After taking those two hits, the Scorpion-tailed Lion’s hideous laughter slowly turned into a roar.

The moment the Magic was broken, Colin’s mind shuddered.

He felt the blood vessels in his forehead begin to throb and ache, and black dots floated up at the edges of his vision.

This time, however, he didn’t feel the intense dizziness that came from overexerting himself with Casting. This was despite the fact that Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, which required an effort of will against his opponent, consumed far more energy than Burning Hand.

Just then, a loud bang echoed in his ears.

Colin glanced toward the source of the sound. Orelia had rushed to his side from behind, using her Shield to block a lash from the Scorpion-tailed Lion’s long tail.

So that Colin could still see, the Tiefling hadn’t drawn her weapon and was still gripping the burning Torch in her hand.

Meanwhile, Kase, up ahead, was steadily keeping the Scorpion-tailed Lion occupied with his spear and shield.

He was clearly experienced in fighting large creatures. Even with the Curse afflicting it, the Scorpion-tailed Lion couldn’t get past the Half-Orc. Every time it tried to turn, Kase would stab it viciously with his spear.

The monster’s claws, fangs, and tail were all tied up, its vulnerable belly exposed right to him.

’This monster is a fish on the chopping block!’ Colin thought.

He took a deep breath, gripped his sword with both hands, and hacked viciously at the monster’s flank several times. Foul-smelling blood splattered all over him, and he could even feel its slight warmth seeping through his Cotton Armor.

Just as Colin was about to swing his sword again, a strong gust of wind swept past him.

He turned his head to see another Scorpion-tailed Lion charging at him, its massive maw wide open!

Drawing on his experience fighting wild beasts, Colin tilted his body and raised a shoulder to protect his neck. The charging Scorpion-tailed Lion clamped its jaws right onto that shoulder, effortlessly lifting him into the air and shaking him.

For a moment, his world spun.

The two layers of Chain Armor Plates CLANGED and rattled under the pressure of its interlocking fangs. A few broken chain links even popped up and hit Colin in the face. In this situation, he couldn’t possibly use his long Hand Half Sword to attack.

’Perfect,’ he thought. ’This is what the Dagger is for!’

Colin dropped his Hand Half Sword, drew his Dagger with a reverse grip, and stabbed it viciously into the Scorpion-tailed Lion’s neck several times. Hot blood immediately gushed over his hand.

The next moment, his world spun again.

Colin felt a heavy impact on his back and heard the sound of sand and gravel grinding on the ground. He had been thrown to the floor, sliding a long way across the rock before coming to a stop.

The violent impact and shaking made him feel as if his organs had been displaced, and a dull ache spread through all his bones.

"You’re the leader of these maggots! Curse you! Damn you, reptile, I Curse you! I will have my revenge! I will have my revenge!"

The Scorpion-tailed Lion that had suddenly charged out was shouting curses as it bolted straight for the cave entrance.

Gasping for breath, Colin pushed himself up from the ground.

The light from outside the cave forced him to squint as he looked out.

’It doesn’t matter if it gets away. With those injuries, it can’t have gone far. I’ll just follow the blood trail and finish it off later. It’ll just take a little more effort.’

The scene reminded him of his fight with the Winter Wolf.

He didn’t feel the same sense of regret as he did back then. ’After all, I have Gold Coins in my pocket now.’

However, just as the Scorpion-tailed Lion burst out of the cave entrance, a figure leaped onto the monster’s back. Colin could faintly see the person desperately swinging some kind of weapon.

Blades flashed and blood sprayed.

The grievously wounded monster struggled desperately, flapping its wings to barely get airborne. The figure on its back switched to madly hacking at the membranes of its wings with their weapon. The creature flapped a couple of times before plummeting downward.

After confirming that the two Scorpion-tailed Lions inside the cave had been killed, Colin slowly walked to the entrance and looked down.

The monster that had escaped had fallen onto a slope about twenty meters away.

The figure who had leaped on it at the last second was lying on the monster’s body, panting heavily—it was Hunter Glenn, the one who had been trailing at the very back!

’To be honest,’ Colin thought, ’judging by how that guy was spouting discouraging words the whole time, I’m pretty surprised he’d risk his life to step up at the end.’

"Mr. Colin, are you all right?" Orelia asked, running over.

"I’m okay, more or less. I just need to catch my breath."

"I-I’m sorry."

"No need to apologize." Colin checked himself over.

The Scorpion-tailed Lion’s bite had torn up the spaulder on his other shoulder, and the Cotton Armor underneath had several rips. Although he wasn’t bleeding, he still felt a dull ache in his shoulder, and the spot where he’d fallen stung sharply.

’But the fight is over now, so there’s no need for a Potion. I’ll just wait for Orelia to recover her Divine Arts and heal me later.’

’This is the advantage of bringing a Priest along.’

’The downside is, I’ll probably have a hard time sleeping tonight.’

"Brother Colin, what parts of this thing are useful?" Kase yelled from a distance.

He pulled out his parchment to check, and after finding the answer, Colin shouted back as he walked deeper into the lair, "The wings and the tail! Just take those two parts."

The six-person squad without a Caster walked over.

Their captain said with some embarrassment, "Sorry about that, brother. We were supposed to be handling that Scorpion-tailed Lion. My apologies."

"Well, thanks to Glenn’s efforts, it didn’t get away," Colin said. "As for the loot, let’s have our three squads split it evenly. None of us could have handled all this alone, right?"

"You should take more. We won’t object."

After saying this, the captain turned and yelled at the Mage who had been standing nearby, "You have any objections?"

"None, of course not." Seeing his chance, the Mage sidled over and said, "Mr. Colin, right? From your accent, I’d guess you’re from Thousand Masts City."

"That’s right," Colin replied.

The Mage asked garrulously, "So which academy are you from? Elthor Academy in the Trade District? Or the smaller Secret Magic Brotherhood? It couldn’t be the Black Tower, surely. The apprentices at the Black Tower are all very busy."

"Uh... I’m self-taught."

"Self-taught? Self-taught to the point where you can use multiple kinds of Magic while wearing Chain Armor? I believe that Magic just now was the Tier One Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, right?" The Mage suddenly looked as if his entire worldview had been shattered.

Seeing the other man looking at him like he was some kind of monster, Colin hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"What’s the secret, then? How do you train?"

"Just keep Casting," Colin said.

"Just keep Casting?" the Mage said, stroking his chin. "That’s a very difficult combat method to master. Is there really no special trick?"

"The trick is to risk your life! Go lock yourself in a cage with a few bears and use those little flames you conjure to kill them all. If you survive a few rounds of that, you might get to be as good as him," Kase yelled from a distance. "Got it? If you got it, then stop asking questions. Either come give us a hand or go inside and see how much money there is!"