Chapter 737: The Fighting Arena (Part 4) — The Agile Tail!

Jier chuckled softly, then focused his energy to look downward.

The battle officially began with the splashing of viscous animal plasma.

Facing the blood raining down from above, the long-haired lynx Beast-men seemed very displeased; they took the initiative to retreat a little further from their original positions, basically nearing the edge of the arena where they had just emerged.

As for the goblins, not only were they accustomed to and fond of this splashing plasma, but, stimulated by the scent of blood, they all began to howl and charged toward the "enemy" in a swarm.

They chased and bumped into one another, taking long strides and holding their only weapons high, as if they intended to crush those "little things" in one go.

It is laughable to say, but goblins are generally shorter than Humans, and thus they are often derisively called "green runts"—it is hard to tell whether that is an insult to the monster species known as goblins, or a side-swipe at the Dwarf race.

At this moment, facing the more than ten goblins charging over in a violent, surging mass, those tiny little things displayed astonishing composure.

They did not shrink back in fear or scatter in a panic; instead, the four in the front row holding broken daggers and jagged metal blades spread out to the sides, both clearing space for the back row to attack and, through small, active leaps, drawing the attention of the fastest-charging goblins.

Immediately, the long-haired lynx Beast-men in the back row unleashed their power.

No one expected that the tails of these creatures would be so formidable.

The two long-haired lynx Beast-men lying on the ground, stretching out their tails, coordinated perfectly with their companions; the two of them spun rapidly in place, and as their bodies rotated, their long, furry tails—which had been trailing on the ground—swung like long whips, rotating through the air and finally, following the momentum, lashing out above the raised palms of their companions.

Snap! Snap!

Two short, sharp lashing sounds rang out; it turned out that while the prone companions were rotating their bodies, the two long-haired lynx Beast-men holding the scavenged Ningxue Tukua had tossed the largest Ningxue Tukua slightly above their palms—the force was not great, but it perfectly complemented the long tails swinging around during the rotation.

The two Ningxue Tukua were whipped into the air.

The speed was lightning fast!

Before the goblins could charge over, they struck the faces of the two fastest-running goblins first.

"Jiji-jiji-ao!"

Those two goblins had their faces plastered by the Ningxue Tukua that had slammed into them from the opposite direction; the foul-smelling clods of dirt immediately spilled into their eyes, mouths, and noses. The force carried by the impact sent the two unlucky goblins sprawling to the ground.

Meanwhile, the two melee long-haired lynx Beast-men in the front row, who had already locked onto their targets, lunged forward, leaped while running, and pounced directly onto the upper bodies of the fallen goblins, pinning them back down just as they were trying to crawl up.

Snap! Snap!

Two more lashing sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

It turned out the prone long-haired lynx Beast-men had not stopped at all; after spinning once on the ground, they continued to spin again. Once more coordinating with their companions, they delivered two other extremely accurate strikes.

Immediately, two more of the fastest-charging goblins had their faces plastered by Ningxue Tukua, and the next moment, the other two melee long-haired lynx Beast-men holding broken weapons pounced on them.

They pinned them down as they tried to rise and delivered fatal blows.

Jier was astonished watching from above—not because of the coordination of the alien races below, but because of how the two prone long-haired lynx Beast-men confirmed that their tails could hit the clods tossed by their companions. Furthermore, how the struck clods could so accurately hit the heads and faces of the rapidly charging goblins.

The coordination and accuracy involved were truly too astonishing; even a slight error would have forced the little things in the front row to face the goblins' charges and attacks head-on.

Instead of the current chaotic mess, which had provided the long-haired lynx Beast-men with an opportunity for a melee.

"Ooooooh!!!"

"How did they do that?"

"Impossible!"

The commoners in the audience below exclaimed in wonder; they were all regulars at the Fighting Arena, and although they possessed no skills themselves, they had accumulated some discernment from watching so much.

The long-haired lynx Beast-men's accurate delaying strikes and the melee pounces from the front row had greatly altered the situation in the Fighting Arena, which had been unfavorable to them.

The chaotic scene in front made the goblin leader, who was walking at the very back of the goblin pack, extremely dissatisfied; it lowered its head, letting the Xiaoniutou Gugu horns on its head—which served as a Helmet and Ram Horn—protrude forward, then, clutching its large wooden club, it buried its head and charged straight ahead.

It looked as if it would not stop until it had rammed or killed one or two long-haired lynx Beast-men.

But there was still some distance before it reached them, and the goblins and melee long-haired lynx Beast-men currently locked in the melee were acting in strange ways that the audience could not quite understand.

