[You cast Empowered Fireball—Cold on the werewolf. The werewolf is hit and takes 47 cold damage. Current Hit Points: 26/73.]
[You cast Empowered Fireball—Cold on the elite werewolf. The elite werewolf is hit and takes 41 cold damage. Current Hit Points: 57/98.]
A string of combat notifications flashed through Anser's mind, fifteen in total—ordinary werewolves and elite werewolves alike, not a single one missing.
This was within his expectations. These werewolves had only just entered the city and were still relatively obedient; they had not scattered and run around yet.
He did not give them time to react and focused his mind to cast again. If the werewolves scattered, it would become very troublesome.
"ફાયરબોલકલા"
Metamagic: Quickened, Empowered, Transmuted + Fireball—Cold!
Before the people around him could react, a second flash descended. Piercing cold erupted, forming a massive white vaporous sphere, and the convection of hot and cold swept outward carrying biting chill.
Within the hazy cold mist, a broken wooden shack and brittle canvas burst apart with a crash. A giant gray-black wolf suddenly sprang out, its body covered in frost, its eyes blood-red, like a starving wolf that had hunted all day through icy winds and found nothing.
[Target killed. Gained 695 experience points.]
[Target killed. Gained 700 experience points. Level up!]
[The elite werewolf succeeds on its Dexterity saving throw, takes 19 cold damage. Current Hit Points: 38/98.]
With the shack damaged, the scene inside was fully exposed under the sunlight. More than a dozen werewolf ice statues of various forms stood silently within the grim white mist. Some were eating meat, some had only just transformed, some were in the posture of fleeing, one foot already having stepped out of the shack...
They were like lifelike ice sculptures, vivid in every detail, yet devoid of even the slightest trace of life.
The giant wolf that had escaped looked back, its body trembling, its eyes filled with grief.
"Awooo—"
It lifted its head and glanced at the white-robed man on the black horse, then turned and ran without hesitation. It had the courage to risk its life, but it could still tell the difference between fighting and throwing its life away.
Without waiting for Anser's command, Nornoth let out a neigh and broke into a chase.
Only then did the surrounding people react. One had escaped, and more people chose to crouch down on the spot. It might not necessarily help, but it counted as a kind of survival wisdom.
The warehouse supervisor who had just tried to strike up a conversation with Anser stood dumbstruck. Only after quite a while did he come back to himself, staring at the dozen or so werewolf ice statues in utter shock.
From within the crowd, someone suddenly shouted, "Werewolves!"
The disturbance eased somewhat. A professional, summoning his courage, edged closer with a stunned expression. The lingering chill froze him enough that he could not help but shiver twice.
Elsewhere, the elite werewolf maintained its giant wolf form and ran at the fastest speed of its life, yet it still could not outrun Nornoth and could only make use of its advantage in turning agility by darting into narrow alleys.
Worried that something might have happened on Iris's side, Anser decisively cast Fly. With a whoosh, he shot up from the saddle and arrived above the werewolf in only a few seconds, close enough that a single leap from the beast could reach him.
Knowing it could not escape, the werewolf let out a low growl, turned, kicked off the ground, and leaped into the air toward him.
The corner of Anser's mouth lifted. He rose slightly higher and raised a hand, firing a Ray of Frost.
The werewolf had nowhere to dodge in midair. By instinct, it raised a claw to block, only to see a flash of white before cold invaded its body. Its foreclaw turned stiff and numb, covered in a thin layer of ice.
Anser possessed Elemental Affinity. Fire and cold damage in his hands were extremely powerful, even when it came to cantrips.
Tss—
Before it could land, another Ray of Frost struck, hitting its waist and belly. Its innards turned icy cold, and it could not help shuddering several times.
At that moment, Nornoth charged in, spread its neck armor, lowered its head from the side, and slammed into it.
The werewolf tried to exert force, only to discover that its body had grown cold and rigid, abnormally sluggish. Its movements slowed by a beat, and it could only watch helplessly as the ram on the horse's head kissed its lower back.
With a bang, the giant wolf was sent flying several meters, its body bent out of shape, the sound of cracking bones clear and distinct.
