God Agent: All Hail The Great Kobold

___ Southern Gate ___

Loki stood at the helm of the battlement, staring toward the northern gate with a cold gleam in his eyes. Ever since he had heard the war horns coming from that part of the battlefield, he had been restlessly waiting for a possible attack from the south, but none came. The silence surrounding his position was almost unbearable because everyone knew that the enemy was already pushing towards their walls, yet nothing was happening at their gate.

Loki had spent the last several minutes shifting his weight from one foot to another, his fingers repeatedly tightening around the shaft of his spear as he waited for the moment he could finally join the fight.

He hated standing here while the sounds of battle came from somewhere else, especially knowing that Crow was facing the very enemy responsible for the destruction of their clan.

What followed was the sound of volleys of arrows being released, their sharp whistles carrying across the village from the direction of the northern gate. Each volley kept Loki on edge, and occasionally the sound of a goblin’s cry of pain reached his ears, making his face tighten.

He could not tell what was happening from this distance, but judging by the frequency of the arrows, the battle was becoming increasingly fierce. Every instinct told him to move, yet Molu had ordered him to remain at the southern gate until they knew where the enemy’s main force was attacking. Loki could only grit his teeth and obey.

And then it came.

Booom!

The sound of the northern gate being blown open echoed throughout the village, making Loki’s face twist with rage as he finally confirmed that the attack was truly coming from the north. There was no longer any reason to remain here. Whatever happened at the northern gate, Crow needed reinforcements immediately, and Loki refused to sit here while his people fought for their lives.

"Dismount the battlement. All forces, we are heading north to assist Crow!" He growled, and everyone nodded without hesitation.

The soldiers immediately began climbing down from the wall, while those who had been positioned along the nearby defenses followed. One by one they jumped from the battlement and began charging north, disappearing into the village seconds later as their footsteps echoed against the packed earth.

However, even then Mi’ya did not move.

She remained near the southern gate, her eyes fixed upon the darkness beyond the walls. Her ears were perked up as she carefully listened to everything around her.

The others remained nearby, but nobody questioned her decision. They had been instructed to wait until the enemy was completely committed to the northern battle, and Mi’ya was making absolutely certain that was the case.

Five minutes passed with nothing happening. Then, from the northern side of the village, the roar came.

"RAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Mi’ya’s eyes narrowed firmly as the sound rolled across the settlement. She listened for several seconds, judging the distance and intensity of the battle before finally turning toward Gruk.

"Now?" She asked, and Gruk nodded.

"Let’s get to work!" Gruk said, and everyone nodded.

Their team emerged from the darkness carrying dry haystacks as they approached the southern wall. Bigi and Bruk carried the bulk of the material, their massive frames barely slowing beneath the weight, while Mi’ya, Gruk and Tark carried smaller bundles.

They moved quickly but carefully, keeping themselves close to the wall as they began piling the dry hay at its base. The objective was not merely to burn the gate. They needed the fire to spread along the wooden defenses and make the entire southern side of the village too dangerous to use as an escape route. Once the northern battle became intense enough, they would set everything ablaze and trap the Ashmork forces inside their own village.

Each member of the group carried several stones with fireball spell runes carved into them. Ka’z had prepared them beforehand specifically for this purpose, and once enough hay had been placed along the wall, they would activate the runes and let the flames do the rest.

Mi’ya occasionally glanced toward the northern side of the village as she worked, listening to the distant battle while silently wondering how Ka’z was doing. She trusted him completely, but that did not mean she could stop herself from worrying.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Ka’z was not the only one studying his opponent.

Crow stared at him with deep intrigue, curious to learn more about the young kobold who had managed to defeat Loki, a warrior Crow himself had failed to defeat despite training alongside him for years. The difference between Ka’z and the enemies Crow had fought before was becoming clearer with every passing second.

The kobold did not fight like a beast relying purely on instinct. He watched, adapted and immediately recognized weaknesses. More importantly, he possessed an absurd combination of abilities that should not have belonged to someone his age.

Crow watched the blood from the corpses that had been knocked from the battlement slowly snake its way across the ground toward Ka’z. The blood rose from the earth in thin crimson streams before sinking into his body, causing the kobold’s muscles to bulge as his already intimidating physical strength increased further. Crow’s eyes narrowed as he watched the process carefully, committing every detail to memory.

His gaze then shifted toward Ashin Grim, which remained supported against Ka’z’s firm shoulder. The blade was completely enveloped in blue light, electricity buzzing violently around its edge as faint sparks occasionally jumped from the weapon and disappeared into the darkness.

’Lightning Cutter.’ Crow frowned.

