bookpub Chapter 111 The Running Goat
Chapter 111 The Running Goat
boom! ! !
The campfire exploded from the center! A scorching shockwave carrying embers and charcoal rushed towards us! Sparks flew everywhere like golden-red venomous snakes.
What...what happened?!
Geb's spellcasting was interrupted; his vision was obscured by a burst of fire—the halfling was struck down before he could finish his incantation. He had no time to react!
Splash! Splash!
Charcoal splattered on the ground. Gebu felt something scalding hot hit his back. He endured it for a few seconds before raising his head, his face covered in soot.
"howl!!!"
A black circle exploded where the campfire had been, and the boar-man covered his eyes, howling in pain. The weasel had been blown away by the shockwave, its whereabouts unknown.
Where is the deer-man? Gebu squinted as he searched.
Amidst the scattering sparks, the half-deer Thorton's figure appeared like a phantom. His antlers were ablaze, his cloak ripped open, and his forelimbs exposed—his arms retained their human form, but twisted into deer legs from the elbows. The beast's fur and human skin were mottled and intertwined, like some terrible skin disease.
The deer-man met Gebu's gaze, a cold smile spreading from the corners of his mouth to his ears, his human teeth and fangs growing in an interlocking pattern.
Soton pushed off the ground with his hind legs and charged towards Gebu!
Magnubie's butt! Several options flashed through Gebu's mind—but the deer-man didn't give him a chance to think, rushing up to him in an instant!
Whoosh! A black line flew from the upper left, connecting the beastman and the scaffolding in a line—the half-deer man's ears twitched, his slender body tilted to the side slightly, and a crossbow bolt grazed Soton's back before burying itself deep in the ground!
Gebu and the half-deer both looked at the scaffolding where the crossbow bolts had come from. The brown beard flashed for a moment at the edge of the firelight before he instantly hid.
Dulin! This guy isn't dead!
Gebu was delighted for a moment, then immediately turned his attention back to the half-deer man. The man whistled and pointed to the scaffolding. Several dark figures in the woods ran toward Dulin.
"Vocare Nebula!"
Gebu didn't give the half-deer a chance to lock onto him and immediately cast the Cloud Mist spell.
The thick fog instantly obscured the camp.
"What is this! Humph, it's all black and white in front of me!" The boar-man's voice came from the thick fog.
"Bor-y, Ash''tok vi Qusit!" The deer-man's roar pierced the night.
Gebu didn't care what the beastmen were saying; he had already figured out the direction of the scaffolding and quietly slipped away in that direction.
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At the edge of the cloud spell's range, the dwarf Dulin lay prone on the scaffolding, using the height difference to conceal his body. He used his foot to press the cocking mechanism of the crossbow, while his hands frantically turned the dial.
As Dulin wound up the winder, he nervously looked around—whoosh!
A dark figure leaped from one tree to another, the canopy swaying violently with the shifting weight. The shadow clung to the trunk like a lynx, gathering its strength in its lower limbs, and with a whoosh, it climbed to the top of the tree.
A woman who was half human and half calico cat stared at the dwarf who was the same height as her with her emerald green left eye. Her pupils narrowed, her buttocks swayed from side to side, and her tail was behind her to maintain balance, ready to pounce.
Hurry! Hurry! The dwarf's hand speed was almost as fast as when he was single, spinning the wheel until it was a blur. The crossbow string gradually tightened, emitting a mournful wail as if it were about to snap...
Whoosh!
bass!
puff!
"Meow—!"
Catwoman was gliding halfway through the air when she was abruptly stopped in mid-air by a crossbow bolt—the bolt pierced her shoulder, causing her body to pause for a moment before she fell flat on her back towards the tree!
Dulin, still shaken by his near-perfect archery performance, leaned out and peered down at the scaffolding.
The cat-like figure shifted its position in mid-air, landing gracefully on all fours. She bared her teeth, clutching the bloody hole in her shoulder, her fur standing on end.
She looked up and stared intently at Dulin with her cat-like eyes!
