“Smells like dog fur. I think it’s the scent of a wild dog assault.”
“What the heck are these things to give off such a stench?”
“Probably werewolves.”
“Werewolves?”
You don’t know? I guess it’s a concept that doesn’t exist here. I pondered how to convince Renny and squeezed out some words.
“It seems that a creature called Lugaru has the ability to either turn humans into wolf monsters or summon wolf monsters.”
“How do you know that?”
“This awful fur stench is proof, isn’t it? If they had brought a bunch of wild dogs, you should have heard them barking.”
“That’s true… But you really think of this stuff well.”
Renny looked at me with a face full of admiration.
…I can’t tell her it’s knowledge from my past life.
“But then, how is it different from beastmen?”
“You’ll understand when you see it directly.”
“Ah, right.”
We casually opened the door and walked into the street. There were no people around since we rescued everyone from the slum. Should we just head to the temple without a care?
We quickly exited the narrow slum and naturally headed towards the center of the village. The village was… not as peaceful as yesterday with people wandering around.
“It feels like they’re gonna pierce my face with their gazes.”
“Seeing them smile like that really makes me sick, doesn’t it? We’re not clowns…”
Renny and I grumbled as we walked toward the temple. They were openly staring at us, but they didn’t approach. Is it the command of that Lugaru or whatever?
Or are they just refraining because they’re scared of dying if they act up?
Either way, they were disgusting creatures.
“If we keep going like this, no one will stop us from reaching the temple.”
“Typical stray dogs.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
We snickered and provocatively challenged them. A few faces twisted at our challenge, but it seemed they were wise enough not to retaliate.
“Renny. If anyone tries to hit us from behind, you can kill them all. There are no humans here anyway…”
I don’t consider those who eat human flesh to be humans. They’re just monsters. Renny nodded, as if to agree with me.
“Yeah. It’s my job to kick those arrogant stray dogs’ butts.”
Are we there yet? We looked at the temple, which was different from yesterday, now stained with blood in many places. The smell of blood was even stronger than yesterday.
“I wonder what’s waiting for us.”
“Probably just more stray dogs.”
We confidently stepped into the temple. The temple, originally belonging to the Kalon Church, was smeared with a horrible stench of blood, forcing us to grimace.
Looks like they really threw a party.
“Renny, use this.”
“Hmm? What’s this…”
“It’s something to protect your mind.”
Since she’s an ‘outsider’, she needs to be cautious of mental contamination. If Renny’s mind gets contaminated, it’ll become a headache in many ways. Just thinking about Renny being controlled by those outsiders sends chills down my spine.
“How do I use this?”
“Open your eyes wide.”
As Renny opened her eyes wide, I put the lens in. She looked at me as if she couldn’t adjust to the foreign object in her eye and asked.
“This isn’t harmful to my eyes, right?”
“Of course not. I poured dozens of gold coins into making sure it wouldn’t hurt your eyes.”
To be honest, replicating those lenses was harder than expected. It took me over a month to make them.
“Is that really that expensive? It’s so tiny…”
“Set your curiosity aside and let’s keep exploring the temple.”
“But why is it so quiet?”
Really. There are blood stains everywhere, yet there’s no sign of life. What’s going on?
I tapped the ground with my foot to check.
“It seems there’s space underground.”
“What? How did you know?”
“Think about how many buildings I’ve built. Understanding the structure of a building from the sounds and vibrations isn’t that difficult.”
“That’s impressive. But…”
Renny trailed off, pulling out her sword from its sheath. I gripped the shovel on my back and looked in the same direction as Renny.
“Fire… worshipper…”
“Is that a werewolf? It really is a werewolf.”
A werewolf walking on two legs, wearing human clothes. The unknown werewolf growled at us. It looked like a frightened dog trying to intimidate us, which made me snicker and say,
“Hey there, stray dog. Where’s your master? Hiding and watching like a good little stray, huh?”
“You…!”
It’s so easy to provoke someone who believes in a religion by insulting their god. I looked up at the werewolf leaping toward me and said,
“Crafting.”
“This is!”
“Make up your mind; are you going to speak like a person or bark like a stray?”
