God Agent: All Hail The Great Kobold

Huff!

Ka’z exhaled slowly and shut his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and carefully scanning his surroundings. His Divine Perception spread outward, allowing him to count every goblin within range without needing to see them directly.

Two stood in front of the building’s entrance, alert and armed, while he could sense another four positioned around the surrounding area. Two remained stationary behind the building, clearly assigned to guard the rear, while the remaining pair paced back and forth along the sides with enough distance between them to watch both approaches.

The question now was whether he should fight them.

Ka’z shifted his attention toward the short fence surrounding the barn and narrowed his eyes. It was not particularly high, and he could easily scale it without attracting attention. Once he started the fire, the confusion should draw the guards toward the burning building, giving him enough time to slip away and continue toward the ranch while everyone was distracted.

’That is what I will do,’ Ka’z concluded inwardly.

He saw no reason to fight and risk drawing unnecessary attention to himself when there was a far safer way of accomplishing the same objective.

[Excellent decision. Any other decision would have resulted in complete failure.]

Ka’z rolled his eyes beneath the Shadow Veil. If the system already knew which decision was best, then why had it waited for him to reach the conclusion himself?

’You could have just told me that from the beginning.’

[The purpose of Combat Aid Module II is to assist the host’s decision making process, not replace it.]

Ka’z frowned. ’You always have something to say after the fact.’

Ignoring the system’s response, he slowly crept closer to the barn while keeping his body pressed low against the shadows. He watched the two moving guards carefully and waited until they had drifted farther away from their positions before making his move. The darkness clinging to his body distorted his outline, allowing him to remain hidden even when he moved through areas where the faint moonlight would normally expose him.

Once the timing was right, Ka’z placed one hand against the ground and silently poured mana into the soil.

His fingers pressed deeper into the earth as his Earth Magic spread beneath the surface, travelling several meters away from his position before gathering beneath a specific point.

Bam!

A chunk of earth suddenly exploded upward from the ground several meters away, creating a loud noise that immediately drew the attention of the two goblins standing near the entrance.

“What was that?” one of them barked as both warriors turned sharply toward the sound.

Swoosh!

Immediately both of them turned to investigate, a lone shadow moved through the darkness from the opposite direction. Ka’z shot forward with frightening speed, vaulted over the short fence and slipped through one of the barn’s windows before disappearing into the building.

Thud!

He landed gently on the wooden floor, bending his knees to absorb the impact. The inside of the barn was filled with dry hay, wooden supports and large stacks of harvested grain that had been carefully stored for the coming months. Ka’z did not waste even a second looking around.

Flames burst to life around both of his fists.

He drove one flaming fist into the haystack beside him, instantly setting the dry material ablaze as fire raced across its surface. Without hesitation, he threw his other hand outward and released another surge of flames, setting everything around him on fire. The heat rapidly spread through the building as the dry hay and wooden supports eagerly fed the growing inferno.

Brrrrrr!

Outside the storage building, the goblins suddenly turned toward the barn as the scent of smoke reached them. Their expressions quickly shifted from confusion to shock and then horror when they saw orange light flashing violently through the windows while thick smoke began pouring into the night sky.

Brrrr!

“Fire!”

Without waiting for anyone else to react, the goblins rushed toward the entrance and burst inside, only to find the entire storage building already burning violently. Flames crawled across the walls, devoured piles of hay and began spreading toward the stored grain as smoke filled the air and made it difficult to breathe.

“Put out the flames!” someone cried.

The goblins immediately scattered in panic, desperately looking for anything they could use to contain the growing fire. Some stripped off parts of their clothing and began beating at the flames, trying to suffocate them before they spread further through the building.

However, in their desperation, none of them noticed the figure silently moving through the thick shadows cast by the raging fire.

Ka’z slipped past them from the very doorway they had entered through and quietly stepped outside. The moment he cleared the entrance, he turned back and pressed his palm against the wooden structure.

Pa!

Mana surged through his hand.

The section of wood beneath his palm quickly turned red from the rising heat before flames suddenly erupted from it. Fire spread violently across the dry wooden structure, racing along the walls and rapidly cutting off the most obvious path the goblins could have used to escape.

Ka’z did not remain to watch the result.

From nearly every part of the village, the growing orange glow could be seen rising above the rooftops as thick smoke continued climbing into the night sky. The peaceful darkness that had covered the Ashmork settlement moments earlier was immediately shattered by shouts, hurried footsteps and the growing alarm spreading from one section of the village to another.

Inside the council house, Loki, Molu and Crow had been discussing the recent developments when the light from outside suddenly flickered through the windows.

All three immediately turned toward the source. The moment they stepped outside, their eyes widened at the sight of thick smoke rising into the sky.

“How did this happen?” Loki gasped, his expression twisting with disbelief.

Molu’s face paled as he stared toward the burning structure. They had just lost the year’s harvest at the farms to the kobolds, and now another disaster had struck before they had even finished dealing with the first one. His thoughts immediately drifted toward the amount of food they had left inside the village, and for the first time since becoming chieftain, he felt a cold sensation spread through his chest.

’Is the heavens truly against us?’

Loki and Crow did not wait for further explanation. Both warriors burst forward almost simultaneously and raced toward the storage building, their movements fast enough to leave the slower goblins behind as they pushed through the gathering confusion.

Molu, however, did not move.

He remained standing outside the council house, his face slowly becoming calm as another thought forced its way into his mind. The longer he stared at the rising smoke, the more uncomfortable he became.

What if this was not the heavens punishing them?

His eyes slowly narrowed.

If the enemy had already burned the farms outside the village and then deliberately destroyed the storage barn, what was stopping them from attempting to do it again inside the settlement?

Buzz!

Molu’s eyes widened as another memory suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Loki had described the kobold who defeated him as someone capable of using both orthodox and unorthodox forms of magic. He had spoken of Blood Magic, defensive abilities that resembled a dragon’s scales, regeneration, the Words of Power and combat techniques that none of them had expected a kobold his age to possess.

If that monster was capable of doing all of those things, then was it truly impossible for him to sneak into the village?

Buzz!

“The ranch!” Molu’s eyes widened in realization.

If they attacked the barn, then they are clearly trying to starve them. If that’s the case, the ranch is definitely their next target!

His gaze snapped toward the northwestern side of the settlement where the livestock were kept, and his face twisted with alarm when he realized how much time he had already wasted standing there.

“The ranch, guys!” Molu shouted as he turned around, only for his expression to stiffen when he realized he was the only one still standing outside the council house.

Loki and Crow were already gone.

“Those two fools!” Molu cursed as he immediately broke into a run in the opposite direction the two had gone.

Meanwhile, somewhere else within the Ashmork village, Varg stood alone beneath the faint moonlight and stared toward the thick smoke rising over the rooftops. The old goblin’s burning green eyes narrowed as the sounds of panic gradually spread through the settlement. Unlike the others, he did not rush toward the fire. His expression remained calm, but the grip around his staff slowly tightened until the old wood creaked beneath his fingers.

He had spent too many years surviving wars to believe in coincidence.

Their food supply had been targeted.night, one of their most important storage buildings had suddenly caught fire. Varg slowly turned away from the smoke and began walking in the opposite direction.

“These kobolds have done enough,” he muttered, his voice low and heavy with restrained anger. “I will not let them have their way anymore.”

With his staff striking softly against the ground, the old goblin disappeared deeper into the darkness, heading toward the part of the village where he believed the real target would be.