Fire Attack and A Cunning Rabbit's Three Burrows

"Old Niu, let me tell you a principle, you must remember it. This principle is called 'a cunning rabbit has three burrows'."

"Sir, what do you mean?"

"It means that people should prepare multiple burrows for themselves, otherwise, they might end up like these hobgoblins, easily trapped by the poison circle, with no safe zone at all."

"Uh... Thank you for your teaching, sir."

"You're welcome, Old Niu. By the way, I'll give you a heads-up in advance. In a moment, your... pride." Landen raised his hand and poked the armor woven from Great Yak fur. Due to the position, his action also pointed towards the Minotaur Butler's sturdy gluteal muscles. "Something might poke it. You must hold on tight. If I don't tell you to move, you must endure it firmly. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, sir."

Landen looked up in the direction where Aila was. A wisp of smoke had already risen from there. The smoke's color was a bit strange, seeming to have a fiery glow. Even in the darkness of the Underworld, it was clearly visible. The smoke was thin, as if only a small amount of something had burned.

However, that was not the case. At that moment, Aila had lit a huge bonfire at the cave entrance. The flames were almost as tall as he was, and he kept throwing various materials into the fire.

Such a massive bonfire would naturally produce more than just a little smoke. More smoke had already been sent into the cave.

This was also a simple alchemical gadget that could generate a certain amount of wind. The wind's power was very small, perhaps only at level one, enough to mess up people's hair and make their clothes flutter, but that was all. However, it was sufficient to change the direction of the smoke.

And this smoke, whose properties had been altered by the addition of various materials, was thus sent into the interior of the mountain.

That's right, the method Landen used was a fire attack, or rather, a smoke attack.

A cunning rabbit has three burrows, so this method would have no effect on a rabbit. When you do this to one of its burrows, it has already escaped to another. And you will never know how many burrows it has.

But hobgoblins are different. Or rather, all goblins are the same. They are all "shut-ins," otaku. Once they choose a burrow, unless that burrow undergoes a significant change that forces them to migrate, they will live in that burrow permanently, procreate, and continue until death.

This nest of hobgoblins was the same. The inside of this small mountain was their burrow, their paradise. They never thought of finding other burrows. Therefore, when the exits of this burrow were completely blocked, they became trapped like fish in a jar.

Goblins are low-intelligence creatures. Even the highest-ranking hobgoblins and bear hobgoblins in this group are not much smarter. This low intelligence is directly reflected in their crude living conditions. They don't even know how to make or use fire; their food is raw.

Of course, not knowing how to use fire doesn't mean they fear it. These creatures, who live crudely, are almost immune to ordinary flames and smoke. Their organs, trained by their rough lives, make ordinary air and smoke from fires no different to them.

However, the smoke Aila created was not ordinary smoke. This was alchemical smoke, and it could even be said that it was smoke specifically prepared for these hobgoblins.

Aila meticulously added things to the flames. He was very serious about this task, but he had no interest in what would happen next. On the contrary, his mind was still stuck on that night.

How does he know these recipes? I don't even know them. No, forget me, even my teacher probably wouldn't know such 'folk remedies.' Isn't he just an ordinary lord? Or is this basic knowledge that a lord should possess?

As he was lost in thought, a noise came from the cave entrance over there. The next moment, a green head emerged from the cave. Its attention was immediately drawn to the bonfire. Then, it let out a piercing shriek, holding a crudely sharpened stone hammer, and directly swung it at the bonfire.

Unfortunately, its plan was doomed to fail. The three dark elves who had been waiting nearby faithfully carried out Landen's orders.

Mikhail was the one who attacked. His weapon was a rapier. With an elegant thrust and a flick, the stone hammer was directly knocked out of the green-skinned hobgoblin's hand and flew into the air. The green-skinned hobgoblin seemed greatly startled, let out another scream, and quickly retreated.

Mikhail didn't pursue. He casually swept the stone hammer aside and retreated.

Landen's dark elf subordinates might have been considered near the bottom, with no hope of advancement in his previous team, but that depended on who they were compared to. There, they were compared to the elite soldiers under Matriarch Isis. Here, their comparison was a pack of green-skinned hobgoblins, so the situation was naturally different.

The strongest of the hobgoblins were only at the low-tier Black Iron level, and a few at the mid-tier Black Iron level. However, Landen's dark elf subordinates were all low-tier Black Iron. Mikhail, in particular, was an outstanding one. After following Landen here, perhaps due to a change in mindset or some other reason, he had actually broken through to the mid-tier Black Iron level. While he might not be able to defeat these hobgoblins in a group fight, he could defeat all of them in a one-on-one battle.

Soon, another hobgoblin attempted to extinguish the bonfire but was forced back by the dark elves. This continued until the hobgoblin that had reached the low-tier Black Iron level appeared and was impaled like a candied haw by Mikhail's sword. Its body was left at the cave entrance, and then, no more hobgoblins appeared from there.

And not long after that.

"Sir, it seems... something is poking my butt." The Minotaur Butler's bull-like face turned slightly red. As a well-mannered Minotaur, saying the word "butt" in front of everyone made him feel somewhat ashamed.

"Many?"

"What, sir?"

"Are there many things poking your butt?"

"Not many, sir. It seems there are, uh, three."

"Oh, then let's wait a bit longer."

"..."

"Sir, there are now, uh, five things poking me."

"Can you endure it, Old Niu?"

"I can, sir. Their attacks aren't strong."

"Then let's wait a bit longer."

"..."

"Sir, I've lost count of how many things there are. However, one of them seems particularly strong. My Great Yak hide armor is about to give out."

"Prepare yourself. When I count to three, you will charge forward. Moa, Mosen, the moment Old Niu charges out, you will throw Mind Storms inside."

"...!"