Bab 30: Chapter 30: Wolves(4)

"Arrgh!"

The kobold leader barked at the other kobold, likely trying to warn them of the escaping enemy. But the other kobolds couldn't hear it due to the loud hooves thumping on the ground. The kobold tried connecting to the others, but they were too far and too unstable.

So the kobold leader stopped trying to alert the others. It continued running away from boars, but when it reached close to a tree...

Woosh! Clutch!

The kobold jumped and gripped the trunk with its claw. As the kobolds have opposable thumbs and more flexible legs, much like humans do, climbing a tree was not impossible. The kobold quickly pulled itself high up in the tree and avoided the possible bashing from a boar.

When it reached high enough, the kobold looked behind the charging herd of boars. There it saw the green-skinned creatures it presumed to be the enemy, running further away from them. The kobold was angry; it wanted to just jump off the tree and chase after them. But, until the boars fully pass its tree, jumping off would not be safe.

And although it can climb a tree, it can't jump from one tree to another like a monkey would. It wasn't what its hands were made to do, after all. So it could only watch as the goblins got further away from it.

For the next few seconds, the kobold waited impatiently. The seemingly long wait did come to an end, though, as the boars all cleared from the field at some point.

With a single jump, the kobold not only descended the tree but also cleared a meter of distance. Without wasting any more time, the kobold chased after the running two.

But even with its speed, the goblin duo was still too far. Reaching them would still take a little while. So to speed up the catch, the kobold leader picked up a rock while passing by.

The kobold stopped just for a moment to aim, and then...

Woosh!

The rock was thrown, and it flew at an amazing angle towards the two.

The two had only heard the swishing sound of something breaking through the air before...

Bang!

The rock landed on the gremlin's leg! Without as much resistance, the rock instantly drew blood, and the gremlin dropped to the ground.

"Ahh!"

On the ground, the gremlin looked at its leg; the impacted skin was basially scraped off, and the attacked flesh was badly bruised.

Although the rock attack wasn't as strong due to the great distance covered by the rock, the gremlin itself was too weak. Such that the simple attack a hob-goblin could have easily shaken off was no different from a knockout punch for the gremlin. Luckily, the rock had not hit its unprotected head; otherwise, it would have passed out immediately. One could only imagine what would happen if it were attacked by a full-power attack in close range.

But even though the gremlins were not dead, things do not look good for them at all. Just behind it, the kobold drew nearer and nearer. With an injury like this, it obviously can't outrun the kobold specially made for running.

The child, of course, had already seen the gremlin's predicament. So he ordered the hobgoblin to stop and turn back. The hob-goblin wanted to continue running, but noticing that it may have a higher chance of surviving with the gremlin, it turned back and grabbed the gremlin's little arm. Then, with a simple pull, the kobold threw the gremlin on its shoulder.

And without delaying further, it ran like its life depended on it, which it did. Without its spear, it was likely not going to survive a battle with a kobold.

So although each step further was a pain not only on its legs but also on its lung and heart, it had all the 'encouragement' it needed to not give up. For one, the child constantly gave it orders that mentally pressured it to go forward, no matter how tiring it really was. Secondly...

Bam!

The kobold never stopped throwing rocks at it. Whenever it saw a rock of the perfect size, the kobold didn't pass up on the chance to pick it up and throw it at the foe.

So the hobgoblin couldn't stop. No matter how much it wants to Stopping means death without the possibility of survival. The pain it got from each hit was just a prelude to what was to come if it stopped.

Although most of the attacks weren't too accurate because the kobold was in a rush, a few of them had already hit the hobgoblin. Not enough to cause an injury, but enough to hinder its movements.

Luckily for the hobgoblin, the place the child has been directing it to finally appeared in its vision.

It was a field of plants. These plants were green at the bottom with large leaves. The top, on the other hand, had long stems. These stems were covered in white things that seemed like pollen fillings. Each was as tall as an average human being. Which for the child was just enough to cover the hobgoblin, who was only about 1.4 meters tall.

Without one bit of hesitation, he hobgoblin plunged deep into the field of tall plants. Thus disappearing from the kobold's sight.

The kobold was, of course, not happy with that happening. So it too jumped right into the field.

But unlike the hobgoblin, which easily passed through the field, the kobold found a little problem.

When it hit the multiple plants, the plants shook and released the pollen stuck on the stems. To the hairless goblins, this was not a problem. But for the kobold, the pollen grouped up and covered the kobold.

Of course, a little pollen covering its boy wasn't troubling the kobold; what was truly troubling was when they flew right into its very sensitive nose.

"Gchoor!"

As such, the kobold started sneezing. It's eyes stared to tear up, and snot covered its nose. When it tried getting further in the field, the sneezing just got worse until it could no longer do anything properly.

With the situation in front of it, the kobold had to get out of the field. Even if it were to catch the enemy at that point, it would not even be able to hold on to it. And if the enemy was strong, it might even get killed.

As angry as it was, the kobold was not stupid, so it left the field sneezing and trying to figure out if there was a way around the field.

...