God Agent: All Hail The Great Kobold

"Yes!" Kia threw her fist into the air in jubilation as she witnessed the beautifully executed combination delivered by Crow.

Her eyes were practically sparkling with excitement as she watched the two combatants stand several meters apart, and for the first time in her life, she had witnessed a battle on this scale.

She had heard countless stories from Varg about powerful warriors, great battles, and the dangers that came with fighting someone stronger than oneself, but seeing it with her own eyes was an entirely different experience.

The speed, the coordination, the way Crow had deliberately used the retreating formations to create an opening before striking with Shadow Blade had left her genuinely impressed.

At this point, she couldn’t help but feel that she had made the right decision by refusing to leave with the civilians and coming here to assist Crow and the three shaman trainees Varg had left behind.

She had initially been worried that her magic would be needed, but after witnessing Crow’s performance, she was beginning to think that perhaps they might not need her assistance after all.

Her smile remained on her face for another moment before slowly fading as an uncomfortable thought entered her mind.

Something was wrong.

She could not explain why at first, but the more she looked at Ka’z, the more obvious it became that something about the scene did not make sense.

The arrows that had struck Ka’z were lying scattered across the ground around him. Kia’s eyes widened as she stared at them, and she suddenly realized what she had failed to notice earlier. None of them had actually pierced his skin.

The arrows had struck him, but instead of remaining embedded in his body, they had simply fallen to the ground as though they had struck something far harder than flesh.

Her excitement vanished completely, replaced by a growing sense of dread as she looked back toward Ka’z. The young kobold was still standing.

Thud!

Molu was breathing heavily as he arrived at the battlefield, his short sword hanging from one hand while his other arm rested briefly against his knee as he tried to catch his breath.

Behind him came the remaining group of forty goblins who represented almost their entire remaining fighting force, excluding the fifteen warriors still under Loki’s command.

They had rushed here the moment they heard the battle intensify, expecting to find Crow facing the entire kobold force at the northern gate. Yet Molu’s gaze immediately shifted toward the battlements when he noticed the four red cloaked figures standing above them, and his exhausted expression instantly twisted into one of fury as he recognized what was happening.

"This bitch!" he spat through clenched teeth.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Kia was not the only one who had noticed that something was terribly wrong.

The realization spread through the goblin warriors almost simultaneously as their eyes settled upon Ka’z’s body. Jagged scales had risen across his skin, forming a natural layer of protection that covered his body from head to toe.

Some were large enough to resemble small blades, their edges catching the moonlight as crimson energy continued to circulate beneath them. Yet what disturbed the goblins even more was the expression on Ka’z’s face.

There was no pain, no hesitation, and no sign that the barrage of arrows or Crow’s previous attack had done anything meaningful to him. Instead, his lips slowly curled into a twisted smile.

Crow stared down at the blade of his short axe with a cold frown. There was not even a smear of blood on it. His fingers tightened around the weapon, but his attention was drawn to the terrible numbness spreading through his hand and arm.

The impact had sent a shock through his bones, leaving his entire hand tingling as though he had struck solid iron rather than flesh.

Slowly, Crow looked over his shoulder, and his gaze narrowed as he took in the jagged spikes protruding from Ka’z’s body. A realization immediately struck him.

He remembered Loki’s warning about Ka’z being capable of hardening his scales. At the time, Crow had considered the information almost irrelevant compared to the much more alarming news that the kobold could use both Orthodox and Unorthodox magic, possessed Words of Power, and wielded Ashin Grim. Those abilities had seemed far more dangerous than something as simple as hardened scales.

Now, however, as he felt the numbness in his hand and stared at the untouched skin beneath those scales, he realized that this should have been his number one concern from the very beginning. If his strongest attack could not even cut Ka’z’s skin, then everything else became considerably more difficult.

"That was a nice teamwork, but it’s all useless if you can cut through my scales." Ka’z looked over his shoulder and spoke with a hint of mockery in his voice.

His tone was remarkably calm despite the battle raging around him, almost as though Crow’s attack had been nothing more than an interesting experiment.

The statement immediately caused several goblins nearby to tense, because they could hear the confidence behind it. Ka’z was not bluffing. He genuinely believed that none of them could hurt him.

Swish!

Crow’s ear suddenly perked up at the familiar whistling sound of an incoming arrow. His body reacted before his mind had even fully processed the danger, and he immediately ducked to his left.

The arrow still found its mark, striking him in the shoulder and knocking him off balance. Crow grunted as his body twisted from the impact before he crashed onto the ground.

Yet the moment he hit the dirt, one of the runes carved across his body glowed with a faint dark radiance. Darkness gathered around him like smoke, swallowing his body before he vanished completely from sight.

Ka’z’s eyes followed the fading darkness for a moment before his expression became one of genuine appreciation.

"Shadow Veil spell... Impressive move set."

He could not help but compliment, recognizing the technique as an effective defensive spell that allowed Crow to disappear before another attack could find him.

The compliment had barely left Ka’z’s mouth when another barrage of arrows descended upon the goblins. The projectiles came from above with frightening precision, striking the unsuspecting archers who had remained behind the defensive formations.

Eight goblins were killed in the first volley alone, arrows piercing eyes, throats, and exposed portions of their bodies before their corpses collapsed across the ground.

The remaining archers looked upward in panic, only to finally see the source of the attack. Five kobolds stood atop the battlement, each with quivers filled with arrows and weapons already drawn. They were positioned above the goblins, giving them an unobstructed view of the battlefield, and every one of them was calmly nocking another arrow.

