Chapter 120: The Pitiful Cave Dweller Chieftain

In fact, there was no need for White Valentine to remind me; before I even entered the tunnel, I had already realized that the Dark Mercenaries would not let me lure the Kobold Chief out so easily.

However, it was a pity that things would not go their way, because I never intended to lure the Kobold Chief out at all.

Luring the Kobold Chief out would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. Only by killing the Kobold Chief could we safely leave the White Cloud Mine area and truly allow them to focus entirely on dealing with the four Dark Mercenaries outside.

My plan was something even White Valentine didn't know. If he had known what I intended to do, he would never have let me enter—it was practically playing with my own life.

But I wasn't worried in the slightest. After dispelling White Valentine's doubts, I continued deep into the tunnel.

Ten seconds later, I finally saw the Kobold Chief, fifty meters away, its body nearly blocking the entire tunnel. Almost simultaneously, the Kobold Chief turned its head, its copper-bell-sized eyes locking onto me instantly. It lived up to its title as a boss—it had spotted me so quickly!

However, this guy didn't seem to think much of me, a second-tier bow-warrior.

A flash of light erupted from its body! Six Kobold Beasts appeared beside it, baring fangs and claws as they charged toward me in the tunnel.

Hmph! This kind of small fry... I had already learned how to handle them back at level 15.

"This Kobold Chief doesn't seem very smart." (Can you blame it? It only had those few tricks to begin with.)

With a mocking smile, I quickly drew my "Black Feather" bow. Just as the foremost Kobold Beast was about to pounce within twenty meters... I released the string! *Thwack!*

The Kobold Beast, with barely ten points of defense, was struck squarely in the skull by an arrow. It let out a miserable howl, its momentum completely halted by the sheer force and damage. The Kobold Beasts behind it immediately slammed on the brakes!

"Target hit, dealt 75 points of damage to the Kobold Beast!"

I didn't stop. With two swift arrows, I pummeled the Kobold Beasts that had charged within fifteen and ten meters, bringing them to a halt. In an instant, the six neatly arranged Kobold Beasts were completely scattered by these three arrows.

I quickly sheathed my bow, ignoring these Kobold Beasts that could no longer threaten me, and dashed through the gaps between them, leaving them behind.

Having decisively abandoned the Kobold Beasts, I had already rushed within thirty meters of the Kobold Chief!

Not daring to be negligent, I quickly drew my "Black Feather," and faint earth elemental energy rapidly condensed onto the arrow...

When the Kobold Chief realized that the Kobold Beasts had failed to stop that damned second-tier bow-warrior, it turned around and furiously bent its body to charge into the tunnel. At that moment, I noticed that its massive frame seemed very uncomfortable in this narrow passage; not only was its movement speed greatly reduced, but its movements were also stiff. What surprised me even more was that it had already placed its silver shield on its back.

Perfect!

I had an idea. The moment it entered my range, I fired a "Slow Arrow" at a spot on the Kobold Chief not protected by armor!

In such a narrow space, the Kobold Chief could not dodge, nor did it have time to use the silver shield on its back; it could only take the arrow with its own body. Thus, the Slow Arrow sank into its exposed, thick neck without a hitch!

"Critical hit on vital spot, dealt 87 points of damage to the Kobold Chief!"

"Slow effect triggered, Kobold Chief's speed reduced! Duration: 3 seconds!"

The system combat feedback came back, and I could hardly believe things were unfolding so smoothly. Watching the Kobold Chief slowly "maneuver" through the narrow tunnel like a vintage car, then glancing back at the six Kobold Beasts that had caught up, a bold idea suddenly rose in my mind!

The Kobold Chief, a level 20 sub-boss, has an HP 5 to 10 times that of a normal monster of the same level—that is, two thousand to four thousand points... I wonder if it can be finished off right here in the tunnel...

Once this thought emerged, it grew uncontrollably!

"Brother White! Hurry into the tunnel! We'll finish off the Kobold Chief inside!" Almost as I sent the voice message, the Kobold Chief roared repeatedly, breaking free from the slow effect—the people behind it had already started their assault.

However, it was one thing to break free from the slow effect; this massive Kobold Chief was already in a dire predicament in the tunnel, and turning around was not easy. In just this short time, it had already taken several third-tier and second-tier skill hits.

In a fit of rage, the Kobold Chief was suddenly hit by a second Slow Arrow... its counter-attack faltered.

"Good job, Little Kirin!"

White Valentine seized the Kobold Chief's predicament and shouted. Simultaneously, the second wave of attacks landed powerfully on the Kobold Chief: "Increase the attack! Everyone rotate your strongest skills! Take it down as quickly as possible! Don't let it get out!"

