Chapter 167 Meat! Eat! Fresh! Blood

Chapter 167: Chapter 166: Meat! Eat! Fresh! Blood

"Damn it!" Grek roared at the sight. He swept his Greatsword, forcing back the enemy before him, and tried to support Hayley, but another Gnoll intercepted him head-on.

The Gnoll thrust and smashed with its spear. Its techniques were simple yet brutally effective, and every collision made Grek’s blood roil.

In a moment of carelessness, the Gnoll’s spearhead slipped through a gap in his guard and sliced across his thigh. His studded fur coat was torn open, and blood quickly soaked his pant leg.

A searing pain shot up Grek’s thigh. He parried a heavy blow from the Gnoll in front of him and glanced to the side. The bloody scene he had imagined—Hayley with her shoulder pierced and bleeding—had not come to pass.

The spear, aimed at the gap in Hayley’s shoulder armor, had pierced her inner tunic, but its tip failed to penetrate an inch further.

Hayley hadn’t even swayed in the slightest.

She seemed to have anticipated it. Seizing the opportunity as the Gnoll froze for a split second after its attack missed, her warhammer, wreathed in an orange glow, swung upward in a swift arc!

"CRACK!"

The sharp crack of breaking bone was clearly audible even amidst the clamor of battle.

The Gnoll let out a piercing shriek. Its forearm bent at an unnatural angle and hung limply, and its crude spear fell to the ground with a CLANG.

The agonizing pain instantly robbed it of its ability to fight. It could only claw uselessly at the air with its good hand as it stumbled backward, a look of shocked disbelief appearing in its small eyes for the first time.

Grek was stunned. He finally realized that this seemingly gentle female Priest not only possessed an unbelievable Physique, but her grasp of timing, precision, and ruthlessness in combat were a far cry from the fragile, in-need-of-protection Caster he had imagined her to be.

"Don’t lose focus!" Hayley’s cool voice called out. It was tinged with a slight gasp for breath, but remained steady.

She held her warhammer at the ready, the orange glow illuminating her profile—smudged with dirt, but exceptionally resolute. She remained on high alert against the other Gnolls.

Just then, Hesia, Hughes, and Logan arrived at the front of the formation.

Priest Hughes wore a grave expression. He was already holding a small wooden Magic Staff that pulsed with a soft white light, clearly prepared to cast a Divine Art at a moment’s notice.

Hesia calmly scanned the battlefield.

With a flicker of thought, the Magic Wand that had been stored in his luggage due to its size flew into his outstretched palm as if pulled by an invisible string.

Logan, who was just about to slip into the shadows at the flank, caught the entire scene out of the corner of his eye.

His steps faltered for a moment. He watched the abnormally large Magic Wand fly toward Hesia, and his brow furrowed instinctively.

And when he got a clear look at the shriveled Ghost Witch head topping the Magic Wand, which seemed to be fixed in an eternally vicious smile...

A flicker of unconcealable dread flashed through his eyes.

However, he quickly schooled his features, as if nothing had happened. He then sank into a low crouch, his eyes scanning, seemingly searching for an opportunity to enter the fray.

Hayley’s stunning hammer blow caused the five approaching Gnolls to hesitate for a moment.

They lowered their bodies, issuing threatening growls from their throats. Their eyes darted between Hayley, Grek, and the three newcomers, and their steps grew cautious, no longer pressing forward with the same reckless abandon.

This undoubtedly bought the caravan guards precious time to regroup.

The blow also put the other teammates, besides Grek, somewhat at ease.

Priest Hughes’s gaze toward Hayley now held a measure of approval.

Hesia, for his part, had to re-evaluate the temporary leader’s actual combat prowess.

However, the brief surge of morale didn’t last long.

A brutal, oppressive aura spread out like a tidal wave.

The source was the Jackal Wolfman Leader, who had been standing at the very rear the entire time, its frame far more massive and powerful than its brethren.

It showed no signs of retreat or anger at Hayley’s display of strength. Instead, its long snout curled into something resembling a sneer, revealing vicious fangs.

