Chapter 377: Fierce Battle! The Northland Wolf with Metal Fur

The Northland Wolf, its entire body covered in strangely hardened fur, charged straight toward the Hunters' position; the dodging, weaving movement required by other wolves was entirely absent in this one. The Hunters unleashed a volley, but the sturdy Arrows struck the Northland Wolf as if hitting something equally solid, emitting ping-pong sounds of hard objects colliding before being deflected in all directions.

"What is going on! They were all deflected!" one old Hunter could not believe it; he had only ever seen such a situation when using bows and arrows to shoot at the thick shells of Magic Beasts, never expecting such an incredible scenario to occur while shooting a Northland Wolf.

"Awoo!" Although the Hunters' bows and arrows were ineffective and failed to cause it any harm, the impact force of the Arrows was real. It could barely withstand one or two arrows, but the recent volley not only forcibly stopped it in its tracks but also pushed it, despite its four feet gripping the ground, back by more than half a meter.

The other three Northland Wolves paired with the mutated Northland Wolf took this opportunity to immediately leap over two large trees from behind a distant tree trunk, hiding behind tree trunks not far from the Hunters.

This situation was also noticed by the old Hunter commanding the Hunters' side; although that mutated Northland Wolf looked extremely dangerous and would be a catastrophe for them if it managed to break through to close range, it would be equally dangerous if they used all their energy to repel that thing while the other three Northland Wolves approached them.

The old Hunter, rich in Hunting experience, immediately saw through the tactics of these cunning animals. He blew a loud whistle, attracting Jier, who was not far behind the position having just finished killing the Northland Wolf that had been brought down by bows and arrows.

Then, the old Hunter shouted loudly to Jier: "Jier! Come quickly! A tricky monster has come!"

Jier, who was about to pursue the two fleeing Northland Wolves, heard the call and ran toward the position with a strange expression.

'A tricky monster?' He was somewhat puzzled, what could it be.

Although he tried to summon Jier, the old Hunter did not pin all his hopes on Jier; he directed an old man and a young man on the left, two Hunters, to specifically use continuous arrows to shoot at the mutated Northland Wolf that was not dodging. As for the others, half took out Ropes with hooks, and half attempted to force back the three Northland Wolves hiding behind the tree trunks.

The two Hunters, one old and one young, took a deep breath, their right hands grabbing four Arrows from the quiver hanging on their belts, each held loosely between their fingers.

Immediately after, seeing the strange Northland Wolf not far away recover from the impact of being repelled by the Arrows and start running again, the two of them pulled their Bowstrings rapidly in turn. They released their fingers when the Bowstrings were half-full, firing off Bow and Arrow containing spirit and will.

The old Hunter fired the first arrow, Swoosh!

Less than a second later, the young Hunter, crouching halfway, followed up with a shot.

Swoosh!

After the young man fired, the old Hunter had already transferred a Bow and Arrow held by his fingers between his index finger and thumb.

Draw the bow, release the arrow!

Swoosh!

As if they already had a tacit understanding and rhythm, the young man also transferred an Arrow held between his fingers, then pulled the Bowstring hard; without needing to aim, he locked onto the mutated Northland Wolf that had been hit by the Arrows and stopped in its tracks.

Swoosh!

Just like that, the two took turns rotating; you finish firing, I follow up. I finish firing, you follow up.

Until the eight Arrows in their hands were all fired.

But the two of them were not worried about the offensive being interrupted; when their hands were empty, they flicked their hands—partly to loosen their arms, and partly to swing their hands to their waists—and after a brief fumbling in the quivers at their waists, they pulled out four more Arrows.

In the gap while the two Hunters were replenishing their Arrows, the commanding old Hunter also spotted their opening and directed himself and the Hunter standing beside him to turn their bows, giving the stunned mutated Northland Wolf a volley of Arrows.

On the other side, the Hunters took out the Ropes with hooks that must be prepared for Hunting in the Forest from the bundles on the ground.

The Ropes were already coiled; the knots binding them were sturdy, but with a slight flick of technique, the coiled Ropes could be directly unraveled.

The Hunters left half a meter of the end with the Metal Clamp, one hand slightly supporting the bulk of the Rope, while the other hand swung the end with the hook.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—after swinging it in a full circle, they threw it diagonally upward.

