Chapter 29: Let them fight!
Continuous battles kept happening over different parts of the 9th dungeon floor. There was no sun or source of light inside the dungeon but somehow, Kahn could see a bright sky above his head.
Naturally, this had something to do with the natural construction or magic formation that had formed the dungeon in the first place. The light outside of the dungeon was brought to each floor & the intensity was no different than normal sunlight outside of the dungeon.
Kahn kept running without causing too many noticeable noises through the withered tree lines.
He had seen some group of kobolds but they were either too big or too small than what he needed.
Finally, he found a group of 18 kobolds who had just finished off killing an adventure team & were looting out the remains, while some from the group started ripping off the flesh out of the dead bodies and chomping on the juicy & b.l.o.o.d.y meat of these adventurers.
Unlike Werewolves, kobolds not only hunted with their claws & jaws; they also used weapons like wooden spears/poles, swords and bows. The majority even wore clothes that covered their private parts.
Only a group of experienced adventurers with the same number as the kobolds could take them head-on. From what Kahn saw, the group of adventurers that laid dead on the ground wasn"t one of such teams. Not only did they lack numbers but also their team composition was out of the norm. Too many physical cla.s.s & damage dealer cla.s.s people, only 2 mages & 1 archer in the group.
This was nothing but a ragtag bunch of hotheaded morons who came to the dungeons thinking they could conquer the floor with their measly strength.
[Idiots.. There are other ways to make money without dying. Why come here if you"re not strong enough to protect yourself?] Kahn spoke to himself.
Kahn was already used to hunting wild monsters & beasts in the Forest he was thrown into by G.o.d of Darkness. So this wasn"t his first rodeo.
Kahn silently kept walking towards the group of kobolds while hiding himself behind the tree branches & bushes. The group was salvaging the gears & meat from the dead adventurers.
He nocked an arrow on his normal bow which he bought for cheap from a shop. He was around 300 meters from the group & just in his bow"s attack range.
Aiming at one of the kobolds who was in a group of three and quickly shot an arrow.
SWISH!
The arrow pierced the kobold"s head, killing it instantly on the spot. His current weapon mastery for bows was only 59% at master rank but it was still enough for him to make accurate & precise attacks.
As soon as the kobold fell on the ground, the remaining kobolds were alerted.
HOWL!
The kobolds howled and alerted their subordinates. The whole group quickly getting their guard up and looking for the attacker.
"Time for the second arrow." said Kahn and shot another arrow in the middle of the group. The first was to get their attention and the second was to let them know about his location.
As soon as the kobolds sensed the direction of the incoming arrows, they charged towards Kahn"s location with all their weapons in their hands.
Kahn waited till the group could see him and started running in the direction he came from.
For the next twenty minutes, the group of kobolds kept running after Kahn as if all they wanted was his death. Kahn occasionally shot out arrows and killed a couple of their subordinates to fume their anger even more.
Running away from this group without getting caught was no big deal for Kahn who had both sprinter & lunge ability which would always keep him one step ahead of the group. He also made sure that the group followed him without coming across any other group of kobolds or another adventurer team. Otherwise, it would foil his plans.
Finally when he reached around a kilometer away from the place where the group of twenty plus Groundhog adventurer team members were fighting, he raised his speed to the fullest and disappeared from the sight of these kobolds using Side Hopper ability.
Kahn saw the people of the Groundhog adventurer team were still at the same place, their battle seemed to be over a long ago and now they were just harvesting the kobolds for their cores, claws and skin. Many of them simply resting while few keeping a lookout. Their losses seemed negligible while the kobold group was completely wiped out.
Kahn quickly ran back to the group of kobolds he brought along and shot arrows at them again, luring them in his direction as he ran towards the adventurer team.
As soon as he reached 200 meters from the group, Kahn used Side Hopper and disappeared again from their sight.
From the dense bushes, he shouted very loudly.
