Chapter 220: Against The Dragon-Blooded Kobold King

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THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

RUMBLE!

The heavy footsteps became faster and more aggressive. A massive arm first emerged from the dark corridor, followed by a broad torso, a terrifying head, and finally the rest of its enormous body. The figure remained mostly shrouded in darkness, yet it was lightly illuminated by the faint glow of the torches hanging on the walls and the crystals embedded in the ceiling.

It was an absolutely massive figure, fully emerging from the end of the corridor. The creature stood five times the size of a normal Kobold. The monstrosity possessed two massive, heavily muscled arms marked with dozens of deep scars that represented every battle it had survived. Its shoulders were extremely wide, and its legs were thick with dense muscle and flexible cartilage, allowing it to take fast steps, deliver powerful kicks, and jump with ease whenever it pleased.

The monstrosity arrived while carrying two weapons in its massive hands. The weapons were curved and incredibly sharp, each one imbued with glowing cursed runes. They were gigantic axes — most likely the famous Cursed Runic Axes known to drop only extremely rarely from this type of monster.

But that was not where the surprises ended. The creature had a clear dragon-like head and sharp, blazing horns. This showcased that it was no mere Kobold. This was someone who had awakened the faint bloodline of dragons within its genetics — a true champion, a pedigree among pedigrees, a King.

Vladimir and Riven’s eyebrows twitched as they felt the blazing, potent, and overwhelming presence of the creature. The aura seemed to come accompanied by an immense wave of heat that made even the nearby torches burn hotter than before.

"That’s no mere Kobold King..." Riven muttered under his breath, sensing the massive, draconic pressure that the Kobold King exuded from its massive, incredibly muscular physique.

The flames it exuded could even burn skin by merely being close to it. As Riven had said, this thing was definitely not a normal Kobold King at all, but something... something else.

Vladimir swallowed hard and nodded, realizing what Riven meant as he analyzed the creature in more detail, his eyes narrowing the moment he sensed what it was. An incredibly rare Trait at that, one that would appear one in a million, and yet they were unlucky enough to face one with such Ability.

"Yeah... that’s a Dragon-Blooded Kobold King...!"

Sometimes the boss would appear without the Dragon Blood, in which case its rank would only be D Rank, as it was originally supposed to be. However, this Kobold King was imbued with Dragon Blood and had become a D+++ Rank monster at Level 50, the True Boss of this Dungeon without a shred of a doubt.

Whether it was bad luck or perhaps good luck, whichever one sees it, they once again were facing a stronger version of a boss. Maybe fate wanted them dead, or perhaps this was a blessing in disguise, since its death could potentially net them even greater rewards than if they had fought the conventional, weaker version of the Kobold King without Dragon Blood and only at D Rank.

Whatever the case, this was the one and only boss of the Whispering Caves. The gigantic Kobold King was a hell of a monster, known as the Hunter Butcherer because of its powerful dual axes. Hundreds of hunters have already perished against this creature over the years.

Riven’s face showed a mixture of wariness, fear, and fascination at such a massive and strong specimen. He wished he did not have to fight it, let alone kill it. Yet for the sake of the hunters trapped in this dungeon, and because he needed to conquer the dungeon in order to claim its core, he had no choice but to push himself toward that goal no matter the cost.

As the one and only boss of the Whispering Caves stepped forward to face the invaders who had been massacring its clan and stealing its food, the Kobold King opened its jaws wide. Flames began blazing from deep within its throat and rushed all the way toward its sharp teeth.

Vladimir and Riven panicked and screamed at the same time.

"Shit, move aside!" Vladimir roared.

"Flame Breath!" Riven gasped in alarm.

Both of them rolled away barely in time as the monstrous Kobold King unleashed the full power of its Dragon Blood. It released a catastrophic and deadly roar that came accompanied by a sea of pure flames. The faint trace of Dragon Blood within it unleashed its true power right then and there, shaping the fire into a roaring dragon made of flames themselves.

The sea of fire struck toward them both, yet Riven and Vladimir managed to avoid being completely burned. They kept rolling across the ground as the flames followed them as if they were alive, generating dozens of violent explosions across the caverns.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

Riven quickly conjured a barrier of psychic power to hold back the remaining flames while simultaneously creating dozens of ghostly swords imbued with deadly poison. He sent them flying at high speed toward the Kobold King, whose scales suddenly hardened with a metallic gleam.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

The swords suddenly bounced off the creature’s scales and exploded harmlessly away. Riven was left speechless for a moment before he remembered something he had once heard about true dragons.

Their scales were capable of bouncing magic attacks, making them immensely hard to deal with. It was as if they always had the "Reflect" Spell active passively.

And this dragon-blooded bastard held a weaker but still dangerous version of that same power.

"Okay, so conventional magic ain’t going to cut it—"

"GRAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The Kobold King let out a mighty, bone-shaking roar. The sound was so monstrously loud that it was completely deafening to Vladimir’s sensitive ears. He fell to his knees in agony and pain.

"Uugh?!"

As he screamed, the Kobold King released a powerful pressure wave through pure sound, forcing everyone nearby into temporary paralysis.

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