Our Family Has Fallen

When Lance was fighting the monster alone, Grendel, who had been despairing at the side, began to find the situation somewhat peculiar.

Where had the oppressive demeanor of the Werewolf, swiftly slashing with three claws the moment it transformed, disappeared to?

Instead, it had become a cumbersome target. Even she could keep up with its speed. So why did it seem weaker than before?

Grendel had indeed been terrified by the Warwolf’s grotesque and twisted appearance just a moment ago. If she directly intervened in the battle, she feared she would instantly collapse, as the shock from the Warwolf’s third-stage mutation had completely overwhelmed her psychological tolerance. She didn’t even think about it, nor did she have the mind to.

But now that Lance had stepped forward to intercept it, Grendel had the chance to adjust. After all, she was a prodigy raised by the Deerhead Tribe. Having survived a night of genocide and a thousand-mile escape, her mental fortitude was still strong. She just needed a little respite to recover.

Moreover, in that fierce battle, she saw that the monster was not as strong as she had imagined, and Lance’s use of the Corpse Decomposition Spore made it clear what she should do.

She immediately reached into her bag and started fumbling for something...

Lance swung his sword, leaving a wound on the monster that couldn’t dodge in time. However, he soon noticed that as time passed, the Werewolf’s wounds began to heal, the rotting flesh being replaced by newly grown tissue. These spores, derived from the Gangrenous Fungi, were designed to avoid uncontrollable spread, so they were set to deactivate quickly and needed to be replenished often.

Just as he was about to reapply the Corpse Decomposition Spores to continue the corrosion, a large number of new shoots sprouted beneath the monster’s feet. In a single breath, lush Strangler Vines grew and enveloped the creature. These were the seeds that Grendel had previously dropped; and who else but she could have such a method?

What puzzled Lance, however, was that this vegetation had previously been snapped by the Warwolf with a mere lift of its hand. How could it possibly harm the monster?

Just as Lance was wondering, he noticed that the wounds where the Strangler Vines clung began to rot again.

It was the Corpse Decomposition Spores!

He suddenly understood. These ordinary Strangler Vines might struggle to cause direct damage, but they were excellent carriers because the spores couldn’t corrode plants, only reacting to flesh. Grendel had reapplied the missing corrosion, and the seemingly frail weeds displayed their unique utility.

The wounds created later on were directly infected and began to rot, provoking the monster to let out a crazed roar. In random movements, it slashed the Strangler Vines away as if cutting grass. But the tenacity of plant life is well known. If the roots remain, they cannot be killed, and in just a breath, more weeds would grow back.

With Grendel’s Corpse Decomposition Spores and Lance’s Giant Slayer, both great artifacts ”serving” it, the Warwolf was certainly having a ’lucky’ day, wasn’t it?

The Champion’s gift had granted the Warwolf great strength. Especially the ancestral power, which made its Life Force abnormally vigorous. Killing it with their current methods would be very difficult. The ancestral technique just now made Lance realize that something must have happened, and he was unwilling to drag things out any longer.

When Grendel took over the task of applying the Corpse Decomposition Spores, Lance stopped paying attention to anything else and went all out in his attack. Lance’s aggressive moves also spurred the monster, and the battle between them became even more brutal.

The intense fight between them was the purest contest of strength. The Bone Blade and the giant sword collided with deafening roars. With its bloated left arm alone, the monster blocked a full-powered strike from Lance. Simultaneously, its combat instinct prompted it to swiftly claw forward. Lance twisted his body to dodge but was still scratched. It was only a minor wound due to his quick reaction; however, any slight inattention could have resulted in grievous injuries.

Lance lacked the monsters’ ability to ignore pain. The piercing agony that instantly shot through his waist made him twitch involuntarily, greatly delaying his ability to exert force. But the monster wasn’t going to wait.

The left arm, previously restrained by the giant sword, suddenly exerted force, flipping Lance along with the giant sword over.

The next second, the entire creature lunged. Its right wolf-claw touched down in an explosive, wolf-like posture as it opened its gaping, blood-red maw to bite at Lance. But just as it was about to move, tree roots abruptly burst out of the ground and coiled around it, breaking its biting momentum.

Grendel might not be able to lead the attack or withstand damage, but she could still provide support. However, how could these tree roots possibly bind it? It easily broke free from the restraints and continued the pounce it hadn’t completed.

Actually, even if Grendel hadn’t intervened, the monster might not have bitten Lance, for a Sword Blade awaited its lunge. The monster, naturally, wouldn’t just watch the giant sword plunge into its mouth. It immediately snapped its jaws shut. Its fangs clashed with the sword tip, biting down hard to arrest the weapon’s momentum with sheer force.

Whether wolf or dog, at the moment of catching their prey, an instinctual deadly head shake would erupt, which is why Lance had surmised from the start that being bitten would result in crippling injury. And clearly, even after its transformation, it struggled to suppress that instinctual urge. Its neck muscles bulged with tremendous strength as it bit down on the giant sword and began to shake its head violently.

Lance gripped the sword hilt with both hands to resist. But under that burst of power, he was temporarily unable to pull the sword free and was even swayed uncontrollably by the monster’s movements.