"Phew, thats a relief. Thanks, Ash."
Wiping herself down with the towel I handed her, Naless gratefully offered a handshake.
"What happened, Naless? Why were you inside Jormungandr?"
Ignoring the handshake with forced casualness, I asked Naless.
How on earth do you wind up doing a miraculous rendezvous inside a monsters belly? What the heck happened at the Imperial Capital?
Whoosh!
Despite my desperate efforts to avoid it, Naless determinedly took my hand and shook it. Ahhhh! Soap! Bring soap!
"Ive been fighting off monsters that try to rampage outside the Lake Kingdom."
Naless began to explain, shaking my hand gratefully up and down. I hastily rummaged through my bag for another towel.
"Of course, my power alone isnt enough to stop all of them. So continue to break out and invade the surroundings. Lately, the number of escaping monsters has increased due to their growing numbers."
I see. I ticulously wiped my hands. Any perfu around?
"Anyway, as always, I was trying to stop this horde of monsters."
Naless looked down at the scales of Jormungandr she was standing on.
"... This ti, it was this snake."
"Ah..."
Could it be, so thats why.
"Ive never had the experience of facing Jormungandr head-on before... Anyway, I tried to stop it."
"Did you fail and it ended up eating you?"
"No, initially I succeeded. I managed to stop Jormungandr."
...Really? Are you lying?
How did you stop this huge snake on your own? Are you bragging? Right?
"But then, right after... the Wolf King interrupted."
At the unexpected na, my eyes twitched.
The Wolf King? You an...
"The commander of the Werewolf Legion, that Wolf King Lunared?"
"Exactly. Youre well-inford."
Well, of course. Its a nad monster that appears as a boss in the ga.
The Werewolf Legion, a monster squad made up of werewolves, only appears in the boss stages as an elite group of monsters.
...Could it be that the boss group I have to face in Stage 10 is the Werewolf Legion?
Nothing happens without reason in this damn ga. Everything hints at future developnts.
So, after vampires, its werewolves now? What a classic sequence.
"I told you before, Ash. So of the Nightmare Legion commanders are after your life."
"Mm. I rember."
Orlop and Celendion had marked after I killed them, frustrated they couldnt devour .
Naless continued her explanation impassively.
"The Wolf King is one of those most ardently seeking your life. He has been searching for you within the dungeons..."
I clicked my tongue. So, he was a stalker-fan too.
"...And when he couldnt encounter you in the dungeon, he orchestrated this. He hid his elite forces within Jormungandr as part of a strategy."
My eyes widened in disbelief.
Wait a minute, does that an...
"I stopped Jormungandr, and thats when the Wolf King attacked . In the anti, the Wolf Kings elite guard jumped into Jormungandrs mouth."
"..."
"I couldnt just stand by and let their sche unfold. So, I also jumped into the closing mouth of Jormungandr. I spent the next few days fighting those wolves inside its belly."
I sighed in relief.
"So you managed to take care of those wolves?"
"..."
Naless, who had been silent, unsheathed the worn-out longsword strapped to her back and held it in front of her.
"Ash, its awkward for to say this, but I pride myself on being the strongest in the Lake Kingdom."
I wasnt sure about her being the strongest, but it was undeniable that Naless was quite powerful.
"However, once I step out of the Lake Kingdom, my abilities are severely restricted. At this mont, Im just an ordinary human who cant cast any magic or miracles."
"And why are you telling all this?"
"The elite guard of the Wolf King that jumped into Jormungandrs belly."
Naless muttered awkwardly.
"I couldnt finish them off."
"What?"
"Upon returning to the surface, I beca too weak... I couldnt eliminate them all. And they managed to escape Jormungandrs belly before I did."
Chills ran down my spine.
Wait, hold on. Does that an
"If you havent dealt with them yet"
Naless looked around quickly.
"Those wolves are hiding sowhere in this snakes body, waiting for an opportunity."
"Damn it! What the hell! A sudden intrusion of another hostile monster faction!"
I yelled, trembling in anger. Werent there supposed to be no dark events? How is this different from a dark event?!
No, this is on a different level from dark events.
At least dark events only strengthen the monsters of the existing stage; they dont introduce new factions.
In other words, this is an even shittier difficulty spike!
In a rush, I took out a device resembling a small handgun from my pocket.
It was a flare gun I had made in the blacksmiths shop in preparation for this operation.
After loading an orange flare, I shot it into the sky without hesitation.
WhoooshBoom!
The orange flare exploded in the darkening sky.
***
"Huh?"
Evangeline, who had been moving from the middle of Jormungandrs body toward its tail using a grappling hook, tilted her head.
Boom!
An orange flare burst into the sky near the tail.
Beforehand, Ash had assigned different anings to the colors of the flares.
Red was for requesting assistance.
Yellow was for rallying.
And orange was for being on guard.
On guard? Suddenly why?
