Chapter 144: Hogwash

With madness in its red eyes, two long tusks protruding from its mouth and heavy hooves scrapping the dirt in preparation for a deadly charge, the wild spiny hog grunted. Air from its huge nostrils blew fallen leaves on the ground as it lowered its centre of gravity, locking its sight of Fowler.

Even though he was now a powerful lesser vampire, the hunting squad commander still froze with fear at the sight of the wild spiny hog. He would rather hunt a stag than deal with this wild hog. Thankfully, it wasn't an armoured wild hog, even if the defences of hogs, in general, were crazy.

When they were enraged, wild hogs had monstrous stamina, high defence and brutal tusks that could impale anything. When wild hogs set their sight on a target, they would not relent until they were dead or the target was dead. Even if Fowler had regeneration abilities, he did not want to suffer the fate of getting impaled by those tusks and getting bashed into a tree until the hog was out of his frenzy.

Glancing at the other skeletons, who might fare better against the hog, Fowler cursed his friends for ditching him to his devices. The meaty animal that Rino wanted was right before them, but honestly, the paralysing poison wasn't strong enough to take the hog down, even if the arrows managed to pierce through the sprint armour on its back.

Both parties took their fighting stance, and Fowler nocked three arrows, releasing them in time to the wild hog's charge at him. The lesser vampire wasted no time. He didn't want to become meat paste, so he dodged. The good thing about becoming a lesser vampire was his increased agility. If Fowler was still human, he would not be able to get out of the hog's way.

Behind him, the wild hog demolished a tree. Wood splinters fell everywhere and showered the forest ground. Fowler looked back and saw that the tree trunk was riddled with two holes where those strong tusks were and shuddered. That had to hurt if he did not dodge. It might not be fatal, but it would make him immobile.

The wild hog grunted as he struggled to free his stuck tusks from the tree. It was working, but the hog wasn't fast enough. Fowler took the opportunity to launch two more arrows in the hog's direction, aiming for the animal's behind because that was the only place uncovered by spiky thorns.

The arrows met their mark, and the wild hog squealed in pain as it dislodged itself from the tree. Fowler felt fear trickling from the top of his head as he fired rapidly more arrows aiming at any exposed part of this darned pig he could see. They were not going to take this pig back alive. It was too dangerous even if wild hogs were delicious!

Fowler fought valiantly, but the arrows in his quiver were limited. Even with enchantments, arrows could not return to their archers without a spell command. Fowler certainly did not have time to focus on calling back the arrows with some stuck onto the hog. 

"A little help here!" the lesser vampire yelled at his friends playing dead. The last of his arrows were used up.

The two hunters fired arrows from the tree, but none of them landed on their target as the Fowler danced with the hog, running around trees.

"I can't hit him, boss! You're moving around too much!"

Fowler cussed. What was this hogwash?! He couldn't take such a violent animal back. There was no hope for domestication. It was kill or be killed for this fellow.

The hunting squad struggled with the wild hog, and just when they thought things couldn't get any worse, a new hog appeared. This time, it was a wild hog without tusks.

A male hog and a female hog… if Fowler wasn't in such a dire situation, he would call it his lucky day to find the meaty couple Rino wanted. However, they were out of arrows and ideas. Half the trees in this area were damaged thanks to the wild hog's continuous assault. Female hogs were less deadly because they did not have tusks. However, compared to the male hogs, they were at least three times bigger than their partners.

"Abandon mission!" Fowler decided. They had to make a run for it. Too much time was wasted dealing with these pigs, and honestly, Fowler did not care about his arrows anymore.

The skeletons ran in different directions as the wild hogs chased them down. Fowler tried to distract the large sow from going after his comrades. If anything, they should make a successful escape and call for Mutt to help. The sabre tooth wolf could tear these dumb pigs in seconds, and Fowler was the best option to stall for time.

The male hog charged from Fowler's blindspot as the lesser vampire dealt with the female hog and finally succeeded in burying its tusks into the archer's side. Fowler yelled as pain tore through him, and the hog charged towards the nearest tree to bash Fowler into it.

"Boss!"

Even as he was getting turned into meat paste, Fowler still stuck to his priorities. "Get the wolf!"

Unable to free himself from the hog, Fowler could only use his sharp nails to poke the wild hog. Even blind, the stupid pig did not seem deterred by his handicap. In his rage, he felt no pain, and Fowler groaned, turning paler when the damage incurred became more than what his regenerative ability could handle. He was going to become meat paste, and blood covered the roots of the tree the hog was trying to pound him into.

The sight was gory when Mutt arrived. The skeletons came running so fast with empty quivers that there was no need to question what happened. Something went wrong with the hunt, and with only two more hours till sunrise, Fowler might be dead with further delays.

"Where?" he demanded.

"East forest," the skeleton replied, and the sabre tooth wolf took off like the wind.

Without holding back, the shadow monster leapt from branch to branch, taking to the canopies and bending trees with the force of his jumps. He paid no attention to the other creatures of the forest scurrying out of his way as he sniffed the air.

There was a scent of blood even from this distance, and Mutt picked up his pace. Nobody liked Fowler a lot, but he couldn't let one of their comrades die. The lesser vampire might be lazy and obnoxious, but any loyal servant of the Monarch was someone deserving of rescue.

Besides, Fowler let those under him escape first while he bought time. He might not be a likeable fellow, but he was a good guy during desperate situations.

The scent of blood became stronger as Mutt came closer towards the east of the forest. This was a popular hunting ground that king frogs did not terrorise. It made sense why the hunting squad came here, but there should not be any beasts capable of harming a lesser vampire in the area. What happened?

Mutt's questions were answered when he saw how two wild hogs, one male and one larger female, took turns stomping on Fowler's bloody and broken body. The vampire tried to put up a fight, but most of his bones were broken, and the male hog looked worse than his female companion.

Without hesitation, the sabre tooth wolf howled and pounced on the fat sow. Mutt broke her spine with a paw slam with a precision worthy of a monster, and the wild hog dropped to the ground with a thump.

Fowler could no longer see, but he heard the howl and knew that the situation would turn around. He saved his energy and focussed on healing, leaving the hogs to the capable wolf monster.

Mutt saw the state that the male hog was in. One tusk was broken, and both eyes were scratched out by something sharp. Fowler put up one heck of a fight, and Mutt respected the royal hunting commander for his valiant efforts. More curiously, the male hog looked a little paler and was bleeding profusely from his forehead. It took the shadow wolf a moment to realise that the lesser vampire tried to drain the animal during their fight before getting turned into meat paste.

There was no pity in Mutt's eyes as he broke the hog's neck with a powerful chomp. The weak would die, and unluckily for them, Mutt was stronger.

Fowler felt the bones join themselves back together after a few minutes as Mutt scouted the area. Some trees had fallen, and others had holes in them. There was blood everywhere and two dead hogs in the middle of the forest that he couldn't carry back even with the help of his team.

"Stay and heal up," Mutt told the lesser vampire who struggled to sit up. "I will bring the carcasses back to the village. Hunting ends here for tonight. We will try again tomorrow. Get your friends to dismantle the hogs. I will update Master about the hunt."

Nodding weakly, Fowler groaned when his body stitched the gaping hole in his side. Mutt took pity and helped to tuck the fallen organs inside as the lesser vampire closed the wound. Fowler would be very weak for a while, and Mutt decided that the blood drained from these hogs should be reserved for him.