abnormal mutation

Chapter 80 Steam Airship
The crowd rushed towards the wolves from both sides, giving them no time to react. If they saw the danger and ran away, today's harvest would be halved.

Alex wanted to rush forward, but Roland grabbed him and said, "Stay in the back."

"Woo-"

The spinning axe whistled and slammed heavily into the neck of the howling male steelback beast. With a thud, its massive head was smashed into the snow, splattering blood everywhere.

The Bristleback struggled to its feet and staggered forward, its neck bleeding profusely, but only a thin layer of flesh was torn open, and no vital organs were injured.

"That's tough." Drake caught the returning spinning axe and quickened his attack pace.

Taking advantage of the Bristleback's dazed state and inability to dodge effectively, the spinning axes rained down, slamming it into the ground once more.

The female Bristleback on the other side had just recovered when Roland cast [Confusion], instantly putting her into a drunken state and causing her to collapse to the ground.

Roland drew his longbow, nocked an arrow, his muscles bulged, and he pulled it back more than halfway.

"call out--"

With a sharp whistle, the long arrow traveled more than twenty meters, grazing the female beast's hind leg before hitting the ground.

"Damn it..." Roland casually tossed aside his longbow and strode toward the female beast.

The female beast staggered to her feet, and upon seeing Roland, she lowered her head and charged.

"boom--"

Roland turned sideways and raised his leg, kicking it with all his might in its long snout, causing it to fall to the ground.

He plopped down on its neck, gripped its ear tightly with one hand, and clenched his fist with the other, pounding it like a drumbeat on its eyes, neck, and nose, causing its eyeballs to burst, its long mouth to become crooked, and blood to flow freely.

Bristleback was still under the effects of [Confusion] when it was knocked unconscious again. It struggled several times but failed to knock Roland away. Blood spurted from its face, and its strength to struggle grew weaker and weaker.

Alex and the hunters around him stared blankly.

…………

High in the sky.

A massive steam-powered airship was hidden in the clouds, looking down at the endless snowfield below.

"Suleiman, your Northern Union Merchant Guild truly produces outstanding individuals." A handsome young man in a black tuxedo looked at the battle below with admiration. "What's his name?"

Steelbacks are among the best of the low-sequence extraordinary creatures. They are tough and strong, and many can hunt them, but it is rare to defeat them in such a "primitive and simple" way.

The other person was also extraordinary, managing to "pin" the Steelback Beast to the ground with a series of spinning throwing axes.

“Your Highness, they must be new members. I haven’t seen their files yet.” Suleiman stroked his short, purplish-gray beard, a vague guess forming in his mind.

“Talent cultivation is the top priority of the Chamber of Commerce. Committee Member Suleiman, don’t always think about your relatives and ignore external talents. People like this should be given special support.” A middle-aged man in a long robe said seriously, but there was a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.

“Commissioner Benedict is right, we should indeed focus on developing him,” Suleiman said, his face still bearing a warm smile.

The young man in the black suit pretended not to see anything, his eyes never leaving the battle below: "The snowfield is vast and boundless, truly an eye-opener. Luckily we met you, otherwise it would have taken us half a month to get there. The airships of the Thistle Flower Merchant Guild are really unreliable, they can't even withstand the cold."

"The Northern Union Merchants Association organizes a winter hunt every year, and this time Your Highness will definitely have a great time," Suleiman said confidently.

"Is that Commissioner Suleiman's youngest son?" the young man in the black suit said, pointing downwards. "He's so young, yet he dares to go hunting. His courage is commendable."

"Your Highness flatters me. A young man's temperament needs to be tempered," Suleiman replied with a smile, without any hint of pride on his face.

The battle below was drawing to a close. The young man in the black suit seemed to remember something and suddenly urged, "Let's go back to camp." Judging by the time, his sister and the others should be arriving soon. If she knew that his stubbornness had put the airship in danger, he would definitely scold her.

“Alright, our landing site is in the Frozen Canyon, at the entrance to the ruins of the Akkadian Empire,” Suleiman explained.

"That would be even better." The young man's excitement was palpable.

…………

"Is he dead?"

Roland was a little worried, so he punched the steelback a couple more times. Only when the steelback didn't react did he jump off.

Seconds later, the Staff of Lament unleashed a force field, forcefully pulling the beast soul marked by Soul-Splitting Scream into its shaft. He could vaguely hear mournful cries and understood. If he chose to consume this soul, the power of Soul-Splitting Scream would increase dramatically.

He looked up to the other side and saw that Drake had finished the fight. The male Bristleback had a gaping wound on its neck, and hot blood had formed a dark red mud pit.

Its soul was absorbed into the staff before its mate, adding another pair of dead souls to the [Eternal Corridor].

The two immediately rushed to another battlefield, where more than thirty humans faced off against a larger number of polar snow wolves. The humans won decisively, mainly due to their firearms.

Kili and Frey could barely keep up with the speed of the two extraordinary snow wolves, while Kuran and the others provided support from the side. One of the snow wolves had already died, leaving only the alpha wolf still trying to escape.

Roland raised his hand and unleashed [Soul-Splitting Scream], an invisible wave enveloping the alpha wolf. No matter how desperately it dodged, it was still no match for the spell. With a mournful howl, the alpha wolf collapsed to the ground, its body convulsing uncontrollably.

Kili seized the opportunity and bit into its neck, scalding blood gushing out, which it swallowed.

This is the vulnerability of flesh-and-blood creatures; once their vital organs are damaged, they have almost no chance of turning the tide.

Roland stroked the Staff of Aria, feeling a surge of emotion. This thing was truly useful, able to stun the enemy for several seconds!

At this moment, the alpha wolf died, and a mournful murmur echoed in his ears again. The wolf's spirit was pulled into the staff, and another soul appeared in the Eternal Corridor, making a total of three.

Unfortunately, this thing can't be used indiscriminately. It can exempt you from negative effects, but it still costs a soul each time. If the target doesn't die, it's a huge loss.

"The guards should rescue the people first, the hunters should finish them off first, and the hounds should keep watch on the perimeter. Now is not the time to relax," Kuran commanded loudly.

He turned his head and saw Roland covered in blood, his expression changing drastically: "You're injured?"

“No.” Roland waved his hand. “It’s all Bristleback blood. What about casualties?”

“It shouldn’t be serious.” Kuolan’s expression was complicated, and his tone was full of emotion. “Polar snow wolves are too troublesome. They appear and disappear without a trace. No wonder they dare to hunt steelbacks. If it weren’t for your wolves, we would run as far away as possible if we encountered them.”

He had hunted many Arctic wolves, but this was the first time he had encountered such extraordinary ones. Human firearms were almost useless against them; they were fast and invisible—it was simply outrageous.

"The result is good." Roland said reassuringly, but inwardly he thought with a hint of malice that his share should be relatively high because of his high contribution.

According to statistics, four guards and two hunters were injured. One of the hunters was seriously injured; he was gored by the alpha wolf and almost disemboweled, but fortunately, his life was not in danger.

Next, they began to process the prey, especially the four extraordinary creatures.

The male steelback is over three meters long and nearly two meters high on its back. It is exceptionally robust and conservatively estimated to weigh two tons. The female is not much smaller, making it extremely difficult to bring the whole thing back.

You must peel them while they're still hot and sort out the valuable parts for storage; otherwise, it will cause problems.

Roland and Drake couldn't skin animals, but they were incredibly strong, so they were good at helping out.

(End of this chapter)