金瓶梅第2部

The battle against the kobold Alpha was over.

Tycondrius had all the information he wanted.

He could spare a few more moments, out of respect for the dead.

The spotted kobold sat up on its haunches, "(My daughter... her name is Half-Ear.)"

Tycon crossed his arms, "Does she have... half an ear?"

The kobold's eyes widened, "(Yes, how did you know? Have... you seen her?)"

Tycon mulled over his thoughts. He did see a female Iredar with a stunted ear. She was an unfortunate archer whose injured howls attracted her fellows.

She watched dozens of her kin and kith killed. She cursed the humans with her final breaths. She died a miserable, slow death, choking and asphyxiating on her own blood.

Tycon grimaced, shaking his head, "I will have you meet with her, soon."

The Alpha sighed... "(Why does my tail not wag when you say that?)"

"...Because she is dead."

The Alpha took a deep breath and let out a mournful whine, "(This, I knew... And what of the village?)"

With the Iredar casualties incurred, the patrols would withdraw. The tribe would certainly struggle with the loss of warriors, but that was none of Tycon's concern.

Tycon shrugged, "It would be wise to relocate. I've no plans to go, myself, but the humans I travel with-- no, humans as a whole, are a vengeful lot."

The kobold growled, wincing as it tried to move his injured arm. He held a paw to his injured bicep to slow the bleeding, "(You are a good dog... Were you trying to anger me, earlier?)"

Tyocn was amused that since he was no longer considered human, his status was *elevated* to dog, "Indeed. Did it work?"

The Alpha shook his head, "(It did. And I have suffered for my loss of control. Perhaps if I were in your position, the roles would be reversed?)"

He granted the Alpha silence, allowing him to believe as he wished. Tycon did not hate the enemy. He had no need to be arrogant before the defeated... "Name yourself."

The Alpha nodded, "(Hear my name)... I am Kerberos. (Good boy of the Blood Paws.)"

Tycon nodded and drew the kobold's iron sword from the dirt, "And how do you wish to die, Kerberos, loyal son of the Blood Paws?"

The kobold stood up and raised its paws, "(In battle... and against your true form.)"

Tycon tossed the sword back to Kereberos, who caught it with a trembling paw.

It was a useless gesture. The Alpha was out of mana and they both knew it. The multitude of bloody injuries on Kerberos' body made it impossible for him to pose a threat.

...But every warrior wished to die with a blade in their hands.

« System, activate Large Snake-Form... »

⟬ Activating... ⟭

It wasn't Tycon's "true form" per se, but it would satisfy the Alpha's wish.

Tycon felt the bones of his spine thickening, his muscles twisting and contorting. His armor and clothing began to meld with his body, magically stored somewhere-- deep in the abyss, in a way similar to a spatial ring. Ivory white scales formed and hardened on his skin as he knelt forward and completed his transformation.

Tycondrius of Charm, in his snake form, was over ten times the length and weight of the kobold. They called him the Ivory Prince-- likely because of his peculiar shade.

He could have used his sword. He could have used his ⌈Vexing Gaze⌋ skill. But as brutal and as unforgiving as his earlier tactics were, he wanted to honor Kerberos by showing him that he'd never had a chance of victory.

It was a kindness he did not expect from his own enemies.

Tycon slithered forward.

"For... the BLOOD PAWS, I HOWL-- I howl ALONE!!!" Kerberos screamed.

The Iredar's final strike bounced harmlessly off of Tycon's armored scales.

Quick. Tycon wrapped his body around the creature.

Tight. The creature-- no creature could escape from his grip.

Slowly... steadily... he increased the pressure.

Its bones popped... they cracked. Its howls and cries abated, not all at once... slow... agonizing.

The breathing stopped. Seconds more passed. Finally, the corpse released the sword in its hands.

It fell to the dirt without fanfare.

Tycon's golden gaze rested upon the one remaining kobold-- the spiky-furred one. Its name was Spike.

It stood with bated breath, staring at the fallen sword.

What was it thinking?

Wide-eyed, it stood in a pool of its own cowardice.

Tycon flicked his forked tongue...

Fear. It knew fear.

Tycon whispered in the softest of voices... "Run."

It took a half-second longer for the mechanisms in the kobold's brain to work. Tycon's gentle suggestion was likely the best idea it had heard in its life. It turned, yipping and scampering away as if its life depended on it.

It didn't matter. Tycon would kill it before sun's end... but he decided to give it a few minutes of a head start.

He performed a hasty scan of the Iredar bodies around him.

There was nothing worth taking. Their gear was looted and in disrepair or old. They didn't carry coin, either. Iredar traps and tactics made them difficult to chase and even more difficult to eradicate.

Fighting the Iredar was not just dangerous, it was a waste of time.

Frustration welled in his heart, Tycon hoped the Rhodok leadership was in a state of deep regret.

« System, activate ⌈Shadowform⌋. »

⟬ Activating ⌈Shadowform⌋. ⟭

Tycon's gleaming ivory scales immediately turned ink-black, shadowy smoke rising up in thin wisps. With his form, he would blend well with the natural shadows of the forest and would even move faster than his human running speed.

In general, he would have liked to use his snake form more often.

Unfortunately, he did not fit in his Decanus armor as a snake.

...There were other problems, too. A giant, talking snake was more likely to be hunted and killed than treated as an amusing curiosity.

Anyroad...

Iredar had a fantastic sense of smell, far better than his own. The fleeing Iredar would be able to easily find and regroup with one of their patrols.

Tycon was betting on it.

He reasoned he could take out one or two more patrols and still catch up with the main cohort.

Slithering away, he focused his mind on the hunt.

...

It was troublesome being a transmigrated human. Being a snake was much simpler.

He slithered around in the dirt, not particularly caring where he went, because he was an apex predator. He had killed some 20 more kobolds with a combination of his ⌈Vexing Gaze⌋ skill and by virtue of being a giant, shadowy snake with sharp fangs and a life-crushing grip.

If Tycon was a smaller-- or a weaker snake, he probably would not have enjoyed himself so much.

Tycon had lost a majority of his memories, both from his current life, and most everything about his previous life. He did know that he had transmigrated from another, strikingly similar world. And he did know that he had access to a personal System.

He did keep his knowledge. He knew how to fight. He knew how to count and how to read. And he knew that deer was very tasty.

Hm... It was harder to focus as a snake, than as a human...

There were a lot of deer in the forest.

Tycon thought it would be nice to hunt a couple of them for later use.

After that, he planned to slither his way toward the walled village of Montegarico.

With any luck, the Rhodoks had survived.