Terrifying Woman

Gebu was filled with regret—no matter how much he planned, the mask's duration had to expire at that very moment.

He quickly took off the mask and put it back on, transforming back into his half-human form.

"Don't run away, hostage... Gem... little kid! I'm Hao Lin... a good person!"

But no matter how much Gebu called out, the little girl ignored him, didn't turn her head, and ran towards the camp gate in a flash.

Gebu slapped his thigh. He wasn't afraid the little girl would run away—there was only one exit, and his own people were guarding it, so the little girl couldn't escape.

He was afraid that the woman with the knife would see the ring and he would have to split it with her!

Thinking of this, Gebu panicked and ran out after the little girl—first turning back to cancel the Silent Illusion, otherwise he would be exposed if the dwarf and the swordswoman saw him!

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The girl clutched the ring tightly and ran for her life, but after only a few steps she saw a bunch of kobolds baring their teeth and claws as they charged toward her.

"Eek!!!" the girl screamed. She was caught between a rock and a hard place.

Behind the fleeing kobolds, a woman's figure appeared like a ghost.

"Don't run away, you little bastards, let me have some fun with you!"

The woman with the sword stood in the middle of the valley. She shook the cloth wrapped around her back, and a bag of weapons spun in the air. She swept her hands together in the air—her left hand grabbed three short javelins, and she tucked a short spear under her arm. With her right hand, she lifted a spinning dagger in the air and, using the centrifugal force of the dagger, whoosh!

A slower kobold let out a short scream as the dagger was completely embedded in its back. The immense momentum knocked the kobold down, causing it to roll three times on the ground, its tongue lolling out, and it died.

Seeing their companion's miserable state, the kobolds beside them shoved and jostled as they fled—the swordswoman calmly took two steps forward, switching a javelin from her left hand to her right, raising it to draw it back like a slender black bow—

"Whoosh!!"

The javelin flicked its tongue and twisted in the air as it flew forward!

puff!puff!

The two kobolds ran one after the other, and were both pierced through and pinned to the ground at an angle!

The kobold, its stomach pierced, stared in horror at its wound, clutching the javelin with both hands, trying to push itself off—it struggled for a few seconds, then gave up, its limbs going limp and hanging down on the wooden pole.

There were six kobolds left. Seeing that running away would expose their backs to the woman, they stopped. They shakily gripped their simple spears, babbling and shouting to encourage themselves, and charged at the swordswoman.

The swordswoman chuckled.

She planted a javelin in the ground, held a short spear in one hand and the remaining javelin in the other, and prepared to wait for the kobolds to approach.

The kobolds scattered and formed a semicircle, surrounding the swordswoman from 180 degrees. The swordswoman remained calm, observing as she retreated, always keeping her back facing the narrow exit of the valley.

At that moment, the dwarf emerged from the valley, carrying the crossbow. He was startled to see a group of kobolds.

He raised his crossbow, aimed for a long time, but hesitated to pull the trigger.

"Uh...it's up to you! Dofen!"

The dwarf put down the crossbow and crawled back inside.

The swordswoman had no interest in paying him any attention. Just then, the kobold shouted and thrust two spears at her from the left and right!

The mercenary took a step back to the left, dodging the attack range of the spear on the right. At the same time, she used her javelin and her wrist guard to form an angle, firmly blocking the spear on the left. The kobold on the left could neither stab nor pull back. With a forceful movement, the woman pulled the spear and the kobold in front of her, and then used the short spear in her other hand to pierce the kobold through!

The kobold's screams startled the other enemies, and the swordswoman seized the opportunity to use the pierced kobold as a human shield as she charged towards the kobold's spear formation!

These kobolds had never seen anything like this before, and their instinctive thrusts all landed on their own companions. The swordswoman pushed and threw the short spear with the meat shield stuck in it, and threw the javelin in her other hand a short distance forward, directly piercing the throat of a kobold!

"Roar—roar—" The kobold grabbed the javelin around its neck and fell backward.

The swordswoman was unarmed when a spear came thrusting at her! She dodged, letting the spear tip roll across her breastplate, and spun halfway around to close the distance. She drew her short sword from her waist—the whole sequence of movements was complete, and she was right in front of the kobold's face, slitting its throat with a single strike!

In no time, the remaining kobolds were reduced by half.

Can this war still be fought? No, it can't.

The three kobolds took off running.

The swordswoman wasn't about to let them get away so easily. She picked up the javelin stuck in the ground and gave chase.

The woman had long legs, while the dog-headed man had short legs. In just a few steps, the dog caught up with one of them, stabbed it along the collarbone with a short sword, and killed it instantly.

The remaining two kobolds ran a little further away, and the woman swung her hand to pick up the javelin—the two kobolds began to move in a serpentine pattern.

Hmm... plan ahead.

"Walk!"

The javelin traced a smooth arc in the air.

fly--

fly--

puff.

The kobold, zigzagging on the ground, bumped right into the javelin. Its skull was pierced from behind, and an eyeball was stuck out of its eye socket from the javelin tip.

One of the kobolds fell to the ground, leaving only one.

The kobold ran right in front of the girl who was standing still. The girl screamed and tried to run away, but the kobold pulled out a small dagger and grabbed her—and the girl kicked it in the groin!

Bang!

The girl clutched her ankle and hopped around in place.

A broken roof tile fell from the kobold's crotch—it makes perfect sense that this was a gray kobold carrying a tool for his work.

Seeing that he had nowhere to go, the little guy grabbed the girl, put a dagger to her neck, and took her hostage.

Gebu arrived just then, and upon seeing the situation, he hid himself—the kobold and the girl were a dozen or so steps away from him, neither far nor close.

"Oh dear, this is tricky," Gebu thought. At this distance, attempting to backstab this kobold... hmm... is a bit risky. What if he hurts the hostage? He should assess the situation first.

It seemed oblivious to itself, its entire attention focused on that terrifying human woman.

The terrifying human woman spoke:

"You little bastard, you've even taken hostages now?"

"You... don't come any closer, girl, stop right there!"

It spoke broken Common, its dagger trembling as it drew a thin line across the girl's neck.

The girl trembled, Gebu was nervous, but the woman didn't care at all.

"Kobolds, if you want to take hostages, someone has to care whether the hostages live or die."

After saying that, she lifted her leg and walked forward.

"No...don't come any closer!"

The mercenary ignored him and continued walking forward, only ten steps away from the kobold.

"The girl is dead! She's dead!"

"You dare!"

The female mercenary suddenly snapped, her eyebrows standing up like swords!

The kobold was startled—its body trembled, its hand went limp, revealing a slight opening, which the swordswoman was about to exploit…

"Get out of the way! Leave it to Dulin!"

The dwarf's voice suddenly came from behind the woman, and the sound of a bowstring rang out!

The mercenary's fighting instincts made her subconsciously turn her body to the side—and there she saw Dulin draw his exquisite mechanical crossbow, the dwarf's eyes blazing behind the brass scope!

Gears clashed, bowstrings whistled, bolts flew like rainbows, shadows followed the sound...

"In the name of Ziggurat!"

The dwarf's growl pierced the sky!

The kobold and the girl stared wide-eyed—the crossbow bolt was hurtling towards them.

"Ugh!!!"

Then it pierced straight into the mercenary's left buttock!