11. Special Urgent Quest
Around the time Herald and his Bread Meat Party were suddenly ambushed by werewolves during the special urgent quest, Hein's party, Blade Vane, wasn't faring much better.
-Grrr... The werewolf appeared just as they'd nearly wiped out the orcs, trolls, and ogres. It wasn't as massive as an ogre or troll, but this one looked at least 1.5 times bigger than a typical werewolf. It lunged straight at Dennis, the man holding the front line for Hein's party.
Fortunately, Dennis reacted quickly enough to avoid losing his life. Unfortunately, even with his swift response, one of his wrists was cleanly severed.
"Guhhh..."
"Dennis! Damn it. What the hell is that thing? Why is a Monster Lord here?!"
Hein vented his rage while watching Annie, the female mage, staunch the bleeding from Dennis's severed wrist.
Why was a werewolf here of all places? The Monster Lord was supposed to be Ian's party's problem.
But both Herald and Hein had overlooked one crucial fact: Monster Lords initially conquer and subjugate nearby monsters centered around their base species. Moreover, the monsters under a Monster Lord's command were several times stronger than ordinary ones.
Thus, the werewolf that appeared before them wasn't the Monster Lord itself—it was just one of the many underlings it controlled, no different from the orcs.
The silver lining, if any, was that the werewolf pack ruled by the Monster Lord wasn't particularly large in number.
"Fuck, seriously...! That iron-badge bastard!"
Unaware of this, Hein spat curses at Ian and raised his sword. Anger was one thing, but they had to deal with the immediate threat first.
"Everyone, get ready! Annie! Just staunch Dennis enough and start chanting! Dennis, how are you? Can you still hold your sword?!"
"Y-yeah...! Got it!"
"Guh, it hurts like hell, but I can hold my sword!"
Satisfied with their responses, Hein nodded.
"Good! Jesse! Back me up from the side! We hold until Annie finishes her spell!"
"You got it... Don't worry. I'll land my hits."
"...And Neto! You worthless shit. What are you standing around for?! Get up front and be a meat shield or something!"
"M-me...? Ah, no. Hein, I'm just the porter...!"
The man called Neto stammered in response. Hein, too irritated to even listen, cut him off and yelled.
"All that flab hanging off you...! Use it as a shield at least! Or I'll kill you myself right now!"
"O-okay!"
Neto shuffled forward reluctantly, mumbling. Just as Hein was about to yell at him again for his pathetic display—
Thud. The werewolf kicked off the ground.
"Whoa—!"
In an instant, it leaped, using Neto—who'd blocked the front—as a springboard. It pinned him down with its claws and vaulted over. In that split-second judgment, the beast deemed the slow, unarmed, hefty man no threat.
Neto pitched forward, slamming his head into the ground and slumping unconscious.
The werewolf, using Neto as a launchpad, charged straight at Hein.
"Goddamn useless piece of shit!"
Kakakak—!
Hein reacted swiftly, blocking the werewolf's attack. His blade screeched as its razor claws ground against it. While Hein held it off, Jesse struck from the side.
The werewolf twisted away with agile grace that defied belief for its airborne body, recoiling from the blow. Hein was pushed back by the force.
The werewolf leaped away.
-Grrr...
That was when—
"Kyaaah!"
Annie's scream erupted from behind as she chanted her spell.
"What happened?!"
Hein shouted. In response came Dennis's agonized, desperate wail.
"Gaaahhh!"
Startled, Hein glanced back to see another werewolf. It had severed both of Dennis's arms and was now going for Annie.
"F-fuck, what the hell...!"
A memory flashed through Hein's mind then—details about Monster Lords from the past. He realized what he'd overlooked.
"Then these aren't the Monster Lord..."
These were just a few of the countless monsters under the Monster Lord's command.
And by the time that dawned on him—
-Grrr.
-Krrr.
-Growl.
His party was already surrounded by a pack of werewolves. Hein forced a bitter smile at the glowing eyes fixed on him and muttered,
"We're fucked..."
Something felt off. No signals were coming.
Herald and Hein's parties were supposed to breach the ruins from both sides, draw the monsters' aggro for a bit, then send the signal. But nothing from either side.
"...This is making me uneasy."
Bad premonitions rarely missed the mark. When that sour feeling rose from your gut, it was usually spot on.
I decided to act on the warning bell ringing in my chest.
Click. I loaded a bolt magazine into the crossbow. Cheong-ah reacted first.
