Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System-Chapter 43: Kabold Priest

Seeing how easily the first wave of Kobolds had been wiped out, Vikram’s confidence rose sharply.

For a moment, he even felt that this so-called Epic Dungeon might not be as terrifying as he had imagined.

Behind him, the reaction of his Sprout Team was even more direct.

Guardian Sprout and Warrior Sprout gathered around the newly awakened Fire Mage Sprout, their vine-formed bodies swaying slightly as if cheering in silent excitement.

Even the usually calm Healer Sprout emitted faint green healing particles in rhythmic pulses, almost like applause.

To them, it felt as though they had discovered a second leader, someone who could stand beside Vikram at the front of battle.

Seeing this scene, Vikram couldn’t help but feel pleased.

If the Fire Mage Sprout continued performing like this, then most of the brutal frontline combat in the future would fall upon it, while Vikram himself could focus more on command, positioning, and strategy.

Still, he suppressed his rising excitement. This was only the beginning of the dungeon. With a calm gesture, he signalled his team to advance.

The group continued moving deeper through the winding tunnel.

Dim candlelight flickered weakly along the stone walls, casting trembling shadows that stretched and shrank like living things.

Most of the candles were already burned down more than two-thirds, their melted wax hardened in crooked streams along the rock trays that held them.

It was obvious they had been lit long ago.

Vikram stepped forward cautiously.

A faint breeze drifted from somewhere deeper inside the cave, carrying with it a stale, damp scent mixed with something... animalistic.

Ahead, another lonely candle flickered.

Beyond it, the tunnel curved sharply.

Vikram slowed his breathing and crept closer, placing each step with extreme care.

His Sprout Team instinctively mimicked his movements, crouching and pausing whenever he did — even though they didn’t truly understand the concept of stealth.

As he reached the corner, a low, resonant growling sound drifted toward him.

It was not loud. Yet it was steady.

Uniform.

As if many throats were murmuring together.

For a brief moment, the sound reminded Vikram of monks chanting in a temple — slow, rhythmic, almost hypnotic.

His heart rate subtly increased.

He leaned forward and carefully peeked around the turn.

His Sprout Team also leaned from behind him in an almost comical sequence, one after another, their vine heads stacked in a silent line.

The sight beyond the corner made Vikram’s pupils contract.

This cavern was at least twice the size of the previous one.

Rough stone pillars rose unevenly from the ground, and faint natural light filtered through cracks high in the ceiling, creating a dim, eerie illumination.

About forty meters ahead... Nearly thirty Kobolds were prostrated on the ground.

Their bodies trembled slightly as they emitted low, guttural growls in unison, like some primitive form of worship.

At the center of them all stood a single figure.

This Kobold was different.

It wore a strange black-and-white feathered headdress, and in its hand it held a crooked wooden scepter carved with crude symbols.

The creature was hopping and swaying in front of the kneeling Kobolds, whispering rapidly in an incomprehensible language — its movements are erratic, ritualistic.

Flames from several candles arranged in a rough circle flickered around it, making its elongated shadow twist wildly across the cavern floor.

A cold realization flashed through Vikram’s mind.

"...A Kobold Priest?"

His uncovered right eye sharpened instantly, focus tightening like a drawn bowstring.

The Kobold Priest Vikram saw was noticeably taller than the average Kobold.

Its appearance was also vastly different from the others.

Ordinary Kobolds strongly resembled upright hyenas — their hunched shoulders, spotted fur, and crooked canine legs giving them the look of some newly evolved bipedal beast.

But this Priest...

Its overall height, body shape, and even the bend of its legs still matched that of a Kobold.

Yet its skin bore no fur at all.

Instead, its entire body was covered in dull green scales that faintly reflected the candlelight, making it look eerily reptilian.

The long snout and hyena-like skull silhouette remained unchanged, creating a grotesque fusion of wolf and lizard.

Vikram clicked his tongue softly in amazement.

"So... the rumours about Kobolds carrying draconic blood might actually be true."

An absurd chain of thoughts flickered through his mind.

In legends from both East and West, dragons were often described as creatures of overwhelming instinct — beings that would mate with almost any species when driven by desire.

If that were true...

Then perhaps, somewhere in the distant past, a dragon had indeed crossed paths with some hyena-like beast.

And the result of that impossible encounter had eventually become the Kobold race.

Looking again at the scaled Priest dancing before the ritual circle, Vikram couldn’t help but wonder whether this creature was some kind of genetic throwback — a purer manifestation of that ancient draconic lineage.

He even briefly imagined the ridiculous scene of a colossal dragon attempting to mate with a much smaller beast.

"...What kind of nightmare biology is that supposed to be?" he muttered inwardly.

His wandering thoughts were abruptly cut short.

"AWOOOO—!"

The Kobolds performing the ritual suddenly raised their heads together and let out a unified howl before bowing low again, foreheads almost touching the stone floor.

A sharp glint flashed across Vikram’s eyes.

He immediately forced his mind back into focus and began carefully counting enemies and observing their equipment.

The kneeling Kobolds were packed tightly together in a dense formation.

After several seconds of silent calculation, Vikram estimated that there were at least twenty-six or twenty-seven of them.

Around this central group stood a number of elites acting as guards.

Three Armored Kobold Warriors were positioned toward the rear, their iron chestplates dull under the candlelight.

