Anser watched Bratt disappear around the corner. Now, he had nothing left to hold him back.

The tables had turned.

He sent Finn and the gray hawk to delay the other two groups of slavers while he faced the bearded man's group alone.

The crisp beat of hooves rang through the street. The slavers frantically wiped the blood from their faces, recovered their firearms, and aimed down the street as though facing a deadly foe.

The bearded man drew a deep breath, wrestling with mixed emotions. He had fought his way out of heaps of corpses before, however, and quickly regained his composure.

"Don't be afraid. He won't dare come closer. One volley and he's dead."

His words rallied the crew, finally helping them shake off the shadow cast by the gale.

Anser rode forward at an unhurried pace as magic surged around him.

Jump + Feather Fall!

Two successive magical auras lit around Nornoth, bathing his body and limbs in a faint glow.

He stamped the ground heavily, eager to charge.

Once the distance closed to less than a hundred meters, the bearded man raised his right hand but did not order them to fire. One or two bullets could not threaten a spellcaster protected by Mage Armor or Shield. They had to ensure their shots hit.

Anser raised a hand and pointed, startling them.

"Don't panic! He's bluffing!" Knowing how slowly firearms reloaded, the bearded man refused to take the bait.

The next instant, however, his vision blurred. A spherical bank of fog rapidly expanded before them, engulfing the entire group in moments. White mist filled their vision, and they could see nothing.

The pounding of hooves abruptly accelerated!

The bearded man's scalp prickled. They could either flee the fog or fire toward the sound.

"Don't run! Tight formation! Aim at the sound and wait for my command—"

He made his decision at once. The horse was moving too quickly; they might not escape the fog, but they would certainly scatter, allowing the enemy to defeat them one by one.

Staying together would prevent friendly fire and help them withstand the charge.

The hoofbeats grew clearer, as if they were already upon them.

"Fire!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A dense volley thundered through the fog, but no bullets struck flesh. There were no screams—not even the sound of hooves.

Something was wrong!

The bearded man's heart went cold. Before he could make sense of it, a rush of displaced air bore down from overhead. He cried out in alarm, "Above us—"

An enormous black shadow dropped from the sky. Fortunately, they had shifted several meters and avoided being crushed.

"Fool!" The bearded man was delighted to see his opponent surrender his advantages in distance and mobility.

He located Anser by sound and charged with his sword. The next instant, blue light filled his vision as an explosive cone of lightning erupted, completely engulfing him and the crew behind him.

The lightning burned countless tiny channels through the dense fog. The slavers' hair stood on end as their rigid bodies collapsed. Branching burn marks covered their skin, smoke curled upward, and the foul stench of char filled the air.

"Idiots!" Anser sneered.

They had actually clustered together. Conducted by the dense fog, the lightning breath's area and power surged, catching the entire group in one attack.

[...First Mate of the Conch took 13 Lightning damage. Current HP: 18/34]

[...Boatswain of the Conch took 11 Lightning damage. Current HP: 5/16]

[...Conch Sailor took 14 Lightning damage... Target died. Gained 15 Combat Experience.]

"Aaargh!"

With an enraged roar, the bearded man activated Second Wind and forcibly shook off the paralysis. Gripping his sword in both hands, he charged Anser with astonishing speed.

'Pull away!' Anser remained expressionless, hazy blue light gathering around his chest, abdomen, and throat.

Never underestimate a Fighter's close-quarters ability. Their swords could move so quickly that they might not even let you cast Shield a second time.

Nornoth sprang into motion, but the bearded man was faster and nearly caught him. Only after sprinting more than ten meters did Nornoth begin to pull away.

Alarm prickled through Anser. Over the first ten meters, a Fighter's explosive speed could actually exceed a fey horse's!

"Damn it!" The bearded man watched Anser draw farther away, cursed, and turned to flee.

Nornoth wheeled and charged, his crisp hoofbeats as rapid as a drumroll.

The bearded man did not dare remain on the street. After a running start, he vaulted over a courtyard wall, hoping the maze of streets would obstruct pursuit.

Hooves hammered the ground. Nornoth sprang more than three meters high and over ten meters forward, his massive body tracing a graceful arc through the air like a flying horse.