The goblins that had been plastered in the face by Ningxue Tukua and pounced upon by the melee long-haired lynx Beast-men had not risen once; after falling, they were still shouting loudly and spiritedly, but the fact that four goblins were suddenly down and out of the fight meant the goblins' numerical advantage was immediately gone.

Although seven goblins immediately swarmed up, the four melee long-haired lynx Beast-men, having done who knows what, immediately leaped into the air, each showing their own skill to dodge the wooden clubs and bone cudgels swung by the goblins, or their foul mouths filled with sharp white teeth.

In the process of leaping to dodge, they even used their long tails to lash and push off the ground; after avoiding the attacks, they stopped and pivoted in place, returning to their original positions instead.

The four long-haired lynx Beast-men even extended their short, thick legs in mid-air, each delivering a flying kick to the faces and chests of the goblins whose attacks had just missed.

"Waaaaah! Gaga-gaga!!!"

The goblins struck by the flying kicks could not believe it; these little things were actually so agile, and could even counterattack immediately after dodging their strikes!

The tiny long-haired lynx Beast-men, only one meter tall, looked very small, but they still had weight; thus, this uniform set of four flying kicks sent the four targeted goblins flying back several meters, where they rolled on the ground several times before crawling up while wailing.

"Good!"

"So powerful! Haha, the smaller things actually kicked the short goblins away!"

"I can't believe it! Am I drunk?"

The last sentence was spoken jokingly by Mr. Autosfiten.

The others in the VIP room shrugged; this guy was not drunk at all—he had only just finished vomiting a short while ago, and the Wine he had just consumed was still in his stomach.

At this moment, the goblin leader charging over with its head down had arrived, but the four melee long-haired lynx Beast-men who had just kicked away their enemies did not fight it head-on at all; they were extremely agile, simply lowering their bodies and shuffling their legs to dodge the goblin leader's Manyu Chongzhuang.

If the enemy were of average build and agility, such as a Human farmer or Soldier, the goblin leader's "Manyu Chongzhuang" would be quite threatening, especially in a crowded combat situation where there was simply no space or time to dodge.

After all, to one's left and right were other companions. And when others saw that such an attack would not hit them, they would mostly not take the initiative to move their bodies to provide space for a companion who might be hit.

This resulted in similar attacks where those in front of the charge could only watch helplessly as they were hit.

However, the long-haired lynx Beast-men were too agile; after the four in the front row simply dodged the charging goblin leader, they dealt with the three remaining goblins beside them in a four-on-three fight.

The four goblins first hit by the Ningxue Tukua and pounced upon were still sprawling on the ground and wailing; although they were shouting loudly, they clearly had no intention of getting up to fight, which was very strange.

And the four goblins just kicked away were still rolling on the ground; it would be a while before they wailed, crawled up, and ran back over.

Therefore, at least for the few breaths of time during the intense battle, the long-haired lynx Beast-men had instead created a favorable opportunity to fight with superior numbers.

They clearly did not waste this hard-won opportunity; four against three, they directly formed a situation of two-on-one, one-on-one, and one-on-one.

Facing the "little ones" in front of them, the goblins had not yet lost their Yongqi; in their limited experience, the unfavorable situation just now was merely the good luck of the little ones.

Therefore, they swung their wooden clubs and bone cudgels fiercely toward them.

But the melee long-haired lynx Beast-men did not leap to dodge again; instead, they swung their bodies, and their long, furry tails wrapped around the goblins' wrists or weapons like whips.

Although thin and long, this thing was surprisingly sturdy and powerful; the goblins tugged with their hands, but could not pull them away.

However, Goblins are, after all, a cut above the smaller Long-haired Lynx Beast in terms of weight and strength; with a drag of their feet, they pulled the tiny Long-haired Lynx Beast over, just like a tug-of-war.

But do not forget at this moment, in a battle situation that appears to be one-on-one, there is actually a pair that is two-on-one.

Just as one unlucky Goblin opened its wide mouth, intending to pull the annoying little thing in front of it to bite down hard, it suddenly felt a pain in the crack of its buttocks behind it.

Immediately, the pain was magnified manifold; the Goblin turned its head to look, and it was actually another melee Long-haired Lynx Beast that had shoved a broken dagger, snapped off almost to the hilt, into its buttocks.

That is a vital spot.

Whether for a Human or a Goblin, it is a vital spot.

Then, a strange, shrill scream of "Awoooooo!!!!!!!!" rang through the entire Fighting Arena.

Following that, er, was the loud, boisterous laughter of the crowd in the spectator stands.

