Chapter 393 393-The Vanishing Wolf King
The wolf pack gave Howard no time to catch his breath; their formation shifted within a mere breath, followed by relentless assaults.
This time, the blue wolves had evidently learned their lesson, opting not to bite Howard's limbs directly but instead to claw and swipe at him, using their sharp teeth only in sneaky attacks.
Though the continuous, singular attacks lacked the oppressive force of the previous coordinated efforts by several wolves, Howard dared not take them lightly.
A single misstep could lead to a tempestuous onslaught, leaving him no chance to even fight back.
Moreover, the evidently strongest among them, the wolf king, had yet to make its move.
Since the onset of battle, it had been circling the outskirts, clearly biding its time to strike Howard with a devastating blow.
Being wary of the wolf king, Howard couldn't fully engage with the other blue wolves, relying instead on his enhanced physical abilities to parry their attacks.
However, this was not a sustainable strategy.
Once his magic was depleted, the wolf pack would swarm him and tear him to shreds.
He had to lure out the wolf king and deal a crippling blow or even kill it.
As Howard dodged the fierce claws of an attacking blue wolf, he pondered how to deceive the cunning wolf king.
Given the intelligence of the wolf king, which probably surpassed that of many adults, combined with a wild beast's innate intuition for danger, simple tricks were unlikely to work and would only heighten its vigilance.
Thus, Howard had only one chance.
Now endowed with magic but having left in haste, Howard hadn't brought his broadsword, a decision he now somewhat regretted.
He repelled one blue wolf with a karate chop and drove back another with a backhand strike, then suddenly charged towards the direction of the white-furred wolf king.
His approach was fierce, as if challenging the wolf king to a direct confrontation.
The wolf king paused, its paws digging into the ground, ready to sidestep and simultaneously signal its pack to concentrate their attack on this bipedal human.
At that moment, the wolf king realized it was the final line of defense for the pack.
Halting its lateral dodge, it instead swiped at Howard from the side.
Howard easily dodged.
In the wolf king's eyes, the human must have been on the brink of collapse to attempt such a desperate measure to alter the tide of being under siege.
But now that its plan was seen through, the human's end seemed imminent.
With this thought, the wolf king no longer held back, calling for the other blue wolves to attack simultaneously while it itself pursued Howard from his blind spot, poised for a sure strike.
Unhesitatingly, the wolf king launched its full force for a fatal blow.
A pale grey stream of air materialized out of nowhere, the wolf king's speed instantly doubling, catching up to Howard in just a few strides! It swung a deadly claw from an angle Howard couldn't possibly see.
"Gotcha!"
Just as the wolf king was smugly sure of its victory, it suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice.
The voice of that bipedal human.
A trick!
A sense of danger surged from its spine to its brain in an instant.
The wolf king attempted to alter its course, but a full-force strike isn't easily redirected.
Thus, a blinding white light instantly robbed it of all vision! It felt as if its body was hammered by a massive force, muscles involuntarily twitching under the shock...
That was Howard's magic, a spell he hadn't used in a long while, somewhat rusty now; otherwise, it could have directly ended the wolf king's life.
A massive burst of pure Electro and Light Elements erupted in the confined space, with the wolf king bearing nearly all the damage.
A single strike rendered the wolf king incapable of resistance, its muscles convulsing, unable to mount any counterattack or dodge.
Lightning struck a second time! Instantly, Howard caught the scent of charred flesh as powerful currents coursed through the wolf king's body, entering the ground through its heart.
The intense pain left the wolf king utterly defenseless.
Electrocution, however, is never lasting.
With Howard's magic limited, maintaining such a high-intensity shock meant a significant drain on his magical reserves, quickly depleting his power.
Howard drew the dagger he always carried, having once been the target of an assassination attempt; without it, he felt uneasy.
Unsure if the wolf king was truly dead, given the creature's seemingly extraordinary vitality and still facing numerous blue wolves, Howard seized the moment to flee.
A wise man knows better than to face danger head-on.
Once safe, he planned to write a personal letter to his base in the New World, instructing them to send troops to exterminate all the wolves.
However, this wasn't Howard's territory, making the dispatch of an army somewhat troublesome.
Howard sprinted rapidly, the surrounding blue wolves only just converging, their encirclement yet to fully form.
Beyond claws and fangs, a wolf's nose is one of its most exceptional features.
Even domestic dogs, once trained, can use their noses to distinguish objects, let alone wild wolves that hunt daily by scent.
The remaining blue wolves paused only briefly, two or three breaths at most, before following Howard's scent trail in pursuit.
After the blue wolves chased after Howard, the area was left with only the white-furred wolf king and a few other wolves incapacitated by Howard, the smell of charred flesh still lingering in the air.
The wolf king lay on the ground, breathing heavily.
It had not perished.
Although Howard's electric shock had robbed it of its combat strength, its vitality was exceptionally robust.
Despite the electricity passing through its heart, it sustained no fatal injury, and its wounds even began to heal.
Still, regaining its combat strength anytime soon was impossible.
A cold breeze passed, and the wolf king, suddenly alert, lifted its head to scan its surroundings.
It detected an unfamiliar and dangerous scent.
In its current condition, not just any mythical beast, but even ordinary wild animals could pose a lethal threat.
"The transition between two magical states is very smooth, an unprecedented newcomer... Are newcomers all this peculiar now?"
A vague figure, blending with the evening wind, approached and stopped in front of the wolf king, bending down to stroke its head.
"I'll take you back with me later. Growing so big, you'd be good for guarding the home, better than dying here for nothing."
The wolf king coldly observed the blurry figure before it.
Although it could never discern the details of the face, this did not prevent it from sensing the dangerous aura emanating from the person.
A mere casual strike from them could leave it without a place to die.
This bipedal human was not on the same level as the one encountered earlier.
"If you remain silent, I'll take it as your agreement," the shadowy figure nodded and said, "But then, you can't just run off on your own, or I'll have to punish you!"
"Well, I should also check on that little guy, after all. I've been entrusted with this, can't just slack off."
The figure straightened up, gradually dissolving into the wind.
"Just lie here quietly, I'll be back soon to pick you up. My name is Lilia, remember this name. After all, I'll be your master from now on. And, you'll be called Little White."
The wolf king silently watched the figure vanish into the air, but the creeping sense of dread only intensified, fueling its urge to flee at all costs.
Some time had passed since Howard escaped from the jaws of death.
Not daring to stay outdoors, he found his way to a tavern in the city.
The tavern was filled with noise, men and women in rugged attire gathered in groups, conversing in either hushed tones or loud exchanges.
Waitstaff in dusty gray tunics navigated the cramped space, delivering cloudy mugs of ale to the patrons' tables.
This is one of the city's taverns for adventurers.
Not the most upscale kind, but then, adventurers themselves are usually not very strong.
It could be said that most adventurers are just unfortunate souls with no other skills, thus opting to become adventurers, dreaming only of finding treasures in remote, seldom-trodden places.
"Hey, hey, did you hear? The wolf king on the plains, that white devil, it's gone!"
Like a stone cast into water, the man's words quickly captured his companions' attention.
As adventurers who roam the outdoors daily, they naturally took an interest in and kept tabs on the most formidable mythical beast within their range.
Although there are rumors that a mature Golden Red Tiger in the northern part of the Silverwind Plains is stronger than the wolf king, discussing that creature apparently isn't as appealing.
At least, the wolf king is a beast they could boast about surviving an encounter with to their friends.
"Eh! Gone? Did it migrate? Wolves don't just change their living areas on a whim, do they?"
Another adventurer, evidently not as well-informed, was puzzled by the news of the wolf king's disappearance.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