Chapter 170: Chapter 169: Another Hard Fight

Colin scrambled over to the sled.

The sled dogs were still tied to the sled. The recent ice shards had left them covered in blood, but thankfully, their Winter Wolf lineage meant the freezing mist hadn’t injured them too severely.

Colin kicked the supplies off the sled and shouted, "Pepe! Help me find the enemy!"

The six sled dogs let out a couple of howls and, like wild dogs literally let off the leash, bolted with the sled toward the outside of the wind wall. Colin, who had just barely managed to jump on, was nearly thrown off.

Now lightened, the sled shot forward, carrying Colin straight out of the circular wind wall.

He immediately locked onto the Druid chanting a prayer not far away. A Flaming Arrow shot out instantly, striking her square in the chest and interrupting her chant.

The Druid let out another wolf howl, and four Wild Wolves charged down from a distant snowy slope.

’She sure has a lot of animal friends.’

"Go deal with those wolves, Pepe!"

Colin backhanded his blade, severing the ropes binding the sled dogs. Led by the alpha, the loyal dogs immediately charged to meet the Wild Wolves.

He leaped off the sled and stood his ground.

Raising her two-handed scythe, the Druid said in a low voice, "Human, the Half-Orc with you has defied the Lady’s frigid wind. If you help me sacrifice him to the eternal ice, you too can receive Divine Power like me, commanding the frost and those lesser creatures!"

"Seeing as you call the animals that serve you ’lesser creatures,’ I doubt my own situation would be much better if I joined you," Colin sneered.

’Looks like this group of Druids is in some serious trouble if she’s still trying to recruit me at a time like this.’

The white bear roared, and the Wild Wolves barked.

Colin slowed his breathing, entering his Sword Dance state while rapidly considering his options.

Intelligence increases a Mage’s Casting power, whereas Divine Art Casters rely on the "Perception" Attribute to cast their Divine Arts.

Perception is the quantification of intuition and sensory ability. The higher the Perception Attribute, the more one can feel the intangible power of the Gods. Orelia’s talent for sensing evil also proved that her Perception Ability was quite good.

’So Tasha’s Hideous Laughter probably won’t have much effect on this Druid.’

’I also can’t afford to drag this out with her. The power of her Magic is too terrifying.’

’It’s best to give up on control methods and just go head-to-head with her using other Magic.’

Colin raised a hand, pulled out an Extremely Weak Cold Resistance Potion, and drank it. The Potion had a chilling taste, like drinking peppermint oil, but after a brief coolness, he could feel his whole body start to warm up. The Potion must be taking effect.

The next moment, he began to chant a Spell, intending to cast Blade Ward on himself.

Seeing this, the Druid leaped forward, the tip of her scythe pecking at him like a bird’s beak.

Colin aborted his Casting and stepped forward, parrying the scythe’s shaft with his Giant Sword. The blade slid along the handle toward his opponent’s wrist.

The Druid released her front grip with her left hand, spun her body while holding the end of the scythe with her right, and swung the blade at him from another direction.

With a thought, Colin made a hand gesture.

Silver Light Sharp Words instantly drained his opponent’s mental energy and funneled it into his mind.

The light in the Druid’s eyes visibly dimmed, and her incoming Ice Scythe instantly lost some of its accuracy.

While striding forward and ducking to dodge the scythe, Colin put force into a backhand thrust. His enhanced Emerald Flame Sword stabbed into his opponent’s abdomen like a Flame Spear.

The exploding bloom of fire was scattered by the frigid wind.

Colin’s full-force attack only managed to open a bloody hole in his opponent’s abdomen.

This wasn’t surprising.

It was said that because of the Magic Net, the more proficient a Caster was with Casting, the stronger their body would become. Thus, this Druid was much stronger than an Ordinary person, though still weaker than a Paladin of the same Level.

Colin twisted his wrist, and Flame once again gathered on the tip of his sword.

The next moment, however, a gust of white-furred, frigid wind carrying snowflakes burst from his opponent’s body. A white-furred wild wolf lunged from the freezing mist, snapping its jaws at him.

It was the Druid’s transformation!

Colin decisively dropped his Giant Sword and shoved his arm into the wolf’s mouth.

’When it comes to dealing with canines, you could say I’m an old hand at this.’

As he thought this, he used his other hand to draw his Dagger and plunged it into the wolf’s belly. Scalding wolf blood flowed onto his hand, freezing almost instantly into a sticky mess.

The wolf’s fangs easily pierced his thick fur-lined sleeve.

Watching his own arm get mauled, Colin worked quickly, repeatedly stabbing and opening up gashes on his opponent’s belly.

The wolf the Druid had become was a size larger than an ordinary Wild Wolf. It wouldn’t be easy to kill her so quickly...

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Just as Colin was thinking this, three Scorching Rays flew in from a distance, blasting three bloody craters into the wolf’s side.

A burst of cold mist erupted from the giant wolf’s fur.

It wasn’t surprising; this kind of magical mist appeared both when entering a transformation and when being forced back to one’s original form.

In that instant, however, Colin suddenly heard a faint chanting. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

’Shit!’

He directly drew the Hand Half Sword hanging at his waist.

The light from his Emerald Flame Sword flashed, tracing an arc of fire through the air and shredding the mist to pieces.

In that instant, Colin saw his opponent lying stiffly on the ground.

She was using the mist as cover to lie down in the snow and cast a spell!

’She can even do that?’ Colin gritted his teeth. ’I’ve really learned something new today.’

The Druid’s prayer ended.

Above Colin, a small hole suddenly opened in the dark clouds, and a faint beam of silver light descended, shining down on him.

Waves of searing pain assaulted him from all directions.

The smell of burnt protein from leather meeting high heat flooded his Helmet. Colin gritted his teeth and struggled to jump out of the silver light.

’Is this the Tier Two Magic, Moonlight?’

Even though the pain blinded him and he didn’t know if his opponent had taken the opportunity to attack, Colin still chanted a Spell and cast Shield to protect himself from any potential assault.

As he jumped away, Colin discovered that the beam of light was actually moving toward him.

’Damn it!’

He cursed inwardly and threw his Dagger at his opponent with a backhand motion.

Three Scorching Rays shot in from the side at the same time, accurately hitting the Druid’s shoulder and thigh. The thrown Dagger, however, was deflected by her thick fur.

The pain broke her concentration, and the silver light in the sky instantly vanished.

Immediately after, another golden Light Ball flew in and struck the Druid on her left shoulder. Her shoulder instantly caved in; the bones must have been completely shattered.

The golden light from the exploded Light Ball reconverged into a golden mote on the Druid’s shoulder.

’Guiding Bolt and Scorching Ray. They must have dealt with the white bear over there.’

’This is the last chance!’

Colin gritted his teeth and made a hand gesture. The focus that had been shattered by the searing pain reconcentrated. Another cast of Silver Light Sharp Words plundered even more concentration for its Caster to use.

The flame on his sword’s edge flared once more.

An arc of fire flashed. The Hand Half Sword hacked into the Druid’s shoulder, embedding itself deep in her flesh. The skin and muscle beneath her fur clothing were burned black.

Blood trickled from the corner of the Druid’s mouth, freezing into ice instantly.

"Great Lady Rime, Goddess of Winter Ouluer, this is the sacrif—"

’She can still cast? This woman is too tough!’

SHOO, THWACK!

Just as Colin was about to pull his sword out for another attack, an Arrow flew in from a distance and buried itself in the Druid’s brain.