"Hahahaha, ouch, just looking at that hurts!"

"Haha, do you want me to give you one too?"

"Get lost! Go further away!"

Even in the VIP room, the atmosphere had become relaxed.

Unlike the sudden turn of events over here, the Goblin leader, which had been charging headlong, was simultaneously locked in a heated battle with the ranged Long-haired Lynx Beasts.

Ever since this leader charged over, it had been under constant attack from those two groups of ranged Long-haired Lynx Beasts, with wave after wave of Ningxue Tukua striking its body.

But this Goblin leader was wearing a homemade, simple 'bone armor' and also wore a Xiaoniutou Gugu, which was also made of bone, on its head. Furthermore, when it lowered its head to charge, its torso and face were shielded by the Xiaoniutou Gugu held at the very front.

Therefore, apart from a few Ningxue Tukua that hit its legs and turned its green legs red, they had no effect.

Facing this situation, the tiny Long-haired Lynx Beasts were startled but not panicked; after letting out a few urgent "woo-woo meow-meow" cries, they seemed to change their tactics and scattered in all directions.

*Thud*—a dull sound of impact; this was the noise made by the Goblin leader crashing into the wall of the Fighting Arena.

Although it didn't hit anything, it didn't suffer much damage itself. It had padded the inside of the Xiaoniutou Gugu helmet with some soft material, so crashing headfirst into the wall didn't cause any major issues.

The Goblin leader then straightened up, its cruel little eyes scanning left and right, but it was so angry it could have exploded.

The bunch of losers under its command were actually being suppressed and beaten by the tiny enemies.

With a roar, the Goblin leader locked onto the nearest Long-haired Lynx Beast and swung its club down hard.

The targeted Long-haired Lynx Beast appeared to have rich combat experience; judging in an instant that this fierce blow would not hit it, it did not move its feet, but instead waved its tiny arms, throwing a Ningxue Tukua it had picked up from the ground, hoping to hit the enemy in the face.

But it did not expect the opponent's weapon to be so powerful, nor the ground to be so firm.

The Goblin leader's fierce blow smashed heavily in front of this Long-haired Lynx Beast with a loud *bang*.

Along with it, slightly red clods of earth and dust from the ground were kicked up.

The Long-haired Lynx Beast was knocked to the ground by the shock of this close-range strike. Its large eyes were dazed and unfocused from the loud sound, the fur with complex patterns on its head and face stood on end, and its two soft ears drooped down.

"Ha! Guagua Daji!"

The Goblin leader was overjoyed, shouted something whose meaning was unknown, and charged straight forward. It hadn't expected that although these tiny enemies were agile, they could not withstand the shock of a massive sound. This was great; it had found a way to deal with the enemies. Even without that group of loser subordinates, it could defeat these tiny, furry things one by one by itself.

Just at this dangerous moment, the other Long-haired Lynx Beasts responsible for ranged attacks bristled their fur and bravely charged back in the opposite direction.

The Goblin leader was not alarmed but delighted; it had been worrying about not being able to catch these agile little things, and now they were delivering themselves to its doorstep—perfect for wiping them all out at once. It raised its thick wooden club high, preparing to imitate what it had just done, to strike the ground hard with the wooden club and stun these furry little things.

But to everyone's surprise, one of the Long-haired Lynx Beasts charging back swung its tail forward, hooked and coiled it around the tail of its dazed companion on the ground, and dragged its companion away while running flat against the ground.

"Huh?"

This sight even shocked Jier; could one really save a companion like that?

Everyone else was also very surprised; even Mr. Bantuolisa had clearly never seen this scene before, as he had removed the mask from his face and opened his eyes wide to observe the scene in the Fighting Arena below.

The other Long-haired Lynx Beasts had clearly learned from their companion's lesson; although they surrounded the Goblin leader from the left and right, they did not carelessly approach it again.

The wooden club the Goblin leader held up was neither here nor there.

In the end, it had to sheepishly lower it, carry it in its hand, and stride toward the nearest furry little thing.

But another Long-haired Lynx Beast on the other side threw a Ningxue Tukua right at the Goblin leader's face, and it was a very accurate throw, making the Goblin leader get a mouthful of fishy, foul-smelling mud.

This enraged it; first, it shrieked in anger, then turned and chased after the furry little thing that had insulted it.

Elsewhere in the arena, however, it was a different scene.

The Long-haired Lynx Beasts were, completely contrary to what most people expected, suppressing the Goblins, who held the numerical advantage.

