negotiations were going well!"

"Father, Croc is a brutal man!"

"You, you dare disrespect me, the chieftain!"

I've felt this since yesterday, but Nanaluk's father makes me want to be a bad snake.

He keeps making me want to bite his ankle.

"Stop, listen to the chieftain, not the warrior chief!"

I guess even a rotten chieftain is still a chieftain.

The warriors who were arming themselves hesitated, unsure what to do.

Nanaluk ordered the warriors again.

"Arm yourselves! Prepare the ostriches."

"Are you defying me? Everyone stop!"

The confrontation between Nanaluk and the chieftain became clear.

Nanaluk bit her lip. Her clenched fists were turning white.

Yeah, hit the chieftain with that.

Or I'll take care of him for you.

"Hey!"

At that moment, a young goblin raised his hand.

Everyone turned to look in the direction he was pointing.

On top of that hill, Jadiram, who had left earlier, was riding back on an ostrich.

Though he looked like a tiny dot, it was clear he was holding a flag.

A red flag.

It was the signal that he had found enemies.

Gasps of shock erupted here and there.

And everyone turned to look at Nanaluk and the chieftain.

I thought the chieftain might have come to his senses by now, but...

"They might not have come for invasion... it could be an embassy."

Tsk tsk.

There are those who can't objectively accept a worsening situation.

Those who avoid reality until they're pushed to the edge of a cliff, just before falling.

I used to be a similar person once, so I understood the feeling, but...

"Are you going to leave him be?"

'No.'

I decided I would bite the chieftain.

As I was quietly crawling over, Nanaluk passed by my side.

She swung her fist.

Whack!

The chieftain was hit on the jaw and tumbled down.

"Kuh, re, rebellion..."

Nanaluk didn't let the chieftain say more.

She twisted the chieftain's arm behind his back.

She took out a string from her waist and tied both of the chieftain's hands.

The chieftain struggled, but Nanaluk even gagged his mouth.

Everyone was at a loss about what to do with this sudden rebellion.

"...The chieftain is not in his right mind."

But Nanaluk coldly ordered.

"Take him to his residence. Warriors, prepare for battle. We'll advance together."

The hobgoblin warriors were the first to react.

They dragged away the writhing chieftain.

Next, the Grand Shaman old woman stepped forward.

"Warrior Chief Nanaluk."

She stopped the warriors from dragging the chieftain away.

Then she took the jade necklace the chieftain was wearing and put it around Nanaluk's neck.

"You won in a duel witnessed by the Grand Shaman."

A duel, she says.

What a fiery old woman.

"From now on, you are the chieftain of Lunga."

Nanaluk grinned.

The warriors following her smiled broadly too.

The girl who used to secretly wipe away tears after being hit by her father was no longer there.

Only a warrior leading a tribe remained.

Warriors gathered according to Nanaluk's command.

Excluding the minimal guard personnel, about eighty warriors had assembled.

Among them, twenty were hobgoblins.

There were thirty Red Crow ostriches tamed to be ridden like horses.

It was certainly a smaller number compared to the Croc tribe's elites.

"We'll go out and repel them."

That was Nanaluk's decision.

They couldn't let the enemies approach the village.

There were no walls here, and battle in a village with many non-combatants was out of the question.

At her command, the Lunga warriors began to sortie.

"Ullullullu."

Nanaluk held out her hand. I climbed onto her shoulder.

Black mud got on her clothes.

"Ugh, mud."

Deal with it, new chieftain.

"You've definitely gotten heavier."

She expressed her gratitude to me.

"Thank you for coming back. For letting us know."

I needed you guys anyway.

Nanaluk was a bold person.

She wasn't thinking of simply defending against the attack.

Her plan was to crush the enemy elites and use that momentum to advance all the way to the now-empty Croc tribe.

Meanwhile, I would find the entrance to the dungeon and enter.

"Sortie!"

Nanaluk shouted.

==

The day had grown dark.

The night in a great forest is incomparable to a city night.

While the sky is filled with starlight, a veil of darkness covers the ground.

Because of the tall trees, even walking with torches wasn't visible from afar.

Moreover, to advance towards the Lunga tribe, they had to cross the hill in front of them.

In other words, the Croc tribe warriors were currently in a low-lying area.

Their raid was progressing quietly.

"Boss, the boys are getting pretty excited."

A one-eyed goblin warrior approached Ayutar's side.

"Let us plunder."

Ayutar turned to look at his subordinate.

A cruel smile hung on his lips.

"Sure."

There was no reason to forbid it.

This much force is enough to crush the Lunga tribe.

"Plunder and destroy to your heart's content."

"Thank you, hahaha!"

Muffled laughter spread.

Unlike the Lunga tribe that operated an ostrich unit, Croc used wolves as mounts.

