BAM!
With a dull thud, John's Iron Sword viciously struck the Bloodscale Dogman's shoulder.
However, the expected sound of tearing flesh and blood never came. Instead, a dazzling cluster of sparks erupted.
The edge of the Iron Sword shrieked against the scales, leaving only a shallow white scratch.
The force of the blow made John's hand go numb, and he staggered back two steps with a look of horror in his eyes.
As a battle-hardened veteran, this was far from his first encounter with a Low-Level Demon like a Kobold.
Dozens of Kobolds had fallen to his blade, but he had never seen a monster like the one before him.
"Damn it, this monster's hide is harder than iron!"
Red-nosed Tom cursed, lunging in from the side and thrusting his sword straight for the creature's throat.
But the Bloodscale Dogman merely tilted its head slightly, letting the Iron Sword scrape across its neck.
Sparks flew as scale grated against steel, but it remained completely unharmed.
"ROAR!"
The Bloodscale Dogman let out a low growl and swung its thick arm in a wide arc. Tom hastily raised his Shield to block.
But the Power of the blow was far beyond his imagination, and the Oak Shield instantly shattered.
Tom was sent flying, crashing heavily against the wall of a burning thatched hut and violently spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"Laine! Get behind it!"
With no time to check on Tom's injuries, John bellowed an order. His remaining subordinate understood immediately, darting behind the Bloodscale Dogman in a single bound.
"Bastard! Over here!"
John feigned a frontal assault while his left hand stealthily reached for the Short Bow at his waist.
The moment he drew its attention, the rust-spotted Giant Axe was already whistling through the air as it chopped down at his head.
In the nick of time, John dropped into a roll, his right hand now reaching for the Short Bow at his waist.
Before he had even fully steadied himself, he had drawn the bow and nocked an Arrow, the entire sequence of movements as smooth as flowing water.
SWOOSH!
The Arrow shot through the air, aimed precisely at the monster's left eye.
But the Bloodscale Dogman just flicked its head aside. The arrowhead scraped past its eyelid, striking a spark on the hard Scale before bouncing off harmlessly.
'Even its eyes have scales?'
John's heart sank.
His best Archery couldn't even wound the monster's vital point!
"I'm in!"
Seeing that the monster hadn't noticed him, Laine, who had successfully circled behind it, roared and launched his attack.
But just as his sword tip touched the scales, the Bloodscale Dogman whipped around as if it had eyes in the back of its head, its Giant Axe swinging out horizontally.
CRACK!
Laine's Chain Armor was like paper before the axe blade. His sternum caved in as he was cleaved across the waist and sent flying, a bloody arc trailing through the air.
John's pupils contracted.
Laine was the most skilled among them. He had just cut down three Kobolds in the chaotic battle without taking a scratch, yet he couldn't even withstand a single blow from the Bloodscale Dogman!
"John! Let's retreat! We can't hurt it at all!"
Tom struggled to his feet, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his voice filled with Fear.
John clenched his jaw, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings.
Burning houses, corpses lying every which way, and the ordinary Kobolds gradually closing in from the distance.
They were already surrounded.
"There's no escape."
John tightened his grip on his Iron Sword, his voice low and resolute.
"If we don't kill it, none of us will make it out alive."
......
......
Meanwhile, in the ruins on the other side, Gary was overcome with despair.
"Let's use the chaos to escape!"
Gary's voice trembled as he continued, staring at the Bloodscale Dogman in the distance, which was at least half again as tall as a grown man.
"Even those well-equipped Regular Soldiers are no match for it. We..."
"There's no escape..." Roland said, his eyes fixed on the Bloodscale Dogman in the distance, which looked like a Demon God. His right hand gripped his sword hilt tightly.
Beside him, Peyton nodded with a grim expression.
"Gary, you saw it when we were escaping earlier. There are countless Kobolds to the south, dozens at the very least. This route has the fewest of them, and..."
"And the Kobolds from the south are already starting to converge on this position!"
Roland finished the thought, taking several deep breaths to quickly recover the stamina he had lost.
He then rose swiftly to his feet. While surveying the positions of the surrounding Kobolds, he spoke in a low voice.
"This is the only escape route. If we want to get out of here alive, our only option is to try and defeat this Mutant Dogman blocking our path."
"Do you have a plan, then?"
Along the way, Peyton had come to deeply admire Roland's keen combat instincts.
Roland was always able to perceive and cleverly exploit details that even a battle-hardened old Mercenary like him had missed.