Its gaze swept slowly over Hesia and the others who had just reached the front line, finally settling on Grek, whose movements were slightly sluggish from his injury.

The instant Hesia and the others fully entered its line of sight, the Long-Handled Blade it had been casually leaning on moved.

The claw loosely gripping the end of the shaft slid forward a foot, and the blade’s tip lifted slightly off the ground.

The most direct measure of strength is often size.

If the first five Gnolls were merely taller and stronger than an average human—still within the realm of "normal"—then this leader before them was far beyond that.

Its shoulders were nearly one and a half times as wide as a regular Gnoll’s. Thick fur covered muscles as hard and dense as boulders. Standing there, it looked less like a Gnoll and more like a raging bear that had risen onto its hind legs.

Merely standing still, it exuded a suffocating pressure, as if it could crush any being who dared to challenge it in the next instant.

Hesia quickly pulled his gaze away from the glaring red text floating above its head.

Level 22.

The next second, Hesia’s pupils dilated slightly.

Then.

"Watch out!"

The warning came almost simultaneously with his action. He tapped the tip of his Magic Wand forward—

[Earth Spike Technique]! [Earth Spike Technique]! [Earth Spike Technique]!

The Jackal Wolfman Leader suddenly charged forward at a speed Hesia could barely track.

He had cast the Earth Spike Technique in succession to buy his teammates at the front enough time to react.

The sharp tip of an Earth Spike had just broken through the ground!

But the creature’s twisted foot had already kicked off the ground!

The gnarled muscles of its hind legs tensed in an instant.

Its ankle twisted at an unnatural angle, forcefully altering its momentum.

With a muffled CRUNCH from its knee joint, its massive body nearly toppled from the inertia.

Its charge was brought to an abrupt, jarring halt.

But in the next second, something astonishing happened!

As its foot pushed off the ground once more, its thick front claw shot out and gripped the newly-risen Earth Spike like an iron clamp!

"SCREEECH!"

Its sharp claws scraped against the rock with a piercing shriek.

Its powerful arm muscles bulged as it used the Earth Spike as a fulcrum.

With that one pull, its entire body swung forward in an arc.

It accelerated a second time.

A bloody cannonball, it shot across the ground toward Grek!

Grek, once again entangled by the other Gnolls, felt a vicious gust of wind rush toward him.

A massive shadow filled the corner of his eye.

He hastily turned, his Broadsword blocking a slash from the left!

But the long-handled blade was already upon him!

The shaft of the blade dragged behind it, then it brought the weapon down with the full force of its lunge.

A flick of its wrist!

The blade’s head swung upward in a flash of light!

An upward slash!

The blade tore through the air with the sharp sound of ripping silk.

"CLANG—!!"

The force of the blow knocked the Broadsword from his grasp!

The blade’s arc continued without pause, sweeping upward from his abdomen!

"SHRRRIP—!"

The studded leather armor split open like fragile parchment. The Chain Armor beneath it threw sparks but only managed to hinder the blade for a fleeting moment.

The searing pain registered in his mind before the sight did. A moment later, a warm liquid soaked through his torn undershirt.

Blood was already gushing out!

Just as the deadly blade was about to disembowel him!

"CLANG—!!"

A warhammer wreathed in an orange glow slammed into the side of the rising blade!

The immense force sent Hayley’s warhammer recoiling, but the long-handled blade’s upward trajectory had been deflected.

The edge of the blade grazed Grek’s cheek, leaving behind a wet, hot line of blood.

He could even smell the coppery scent of his own blood on the blade.

The shock of his near-death experience made his pupils contract.

What would have been a fatal blow was forcefully interrupted.

The Jackal Wolfman Leader, however, grinned.

"Gu... gogogo..."

A low, rumbling sound emanated from deep within its throat.

The bloody laughter spurred on the surrounding Gnolls.

"Flesh! Eat! Fresh! Blood!" (Gnoll)

"Yenogu! Everything! For! Guh!" (Gnoll)

Their voices were sharp and shrill.