First Battle in the Side Hall

Kobolds are a type of Beastmen. Beastmen and the green-skinned, tusked Orcs are two different things, but that's not important; we'll talk about it later.

A single adult Kobold stands between one and one point two meters tall. They aren't very strong but are agile, possess a certain level of intelligence, and are skilled at hunting in groups. Although their individual combat strength isn't high, they pose a sufficient threat to ordinary people.

So, before this, even when these Kobolds would occasionally sneak over to steal things, Caelan would turn a blind eye, only trying to hide his food more discreetly.

After all, his own life was more important.

Now that he had some means of counterattack, Caelan decided it was time to teach these bandits a lesson.

He stood at the railing on the second floor, looking down. About a dozen Kobolds, clad in rags and armed with crude weapons, were pacing around the side hall.

The Previous Demon King's remains were still in the main hall—Caelan hadn't moved him since he died—and these Kobolds didn't dare to go near him.

Caelan had tried storing some food next to the Previous Demon King before, but he gave up when he found the mushrooms had grown legs and were running around the next day.

—On a side note, Caelan thought the Previous Demon King's strength should have been decent, given he could use summoning magic to bring him from another world… But as the saying goes, strength is relative.

Mainly, Caelan hadn't met other powerful individuals yet, so he couldn't determine what level the Previous Demon King's strength was at in this world.

At least until he possessed strength equal to the Previous Demon King, Caelan didn't plan on venturing out recklessly.

Back to the main topic.

Although the Kobolds had keen noses, they hadn't detected Caelan's presence.

After observing for a while, Caelan issued commands to his Skeleton Soldiers.

Two Skeleton Soldiers were to guard the exit, while he and another Skeleton Soldier would guard the entrance to the interior. He summoned two more Skeleton Soldiers to circle around to the main hall's entrance, cutting off the Kobolds' escape route when they panicked.

The strongest, Skull Head, remained on the second floor. Once the other positions were set, he would descend from above to disrupt the group of Kobolds.

After roughly planning, Caelan looked at the scene and pondered, then gritted his teeth and summoned two more Skeleton Soldiers to join Skull Head in the aerial assault.

With this, all nine… now eight Skeleton Soldiers were deployed, and his magic power was nearly depleted. If he encountered any danger afterward, he would have to rely on self-preservation.

And to enhance the combat effectiveness of these Skeleton Soldiers, Caelan had them pick up the decorative weapons from the walls—axes, hammers, swords—all of poor quality and crude workmanship… The slightly better ones had already been stolen.

However, in this situation, every little bit helped, especially since the Kobolds' weapons were of similar quality.

The plan was fully set. Caelan waved his hand, and all the Skeleton Soldiers immediately moved, dispersing to their respective positions.

The clattering of bones and metal against the floor was not small, and the Kobolds' senses were keen enough. They quickly noticed the sounds around them. Many Kobolds stopped, looking around and twitching their noses, sniffing cautiously.

However, most Kobolds didn't care, as it wasn't their first time here, and they knew there were some Skeleton Soldiers in the castle, who seemed dull and foolish, nothing to be afraid of.

Perhaps Caelan had a talent for stealth, as they still didn't know of his existence.

After the Skeleton Soldiers silently sealed off all entrances and exits to the side hall, Caelan, holding the Chaos Encyclopedia, used his will to issue commands to all the Skeleton Soldiers.

The next moment, Skull Head and two Skeleton Soldiers carrying axes charged down the stairs from the second floor.

—Caelan had considered having them jump directly down; that would indeed be very intimidating, but given the Skeleton Soldiers' osteoporotic appearance, they might fall apart upon landing before anyone even touched them.

The Kobolds immediately noticed these three Skeleton Soldiers, and all the Kobolds instantly fell into disarray.

If there were something with a bit of flesh, perhaps driven by hunger, they might have rushed to fight, but such a group of old bones, likely centuries old and too tough to chew, the Kobolds naturally weren't willing to fight.

If they lost, they'd lose their lives. If they won, and got injured, they might be eaten by other monsters later… And even if they were unharmed, wasting stamina wasn't worth it.

For these monsters with fast metabolisms, every hunt or battle was a gamble: either eat their fill or starve to death.

Because once a hunt failed, their remaining stamina would make it very difficult for them to attempt another hunt, ultimately turning them into food for their companions.

So, the first thing this group of Kobolds chose to do when faced with an attack was to flee.

They grabbed the stolen food and ran towards the door.

But at that moment, the two Skeleton Soldiers who had been guarding the door also rushed out, and with a swift chop, they butchered the Kobold at the very front.

However, the splattering blood and the scent of gore instantly drove the other hungry Kobolds into a frenzy. These hungry beasts immediately lunged at the two Skeleton Soldiers at the door and the corpse on the ground.

Seeing the situation was not good, Caelan abandoned any siege tactics and immediately ordered all Skeleton Soldiers to surround them, killing as many as possible in the chaos.

The more Kobolds that died, the more chaotic the remaining Kobolds would become, and the situation would be more favorable to his side.

Skull Head was almost twice as tall as the Kobolds. He strode into the beast crowd, swung his bone club with his right hand, sending one Kobold flying, and used the sharp bone spikes on it to disembowel another Kobold.

The other Skeleton Soldiers also charged in, hacking wildly without restraint.

The decorative weapons in their hands mostly lacked power, resembling bludgeons more than cutting tools.

But despite their skeletal appearance, they were quite strong, bludgeoning the Kobolds, who yelped continuously.

Caelan stood at a distance, observing with a fork in his hand, as swords and blades had no eyes, and getting injured himself wouldn't be worth it.

Just then, he suddenly felt light, quick footsteps behind him and quickly jumped aside—

Another long spear thrust through the spot where he had just been standing.

The Kobold holding the spear missed, lost its balance, and fell to the ground.

Caelan, having just narrowly escaped death, didn't hesitate. He raised the fork and, like swinging a club, slammed it down hard!

Bang!

The forkhead struck directly on the head, not shattering it like Skull Head could, but it still dazed the Kobold, leaving it unable to get up.

Caelan dared not delay. He quickly turned to confirm that no other Kobolds were coming from other directions, then delivered several more blows until the Kobold was mangled before daring to stop.

“I was careless… There must be other Kobolds roaming other parts of the castle. I must be more careful…”