“You cowardly trickster!”
“Coward? What a joke.”
I thrust the shovel up against the werewolf’s chin, threatening him as he got stuck in the stone prison.
“Tell me what happened here.”
“No way…!”
Maybe I should have brought Rue. I left her behind at Yeomyeong-gwan just in case the kids got attacked, but I guess it would have been better to bring her along to rummage through this mess.
“Are you not going to tell me?”
“Of course…”
I shifted my gaze from the werewolf, who collapsed against the prison wall, to Renny.
“Eventually, someone will spill it if we keep pushing.”
It’s not like there’s no way to find out, and Renny nodded, seeming to agree with me, as we walked deeper into the temple together.
—————-
“Ugh, fur flying everywhere.”
“Still, it looks like these guys definitely have something going on.”
The guys outside felt the difference in power and didn’t dare to rush at us, but now they’re charging at us with clenched teeth. I brushed off the dog fur stuck to my body and shoved the corpse of a werewolf lying on the ground aside.
“I wonder what’s behind this door that they were guarding so fiercely. Is there a survivor here?”
“I don’t know. Considering the path we’ve taken so far, they’ve probably all died.”
I tried to rescue as many captured people as possible.
If I had known it would be like this, I should have just torn it down completely. I examined the door closely. A door decorated with a wolf face pattern. Unlike the other rather rough parts, this door was adorned with elaborate decorations.
“Seeing how unnecessarily big and fancy this door is, there might be some kind of altar behind it.”
“An altar? Then behind there, could it be…?”
“Prepare yourself.”
“I’m not that weak-stomached.”
“Then that’s good to hear.”
With blood and rotting flesh reeking from here, there’s no way what lies beyond this door is in decent condition.
“Then I’ll open it.”
I placed my hands on either side of the door and pushed with all my strength. The door was a bit stiff, but it opened without much resistance. We frowned at the sight revealed when the door opened.
“They really turned this into a slaughterhouse.”
“…Is this all human bones?”
Bones. Bones. Bones. Bones. And scattered entrails.
Except for the wolf-headed statue made at the end of the massive room and the altar beneath it, the entire room was drenched in red. Of course, the identity of the red filling the room was blood.
There was more than enough blood to fill a room the size of a soccer field. We couldn’t hide our disgust at the countless human corpses piled in the corners of the room.
“Is there really such a hellhole?”
“Even entering a monster’s lair wouldn’t be this bad.”
“…It looks like they were all eaten…”
“Maybe that monster is the culprit.”
Crunch Crunch.
What could it be that has such a huge body like a troll and is chomping down so loudly that we could hear it from the door?
“That might be Lugaru.”
“How dare you speak so freely of the name of the… great one…!”
What a madman. Has he learned to throw leftover food at his god?
We took a few steps to the side to avoid the incoming projectile. Looking at it hitting the floor and scattering gruesomely, I saw ribs.
…So they’re throwing a human flesh party here?
Seriously, where did they get all these humans? They’ve managed to not get caught until now. It’s probably because of the mental contamination that outsiders have.
“Hey, stray dog leader. Are you the cause of this situation?”
“Unbeliever. Do you think such blasphemous words will be permitted in this sacred altar?”
“If this is sacred, then a dung field must be a sacred place too.”
I gradually closed the distance. As I got closer to him, his figure became clearer in the light of the strange illumination illuminating the altar.
“Daring to defile the sacred altar is a crime you must repay with your life.”
“With a taste for human flesh and perversions of lust too. You really have it all.”
“I’d rather be with Johanna than you…”
Renny hurriedly shut her mouth and glanced at me. I’m not trying to create a sweet-and-bitter atmosphere here.
I didn’t expect my mocking of him would turn out this way, so we silently readied our weapons.
He slowly rose.
When he straightened his bent back, his size began to become clear.
He’s painfully huge.
He’s at least three meters tall, I’d say.
“For the great… Lugaru’s… descent, I shall offer you as sacrifice upon the altar…”
If I can rip his family apart, I could make armor with their skin. The bones could be used as weapons…
I kicked off the ground and began the battle, estimating the beast charging at us.
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