Chapter 79: When It’s Time To Reap, Don’t Hesitate
“This is Deinonychus, very fast, watch its claws.” Anse reminded.
“Can it swim?” Salian asked.
“Maybe a little.” Anse nodded slightly.
Most dinosaurs should be able to swim; even Tyrannosaurus Rex can do a clumsy doggy paddle. This is instinct for most land vertebrates, just varying in proficiency.
“They… won’t dare come, right?” Kalenno slowly drew his longsword.
“Not necessarily.” Anse pursed his lips.
As everyone knows, dinosaurs’ intelligence is generally not even as high as a chicken’s.
The vast majority of dinosaurs have only 2 Intelligence points; Deinonychus is the smartest predator in the dinosaur family, with only 4 Intelligence points.
Hunting is an adventure activity driven by experience and instinct. Excellent predators don’t overly focus on ineffective group sizes but prioritize judging the vulnerability of target individuals.
Deinonychus may not have seen humans before, but they judge from body shape, claws and fangs, and mobility that these humanoid creatures… are weaklings.
‘Looks like they haven’t suffered at the hands of professionals. Could this be a primitive forest?’ Anse saw the Deinonychus stirring and couldn’t help feeling doubt.
The waterway ahead shifted, forcing the elf ship to adjust course and approach the forest on the right side.
Accompanied by a sharp hiss, over a dozen Deinonychus leaped into the water and charged at 【Quesser】 from underwater.
“Stay away from the ship’s rail, melee up front, archers take high positions…” Salian commanded loudly.
The ship had two eighteen-pound cannons, six twelve-pound cannons, and one flame cannon, but cannons are heavy and hard to turn, generally only able to fire flat or elevated shots, useless against close-range attacks.
But Salian wasn’t worried. There were 36 crew members on the ship, plus passengers like Anse, Kalenno, and Kafka, totaling 48 people, with 13 professionals. Excluding Little Clara who was just padding numbers, the remaining combat power was still formidable.
“Brat!”
Anse came to Brat’s side, patted his back, and mana swirled around his body, gradually gathering in his chest, abdomen, and throat.
“Lightning, underwater!” He gestured diagonally a few times.
Brat’s eyes lit up, and he quickly moved to the stern position, focusing on observing the movement underwater.
Anse climbed straight to the top of the sterncastle and wrapped the direction orb around his hand.
“Now!” Salian suddenly shouted; his Wisdom was excellent.
Brat leaned on the ship’s rail, took a deep breath, and exhaled forcefully. A cone of lightning erupted suddenly, slanting into the water and covering a six-to-seven-meter range along the ship’s rail.
With a boom, lightning flashed, the water lit up below, bubbles surged up, and then the surface churned as Deinonychus were forced to jump out, bodies stiff, some coughing violently and in miserable shape.
At least half the Deinonychus were forced out; the ambush plan was shattered!
“Fire at will!” Before Salian finished speaking, an arrow from his hand precisely hit a Deinonychus in the eye.
Over a dozen arrows followed, all with good accuracy, but Deinonychus hide was thick. Except for Finn and a few professionals, everyone else’s lethality was poor.
A Deinonychus leaped out of the water, its scythe-like claws gripping the ship’s rail as it poked its head up, opening its big mouth in an ear-piercing hiss that scared an elf crew member back several steps.
“
A blue energy orb shot over, slamming into its mouth from the side and exploding violently.
The hiss cut off abruptly. The Deinonychus gaped with blood filling its mouth, body stiffening backward, hanging only by its claws on the ship’s rail like a dried specimen.
Kalenno dashed forward, thrusting his sword through the Deinonychus’s jaw into its skull, sinking in over a foot.
The Deinonychus body went limp and splashed into the water.
【Target Death, gain 115 combat experience】
At this moment, Brat channeled mana to his throat again, and a blast of lightning dragon breath poured into the water. Amid sizzling sounds, water vapor filled the air, and a fleeting rainbow appeared on the surface.
Several Deinonychus about to climb onto the deck stiffened, and the crew poked them back down.
A series of combat prompts flashed in Anse’s mind. He smirked; brainless, inexperienced native monsters were easy to bully!
The others finally realized how important a spellcaster was. Without these two breaths, they would surely be in a tough fight— they could win, but people would die.
That green dragonborn looked at the excited Brat and couldn’t help feeling a pang of envy. He could breathe too, but his authentic breath was far inferior to the mimic spell, leaving him inexplicably embarrassed.
The frustrated Deinonychus didn’t give up but spread out, coordinating silently to attack from all sides at once.
Salian and Anse stood one at the bow, one at the stern, attacking from above so their strikes landed first, preventing coordination.
Salian’s arrows were fast and accurate, firing on command, but honestly, arrows had mediocre lethality against large creatures. Hitting vitals every time wasn’t realistic.
Anse switched his spell to sorcerous burst-lightning, casting extremely fast, smashing two emerging Deinonychus back into the water.
With a splash, three Deinonychus broke the surface, claws gripping nearby tree trunks to climb, then leaping from different directions toward the ship.
One at the bow, one at the sterncastle, one at the deck—clear division of roles.
Anse was prepared; rings of mana spiritual light swirled around his orb.
“
Three fire rays instantly struck the Deinonychus in the air at the neck, burning three black holes, knocking its head back and sending it tumbling into the water.
【Target Death, gain 200 combat experience】
‘Jump all you want; jumping makes you a target.’ He quipped, wanting to support the others.
Turning, he saw Nolnos leaping into the air, slamming a Deinonychus flying over ten meters. It got clawed too but had resistance active, only losing a few scales.
Nolnos landed heavily in the water, the surface sinking sharply then rippling, but its form steadily levitated on the surface.
‘Gutsy.’ Anse smiled at the corner of his eye.
Nolnos weighed at least a ton-plus, while Deinonychus was only about a hundred kilograms; the collision result was predictable.
At the bow, Salian had already dealt with his Deinonychus; a hunter’s burst was not to be underestimated.
Almost the moment these Deinonychus died, a hiss rang out, and the others scattered, diving into the water and vanishing.
‘Nolnos!’
Anse ran a few steps and jumped off the sterncastle. Nolnos caught him easily, and man-and-mount skimmed the water surface chasing the Deinonychus.
The enemies were all low-health; who could resist? Plus, his experience was nearly maxed; not harvesting now would mean insomnia tonight.
“Be careful—” Salian thought Anse worried about retaliation and could only hurriedly warn.
Anse waved and continued pursuing.
After thirty or forty meters, the water suddenly shallowed, and seven or eight Deinonychus landed one after another, glancing at Anse before fleeing madly.
The forest floor had a thick layer of soft fallen leaves but no dense bushes or weeds—the giant wood took all sunlight and nutrients, leaving no space for other plants. No worry of ambushes in such an environment.
Of course, no need anyway; the Deinonychus noticed only one man and one mount behind and turned to surround them again.
‘Forgetful fools!’
Facing the probing Deinonychus, Anse halted his mount to cast, his orb suddenly glowing.
“
「Metamagic: Quicken Spell」+「Scorching Ray」!
Three fire rays flashed through the air, too fast for the eye to track.
“Bang bang bang!”
A Deinonychus took heavy hits, head jerking aside with black smoke rising, body slumping to the ground.
The Deinonychus pack paused together. Before reacting, three more fire rays blasted out, another companion dropping dead, emitting an enticing meaty aroma.
【Target Death, gain 150 combat experience, level up!】
Even dumb Deinonychus got the message, kicking the ground desperately to flee, soon vanishing into the giant wood.
‘Heh, nice.’ Anse didn’t pursue and turned back.
