Chapter 6 6: Kobolds [2/2]
If he was behind the screen,
Renji would activate his[Elven Shelter]skill to max out his defense. This skill comes with a dispersal aura that pushes all enemies near him away. At Lv-1 it provides a high 40% damage reduction and can block any attacks with a power coefficient at or below "D" grade.
Next, follow up with [Dragonblood Ignition] to enhance his various attributes. It also comes with the powerful "bloodlock" effect, which prevents immediate death from fatal injuries. At level 1, you get a full 5 seconds of protection, ensuring your safety.
Furthermore, as long as the firearms held by Scarface and his gang are not C-grade or above Tainted weapons, the subsequent use of [Magnetic Pulse] will disarm them all, causing their mechanical parts to malfunction while replenishing your energy.
Finally, without needing to move, just by lifting a finger, and the psychic spell "Annihilation" doesn't require a casting time. Even at level 1, it deals extremely high base damage. It would severely injure Eclipses below "danger" level.
In the game, Renji could execute this combo flawlessly, even with his eyes closed. However, if it were in reality, nerves and unexpected factors might lead to mistakes.
'But that's okay'
'As long as I still breathe'
The [Divine Healing] from the priestess "Suthia" is enough to fully heal him, bringing him back to full health instantly.
So, Renji isn't in a hurry.
The reason he hasn't taken action all this time is that he wants to gather some information from the conversation of these people and understand the situation.
However...
While Renji is not in a rush.
It seems like some people can't wait any longer.
He doesn't know if it's his illusion,
But he feels the frequency of uneasy movements of the female scavenger holding him hostage from behind, increases as time passes.
However, the source of this "restlessness" doesn't seem to come from the gun-wielding Scarface and his gang confronting her or from Renji himself, who's referred to as a "Legacy."
Because Renji is the closest, he can observe it from the corner of his eye. The scavenger girl behind him often shifts her gaze upward.
There's a big hole up there. These people were probably originally above the sealed room and fell down after triggering some mechanism.
From the increasingly tense and anxious breathing of the female scavenger,
It's as if something terrible is about to happen if they don't leave soon.
Renji's instincts are usually spot on.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded from afar, rapidly approaching the people in the Chamber, and the source of the sound was right above their heads.
*Squeak, squeak...*
When the sound finally ceased, Renji looked up towards the hole in the ceiling. There, he discovered pairs of eyes poking out from the opening, gazing down at the group of people in the sealed room below.
In the dim light, these eyes occupied almost half of their faces, with large, rugged noses and thick, unkempt hair covering their chins. Their relatively small eyes, in contrast, gleamed with a greedy glint.
They had human bodies but dog-like heads, and you could see the shadows of shovels on their rough, dirty hands.
"Kobolds!"
Even Scarface, who was always tough, was frightened this time. Not to mention the gang of his henchmen behind him, who all turned pale.
"No way! The kobolds in this area should have been cleared out several times already. How can there be kobolds here?"
Scarface asked in disbelief. But when his frantic gaze inadvertently swept over the spot where the female scavenger had stayed earlier, he widened his eyes and saw a broken statue on the ground.
Only then did Jason finally understand. He reddened his eyes and stared at the female scavenger with a hostile look.
"It's you!"
[Low-level Summon (Kobold)]
[Type: Tainted Item]
[Quality: E+]
[Use Effect: After a brief delay, summon a team of "Kobold Miners" to join the battlefield ]
[Tainted Deviation: There is a certain probability to substitute the summoned object with "greedy" Kobold miners. ]
While Scarface had a hunch, Renji immediately recognized what was happening with just a glance. He was somewhat surprised but also shook his head.
He was surprised that the scavenger behind him could flawlessly use Tainted items.
What made him shake his head was that he didn't know whether to say that she was lucky or unlucky.
Clearly, what the female scavenger had summoned by breaking the statue was a group of "Greedy" Kobold miners influenced by the "Tainted Deviation".
Compared to regular summons, they were stronger but uncontrollable, attacking indiscriminately.
Given the current strength of these tomb raiders, even in this terrain, Renji saw that the Kobolds above were already beginning to understand the humans' vulnerability after their initial reconnaissance. They greedily brandished their pickaxes, and their covetous eyes swept over the people below as they prepared to jump down into the sealed room.
Scarface's group had also turned their attention away from Renji, the "Legacy" and the female scavenger. They aimed their guns at the Kobolds above, attempting to resist the monsters.
But Renji knew that Kobolds were level 5 monsters, and with the "greedy" prefix, in an open terrain, ordinary people could fight with firearms, but in the caves, their death was inevitable.
*Rat-a-tat-tat!*
The intense gunfire and the shouts from Scarface and his men turned into screams within seconds.
"Reload, reload quickly!"
"Go away, you disgusting monsters, go away!"
"Above, watch out from above!!"
"Help! Help!"
"Don't kill me, please don't kill me!"
Blood and flesh flew in all directions under the kobolds' iron pickaxes. The cramped space eliminated any advantage firearms might have had, and there was no place to hide.
Scarface's group had some initial success with suppressing fire from their firearms, but as more kobolds kept "falling from the sky" into the sealed room, they were thoroughly defeated.
At this moment, the secret chamber was a scene of one-sided slaughter.
At the stone coffin, Eileen had lost all hope.
She was as pale as dead.
In Eileen's field of vision, she could see that some kobolds had noticed the sealed room where she was hiding, and these bloodthirsty creatures, wielding bloodied pickaxes, were approaching her menacingly.
She tried to think of a way out!
'Was there anything...anything that could...'
Suddenly, hope ignited once again in Eileen's despairing eyes.
Because she had almost forgotten.
The "Legacy"
The "Legacy" of the legendary emperor might be right beside her!
With a soft click,
Eileen chose to drop her dagger.
Then, with a nearly pleading gaze, she looked at Renji.
And Renji, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke at this moment.
"Do you think I would help someone who had just held a dagger to my throat?"
With these words, Eileen's eyes lost all hope, and her body went limp, sitting on the ground.
However, at this moment...
"Unless you're willing to make a contract with me."
The voice of the young man echoed in her ears once more.
Eileen, at this moment, couldn't even clearly hear what Renji had said. She just nodded desperately, willing to accept whatever conditions he proposed.
"Very well"
"But before that, there's a little process to go through."
As Renji spoke, he bent down and took out a crystal from the stone coffin. In Eileen's eyes, this crystal emitted an ominous and strange aura.
Then, before the female scavenger could react,
He directly thrust the small Tainted Crystal into her body!