At the end of their first day in Mycelora, the capital of the Kingdom of Spores, the Wanderer's Trove made a killing despite the hyped up prices. The Rank 2 goods they sold were clearly superior to what the Crafters Guild offered, and by a wide margin.
Bastion's Earth based forging technique was cleaner and left the materials with higher natural mana compared to traditional practices, so his materials were top notch. Lilia's Mana Weave ability took it further and maximized the available mana, squeezing in as many powerful enchantments as she could manage and achieving one or two more enchantments than what was regularly sold. Seraphina's skill scrolls sold for obvious reasons, but her fashion sense was popular with the nobility, allowing her to sell out her clothing and jewelry as well.
By the end of the day, Bastion and the girls decided to stay for an entire week to take advantage of their popularity. It didn't matter that their goods were priced even higher than those from the Crafters Guild because the quality justified it. In fact, the pricing elevated their goods into premium products that would disappear once they left, prompting the nobility into a buying frenzy.
A week later, they had sold most of their inventory, leaving plenty of empty magic bags as they departed the capital and headed toward the front lines of the battle. Along the way, they stopped at every town, village, and city, selling whatever they had left while buying up each place's specialty. After two weeks of travel, they reached the front lines, where towns and villages were emptied and cities were fortified.
Unlike the regular cities they had visited, they rushed past these without daring to step foot inside. They didn't want any trouble or risk having their inventory taken without payment, so they avoided the cities and headed straight for the war zone.
It was a demarcated area that was officially still under the kingdom but considered contested territory, so protection wasn't guaranteed. However, it was still covered by the kingdom's designation, so no Rank 3 entities were expected to appear.
"We have trouble incoming," Ariel announced as she monitored the surroundings of the carriage on the hologram. "A horde of about a thousand kobolds is heading for the City of Funglow that we just passed, and they're right in our path. Should we circle around them?"
"How strong are they?" Bastion asked as he exited his room, still wearing his forge apron.
"A single Rank 2 is leading them, followed by nearly a hundred Rank 1s."
"Oh? Sounds like a good bit of exercise."
"I could use some exercise," Seraphina said as she exited her room as well, half naked and comfortable. "I've been writing skill scrolls nonstop since we got here, so a break would be nice."
"Also," Lilia said as she walked out of her room, already wearing her combat robes, "it'll be a good chance for us to gather more materials. I've already gone through half of the raw materials we brought and collected from the Great Forest, so seeing what else we can work with would be a good change of pace."
"Ely?" Bastion called out.
"Whatever Master decides," she answered as she materialized from Bastion's shadow.
"Alright, let's get ready. I'm going to ram right into them and see how well the carriage can hold up before we head out."
A few minutes later, an all-black metal carriage streaked toward the kobold horde, its surface covered in bright red veins, drawing their attention immediately. The army of miniature lizardmen screeched at the challenge as they formed crude ranks and raised their metal weapons in defiance. As the carriage drew closer, they began to notice its intimidating size, especially the massive diamond horse pulling it forward at full charge. Fear spread through the ranks, but a threatening shriek quickly quelled it and held the horde in place.
A Rank 2 kobold took the lead, followed by nearly a hundred Rank 1s as they prepared to break the carriage's momentum. Just before the collision, the diamond horse grew larger as another layer of diamond armor formed around it, greatly increasing the threat it posed. The leader of the kobolds remained unfazed and stood tall with its great axe raised, ready to cleave the horse in two.
At the last moment, the carriage veered to the side, bypassing the center of the formation and targeting the flank instead. It plowed through them like a tractor through a wheat field, mowing them down without mercy. Those struck directly died instantly. Others were flung into their own ranks, spreading chaos, or crushed beneath the carriage's wheels.
After tearing through the flank, the carriage turned and charged again, aiming for a second pass on the opposite side of the panicking horde. The leader and its Rank 1 followers rushed to intercept but failed to keep up, their small frames too slow to catch the diamond steed. The second pass caused another wave of casualties, and as the carriage attempted a third, the Rank 2 leader adapted. It hid within the chaos, waited for the turn, then lunged from the side and struck the horse, deflecting it away and dragging the carriage with it.
The diamond armor cracked under the blow but prevented any real damage from reaching the steed. The carriage itself emerged from the horde covered in brownish-red blood, with only minor scratches. It was clear that the weaker kobolds couldn't harm it.
