"Old Niu, let me tell you a principle. You must remember it. This principle is called 'A wily rabbit has three burrows.'"
"My lord, what do you mean?"
"It means that people must always prepare several shelters for themselves. Otherwise, they might end up like these hobgoblins, trapped so easily by the poison zone that they don't even have a safe zone."
"Er... Thank you for your instruction, my lord."
"You're welcome, Old Niu. By the way, let me give you some warning in advance. In a moment, your... pride." Landen raised a hand and poked the armor woven from Great Yak hide. Because of its position, the action also amounted to indirectly poking the Minotaur Butler's sturdy gluteus maximus. "Something might poke it. You must hold firm. I won't let you move away, so you must brace yourself tightly. Understand?"
"Yes... Yes, my lord."
Landen raised his head and looked toward where Ella was. A plume of smoke had already risen there. Its color was somewhat strange, seemingly tinged with firelight. Even in the darkness of the underground world, it could be seen clearly. The smoke was very thin, as if it had been caused by burning only a tiny amount of something.
However, that was of course not the truth. At that moment, Ella had already lit a huge bonfire at the entrance of the cave. The flames were almost as tall as he was, and he kept throwing all sorts of materials into the fire.
A bonfire this enormous naturally produced far more than that tiny amount of smoke. More smoke had already been sent into the cave.
This was also a simple alchemical gadget that could produce a certain amount of wind. Its force was very weak, probably only equivalent to a Level - wind. It could blow a person's hair into disarray and make their clothes flap loudly, but that was all. Still, it was more than enough to alter the direction of the smoke.
Thus, the smoke, whose properties had been altered by the addition of various materials, was sent into the interior of the mountain.
That's right. Landen's method was a fire attack—or, more accurately, a smoke attack.
A wily rabbit had three burrows, so this method would have no effect on a rabbit. When you did this to one of its burrows, it would already have fled to another. And you would never know exactly how many burrows it had.
Hobgoblins were different. Or rather, all goblins were the same. They were a bunch of shut-ins—complete shut-ins. Once they chose a den, unless something drastic happened to it and forced them to migrate, they would live there permanently, reproduce, and remain there until death.
This group of hobgoblins was the same. The inside of this small mountain was their den, their paradise. They had never considered making another den, so once all the exits of this one were firmly blocked, they became turtles in a jar.
Goblins were low-intelligence creatures. Even the most advanced hobgoblins and Bear Hobgoblins among them were not very intelligent. This intelligence was directly reflected in the crude nature of their lives. They did not even know how to make or use fire, and all their food was eaten raw.
Of course, not knowing how to use fire did not mean they feared it. These crude creatures, who made fires so poorly, could be said to be completely immune to ordinary flames and smoke. The various organs honed by their crude way of life made ordinary air indistinguishable from the smoke produced by a fire.
However, the smoke Ella created was not ordinary smoke. It was alchemical smoke—or rather, smoke prepared specifically for these hobgoblins.
Ella added things to the flames in an orderly manner. He took the task very seriously, but he had no interest whatsoever in what would happen next. Instead, his thoughts remained fixed on that night.
"How did he know these formulas? Even I don't know them. No, forget me—even my teacher probably wouldn't know such 'unorthodox remedies.' Isn't he just an ordinary lord? Or are these things basic knowledge that every lord should possess?"
As he was lost in thought, a noise came from the cave entrance. The next moment, a green head poked out of the cave. Its attention was immediately drawn to the bonfire. Then it let out a sharp shriek and, gripping a crudely sharpened stone hammer, swung it directly at the flames.
Unfortunately, its plan could never succeed. The three Dark Elves waiting nearby faithfully carried out Landen's orders.
Mikhail was the one who moved. His weapon was a rapier. With an elegant thrust and flick, he knocked the stone hammer straight out of the green-skinned hobgoblin's hand and sent it flying into the air. The green-skinned hobgoblin seemed utterly terrified. It shrieked again and hurriedly withdrew.
Mikhail did not pursue it. He casually swept the stone hammer aside before retreating as well.
Landen's several Dark Elf subordinates might have been "good-for-nothings" who had languished near the bottom of their former group with no hope of ever distinguishing themselves, but that depended on whom they were compared with. There, they had been compared with the elite soldiers under Matriarch Isis. Here, however, their opponents were merely a bunch of green-skinned hobgoblins. Naturally, the situation was different.
The strongest among the hobgoblins were only at Low-tier Black Iron and Mid-tier Black Iron. All of Landen's Dark Elf subordinates were at Low-tier Black Iron, while Mikhail was the outstanding one among them. After following Landen here, whether because his mindset had changed or for some other reason, he had actually broken through to Mid-tier Black Iron. He might not be able to defeat all these hobgoblins in a group fight, but in single combat, he could take down every one of them.
Soon, more of them tried to extinguish the bonfire, but the Dark Elves forced them all back. This continued until a hobgoblin at Low-tier Black Iron appeared. Mikhail skewered it with a single sword thrust, ending the situation. Its corpse was tossed by Mikhail at the cave entrance, and after that, no more hobgoblins emerged.
Not long after that.
"My lord, it seems... something is poking my butt." The Minotaur Butler's bovine face flushed slightly. As a well-mannered Minotaur, he felt somewhat ashamed to say the word "butt" in front of everyone.
"Are there many?"
"What, my lord?"
"Are there many things poking your butt?"
"Not many, my lord. It seems there are..."
"Oh. Then wait a little longer."
"..."
"My lord, it seems there are... things poking me now."
"Can you hold out, Old Niu?"
"Yes, my lord. Their attacks aren't very strong."
"Then wait a little longer."
"..."
"My lord, I can no longer count how many things there are. However, one of them seems especially strong. My Great Yak-hide armor is about to give way."
"Get ready. When I count down to..., charge forward. Moa, Mosen, the moment Old Niu charges out, throw Mind Storms inside."
"...!"
Before you continue