The Forktail gets its name from its deadly tail, and an experienced witcher is enough to kill it alone if well prepared, and a team of well-trained archers is enough to suppress, drive them away, and even kill them.
The unit in front of them was slightly larger than Lann's, numbering nearly a hundred men, including a dozen royal knights.
Two Forktails would not be enough to make a unit like this call for reinforcements. And as Lann had suspected, in addition to the Forktails, the troops on the ground were also fighting a group of the creatures.
These creatures looked like flayed humans, with hideous, deformed faces. Their limbs were thick, with sharp claws, and their necks were so short as to be almost nonexistent. Some moved on all fours, while others, with shorter claws, walked upright on two legs.
They were Ghouls and Rotfiends.
"For the queen!" A knight shouted, full of fervor, as he spurred his horse and ran his lance through a rotfiend.
But just as the brave knight was about to turn his lance towards another target, he saw the rotfiend that was impaled on his weapon begin to convulse and suddenly…
[Boom!]
The knight, caught in the blast, let out a heart-rending scream, while his horse also collapsed with a moan. Immediately, several Ghouls surrounded him, burying him under a mass of bodies.
The knight's armor bought him precious seconds, enough for the foot soldiers to come to his rescue, killing and driving away the creatures. But when they removed his visor, they discovered to their horror that his face was dyed a dark green, clearly poisoned.
"Stay away from those creatures standing upright, use bows and arrows!" The commander yelled. Immediately, the archers adjusted their targets and took aim at the Rotfiends.
However, this gave an opportunity to the forktails flying over the battlefield, until then suppressed by the rain of arrows. In the blink of an eye, one of the creatures swooped down and with a quick swipe of its tail, decapitated an archer.
Watching all this, Lann frowned. In addition to the mistakes made by the army in facing the creatures, he noticed an additional problem: the Necrophages and the Forktails should not be cooperating, much less attacking human troops together. This goes against their nature.
As he pondered this, he watched as one of the forktails in the sky swooped down to catch a rotfiend, only to then rise again and drop it.
[Boom!]
It was like throwing a living bomb. The explosion, accompanied by poisonous gases, knocked down several unfortunate people.
Well, it seems they can't exactly be said to be cooperating. This is more of a chaotic three-way battle between unfortunate humans, necrophages, and forktails.
While this concentration of monsters is quite outrageous, it is much more reasonable than an alliance between them, as Lann had feared.
Several knights were protecting a woman dressed in gold-adorned armor. Seeing a knight appear at the end of the path, their faces lit up with joy; but when they realized there was only one, disappointment invaded them again.
Black Wind was too excited and, being so fast, had left Letho and the others far behind.
"Knight, don't come closer! Go back and call for reinforcements!" One of the knights shouted.
But Lann moved forward even faster. "I am Lann Lannister of Cintra. Reinforcements are on the way!"
The knight who had shouted felt torn between admiration and concern at Lann's reckless attitude. Meanwhile, the woman they were protecting seemed to have had a revelation: "Lannister? The Lion of Cintra?"
The forktail in the sky, seeing a lone human approaching, swooped down toward Lann, following its instinct to attack isolated prey.
The other knights were alarmed, but they were unable to come to his aid.
Lann's eyes showed excitement. It's for you, forktail mutagen, forktail decoction!
The forktail swooped down at full speed, its powerful tail with a sharp blade cutting through the wind at a speed barely perceptible to the human eye. At the same time Lann extended his left hand and made a sign.
[Aard Sign]!
The power of the sign unleashed a whirlwind of telekinetic energy that distorted everything in front of Lann, causing the forktail, who was descending with its wings outstretched, to stagger like a puppet with its strings cut, crashing to the ground.
Black Wind, for his part, crashed at maximum speed against the fallen forktail.
[Bang!]
The impact was so ferocious that the forktail was launched into the air, landing on the horde of Ghouls and Rotfiends.
The shocking scene of a horse throwing a creature measuring more than four metres into the air left the knights speechless.
"The Lion of Cintra…" The woman repeated the name, this time with a different tone.
