Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 323: Chapter 17 Forever Forget This World_2

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The thunderous low-frequency soundwave detonated in the forest, and the caster himself bore the brunt of the impact. It felt like a cannon had gone off right by his ear, Winters’s skull trembling with it.

The giant lion was startled by the sudden boom and sprung up from the ground leaping backwards, disappearing into the thickets after a few bounds, vanishing from sight.

Having just escaped with his life, Winters wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t. He didn’t know whether to thank the Magic Combat Bureau or the fact that the peculiar-looking lion had a rather full breakfast.

Without time to ponder this question, Winters bolted towards the edge of the forest.

He hadn’t run far when an uncontrollable wave of nausea suddenly erupted in his mind, as if a fist inside his abdomen was hammering his stomach mercilessly; he involuntarily knelt on the ground and began to retch.

A gust of cold wind swept past him, and the chaotic sounds of the underbrush behind him rustled loudly—the giant lion had caught up.

“I knew it wouldn’t be so easy!” Winters wiped the acidic saliva from the corner of his mouth, got up, and faced the direction from which the lion was coming, his hands gripping the military saber.

Leaping from the bushes, the giant lion didn’t continue the standoff with Winters. Its brawny limbs stomped on the ground, its tail whirling, claws and fangs exposed, as it roared violently towards Winters.

This “big cat” moved incredibly fast, so much so that Winters was only able to react when it was already soaring through the air, almost instantly upon him.

The dense woods provided Winters with some cover, and he immediately darted between the trees to his side.

The swipe from the mid-air lion’s claws was blocked by the trunk of a tree, but the tree, as thick as a man’s forearm, was bent by the lion’s fierce paw, and its claws swept onto Winters, who couldn’t dodge in time, tearing away chunks of cloth and flesh.

Winters first felt a chill on his back, followed by a searing pain. The cloth on his back was soaked with a warm liquid and stuck to his body.

At the same time, blood was dripping from his military saber, and the lion’s right front leg had a fresh cut—a wound from a sharp weapon. Winters Montagne did not have the habit of being a sitting duck.

The injured giant lion did not immediately launch a second attack, giving Winters a moment to catch his breath. It backed off a short distance and, with seeming disregard, began to lick its wound.

But this behavior didn’t mean it had given up on its prey. On the contrary, the lion had decided the human in front of it would be a fine meal, so it was not in a hurry to kill.

Seeing that the lion’s wound had stopped bleeding so quickly, Winters let out a bitter laugh.

The current trade-off didn’t seem profitable at all. He had to find a more effective tactic soon, or else he might as well find a way to end it quickly himself.

“Can’t delay any longer,” Winters thought. “The longer I wait, the more blood I lose, the slimmer my chances become.”

But a few inches long cut was insignificant for a lion weighing several hundred pounds. Glancing at the military saber in his hand, Winters realized he had only one chance, a single all-or-nothing opportunity:

To use the Arrow Flying Spell to accelerate the saber—if he could imbue it with enough kinetic energy, he might be able to deal a lethal wound to the beast.

It was an all-or-nothing gamble, Winters had never cast the Arrow Flying Spell on a sword before. Moreover, the military saber in his hand was his only weapon, and there was only one chance. Should he miss, even a quick death would be at the mercy of the lion.

But magic was his only chance to kill this giant lion.

After stopping the bleeding, the giant lion lazily stood up and began circling Winters again. It continuously intimidated Winters, as though trying to force its prey to reveal a gap.

“Got to hit the head, only a blow to the head will kill it instantly,” Winters reminded himself. “Can’t be too close, too close and the speed won’t be enough to penetrate the skull—nor too far, as it can be dodged. My spellcasting radius is only two meters. I’ll have to wait till it’s within three meters.”

But the giant lion kept moving, making it impossible for Winters to find the right moment to strike, and yet, it was closing the distance between them.

Holding the military saber backward in the posture of throwing a javelin, Winters found his concentration increasingly difficult to maintain as the loss of blood was making him weaker.

Both predator and prey were waiting for the opportunity to land a deadly strike.

Suddenly, the lion’s ears perked up. It hesitated for a moment then moved back to a position further away from Winters.

Winters knew that the beast must have heard something, and soon he heard it too—the sound of hoofbeats, riders approaching from a distance.

It must be Gerard with the militia! Winters’s spirits were greatly lifted. After receiving the young Hunter’s call for help, he split up with Gerard, heading out first to survey the situation while Gerard would go to Dusa Village for reinforcements.

Immediately, Winters struck the tree with his saber, signaling his location to the rider. He soon realized something was amiss, the hoofbeats were too sparse.

The hoofbeats drew nearer, seemingly just one rider. A familiar warhorse came into Winters’s view, its red mane bursting from the underbrush. Astonishingly, atop the red-maned horse was the old Hunter, Ralph.

Realizing it wasn’t reinforcements and despite the risk of provoking the lion to attack, Winters yelled out to the old Hunter, “Don’t dismount! Get away fast!”

His shout was like a start signal, and the giant lion, seeing Winters distracted, immediately lunged towards him.

Ralph ignored the lieutenant’s warning, vigorously whipping the red-maned horse and arrived beside Winters in a flash.

Jumping from the horse just a few lengths away from the lion, Ralph rolled several times upon landing, while the inertia of the horse carried it straight into the path of the giant lion.

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