Reforged Chapter 37: Frost Storm

Darkness brings with it a primal fear.

From the era of primitive humans, the fear of darkness has been ingrained in the hearts of mankind, and at this moment, it ferments in the hearts of these people.

Each mercenary could taste the bitterness in their mouths.

"Damn it! Did Hogger bring its whole gnoll army? Weren't they only active in Elwynn Forest? Why would they cross the river to the Westfall!?" People of this age, due to the lack of seafood in their diet, commonly suffer from night blindness. Even with the firelight, they still perceive shadows all around them.

Captain Marco suddenly laughed dryly, "Look on the bright side. In Goldshire, Elwynn Forest, Marshal Dughan has been waiting night after night for a hunter who can bring back proof of Hogger's death. If we can kill Hogger and bring its massive claws to the people of Goldshire, we'll get double the bounty."

"Boss, we're done for, aren't we?"

Marco's joke didn't have the desired effect of boosting morale.

"Did you all forget who we have with us?"

Marco's reminder suddenly lifted everyone's spirits.

That's right! We have Duke Marcus!

Recalling Duke's magnificent and unimaginable magic during the day, the people felt as if they had downed a glass of strong liquor, and a surge of warmth flowed through their bodies. They couldn't help but shift part of their attention to the carriage.

At this moment, Duke's face was pale.

He really didn't expect to face his first true battle at this time.

Moreover, the biggest problem was that these gnolls had changed. When old man Norton escorted Duke and his three apprentices to Stormwind City, Duke had encountered gnolls before.

Back then, the gnolls were nothing more than strong-limbed but small-statured monsters, with no redeeming qualities besides their numbers.

Now, everything was different. Through the system sprite's outline of the gnolls in Duke's field of vision, he noticed the data provided by the system:

"Adult gnolls, approximately 1.9 meters tall, weighing around 120 kilograms…"

When the system sprite filled in the target's brightness, Duke discovered that their skin was greenish-gray or dark green, and they had wolf-like heads. These humanoid monsters had a size three times larger than their brethren.

As for the giant creature over a hundred meters away, standing over four meters tall, the annotation read:

"Mutated elite monster [Hogger], data unknown, abnormal power amplification detected. Danger assessment: [High Risk]. Strongly advise host to retreat."

Seeing this, even Duke couldn't help but hiss and take a cold breath.

What the hell is this?

This is totally cheating!

Four meters tall? That's an ogre's size, isn't it?

Speaking of which, dear Hogger! Is it really necessary for you to leave your territory and chase after me?

Before Duke's transmigration, Hogger was known as the World of Warcraft newbie killer.

In the early versions of the game, almost every new player who accepted the wanted quest [Hogger Must Die] in Goldshire naively and eagerly went to hunt Hogger down.

...

As a result, players experienced for the first time what it meant to face elite monsters.

One after another, the number of novice players killed by Hogger could form two circles around the Earth's equator.

Of course, this is an exaggeration.

But it's an undeniable fact that players were taught a lesson by "Uncle Hogger."

Whenever players talked about Hogger, they would jokingly add the title "Uncle" to his name, and so he became known as "Uncle Hogger."

As Duke passed through Elwynn Forest, perhaps because Marco deliberately chose a location closer to the Westfall Brigade guarded by Stormwind soldiers, he never encountered any gnolls, and as a result, he unintentionally forgot about Hogger.

But now, Hogger wasn't causing trouble in Elwynn Forest but instead crossed borders to hunt them down? This situation left Duke puzzled.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!" The enormous figure crossed over the distant warning fires. Under the flickering flames, Hogger's terrifying silhouette appeared even larger and more oppressive.

With the help of the firelight, Hogger's hyena-like head could be seen, with long yellow fangs and blood-red eyes. Thick black and yellow fur covered his body. Gnolls typically wore simple leather armor made from the hides of cattle or other livestock.

Of course, they also liked to take weapons from the humans they attacked, so gnoll armaments were often varied and diverse.

But Hogger was different!

Perhaps his massive size meant that there were no suitable weapons or armor for him.

Or maybe he had only recently grown so large, so Hogger appeared before Duke and the mercenaries as a towering, unarmored figure with explosive muscular power and incredibly thick fur.

"My God! Did he attack a watchtower or the entire Westfall Brigade?" The mercenaries noticed several swords embedded in Hogger's body.

The standard longswords of Stormwind's human guards looked like toothpicks sticking out of him.

Whether Hogger wanted to display his strength or was just a bit crazed, he didn't even bother to remove the swords that should have been causing him continuous pain.

In his right claw, he held what appeared to be a flagpole, as a torn fragment of Stormwind's flag still hung from the massive pole that would take an adult human to wrap their arms around.

With a roar that was part bark and part howl, Hogger announced his presence to the entire convoy.

In just a short time, Hogger's subordinates surrounded them from all sides.

At the same time, Marco and the others finally heard a heavenly voice coming from the carriage.

"Stay close to me and remain within the range of the blizzard."

The mercenaries understood the order to stay close.

But within the range of a blizzard?

The mercenaries were puzzled.

The next second, as the gnolls charged at them, waving their various weapons and with their foul breath almost detectable, the mercenaries understood.

A magnificent sound!

Sounds shouldn't inherently be magnificent.

But at that moment, the sound of hundreds of icicles falling from the sky, the noise that allowed Marco and the others to escape death, suddenly added a "magnificent" prefix to the word "sound."

The icicles fell onto a clearing several dozen meters wide, momentarily stalling the gnolls' assault.

The savage tide of monsters still wanted to break through the seemingly weak defensive circle formed by Marco and the others, and soon, they fell victim to the trap. .