Chapter Thirteen


    They took him to the big building in the distance, of course. As they walked the streets, other kobolds looked at him with wide, interested eyes. They whispered in that strange language of theirs. Some went in their huts, frightened by his presence. Ambrose saw more children, and he had to admit they looked like adorable mini dragons. One even had a tiny set of wings that fluttered in excitement.


    A few appeared not to have any huts at all. As he passed through with the guards, he saw a younger kobold kicked away by a market stall owner. The stall owner hissed. At one point, Ambrose got a passing glance inside a hut they passed near, and he blinked in surprise.


    It was full of random knick-knacks. Most of which shined in the torchlight. He even saw gold coins straight out of a D&D campaign. Kobolds appear to be hoarders; who knew? Ambrose chuckled to himself—the but of a spear jabbed into his back.


    “Japachi munthrek!”


    Briefly, he thought about seeing how the lizard looked when on fire, but he swallowed the anger. It wouldn’t do him any good. They came upon a pond at the halfway point, and it was there that a thunderous boom shook the area.


    Kobolds immediately reacted, running to their huts, screeching in fear. Another group of kobold guards led by another winged kobold marched out from another area, toward what Ambrose presumed to be the source of the noise.


    What he could only think of as a large bat monster burst out from a nearby cave, rocks blasting outward, pelting the ground like raining boulders. The bat monster was bipedal with claws as large as shovels; its ears were pointed, and just like bats, if you enlarged them enough to fit on a bigger-than-human-sized skull.


    A mouth full of sharp teeth shone as the ember light of the torches hit them. Its skin was black as night, brushed here and there with twilight. The creature screeched, falling upon the kobold guards that engaged it. The guard surrounding Ambrose looked to their commander, who did what no commander should ever do.


    He hesitated.


    It cost him, too. The creature tore the other group apart, its claws shredding through their armor as if it were paper. The air was painted crimson as their blood rained from their torn bodies. One kobold had the right idea and tried to run.


    With a slash of its claws, red light lashed out and cut the kobold in two as neatly as slicing an apple. The two halves of the kobold fell to the ground, its lifeblood giving color to the dull stone.


    Frankly, Ambrose was somewhat content to allow the monster to rampage. He wasn’t ready to slaughter the kobolds wholesale because they were sentient creatures with lives and families and feelings. Then there was Alice, who Ambrose knew would want him to be better than a wanton murderer. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    That didn’t mean he had to lift a finger to help, however.


    There were two reasons he ended up helping. The first was that he likely wasn’t going to have a choice. That creature was going to attack anything living, and they were in its path. The second was the kobold child that had attempted to steal from the market stall earlier.


    He darted from behind a corner.


    The bat monster heard him, its ear twitching. It turned, and as it did, the blood from all around it started to flow like a living thing, to the creature. It flowed right into its mouth, causing it to shudder in what could only be pleasure.


    Then it lifted a clawed hand toward the kobold child.


    Ambrose cursed.


    Then he opened a portal directly underneath himself.


    As he fell through the hellfire portal, he activated [Infernal Aegis] funneling spirit and mana into the spiritual skill. He appeared right in front of the creature, that dark red energy lashing against him.


    It could not pierce his flaming shield flaring around his armor.


    It cocked its head in surprise, and Ambrose lifted an armored foot and kicked the ugly creature right in the chest with all of his D-Grade backed strength. It howled in pain as something inside of it cracked. It crashed against the stone.


    He took the opportunity to flare his spirit, baring down on the creature. It screeched, but it was weak this time. No opposing spirit came from it.


    Now it was Ambrose’s turn to cock his head.


    And then he began to walk toward it at a slow, unhurried pace. He paid no attention to the kobolds around him that had been flattened to the ground.


    ____________________


    Seseth, Winged Kobold of the Bluescale Tribe, commander of the ninth guard patrol, knew he had messed up. He should have engaged the Fueryon right away. He had prioritized the human over his own people, and for that he felt shame.


    Especially seeing what the human was doing now. The human, a male from what Seseth could tell, he could never be certain as humans were just weird, was a force to be reckoned with. First, he dropped through a portal straight from the depths of Uoinota and now he had unleashed some kind of power that was preventing any of them from moving.


    Seseth tried to fight the pressure, but it was as if mighty Akaroth, blessed be her wings, had pressed her mighty claws upon him herself. All he could do was watch the situation play out.


    At least it was a show.


    The human man was in no hurry as he walked toward the Fueryon. His eye was hard, and as merciless as a dragons fury. When he finally stood looking down at the creature, he snorted. By Akaroth’s tail, he was unimpressed!


    The human reached down and picked up the creature with one hand, as easily as lifting a hatchtling. His green eye swirled with something…other.


    It was as if the human was an avatar of Uoinota himself. Whatever he was doing, the Fueryon did not like it. Its body was smoking, but its flesh was not burning. Even so, the scent of ash filled Seseth’s nostrils, and he would have sneezed had it not been for the pressure that kept him from moving.


    That same pressure kept the monster from thrashing, or even screaming. Instead, the burning scent of ashes intensified, and the smoke curling away from it grew. The light of the human’s green eye blazed like a forest fire in the night.


    Finally, the light of his green eye faded.


    The Fueryon slumped as the pressure holding them all vanished as suddenly as it had come.


    The human tossed it aside like it was a bag of trash. It thudded into the ground, just a sack of dead flesh now.


    The human walked toward Seseth, and instinctively, the winged kobold took a step back. Glancing around for his spear. As if that would have done him any good. This human could kill them all without a seconds thought had he wished it.


    He stood in front of Seseth, crossing his arms. An single red eyebrow over his eye rose.


    “Well? I thought you were taking me somewhere? We wouldn’t want to be late, would we?”


    The human laughed.


    What manner of horror is this human?