Our Family Has Fallen

But before he could take a few steps away, the roots binding the Werewolf shattered and exploded, revealing a tall figure from within.

Hearing the noise behind him, Lance didn’t hesitate to forcefully throw Grendel away. He himself didn’t stop for a moment, immediately rolling across the ground.

His somewhat ragged appearance was far from that of a powerful figure.

But Lance’s decision was quickly proven correct. The moment he dodged, something flashed by, and a huge disturbance erupted from the ground where he had just stood.

Grendel’s physique was not bad either, and although she was thrown out, she didn’t land too awkwardly.

After rolling a couple more times to create distance, Lance had just climbed to his feet when he saw a hole blasted in the ground. A gigantic Bone Blade, shaped like a Longsword, extended upward from it.

It was this thing that had swung at them—if Lance had reacted even a bit slower, the two of them might have been cut in half.

But what was even more terrifying was the owner of this Bone Blade.

Lance looked at the monster before him with mixed feelings.

The Werewolf’s form had undergone many bizarre mutations. All its wounds had healed, but the flesh where they had been seemed to have melted and then forcefully twisted together. Even more disturbingly, black eyes now grew out of this patchwork flesh, lending the creature an instantaneously grotesque appearance.

The left arm, which Lance had previously crushed with a single sword strike, had undergone the most drastic change.

Under the influence of some strange power, newly grown flesh had seized control of the arm once more. However, the left arm had swelled to several times its original size, becoming as thick as a person’s waist.

Dragging such a massive arm completely ruined the Werewolf’s previously tall yet lean silhouette, making it look like a grotesque, swollen tumor.

Even more prominent was the end of that left arm. It was no longer a wolf’s claw, but a huge Bone Blade that had pierced through the flesh, resembling a branching spine.

”AWOOO!”

The monster pulled the Bone Blade out of the ground and let out a terrifying howl.

The Stage Three, Dual-God Champion, makes its grand entrance!

”No... this can’t be... Why is this happening?” Grendel’s panicked voice couldn’t be hidden even by her mask; the little confidence she had just started to build was clearly shattered.

It couldn’t be helped. Just when they thought they were about to kill it, it had come back to life, even unleashing a more terrifying power.

The Warwolf was truly her nemesis, dismantling her sanity time and time again.

Looking again at the horrifically mutated Werewolf, Grendel found it hard to imagine how it could possibly be killed...

”It seems the old geezer was driven to desperation by us, randomly claiming someone as his son. Why didn’t he just claim me as his father?” Lance, however, was completely fearless. His tone remained as calm as ever, as if nothing could shake his will, and he even had the presence of mind to make a sarcastic comment.

Although she didn’t understand his words, Grendel’s turmoil was greatly soothed by his optimistic attitude, and she couldn’t help but pin her hopes on Lance.

Lance had no time for her; his focus was entirely on the mutated Werewolf. He tore off his upper garment, now little more than rags, revealing a robust physique that looked as if forged from iron.

”I don’t know my own limits...” Lance lifted his hand, summoned Giant Slayer from the Void, and pointed it forward. ”Can you tell me?”

The moment he finished speaking, the power that had been dormant within his body surged anew. Lance didn’t even wait for the monster to attack before taking the initiative and charging forward.

How could the monster, engorged with power by the Ancestor, tolerate such a provocation?

Its massive form also sprang into action, and in an instant, the two collided once more.

The force of that collision struck fear into Grendel. It was as if two legendary behemoths had clashed, the very earth trembling in response!

Lance didn’t know how it looked from the outside; he was completely immersed in the battle.

In the continuous collisions, Lance quickly got a sense of the Werewolf’s state after its mutation.

Their strength was nearly equal, but the Werewolf’s speed had decreased. Its grotesque left arm seemed to hinder its movements, making it more cumbersome. Or perhaps, Lance mused, two different powers were vying for control of its body.

However, this reduced speed came at the cost of gaining the Ancestor’s unique technique: a terrifying regenerative ability. Even when wounded, it recovered quickly—in some respects, even faster than Lance.

Lance had already sensed the Ancestor’s deep malice, but he was no powerless weakling.

