Chapter 967: Chapter 343 Lava Dog (Double-length Chapter)

“Ah!”

Suddenly, a lava hound, the size of a calf, burst out from one side of the caravan, engulfed in flames. It brutally knocked down a coachman who was driving a wagon, biting off the coachman’s head in one gulp and chewing voraciously.

The coachman’s body was rapidly blackened by some kind of fiery poison.

“It’s a lava hound!!”

“This is bad!”

“Ding ding!”

Several archers from the Cornice Mercenary Group promptly shot several arrows at the lava hound.

But the sharp arrows, upon hitting the flaming skin of the lava hound, bounced off as if against some natural rubber, leaving no mark whatsoever.

The archers’ attack only succeeded in attracting the lava hound’s attention!

It immediately abandoned the headless coachman’s body and, with a flash of red light and a wave of heat, charged swiftly towards an archer standing on a wagon shooting at it.

“(In Akadian) Ice Crystal Thrust!”

The archer happened to be close by the white-robed witch, Merita, who reacted extremely swiftly, casting a spell and quickly raising a slender finger.

Suddenly, a sharp, transparent ice crystal, nearly one and a half meters long, appeared from the tip of her index finger.

With a heavy flick, the sharp ice crystal shot towards the lava hound at high speed.

The leather-armored archer tried desperately to block with his bow, but he was quickly overpowered and knocked down.

“Bang!!”

Just as the leather-armored archer was about to have his head bitten off, suddenly, the lava hound was explosively blasted aside, and for a moment, white chilly air spread out, with frost accumulating on the injured archer’s skin and eyebrows.

A small fist-sized hole appeared in the lava hound’s flank, dark red blood flowing out.

“What, it’s not dead? My Ice Crystal Thrust has a power of at least thirty-five degrees, how could it not kill the opponent?” Merita’s lovely face turned pale as she exclaimed.

“I understand, it’s the environmental issue here!”

“We’re too close to the underground magma. Influenced by the magma, the surrounding Fire Elemental Energy Particles have increased, and other energy particles have decreased. Although the change is not large, it diminished the power of my Ice Elemental Witchcraft by about fifteen to twenty percent!”

Merita quickly figured out the reason.

Apparently, Merita’s attack had deeply wounded the lava hound.

The injury made the lava hound even angrier, its ugly head swiftly turning towards Merita, who had caused its injury, baring its teeth and growling lowly.

“Wind Vortex!”

Fortunately, the other two male wizards did not stand by idly. Instead, they quickly took action, causing the lava hound, which had just leaped, to be blown back to its original spot by a strong whirlwind.

“Slow Technique!”

In the trio’s coordinated attack, with multiple witchcrafts hitting consecutively, they finally managed to kill the resilient lava hound.

However, there wasn’t the slightest trace of relaxation on their faces.

Because the lava hound’s strength was more challenging than they had anticipated.

The lava hound, specializing in the Fire Element, had a defensive power of at least around thirty degrees, making it impervious to fatal harm from ordinary First Level Witchcraft. Instead, it would become more berserk upon being injured.

Moreover, the one they had just killed was only one of them. The problem was that lava hounds are also pack animals.

“I’ve always heard that lava hounds are formidable, and now I’ve finally witnessed it.” One of the male wizards said gravely.

“It’s still possible to turn back now.”

“It’s impossible to return now, unless we abandon the entire caravan.” Merita said with a solemn expression.

The two male wizards exchanged a glance and stepped back a few paces subtly, clearly indicating that they would not expend all their strength for the caravan.

Their relationship with the caravan was merely a temporary cooperation to pass through the drop hammer tunnel together.

It’s not that they broke their promise, but the situation they faced had exceeded expectations by far, and the caravan’s reward was not worth such immense risk.

“Quick, Yannis, go ask the gentlemen ahead for help.” Merita promptly made a decision.

Only by seeking assistance from the two gentlemen in front could they possibly make it through the current crisis safely.

As a member of the Northern Winter Castle Academy, she’s always had good relations with the Cameron family, also located in the Northland.

Thus, unless absolutely necessary, she would not abandon the caravan and retreat alone.

“Understood, Lady Merita.”

The chubby Yannis, like a ball of meat, quickly ran towards Rein’s side, along with the white-robed witch Merita.

…

Meanwhile, Rein, a few hundred meters ahead of the Cameron caravan, had already killed three lava hounds.

“This seems a bit different from what that chubby guy said before. Could it be that he was deceiving me earlier?” Rein couldn’t help but ponder.

He didn’t mind giving a little help to others when passing through the tunnel, letting them follow through together.

But if that chubby guy had been lying to him to take the lead, then it was a different matter entirely.

“Rein, these monsters seem a lot stronger than molten lava snakes. Should we…” Anna said, a bit worried as she glanced at the calf-sized lava hounds lying on the ground and then turned to Rein.

Although Rein was still taking them down one by one with a single strike, these unexpected creatures still made Anna concerned about Rein’s safety.

“No worries, I’ll go ask that chubby guy. They should be just behind us.” Rein waved his hand dismissively.