"The Stone Ancestor's beard!" The dwarf was terrified. He quickly reloaded the crossbow. The catwoman grabbed onto the scaffolding and started to climb up—
"Ignis!"
A burst of fire exploded at the base of Catwoman's tail—she screamed, fell off the scaffolding, her buttocks on fire, and ran for her life into the bushes, disappearing in an instant.
"Dulin! Get down! Quickly!"
On the scaffold, Dulin, covered in sweat, stretched out his crossbow, which he had just loaded with arrows, and was about to fire at the shadow below.
"It's Gebu! Hurry..."
The dwarf watched the halfling as he pulled the trigger!
Gebu's heart sank. Just as he was about to cast a shield spell, the crossbow bolt whistled past his head and struck a figure behind him.
"snort!!"
The boar-man bared his tusks, but was knocked to the ground by the impact of the crossbow bolt!
Gebu waved to Dulin, then pointed in the direction of the convoy before quickly disappearing into the clouds.
Dulin quickly jumped down from the scaffolding. The boar-man was groaning in pain on the ground, arrow fletching sticking out of his ribs. He saw the dwarf run past him, reaching out his thick, powerful hand to grab Dulin's calf.
"Ouch!" Dulin was grabbed by the ankle and almost fell. He turned around and shot the boarman in the face with his crossbow, which was now empty of arrows.
The boar-man's nose was smashed flat, and he snorted angrily. Dulin hit him again, and only then did the guy let go and fall silent.
"Dulin! Hurry!" Geb's voice came from the mist. The dwarf ignored the boar and ran into the mist.
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"Ash'tok, sameve Ash'tok?"
"Here...with me!"
"No, Ash'tok limna!"
"Shut up, all of you! Que'lok!"
At Soton's command, the clouds and mist suddenly fell silent.
Amidst the chaos, the half-deer Thorton closed his eyes.
Scent. That's how wild animals perceive the world. Thornton's nostrils flared like a deer's, and the airflow through his nasal bones pieced together a picture before his eyes.
To the left rear, there's the smell of burning embers. That's where the campfire exploded.
Sulfur, saltpeter. Some kind of explosive? Unlike this cloud of mist, this isn't magic.
To the left front, the smell of blood, the stench of wild boar—this guy is injured.
Is he dead?
No, there was no decay from death. A lucky fellow. The fanged tribe has always possessed a tenacious will to live.
There was still the scent of a lynx in that direction, a pungent, stressed smell of a cat; she must have been injured and run away.
"You can never rely on a lynx," an elder in the tribe told Soton when he was a child.
We must not give weasels any opportunity to take advantage.
Speaking of weasels, where did she go? That guy has a very faint scent; that cunning bastard disappears as soon as the battle begins.
Thornton recognized the scents of his other companions, who were wandering aimlessly in the fog... No, he wasn't looking for these guys, but for that unique, familiar yet strange scent.
The taste was almost like that of a goblin.
The little creature's scent lingered faintly in Thorton's mind. He grasped at the clues of the scent and searched intently for the direction the halfling had fled...
A strong, wild smell assaulted the half-deer man's nostrils—it wasn't from one of his crew!
The pungent smell was a mixture of mutton, grass, feces, urine, and rotten apples.
A goat? How come there's a goat?
"Meow!!!!"
Thornton instinctively took a step back, and something flew past him—
A giant black-horned goat carrying halflings and dwarves emerged from the clouds!
"Broken neck! My comrade! Fly—wait?!"
The giant goat's drooping testicles flew up with the momentum of its landing, hitting the dwarf on the back and nearly knocking him off the goat. Dulin lunged forward and pinned Geb to the goat's neck—the halfling grabbed the goat's horns with both hands, preventing him from falling.
"Who...who gave it such an unlucky name?!" Gebu complained.
The giant goat galloped into the night. Thorton wrinkled his nose and whistled sharply. Several beastmen emerged from the white mist and chased after him, pursuing the goat's rear end!