An endless stream of power was strengthening him from the inside out. Just as he’d said, he was far from his limit!

Swinging the Giant Slayer, the monster was no longer able to dodge as nimbly as before and could only raise its left arm to block.

The full force of the Sword Blade clashing against the Bone Spur surprisingly failed to sever it, but it did make the creature’s movements falter.

Lance instantly pulled a bottle from nowhere and threw it at the monster, a musket suddenly appearing in his other hand.

He didn’t even aim deliberately, just fired. Amidst the fiery explosion, the silver Lead Bullet shot out, perfectly piercing the bottle as it flew near the monster. Instantly, the powder inside spilled out onto the creature.

Simultaneously, even this inhuman monster couldn’t withstand the force of the gunpowder, and a gruesome, bloody wound instantly erupted on its body.

The monster let out an angry roar. Ordinarily, the wound would have already begun to visibly sprout new flesh and knit itself together.

But the sprinkled powder, upon contacting the exposed wound, demonstrated its terrifying power. It actually suppressed the flesh’s healing and even caused the wound to fester and fill with pus.

”Taste the gift Grendel prepared for you!” Lance knew it had worked just by looking at the wound.

For ordinary people, a Werewolf’s third-stage Power of Flesh and Blood transformation—trading speed for enhanced healing—meant facing a monster with high attack, immense vitality, and rapid recovery. An unkillable foe.

No matter how one attacked, it couldn’t be killed. This would probably be the definition of despair.

But the Corpse Decomposition Spores in Lance’s hands were designed specifically to counteract this Power of Flesh and Blood.

This witchcraft, developed by the wilderness Cannibal Witch and specially cultivated to counteract the Ancestor’s Power of Flesh and Blood, was later modified by Grendel and Lance—again, specifically targeting the Ancestor.

One could say that two successive generations of Deerhead Tribe Wizards had toiled relentlessly for the sole purpose of dealing with the Ancestor, which showed just how much hatred he inspired.

Lance didn’t stop. Instead, he seized the opportunity to launch an even stronger assault.

Damn it, now you’ll taste the power of multiple actions in a single turn!

He instantly increased the tempo of his attacks, constantly creating new wounds on areas stained with the powder, allowing the spores’ power to take full effect.

Previously, the Werewolf’s speed had been too great, and Lance had been too busy fending off its attacks to apply the Corpse Decomposition Spores to its wounds. Now that its speed had diminished, the task became much simpler for Lance.

But the Werewolf was no stationary target; its counterattacks were also incredibly fierce.

The Ancestor’s power made it abandon its instinctual, animalistic dodges, compelling it to forsake all defense and attack with full force. It only seemed slower in comparison to Lance; when it truly moved, it was still incredibly wild.

Wolf Claw Strike: Raising its right arm high to slash, inflicting sharp damage and a bleeding effect.

Wolf Fang Bite: Lunging forward to bite the target, advancing one space, with an armor-piercing effect, causing crippling and bleeding.

Bone Blade Thrust: Swinging the Bone Blade to inflict penetrating damage as an area attack.

Evil Wolf’s Howl: Emitting an attack imbued with the Wolf God’s Power, instilling fear in the enemy, with a chance to stun.

The Werewolf’s attack methods were just so, already familiar from their previous fights.

Lance, wielding the Giant Slayer, battled with an intensity no less fierce than before. The greatsword itself was barely withstanding the onslaught, its surface covered in claw marks.

But losing its speed advantage didn’t worry Lance in the slightest.

Because once it couldn’t keep up with Lance’s speed, he would completely control the rhythm of the fight, just as he was doing now. Despite the Warwolf’s greater raw strength, it found itself struggling to respond. It constantly paid the price of injury without managing to hurt Lance in return.

It couldn’t even trade blows to drain Lance’s stamina, because Bless was still providing him with incessant power. That was the true source of despair.

Fortunately, the Warwolf had already lost consciousness, so it didn’t need to slowly experience this despair.

Otherwise, it would certainly have been perplexed. It couldn’t beat you before the transformation, so why can’t it beat you after the Power of Flesh and Blood transformation? Isn’t that a waste of a transformation?