His body reacted faster than his mind.

By the time Colin came to his senses, he found he’d already drawn his weapon and severed the claw. The dismembered forepaw twitched uncontrollably on the ground. A rotten stench, identical to the one from the Earthworm tunnels, filled the air.

Kase, beside him, was just as quick to react, slamming his body against the door.

The thick castle gate slammed shut with a CLANG, cutting off the wail from outside.

The two soldiers, startled, quickly ran into the bailey, shouting, "Enemies! There are enemies!"

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Several whistling sounds cut through the air. Colin watched as two long spears sailed down from above, effortlessly piercing the soldiers’ armor and sinking into their bodies.

Thick blood immediately pooled on the ground.

One moment, the two men had been full of life; the next, they could only lie on the ground, struggling and wailing helplessly.

"The gate bar! The gate bar!"

Kase yelled, straining against the door as if someone on the other side was wrestling with him.

Colin hurried back and tried to lift the wooden bar. It was as thick as his waist and longer than the gate itself, but it was obvious his effort was futile.

To secure the gate, both ends of the bar had to be inserted into holes in the walls on either side. The bar itself was a block of iron-banded oak and was terrifyingly heavy; otherwise, it wouldn’t have taken two guards to open the gate earlier.

"It’s too heavy, Kase!" Colin yelled, straining.

A sound like laughter suddenly erupted behind him, causing goosebumps to prickle his skin. He had heard this sound in his past life.

It was the cackling of a hyena.

Colin dropped the gate bar and spun around.

Two grotesque, humanoid creatures stood in the bailey, watching him.

They were hunched over, yet as tall as Kase. Their muscular bodies were clad in crude, stretched-out leather armor, and their weapons, like their armor, were caked in filth, clearly never maintained.

They had heads identical to a hyena’s, with drool seeping from between their fangs. Their amber eyes were filled with greed and hunger.

’These have to be Jackal Wolfmen...’

Colin complained to himself. Up close, they looked far more real than in any game or movie.

"Gheh heh heh..."

Cackling grotesquely, the two Jackal Wolfmen charged forward.

Behind him, Kase swore in Orcish, jammed his axe between the two central brackets meant to hold the gate bar, and drew a javelin, turning to fight.

Colin, who was already prepared, flicked his wrist and sent a [Flaming Arrow] smashing into one of their faces.

While his opponent was busy swatting at the flames on its face, Colin charged forward and thrust his sword into an unarmored part of the Jackal Wolfman’s chest.

The creature’s hide was nowhere near as tough as a Winter Wolf’s, and the blade slid most of the way in.

Colin quickly kicked the Jackal Wolfman to wrench his blade free.

At the same time, Kase impaled the other Jackal Wolfman, bringing it to the ground.

The Half-Orc spat on the ground and said, "These things aren’t much of a fight. They don’t maintain their weapons or armor. All that size is a waste of good material."

"This situation is bad. To get to the main keep, we have to cross the bailey, and I’m guessing the walls are eighty percent taken by now. There’s no way we can rush the keep; we have to figure something out from here."

"What if we use the Insect Shell as a shield and charge out?" Kase asked.

"No, if we meet even the slightest resistance on the way, we’ll be swarmed!" Colin said, scanning his surroundings for a solution.

Kase nodded. "Staying put is better anyway. In here, they can only charge in two at a time, and there’s nowhere for them to hide. I’d rather not be outside, getting mobbed by a pack of dog-heads while also having to dodge arrows!"

As the two spoke, the light in the bailey began to dim.

The Jackal Wolfmen were probably extinguishing the torches on the walls.

Peeking through the gateway, they could see faint shadows darting about the bailey. The grotesque cackling of the Jackal Wolfmen echoed from all directions, interspersed with screams and war cries that made one’s head spin.

’Even the real Hell can’t be much worse than this,’ Colin thought.

This morning, they had been strolling in the sunlight. By evening, they were waiting to die in the castle gateway.

Things had really taken a turn for the worse.

"Think we’ll make it through this time?" Kase asked.

"There are probably over fifty people in this fortress. Those high-ranking officers are definitely better fighters than we give them credit for. And don’t forget, this place is the granary of the Northern Lands. No one will let these Jackal Wolfmen do as they please here. Reinforcements should be here soon."

Colin said quickly, "Based on the skill of these Jackal Wolfmen, I doubt they could take this fortress with less than a hundred or so of their own—"

THUD!

A dull thud violently cut Colin off.

By the residual light of the flames, he could see the massive shadow that had landed in the bailey.

It was a Jackal Wolfman several heads taller than Kase.

Several pieces of leather armor were haphazardly strapped to its deformed body; a human-sized leather chest guard was little more than a single armor plate on it. Knotted muscles twitched and contracted under its coarse fur, pulling its ponderous frame slowly to its feet.

This was no mere creature.

It was a pure aggregate of malice!

The enormous creature slowly turned its head, its gaze falling on Colin—or rather, on the gate behind him.

CLANG!

Another dull thud sounded from behind them.

Colin looked back. The sound had come from the heavy castle gate—something was ramming it from the outside!

’A battering ram? Or another giant Jackal Wolfman?’

What was unluckier than being in a fortress under siege? Colin laughed bitterly to himself.

The answer: being stuck right on the enemy’s main path of attack, with no way to escape.

The sealed gate was struck again and again.

Several Jackal Wolfmen who had rushed into the bailey drew their short bows on Colin and Kase. While the poorly maintained weapons lacked killing power, the bacteria on the arrowheads were absolutely lethal.

Kase immediately took the Earthworm Shell from his back and held it up in front of them.

The incredibly hard shell was the size of a Large Round Shield, just big enough to cover most of their bodies.

THWACK, THWACK, THWACK...

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG...

Javelins and arrows flew at them in a continuous stream. Many embedded themselves in the wooden gate behind them, while the few accurate shots were deflected by the Earthworm Shell.

Colin peeked out from beside the shell.

When the giant Jackal Wolfman saw that the arrows were ineffective, it viciously smacked the heads of a few nearby archers, then hefted its own notched Large Cleaver and started walking toward them.

"If you and I report to the Divine Kingdom of the Deity of Destruction together," Kase said, gripping the javelin in his hand, "I’ll testify for you before the Gods. I’ll prove you’re a brave warrior so you can fight forever with the Heroic Spirits!"

"I think I’d rather go to a more normal god’s kingdom," Colin replied, rubbing the hilt of his sword.

He could hear the thudding impacts on the gate behind him.

He could feel his own sweat trickling from his forehead to his brow.

And clearer still, he could see the aggregate of malice before him, grinning as it advanced on them step by step.

Colin thought to himself.

’It’d be great if I can make it out of this alive...’