He Xi looked into its eyes as it raised its head. They had changed from dark red to a boiling scarlet.
The air around them was thick with the stench of blood. As if drawn to its rightful home, strands of blood mist rose toward the gnoll chieftain's fur, faintly clinging to it.
The information from the Personal Monster Quick Reference Manual made him realize that the gnoll chieftain's trait had activated.
Berserk: When a gnoll finishes killing its target, blood becomes a catalyst for its frenzy, granting it greater movement speed.
Before the massive figure could vanish from its blood-spattered foothold, the mana within He Xi had already poured out.
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!
The earth spikes burst through the ground one after another at an angle, like a barricade between the gnoll chieftain and the rest of the party, instantly changing the terrain of the battlefield.
Unlike his Lv. 1 [Magic Missile], the [Earth Spike Technique], which had now reached Lv. 3, consumed almost no mana when he cast ordinary spikes, thanks to [Earth Affinity].
All He Xi had to do now was keep raising a succession of earth spikes to restrict its movements, at least preventing it from charging freely across the ground.
No matter how fast it was, having to run across a field of thorns would strip away most of its advantage.
As for jumping...
A target in the air was nothing but a sitting duck.
And at this distance, if it dared to take to the air again, five even deadlier earth spikes would be waiting to impale it from below.
The scarlet in the gnoll chieftain's eyes deepened, but it did not lose its reason.
It simply dodged the spikes as they kept thrusting upward with nimbler steps, all the while rapidly