ALL NOVEL Chapter 205: I Did Not Expect That
[You have lost 75 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 165/270]
"Arr—" Henry started to yell in pain but he was shut up by the werewolf's large palm covering his face to muffle all sounds before slamming him into the mountainside.
[You have lost 80 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 85/270]
All the while, the five large claws dug deeper into the sides of Henry's face.
[You have lost 50 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 35/270]
"I was curious," the Werewolf said in a deep voice that made it sound like every word he spoke was punctuated by a growl,
"I wondered just how much of a challenge you'd present. How much fun you'd make this for me… I'm disappointed. Killing you will hardly sate me but it will do… Also, the night is young. I can find better prey once I'm finished with you."
While the Werewolf spoke and while Henry groaned into the inside of its palm, he felt a crushing pressure against his head. A pressure that sought to squish it.
He grabbed wrist with his one good arm and tried to pull the hand off his face and spare his head from further damage.
With every second that passed, and while the pressure applied to his head continued squishing it against the mountainside, Henry was getting alerted of lost Hit Points.
He was sure that, if the palm was not over his face, his vision would be tinged with red in alert of fast-approaching death.
Henry failed to push the wrist back. His strength was insignificant to that of the Werewolf and, as he suffocated from lack of breathing space and lessening Hit Points, he summoned 'Violent Retort' from his Inventory with a flick of his wrist.
Before he got to fire it —if he was even at all capable of summoning the energy to do so—, there was a skidding sound from the side.
Henry couldn't see through the palm over his face but Louis had just dashed over with his hands pulled back as he completed another powerful cast.
With a yell, he unleashed a beam of crackling lightning that struck the Werewolf and pushed it away from Henry.
Henry flopped out of the mountainside immediately and let loose a long gasp as he took in a breath he had been deprived of by the Werewolf's palm. His arm stung and while it was certainly broken, he found he could still move it. Granted every movement caused pain to shoot through him so intensely that he wished for death but it was movement still.
All the damage he had accumulated left his hit points looking like this;
[Hit Points: 15/270]
Ignoring the pain in his arm and face, he retrieved a healing potion from his Inventory and downed it.
[You have recovered 200 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 215/270]
The mending energy of the potion fortunately drove first to Henry's broken arm and 'stitched' together the damage to make it even more bearable. Henry scooped 'The Hydra's Sting' off the ground where it had fallen after the Werewolf broke his arm. Stay updated via мѵʟ
"Thank you, Louis," he said in a gasping voice. He couldn't quite raise his head to look at the face of his savior but from the nature of the attack that had helped him, he could make a very accurate guess.
Louis barely acknowledged the thanks because he was already casting his next spell while he and the Werewolf locked eyes.
"You," the Werewolf said with its side smoking from the effect of the spell he just suffered. There was some sign of singed furs but the damage did not look at all substantial which was very disappointing to Louis who just pursed his lips and focused on trying again.
Henry's vision was no longer tinged in red. His body moved more easily too.
'All Stat Points to Stamina.'
The system didn't even ask if he was sure. Maybe the conviction in his tone made that clear already. Or maybe it realized that was just the right allocation for the current situation.
Winning a physical contest was impossible and as much as Henry was sure Agility was his most important stat (a fact that had been proven true many times since he had had this conviction), it was also clear that the speed of the Werewolf surpassed his far too greatly. Six more points into Agility would not help close that gap.
Now Stamina, though, Stamina could make a difference.
If you can't confidently outrun the opponent, you might as well try to make sure you are capable of lasting long enough during the physical altercation to maybe turn the tables…
[Stamina: 35 ———> 41]
… Maybe.
"Louis, to the side!" Henry yelled out right as he fired a shot from 'The Hydra's Sting'. The magical bullet carrying the activation of two magical attacks, flew out of the gun's barrel, glowing an acidic green, and struck the Werewolf in the center of its head right before it leaped into a charge.
Henry had infused <Guiding Shot> into that bullet as well so it marked the Creature's head with a homing signal that assured the success of the next shot which also carried <Guiding Shot> and assured the success of the third shot.
The cracks that formed on the werewolf's head were far larger and greater than the first time Henry attempted this and the explosive *BANG!* that followed knocked the Creature's head back incredibly violently but its speed was not impacted.
It arrived in front of Henry and Louis with its arms spread out wide to strike them both with its claw attacks.
Henry's yell had made Louis leap to the side but he was far too slow to avoid the blow. He barely even had the time to steel himself for the coming blow when a blue watery tentacle struck out and slammed him away.
The Werewolf's clawed blow missed Louis but hit Henry in the chest in an impact that broke his sternum and sent him
Into the air to hit the ground almost as hard as the blow that had struck him.
[You have lost 105 Hit Points]
[Hit Points: 110/270]
Just as always, the Werewolf followed up.
Henry's body was not going to react in time to get away or attempt to shoot it dead before the next attack struck. The next attack that he was morbidly sure would kill him.
While Henry's body recovered from the stun of impact, his mind remained active and that was all he needed to command his singular tentacle to extend away from him and strike the Werewolf to whip it away.
*Twhip!*
*Bam!*
*Splatter!*
With a roar, the Werewolf met the tentacle with a powerful swipe of its claws and he tore through it.
"You think that will stop me?!" It asked with a growl that then shifted into a cocky chuckle as the spell circle behind Henry vanished now that it had no tentacle to support.
A single tentacle had been all Henry's Mana points had been able to afford.
"No, I didn't," Henry admitted mostly to himself. He had not really expected a single tentacle to stop the Werewolf but it had given him time —even if just a second—, to make a move. Another move that only required his mind.
[Activating <Abominable Curse>…]
The ribcage that hugged the sides of Henry's vest glowed green and the Werewolf became frozen in place. Its wicked red eyes became cloudy and his half-snout was open wide in some silent scream. Whatever horror it was experiencing was so great, it couldn't even compose a sound in reaction.
Henry took the time to turn around and aim but before he could pull the trigger, lightning crackled from above.
"Henry, get away!" Louis yelled.
Henry didn't think twice about scrambling to his feet and taking many steps to separate himself from the Werewolf still frozen in its personal horror. Above its head and in a wide range that would have reached Henry had he stayed where he had been just a second before, Lightning appeared with violent electrical crackling.
It rained down in multiple streaks that struck areas around the Werewolf but thanks to Louis' focus and intent attempt to converge them, most of the streaks struck the Werewolf and the pain seemed the catalyst to pull it out of its mental suffering only to experience a physical one.
"ARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!" It yelled out a guttural sound that sounded quite human.
The yell seemed like a combination of the reaction it had been unable to manage before during <Abominable Curse> and it spilled out now that it had been given a voice of sorts thanks to a much more real pain of lightning charging through its body and singing its organs. Animalistic or human as they were.
The lightning created patterns all over the Werewolf's body with horrifying burns and cracks. Its bone structure had been severely damaged by the spell and yet, when the lightning died out, its heart still beat.
"A mental attack," the Werewolf managed to say with shudders ripping through its body at intervals,
"I did not expect that. Did not expect it at all…"
Henry interrupted what sounded like a possible long-winding speech by firing shots from both 'Violent Retort' and 'Cudgel'.
By then, the Werewolf had fallen forward on all fours.
"Louis run!" Henry yelled as the hair all over his body stood on end but it was too late.
All his fired shots hit the ground at the spot the Creature had been a second before.
Henry couldn't follow the Werewolf's movements. He just saw Louis arch his back as a powerful clawed fist struck his back with enough force to crack his spine.