abnormal mutation

Chapter 79 Bristleback

"With your abilities, I'm sure you won't let me lose money!" Roland said meaningfully. If he lost money, there wouldn't be a next time, and he believed Pro would understand.

“I can help you find valuable prey; whether you lose money or not depends on your own abilities.” Pro wasn’t buying it.

Under Pro's command, the two wolves pulled the sled around the snowfield. About an hour later, Roland vaguely heard the howling of wolves. The sled passed through a small hill and came to a wide and open valley.

A grand hunt is unfolding in the distance, with dozens of Arctic wolves hunting three Bristlebacks, two large and one small. The small Bristleback is injured and lying on the ground, while the other two Bristlebacks have gone berserk, chasing and charging at the wolf pack. Several wolf carcasses are scattered around.

The steelback resembles a wild boar, with a large, stout body and a back as high as a mountain ridge. When it charges, it is unstoppable, and under normal circumstances, no creature wants to provoke it.

“Four extraordinary creatures, you’ll be rich if you catch just one,” Pro chuckled.

"Thank you so much!" Roland replied irritably. At the same time, he quickly ordered the two wolves to retreat and hide; if they were discovered, they might be ganged up on by both sides.

Four extraordinary creatures with unknown abilities, and a pack of snow wolves—Roland would have to be out of his mind to dare to show himself.

"They're all low-sequence, right?" Roland trusted his intuition, but just to be on the safe side, he still asked Pro to confirm.

“Yes.” Pro said calmly and meaningfully, “You can handle it, trust me.”

Roland remained silent, secretly calculating the balance of power between the two sides.

The four-on-four combat power is extraordinary, but the two Arctic Snow Wolves are fast and the two Steelback Beasts have thick hides, so the battle will consume a lot of energy and injuries are highly likely. Moreover, Alex is an ordinary human, and it is quite dangerous for him to be left unattended.

"Go, inform Captain Kuran." He nudged the silver-winged owl, signaling it to seek help.

With its round eyes wide open, the silver-winged owl carefully observed the situation in the valley before giving a powerful leap and silently soaring into the sky, quickly disappearing from sight.

Roland had the two wolves pull the sled further away, untied the sled ropes, stood guard in place, and at the same time focused on summoning Drake.

Drake appeared out of nowhere beside him, his soul carrying an extra burden, though much smaller than before.

'It seems I can afford another piece.' This is undoubtedly thanks to the new abnormal mutation.

At this moment, the battle in the valley intensified.

The two steelbacks launched frequent and violent charges, displaying a fierce momentum that caused the wolf pack to give way. Hunting requires strategy, and they rarely engage in direct confrontation.

The wolf pack did not give up. They pursued and intercepted the wolf amidst the howling of the alpha wolf, advancing and retreating with measured steps. Their tactics were mainly harassment from the side and sneak attacks from behind. They were cowardly, but very effective.

The two steelback beasts refused to abandon their cubs. Their bodies were covered in wounds, but they were bleeding very little. They pawed at the ground furiously, growling incessantly.

Roland, with his sharp eyes, clearly noticed that the male Bristleback was missing one of its testicles, and its rear end was also stained with blood.

'That's really underhanded.'

He observed for a while and learned that, in addition to being agile and extremely fast, the polar snow wolf also possessed the ability to stealthily move through the snow and breathe frost. It moved swiftly through the snow, its form appearing and disappearing as if in a flash, making even its senses somewhat dull.

Aside from its charge and thick hide, Bristleback didn't seem to have any other special abilities.

"The Snow Wolf's abilities are somewhat countered by mine," Drake's voice came through the mind link. "It can briefly break free from the spinning axe's lock."

Roland understood; the ADC was afraid of assassins: "Can a tank even scratch them?"

Drake paused for a moment, then realized: "I should be able to, I can interrupt its charge."

Spinning axes don't just fly in the air; they can also be thrown horizontally to push targets away.

"You take the male beast, Gilly and Freddy the Arctic Snow Wolf, the guards will assist, I'll take the female beast, and the hunters will handle the wolf pack," Roland roughly assigned.