Loki had not been lying. Ka’z truly had access to both Orthodox and Unorthodox magic. Even stranger was the fact that he had used Grash’s Wind Rush to reach the gate so quickly. Crow knew that spell well. It was one of the techniques that had made Grash such a terrifying warrior, allowing him to close distances that most opponents believed were safe. Yet Ka’z had reproduced it with frightening ease.

That was what bothered Crow the most.

When he had first begun his journey into magic, he had dabbled with Orthodox magic before eventually deciding to settle with Unorthodox magic. After a few months into making that decision, he had never been able to use Orthodox magic again, even when using magic weapons.

"Or is he just that talented that he was born with an extreme affinity to both Unorthodox magic, making his control dark spells look like that of a veteran?" Crow mumbled under his breath.

Regardless of what the explanation was, it did not matter right now. The enemy standing in front of him was real, and eliminating him was Crow’s duty. Whatever secrets Ka’z possessed could be considered later, assuming there was a later.

"Archers, fire. The rest, retreat!" Crow’s eyes hardened with resolve as he gave the order.

Buzz!

As practiced, the three columns of enemies blocking Ka’z’s path began taking three steps backward in their various formations while the archers behind them drew their bows. Dozens of arrows rose into the air as the bowstrings were released, filling the battlefield with a chorus of sharp whistles.

Crow had started this war with fifteen warriors. He had lost three during the fighting but had gained twenty reinforcement troops. Fifteen of those reinforcements had been used to form the defensive lines now standing before Ka’z, while the remaining five were kept on standby to close any gaps should one of the three formations collapse. His original twelve troops stood behind the defensive lines with their bows aimed directly at Ka’z.

Their strength had been specifically preserved for this moment.

Crow intended to overwhelm the kobold with numbers, forcing him into a position where he would have no choice but to retreat or die.

Thud!

Crow’s eyes widened in surprise as Ka’z took a firm step forward. The kobold swung his axe outward before allowing both hands to slide down toward the edge of the hilt. His grip tightened as he allowed the weight and momentum of the weapon to carry his body into a deadly spin. The movement rapidly accelerated, and the surrounding air began twisting violently around him.

"Vael Mael!!!!!"

Wind Magic: Wind Storm!

Crow’s gaze tightened, but he did not panic, and neither did his men. Seeing Grash’s spell being replicated by an enemy was shocking, but they had trained specifically to deal with the Wind Storm. They had watched Grash use it countless times, and that familiarity gave them an advantage.

"Retreat!!!"

Crow and his men immediately retreated in the various directions they had been positioned while maintaining their formation. The weakness of the Wind Storm was that although the user became a moving tornado, the spell was not fast enough to catch targets that deliberately fled from it.

Crow had learned this through years of watching Grash fight, and he knew exactly how much distance they needed to create.

They watched as the violent winds knocked arrows away and tore apart anything caught within their reach, but none of them panicked. The moment they were far enough away, they nocked new arrows and aimed toward the raging tornado. They simply had to wait for Ka’z’s momentum to die down.

Fortunately, it did not take long.

The hurricane gradually began losing its force, the violent winds becoming weaker as Ka’z’s spinning body slowed. The goblins immediately pulled their bowstrings tight, waiting for the exact moment the storm collapsed.

Swoosh!

As soon as the hurricane disappeared, a new batch of twelve arrows shot toward Ka’z. He had already noticed something was wrong, and his eyes narrowed as his battle axe began moving through his hands.

’They found a counter?’

He was more surprised than pissed or worried. His fingers moved skillfully as he spun the battle axe within his grip before swinging it violently. Several arrows were deflected by the weapon, their trajectories being thrown aside, but a few slipped through the gaps.

Thud!

One struck his right shoulder, another struck his chest and the last struck his biceps.

Ka’z’s body jerked slightly from the impact, but before he could properly react, Crow was already in front of him with one of his axes raised for an attack.

Ka’z had not sensed him closing the distance.

His eyes widened as he immediately raised the hilt of his own axe to defend himself, but the blade of Crow’s axe suddenly vanished beneath the moonlight. One of the runes carved into the weapon glowed, and the metal blade disappeared as though darkness itself had swallowed it.

Ka’z’s pupils contracted.

"Shadow Magic: Shadow Blade!" Crow roared as he blitzed past Ka’z.

The invisible blade passed through the space beside the kobold before Crow moved beyond him and landed several steps away, immediately assuming a cool stance. The technique had been executed so quickly that Ka’z barely had time to understand what had happened.

Whoosh.

Silence fell across the battlefield as both sides stood completely still. For the first time that night, neither side moved.