Chapter 403: Battle of Rock Mountain — Shedding, Long Spear, and the Eerie Fake Wolf King

The warhorse's hooves thundered; Knight Lanisha, sword in her left hand and spear in her right, charged straight toward the Wolf King, which had yet to merge with the fur it had shed.

The Wolf King naturally would not sit and wait for death; it leaped high repeatedly, left and right, bounding over ten meters at a time, refusing to let the human knight get close. After two charges failed to catch the Wolf King, which was specifically avoiding her, Knight Lanisha decisively gave up on chasing the agile Wolf King and set her sights on the three pieces of white fur wobbling toward them.

Taking advantage of the Wolf King focusing its attention on dodging, Knight Lanisha spurred her horse to charge rapidly toward the three pieces of white fur flying three or four meters off the ground.

When the Wolf King suddenly realized the annoying attacks from the human knight had stopped and turned its head, it discovered that the human knight had turned to destroy its fur. It hurriedly descended from the air, aiming its wolf head at the pieces of fur, focusing on controlling them.

The three pieces of fur, which had been flying in a straight line toward the Wolf King, suddenly seemed to come alive, splitting into three paths and flying away. Knight Lanisha threw her Long Spear and single-handed heavy sword separately while spinning them; the Long Spear spun as it was hurled toward the fur on her right, the single-handed heavy sword was thrown horizontally toward the fur on the left, and she herself kicked off the Muan with both feet, braced one hand on the saddle, and used the strength from her feet on the horse's back to leap directly toward the piece of white fur directly in front of her.

A three-pronged attack.

The Wolf King was naturally unwilling to see the shed fur that assisted its combat destroyed; its eyes emitted an orange-red glow, and through the power of the blood within its body, it increased its remote control over the three pieces of fur flying in the air.

Under the Wolf King's remote manipulation, the three pieces of white fur not only flew upward but also swayed left and right.

But this was not the first time Knight Lanisha had faced these annoying things; she knew that as long as these things approached the Wolf King, they would possess other special abilities, so she made these fragile yet annoying things the focus of her attack.

Thus, the weapons she threw specifically accounted for the Wolf King's potential manipulation, so both weapons were thrown with a lead, aimed specifically at a higher position.

Therefore, even though the Wolf King was concentrating on controlling them, her two weapons struck the two pieces of white fur flying left and right with great precision. The single-handed heavy sword hit the fur attempting to dodge horizontally, directly using its own weight to drag the fur downward. Even if the Wolf King tried to manipulate it, it could only slightly influence the position where the fur fell.

The all-metal Long Spear whistled as it spun and hooked the fur attempting to dodge; although it was also heavy, it was clearly not as heavy as the knight's other weapon, so it wobbled as it fell, struggling as it drifted toward the Wolf King.

As for Knight Lanisha's side, she failed to achieve her goal. The Wolf King had focused the majority of its attention on her, specifically controlling the fur in front of her to stop directly, then moving straight upward, just enough to dodge the leaping human knight.

Knight Lanisha, falling from the air, was quite unwilling; she drew her Armor-piercing Rapier from her waist and threw it mid-air, but it only left a hole the width of a sword hilt in the fur.

The white fur, not suffering major damage, was completely unaffected and continued to drift toward the Wolf King after Knight Lanisha landed.

As soon as Knight Lanisha landed, she whistled to summon her warhorse. After vaulting onto the horse, she ignored her other two weapons and charged straight toward the piece of white fur brought down by the single-handed heavy sword.

After this thing was brought to the ground by the weight of the weapon, it still tried to struggle by swinging its empty wolf head and furry tail. Knight Lanisha rode past, leaned over, and grabbed the completely empty wolf head of the fur.

With a shake of her hand, she swung up the single-handed heavy sword that was tangled in the body part of the wolf skin and caught it with her right hand. Her left hand gripped the white fur that was trying to fly away, and her eyes met the empty eyes and mouth of the fur's wolf head.

"These damn eerie abilities," Knight Lanisha muttered, riding toward the spot where the Armor-piercing Rapier had fallen while simultaneously hacking the heavy sword in her right hand at the tail of the fur, severing it in one stroke.

The tail, which had been flexible while connected to the fur, fell to the ground once severed and never moved again.