The bearded man stared in disbelief and tried to double back.

As they crossed paths, Anser opened his mouth. A cone of lightning breath crossed several meters and blasted the bearded man away, leaving him no chance to evade.

The man crashed flat onto the ground, smoke rising from his entire body. He struggled several times but could not stand.

Nornoth landed lightly. Anser raised his staff, rings of magical light appearing in his eyes.

Scorching Ray!

Three rays of fire flashed through the air and struck the bearded man almost simultaneously. His clothes and leather armor burst into flame, black smoke billowed, and the smell of roasted meat drifted on the wind.

The bearded man convulsed several times, then stopped moving.

[...First Mate of the Conch took 22 Fire damage... Target died. Gained 275 Combat Experience.]

Anser approached at an unhurried pace. The bearded man's wretched corpse filled him with savage satisfaction.

'Scorching Ray is certainly fast, but controlling exactly where it hits is too difficult.'

Inside the courtyard, a man clutching a dog had buried his head in a woodpile. The man trembled, the dog shivered, and a patch of firewood had been soaked through.

Anser glanced at him, grabbed several silver and copper pieces from the Griffon Coinpouch, and casually tossed them onto the ground.

'Let's go. Bring the corpse.'

Nornoth wrapped his tail around the bearded man, smashed open the courtyard gate, dragged the body into the street, and threw it beside the other corpses.

Twenty or thirty meters away, a surviving classed individual staggered as he fled.

'You finish him.' Anser wanted Nornoth to accumulate some experience.

Thrilled by the command, Nornoth broke from a trot into a charge. When the classed individual made a desperate counterattack, he neither dodged nor slowed. The horn on his forehead knocked the longsword aside, and a headbutt hurled the man several meters.

The man's chest caved in, and blood sprayed from his mouth and nose. He was dead before he hit the ground. With 18 Strength behind such tremendous mass, this was not an impact an ordinary classed individual could hope to withstand.

[...Target died. Gained 49 Combat Experience.]

Anser rubbed Nornoth's horn. The sword had left only a scratch.

Nornoth seemed to realize something. He returned to the battlefield and struck every corpse with either a hoof or his whip-like tail. Unfortunately, only one had still been alive, but one was better than none.

"Screee—"

An eagle cried overhead.

Anser looked up. Six people emerged from the intersection ahead, each carrying a firearm.

Finn followed closely from the nearby rooftops, occasionally loosing an arrow from a distance and frightening the six into clumsy evasions.

They had originally numbered eight. Caught off guard by the Ranger's ambush, they had lost two people. Unable to hit him in return, they could only seek out the first mate and regroup.

The moment they turned the corner, however, they saw a street covered in corpses and a mysterious rider standing beside them. Panic shattered their composure. After a brief, stunned pause, all six turned and fled.

"Hah. You think you can escape?"

Anser waved Finn over from a distance, signaling him to collect the spoils, then spurred his horse in pursuit.

Notes:

1. Concentration: Fog Cloud, Darkness, and Dragon's Breath all require Concentration. If Dragon's Breath is cast after Fog Cloud, the original fog loses its magical support and gradually disperses.

2. Elemental Interactions: Fire is naturally weakened by dense fog, while lightning can use the fog to erupt with greater power and over a wider area. The same applies to metal armor.

3. Second Wind: A Fighter activates Second Wind instantly, but it still involves a brief process. The rules allow it to be used twice in succession, but reality does not; the user needs a moment to recover.

It draws on limited reserves of energy and stamina to restore Hit Points. The amount restored is 1d10 + Fighter Level, so a Level 4 Fighter recovers 5–15 Hit Points each time.

4. A Horse's Jumping Ability: The highest jump recorded by a horse on Earth is 2.47 meters, while the farthest horizontal obstacle cleared measured 8.4 meters.

Nornoth is a fey creature enhanced by Longstrider, Jump, and Feather Fall, allowing him to jump higher and farther.

5. Feather Fall: In essence, the spell limits the target's maximum falling speed so that it takes no falling damage. It is often used together with Jump.

(End of Chapter)