Watching Bratt's back disappear at the street corner, Anser no longer had any reservations.
At this point, offense and defense had reversed.
He had Finn take Grey Eagle to delay and obstruct the other two groups of slave traders, while he himself faced the bearded man's group alone.
The crisp sound of hoofbeats echoed through the street. The slave traders hurriedly wiped the blood from their faces, picked up their firearms, and aimed their muzzles forward, as if facing a formidable enemy.
The bearded man took a deep breath. His emotions were complicated, but he was someone who had fought his way out of piles of corpses, and he quickly calmed down.
"Don't be afraid. He doesn't dare come over. One volley from us and he'll be dead."
Hearing his words, the crew's spirits lifted, and they finally recovered from the shadow of the raging wind.
Anser urged his horse forward, neither hurried nor slow, as magic power surged around his body.
"કૂદક"
"પંખોનીનીચે"
Jump + Feather Fall!
Two streams of magical radiance lit up in succession on Nornoth's body, faint spell-light and shadows swirling around its torso and limbs.
It stomped the ground heavily, eager to try its strength.
When the distance closed to within one hundred meters, the bearded man raised his right hand, but did not give the order to fire. One or two bullets could not threaten a spellcaster protected by Mage Armor or Shield; they had to ensure the hit rate.
Anser raised his hand and pointed, giving the other side a fright.
"Don't panic, he's bluffing!" The bearded man was well aware of the drawback of slow firearm reloading and resolutely refused to take the bait.
His vision suddenly blurred in the next instant. A ball of fog rapidly spread out in front of everyone, and in the blink of an eye it completely enveloped them. All that lay before their eyes was a vast expanse of white—nothing could be seen at all.
Hoofbeats suddenly rang out!
The bearded man's scalp went numb. Now there were only two choices: either run out of the fog-covered area, or fire in the direction of the hoofbeats.
"Don't run—tight formation, aim at the sound source, wait for my command—"
He made an immediate decision. The horse's speed was too fast; they might not be able to escape the fog, and even if they tried, they would certainly scatter, instead giving the opponent a chance to pick them off one by one.
It was better to stay together—to prevent accidental injury from allies' fire, and also to provide some resistance against impact.
The sound of hoofbeats grew clearer and clearer, as if it were right at hand.
"Fire—"
Bang, bang, bang…
Dense gunfire rang out, but there was no sound of bullets striking flesh—no screams, not even the sound of hoofbeats.
Something was wrong!
The bearded man's heart went cold. Before he could figure it out, a burst of wind pressure came from above. He was instantly alarmed and shouted, "Above—!"
A huge black shadow fell from the sky. Fortunately, they had shifted several meters away and were not struck.
"Fools!" Seeing the other side give up distance and mobility advantage, he was overjoyed.
He immediately located the target by sound and charged forward with his sword, but in the next second his vision was filled with blue light. An explosive, cone-shaped bolt of lightning erupted, completely engulfing him and the crew behind him.
The dense fog was torn open into thin channels by the electricity. One after another, the slave traders' hair and beards stood on end as their bodies stiffened and collapsed to the ground. Branch-like scorch marks covered their skin, wisps of green smoke rose, and the air was filled with a pungent, burnt stench.
"Fools!" Anser let out a cold laugh.
The other side had actually clustered together. With the dense fog conducting it, the lightning breath's range and power surged by a noticeable margin—perfect for wiping them out in one go.
[…Conch's first mate took 13 lightning damage; current Hit Points 18/34]
[…Conch's boatswain took 11 lightning damage; current Hit Points 5/16]
[…Conch's sailor took 14 lightning damage… target died; gained 15 experience points]
"Ah—!"
The bearded man let out a furious roar and used [Second Wind] to forcibly break free of the paralysis, gripping his sword in both hands as he charged at Anser—fast.
'Open the distance!' Anser's face was expressionless, hazy blue light swirling around his chest and abdomen and his throat.