Acting this way, Knight Lanisha shredded the fur into pieces in a few moments, and finally, she tore the wolf head fur she held in her left hand horizontally from the wolf's mouth, completely destroying this eerie thing.

The Armor-piercing Rapier lay not far from the battlefield between them; she patted her warhorse's neck, signaling it to keep running.

Then, her boots left the Muan, and she braced her hands on the saddle to push backward, slightly detaching from the horse. She dropped directly from the horse's rear. Her boots hit the accumulated snow on the ground, immediately kicking up a large spray of snow; due to the friction of the snow, she stabilized her center of gravity, kept her legs in their original position, and slid along the snow on the ground.

Rapidly approaching the Armor-piercing Rapier stuck diagonally in the ground, Knight Lanisha grabbed it and backhanded it into the Sword Sheath. Then she changed her posture and began to run quickly. With a "thump, thump, thump," she cracked the ground and accelerated for a few steps to catch up to the warhorse, and her beloved horse also cleverly stabilized its run.

She grabbed the saddle with one hand, used the leverage to leap, and sat mid-air onto the horse's back.

"Good boy, charge! Let's show that thing!" the Knight shouted, turning the warhorse to charge toward the Wolf King.

On the Wolf King's side, it first merged with the piece of fur it had been mainly controlling, then continued to control the fur tangled by the metal Long Spear. It approached the spot itself, used its mouth and claws to pull out the metal Long Spear hooked onto the fur, and then stared at the Long Spear on the ground, stunned for a moment.

This thing was about three meters long, cast entirely from forged steel, and the connection between the spearhead and the shaft was cast from Magic Material, so the spearhead was not only firmly connected to the shaft, suitable for a Knight-rank Warrior to use, but could also be quickly detached to use various types of spearheads on different battlefields.

It could be a piercing spearhead like a lance tip, ensuring it could penetrate an opponent's Metal Armor during high-speed charges. Or a wide, long Gun-blade like a double-edged spear, which could be swung in infantry combat to kill large numbers of lightly armored enemies. Or it could be alternatively fitted with a two-pronged spearhead, which was useful for dealing with fierce beasts and Monsters in the mountains and forests. Or it could be fitted with a trident head, which could also play a role suitable for water combat when facing some Monsters on the water.

The Wolf King shook its head violently; somehow, several ways to use this thing suddenly appeared in its mind. These thoughts made its head very uncomfortable, similar to someone reaching a hand through its skull and directly rubbing and squeezing its brain.

It didn't hurt, but besides the sour numbness, it also made it feel dizzy.

It was just like the last cold winter before spring arrived every year, when it would drink its fill of fruit wine naturally fermented from the autumn fruits hidden by the flower-faced monkeys in the Forest.

Dizzy, accompanied by the urgent hissing and cursing of those poor monkeys.

However, every time it went to drink the fruit wine, those flower-faced monkeys would naturally hide far away; after all, years ago, it had slaughtered more than half of the monkeys because of this. If it weren't for the fact that keeping them allowed them to brew some fruit wine for it to drink every year, these flower-faced monkeys, which all living things in the Forest hated and loathed, would have been killed off by it alone long ago.

Shaking its head again, the Wolf King swiped its claw to bat away the Long Spear used by the human knight, sending it flying far away to its subordinates' location, and instructed its subordinates to send a few wolves to take this thing that displeased it far away, find a place to hide it, and never let the human knight find it.

"Damn it!!!" Knight Lanisha roared angrily from the horse's back. She watched as the Long Spear batted away by the Wolf King landed in a pile of Northland wolves. After a few whimpers from the Wolf King, several strong Northland wolves directly picked up the metal Long Spear together and dragged it toward the Forest.

She knew exactly what those damn four-legged creatures were planning; either she went to chase the Northland wolves taking the weapon, but then no one would be watching the Wolf King. Needless to say, if she really did that, by the time she returned, none of her subordinates would be alive.

The Wolf King could calmly squeeze into the Rock Passage, bite Xiao Ji'er to death as he tried to resist, then knock down the Wooden Wall they had built, and then roll a few times to crush the old Hunter to death. If anyone was still alive, the Wolf King would surely bite and swallow the remaining people one by one.