"What's wrong, darling?"
"Cheong-ah, Bella. Time to move."
"Huh? Why? No signal yet."
"Something's wrong. It's taking too long."
"Got it."
Cheong-ah prepared at my word. Bella looked annoyed but lifted her greatsword without complaint.
"Fine, whatever."
"And Dina, take care of things."
"Worry not, Yeonja. With this body by your side, not a hair on your head shall be harmed."
Once ready, we headed deeper into the ruins. The Monster Lord's lair wasn't far from this entrance—just a few walls in the way.
Bella glanced at the wall blocking us.
"How we doing this, Ian?"
"Smash it."
"Roger. Step back a bit."
I retreated at her signal. After a few paces, Bella surged with red mana and swung her greatsword.
KABOOM—!
The wall shattered. A yellowish-gray cloud of musty dust billowed out.
Bella waved it away from her face. "Ugh... Look at all this dust."
Suddenly, she raised her greatsword to block.
Clang...!
"Well, now...?"
Something hard struck her blade and bounced back—a silhouette visible in the haze.
As the dust settled, our foe emerged: a werewolf.
But it wasn't the Monster Lord I'd seen. The size, fur color... all different.
"...What the hell is this guy? Coming out alone to show off?"
Bella muttered, then swung her greatsword lazily at it.
The beast kicked off to retreat, but...
KABOOM—!
-Whine...!
Bella's greatsword was twice as long and massive as a normal one. It extended farther than the werewolf's leap, smashing its skull into pulp.
All that remained was its dying yelp.
"Dumbass. Jump all you want. See if you can dodge this."
Bella mocked the mangled corpse, slung her greatsword over her shoulder, and turned to me with a smug grin, fishing for praise.
"Hey, Ian. How was that? Pretty cool, right?"
"Yeah, well don—"
"Hmph, all flash and no substance."
"Dina's right. Too noisy and wasteful with your moves, Bella."
"Hey, fuck! Who asked you two?!"
Dina and Cheong-ah snorted, cutting me off. Bella bristled, about to snap back—
-Grrr.
-Krrr...
Growls echoed from behind her. A sizable pack of werewolves appeared on her side.
Bella casually lowered her greatsword toward them, jerking her chin at the dead one.
"Heh, where'd these come from? Hear their buddy croak and come running? Want me to turn you into mush too?"
Quite a few—more than two hands could count at a glance.
Cheong-ah stepped in front of me.
"...Darling, cover the rear."
"Yeonja, stay right by my side."
Under Dina's protection, I raised my crossbow. They seemed quick on their feet—could I hit them? I recalled the one Bella just fought. Too fast for my eyes to track fully.
These weren't like the orcs standing still for easy shots. But I wasn't planning to just hide in the back.
"Come on, you dog-headed fucks!"
As Bella swung, the werewolves charged.
"Darling, I'll be right back."
With that, Cheong-ah kicked off.
Whoosh.
She dashed faster than the previous werewolf. I aimed at one and pulled the trigger.
Thwip—!
The bolt flew fast. The werewolves scoffed and took it head-on. Their thick hides deflected it.
But that bolt wasn't meant to pierce them. It couldn't even penetrate goblin skin—its penetration was deliberately weak.
This was a magic stone bolt: a cheap low-grade one carved and infused with a powerful explosion spell.
The moment it ricocheted—
"Explode."
With my activation word, it flashed red.
KABOOM—!!
A massive blast engulfed them with a deafening roar. Flames erupted, then vanished in an instant.
Cheong-ah and Bella had been in the radius too. But it didn't matter—I could handle it.
I curled up against the throbbing pain surging through my body. Naturally, the pain and agony they'd felt transferred to me instead.
"Ngh."
Black smoke rose from the blast zone. Debris from the ruins scattered on the gale-force winds.
Flying chunks headed our way, but Dina swatted them aside swiftly.
"...Yeonja, are you alright?"
"Yeah, fine. Thanks for blocking. Dina."
"'Twas but what this body must do."
From the smoke came werewolf howls, then—two familiar silhouettes strolled out casually.
Having shouldered their pain, they bore no wounds, not even scratches. Only the soot smudging their exposed skin betrayed their brush with the blast.
Cheong-ah and Bella approached, sighing—one with worry, the other annoyance.
"Darling, you could've left it to us..."
"Sigh... Hey, warn me before you pull shit like that next time. You scared me."
Afterward, we pressed on to hunt the Monster Lord.