Rue danced back, dodging a spear thrust. He has beaten out his bad habit of dropping his sword down as he moved back. He kept it up, eyes searching for any opening. And there it is.

  The Monster had overcommitted with its lunge.

  He brought his Long Bone in a stab straight to the Kobold's chest. The creature gaped, falling lifeless to a veil of bushes. Blood dripped onto the dark green grass.

  (You Have Slain Kobold. Lvl 8)

  Nearby, Gilbert and Alquin had also downed a Kobold in front of them. They still held the bulk of them, struggling to attack.

  Rue shot a brief glance toward where the Mage Kobold had been. And a zap of lightning fired high to the sky. He jolted from the mere sound along, like a cracking whip on the sky.

  But what concerned him was that there should be another one, right? What happened to it? Should they go on offense now against the Golden Kobold?

  Speaking of the Golden Kobold. It turned toward where its mage at, just staring deep into the forest. It was angry, its body shook with painfully obvious anger.

  He had not expected them to kill his mages from the air.

  Maybe it had planned to bombard them with lightning and force them back.

  (Kobold King Salar. Lvl 45)

  Rue drew a cold breath, breathing out chilly fog. He parried a spear thrust and spun, cleaving a Kobold on its throat.

  Blood jutted out; it was still alive, trying to hold the blood back into its neck somehow.

  Rue smacked the Kobold down with his pommel. It screeched, flailing against a trunk.

  (You Have Slain Kobold. Lvl 9)

  “It's not coming yet?” Rino asked as he pushed a Kobold down in a tussle. “We have almost finished the normal one.”

  “It is,” Rue said. He watched as the Golden Kobold approached Alquin and Gilbert. It's probably done waiting for its Mages.

  Both of them were still burdened by five Kobolds; meanwhile, Rue and others had finished the other five easily.

  This Kobold King was a horrible tactician. Or maybe it's just underestimated them too much.

  Rue charged toward Gilbert, closing the distance that was created when the spear wall was forced to split into two groups. He slashed the back of a Kobold, killing it with another swing of his sword.

  Finally freed of the weight upon his shield. Gilbert pushed the two goblins he was facing. Yom and Jeremiah were on the creature's back, each killing them with an easy thrust to their head.

  “To Alquin!” Gilbert shouted. But the Old man was already done, two Kobolds lay around his feet.

  “Well, one left,” Rino said. “The level forty-five”

  “It sucks at commanding this much, to the point our earlier plan did not matter,” The blue-haired man grumbled, looking almost ridiculously offended.

  “How do you want to do this, Al?” Rue asked.

  Alquin, who had just wrenched Betty off a dead Kobold, wiped his red-streaked beard, trying to clean it, but he just worsened it. “We surround it, of course. Gilbert and I are the front, you lot weave in when you see a chance, and of course, Backliner!” He called back toward where the Archer and mages are. “Move forward! We're finishing this!”

  Emily's head peeked out from a thicket. She was standing and groaning as she brushed off some leaves from her hair. Behind her, Eve, Clerence, and the two other backliners appear, a man archer and a woman earth mage.

  Rue had noticed a Kobold was smashed right in its head by a chunk of earth, splaying even its skeleton somehow. Terrifying stuff.

  “All right now for-“

  The Kobold King ran, doubling its pace. Before, it merely walked, content to let them gather; now it is straight-up charging at them.

  “Convenience,” Gilbert smiled, hefting his shield up.

  From the King's golden body, lightning crackled, a blue zip of electricity buzzed, coloring its skin to molten red. Its sword had taken a deep red color. Rue could make out the electricity ripple along that Long Bone.

  It took a deep crunching step with one leg, and in a blur, it jumped – with sword, blaring with magic. The shadow of the kobold dappled over Jeremiah, who positioned himself at the very front, as he also had a shield.

  “Shield up! Warriors!” Alquin screamed. Gilbert, Yom, and Jeremiah raised their shields in a resounding clank as they connected, each of their respective weapon ready to swing.

  Two arrows flew out from behind Rue. One was a Mana Arrow, streaking straight toward the still-airborne Kobold. The arrow connected, and it suddenly disappeared, devoured by a burst of lightning emerging from the Kobold's body. The other arrow thunked harmlessly against its shield, which looked like an eye of judgment growing larger and larger.