The hooked Rope flew rapidly upward, and the Rope in the Hunter's hand disappeared from their grasp like a startled snake.

The flying Rope's end soared high over the thick branch of the targeted tree, then, its momentum spent, it plunged downward. Part of it was obstructed and rubbed by the branch, so the end with the hook fell and began to rotate around the branch as the center.

It continuously wound the Rope, and finally, the Metal Clamp snapped with a 'clack' and hooked tightly onto the branch.

The Hunter on the ground pulled the Rope hard; the friction of the Metal Clamp and the Rope winding around the branch in circles made it impossible for the Hunter to pull it.

It was right that it couldn't be pulled.

Seeing that this side had succeeded, the commanding old Hunter immediately instructed them to climb the tree, sit on the branches, and shoot at the surrounding Northland Wolves from a commanding height.

Just as the Hunters here were showing their skills to block the Northland Wolves, Jier also ran back with long strides.

He did not come directly to the Hunters' position because he was afraid of accidentally stepping on the Metal Clamps they had placed themselves in the chaos. Therefore, Jier charged directly toward the strange Northland Wolf, whose fur was bristling and which emitted ping-pong metal collision sounds upon impact with the flying Arrows.

This thing was indeed very strange; it neither covered nor dodged, simply ignoring the threat of the Arrows and constantly trying to charge straight at the Hunters' position. However, it was held in place by the channel of Arrows that the Hunters were firing desperately like a line.

Not only that, it was even knocked off balance by the Arrows, constantly retreating in small increments.

It looked like it was at a great disadvantage, but this mutated Northland Wolf was only at this point; it had actually not suffered any injuries at all. Looking at the Hunters, by the end of the second round of continuous arrows, the two Hunters, old and young, were already at the end of their tether. Although the young man was gritting his teeth, he looked like he could manage another round, but the old Hunter, whose physical functions were declining, could no longer do so.

As he fired the last arrow of the second round, his right arm began to tremble and twitch uncontrollably; the old Hunter hurriedly slung his bow over his body and then used his left hand to rub his right arm.

"I'm here!" Jier roared, grabbing his Two-handed Axe with both hands and striding through the deep snow straight toward the strange Northland Wolf.

Strange to say, after the strange Northland Wolf with bristling fur saw Jier charging straight at it, it ignored the Hunters and turned to charge straight at Jier as well.

It did not open its mouth to pounce; instead, after getting within a few meters of Jier, it leaped while running, turned its body in mid-air, and used its fluffy, broom-like tail to sweep horizontally at Jier.

If it were normal times, such a move would have no power at all. But now it was different; this strange Northland Wolf did not know what had happened to it, but all the fur on its body had become straight and hard, as if crafted from metal.

Therefore, this mid-air turning tail sweep was a move full of power.

Jier had not expected this strange guy to use such a strange move, but he remained calm in the face of danger; no matter what you do, I will sweep with my axe blade.

Borrowing the momentum of his long strides, Jier lowered his body slightly, giving himself a more stable base for his subsequent attack. Then, his waist rotated, driving his shoulders to rotate as well, and his arms followed the rotation to swing the axe horizontally, exerting force.

The force reached his wrists; his hands gripped the tail end of the axe handle tightly, and using the amplification provided by the long handle, he swung the blue axe blade at the far end with the highest force he could achieve at that moment.

Clang! Snap!

The axe collided with the strange Northland Wolf's tail; in the end, the material of the axe face was superior. In the collision between the two, the sharp edge of Jier's axe sliced off large swaths of the sharp, sturdy steel-needle fur on the tail.

The broken fur was scattered everywhere by the immense force, each strand nailing into the tree trunks with dull 'thud' sounds. The fur shot into the surrounding snow, leaving only small holes where no fur was visible; those that flew in horizontally left a horizontal mark.

Jier, bearing the brunt, was naturally the one hit the most. His Helmet's front did not face the impact point, so his face was fine; other hard fur hit his body, some striking the metal parts of his armor and clanging before bouncing off. His full-coverage hard cowhide armor helped Jier absorb most of the impact damage.