Another forktail remained in the sky. Lann pulled out a long bow from his inventory.
This bow is a top-grade product purchased by Lann from Novigrad, produced in Zerrikania. The body of the bow was as tall as Lann.
The loud sound of the bow being drawn made everyone present hold their breath. Lann placed a wrought iron arrow on the string and slightly adjusted his breathing.
[Swoosh!]
The bowstring roared and a black shadow streaked across the sky, piercing the forktail's wing membrane. The creature collapsed, following the same fate as its companion.
Amidst the chaos, a portion of the ghouls and rotfiends pounced on the fallen Forktail's body, significantly easing the pressure on the knights. Lann gently spurred Black Wind's flanks, allowing him to regain his balance. With precision, he continued to draw his bow and shoot arrows, piercing the monsters one after another.
The dull sound of impact and the whistling of arrows cutting through the air filled the battlefield.
The knights, eager to press the advantage, were ready to attack. However, they heard Lann shout to them: "Back off!"
"Back off?" One of the knights asked, puzzled. "Aren't we winning?"
"Back off!" The woman they were protecting ordered firmly.
Then, Lann took out a pottery jar from nowhere in front of everyone's sight and rubbed his fingers to ignite the flame.
With a powerful movement, he threw the jar across the battlefield.
[Boom!]
A loud explosion was heard, shaking the ears and blinding everyone's eyes. A wave of fire, like a real dragon roaring, swept across the field.
Important note: The gas generated by the explosion of rotfiends is flammable and explosive.
At this moment, there were a large number of dead rotfiends on the field, and the pale green gas they had released covered the area.
The explosion set off a chain reaction. Rotfiends began to explode one after another, like fireworks, while ghouls were sent flying into the air and fell to the ground like rotting meat.
Just then, the witchers and Lann's troops arrived on the battlefield.
"Letho, you and the others come with me to deal with the bodies of the two Forktails. The rest of you, clear the field and eliminate the ghouls."
The witchers nodded, unsheathing their swords.
"Understood!" The soldiers and attendants responded in unison.
Riding a horse isn't flexible enough to take on large monsters. Lann dismounted, giving Black Wind a pat, who ran after the ghouls as if he were playing.
As the flames and smoke cleared, the two forktails appeared, covered in blood. Their scales were mostly peeled off, their wings were torn apart, and one of them had even lost its precious tail.
Lann unsheathed his sword, and together with four snake-headed swords, they traced silver arcs in the air towards the forktails.
Lann charged at the larger Forktail, followed by Kolgrim, who coordinated their movements perfectly. Meanwhile, Letho, Auckes and Serrit took care of the other, smaller one.
Lann, aware that he was being watched by the human troops, decided to hold back on the use of his signs, limiting himself to maneuvering with his sword to impress his potential allies.
The forktail tried to lunge at Lann. But he twisted his left hand and pulled out a crossbow from his inventory. With a well-aimed shot, he pierced one of the forktail's eyes, as he gracefully slid to the side, leaving the monster to stagger off balance.
Kolgrim, taking advantage of the opportunity, rolled across the ground and cut the tendon on one of the forktail's hind legs, removing almost the entire leg.
The monster roared in pain, swinging its tail like a scythe towards Kolgrim.
Suddenly, a golden flash illuminated the field as Lann's sharp runeblade cleanly sliced through the forktail's tail.
With fluidity, Lann began to spin his body, moving with precision, his sword tracing circles in the air. Each movement was a sure-fire strike. Before long, the forktail had lost its hind legs and both wings, leaving it completely incapacitated.
The knights, who were watching him, could not help but marvel. A lethal dance, full of strength and elegance, unfolded before their eyes, like a choreography of death.
The forktail had no power to resist. On the one hand, it was because of the previous explosion and Lann's attack, and on the other hand, it was because of Kolgrim's cut that had already begun to emanate black blood.
This was a poison unique to the Viper School.
Finally, with a mighty blow, Lann raised his runeblade and brought it down on the forktail's neck, severing its head in one fell swoop.
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