"Archers, assault their back line! We have a mage now!" Stuart yelled as he attempted to clean the mess in front of him. He stayed in the back, where he could see the whole situation, as did my group, "Archer, get back here before you get hit! Priest, start healing the wounded! Tanks, create a line! They have more than us!"
Stuart continued to bellow out commands, too busy to notice the reduced number of comrades he had originally expected. As for the missing comrades, we were in the back, watching the fight.
"God, it's like watching children," I muttered as I attempted to hold in my laughter. I turned to Jonathan, who was looking at the fight with second-hand embarrassment, and managed to let out a small chuckle, "Were they this bad when you fought with them?"
"Uh," Jonathan muttered, "No, maybe? I don't know. We had twenty others with us, so it wasn't that hard to fight, but- oh shit, he just died. Anyway, I'll admit, we might have been leaning on the Caldwell siblings."
"That would explain that," I muttered as I looked at the recently fallen corpse that had fallen to the ground. The archer from earlier, who had rushed to the front lines with just a bow, had fallen. I felt no remorse as I saw the death, nor did either of the twins, it seemed. Instead, I looked at the notification for DP and sighed.
﹃
D rank Intruder defeated
+18 DP
﹄
'Why are these guys so weak?' I inwardly screamed as I saw the low DP result. Even the two groups that had been constantly raiding my dungeon for the last week were all C ranks and awarded 50 DP each. When they were killed, they gave me 60 DP.
"Shit, we lost one! Regroup!" Stuart yelled as panic began to set in. The others in the group nodded and tried backing away from the Kobolds as they lessened their aggression to retreat. The Kobolds, noticing this change, had the intelligence to push harder.
The line of ranks in the front, comprised of three tanks, struggled under the assault the Kobolds delivered. Two warriors stood at the sides of the tanks and tried their best to protect the rest of the group from the Kobolds, but they were struggling as well.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Stuart muttered. His skill『 Claim 』was still activated, so he decided to rush forward and stand directly behind the tanks. As soon as he moved, the circle underneath him moved as well. Once the green circle touched the tanks, they immediately stopped struggling, "Don't lose your focus! These are just Kobolds!"
He was right. They were just Kobolds. Even though the group had already lost one, the Kobolds weren't looking any better either. They started with twelve but had already been dwindled to six. The elite and the mage were still alive, thankfully, but the other four Kobolds seemed to start fighting even harder after seeing half of their group fall.
In total, our group numbered thirteen, if we included Icarus. The archer had already fallen, which brought the group down to twelve. Ignoring myself, Hazel, Icarus, and the twins- there were seven people actually fighting. There were three tanks, all around level ten, but were all D or C ranks. Two warriors, each level eleven and D ranked. A priest, who was trying her best to heal the injuries that were beginning to sustain, and Stuart himself.
"Alright, I think that's enough," I sighed as I stepped forward. Jonathan nodded, then got himself ready. I unsheathed my sword, then put my hand on Stuart's shoulder, "Step aside, dumbass."
"Wha? You! Why weren't you fighting until now? We've lost one of our own!" Stuart yelled as he noticed my presence. He had now remembered that I existed and seemed to be livid about my absence during the fight.
"I'm not in your group, remember," I said blankly, not giving a damn about their fallen member. I turned away from Stuart, then looked to the tanks. I raised my voice, addressing them as I spoke, "If you don't want to get hit, duck!"
The tanks didn't have a chance to glance behind them, but they listened nonetheless. Every one of them ducked to the ground, crouching as low as they could. I nodded, then brought my sword into the air. I concentrated on the mana in my arm, focusing on it similar to how I controlled my mana in dragon form and forced it into my hand. The mana left my palm and went into my sword, then climbed up the blade.
Suddenly, my sword was lit ablaze, the light dancing through the cave like a blood moon in the night sky. I felt the heat radiate off of the sword, torching the area around it, but didn't care too much.
My flame was hot, as it was dragon fire, but it wasn't a threat to me. It was my flame- I was its master. Without much more pause, I swung my sword. As I moved, the flames on my blade obeyed my will and traveled through the air, creating a large arc of flames similar to a wall of fire.