The Kobold Chief was both angry and anxious, yet in this cramped space, it couldn't dodge or launch effective attacks. After taking several rounds of hits, its HP had already dropped by nearly a thousand points!

By the time it finally managed to turn around, the frequent appearance of Slow Arrows made it miserable, preventing it from organizing any effective offense. Even when it did attack, it could only knock one person away; it couldn't manage a one-hit kill.

With continuous attacks and its HP rapidly dropping, the Kobold Chief let out a series of furious roars that seemed to shake the entire tunnel. Under its powerful summons, six Kobold Warriors appeared by its side, temporarily blocking a wave of attacks for it...

Taking advantage of this momentary gap, the Kobold Chief finally found an opportunity to erupt. Stepping over the corpse of a fallen Kobold Warrior, it swung its massive silver sword, sweeping four people in front of it away in one blow!

It was just about to pursue them... when another Slow Arrow struck from behind!

Its pursuit came to a sudden halt!

The Kobold Chief let out another roar that shook the entire White Cloud Mine...

It was no wonder; the poor level 20 sub-boss had entered this narrow space, only to be bullied by a mere second-tier bow-warrior, and it couldn't even retaliate—how could it not be furious?

Taking advantage of the Kobold Chief's greatly reduced speed, White Valentine and the uninjured Dragon Flame warriors pressed the attack, while White Valentine and the others quickly gulped down healing potions and charged back into the tunnel.

By this time, I had taken a moment to use my "Slaughter-Gold Sword" to finish off two Kobold Beasts surrounding me... As the Kobold Chief broke free from the slow state again, I quickly raised my Black Feather...

After a few rounds, the Kobold Chief's HP plummeted; it finally became frantic, frequently summoning Kobold Warriors and Kobold Beasts, while calling for the newly spawned Kobold Mages and Kobold Fighters to come to its rescue.

Unfortunately, the Dragon Flame people were experts at dealing with these first and second-tier small fry, snuffing them out at the tunnel entrance far behind them, leaving them no chance to interfere.

Finally, the "Kobold Chief" was actually beaten to death in this narrow tunnel by the group! Gold and silver coins littered the ground.

What surprised me was... the person who gained the experience was:

"Killed the Kobold Chief, gained 1951 experience points."

Eh?! It was my experience?

At this moment, even the few Dragon Flame warriors and White Valentine, who had appeared beside the Kobold Chief's corpse, looked at each other in confusion. Finally, they locked their gazes onto me. White Valentine, dressed in a decent set of heavy armor, stared at the Scavenger Kirin walking over with a strange expression:

"You got the experience?"

I shrugged my shoulders: "Didn't you form a party?"

As I spoke, I crouched down and, under their bewildered and stunned gazes, collected the gold coins and equipment into my bag—now was not the time to be polite, the system's protection time was three minutes long... besides, I had sacrificed two hundred gold coins just to get here.

I couldn't be generous with the items dropped by a boss... If there were things belonging to White Valentine, I might leave them for him, but as for the others, forget it; I didn't intend to make their acquaintance.

As I was cleaning up, a young male voice suddenly popped up from the side:

"Brother White, this isn't right of you; aren't you going to introduce us?"

I looked up at the person who spoke. He seemed well-equipped, and I remembered that when we were killing the Kobold Chief just now, he and White Valentine were in the front.

He must be that Wolf Squad leader from Dragon Flame, right?

Sure enough, White Valentine immediately began to introduce me with a smile. I didn't really remember the others, but I did remember this Wolf Squad leader called "Wanderer's Return." A level 34 Dragon-Wolf Knight.

Unfortunately, he was a knight without a Dragon-Wolf beast—promotion was only the first step to becoming a Dragon-Wolf Knight. Only by defeating and taming a level 36 Dragon-Wolf beast on one's own could one have a Dragon-Wolf beast as a mount and become a true Dragon-Wolf Knight!

The difference a magical beast makes is huge. The Blood Lion Knight of the Dragon-Wolf Knight Corps was the same level as a Dragon-Wolf Knight, which meant that Wanderer's Return's strength was not even equal to that of a deputy commander of the Dragon-Wolf Corps; he wasn't truly a top-tier expert.

No wonder he was being pushed around...

While pondering, I greeted them and directly asked: "I don't need to introduce myself, right? Tell me how to get out... They must already know the Kobold Chief has been killed; we must rush out immediately!"

"Right, we must leave the White Cloud Mine before they call for reinforcements!" the Wolf Squad leader said with a grave expression.