By then, she, once again alone, would have to face the encirclement of the Wolf King and several hundred Northland wolves. The Wolf King would prevent her and her warhorse from disengaging from the battle, and the remaining Northland wolves would use batches of lives to drag out her pace and combat, providing the Wolf King with the opportunity to defeat her.

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

But could she just watch the weapon passed down from her family be lost like this? Although there were several spare metal Long Spears of the same style at home, that one, after all, was a weapon her father had once used.

The single-handed heavy sword in her hand was a weapon specifically for wild beasts and Monsters that she had commissioned someone to forge in the Province Capital two years ago, and that Armor-piercing Rapier was a weapon gifted to her by the Baron when she succeeded to her knighthood. Although she wasn't very comfortable using it, this weapon did fit her aesthetic habits.

Riding on the horse, Knight Lanisha looked left and right at the Wolf King and the departing metal Long Spear, her chest heaving. Finally, she drew the Armor-piercing Rapier with her left hand, gripped the single-handed heavy sword tightly with her right, and urged her beloved horse to accelerate toward the Wolf King.

Seeming to feel its master's determination, the warhorse ran at full speed, its four hooves under the horse armor leaping and landing with great strides, kicking up high snow behind its body, charging at maximum speed straight toward the Wolf King, which looked slightly larger than it.

Two pieces of white fur slightly smaller than the Wolf King flew around it. Looking at the human knight who was quite different from before, its mouth full of sharp teeth could not help but emit a low hiss more terrifying than a night owl.

This hiss was like mockery, and also like praise.

Immediately after, its whole body trembled, emitting an eerie aura. At the same time, the two pieces of fur beside it seemed to have received this aura originating from the Wolf King; they twisted within their empty fur, and light emitted from their hollow eye sockets.

In an instant, these two pieces of fur flew at high speed, knocking down two strong Northland wolves specifically called over by the Wolf King. As the Northland wolves did not resist, these two pieces of fur twisted and slipped onto the two Northland wolves, claws covering claws, tails wrapping tails, and the empty wolf heads slipped onto the heads of the Northland wolves, which were several sizes smaller.

The Northland wolves, completely covered by the fur, swelled up like balloons, and within a few breaths, they completely filled the empty fur.

They both climbed up from the ground crookedly, walking forward with a wobble as if taking their first steps after birth. Then, as the Wolf King's eyes lit up, these two "Northland wolves" were just like it—the same height, the same size, the same strength, and the same ferocity. They ran quickly and merged with the gradually retreating Wolf King.

The Northland wolves in the distance looked at the two "Northland wolves" with envy, deeply feeling that it was a glorious thing for those two Northland wolves to be chosen by the Wolf King.

Knight Lanisha gritted her teeth, not intending to retreat in the slightest. She had seen this ghostly method of the Northland Wolf King before; the first time she saw it, she was terrified, but after many engagements, she discovered that these fakes were still lacking something.

For her, who had just become a Knight many years ago, perhaps every fake was not easy to deal with, but today is different from the past; not only had her own skills increased a lot, but she also had the corresponding experience.

She had consulted Knight Kela about this move of the Wolf King, and Knight Kela, who had seen the world, accurately gave her the solution.

Facing three Wolf Kings that looked exactly the same, reckless attacks or timid retreats were not advisable.

Instead—

Knight Lanisha mobilized her Life Energy, using the skills passed down from her father to activate her Magic Vision.

The three Wolf Kings in the distance, which seemed to have the same strength and movements, were immediately distinguished as true or false in her eyes; the real and the fake were clear at a glance.

The real Wolf King was wrapped in an eerie energy bursting from its body. This power was ferocious, cruel, churning, and gloomy; the Wolf King seemed to be composed entirely of this stuff.

As for the other two "Wolf Kings," the power of this kind on their bodies was too little, thin enough to only roll a layer on the surface of their bodies, and in her eyes, beneath the wolf skin were just two ordinary Northland wolves twisting in pain.

Having discerned the real from the fake, Knight Lanisha controlled her warhorse without the slightest hesitation, charging straight toward one of the fakes among the three Wolf Kings.