Wolves were harder to tame due to their ferocity, but they were stronger than ostriches.

The wolf riders quietly walked while soothing their wolves.

In the midst of this,

A clearing with fewer trees appeared.

They needed to pass through there and cross the hill to see the Lunga tribe's village.

That's when it happened.

Ayutar suddenly stopped the warriors.

"What's the matter?"

Ayutar didn't reply and quietly stared at the hill.

"...Send the wolf riders as scouts."

They hadn't sent any scouts until now, so why suddenly?

But questioning Ayutar's instructions was forbidden.

His subordinate sent two wolf riders.

The wolf riders advanced beyond the hill for reconnaissance.

And, after a while, they came back down.

They had departed without torches.

Their descending figures were hard to see.

"Why are they staggering like that?"

Something seemed off.

They should be skilled riders, but their posture on the wolves looked unstable.

They were also dropping something with a pitter-patter sound.

They approached until they reached the light of the torches.

Soon, it became clear what had happened.

"My, my throat...!"

One rider had returned with his throat cut.

He finally fell with a thud.

The wolf, excited by the smell of blood, began to maul the dead rider.

The other one still had his throat attached.

Ayutar approached that rider in anger.

"What the hell, you idiot!"

He was about to berate him for returning with a cut throat.

"Keck, keeck."

But the rider couldn't answer properly.

His face had turned purple, and he was only making dying gasps.

"Ambush, keck, keeck!"

Fearlessly, he clung to Ayutar as if collapsing.

He must have been poisoned.

Ayutar, who noticed this from experience, pushed his subordinate away.

The subordinate fell to the ground with a thud and never moved again.

Both wolf riders were hobgoblins.

Elite warriors had died in an instant.

Ayutar growled lowly.

"Put out all the torches."

As all the torches were extinguished, the warriors were enveloped in darkness.

Whistle!

As Ayutar whistled, the Croc warriors slowly began to advance.

They entered the clearing.

On both sides, the forest opened its pitch-black maw.

They moved forward, paying attention to both sides.

Such orders were passed from the front to the back.

Ayutar, walking at the lead, suddenly stopped.

On top of the hill, several hobgoblins riding ostriches appeared.

"...It seems you've managed to notice our approach."

"Lunga Chieftain, Nanaluk."

A young hobgoblin woman stepped forward and introduced herself.

"I am Skull Crusher Ayutar. Nanaluk? Aren't you the warrior woman?"

"I'm the chieftain now."

"I guess that idiot who was the original chieftain finally kicked the bucket."

Nanaluk didn't provide a detailed explanation.

"So, even though you knew we were coming, there are only this few of you?"

Are they trying to face a hundred warriors with just a few hobgoblins?

The Croc goblins laughed at this ridiculous audacity.

"As if that would be the case."

And then, carts began to appear from beyond the hill.

Five carts were packed full of rocks, with sharp spears tied to them.

"It must have been hard coming up."

"You- crazy-!"

Ayutar immediately noticed Nanaluk's plan.

The goblins who had pushed the carts up let go of their hands.

The speed wasn't that fast.

No, it just didn't look fast.

The carts, loaded with heavy weight, gradually accelerated as they came down the slope.

Rumble rumble rumble-

More than the spears stuck in them, the sheer weight itself was the problem.

If hit, one would be crushed instantly.

Ayutar gritted his teeth.

If they could just avoid those, there wouldn't be a problem.

"Spread out to both sides-!"

His voice echoed loudly across the dark hill.

His subordinates immediately followed the order.

Or rather, they tried to.

The forests on both sides.

Who could have known that arrows would fly out of that darkness?

Ping ping ping-

Goblins who had secretly flanked them following Nanaluk's orders.

In the darkness without torches, their arrows easily pierced through the Croc warriors.

"Forward, avoid the carts and go forward!"

Ayutar changed his strategy.

They would break through, centering on the agile hobgoblins.

And the Lunga warriors also came running down, following behind the carts.

==

It's war!

I, Snake Zhuge Kongming, and the virtuous general Nanaluk Xuan De have joined forces!

While Nanaluk came up with the idea for the arrow units on both sides, the cart strategy was my plan.

With a crushing sound, the Croc goblins were turned into bloody pancakes.

It was an excellent strategy that made good use of the terrain.

It was nerve-wracking when the two wolf riders appeared as scouts, but we handled it well.

So where am I now?

By Nanaluk's side.

More precisely, on the wing of the ostrich she's riding.

Now, Snake Zhuge Kongming is dead.

A pair of Venomous Fangs hidden in the darkness.

There's only one snake among the goblins, an incarnated dragon.

Nanaluk swings her axe at Skull Crusher.

Clang!

The club and axe collide, sending sparks flying.

Ayutar's pupils dilate.

In that momentary flash, he saw me springing out.

The Heart-eating Snake has returned.