Two Kobold Scouts carrying crossbows moved slowly along the right flank, patrolling in short, cautious arcs.

There was also another Kobold wearing worn leather armor.

Unlike the others, this one carried twin daggers at its waist.

Its posture was lower, more controlled, the way it shifted its weight suggested training and experience.

Vikram immediately judged it to be a class-type combatant, something closer to an Assassin or skinner rather than a simple miner or guard.

Of the six elites, two armored warriors held candles and stood to the left of the ritual circle, acting like sentries.

On the right side, the two scouts paced back and forth, their narrow eyes constantly scanning the surroundings while the candle flames in their hands trembled with each step.

All of them, however, kept their attention subtly oriented toward the Kobold Priest.

Having clearly assessed the situation, Vikram’s mind began to run at full speed.

A rough but efficient battle plan quickly took shape.

If the Fire Mage Sprout launches an Ember Meteor straight into that tightly packed group of kneeling Kobolds...

At least a dozen would be burned to ashes in one strike.

The problem was — Vikram had never personally witnessed the true destructive power of Ember Meteor.

He only knew one thing. It required a brief charging time.

And in real combat, even a few seconds of delay could become fatal.

So he forced himself to remain calm and began refining his priorities.

First, eliminate the two Kobold Scouts. Second, deal with the two candle-holding Kobold Warriors. Only then would the battlefield become safe enough for the Fire Mage Sprout to unleash its large-scale attack.

Among all six elite Kobolds present, the Scouts posed the greatest danger.

Guardian Sprout and Warrior Sprout were fully capable of holding off melee elites for a short period of time.

But crossbows were different.

A single well-placed bolt could pierce his body from the front... or worse, strike him in the back while he was engaged elsewhere.

That kind of sudden lethal threat could not be allowed to exist.

He briefly considered targeting the Kobold Priest first.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

The distance was too great. The Priest moved with a bizarre, trance-like rhythm — swaying and twisting like a fanatic dancer possessed by some invisible force. Its scaled body also made its defensive capability unknown.

Even more importantly, the flight path of an arrow was heavily obstructed by the densely packed Kobolds kneeling before it.

A clean kill shot was unlikely.

After a short pause, Vikram decisively shifted his focus.

Scouts first. Then the candle bearers.

From his growing understanding of Kobold behavior, he knew they had an instinctive fear of darkness.

If the light sources were extinguished, the entire formation would likely descend into confusion and panic.

There were five primary light sources.

Four were carried by elite Kobolds.

The fifth was a tall iron candelabra, nearly one and a half meters high, holding seven or eight burning candles.

It shone like a crude torch, casting flickering illumination over the ritual space.

One of the Kobold Scouts stood just behind it.

Perfect.

If he struck fast enough, he could remove the ranged threat and destabilize the battlefield at the same time.

Meanwhile, during this chaos, the Fire Mage Sprout would complete its charge and unleash Ember Meteor into the clustered enemy ranks.

With every variable aligned in his mind, Vikram slowly exhaled.

His thoughts became razor-sharp.

He did not rush.

Silently, he drew an arrow from his quiver and nocked it onto the bowstring.

His muscles tightened with controlled precision.

His naked eye narrowed into a focused line of sight.

The world seemed to grow quieter. Then, he released the arrow.

The arrow shot out like a streak of pale green lightning.

It pierced straight through the back of the Kobold Scout’s skull and burst out from its forehead, carrying the creature’s body forward with brutal force.

By sheer coincidence, the falling corpse slammed directly into the tall iron candelabra standing before it.

The Scout’s weight toppled the stand.

In an instant, metal clanged against stone, and the entire structure collapsed.

All the burning candles were snuffed out at once.

The chamber, which had been dimly illuminated moments ago, was suddenly swallowed by darkness.

The Kobolds still kneeling in their strange ritual froze in confusion.

Low growls and startled yelps rippled through the crowd as they struggled to understand what had just happened.

But Vikram gave them no time to react.

His fingers were already drawing another arrow.

His movements had become frighteningly smooth.

Load. Aim. Release.

Less than two seconds.

The second arrow tore through the gloom and blew apart the head of the remaining Kobold Scout.

Before the echoes of that impact faded, the third arrow was already on its way.

Then the fourth.

In under six seconds, four arrows had flown.

One armored Kobold Warrior had its left eye destroyed, shrieking as blood sprayed across its face.

Another took an arrow straight into the skull, not instantly fatal, but enough to stagger it violently. The candle it had been holding slipped from its grip and crashed onto the stone floor.

Within seven seconds of the first shot...

Every single light source in the cavern was gone.

Darkness descended like a suffocating tide.

Panic exploded among the Kobolds.

Terrified barking cries and chaotic footsteps echoed wildly in the underground chamber. Some collided with each other. Others crouched instinctively, their fear of darkness overwhelming their discipline.

The ritual formation collapsed into complete disorder.

Meanwhile, Vikram remained perfectly still.

His breathing was slow. His mind was calm.

Unlike the Kobolds, he could still see.

This was a subtle advantage he had gained long ago, back when he had consumed large quantities of apples in the early days of survival.

Among the many minor bodily changes they triggered, one had been the gradual awakening of weak night vision.

In dim environments, where ordinary humans would be nearly blind...

Vikram could still distinguish outlines, movement, and killing opportunities.