“No problem.” Drake was eager to try.

Two hours passed, with intermittent battles taking place in the valley, but most of the time it was a standoff. The wolves were very patient; their group hunting could last all day.

Just then, faint sounds finally came from afar, and several hunting dogs quickly approached, followed by sleds, their numbers increasing. "What's going on?" Kuran quickly came to Alex's side and got straight to the point.

"The Arctic wolves are hunting the Bristlebacks in that big valley up ahead," Alex said, pointing into the distance. "Look at that tree a few hundred yards away; Roland is observing from there. You guys sneak over there..."

Kuran understood, and he beckoned. A hunter and a guard approached, and the three of them quietly drew near the valley.

The valley was very large, several Delhi in diameter, and the hunting grounds were at least one or two Delhi away from here. Ordinary people couldn't see the battle situation clearly, but fortunately, none of them were ordinary.

"You've finally arrived." Roland had wanted to rush forward and fight several times.

"You've gone too far. How many extraordinary creatures are there?" Kuran asked excitedly.

“Four, I’ll point them out to you…” Roland gave a general description of the situation, including the abilities of the snow wolf and the steelback, as well as the battle assignments.

“The three of us can handle the female beast without any problem.” Kuran had complete faith in Drake’s fighting ability. “It’s just that it’s a bit far, and the other side of the valley isn’t isolated.”

“The little Bristleback is probably dead. The Bristleback has already started its breakout. They’ve tried over there, and I reckon they’ll try here next time. That will be our chance,” Roland speculated.

"Alright, if all else fails, we'll just charge in with firepower." Kuran nodded; this time, they outnumbered the enemy and had more guns.

After he finished speaking, a guard and the captain went down to gather the men and arrange the hunting mission.

Before everyone had taken their positions, the two steelback beasts launched another attack, this time from the other side of the valley.

After being lured to the other side, the wolves suddenly turned around and charged towards Roland and his group.

Their bodies glowed red, their charging speed increased dramatically, and they plowed out two deep trenches, stirring up long dragons of dust and snow, creating a terrifying spectacle.

Any snow wolf that touched them was smashed to pieces, flung away like a puddle of mud. The alpha wolf tried to stop them, but its paws were repelled the moment they touched the red light, its nails breaking and blood flowing freely.

As the Bristleback drew closer, its crimson eyes seemed to gaze down from hell, filling one with terror at a single glance, leaving the mind blank, limbs stiff, and unable to move.

“Get out of the way—”

Kuran roared, but few responded. He felt a chill run through him, as if he could see the young men of the guard being smashed into a rain of blood.

"Woo-"

A spinning axe, accompanied by a chilling whistling sound, slashed towards the leading male steelback beast. With a clang, it struck the red light, cutting through steel armor. The axe spun back, thwarting the steelback beast and slightly reducing its momentum.

Roland stood up, pointed his long staff with his right hand, and triggered the [Soul-Splitting Scream]. An invisible wave swept across dozens of meters and landed on the Steelback Beast, causing it to stumble and fly away, stirring up a flurry of snowflakes.

The red light gradually faded, and the Steelback Beast huddled in the mud pit, twitching in pain and emitting meaningless groans.

"Hey--"

Drake, in a fit of rage, caught the spinning axe, twisted his body and threw it out. With a quick grab, he flung out two more axes, aiming them directly at another Bristleback.

"Dang Dang Dang——"

The other female beast was struck hard, its spinning axe slashing repeatedly at the red light, forcing it to stop. Blood spurted from its mouth and nose, and the red light shattered.

"Fire!" Kuran roared.

The dense bullets rained down on the two steelback beasts like water, blooming into tiny specks of blood. But upon closer inspection, they only broke the skin, like toothpicks piercing flesh, with very limited lethality.

"Leave this to us, don't let the wolves escape," Roland warned.

Kiley and Fridge have charged toward the wolf pack; they can't do it without support.

(End of this chapter)