Not to mention how they cleverly created a peculiar situation where they were outnumbered but were actually fighting many-against-few, just look back at the earlier unlucky Goblin: its wrist was entangled by the long, thin tail of a Long-haired Lynx Beast in front of it, while its buttocks behind were shamelessly ambushed by another Long-haired Lynx Beast!

One of them had fiercely stabbed the broken dagger they had picked up earlier into the poor Goblin's buttocks.

That furry ambushing Beast, after stabbing the weapon deep into the Goblin's buttocks, twisted it hard, creatively making the Goblin sing out in a sharp, loud, Human-like female soprano voice.

This scene made everyone watching clench their legs, cold sweat pouring down.

Afterward, this insidious Long-haired Lynx Beast pulled out the broken dagger, which was covered in a large amount of blood and filth, and without caring about the heavily wounded Goblin, turned and threw itself toward the next unlucky victim.

And the Long-haired Lynx Beast facing the Goblin that had turned into a soprano also flicked its tail, releasing the Goblin's wrist. With a hard lash of its tail against the ground, it sprang up and pounced from the air into the battle of the last pair of melee Long-haired Lynx Beasts.

Therefore, when the four Goblins that had been kicked away earlier rushed back, their three companions left behind were already pitifully clutching their buttocks, rolling crazily on the ground one by one.

Even so, streams of blood were still oozing out from the cracks in the rolling Goblins' buttocks.

This scene frightened the four arriving Goblins so much that they lost the will to fight and turned to run, seemingly wanting to head toward the metal fence they had come from.

Unfortunately, that had already been closed before the battle began; these few Goblins who had lost their will to fight could only seek some psychological comfort by running over there.

At this time, the general situation of the battle had roughly emerged; the gamblers and commoners who had bet on the Long-haired Lynx Beasts were shouting excitedly, which left the others who had bet on the Goblin Group with no choice but to pin their hopes of a comeback victory on the Goblin leader.

Although it was the only one left facing at least seven Long-haired Lynx Beasts, considering that the Long-haired Lynx Beasts could be stunned by the sound of the large wooden club striking the ground, the Goblin leader clearly still had some fight left in it.

"Go for it! Strike the ground to force them back while looking for an opportunity!"

"Idiot, at a time like this, you should conserve your stamina and use positioning to find a chance to strike!"

"￥%￥, it's all alone, how is it supposed to conserve stamina while being besieged by these little Monster aliens? Huh? You tell me?"

The spectator stands below were in an uproar, and the VIP viewing room high above was also arguing endlessly.

"Haha, won, won! I'll be waiting to hear what valuable news and intelligence you all have later."

Mr. Scott rubbed his hands excitedly, looking at the others present with a wicked grin.

Mr. "Shriveled Aolier" did not react much; he still wore his mask, sipping Wine in small mouthfuls, only occasionally glancing at the battle below, seemingly indifferent to whether he won or lost.

Mr. Bantuolisa put his concealing mask back on, propped his head up with one hand, and whispered some questions to the Steward, Rosa, who was standing beside him.

Although the two kept their voices very, very low, Jier, who was not far away, heard everything clearly.

It was nothing critical; Mr. Bantuolisa was simply inquiring in detail about the origins of this group of highly combat-capable long-haired Lynx Beast, clearly having developed some new ideas regarding these non-human races.

Steward Rosa looked flattered, answering his superior's questions while nervously rubbing his hands back and forth over his round belly, trying to wipe away the sweat on his palms.

Mr. Autosfiten's eyes were extremely bright; he watched the long-haired Lynx Beast below without blinking, and said, "I think we could hire some of these fellows when the town is short-handed. Not to protect the town, but to have these agile little guys specifically deal with the threatening Bandit Group nearby. How about it? I don't think ordinary people are their match. Knight Jier, what do you think?"

Jier looked at Mr. Autosfiten with surprise; he had just been pondering what to say to satisfy the Chip of the bet. Facing this question, Jier considered it briefly and nodded: "I think it's possible. But there are also highly skilled people among the Bandits. Although these furry non-humans have decent strength, they can only be used to deal with the ordinary peripheral members of a Bandit Group."

He paused: "But that is already very good. Bandits often rely on bringing many with few, meaning they outnumber the Caravan in the uninhabited wilderness. As long as the ordinary Bandits who serve as common members are gone, leaving only some formidable core members, the harm they cause will likely become very, very small."

Speaking to this point, he chuckled: "After all, if there are only a few formidable Bandits, they wouldn't even be able to carry away the goods from the Caravan when robbing it. Not to mention those Bandit leaders who are used to ordering their subordinates around—I imagine none of them could handle moving the stolen goods themselves."