The kobolds charged with full force against the entire group. Differently compared to the golems and previous monsters, they seemed to not be created by whatever influence the artifact had here.

Tier III kobolds could be seen charging together with Tier IV ones, and Reign was even able to sense some Tier II kobolds in the back.

The monsters had come here a long time ago, and after they sensed the power hidden deep below they tried to take it for themselves, but failed miserably as the monsters guarding the artifact killed many of them.

For years, the kobolds lived here, digging through the tough rocks and creating a base for themselves. They fought against other monsters that tried to make this their home in the past as well and slowly regained their previous strength, but they knew that wasn't enough to get to the artifact, so they continued growing and became more powerful.

Their goal was the artifact, and for that, they had mercilessly slain anyone that dared come here, and upon seeing humans arrive at the entrance of the level they had created their base in, they quickly charged at them.

They were going to do the same as they always did, kill the intruders, and become more powerful by doing so, but contrary to what they expected, the intruders that arrived this time were more than their match.

Over 400 kobolds were charging at them, and more could be seen behind as well, but thanks to the fact they were mostly Tier III, they were getting slaughtered by the group of over 70 Tier IVs.

The kobolds actually had more Tier IV combatants, but they were not grouped together, and each time one got close, a couple of Tier IVs would quickly aim at them, doing their best to quickly eliminate them.

Reign charged forward as he saw the sight.

The first time he fought against a kobold, he was not only outclassed when it came to stats but skill as well. The kobolds he fought against were of course many times weaker than the ones he was fighting against right one, and less skillful, but Reign had become a lot more skillful compared to that time.

He charged through the army, cutting through the kobolds as if they were made out of paper. Tens of kobolds died each second and multiple Tier IV kobolds charged at him, doing their best to stop his slaughter and deal with him, but they weren't fast enough.

"I'll go help him out," Basred said as he stepped forward, leaving Siggurd with the rest of the group.

He was seemingly walking normally, but slight vibrations could be seen around him. He was using his waves, but he was using them in a different way compared to before.

He was keeping them close to him, in an area some 2.5 meters around him.

Any kobold that dared come 2.5 meters close would be sent flying back, their organs destroyed by the waves, and their bones broken. Even Tier IV kobolds were not spared as each time they tried to attack him, they would be sent flying, but they wouldn't die.

Tier IVs were after all much more powerful than the Tier III ones, but even then, the injuries they would receive from Basred were not light at all.

'There has to be a leader amongst them, right?' Reign thought as he continued slaughtering his way through the kobold army.

He was using his lightning to slaughter his way through them as he was most familiar and proficient with it. Even the kobolds that didn't attack him but were relatively close would be shocked by his lightning, the weaker ones collapsing and convulsing from the lightning.

He killed and killed before suddenly widening his eyes as he felt danger from the front.

Reign quickly stopped and jumped backward, only for a shadow to crash from above at his previous location.

Reign quickly pointed his finger forward and fired a lightning ray at the enemy who didn't even move. The ray of lightning hit the enemy, but did little damage, only burning the area where it hit.

As the dust around the monster settled, Reign gulped as he saw the monster for the first time.

He stood at about 3 meters tall and was covered by black scales. Two wings were unfurled behind him as his claws shimmered dangerously. His face was not the same as the other kobolds, it was a bit longer, and his mouth was elongated forward as many sharp teeth could be seen in it.

The monster was broad and muscular, and a mere glance was enough to tell Reign how powerful it was.

The monster roared and charged at Reign with great speed, which made Reign quickly grab his swords and hold them in a reverse grip before lowering his body and zooming past the monster.

[ Severing, Dual Lightning Slash ]

Lightning erupted around the monster as the marks appeared on each side of his waist, but the swords didn't manage to completely cut through the incredibly tough scales and the damage that was done was light.

"Dammit, this guy's definitely a Tier V being." Reign said with a heavy face as a slight smirk appeared on it.

"But, you don't seem to be as intelligent as the other kobolds, is that a side-effect from that weird evolution, or is it a mutation?" Reign asked, and the large kobold in front of him stared at him with anger.

"Ah, so you understand what I'm saying, huh?"

[ Inspect ]

[ Dragonized Kobold, War Chief ]

"Right, you guys have the blood of dragons flowing through your bodies, it seems you got a bit more."

Kobolds all believed that they were the lucky race that possessed the bloodline of dragons, albeit a minuscule amount that does little to nothing except give them their physical appearance and scales. Compared to other races, such as the Dragonkin who were blessed by the dragons and had a portion of their powers, the kobolds were too inferior.

But, from time to time, there would be kobolds who were born with more dragon blood in their body. They were much more powerful than normal kobolds, as well as more intelligent.

The one Reign was fighting against right now seemed to be such a kobold, but instead of being more intelligent, he was a lot less intelligent, he couldn't even use weapons and fought using his body.

"Let's dance, ugly lizard guy." Reign said with a smirk as the kobold roared and attacked him with no care for the kobolds around them.

'Seems like trash-talking works perfectly on monsters as well.' Reign thought as he saw tens of kobolds die from the angry attacks of the dragonized kobold in front of him.

Just as the kobold's claws were about to reach Reign, who, for some reason, was not moving at all, the kobold was sent flying to the side.

"That was a dangerous stunt you just pulled," Basred said as Reign smiled at him.

"Really, I don't think so."

"I knew you would manage to hit him on time, so instead of trying to fight back and potentially making the kobold move, I thought the best thing to do is to just stand still and let you hit him."

"Tch, get ready, that guy is coming again," Basred said as he glanced over at the kobold that had gotten up and roared again before spreading his wings and flying straight at him.

[ Sonic Barrier ]

"This should make him stop for a bit, you can attack him from the side," Basred said as a barrier appeared around him.historical

The kobold arrived the instant after it appeared and struck Basred with a fist, but he was unable to pass through the barrier. The kobold clenched his teeth and started using his wings to boost himself forward in order to get through the barrier, completely forgetting about Reign.

No kobold was present near them, they had retreated to around 8 meters around the three as they knew that a battle between such powerful individuals was not something they could meddle in.

Only some of their mages could do that, and they were mostly occupied with attacking the group of humans that had arrived. Some were charging back in order to help their leader, but they were still not there.

"Seriously now, how dumb do you have to be to actually forget about an opponent like this?" Reign asked as he aimed at the kobold.

He poured a ton of mana into his sword, which was pulled back with his arm, before stabbing forward.

[ Severing, Sword IV ]

Reign stabbed forward, and an invisible power immediately struck the kobold from the side. Reign hadn't moved an inch, which was a clear sign of having mastered the fourth sword of the severing series.

The kobold was flung to the side, a hole visible on the side of his waist as some of his scales were broken and fell down on the ground.

Red blood coated his scales as he started bleeding, but Reign knew that even this couldn't be called a serious injury to such a powerful monster.