Just then, a whoosh of air sounded by his ear.

’So he faked an opening just to lure me in?’

’It’s entirely possible. He wasn’t huge, but to someone like me at five-foot-seven, he was plenty intimidating. If he raised his arm high enough, he could move his weapon into my blind spot. It wouldn’t be hard for him to get the drop on me.’

As the thought crossed his mind, Colin reflexively raised a hand and chanted the spell for Shield.

The short Casting process ended in an instant.

A glass-like barrier spread out from Colin’s palm, deflecting the axe blade that had almost struck his back.

The pupils in the Jackal Wolfman’s amber eyes contracted sharply.

’That’s more like it...’ Colin’s eyes flickered, instantly locking onto a Light Ball on his foe.

His blade burst into flame. Wielding his Emerald Flame Sword, he sliced through the opponent’s Beast Hide Armor as if it were a hot knife through butter. The blade plunged several palms’ deep without resistance before stopping.

Intense pain made the monster flinch, and the axe clattered from its hand to the floor.

At that moment, Kase, having rallied, gripped his Ice Short Spear with both hands and thrust it through his opponent’s throat.

Working together, the two of them pinned the creature’s body firmly against the wall.

"GAK... GAK..."

Yenogu the Poison Fang’s struggles grew weaker. Finally, clutching its neck, it let out a strange, gurgling sound that was halfway between a laugh and a choke.

With its last breath, it used its ruined throat to roar in the Common Language, "Ignorant prey... The end is near! The end is near!... Your time is short! The god will drag the Mortal World into the eternal hunting grounds! Every living thing will... forever... tear... or be torn..."

The creature’s voice grew fainter and fainter until it finally expired.

Its crazed appearance would have unsettled any intelligent being.

’The end is near? What did that thing mean?’

Colin frowned. He pulled his weapon free and stabbed the body a few more times just to be safe.

"Is it over?" one of the Guards at the stairwell asked, leaning against the wall.

The other Guard said, still shaken, "What the hell was that thing talking about?"

"Just the ravings of a madman," Kase said, rubbing a bruise as he sat on the floor. He closed his eyes and took a few ragged breaths. "I think I broke a few bones. Right here in my chest."

Orelia asked hesitantly, "Um... do you need my healing?"

"Heal him," Colin said, then looked at the two Guards. "We have medical kits. Do you need one?"

"We have our own," one Guard said with a wave of his hand. "Just let us catch our breath first. Morninglord above..."

The Cotton Armor on both men was torn in several places, and their bodies were covered in bloody gashes. It was only thanks to their training that they hadn’t lost their courage and had held the line against the Jackal Wolfman’s assault.

Colin walked over to inspect the stairwell.

The scene inside was gruesome. Blood and corpses were everywhere, along with the faint traces of something scorched.

The Jackal Wolfmen had already been wounded when they charged in. Crowded together at the mouth of the stairwell, they couldn’t use their numbers to their advantage. They didn’t even have room to draw their bows for a surprise shot, so naturally, they couldn’t break the defensive line formed by Orelia and the two Guards.

Colin let out a sigh of relief.

The throbbing pain from being thrown, the ache in his shoulder where he’d been hit, and the dizziness from pushing his Casting to the limit all rushed over him at once.

He pushed up his sleeve to take a look. A ring of mail on his shoulder had been bent by an axe blow, but thankfully the Armor itself hadn’t been breached, and it didn’t look like anything was broken.

But after the adrenaline faded, he felt a dull ache in his chest.

"I think I broke a rib, too," Colin said.

"I’ll take a look at you in a minute, then. We should at least set it with a splint," Orelia said offhandedly while bandaging Kase. "By the way, the heart of a Yenogu the Poison Fang is said to have special uses. If you cut it out, you should be able to sell it as a material component."

"Really? Is their blood poisonous?"

"The Power of Yenogu the Poison Fang comes from the Demon Essence possessing them. They aren’t inherently poisonous themselves."

’Demon Essence... what’s that?’