Did sothing happen when they entered the forest area? Or because its becoming night? Why did he shoot a warning flare?
Confused but decisive, Evangeline swiftly fired her grappling hook and pulled it back.
She didnt know what was going on, but she needed to hurry to Ashs side and protect him.
SwooshThud!
With that thought, she quickly moved across Jormungandrs body when,
"?"
She noticed sothing odd.
A shadow beneath the snakes body.
There, a dozen beasts with glowing red eyes were crouched close together.
Evangeline blinked her large green eyes in bewildernt.
"...Wolf?"
As a perplexed Evangeline mumbled,
- Woosh!
A beast sprang from the shadows.
It was a monstrosity, half-wolf, half-human.
Bipedal like a human but covered in thick wolf fur, its tail stretched long. Its wolf head featured large, nacing teeth and eyes that glowed a sinister red.
A monster.
- Slash!
The creatures claw tore through the air. Evangeline twisted her body in alarm,
"Whoa?!"
- Snip!
The monsters claw severed the silver thread connecting her to Jormungandr.
"...What?"
As Evangeline mumbled in confusion,
- Whiiish
Like a cut string, she was flung off of Jormungandrs body.
***
Central area of Jormungandr.
- Fwoosh! Boom!
At the sound of a flare bursting, the unconscious Lucas and Kuilan popped their eyes open.
The knight and the bandit king rose simultaneously. They caught each others eye after spotting the flare.
"Oh! Knight! Captain! Had a good nap?"
A Penal Squad mber, who had been gleefully grinding away at their spinal cords with a drill, giggled as he showed off his tool.
"Look at this! Its called a drill and its aweso! With this tool, we can make up for the digging you two did all night in no ti"
"Put that away and draw your weapon."
"Huh?"
"I said draw your weapon, quickly! If you dont want to die!"
Kuilan grumbled nacingly, startling the Penal Squad mber.
Without a word, Lucas drew his longsword. The knights icy blue eyes fiercely scanned the surroundings.
Kuilan chuckled softly as he hurriedly put on his gauntlets.
"I see you sense it too, Knight."
"...Its impossible not to."
Despite the warm sumr night, a cold breath escaped Lucass lips.
"The scent of kindred is vibrating."
As the Penal Squad mbers scrambled to draw their weapons and complete their combat preparations,
Werewolves began to crawl out from the sides of the serpents skin.
Ash-grey and brown-furred werewolves. Two types.
Their fur might be different, but both types had the sa, flickering red eyes.
The monstrous figures, standing on two legs like humans, quietly sharpened their claws, preparing for battle.
Their numbers were about a dozen.
"I always sang about wanting to be a beast-man, but the real deal is a bit off-putting."
Kuilan raised his fist, throwing out a frivolous joke.
"I guess they should trim their fur, seniors!"
Right after,
- Awooo
The lead werewolf tilted its head back and howled.
- Awooooo
- Awooooooo
A unison of howls erupted from the mouths of the werewolves surrounding the Penal Squad.
Howling.
The sound reverberated like an echo, and all the werewolves on Jormungandrs back let out a chilling howl.
A normal wolfs howl would simply be a call to its pack, but a werewolfs howling was different.
A combat buff through group resonance.
It was a legion skill that established the identity of the wolf pack and facilitated group combat.
Following that, the werewolves stomped the ground with their four legs.
The eyes of the monsters, awakened to their wild instincts by the howling, flickered with a savage hunger.
Drool dripped from the gaps between their bared fangs, eager to rip apart their prey and taste its flesh.
"Get the hell out of the way, you mutts."
Channeling magic power into the tip of his sword, Lucas growled nacingly.
"I need to go check if my lord is safe."
His eyes held a fierce glint, making it difficult to tell who the real wolves were.
***
Jormungandr, near the head region.
"Hah, hah"
Covered in blood, Junior let out shallow breaths and slumped down.
She had been clawed from her shoulder to her side by a wolfs claw .
Caught off guard by the sudden ambush, Junior trembled in a state of shock.
Blocking her path, Reina rolled up the corners of her mouth and smiled bitterly.
"This isnt good."
Around twenty werewolves surrounded the two mages.
Twice the force had attacked them here, focusing their assault on the most crucial units: the mages.
On the other hand, there were only two mages here.
Could they possibly fight just with two mages and no vanguard?
Of course, we can.
Reina chuckled to herself.
She had devoted her life to the military. There wasnt a type of battle she hadnt fought. Land, sea, air listing them would just be a waste of breath.
Reina was absolutely confident that she could rip these pathetic werewolves to shreds and survive.
However.
""
She wasnt sure if she could protect the young mage behind her.
There was no battle strategy more foreign to Reina than fighting while protecting soone else.
If I dont worry about the kid in the back, my chances of winning are 100%. But if I have to protect this kid
Reinas seasoned eyes dimd.
Can we survive?
Whoosh
As the elderly mage pondered, dozens of werewolves lunged at them all at once.
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