The carriage pulled away from the horde and came to a stop. A towering black knight stepped out, armed with a longsword and shield, followed by four women of deadly beauty who formed ranks behind him. At last, the kobolds had a clear target, and they charged forward with reckless abandon, ignoring the threat of death they had experienced from the carriage.
The knight threw his sword aside, and it elongated before being encased in sharp diamond, turning it into a 10 meter long straight sword. With a massive horizontal swing that kicked up a cloud of dust, the blade tore through the kobold ranks, cutting them down at either the ankles or the head as it passed. Their short stature worked in their favor, with some in the front ranks slipping beneath the arc of the extended blade and surviving its sweep.
That was when the shadows began to stir. They twisted, split into five, and surged forward in a sudden burst of speed, tearing into the kobolds and carving out the center and both flanks in mere moments. At the same time, arrows rained down from above in a relentless barrage, driving into skulls and pinning bodies to the ground as they fell in waves.
The disoriented leader and the remaining Rank 1s finally reached the carriage, but it made no difference. A massive wave of searing flame swept across the battlefield like a concentrated dragon's breath, moving side to side and focusing on survivors. Many dropped to the ground, only to be caught by invisible lines of mana that spread like a grid. The surviving kobolds were ensnared, then overwhelmed by a freezing cold that paralyzed them. As reptiles, they were especially vulnerable, and it didn't take long for them to freeze to death.
The Rank 2 leader, however, endured.
Enraged by the annihilation of its army, it surged forward in a blind, relentless charge. Arrows fell, flames roared, shadows lashed, and frost crept in to slow it, but it forced its way through it all, weaving, deflecting, and resisting by sheer strength and speed. Nothing managed to stop its advance. It closed the distance, barreling straight toward the black knight that had been carving through its forces.
With a furious roar, it raised its great axe and launched itself forward in a powerful leap. The instant its feet left the ground, the knight's attention snapped to it. Lances of light formed behind him and fired in rapid succession. The kobold reacted midair, swinging its axe again and again, batting each lance aside with precise, desperate strikes.
By the time it reached the knight, its weapon was riddled with cracks, barely holding together.
The knight moved at the last moment. His tower shield swept out in a single, brutal swing and shattered the weakened axe on impact. In the same motion, his longsword vanished, and his gauntleted hand shot forward, seizing the kobold by the throat.
The leader thrashed and struck, struggling to pry the gauntleted hand away, but the difference in strength was impossible to overcome. Fortunately, its scales held firm, strong enough to resist the crushing grip and keep its airway from closing.
Then a low vibration pulsed from the knight's hand into its body. At first faint, almost imperceptible, it grew steadily stronger, radiating through the kobold's scales until fractures began to spiderweb across their surface.
Crack.
The scales gave way all at once, shattering like glass under the pressure. The grip tightened immediately, now unobstructed, crushing its throat.
The kobold struggled, clawing and kicking, but its strength meant nothing anymore. The pressure only increased until its neck finally gave in with a dull break. As its vision faded, the last thing it saw was the cold, erratic blue glow of the knight's eyes, watching it die without a trace of emotion.
The instant the Rank 2 leader fell, the cohesion of the horde collapsed. The fear that had once kept them in line vanished with their leader, replaced by the raw, overwhelming terror of annihilation. The crude formation dissolved into chaos as they scattered in every direction, each one fleeing for its life.
Unfortunately, they didn't manage to get far.
The diamond steed burst forward, unburdened by the carriage, its speed now unrestrained. It ran them down with ease, trampling stragglers and overtaking those who thought distance would save them.
The earth itself turned against them. From the dirt and stones, an earth spirit arose, taking the shape of a weathered, short old man carved from living rock. Wherever it stepped, the ground heaved and cracked, forming massive pits that yawned open and swallowed kobolds whole, leaving no trace behind.
Above, a phoenix let out a piercing cry as it swept across the battlefield, leaving a trail of fire that consumed everything in its path.
From another direction, a 4-meter-tall golem of ice advanced, its heavy strides shaking the ground. Its long arms swung in wide arcs, crushing anything within reach, and when prey tried to escape, it leapt forward in massive bounds to bring them down.
A violent gust followed, coalescing into a raging storm elemental. It tore through the fleeing kobolds like a storm given form, lifting them off their feet and hurling them through the air to break against the ground.
Even the shadows offered no refuge. They twisted and rose beneath the kobolds' feet as a wolfkin emerged, cutting them down in swift, efficient strikes before slipping away and striking again elsewhere.
What followed was a complete extermination. Every path of escape was cut off, every survivor hunted down. When it was over, not a single kobold remained alive.
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