Some hard fur at the right angle drilled into the hard cowhide armor, but because their mass was too light, the vast majority got stuck in it; only a few drilled through and passed through the winter clothing under the armor, stinging Jier painfully.

But the strange Northland Wolf was not unscathed either; Jier's axe was quite heavy, and the weight of over ten kilograms was not something a Northland Wolf weighing only fifty or sixty kilograms could withstand.

After slicing off the hard tail fur on the outside, Jier's axe took advantage of the momentum to sever the Northland Wolf's tail, which had also become sturdy, entirely.

The fur on the other side of the tail was also severed along with the skin, so there was no need to repeat the scene of hard fur being knocked everywhere.

Jier and the strange Northland Wolf crossed paths.

His legs kicked up a large amount of snow, swirling in the air. He tried his best to swing the axe and let it hit the ground after the strike, preventing the excessive force from causing the axe handle to slip from his hands.

As for the Northland Wolf, after losing its tail, it tried its best to land on all fours. But the loss of most of its tail to maintain balance caused it to flip and roll after landing.

In the distance, the young Hunter spotted the opportunity, and an arrow, charged and ready, shot straight at one of the eye sockets of this monster-like Northland Wolf.

Yet somehow, perhaps sensing the killing intent from outside the fray, this Northland Wolf merely shook its head for an instant, causing the young Hunter's arrow to strike it right in the face.

Its face was also covered in short, coarse wolf fur, which was equally hard—at the very least, it was no less resilient than the iron arrowhead of an arrow.

Clang!

After taking an arrow to the face, the Northland Wolf, its head slightly dizzy, let out a low howl and once again set its combat target on Jier.

It wanted revenge, and it never expected that the target of its vengeance would come crashing right over.

Having witnessed the power of the wolf fur on this creature, Jier dared not underestimate it; he gripped the middle of the axe handle with his right hand, while his left hand retrieved the Metal Shield hanging on his back and slipped it onto his arm.

The strange Northland Wolf, its fur standing on end and shimmering with a metallic luster, growled low, circling Jier at a distance of three to five meters. Its yellow pupils, hidden beneath the dangerous fur, stared fixedly at Jier as he prepared for battle.

Jier cautiously positioned the left side of his body at an angle toward the strange Northland Wolf, which could launch an attack at any moment.

Under his Helmet, he licked his lips, regretting slightly that he hadn't eaten a Red-eye Mushroom Sugar Pill before the fight.

Despite this thought, Jier was not particularly afraid of this fellow.

Especially after having fought a huge, terrifying Magic Beast before, he no longer felt that these beasts, which were about the same size as him, were such thorny things.

Fighting a Magic Beast allowed for not even the slightest mistake; after all, if one were hit head-on by that creature's legs, it would be difficult for a normal person to survive.

But these fellows, who were about the size of a person and weighed less than an ordinary human, even if they had some strange abilities, likely wouldn't be his match.

Jier's eyes beneath his Faceplate kept sizing up this opponent; he naturally sensed a kind of hatred and killing intent from the Northland Wolf's movements, demeanor, and sounds.

But he didn't care; who would care about the thoughts of a beast?

Humans kill beasts, beasts kill humans; this was merely a common part of life in remote areas, having nothing to do with right or wrong, only strength influencing the outcome.

On the other side, under the command of the old Hunter, two Hunters riding on the branches of a large tree fired from high above, wounding a Northland Wolf hiding behind a tree trunk.

Knowing that it was no longer safe behind the tree trunk, the three Northland Wolves looked at the Human, who was wrapped in strange things and confronting one of their kind not far away, and they began to consider retreating.

Thus, the three of them feigned an assault from the left and right sides of the tree trunk, and after drawing the Hunters to fire their bows, they all turned and fled. However, one of them, having been wounded in the body by the Hunter from above earlier, ran the slowest during the retreat and was shot dead from afar by a neat, unified volley from all the Hunters, who had re-nocked their arrows.

The retreat cries of its companions in the distance, and the wail of one before it died, made the strange Northland Wolf currently confronting Jier unable to sit still any longer. It lowered its wolf muzzle, let out a low growl, and lunged straight at Jier.

Jier immediately braced his Shield and charged forward as well; he had calculated his side's advantage and decided to put it to use.

