Red climbed the same way he had just jumped off. His finger was strong to hold on—his leg was kicking even stronger—quickly pushing him up to the branch—hiding himself behind the thick canopy. As he reached the top, the kobold didn't seem to expect him up here as they continued their steps, chasing after nothing.
He took a deep breath and scanned down below, looking for the other kobolds. The level 9 kobold and the two level 8 kobolds followed their leader, but the archer didn't.
The archer climbed the tallest root, scanning in the direction where it thought he had run off. They left the level 9 kobold archer behind. A sensible decision since they were thinking that the archer was safe behind him.
Since the four trees were so close to each other, the branches were interconnecting, making it easier for him to thread around. He quickly arrived on top of the archer. The interconnection branches truly helped him, giving him more space for momentum for his spear throwing.
The spear rocketed toward the level 9 kobold archer, landing on its shoulder. No, it was not a miss. He aimed at the shoulder and hit the target. It fell from the root, still screaming.
The kobold screamed in pain, which he assumed was calling its friends. He jumped off, landing on the root with a blade in his hand. The archer was trying to pull off the spear, but it was strongly embedded in its body, making it hard to pull it off.
Red didn't waste his chance, jumping with his blade, aiming at the part that was not covered in plate armor. The blade pierced through the flesh, and he twisted it to cause the kobold to scream louder. He pulled the blade and cut its throat right after. That should be enough to attract the other kobolds back.
He looked in the direction where the kobold ran off after his shadow. An idea struck him, and he didn't waste time executing the idea.
He ran to the tall root, squatting with his back against the root, stabilizing his breath. Not long after, he heard rustling movement from the other side. He could only hear a pair of steps at first, but it quickly added up. All kobolds returned.
Sure enough, one kobold jumped off from the root where he hid. It landed in front of him, but it didn't notice a presence behind. It sprinted toward the kobold that sprawled on the ground with a spear on its shoulder. The first kobold was the level 9 kobold.
Red was being patient and didn't try to kill the first one right away. He was taking an unnecessary risk, but he felt like this was the right thing to do.
Then two more kobolds jumped off, and both were level 8. His patience was paying off as the fourth kobold landed in front of him, in his reach. Meanwhile, the two level 8 kobolds were halfway to the dead kobold. The level 9 kobold was already checking the body and found out it was dead.
That was when Red took action, his feet sprang into action as he held the spear with both hands, thrusting it toward the exposed back neck of the level 10 kobold. Gurgling scream resounded as the level 10 kobold was clutching its neck. The spear went through.
Red quickly pinned down the kobold to the ground, kicking the helmet off. He pulled the spear and stabbed the kobold in the back of the head.
The scream was muted right away, and he turned around because the remaining three kobolds were eyeing him. He climbed to the root and jumped to the other side. He never planned to fight them head-on, even though he had reduced their number by half.
This time, he didn't run or climb the tree. He used the same strategy, squatting next to the root. It was another gamble, expecting the kobold not to check it again. Of course, he was ready with his Fireball if the situation went south.
Just as he expected, the two level 8 kobolds didn't really check what was below them. They hastily jumped off the root, searching for him, unaware of the red monster behind them.
Red didn't wait for the level 9 kobold as he immediately planted his fourth spear into the level 8 kobold to his right. The kobold fell forward and caught the other one in shock. It didn't really expect Red to use the same strategy and paid the price as the blade sliced through.
It clutched its bleeding neck and fell on its knees. It was then followed by a stab in the mouth. The blade pierced through to the back of the head. At the same time, a notification that he triggered Bleeding appeared before his eyes.
Red got rid of the notification as he ran forward and jumped off the two bodies. He ran next to the closest tree, standing on the shorter root, and turned around.
The level 9 kobold was standing above the root where he killed the two kobolds. It looked at the dead bodies, then it looked back at Red. The fury was reflected in its eyes, snarling at Red.
Red found the kobold might be dumber than he thought. He didn't run, but he was holding his slingshot and his spiky metal. As it was snarling, he was already aiming at the kobold's right shin.
Whoosh!
The metal ball shot through and hit the target. It sent the kobold's right leg backward, losing its balance as it fell forward. It fell on the ground. The slingshot was accurate, but not deadly for the likes of a kobold.
It quickly regained its footing. The right shin was bleeding, and it was limping, yet it was still strong enough to fight. The second metal ball hit the same spot, and the level 9 kobold fell on its right knee.
The kobold stood up again, but the same metal ball hit the same spot again, causing the kobold to tumble. That frustrated the kobold as it looked up. It growled frustratingly, thinking it would be shot on the same spot again. It decided to roll to the side with its wound on the leg.
The kobold rolled to the side and quickly stood up, enduring the pain. It realized there was no fourth shot as it didn't hear any noise. There was something wrong. It looked up and saw that the red monster was throwing the spear. The spear was already halfway, and it tried to react, but the wound on its right leg caused the delay.
The spear landed on the kobold's left eye, pierced through the head, and stuck in the root behind. The kobold was dangling, its body still twitching, but not for long.
Red released his breath and nodded with satisfaction. It was another great hunt.