"There are kobolds! Everyone get ready to fight!!", Kahn quickly ran away from the place and hid among the tree branches.
"Enemy attack!" shouted some of the team members of the adventurer team and everyone was quickly alerted. They were all experienced people so they quickly got into a formation ready to defend against an ambush.
"Who was the guy that just shouted? Didn"t feel like I heard that voice before." someone of the group softly asked.
But just then, the group of kobolds finally reached close to the adventurers and by instinct, they charged at the defending side.
Kahn who was now standing on a thick tree branch far away and watching the show sighed in relief.
"Finally, all the efforts are paying off. Nothing personal guys... It"s just business." said Kahn as he relaxed his back against the tree trunk.
What followed was another gory battle between the adventurers and kobolds, even far bloodier than the previous group these kobolds had killed.
Thanks to their experience in working together, the adventurers defended themselves against this sudden attack. Only suffering two casualties at the beginning of the battle.
But the kobolds were no different than these adventurers. They hunted in packs & their disposition was made to hunt in a group. Their understanding & teamwork far exceeded the opposition. Besides, they were far more vicious with their attacks and many were stronger than the adventurer team members.
Skulls and bones were broken, cut down & blood was sprayed on the ground as both sides ferociously fighting to kill their enemies.
Kahn who was the cause of this all was simply studying the battle & strategies both sides were implying as time went on. His understanding of battle tactics increasing little by little.
There was a reason why Kahn chose to use the kobold group to pit against the Groundhog adventurer team members.
The primary reason being that he was simply lacking in numbers. And even though he was strong, he couldn"t take down all these people even with Omega on his side. Releasing Rudra here was also not a good idea either. These weren"t some mindless monsters but a group of experienced people who also knew how to quickly respond to sudden ambushes and adapt to the situation very quickly. Some could manage to run away to tell the tale so that"s wasn"t the best choice.
The secondary reason is to avoid causing suspicion of an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt. Plenty of people died in the hands of kobolds on this floor so it wouldn"t be a surprise to see another group fallen to these monsters.
Soon, the battle came to an impa.s.se. Both sides left with barely 6 to 7 members, rest going to eternal sleep while lying on the ground in their own blood and intestines. Both sides were constantly looking for an opportunity to attack while defending themselves.
Kahn who saw this from the tree he was standing on, finally decided to interfere. He knew this would eventually happen so he wasn"t surprised at all.
"Omega, come out." said Kahn and the Dire Wolf jumped out of his shadow. Kahn took out the smoke & tear gas bombs he bought with him and silently approached the battlefield.
Since everyone was fighting for their lives, neither side noticed or sensed his presence.
"The usual plan. Attack from the other side as soon as I throw the bombs." said Kahn and Omega nodded in response. Their teamwork was already on an expert level.
Kahn activated stealth and turned invisible. He silently walked behind the adventurer team and threw the smoke bombs and tear gas bombs in between the battlefield where the majority of the fighters were in a neck-to-neck battle.
"What the f.u.c.k?! Who"s that?!" shouted a woman among the group as the smoke filled the battlefield.
Kahn activated his War Dominance & Ripper claws and started the bloodbath. This time, he was hunting both people and monsters together. His pressure filled the entire place, making it hard to even breathe for everyone present on the scene.
What followed was a one-sided ma.s.sacre. Kahn used Side Hopper from time to time and each time he appeared, a body would fall on the ground as his Ripper claws chopped their heads and torso in two.
Kahn had thrown the smoke bomb on the adventurer side while the tear gas bomb on kobold side to use it the most effectively on both opponents.
Both sides were already weaker than him and after putting them into a disarray, Kahn & Omega did not have any problems taking out all the enemies.
With no chance to fight back, in just a few minutes, only a hooded man with a bow on his back and a giant black Dire Wolf, both of whom were completely drenched in blood remained on the battlefield.
"Well.. time to rob the dead."