Vilka, her fingertips pressed together, was clearly in a state of continuous prayer, looking out the car window at the ground. "From this altitude, we can see the sheep."
Isaac looked down as well, and the scenery gradually came into focus. The outline of the wilderness unfolded, the terrain gently undulating, and the dried-up riverbed carved into the surface. Against that yellowish-green backdrop, he saw a flock of sheep.
White spots are scattered across a gentle slope, like a moving white carpet, clustered together and moving slowly.
"I saw it," Isaac said.
Vilka assesses the altitude and distance. "Prepare for landing."
"Why not launch a direct attack?" Isaac pondered, thinking that from his high vantage point, with a wide field of vision, he could seemingly take down Mary directly from above.
"High ground to attack low ground, huh?" Carlo scoffed. "That's assuming you have good mobility or cover, otherwise you can only..."
Before the words were even finished, a white streak shot out from below like a cannonball, moving so fast that its trajectory was almost invisible.
Isaac only had time to see the object rapidly enlarge in his field of vision. The next second, a loud crash came from the carriage, the walls shattered, wood chips flew everywhere, and a white object pierced through the carriage wall and got stuck between the broken wooden planks.
"... The plane crashed." Carlo finished speaking.
It's a sheep.
The sheep's body was twisted and deformed, its limbs broken, as if it had been compressed by a tremendous force. Its wool was stained with blood and dirt, but it was still alive. Its rectangular pupils rolled, it twitched, and let out a hoarse bleat.
After a brief silence, Isaac paused, confirming that it had been thrown up from the ground. "Did they just throw a sheep at us like a stone?"
"It really is Mary- brand catapult," Carlo stroked his chin. "And it even inflicts secondary damage."
The muscles beneath the wool bulged, the bones cracked, its body swelled in size within seconds, its skin split open, and its teeth sharpened...
But the mutation wasn't complete when a dark shadow swept past Isaac.
Fenri bit the sheep's neck. The sheep struggled for only a moment, its limbs twitched a few times, and then it went limp. Blood dripped from the corner of Fenri's mouth.
Fenri shook his head, dropped his prey on the ground, and confirmed that the target was dead.
"Not bad, the big dog chews and chews," Carlo commented.
Before Isaac could even catch his breath, he caught out of the corner of his eye more white trails rising from the ground, like shooting stars flying in reverse.
The horses' wings traced arcs as they pulled the carriage through the air to dodge, but there were too many sheep, and their paths intersected, so two still grazed the edge of the carriage.
"Throwing sheep at us like pebbles, it doesn't seem like Mary loves sheep that much." Isaac grabbed the handrail to steady himself.
" The Shepherd's love is based on the premise that it can be used for his own benefit. Disobedient sheep are made into mutton skewers, and obedient lambs are made into cannonballs. They are all consumables anyway."
Another sheep crashed into the bottom of the carriage, causing the vehicle to shake violently and emit an ominous groan.
Isaac gripped the handrail tightly and saw the white sheep on the ground adjusting their formation.
"Land as quickly as possible; I can't waste too much energy on dodging," Vilka said.
"No need. Using a high ground to attack a low ground is indeed a good strategy, but we're being held back by the carriage." Carlo glanced at the damaged carriage. "Abandon the carriage. You take one horse, I'll take the other. Asa and Fenri, go down and fight Mary to buy time."
Isaac: "... So you really meant it when you said you'd throw me down to feed the sheep?!"
"Don't worry, I won't let you feed kills. I'm a top-tier support." Carlo opened one of the car doors. " Vilka needs time to prepare her ultimate to finish off enemies. In the meantime, you and Fenri hold off Mary, preventing her from escaping or continuing to use her as a sheep cart to interfere with Vilka."
How long will this drag on?
"Judging by Vilka's chanting speed, it'll be over quickly if we don't interfere." Carlo gestured with his chin. "Get ready to jump. Don't bring your cane; you don't need to fight it in melee."
Isaac gritted his teeth, handed the cane to Carlo, leaned out of the car door, and took a deep breath.
Now we can only believe that Carlo and Vilka didn't intentionally set him up.
He leaped out, Fenri leaped out beside him at the same time, biting Isaac's collar. His body suddenly swelled, his muscles bulged, his limbs extended, and his claws extended, making him look exactly like the giant wolf he once was.
Fenri tossed Isaac onto its back, and Isaac landed on its spine, grabbing the mane at the back of its neck to steady itself.
The next second, Fenri landed, kicking up a cloud of grass clippings and pebbles, its claw marks deeply embedded in the soil, bearing the marks of scorching.
Isaac wasn't sure if Fenri in this state could go toe-to-toe with Mary, but judging from his size and presence, he didn't seem like someone who would be easily overwhelmed by the flock.
The carriage crashed and disintegrated not far behind. In mid-air, Vilka and Carlo were already riding white horses, stabilizing themselves on their backs.
Ahead, the flock of sheep began to slowly surge forward like a tide, their hooves forming a deep rumble. In the center of that white wave, the figure of a girl appeared and disappeared, a newborn sheep's head perched crookedly on its shoulder, its rectangular pupils reflecting Isaac.
Fenri lowered his body and let out a deep roar.
Isaac patted Fenri's neck, lowering his center of gravity to steady himself. "Don't rush in, keep your distance, just hold it off."
Fenri, with his limbs slightly bent, suddenly exerted force and ran around the edge of the flock of sheep. The sheep adjusted their direction according to their movements, trying to intercept him.
But Fenri was much faster than the sheep. Several times, just when they were about to be surrounded, Fenri managed to slip through the gaps at the last moment, loosening the sheep's formation.
Isaac gripped Fenri tightly with his left hand, freeing his right hand to pull the revolver from under his arm and push the hammer away.
As he was calculating the firing angle, a voice rang in his ears.
" Asa."
The sound didn't seem to come from any particular direction; it seemed to exist within the environment itself, yet it was clearly discernible.
Isaac was taken aback. When he first truly encountered Carlo at the Amorton Manor, Carlo had acted the same way, not knowing where he was, but his voice suddenly rang out.
"Boss? What's going on here...?"
"Sigh, I'm a top-tier support player, I should at least contribute something."
What do you want me to cooperate with?
"Just shoot the bullets at Mary, I'll check them."
"Then I'll have to roll the dice, right?"
"No need, I've already expanded my domain."
"Expanding the scope?" Isaac was puzzled.
But now was not the time for questioning; the sheep were closing in. Isaac raised his gun, aimed in Mary's direction, and pulled the trigger.
The world has changed.
The wind died down, the running stopped, and the grass clippings kicked up by the sheep floated in mid-air, as if someone had frozen everything in that moment.
Isaac felt unable to move, yet still able to think; his consciousness seemed to have been detached from the framework of his body, suspended in a void that overlapped with reality.
Then he heard Carlo's voice:
"Check: Hit. Can Isaac Lessing hit ' Shepherd ' Mary in this shot? Check value 60, Dexterity bonus 12, final value 72."