  “Spell!” Clerence screamed.

  An ambient glow of Mana shone out of her, Eve, and the other Mage.

  A Fireball streaked across, connecting straight to the shield – and the fire got banished almost in an instant. Next is a Mana Bolt, a spell Eve just learnt, this one dissipated, not even touching the shield.

  Then a Chunk of solid earth flew straight at the King. Somehow, it was able to knock the shield slightly back, but ultimately fell harmlessly.

  Rue manifested a Cube in his hand, and he threw it up, passing over the Kobold. Unfortunately, the Kobold arrived – swinging its sword down as it landed, cleaving Jeremiah – along with his shield – into two parts. Blood jumped as Rue just watched a human body split into two right in front of him.

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  It struck him how fragile they are.

  Suddenly, he wished for the safety of his room, in a world where he did not need to fight.

  “Move!” A voice shouted. Snapping Rue out of his mind.

  Salar towered over him, with a shield that looked like it was wrought from hell itself. Most of all, the Golden Kobold was swinging his Golden Long Bone down toward him.

  In a pure reflex, he had gotten from this world. Rue caught the sword blow with his own Long Bone. The moment bones connect, his muscles twist like a weak newborn worm. He cried out, went down to one knee, and still managed to hold the strength of the King.

  Rue growled, staring straight at the king's iridescent yellow eye. The kobold's eyes widen slightly, as if surprised. Then, it lifted his sword, about to bring it down again. This time, there’s no way Rue could hold – his muscle is shot, he could feel his right arm particularly twist in a way it shouldn’t.

  As Salar’s hand reached up to his ear. A shrapnel of ice needles jabbed toward it, stabbing right into its arm scale. One crystal of ice burst straight, heavying the King’s arm, he hefted his shield to the ice, breaking it completely in one move. But, by then, Rue had already moved. With his left hand, he drew his Common steel sword, deciding the Long Bone was too heavy for one arm.

  He drove the sword in a downward grip into the Kobold's left foot. Golden scale resisted him, but his sword bit into its skin; it's not deep, but not shallow either. Rue let out a grin before Salar crashed its red shield straight to Rue's side, sending him flying, passing over Rino, who was screaming his name.

  His body is in euphoria of pain. Blood color his vision as his back was stabbed deep with a particularly strong, pointed branch that jutted from some kind of small plant. He let out a heave of breath, and his vision got blurry.

  The clash of weapons rang in front of him. He barely registers someone screaming for him.

  Then life seeped inside of him, and his vision slowly returned.

  “You alive there?” A feminine voice called out. Eve knelt with her hair draped over the Elderwood staff.

  He watched his health climb up, and wound knitted in a strange, bubbly sensation.

  “Can you see me?” She lifted his face, staring down at him.

  “Yes,” Rue coughed. He looked past her, and his body screamed for him to join the battle. “How is the battle?”

  “I don’t know,” Eve said, eyes focused on him and his wound.

  Rue grasped Eve's hand, and the green ambience mana of her stopped.

  “What are you doing?” She guffawed.

  “Don’t waste your mana on me, let me borrow that for a bit.” He opened his palm, gesturing for the staff.

  Eve got the idea and pushed the staff eagerly to him.

  “I can heal myself,” Rue said as his heartbeat stopped, and the pain was gone like a reset on a stopwatch.

  Alquin hacked Betty straight onto the King's abdomen, just before his attack connected, a brittle of electricity shot out – pushing Betty away. Betty lurched up, threatening to leave Alquin's hand, just like the real Betty did. But this time, Alquin clenched his grip and used his skill, Heavy Strike. Mana gathered by Betty Steel, and he drove it to the Kobold gut – only for it to clang uselessly off against its golden scale.

  “Damn it!” Alquin roared.

  Salar the King slashed down straight into Gilbert’s risen shield. Alquin's entire senses were about to stop as he watched the inevitable.

  The Blue-Haired man eyes steel with resolve. Gilber’s shield got bigger, like watching a sudden air balloon. Then the man pushed Mana into his shield, screaming a visceral battle-cry.

  It’s a skill!. Alquin realized.

  But it's not going to be enough.

  Alquin cast Shield Call. A thread inside his body connected to his shoulder shield. Alquin forces the Mana out, and something snaps inside of him. Something that was there, but he never felt it.

