"Are you getting old? Going deaf? Is your brain giving out? Can't you understand plain speech?
I fucking told you that you were running in the wrong direction, and you just kept charging ahead like you didn't give a damn.
Now all the fucking pursuers are here. If I don't make it out, I'll haunt your ass into your next life!"
"Can you shut that filthy mouth of yours?
I'm fucking sick of you yapping in my ear. So I didn't listen to you, took the wrong road, wasted some time, and drew the green skins here. So what?
Do you have to keep going on and on about it?"
"Do you fucking hear yourself!?"
"Who the fuck knew you could actually see through illusions?"
The sounds of their argument were painfully familiar to Kuru.
Although he couldn't understand why these two humans cared so much about "mothers"—kobolds never fussed over such things.
But just as he recognized the two people outside the tent, the flap was hastily thrown aside, and Tang Qi and Black Snake practically tumbled inside.
Several arrows followed right over their heads, punching holes in the tent roof. Fortunately, they ducked in time and let the arrows fall to the ground.
"You actually didn't run away?"
Even Tang Qi hadn't expected that he and the kobold would ever meet again.
One look at the mage lying in a pool of blood told him what had happened.
"I told you to get the blade, and you stayed hidden in the tent, waiting for him to come back?"
Kuru was a clever kobold who understood his own weakness.
He knew that even if he escaped, he might not find his way through the treacherous forest or survive.
But no matter how clever he was, his nature remained deeply rooted.
Kobolds were naturally cunning and cowardly.
But they also held grudges.
For the sake of survival, they simply tended to bury their hatred deep inside.
They lay low as their resentment simmered, waiting for a chance to take revenge.
His chance had come.
But he had inevitably paid a price for it—
Now there was no time left to escape.
No one gave them a chance to regroup.
Two green-skinned beastfolk wielding axes in both hands hacked through the tent flap and charged inside. Their faces resembled pigs, with tusks that almost reached their cheekbones.
They were the advance sentries Black Snake had run into after losing his way in the fog.
Their muscles were thick and knotted, and their axes whipped up fierce gusts.
There was no technique, only brute strength.
To Tang Qi, their attacks almost looked like wild flailing.
They didn't care whether there were two people in front of them or three "people."
Their scarlet eyes seemed to harbor balls of flame.
Those flames burned away what little reason they possessed, leaving them intent only on tearing apart everything in sight.
"Throw me the blade!"
The instant Black Snake demanded it, Kuru tossed him the curved blade.
He knew he had only managed to kill New Star through his painstaking ambush.
In terms of strength, he was no match for anyone.
If they wanted to break out of the encirclement, Black Snake was the only fighter he could rely on.
The two axes swept in full circles, howling through the air.
Black Snake's back bent as supplely as a serpent's, arching into a bridge and easily avoiding them.
As he flipped over, his toe kicked the curved blade's hilt. By the time he straightened up, the black blade had traced a circle in midair and landed securely in his hand like an acrobatic trick.
He dared not waste a moment. His hand rose, and the blade fell.
The curved blade was black as ink, its edge concealed in the dim night.
The beastfolk's eyes barely kept up with his blade.
But his body couldn't react in time.
The blade drew across his solid muscles as though slicing through paper as thin as a cicada's wing.
Blood gushed in a column, yet not even a speck of dust marked the blade.
Tang Qi's vision was limited in the darkness, but [Alertness] warned him of the other beastfolk's approaching axe.
His survival instinct drove him to lean backward, and the swinging hand axe passed mere inches from him.
Even so, he felt a sharp sting across the bridge of his nose.
Warm blood flowed to the corner of his mouth. The wind alone had sliced his skin open.
The beastfolk brought both axes together and swung down as though splitting wood, about to bury them in Tang Qi's chest.
The curved blade slit his throat first.
He fell before his axes did.
"This blade really is better."
Black Snake hefted "Snake Kiss" in his hand, murmuring to himself.
Beastfolk skin was naturally rough and hard as steel.
An ordinary curved blade would probably have curled its edge the moment it struck their skin.
He instinctively reached a hand toward Tang Qi.
By the time he realized what he was doing and tried to pull back, Tang Qi had already used his arm to haul himself upright.
Tang Qi didn't thank him, but his words were no longer quite so heated.
"From now on, listen to me."
"Since when do you get to order me—"
Remembering how foolishly he had let the illusion deceive him earlier, Black Snake coughed twice.
"Just this once."
Now that he had taken charge, Tang Qi knew there was no time to waste and got straight to the point.
"Kuru, take that mage's wand and create an image of someone walking outside."