It was thanks to this extraordinary ability that they had escaped one perilous situation after another, allowing them to retreat safely to this location.
Now that he was injured and his movement was restricted, he was naturally even more inclined to follow Roland's lead.
"I noticed earlier that while this Mutant Dogman's Power is astonishing, its movements are even slower and clumsier than a normal Kobold's. And..."
In the clearing ahead, John was using his agile movements to skirmish with the Bloodscale Dogman.
Fighting back the waves of dizziness in his head, Roland gritted his teeth and activated his [Concentration] Trait.
A few seconds later, when he opened his eyes again, his gaze was clear and his voice was steady and firm.
"On the left side of that Mutant Dogman's back, there's a small patch that isn't covered by scales."
"If we can exploit that opening and land a fatal blow, even if we can't kill it on the spot, we can at least wound it severely. At that point, dead or alive, we can seize the opportunity to escape."
"Alright!"
Fighting off the dizziness from his blood loss, Peyton staggered to his feet and said, his face pale.
"I'll create that opportunity for you. The rest is up to you."
With a low roar, Peyton dragged his injured body out from behind their cover.
The eyes of this old Mercenary, who had always cherished his life, now shone with resolute light.
THUNK!
Following the dull sound, Peyton's Iron Sword lodged in a gap between the scales at the Kobold's knee joint, letting out a grating scrape that set one's teeth on edge.
But the Bloodscale Dogman didn't react at all. It just swiveled its bloodshot eyes to lock onto this reckless human, its mouth splitting into a grin that revealed jagged fangs.
The expression was clearly a smile.
Seeing that Peyton had drawn the Bloodscale Dogman's attention, Roland didn't hesitate and strode forward.
At the same time, he roared at the somewhat dazed John.
"Shoot an arrow!"
Although he wasn't entirely sure what was happening, upon hearing the shout, John instinctively rolled to the side and dropped to one knee.
The fully drawn Short Bow groaned as if under an immense strain.
"Bastard! Over here!"
Peyton suddenly exploded into action.
The experienced Mercenary had precisely found a gap where the scales connected.
With a twist of the hilt, the sharp blade actually managed to pierce half an inch deep.
Struck by the blow, the Bloodscale Dogman let out a pained howl, its thick tail sweeping across.
Seeing this, Peyton hurriedly ducked, narrowly avoiding the powerful strike.
At the same time, the sound of something slicing through the air rang out.
SWOOSH!
An Arrow shot toward the monster's right eye with the speed of a lightning bolt.
But the Bloodscale Dogman simply swung its weapon again, completely ignoring the Arrow. Just as before, it closed its eyes, attempting to once again use its scales to protect its weak point.
'An opportunity!'
His [Concentration] Trait was pushed to its absolute limit.
The world suddenly slowed down in Roland's eyes.
The spinning Arrow cutting through the air, the trembling of the monster's muscles as it raised its arm, even the trajectory of a distant Spark as it fell—everything was clearly visible.
His right hand automatically gripped his sword hilt, and the opening stance of the Lion Swordsmanship came to him as naturally as breathing.
"ROAR!"
The instant the Arrow scraped past the Bloodscale Dogman's eyelid, Roland moved.
Within three steps, his blade was already drawn.
The sharp edge of the sword glinted coldly in the bright moonlight.
The killing art of the Lion Swordsmanship was displayed to its fullest in this moment.
By the time the Bloodscale Dogman sensed the danger, it was too late.
Roland's sword tip precisely pierced the patch of pinkish soft flesh on its back.
PSHIK!
After a muffled sound, fresh red blood gushed out like a spring.
"AWOOOO!"
The Kobold let out a blood-curdling howl and swung its Giant Axe wildly.
Roland knew such a wound was far from fatal, so he immediately retreated several steps to create distance.
"We need to hurry... huh?"
He was just about to call for Peyton and the others to retreat when the sight before him made him swallow the rest of his words.
The blood spraying from the Bloodscale Dogman's back turned into scorching Flame in mid-air before it could even hit the ground.
Accompanied by the acrid smell of burning, the Flame swept inward, instantly engulfing the Kobold's body.
In the blink of an eye, the ferocious Bloodscale Dogman that had been so menacing moments before was reduced to ash, wailing amidst the roaring blaze.
Just as the Flame was about to die out, Roland narrowed his eyes.
Something seemed to be faintly shimmering within the ashes.
It was a tiny Crystal glowing with an eerie red light, flickering in and out of sight among the embers, pulsing faintly like a living heart.