Pushing the question aside, Colin borrowed an axe from Kase and, fighting back his disgust, cut open the abdomen of the Yenogu the Poison Fang’s corpse.

The moment the axe split the belly, streams of foul-smelling black fluid gushed out.

’This will pay for the Dwarf’s tuition, this will pay for the Dwarf’s tuition...’

Chanting this mantra in his mind, Colin suppressed his nausea and continued.

Strangely, the creature’s abdomen contained almost no other organs besides its lungs, stomach, and heart. Half the cavity was filled with that foul black fluid.

Furthermore, its lungs were frighteningly large and robust.

Colin rummaged around for a while before he found a jet-black heart that was still beating. He cut it out—even after severing the connected blood vessels, the heart continued to throb.

"This is normal, right?"

Colin asked, holding up the Black Heart. The two Guards standing nearby turned pale at the sight.

Even Kase scowled and cursed, "That thing is disgusting."

"It’s fine, but you should still wrap it in a piece of cloth or something," Orelia replied, her expression unchanged. "Colin, come over here. Let me take a look at that bone."

Colin obediently walked over and lifted his shirt.

Orelia gently felt his lower ribs. "One broken bone."

With that said, the Tiefling took a splint from her medical kit. She rubbed the piece of unknown wood between her fingers, shaping it to fit. Then, she used it and a bandage to secure Colin’s broken rib. It would heal completely tomorrow once her Divine Arts were restored.

Once everything was taken care of, the group went back downstairs to sit.

The smell upstairs was unbearable. No one had the strength to drag the Jackal Wolfmen corpses outside, so they could only leave them there.

The tower’s main door was fine; only the bolt had been smashed.

The Guards found a spare bolt and secured the door again, giving the group a small measure of security.

"How are we handling watch duty?"

Colin asked as he took out his prized sleeping bag and placed it in a corner of the room.

"Man, after everything that just happened, and that doomsday prophecy from the Jackal Wolfman... how can any of you even think about sleeping?" one of the Guards asked from his chair. You could see his leg was still trembling.

"If we don’t sleep, where will we get the energy to deal with what comes next?" Colin replied as he wriggled into his sleeping bag.

The other Guard said, "You all do what you want. There’s no way the two of us are getting any sleep."

"Aren’t you guys soldiers? Surely it’s not that bad."

"Usually, the most we have to deal with around here are a few goblins. The last time a watchtower was directly assaulted like this was probably years ago," the Guard sighed, still shaken.

Since they’d put it that way, the others didn’t try to argue.

Kase immediately lay down on the floor. Orelia unfastened her Cloak and wrapped herself in it, curling up in a corner like a kitten. Her pointed tail twitched twice and then went still. She was probably asleep.

Colin didn’t pay them any more mind, closing his eyes from the comfort of his sleeping bag.

The events of the past two days kept replaying in his mind.

Demons, Demons, the Gnolls Deity, the Minotaur Deity...

He had thought the simple bestiary of the Northern Lands the Dwarf had given him was comprehensive enough, but it turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg in this world. If he hadn’t run into this Tiefling Priest a few days ago, who knows how much more he would have suffered on this trip.

’I wonder if Thousand Masts City has a proper monster manual or something. I’ll have to ask Edwin about it when I get back.’

’Anyway, I’m not worried about food and drink anymore and even have some savings. I should make time to learn a few things.’

’After all, when facing an enemy, having information versus having none can completely change the outcome.’

’Speaking of which, the reward should have increased a bit, right?’

Drowsily, Colin focused his consciousness and looked at the quest Panel.

-----------------

[Commission: Investigate the Cultists]

[Rating: 5 (Mortal)]

[Reward: 150 Skill Level, Tier One Magic: "Tasha’s Hideous Laughter"]

-----------------

’Tasha’s Hideous Laughter? What the hell kind of name is that?’

’Judging by the name alone, it doesn’t sound very combat-effective. Is this some kind of spell exclusive to circus clowns?’

As his thoughts drifted, Colin lost consciousness.