  Ah, this must be the Magic vein those damn Mages complained about.

  Salar's eyes move toward him, taking away some of the King's focus on his strike toward Gilbert.

  Alquin could tell his spell was much stronger now, as he pushed much more of his Arcana.

  Gilbert, who is still screaming, do not stand idle. He shoved his shield up, supported by his shoulder, to meet the King's golden Sword.

  The sword stopped digging deep into Gilbert’s shield, and the Blue-haired man let out a victorious smile.

  “Now!” Alquin screamed.

  He pushed his Arcana again, into Heavy Strike. Betty crashed straight into – The Kobold Shield, who managed to catch his strike with its lightning-enhanced body.

  But, not over yet.

  Two mana arrows flew through the crack of air straight into the Kobold's chest. Both clashed in a battle of mana as the Kobold's electricity-clad body blocked them from further speed. One of the arrows harmlessly snapped into two. But the other one connected straight to its chest. Unfortunately, the wound might as well have been just a scratch, and Alquin did not see any lasting impact.

  Following the Arrow, a fireball and a chunk of earth flew straight to the Kobold's head. The fire was blown away in an instant. But the earth crashed into the Kobold's chest, breaking into splinters of earth, showering Gilbert.

  The Kobold let out a cry, and it took three steps back before bursting with electricity again, healing its newly gained wound. Just as it regains its balance, Rino and Tobias are there, ready to deal damage to the King.

  Tobias was especially fueled with anger. The old scout had just watched his party member cleaved into two beside him. He jumped, high-above – vaulting over the Kobold, landing with a flourish of acrobatics. That, no doubt, is a skill. What is most impressive is that Tobias landed on the shoulder of the King, with one leg only.

  The Old Scout wrapped his legs around the Kobold's neck, and a trail of thin thread of Mana shot out from both of Tobias's daggers. He wrapped it around Salar’s neck and pulled like he was riding a boar.

  The thin thread of mana glowed, scoring thin blood against the Kobold. Before it gritted its jaw and grabbed Tobias with one arm, dropping its shield and crushing the scout, side-tearing skin from the human.

  “Tobias!” Rino screamed. The water mage had planned to strike at its feet, probably wanting to copy what Rue did. But he settled with clasping his hand forward, dropping his LongBone. A pressurized jet of water shot straight to the Kobold's head.

  But, Electricity sizzled, frying Tobias, and easily crashed Rino’s spell.

  Salar hefted his Golden Long Bone. And slashed it straight at Rino, the Water Mage summoned a body of water as tall as himself in the direction of the sword. Before the sword connected, Tobias opened his eyes, and the old scout jabbed one of his daggers into the Kobold shoulder. The old man screamed and roared.

  The King, in turn, let out a grunt. It’s swing at Rino got weaker, still, though. The moment the long bone met the body of water, it hit the mage, but the body of water acted as some sort of buffer, turning the bone's sharpness to blunt for a moment. Rino was sent flying, sprawling to the ground, his body spun.

  Alquin made out Eve running at him. The girl will heal him.

  Right, now what's more concerning is…

  Salar gripped Tobias' body hard and wrenched the scout down in front of it. With a lightning-enhanced move, it raises its shield and smashed it down – killing the scout, as his body might as well be a pile of red rock.

  The Kobold King's eyes shot up, and its gaze connected to their backline. It lifted a finger.

  A spell Alquin had been familiar with.

  Now, who is he targeting? It must be her. The newcomer woman mage. She’s the one with the earth spell, the most effective element against lightning.

  “Tobias, Jeremiah, No!” The women screamed.

  “Get down!” Emily shouted. The girl recognized that the mage had become a target. Emily jumped and tackled the crying woman to the ground, but they still barely had cover.

  The Kobold spell was about to shoot.

  “Gil! Yom! Shield!” Alquin screamed, his voice hoarse.

  Both of the warriors moved, but they’re too slow.

  As the world slowed down, he could only watch until the Lightning ravaged Emily and the mage.

  But out of the corner of his eyes, he appeared.

  Perhaps Alquin just did not see him because of the night and his focus on the fight.

  Cold vapor trailed down, following an astral black sword.

  The Kobold King noticed it and tried to move back

  But, too late - that sword of black ice swung straight into the kobold's finger, cutting it and killing the spell in an instant.