Not far away, West hid behind a large tree, secretly observing. Watching this group of God-Chosen Ones grow more thrilled the more they killed, their combat power surging with every second, his face was filled with utter shock.
He silently took back his previous words.
Although these God-Chosen Ones lacked rich practical combat experience, the unity, madness, and suicidal drive they displayed in front of the kobolds completely shattered his understanding!
He simply couldn't comprehend why these God-Chosen Ones held such immense passion for killing kobolds. Was it truly all for Her Grace the Goddess?
The reason he wondered this was because, after spending the past few days with them, he had noticed that the God-Chosen Ones didn't actually seem to be believers of Her Grace the Goddess.
However, what moved him even more was the fearless, suicidal determination of these God-Chosen Ones. He had clearly seen several God-Chosen Ones drenched in blood after being smashed by spiked clubs, and some even had massive gashes torn across their bellies with their intestines exposed to the air. Yet they still charged forward with frantic excitement, swinging their weapons as if feeling no pain at all.
West couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration. Even if these God-Chosen Ones were weak in strength, when strictly judged on their qualities as warriors, they were undoubtedly exceptional!
Once again, he felt deeply ashamed of his past contempt for the God-Chosen Ones.
As the subject of West's thoughts, Iluvia didn't notice his shift in mindset. At that moment, she was blissfully sensing the continuous stream of divine power pouring in, her mood thoroughly elated.
“Not bad, not bad at all. The players are quite efficient, providing me with three points of divine power so quickly.”
Although quite a few players had died, consuming some of her divine power to revive them, overall, Iluvia was still turning a profit.
Mm... The players might be winning big, but she certainly wasn't losing—even if she had gifted every player three Resurrection Coins when the quest started.
And so, a world where only kobolds suffered was achieved.
...
Deep within the Castellan Ruins.
A burly figure whose appearance was entirely different from an ordinary kobold slowly emerged from the shadows.
It possessed a maw of sharp teeth, and its dark green scales exuded a somber, sinister air. Its head closely resembled that of a Western dragon, and finally, there was its height: while ordinary kobolds stood at only around 1.6 meters, it towered at a terrifying three meters!
At that moment, it stepped out from a relatively intact ruined building at the center of the ruins.
“Hm? What's going on?”
“Where are those useless trash slacking off again? Have they forgotten the task Lord Shaman assigned us?”
Looking out at the ruins, which were far sparser than usual, its brow furrowed, and its terrifying lizard face instantly darkened.
Its name was Black Tooth, and it was the chief of this kobold stronghold.
Black Tooth turned to look at the two kobolds guarding outside the doorway.
And then, its expression grew even darker.
The two fools were leaning against the wall, fast asleep, with drool trickling all the way down onto their chests.
Seeing this, its teeth ground in fury. Cursing the two idiots eight hundred times in its mind, it raised a foot and kicked both lazy fools hard in the rear!
Thwack! Thwack!
Two kicks, landed with pinpoint precision.
The two kobolds snapped awake immediately, rolling twice on the ground before flying into a rage, about to see which reckless bastard dared disturb their sweet dreams.
Then, they caught sight of Black Tooth's tall, muscular frame and that immensely grim lizard face.
The two kobolds' rage vanished instantly—faster than if someone had doused them with a bucket of ice water—replaced by sheer terror.
Immediately after, they switched to expressions of extreme servility. Whimpering and whining, they bobbed their heads and bowed frantically, looking just like two guilty dogs trying to curry favor with their master.
Black Tooth watched the two idiots blankly.
To be honest, it wasn't particularly impressed by this behavior.
When one was weak, this was simply how one ought to act.
Not only were these kin weak, but they didn't even know the Common Tongue of the continent—they could only bark like dogs, no different from beasts.
But it, Black Tooth, was different.
It was a Bronze Rank Class Holder.
On the continent of Aenoria, the kobold race possessed pitifully low talent and potential, and lacking language, they were no different from magical beasts in the eyes of most intelligent races.
Yet Black Tooth was different.
It had reached the Bronze Rank.
It had learned the Common Tongue of the continent.
It felt that it was fundamentally distinct from those inferior kin who could only squeak and howl.
As for how it had managed to advance...
It was naturally because of its Lord! Its Lord was not merely a dragon, but a True God!
Although it had never actually seen Their Dragon Grace in person, it had witnessed Lord Shaman receive the blessing of Their Dragon Grace, leaping across life tiers all the way to the Gold Rank. His appearance had changed drastically as well, becoming far more imposing, domineering, and dragon-like.
At the thought of this, its expression instantly turned fanatical and worshipful.
Then, Black Tooth slowly pulled out a mysterious, pitch-black scale from behind its back. As large as two palms and as hard as metal, its surface radiated a faint draconic pressure that struck fear into any creature.
This was a divine object that Lord Shaman had bestowed upon Black Tooth prior to its departure.
According to Lord Shaman, this was a divine artifact specifically granted to the kobold race by Their Dragon Grace, though Black Tooth was unsure of its exact effects.
However, over time, as it carried this divine artifact longer, both its appearance and strength underwent massive changes. Not only did its body grow larger, but its appearance displayed an obvious atavistic transformation—
This was clearly drawing closer to Their Dragon Grace! Its bloodline was ascending!
At this realization, Black Tooth's mind burned with even greater fervor, its faith in Their Dragon Grace growing ever more devout.
Before long, it stowed the scale away and turned back to the two kobolds.
“Where are the others?” Black Tooth demanded coldly, its tone thick with impatience.
The two kobolds looked utterly baffled, completely lost.
“Woof?”
“Gah?”
They exchanged glances, and then, as if suddenly remembering something, immediately began gesticulating wildly.
One kobold pointed off into the distance, gesturing that someone had charged over, before acting out everyone chasing after them.
The other cooperatively put on angry, chasing, and running-away expressions, adding a vocalization of “Waaaagh” to vividly recreate the scene from earlier.
Black Tooth stared at them for a long time before finally deciphering the silent drama:
“You mean... two kobolds came here to stir up trouble, and all the other kobolds chased after them?”
The two kobolds nodded frantically, their expressions servile.
Black Tooth's brow furrowed.
It could understand kobolds picking fights over trivial matters; after all, that happened every day, and it would be weirder if they didn't fight.
But... the entire mob mobilized to chase after them?
What kind of situation was this?
Usually, kobolds would just have a brawl on the spot and be done with it. Why chase them outside? And why would so many move out all at once?
The more Black Tooth thought about it, the more wrong it felt.
Shoving aside the two kobolds who were still gesticulating, it strode forward with long strides to inspect the ruins.
All along the way, it saw empty corners, unmanned posts, and... obvious signs of a struggle.
Its expression grew gloomier by the second.
“At least half of them are missing...”
Black Tooth gritted its teeth, spitting out each word through clenched fangs.
This stronghold didn't have many members to begin with—only around two hundred in total. Losing more than half all at once was no small matter. If Lord Shaman laid down his blame, Black Tooth would lose a layer of skin.
What on earth was going on?
Had another faction come to purge them? Or had these fools gotten lost en masse?
Just as Black Tooth pressed forward to investigate, a sudden disturbance erupted from the south.
There were shrieks of “Waaaagh,” sounds of combat, and... human cursing?
Black Tooth's terrifying, three-meter-tall body froze, its eyes abruptly turning cold and sharp.
It strode quickly toward the direction of the commotion.
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