A burst of distorted, sharp clashing sounds came from the Shield, and the accumulated snow on the branches of the surrounding large trees was shaken off by this sharp, grating noise.

Jier's active charge with his body lowered fell exactly into his calculations.

Although the Northland Wolf opposite him had fur that was sharp and sturdy all over its body, it was, after all, not truly made of individual pieces of metal. Therefore, this Northland Wolf, which looked very dangerous, was, in the end, no different from a regular Northland Wolf, aside from the ability to prick someone who got close and the excellent defensive power it provided.

Furthermore, the material used for Jier's Metal Shield was not ordinary metal; it was a type of metal obtained from an Ancient Elf Ruin. It was extremely light in weight, very high in hardness, and after being forged at high temperatures as a whole, the seamless shield face also possessed the characteristic of being difficult to destroy.

During many previous battles, only a few had managed to leave marks on the surface of his shield.

In this collision between Jier and the strange Northland Wolf, no matter how sharp and keen those metallic hairs were, they only managed to shred the decorative leather covering on the front of the Shield, while the Shield body underneath remained completely undamaged.

Amidst the intense friction, they couldn't even leave a single white scratch.

Since the strange Northland Wolf's hard fur could not exert any effect, the Northland Wolf, which weighed less than Jier, was knocked directly to the ground by Jier's force after the two collided.

After knocking the Northland Wolf over with his left hand, Jier swung the Two-handed Axe from behind with his right hand in a circle and Heavy Cleaved toward the strange Northland Wolf that had fallen in front of him.

But Jier's strike failed to connect; the Northland Wolf rolled away immediately after hitting the ground, causing Jier to strike empty air and only cleave into the soil beneath the snow.

"Pin it down! Create an opportunity for me!" Jier roared.

The Hunters not far away understood upon hearing this and immediately took turns shooting at the last Northland Wolf that had not yet retreated.

Although the Hunters' arrows could not bring a shred of damage to this strange Northland Wolf, Jier did not care about that; what he wanted was the brief moment of physical hesitation the opponent would have after being struck by the arrows.

Seeing his chance, Jier swung his axe, slamming it onto the back of the strange Northland Wolf's body.

Amidst a crackling sound, a large amount of the Northland Wolf's hard fur broke and scattered; Jier used his Shield to block the majority of the flying fur, pulled his axe, and used the edge of the blade to drag the Northland Wolf down.

The fur on its belly was exposed, and the Hunters fired a tentative volley, with multiple arrows all striking the Northland Wolf's belly.

The result was disappointing; aside from the same clanging and rattling sounds, it only made the fallen Northland Wolf even more furious.

Tumbled onto the ground, the Northland Wolf was unwilling to be a passive target and immediately swung its forelimbs at Jier. Jier blocked left and parried right, and in a brief moment, he used his Shield to block every single attack the Northland Wolf threw at him without missing one.

"This isn't working! Old man! Think of something!" Jier shouted toward the Hunter position after once again using his Shield to flip the strange Northland Wolf that had just crawled up.

Over there, the old Hunter had already thought of a plan: "Lure it over, use the Metal Clamp to trap its legs, and we will all climb up the trees."

"Fine! I'll lure it over." Saying he would lure it, Jier went all out; he gripped the connection between the axe handle and the axe head with his right hand, braced the back of the axe head behind his left-hand Shield, exerted force with both arms, lowered his body, and rammed into the side of the strange Northland Wolf.

After knocking it to the ground, he exerted force with his legs, pushing this dangerous, strange Northland Wolf as he sprinted across the snow.

He ignored the Northland Wolf's frantic howling; as it scratched wildly at Jier, each scratch on his body would tear away a layer of the shallow, hardened cowhide armor on the surface.

On the other side, the Hunters climbed up the branches of the large tree one after another using the Rope, leaving other things behind on the ground. The two Hunters who had used continuous archery earlier and had sore arms used their other arms to grip the Rope tightly, while the Hunters above pulled the Rope upward.

In the end, they reached the branches safely before Jier pushed the strange Northland Wolf over.

Everyone sat astride the branches, gripping the branches between their thighs, and held their bows and arrows in their hands, ready to provide support to Jier at any moment.