Never underestimate a Fighter's melee ability. Their sword could even be fast enough that you would not be able to cast a second Shield.
Nornoth immediately started up, but its speed was actually inferior to the bearded man's, and it was almost caught. Only after sprinting more than ten meters did it gradually shake him off.
Anser was secretly alarmed—A Fighter's burst speed over the first ten meters was actually faster than a fey horse's!
"Damn it!" The bearded man watched helplessly as Anser ran farther and farther away. He cursed and turned to flee.
Nornoth turned around and launched a charge. The hoofbeats were crisp, as dense as drumbeats.
The bearded man did not dare run along the street. With a running start, he flipped over the courtyard wall beside him, intending to use the complex streets to hinder pursuit.
The hoofbeats were urgent. Nornoth leapt up, actually jumping more than three meters high and more than ten meters far. Its massive body traced a graceful arc through the air, like a flying horse in the sky.
The bearded man was completely numb and tried to turn back.
In the instant they crossed paths, Anser opened his mouth and spat out a cone-shaped bolt of lightning breath that crossed several meters and blasted him away—there was no way to evade it.
The bearded man fell stiffly to the ground, green smoke rising from his body. He struggled several times but could not get back up.
Nornoth landed lightly. Anser raised his staff, and faint rings of magical light rippled in his eyes.
"બર્નિંગરે"
Scorching Ray!
Three beams of fire flashed through the air and almost simultaneously struck the bearded man. His clothes and leather armor burst into flames, black smoke billowed, and the smell of roasted meat drifted on the wind.
The bearded man twitched a few times and then stopped moving.
[…Conch's first mate took 22 fire damage… target died; gained 275 experience points]
Anser slowly approached. Seeing the bearded man's miserable death, he felt thoroughly satisfied.
'Scorching Ray is fast, but the impact points are just too hard to control.'
In the courtyard, a man hugged a dog and buried his head in the pile of firewood. The man was trembling, the dog was shivering, and a large patch of the firewood was soaked.
Anser glanced at him, grabbed a few silver coins and copper coins from the Treasure Coin Pouch, and casually tossed them onto the ground.
'Let's go—bring the body.'
Nornoth wrapped the bearded man with its tail, smashed open the courtyard gate, dragged him out to the street, and threw him beside the pile of corpses.
Two or three dozen meters away, a surviving professional was staggering as he fled.
'Go finish him off.' Anser wanted Nornoth to rack up some experience.
Nornoth was unusually exhilarated. It broke into a light trot and launched a charge. Facing the professional's desperate counterattack, it neither dodged nor avoided. Using the horn on its forehead, it knocked aside the longsword and sent the man flying several meters with a headlong strike.
The man's chest collapsed, blood sprayed from his mouth and nose, and he died the moment he hit the ground. A head-on impact backed by 18 Strength and massive weight was not something an ordinary professional was qualified to withstand.
[…Target died; gained 49 experience points]
Anser touched its horn. There was only a single scratch.
Nornoth seemed to sense something and returned to the battlefield, striking each corpse once with its hooves and whip-like tail. Unfortunately, there was only one survivor—better than nothing.
"Screech—"
An eagle's cry sounded overhead.
Anser looked up and saw six people rush out from the intersection ahead, each holding a firearm.
On a rooftop not far away, Finn was closely tailing them, occasionally loosing a few arrows from afar, frightening them into scrambling evasively.
They had originally numbered eight. Caught off guard by a Ranger's ambush, they lost two people. Unable to hit their attacker, they could only try to regroup with the first mate.
But as soon as they turned the corner, they saw corpses strewn across the street and the mysterious knight standing beside them. Their expressions instantly collapsed. After a brief moment of stunned silence, everyone turned and ran.
"Heh—think you can get away?"
Anser waved to Finn from afar, signaling him to come over and collect the spoils, while he himself urged his horse forward in pursuit.
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