My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 53: Abusing the Terrain

The Armored Dogman Warrior charged, brandishing its longsword. It held the blade high over its head, spun it in a half-circle flourish, and slashed forward.

The moment Fang Zhen saw the Dogman Warrior’s posture, he knew it had a combat skill.

’So this is why it’s the leader. It actually knows some form of swordsmanship.’

Fang Zhen thrust his spear forward.

Spear against longsword, the advantage in reach belonged to the spear. The Dogman Warrior was at a clear disadvantage.

Fang Zhen thrust his spear toward the Dogman Warrior’s neck. The creature had intended to slash horizontally at Fang Zhen, but it couldn’t ignore the spear. It was forced to change the longsword’s trajectory, bringing it down on the spear’s shaft instead.

A jolt ran through the shaft in Fang Zhen’s hands, and his spear was knocked off course.

The Dogman Warrior’s strength was considerable. It wasn’t as powerful as the Goblin Leader, but it was as strong as a human of equivalent height.

Fang Zhen drew back his spear to strike again, but a Dogman Miner at his side swung its pickaxe, howling as it lunged and brought the tool crashing down toward his waist.

Fang Zhen shuffled back two steps, dodging the pickaxe.

Just then, one of the Dogman Miners that Fang Zhen had previously taken down with his Dragon Gall Crossbow stirred. It had been struck in the chest by a steel ball; though heavily injured, it hadn’t lost its ability to fight. It staggered to its feet and charged toward Fang Zhen.

With its teeth bared in a snarl, it looked like a rabid dog, hell-bent on taking Fang Zhen down with it.

But Fang Zhen remained perfectly calm.

He had downed nine of the twelve kobolds. Of the three that remained, one was half-crippled. Fang Zhen estimated he was more than a match for them.

Still, he didn’t let his guard down. He would proceed with caution and not make a careless mistake now.

Fang Zhen pulled back his spear, preparing to stab the Dogman Miner and get the nuisance out of the way. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

However, the Armored Dogman Warrior once again spun its longsword in a half-circle and slashed at Fang Zhen.

Without missing a beat, Fang Zhen changed his target, using his spear to parry the Warrior’s longsword.

’This Dogman Warrior really is something else,’ Fang Zhen confirmed to himself. ’It has a foundation in longsword techniques and even knows how to coordinate attacks with its allies.’

Fang Zhen made a split-second assessment.

He could win in a head-on fight, but it would be risky.

If nothing else, the kobolds’ fighting spirit was far greater than that of goblins. They were like fanatics, launching suicidal attacks at a moment’s notice. They were ruthless.

The odds were in his favor, but if these three kobolds fought with no regard for their own lives, he could get hurt.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Fang Zhen’s mind.

He had seen through the Armored Dogman Warrior’s attack pattern.

The Dogman Warrior relied on a single combat skill: spinning its longsword in a half-circle overhead. This used centrifugal force to increase the blade’s killing power while expanding its attack range.

When the kobold swung its longsword, its reach plus the blade’s length created an attack radius of over two meters in diameter, which required a significant amount of space.

Meanwhile, the nearby Dogman Miner was constantly harassing him, and the other, half-crippled one was stumbling over as well. Fighting in this open area, Fang Zhen risked being surrounded. At the very least, their harassment would be a distraction.

Forcing the attack in the open wasn’t impossible, but it was extremely risky.

’But who says you have to fight in an open area just because you’re using a spear?’

With a sudden realization, Fang Zhen flicked away the Dogman Warrior’s longsword with his spear and quickly retreated several steps, backing into the mine tunnel.

The Dogman Warrior immediately gave chase.

The Dogman Warrior pursued him into the mine entrance and once again employed its swordsmanship, circling the longsword over its head to prepare for a horizontal slash.

Seeing this, the corner of Fang Zhen’s mouth twitched upward.

CLANG! As the Dogman Warrior spun its longsword, the blade suddenly struck the rock wall on the right side of the tunnel, getting stuck fast.

"Awo?" A look of bewilderment spread across the Dogman Warrior’s face.

’Heh, I was waiting for that.’ A sharp glint flashed in Fang Zhen’s eyes as he thrust his spear forward with all his might.

He had predicted this. The Dogman Warrior might be considered cunning among its tribe, but it still wasn’t very bright. To put it bluntly, it was shortsighted.

The Dogman Warrior was so focused on using its combat skill that it failed to realize the tunnel was too narrow. There was no room to perform its swordsmanship.

Fang Zhen’s spear, however, was perfect for the basic thrusting attacks of spearfighting in such a confined space.

Fang Zhen thrust his spear, which shot out like a dragon. The spearhead plunged into the Dogman Warrior’s neck, sinking halfway through, nearly piercing it completely.

The Dogman Warrior let out a bloodcurdling howl. It couldn’t free its longsword; instead, it let go of the hilt and grabbed the blade of the spear with its forelimbs—which were something between claws and hands.

Even so, blood streamed from the wound in its neck and from its claws.

The Dogman Warrior’s longsword clattered to the ground.

Fang Zhen tried to withdraw his spear, but the Dogman Warrior, perhaps in a final burst of adrenaline, suddenly summoned immense strength. Fang Zhen tugged once but couldn’t pull the spear free.

Suddenly!

The Dogman Miner that had been harassing him from the side charged howling into the tunnel.

Fang Zhen’s spear was trapped in the death grip of the Dogman Warrior, and he couldn’t pull it free in time as the Dogman Miner rushed him.

Seemingly encouraged, the Dogman Warrior used its last ounce of strength to hold onto the spear, determined to take Fang Zhen down with it.

Seeing the charging Dogman Miner, Fang Zhen didn’t panic. A stroke of inspiration hit him.

By sheer coincidence, the Dragon Gall Crossbow he had tossed aside earlier lay by his left foot. It wasn’t cocked and was resting upside down against a rock about as high as his calf.

An idea struck him. Fang Zhen’s left hand shot down and grabbed the crossbow’s grip. At the same time, he flicked his left foot up, hooking the top of his foot under the metal cocking lever and pulling it up. Then, he smoothly stomped down, setting the lever back in place.

He had actually cocked the crossbow using only his left foot.

The move was incredibly slick, executed with clean, decisive movements.

His movements were as smooth as flowing water. He cocked it in a second. As his left foot touched the ground, his left hand smoothly brought the crossbow up, using the upward momentum to aim at the lunging Dogman Miner.

The front of the Dragon Gall Crossbow was practically pressed against the face of the pouncing Dogman Miner when Fang Zhen pulled the trigger.

BANG!

With the crossbow pressed against the Dogman Miner’s left eye, it fired a single steel ball.

The force of the shot sent the Dogman Miner flying backward.

Fired at point-blank range, the steel ball entered the Dogman Miner’s left eye, exited through the back of its head, and pierced straight through its skull.

The Dogman Miner crashed to the ground.

Perhaps seeing that the Dogman Miner had failed to take Fang Zhen down with it, the Armored Dogman Warrior was stunned. In that same moment, it lost all hope and its final ounce of strength.

The Dogman Warrior’s grip began to fail, and it could no longer hold onto Fang Zhen’s spear.

Fang Zhen twisted the spear shaft with his right hand. The Dogman Warrior let out a wretched scream as its body slipped, fell to its knees, and then collapsed to the ground.

Gripping the alloy shaft tightly with his right hand, Fang Zhen pulled the spear free.

The Dogman Warrior let out one last, feeble whimper.

Fang Zhen raised his spear and plunged it into the Dogman Warrior’s throat once more.

This time, it couldn’t even manage a whimper. A few blood bubbles gurgled in its throat, and then it fell still.