"Wuu..."
Its mournful cry had only just escaped when a Ray of Frost enlarged before its eyes. The eyeball burst, and cold air invaded its brain.
[Target killed. Gained 1,557 experience points.]
Anser did not spare it even a glance. His body shot rapidly higher as he looked down over the entire city's battle situation.
The city gates had already been shut. Fighting was breaking out all across the urban districts. Most of the werewolves had been surrounded, and with the aid of silver weapons, the fights were dangerous but manageable.
A few teams, however, had failed to pin down the werewolves, allowing more than a dozen of them to flee in all directions. There were also several groups of werewolves that had not yet been found but had been startled into exposing themselves, making the city somewhat chaotic.
But the outcome was not too bad, because werewolves had long been listed on the bounty boards of the Union and the Adventurers' Guild. Transformed werewolves drew the pursuit of quite a few professionals and had nowhere to hide at all.
The worst area was the northern district, where a werewolf fully three meters tall was chasing down members of the Emerald Enclave and killing them. Only a single white owlbear was barely able to hold him back for a moment.
Iris was flying in the air, one tiny meteor after another crashing down, yet she could not hit the werewolf and could only restrain and interfere with his attacks.
Werewolves possessed tremendous Strength, but their Constitution and Dexterity were equally outstanding. Dodging long-range spells with such "straightforward" trajectories as Melf's Minute Meteors was not difficult for them.
'Has his brain short-circuited? He's already exposed, yet he still isn't running.'
Anser pushed his flying speed to the limit. Wind howled past his ears as his mind locked onto that werewolf from afar.
The dice was especially good at detecting monsters in battle. The moment he neared the battlefield, the werewolf's information popped up:
[Werewolf Leader, monstrosity, Challenge Rating 10]
The same Challenge Rating as a young red dragon. In combat power he could not compare to a red dragon, but he should be stronger than a high-level Barbarian of around level fourteen.
A werewolf's racial gifts were far stronger than a human's.
The owlbear grappling with the werewolf was Druid Karisha's Wild Shape.
Owlbears were known as perfect magical predators. They had originally been created by deranged wizards, combining the sharp eyes of birds, thick feathers, keen beaks, and the powerful physique of a bear.
Generally speaking, Druids could only transform into beasts, while owlbears were monstrosities, so Druids could not master this type of transformation ability. But there were always some exceptionally gifted Druids who, through sheer "I figure it should work" power, pioneered this branch of Wild Shape.
Karisha was not weak, yet she still could not contend with the werewolf leader and was already covered in wounds.
Facing Anser as he flew in to support, the werewolf leader threw back his head and roared, his posture arrogant. "A bunch of trash. I really overestimated you. Without Stoll, the Union is a joke!"
Though that was what he said, his body remained standing beside a wooden building the whole time. Inside was a trembling husband and wife, clearly intending to make Anser hesitate for fear of harming them.
Anser hovered dozens of meters above the werewolf leader and said indifferently, "I hope your strength is as hard as your mouth."
He took a deep breath and activated his innate magic again. Surging innate magic power stirred circles of faint magical light.
"મેજિકમિસાઇલ"
Innate Magic + Magic Missile!
Three simple flashes of force darted toward the werewolf leader at the same time, their dull whistling echoing through the street.
The werewolf leader froze for a moment, then showed disdain. Magic Missile was indeed hard to dodge, but the damage was insufficient. So what if he took a few hits? It was not lethal at all; a bit of light injury would not affect combat.
Bang, bang, bang!
The werewolf leader turned his back and forcibly took the hits. His thick fur and powerful body withstood the force missiles head-on, but his fur burst open and specks of blood splattered.
[...The werewolf leader takes 9 force damage. Current Hit Points: 138/151.]
"That's it?!" The pain in his body made the werewolf leader furious, but he could not fly. Turning around, he charged toward the nearby guards. "With just this many people, how many rounds do you think I can slaughter—"
Seeing him take the hits head-on, a smile appeared on Anser's face. Magic Missile was easily countered by force defenses like Shield, but without protection, the target was nothing more than a live practice dummy.
'Don't rush. This is only... the beginning.'
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