Chapter 146: Hunted
Chapter 146: Hunted
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Normally, when a mage’s life was threatened, the mage would release as much magic as possible to save themselves. The fact that Christian could keep calm must have had something to do with his past and his practices. Unfortunately, Anfey had missed Christian’s performance. For him, having Christian next to him in battle was something comfortable, but that was about it.
One of the werewolves couldn't wait any longer. His body crouched down, his powerful legs kicked on the ground and his body shot into the air. The air around his wide open mouth rippled and a transparent wave of energy shot towards Christian. It was a form of attack called sound wave attack that was unique to the werewolves.
The magic shield around Christian quivered and returned to normal. The two sides were far apart in the first place: the carriage’s speed combined with the werewolf’s dives and jump increased the distance even more. The sound wave had to cross seventy feet to reach Christian, and its power had been greatly reduced. It therefore could not penetrate the shield.
Christian wasn’t about to let the werewolf go unscathed. He waved his hand and summoned a big fireball that hit the werewolf in the head. The fireball exploded and obscured the werewolf’s vision. Then a flash lightening struck the werewolf’s mouth like a snake.
After werewolves mutate, their physical abilities would increase significantly. However, they still had some obvious flaws, like their noses, eyes, and ears. Tongues and throats were even more vulnerable. The werewolf growled and fell from the sky.
"Don’t rush! They can’t get away," Barak called.
It was true. The carriages had already turned onto a winding dirty road, and the werewolves found a shortcut through the piles of rocks and boulders. Not only couldn’t the carriages find a shortcut, the dwarves and gnomes all joined the fight as well. The shorter races ran down the hills, chanting war cries. There were a lot of female dwarves and gnomes present. The dwarves and gnomes both lacked fighting powers, and had to mobilize their entire population to ensure their victory. Facing the humans, Barak’s orders were meant for all three races.
A few werewolves jumped across the stones and were less than twenty feet from the carriages. The two in front jumped up and lunged at Christian. For the werewolves, the people in the carriages weren’t enough to post a threat. They needed to take care of the magister first.
Christian didn’t want to fight. He floated away from the carriage. A transparent arrow shot through the air and hit one of the werewolves in the abdomen. Then the arrow exited the werewolf’s body with a boom.
Blinding white combat power shattered the carriage’s ceiling. One of the werewolves had just landed there, and was instantly ripped apart by the white light. A figure jumped out of the carriage and kicked the body of the werewolf.
A senior swordsmaster? Barak and the other werewolves froze. Nearby, Riska was already floating in the air.
"What a waste," he mumbled. Then he shook the magic scroll in his hand. A powerful magical surge ripped through the air, and the world suddenly became very hot. Lava pools appeared on hills and all the grass and bushes were charred in an instant. Flaming bits of plants floated through the air. Hundreds of dwarves and gnomes were charred as well.
The surviving creatures shrieked. Their ranks were broken, and the creatures dashed left and right, trying to escape. Some dwarves and gnomes were pushed into the lava pools by their panicking friends, then those creatures were in turn pushed to the ground.
The lava pools were flowing down the hills. Ground touched by lava was almost as hot as lava itself. It burned the feet of the escaping dwarves and gnomes. With the lava still behind them, the remaining dwarves and gnomes shrieked and cried.
The mages floated into the air. They did not stop, instead they quickly flew over the hill behind Blavi towards Moramatch. Their job was to prevent any enemies from escaping.
The carriages turned and dashed toward another hill. Lava was mindless and could not distinguish between friend and foe. Before the magic wears off, the lava would hurt them as much as it would hurt their enemies.
Anfey climbed out of the carriage, his bow already pulled to the fullest. He glanced at Barak and let the arrow fly.
Barak jumped aside. He realized that the arrow could not harm him, and all it did was brush past him. His fear was unnecessary. Before he could say anything, however, he heard a cry of agony. He looked over and found one of his men fallen to the ground, clutching his chest.
It was all a trap! Barak understood now. The cries of agony from the gnomes and the dwarves distracted him. Barak sighed to calm himself down. Then he asked with a raspy voice, "Why?" These people had made their minds up about killing them from the beginning. He couldn’t imagine how he had wronged them.
"That should be my question," Anfey replied. "I didn’t do anything. You are the ones that are chasing after us. What do you want from us?"
Barak couldn’t find a reply. He turned and looked at his men. It didn’t matter what their morals or ways of life were, but one thing about them was respectable. They were willing to sacrifice themselves.
An emotion that could not be put into words spread among the werewolves. Barak growled loudly and lunged towards Anfey. Before he could reach Anfey, Suzanna appeared in front of him and slashed at him with her sword.
Even a mutated werewolf was no match for a swordsmaster’s blade. Barak had to move away to avoid the sword. He tried to grab Suzanna with his claws, but Suzanna was not slow. She did not jump back. Instead she took a step forward and rendered Barak’s attack meaningless. Her sword thrust out and struck his arm.
The rest of the werewolves all joined the fight. However, only two came to Barak’s aid. The rest all lunged at Anfey.
Anfey understood what the werewolves were planning the moment they jumped at him. He wasn’t planning on seeking help from Christian and his other companions. Countless small fireballs appeared around him. The werewolves thought he was releasing the pointless fireballs again, and did not try to avoid the fireballs. As they were closing in, a large fire sword and a shield appeared in Anfey’s hand, and he dashed forward in a strange pattern.
Anfey’s change was too sudden: The werewolves did not expect he would be so fast and unpredictable.
Anfey’s body began spinning. The fire shield hit one of the werewolves on the head. He took a few steps back to avoid the attack from two other werewolves, then he dashed forward again and caught up to one of the werewolves who could not retreat in time. His longsword struck out and slashed at the werewolf. He wasn’t sure how much damage he had done, but he knew he had at least severed the werewolf’s tail. The werewolf yelped in pain and fell to the ground.
Since he was under attack, Anfey could not stop to examine the werewolf’s wounds. His body ducked and he jumped forward to avoid the claws. Then he blocked a kick from one of the werewolves, which required real skill. He attacked his opponent’s knee, and the leg’s shape changed. He didn’t know whether he had broken the leg or dislocated the knee. Either way, the werewolf fell to the ground and could not fight anymore.
Anfey dashed forward and reached Suzanna. They stood with their backs to each other. Barak was injured with a deep wound on his waist and blood was gushing from it. If he had been any slower, he would have been cut in half by now. Senior swordsmasters weren’t people werewolves could take on, or else he wouldn’t have chosen to fight the Band of Brother mercenaries with gorilla tactics. In this world, one powerful person was all that was needed change the battle.
"Anfey, you alright?" Suzanna asked quietly.
"Of course," Anfey said. He glanced at the werewolves. "If we combine our swords, we are unstoppable. A few beasts cannot touch us."
"Combining our sword? What?" Suzanna asked. They were already surrounded, but she wanted to figure out what Anfey was trying to say.
"I'm saying as long as you are with me, I am not afraid of anything." Anfey sighed. The worst jokes were the ones people could not understand.
Suzanna smiled sweetly, which made the other werewolves even more angry.
"Interesting. You're usually cold as ice when you use combat power."
"You know why? That’s because you saved me."
"I saved you? How?" Anfey asked curiously. It was his turn to be confused.
The werewolves couldn’t wait any longer. They growled, hissed, and lunged at the two of them. Their attack shattered Anfey’s curiosity.