Chapter 15 The Surrendering Kobolds

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After passing through several miles of arbor forests, the terrain began to become rugged. The vegetation turned into low shrubs, and exposed rocks were everywhere.

Looking up into the distance, one could see the Grand Barrier that pierced the clouds.

The source of the Anzerno River, those more than ten sky-high waterfalls seemed within reach.

Leo led the team and walked another mile upstream along a stream, then they discovered the valley where the kobold lair was located.

It's no wonder the kobolds launched frequent attacks. The exploration convoy had actually driven right up to their doorstep, only a step away from directly blocking their entrance.

Under normal circumstances, as a disadvantaged race, kobolds would never attack targets stronger than themselves. Not to mention an exploration team of three hundred people, even if just fifty militiamen stood there, a hundred or so kobolds would only watch from afar and not dare to act rashly.

But when their territory was invaded, things were different. Any ethnic group with a sense of territory would try every means to drive out the invaders in their territory.

This was a small valley with sparse vegetation. A small stream flowed down from the middle. The kobolds built a mess of shacks along the slopes on both sides of the stream. Some only had a roof, revealing the entrances to the caves on the slope rock walls.

The rock walls of the entire valley had been dug by them to look like a honeycomb. A mess of ores filled the valley, and even blocked the stream in several places. The rusty ore dust and slag had eroded the stream bank, leaving it barren.

Apparently, the kobolds also had scouts. They got the news very early on. When Leo led the people into the valley, it was already in chaos.

Under the strenuous roars of a black-and-white furred kobold, kobolds of all sizes were driven out and gathered on the flat ground in the middle of the valley. Excluding the kobold cubs rolling around on the ground, there were at least a hundred kobolds that could pose a threat to the militiamen.

Although at a numerical disadvantage, Leo was not worried about defeat. He had already seen fear and panic in the eyes of the kobolds.

After repeated suicidal attacks, this small kobold tribe had exhausted its core combat power. Most of the strongest and bravest kobold warriors who rushed at the front were almost all dead, leaving only a group of the old and weak.

Among the kobold troops gathered on the valley flat ground, most of the remaining kobold warriors also looked extremely panicked.

In the eyes of the kobolds, who were less than 1.2 meters tall on average, those human giants opposite, each about 1.8 meters tall, were the top predators in the food chain.

If, at the beginning, led by the kobold leader, over a hundred kobolds had rushed through the defensive line of the militia in one go, perhaps they could have won a hard-fought victory with their numerical advantage and sent these outsiders packing.

Unfortunately, there was no such if. Since the kobold leader was brutally killed by the humans, the kobold tribe was doomed to perish.

"Form a formation!" At Leo's order, twenty-five militiamen held wooden shields and slowly advanced, surrounding Leo. Behind them, another twenty-five young and strong militiamen followed with sickles and pitchforks.

There was a reason why the people in the Northern Region were called barbarians. Even though the members of the militia were just a bunch of farmers who grew up on chaff, they had, relying on their excellent genes, grown to an average height of 1.8 meters.

The militiamen in the front row, after being given extra rations for about a year and a half and wearing thick fur armors, looked particularly burly. The crudely made round wooden shields in their hands were imitated by Ulyan according to the standard round shields of the heavy infantry regiment. They were big, round, and heavy, looking as if one bash with the shield could kill a kobold.

Although the young and strong villagers following behind had not seen much blood, after witnessing several battles with the kobolds, they gradually got used to it. Now they all had a fierce look, ready to fight at the drop of a hat.

The shield formation and steady strides of the militiamen brought great pressure to the kobolds. Many kobolds couldn't hold back and threw the stones and javelins in their hands in quick succession.

Some of these javelins and stones landed on the ground, and some hit the shields of the militiamen, but they didn't cause any casualties.

Unable to replicate the intensive volley of hundreds of javelins, the kobolds were all but helpless against the shield formation of the militiamen.