Even more surprising was Krov, the only master archer within Ka’z’s team, who had three arrows between his fingers as he prepared to fire them simultaneously. Beside him, Drak maintained his position with calm as his bow already drawn toward another target.

The remaining four goblin archers immediately turned around and attempted to flee the battlefield, but they barely managed to take a few steps before arrows struck them from behind.

Krov’s three arrows flew almost simultaneously, while Drak’s followed a heartbeat later, and the fleeing goblins collapsed on the ground.

Now the kobolds held the higher ground, giving them a tremendous advantage in both visibility and accuracy, and they had no intention of surrendering it.

Another volley descended toward the goblins positioned along Ka’z’s flanks, striking the warriors who had formed their shield wall. The arrows slipped between shields or struck exposed heads, piercing skulls and dropping several goblins where they stood.

The sudden deaths shattered the defensive formations almost instantly. Without the protection of their shields and without their commander immediately present to reorganize them, the goblins began stumbling backward before finally breaking into a full retreat.

Most of them were civilians who had been armed only because the village desperately needed every available fighter, and the sight of experienced warriors falling around them was enough to destroy what little courage they had left.

Within moments, the northern battlefield descended into chaos as goblins scattered in every direction, running wherever they believed they could escape the arrows.

Kia stood on the roof of a slightly distant building, staring at the battlefield in complete shock. She could barely process what she was seeing. Only moments ago, the battle had appeared to be overwhelmingly in their favor. Crow had managed to land a devastating attack on Ka’z, their archers had surrounded the battlefield, and reinforcements had arrived in significant numbers.

Yet in the span of mere seconds, everything had collapsed. The arrival of only a handful of kobold archers had transformed the entire battlefield, and Kia suddenly understood how dangerous a small group of trained warriors could be when they were given the right position.

Her fingers tightened around her robe as she watched goblins flee beneath her. How could a fight that had seemed to be absolutely in their favor change so completely in mere seconds?

Brrrrrr!

Before Kia could even find an answer, a bright amber light suddenly illuminated the southern horizon. Every goblin still capable of fighting turned toward the source, and their expressions twisted with horror as they saw the entire southern wall engulfed in violent flames.

Fire raced along the wooden battlements, consuming the dried structures and spreading from one section of the wall to another. The southern gate was burning as well, turning the entire entrance into a blazing barrier visible from almost every part of the village.

Kia’s heart skipped a beat, and her mouth fell open as Molu’s earlier instructions suddenly returned to her mind with horrifying clarity. She had been told to determine where the attack was coming from and, once she did, lead the civilians out through the opposite gate.

But if the southern gate was already surrounded by the enemy, then anyone who had attempted to escape through it would have walked directly into an ambush.

"Was the attack on the north just a diversion?" she muttered shakily, her voice barely audible over the screams erupting throughout the village.

The cries of civilians and terrified screams tore across Ashmork, making the already chaotic battlefield even worse. People rushed from their homes with children clinging to them, while others desperately searched for relatives in the confusion.

Smoke began spreading through the streets, and the orange glow of the flames illuminated the wooden buildings surrounding the southern gate. Even Molu, who had been preparing to scold the warriors for losing formation, froze as he stared toward the burning wall in horror. If the civilians had been led through that route, then they would have been ambushed and attacked by the kobold soldiers waiting outside. His jaw tightened as the implications became clear.

"Loki..." Molu ground his teeth together, but he knew he could not blame Loki for abandoning the southern wall.

The battle at the northern gate had been far too loud and intense for anyone to believe that only one kobold was responsible for the attack. Molu himself had been deceived by it.

He had even gathered the five soldiers stationed along the eastern and western walls, believing that the entire kobold force was concentrated at the northern gate. Yet now he understood that the commotion had been created by a single kobold deliberately drawing their attention while the rest of his forces infiltrated from the south.

Loki must have reached the same conclusion. From his position, leaving fifteen warriors behind to guard a seemingly inactive gate while the northern gate was under such a fierce assault would have been an absurd decision. Naturally, he had begun leading his forces north to reinforce Crow.

"They saw through our plans," Molu mumbled, his expression darkening as the reality of their situation settled over him.

Meanwhile, Loki had frozen in place with his fifteen warriors, his face twisted into an ugly frown as he stared at the burning southern wall. The flames reflected in his eyes as realization finally struck him.

"Those sly bastards were waiting for me to leave all along!" Loki roared as he punched the building beside him, his fist smashing through the wooden frame and leaving a hole in the wall.

The warriors around him exchanged uneasy glances as the screams of civilians echoed through the streets. They could already hear the panic coming from the northern side of the village, proving that their forces were not winning there either. Clearly, Crow needed their help.

"What should we do?" one of the warriors asked, his voice carrying the uncertainty shared by the others.

Loki hesitated as he stared at the walls and gate consumed by flames. His mind raced through their rapidly deteriorating options. If they went north, the enemy forces could easily sneak up from their rear.

"If we leave our rear open and get attacked from two fronts, we are goners..." Loki finally said, his expression hardening as he made his decision.

He turned toward his warriors and shouted, "We are heading back south!"

Without hesitation, the fifteen warriors turned with him and began running toward the burning gates, abandoning their advance toward the northern battlefield as they raced back to confront the kobold forces that had so completely outmaneuvered them.