『 Skill:『 Crescent Flame 』, Activated 』
The flaming arc quickly flew away from my body, traveling through the air like an arrow, as it sailed to the Kobolds in front of me. I watched as the arc of flames continued, barely missing the adventurers that had ducked, as it struck the Kobolds waiting for it.
I heard a short cry of pain and I winced. Even if I was pretending to be an intruder, killing my summons was like purposefully breaking my arm. Three Kobolds out of the four that were attacking fell, and burned away in an instant. One, the closest to me, was even sliced in two. Afterward, the arc continued forward for just a few feet before disappearing.
"Damn," I sighed as I brought the sword back to a resting position. I looked down at my blade and frowned, "It still feels better to do that with my leg, but whatever, it's still effective."
I turned around and looked at Stuart, who was frozen with a flabbergasted expression on his face.
"Well? There are still three left. Go on, the fight isn't over yet," I urged as I sheathed my weapon. I looked to Jonathan, who looked on at the carnage in disappointment, before turning back to Stuart, "I won't carry, just so you know."
"Right," Stuart nodded with a feeble voice. The green circle under him had already deactivated, probably from his shock, so he quickly used『 Claim 』again and commanded the others to take action, "We've got them on the run! Let's finish this! Isolate that that normal Kobold first. Tanks, aggro him, then wait for the warriors to finish the kill."
I ignored Stuart's commands as I walked back to my group. Hazel and the others were waiting patiently, though Jonathan wore a bit of a frown. Hazel, on the other hand, had pink cheeks and was attempting to avoid my gaze.
I smiled, then looked back to Jonathan.
"You ended that too quick," Jonathan said, "I can't get XP like this."
"Next group, then?" I suggested. Jonathan sighed, then nodded. I looked back to Stuart and the others, who were starting to finish the fight. The normal Kobold had already fallen. The Kobold Mage, who stood in the back, managed to ignore damage for the majority of the fight so far, but I doubted that type of tactic wouldn't work out for long.
The Kobold Elite was heavily damaged, ready to die at any moment. As I saw the injured Kobold Elite, I looked at the adventurers and felt a flood of anger. I couldn't help but see the Kobold Elite as a pupil or a prized possession, while these adventurers were causing it to get into an injured state. I didn't seem to have this problem with normal Kobolds, so I was confused.
My fingers clenched into a fist as I tried to contain my anger. Then, as my gaze focused on the adventurers in front of me, I felt a hand carefully land on my shoulder. I instantly calmed down and sighed as I let my body relax. I turned around, then saw Hazel staring into my eyes with a sense of compassion. I sighed in relief, then smiled.
"Thanks," I muttered as I continued to stare into Hazel's eyes. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, as Hazel realized what she was doing, she quickly looked away and paid attention to the ground. I chuckled to hide my nervousness, then looked back to the fight.
By now, the Kobold Elite was dead and the Mage was on his last legs. The mage had the same AC as a normal Kobold, but his health was similar to a Kobold Elite. Because of this, he died quicker than a Kobold Elite but slower than a normal Kobold.
Still, though, his magic spell『 Push 』, although weak, proved useful in keeping the adventurers away from him. When he managed to get distance, he would switch to『 Light Flames 』, which was a weaker version of『 Fireball 』and only did seven damage, or『 Trip 』, which would immobilize advancing adventurers.
When I saw his efforts to stay alive, I pitied him.『 Light Flames 』only did seven damage, so it was too weak to successfully push through AC. The Kobold Mage was destined to die. However, as I looked at the adventurers, I gasped.
They were getting injured, though it was only minor. The『 Light Flames 』spell, a simple zero spell that every mage knew, was actually working.
'Does magic ignore AC?' I found myself wondering. I watched as the mage used the spell again, this time against one of the warriors. As the small wisp of flame landed against the warrior's shoulder, he yelped in pain and used his hand to pat it out. The damage was there, but it was minor, 'Not certainly seven damage. If the spell completely ignored HP, there might have been another death by now. Partial damage, then? Back when I fought Hazel, she was still able to injure me, even though some of her attacks didn't break through my AC. That means! Magic can partially ignore AC! This is incredible!'