Because of the distance and terrain, this time, Leo didn't use the sling again but simply took out a javelin.

"Get the javelins ready!"

The shield formation dipped slightly, and the militiamen raised their javelins in unison. The kobold formation immediately erupted in chaos, and many kobolds subconsciously jostled backward.

"Throw!"

After two rounds of javelin volleys, the kobolds finally couldn't hold out. Their already low morale crumbled, and they scattered in all directions, leaving a mess on the ground.

Leo was cautious and didn't pursue. Instead, he told the militiamen to pick up the javelins again and form a formation to keep watch once more.

After a while, at the loud barking of the eye-catching black-and-white kobold, most of the kobolds came back again, huddled together, and blocked the path of the militiamen's formation once more.

There was no other choice. This was their home, and behind them were the winter food supplies and a bunch of kobold cubs.

Leo felt oddly touched. The kobold tribe in front of him was so similar to his own village.

When they were raided by the Beast Race scouting party, although they clearly couldn't defeat the enemy, they could only form a formation to counterattack, putting the lives of the militiamen at risk to protect the village.

In the end, they still had to migrate to flee.

This was already the best outcome. At least they were still breathing. Several nearby villages were completely slaughtered.

During the migration, there were also many other migrating refugees who froze to death beside the road. They even came across several refugee groups of hundreds of people who were all frozen to death after a night of wind and snow.

None of these refugee groups had a leader as powerful and careful as Ulyan, who could stockpile enough food, fur, tents, livestock, and wagons before the migration.

But Leo didn't have the mood or time to feel sorry for these kobolds. There were not only this kobold tribe in this exploration area. If the potential threats were not eliminated in time, the exploration camp was always at risk of being destroyed.

It was hard to guarantee that when the settlement camp was attacked by other alien tribes next time, these kobolds wouldn't take advantage of the situation and stab them in the back.

Just as Leo shouted again, "Get the javelins ready!", the black-and-white kobold stepped out of the formation.

It left the group of kobolds, raised its hands, and walked to the middle of the open space, making a series of incomprehensible grunts.

"What's it doing?" Ivan, a militiaman beside Leo, whispered curiously.

"Is it going to fight one-on-one?" Another militiaman, Vicki, said.

Leo motioned for the militiamen to put down their javelins and walked out of the shield formation himself, wanting to see what trick this kobold was up to.

The black-and-white kobold grunted for a bit. Seeing that Leo didn't understand, it stared at the flail in Leo's hand. The flail was seized after Leo bit the kobold leader to death. The continuous grunts began to be interrupted and turned into individual words.

"Surrender... you... surrender."

Leo was surprised to discover that this kobold was speaking the Imperial language. Apparently, the militiamen also caught on. They poked their heads out in surprise, whispering to each other.

"You can talk?" Leo was extremely surprised. He boldly stepped closer to the kobold and asked.

"Yes, grunt, you, us... surrender." The black-and-white kobold uttered individual words with a "grunt grunt" sound. Half of them were an incomprehensible language, while the other half was the Imperial language that Leo could understand.

Whether they could communicate or not was an entirely different ballgame. Inexplicably, Leo felt that the distance between himself and the kobold was closer than that between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons.

"Food, woof! You, grunt, iron... us... go."

At the sound of the black-and-white kobold's voice, the surrounding kobolds became restless, barking in an incomprehensible way.

But with the low growl and threat of the black-and-white kobold, these kobolds quieted down again. Several kobolds dragged some bags from the mine cave above the valley and placed them between the two formations.

The black-and-white kobold opened the mouth of the bag, and a large number of acorns and pine nuts immediately spilled onto the ground.

The black-and-white kobold pointed at the bag full of acorns, then at the valley behind it, and continued to grunt: "Food, iron... you, give, us... us, leave."

Leo listened twice before he finally got it and repeated, "Give us the food and iron and let you guys leave here?"

The black-and-white kobold nodded.

Leo immediately fell into deep thought.