The three Wolf Kings wove their bodies and shifted positions, just as confidently charging to kill the Human Knight. Claws flew, pouncing and biting, yet they were swatted away by Knight Lanisha's single-handed heavy sword, and the warhorse, after leaving a claw mark, also rammed the real Wolf King away. Knight Lanisha swung the armor-piercing rapier in her left hand, tearing a long gash along the side of one fake Wolf King, while her other hand continuously unleashed heavy cleaves, beating back the offensive of the other two real and fake Wolf Kings, leaving only minor abrasions on their bodies.

The warhorse burst out from between the three Wolf Kings at high speed, and the three Wolf Kings behind them also began to run in hot pursuit.

Knight Lanisha ran around the Circular Clearing outside the Rock Mountain, occasionally slowing the warhorse to draw closer to the three Wolf Kings chasing behind her. Seemingly amidst the complex and intertwined battle, she focused exclusively on attacking only the one fake Wolf King she had chosen.

Compared to the real Wolf King, a fake is just a fake; although the three Wolf Kings looked exactly the same, in reality, apart from their appearance, their physiques had slight differences. After all, the Wolf Skin was the fur the Wolf King had shed in years past, and as its physique had continued to grow over these years, the previous pelt was naturally a size or two smaller than it was now.

However, this was truly difficult to see, as the Northland Wolf King would not obediently sit still in place and let you take a ruler to measure its dimensions. Once running and fighting, it was simply impossible to distinguish which one was real based on body size.

Besides this, between the real and fake Wolf Kings, although the real Wolf King had reduced its own strength due to using a strange ability, the fake Wolf Kings, which were forcibly strengthened from ordinary Northland wolves by that strange ability, had a great difference in strength between the two.

When moving at high speed, because they were much lighter in weight than the real Wolf King, they could easily keep up with the Wolf King's running movements. But as soon as a fight broke out, the difference in force became apparent.

The Wolf King could use its claws to scrape several deep claw marks on the warhorse's barding with sparks flying, while the fake Wolf Kings could only scrape up light scratches, unable to hurt the warhorse or Knight Lanisha at all. Of course, the Wolf King originally used these two fake decoys to provide itself with a combat advantage; in the dazzling melee, the three of them could reduce the damage received to one-third of the original, and because of the assistance from the fakes, its combat efficiency was greatly enhanced.

Facing three claws coming at once, which one would the Human Knight block? If she blocked the real one, consider it her good luck. And if she blocked a fake one, then its real claws would give the opponent a taste of trouble.

However, unlike last year and the year before, this year's battle seemed to have become a bit strange.

Knight Lanisha kept controlling her life force during the battle, and with a sweep of her eyes, she could see the real and fake Wolf Kings, so the Wolf King's good plan had fallen through. It was just that the intense battle made it impossible for both the human and the wolf to think too much; all their mental will was concentrated on the fight, and they simply could not attend to too many details and truths.

Every time Knight Lanisha clashed and fought with the real and fake Wolf Kings, she specifically attacked only one fake Wolf King. With the warhorse's ramming, heavy sword cleaves, and the rapier's tip stabbing and slashing, by the time they had run a lap around the Circular Clearing outside the Rock Mountain, that fake Wolf King was already severely wounded.

The Wolf King did not consider too much; after all, its entire energy was concentrated on the current battle, so how could it imagine that its proud trump card had already been punctured by the Human Knight.

At the entrance of the Rock Passage in the distance, a whistling sound suddenly came. Both of them, with their keen senses, perceived the source and magnitude of this force.

The Wolf King slightly lowered its pace, letting the fakes go up to entangle the Human Knight, while it took the opportunity to glance at the entrance of the Rock Passage. The result of this glance made it furious.

Its Northland wolf subordinates and offspring were actually retreating in cowardice at this moment. It also felt a burst of dark, viscous will and Magic Power.

In a trance, it seemed to see a Human Warrior from the place inside the entrance of the passage, though, in terms of the scent of Magic Power, it did not seem like a human, but more like an insidious spider.

And Knight Lanisha squeezed the horse's belly, directly accelerating to avoid the fakes chasing behind her; she turned her head and swept her gaze, seeing Xiao Ji'er catch a Two-handed Axe that was shining with the light of a Spirit.

However, what was going on with the massive spider-type Magic Beast crawling on Xiao Ji'er's body?

She began to feel a bit worried; the events of the previous days, looking at it now, were indeed very problematic.