Red could hear several howls coming from the tribe as he trailed over the fence. His body jumped, startled, thinking they were coming after him, only to be relieved that there was no wolf around. Instead of going into the tribe right away, he went after the dead wolves at the entrance.
This was the only chance for him to get that loot. It was not like he would be a great help anyway. Getting that loot also raised the chance of his survival. With that in mind, he picked up his pace. It was six dire wolves, equal to at least twelve cores.
He did it as fast as he could, afraid that he was caught by the tribesmen for exchanging them for loot without permission.
9 Might Cores
5 Magic Cores
12 Copper Coins
He was surprised by the number of coins. It was a dire wolf; he expected to get at least ten or even twenty for each wolf. Not that he cared about the coins, but this showed that he barely knew anything about the loot when he thought he already understood how it worked.
Red threw the coins far away and absorbed the cores. He didn't check his status after he snuck his way into the village. He was honestly surprised that the tribe could take down six wolves; the situation seemed to be a little bit more optimistic than he thought.
However, he quickly changed his mind about it because all he saw were goblins' corpses all over as he walked into the tribe. He saw more than twenty bodies on the way, torn apart. Some of them showed signs of getting eaten, losing a big chunk of their flesh.
He thought the tribe was done for until he started to see more dire wolf's dead bodies alongside the warrior who followed the Chief. When he mentioned warrior, it was the real warrior under the Chief's order, the hobs.
It was an evolution when a goblin reached a certain level or something. He didn't know the details, but that was what he heard.
Hobgoblin was about the same height as him, having a bigger build, and certainly much stronger than those short goblins. They were naturally stronger than the goblin for sure, but he didn't know the details.
If he had to guess, they might have a skill or maybe even know some magic on top of their higher stats.
Red shook his head, shaking off the useless thoughts in his head, and focused on the situation at hand. The hobs' dead bodies meant the Chief had returned. It was good news, meaning they had a chance to defend the tribe.
The warrior was a hob, and the Chief was one evolution higher, a champion. With the Chief, they had someone to fight against the Dire Wolf King.
Red quickly trailed the trace of the battle and soon heard the sound of fighting as well as the howl getting closer to him. The houses and the other buildings were wrecked, and some of them were burnt.
The sound of the battle was getting closer, across the house in front of him. He rushed into the house, which was in a mess. He kept himself hidden as he took a peek outside through the gap.
He roughly estimated there were more than thirty dire wolf bodies he passed by earlier. It was hard to fight against the temptation to exchange them for loot. His fear of the Chief stopped him from doing so.
Now he looked at the battlefield where the Chief directly led the battle. Only fourteen dire wolves were remaining; one of them was the Dire Wolf King. However, the tribe was not in good condition either.
There were only seventeen jobs, along with the Chief. Then there were reserve warriors who were still goblins, around thirty of them. They had the number, but the situation didn't look good.
The Chief suffered injuries; his body was covered by his own blood as he supported himself with the axe. Even though The Chief was a champion, the Dire Wolf King was still too much for him. The Chief needed the support of his warrior, but the reserved warrior could not handle the dire wolf on their own, even if they had the number advantage.
However, the Dire Wolf King was not unscathed either. Arrows, spears, and swords stuck on its body. Its dark-silver fur was soaked with its own blood, but it remained standing strong. It looked like the wound didn't really bother it.
The thing that confused Red was why the two sides were in a standoff. No matter how he looked at it, the dire wolves had the advantage against his people, yet they looked cautious.
His confusion was answered shortly after as he saw something dark gathering below the Dire Wolf King. Those dark things shot up, burst out into tentacles, and grabbed the Dire Wolf King's legs. That was when the Chief made his move, followed by the hobs.
The fourteen dire wolves stood around the king, protecting their king.
The Chief leaped into the air, went over the dire wolves as he raised the axe up. He swung the axe down, aiming at the head of the Dire Wolf King, who was tied by the dark tentacle.
The Dire Wolf King could not move his feet, but he could move his head, avoiding a fatal hit on the head as the axe grazed the Dire Wolf King's left eye. The Dire Wolf King wriggled his way, weirdly twisting his neck to avoid the axe.
In that moment, the Dire Wolf King broke free from the bind, or to be more exact, the bind lost its power. It swept its right paw at the champion, who just landed, sending the champion flying and crashing into the building.
The Dire Wolf King opened its mouth as flame gathered in its mouth. Then the fireball shot toward the building where the Chief crashed. The fireball exploded, creating a pillar of flame that engulfed the building.