The pouches contained just some wooden arrows and one copper coin.
The five quickly set up a plan for the raid, as their fear had been greatly reduced after Marina's report.
From what she said, the kobolds might be even easier to deal with than the rats.
Besides the rat queen, all the other ones were easy to kill, with the only difficulty being their agility when they try to flee.
Kobolds, on the other hand, seemed like a militaristic and aggressive race, yet they are weak, and their weapons are too small.
Human-sized stone axes and bone knives can do nasty damage, but those weapons sized to be wielded by a hand the size of the one of a 4-year-old kid aren't very intimidating.
And her report also eased the ethical concerns about killing them. If they are willing to kill each other so easily, then we don't need to be too mindful about it, right?
The team headed towards the main cave of the kobolds with firm determination, leaving their backpacks near the entrance so they won't be weighed down during combat.
:::
"Is that… a village?"
The sight when they arrived at the cavern where the kobolds dwelled was stunning.
About twelve tents were arranged in a neat circle, all facing the inside of the circle. Those tents were also circular, made out of hide, and put together with sticks.
One would ask where they got all that leather and wood from in this weird cave.
At the farthest wall of the cavern, there was a big pond. A kobold was there drinking water. It didn't use any cup but drank directly from the pond.
The little kobolds walked around without worry, yet every single one of them was armed. None were engaged in any productive activity. Instead, they idled and goofed without a care in the world.
"Aren't there any female kobolds in that group?"
"How would I know? I understand nothing about lizard anatomy."
Marina shook her head at Carlos' question. The kobolds are lizardlike, and their faces resemble a bit of the Western image of dragons or dinosaurs. And all of them wore the same tattered hide rags.
They probably didn't even cure those hides but wore them raw.
"I just counted them. There are at least twenty kobolds there. I counted twenty, but there might be some other ones inside the tents."
"Good job, Marina. Weirdly, I see no children. All kobolds here are adults."
"So that's why you asked about female kobolds, Carlos. Maybe they were transported here like us?"
"Indeed, Marina. That would be even more wicked than what happened to us. We were teleported here to be tested or something. Those guys are here… to be slaughtered by us."
"Carlos, you're making me have ethical concerns about killing them. Again."
"No, Henrique. They are monsters. We just killed rats as well."
Everyone looked at Heloisa with weird looks on their faces. That was a phrase they would never expect coming from the mouth of the 'love-everything-and-everyone,' pink, frilly girl.
Heloisa would be against killing even cockroaches. What is making her want to kill those kobolds?
"Heloisa… are you okay?"
"I am feeling very well, Marina. Why?"
"That doesn't sound like you."
Heloisa looked down, and her cheeks reddened.
((I know… that's not something that I would normally say. Why do I feel that urge to kill those bastar… No, I mean, those kobolds? The curses and hate words just come out on their own if I don't control myself. What's happening to me? Could it be an effect of that goddess?))
Marina noticed her embarrassment and awkwardness, so she decided to switch focus.
"Okay, everyone. Let's do what we came here to do. Henrique and Ravi, you go melee, while I attack from range before jumping into the fray. Carlos, hold fire. If a big enemy exits those tents, then use your magic. Heloisa, your job is to step in to carry out anyone who gets injured. Understood?"
"Yeah."
"Okie dokie!"
"I'm in!"
"I hope you don't… get injured."
((What the hell? I almost said that I hoped that they wouldn't mind if I crushed some skulls. Really, what is happening to me? That's not who I am.))
Heloisa managed to change her phrase mid-sentence, but nobody seemed to notice it.
:::
Marina waited until the others got in position, then shot the first pebble at a kobold, striking it on the chest. At the same time, Henrique ran into the camp shouting.
Henrique's first swing decapitated a kobold, then he just turned the swing without stopping it, hitting a second kobold and opening a gash on its abdomen.
[Kobold killed. 1 point.]
[Kobold killed. 1 point.]
Despite having no sentries besides in the cave, all kobolds were already armed, so they reacted fairly quickly. Some rushed in the direction of Henrique and Marina, while others ran to the other side and started shooting arrows.
The volley of arrows was disorganized, and most projectiles flew by harmlessly, except for two. One hit Marina, bruising her arm. The other hit Heloisa's face.
Marina locked on the kobold archer that had hit her and nocked another pebble on her slingshot and aimed. The pebble was launched in a perfect arc, hitting the forehead of the kobold.
[Kobold killed. 1 point.]
Meanwhile, Heloisa wiped the blood that had flown when the little arrow grazed her face with her hand. She stared at the blood in her hand, feeling a fury unlike anything she had ever felt growing inside her.
Suddenly, a radiance appears, enveloping her whole body in a wrathful aura.
All kobolds immediately stop their attacks, frightened by the sudden burst of energy. The light that comes from Heloisa's body is strong enough to cast shadows even in the perfectly lit environment.
Ravi takes advantage of the opportunity to leave his hiding spot and strike the nearest kobold. Marina also decides to use it to switch from the slingshot to the knife, which inflicts more damage.
Heloisa keeps looking at the blood on her hand, unaffected by anything that happens around her. The kobolds turn, trying to flee from her and from the ones killing them, but in their state, driven by pure terror, they aren't able to withstand the attacks.
[Kobold killed. 1 point.]
[Kobold killed. 1 point.]
…
[Kobold killed. 1 point.]
Soon, they were all wiped out completely, with the only damage to the party being the light graze on Heloisa's cheek.
[Cleared kobold den. 10 points.]
"Helo! What happened?"
Carlos was the first to turn to Heloisa, who was still in the same state.
Carlos reached to her, touching her shoulder. That was enough to make her snap back.
The radiance on her body disappeared, and she slowly looked at Marina.
"Huh? Carlos? Why…?"
"Are you okay?"
Marina rushed back immediately after the prompt of cleaning the den appeared in her head.
"Ma? Huh? Weren't you fighting the kobolds?"
"Yes, and they are all dead now. But what happened to you?"
"What happened to me…?"
Heloisa looked down, not knowing how to answer that.
((I felt a gust of pure hatred rushing through my body. Hatred against the kobolds. But why??? And what was that afterwards? I got immersed in my hatred for how long?))
"Ma… how much time has passed from the moment I was hit to now?"