Without a spellcasting implement earlier, Kuru had been nothing but dead weight. Now they had to make use of every resource available.
Kuru had already stripped New Star's corpse clean. Holding the arm-length wand, he quickly chanted an incantation in deep, guttural tones.
With a flash of magical light, an illusion identical to Tang Qi appeared out of thin air before them.
[Silent Illusion], the only First Ring spell Kuru knew.
He sent "Tang Qi" walking out of the tent.
Barely two breaths later, a furious roar sounded outside, accompanied by the rush of a swinging great axe.
"Now!"
Worried that more pursuers were lying in wait outside the tent, Tang Qi had used the illusion to buy them a brief opening.
Black Snake rushed out first and killed the beastfolk outside with a single slash before he could recover from his great axe's swing.
Tang Qi followed close behind with Kuru, trying to work out their escape route as Black Snake cleared the way—
Only to see the remaining goblins from earlier and several advance beastfolk already blocking their path, moving to surround them.
"Stay fucking close!"
Black Snake clenched his teeth. His black blade slithered across the goblins' necks like a snake, leaving spurting columns of blood wherever it passed.
He also kicked a rusty curved blade lying on the ground toward Tang Qi's feet.
[Alertness] rang like a bell, and cold sweat soaked Tang Qi's back.
He dove forward, rolled, and scooped up the blade in one motion, barely raising it in time as a goblin's blade swung down behind him.
With a clang, sparks burst from the blades, momentarily stopping their attacks from behind.
A sharp, rasping sound unique to the dragon language rang out, and deep blue ice crystals instantly streaked through the night, striking a goblin squarely in the abdomen.
The spreading cold froze his blood. As the goblin slowed, Tang Qi had no time to consider anything else.
Relying almost entirely on muscle memory, he followed through with a swing of his curved blade.
Squelch—
The curved blade struck the goblin's chest, killing him cleanly.
But Tang Qi had applied the force incorrectly, lodging the edge firmly in his breastbone.
"Fuck!"
Tang Qi tried to pull the blade free, but in such a desperate situation, his enemies weren't about to give him time to react!
As he tugged at his blade, a silvery edge caught the firelight and flashed coldly!
[Alertness] told him exactly where the danger was coming from.
But Tang Qi wasn't quick enough, agile enough, or experienced enough.
He couldn't deal with the approaching blade as calmly as Black Snake.
It was too late to dodge!
"Move—"
The moment Black Snake realized Tang Qi was in trouble, he had no choice but to rush back.
He darted over, slashed across the back of the goblin's neck, then kicked away the corpse trapping Tang Qi's blade. He couldn't help cursing.
"Idiot! Don't fucking swing a curved blade like an axe! Draw the edge across them! A draw cut, understand!?"
Mastering an axe took more than brute strength.
But even wielding it that way was simple, direct, and effective.
A curved blade had advantages of its own.
It was much lighter and more versatile, often achieving twice the results with half the effort when used properly.
But it required extremely precise control of distance, and both tips had to be used to their fullest to bring out its full potential.
Another goblin lunged at them. To keep the novice Tang Qi from making another mistake, Black Snake twisted at the waist, turned his hips, and swung his arm.
With textbook form, he traced a curve with his blade, sliding it precisely across the goblin's throat.
Tang Qi understood it in his head, but his movements remained unavoidably stiff.
Fortunately, he had [Alertness] helping him. Otherwise, the goblins would already have hacked him to death.
The battlefield was always the best teacher.
Black Snake blocked most of the attacks for him, while Kuru slipped in an occasional Frozen Ray.
With the three of them working together, Tang Qi actually felt increasingly comfortable with the curved blade in his hand.
"The three of us seem pretty capable, huh?"
Black Snake's mouth twitched, and he nearly lost his grip on the hilt—
If this bastard weren't the only one who could see through the fog, I'd have already cut my way out and escaped!
Now, saddled with two burdens, he found the pursuing forces' encirclement leaving them barely able to move.
Even as the advance troops fell one by one during the pursuit, the beastfolk's battle cries grew clearer and louder.
"Hoo, hah!"
"Hoo, hah!"
"Hoo, hah!"
Clamorous footsteps pounded the ground. Leaves trembled on the verge of falling, as though the earth itself were breathing in rapid gasps.
The towering shadow hidden in the fog finally revealed its true form as it slowly advanced.
Tang Qi was about to turn and look.
[Alertness] suddenly sounded.
Two dull, explosive booms rang out in quick succession.
Tang Qi felt danger coming, but the impact was faster than his nerves—
"Oh no..."
Bang!
His head snapped back as his entire body was hurled through the air.
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