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Not far below lay the ruins. They had finally arrived.

It was clear that the ruins were concealed by magic, as parts of them continually disappeared and reappeared.

Because of this, it was difficult to gauge the full scale of the structure.

However, despite being covered in ivy, the sturdy fortress walls and the main gate, which seemed to have resisted intruders for countless years, were clearly visible.

“Hmm…”

As soon as he confirmed this, Ian let out a quiet groan and immediately stepped back.

Grio, following two steps behind, swiftly raised his shield, and the rest of the party quietly prepared for battle.

Ian reassured them.

“You can relax. We’re still fine for now.”

“But it seems there’s a problem, isn’t there?”

“Yes. I found werewolves.”

The group tensed. Ian gestured towards the ruins and continued in a hushed voice.

“Unfortunately, they’re right at the entrance of the ruins.”

There were three of them. Fortunately, there were no red wolves in the vicinity.

“Do you think we can take them?”

“Well…”

Ian trailed off in response to Audrey’s question.

Werewolves and other beastmen were notoriously difficult to handle due to their natural physical and combat abilities. Even knights were reluctant to face them, which said a lot.

Ideally, they would bypass the werewolves and enter the ruins, but it seemed the creatures had business at the site as well.

In that case, launching a surprise attack might be their best option.

Ian calmly examined the werewolves’ appearance.

‘They’re mixed-blood.’

Their fur had a brownish hue. If it had been silver or black, Ian would have suggested abandoning the plan altogether—those were the marks of purebloods.

While there were rare cases where mixed-bloods possessed extraordinary power, these weren’t of that caliber.

“Well, it’s not hopeless after all.”

“They’re mixed-blood?”

Diem asked. Ian looked at him with some surprise.

Not only had he connected the red wolves to werewolves immediately, but he also seemed to know quite a bit.

Noticing Ian’s gaze, Diem added with a sheepish grin.

“I fought one before… a while back.”

He casually shifted his tone, but Ian didn’t bother commenting on that. There were more important matters at hand.

“That’s right. They’re far from purebloods. In other words, we have a chance. However, the one using magic is a bit concerning.”

One of the werewolves, likely chosen by an Outer God, was cloaked in a sinister purple aura, chanting an incantation.

At regular intervals, a strange ripple struck the fortress gate, causing the entire ruin to tremble.

Most likely, these werewolves had discovered the ruins before Audrey did. The fact that the ruins had become visible was likely a result of them interfering with the magic guarding the site.

“Heh, don’t worry. I’ve got something perfect for this.”

Diem chuckled as he pulled something from his bag.

“A silver arrow?”

“Nope. Something even better.”

He whispered with pride and revealed a green-tipped arrow.

Ian’s eyes widened. The green-tipped arrow, crafted by the shamans of the Karam Empire, harnessed divine power and was extremely effective against evil beings.

“Isn’t it a waste to use it here? It must be expensive.”

And not just expensive—one arrow would cost dozens of gold coins. Diem grinned.

“Are you unaware? This can be reused. If we can recover it, that is.”

Diem said this while nocking the arrow onto his bowstring and looking back at Audrey.

“What will you do? If you’re going to back off, now’s the time.”

“We’ve come this far. If we go back empty-handed, I’ll regret today for a long time, and I can’t accept that. No, I won’t.”

“So then?”

“Just shoot.”

“That’s a very satisfying answer.”

Diem took a deep breath. Activating his magical energy to enhance his physical abilities, Lise quickly cast a blessing.

Vitality surged through his body, his vision sharpened, and the distant target came into focus.

He pulled back the bowstring, calculated the angle, and aimed.

‘What is that?’

At that moment, the werewolf casting the spell threw its staff to the ground and began talking with its companion.

Well, that was fine. Even if it moved, Diem was confident he could hit it. Still, just to be safe, he warned his companions.

“Get ready. It might miss.”

With that, Diem released his fingers.

Piiing!

As the taut bowstring returned to its original position, the green-tipped arrow vanished from sight.

—

The werewolf Kariman, who had been incessantly chanting spells in front of the fortress gate, struggled to contain his rising frustration.

He felt like he was about to boil over. He considered holding back, but his patience was wearing thin.

“Damn it!”

Cursing aloud, he threw his staff aside in anger.

Another werewolf, Tella, who had been quietly observing, spoke up.

“What’s wrong? Is it not working?”

“If it were working, I wouldn’t be like this! Why is this ancient magic so damn sturdy? It’s infuriating!”

“So, are you going to give up?”

“……”

Kariman didn’t respond to that question. He simply furrowed his brow, lost in thought.

The magic sealing the fortress had weakened considerably over the years.

When he first saw it, he thought it resembled glass covered in cracks, so he expected it would shatter with just a nudge.

However, it hadn’t been that easy. He had been at it for days. The fruits of that effort might be just within reach.

But what if it was just an illusion?

What if he was just wasting time?

Such doubts made Kariman hesitate. Tella seemed to sense his uncertainty and cautiously encouraged him.

“Just a little longer. Come on, Ail, say something.”

The werewolf, who had slumped down in despair, finally spoke.

“Yeah, it can’t be much longer.”

“…Hmph.”

The reason they had come to the long-hidden fortress was not out of greed for some artifact that might be hidden there.

It was because he heard from an unexpectedly encountered dark mage that there were the remains of an ancestor and a pureblood here.

What was important was that if he could obtain even a part of those remains, even those of mixed blood could gain tremendous power.

Kariman tightly closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

“Whew.”

Then he opened his palm. The staff that had been on the ground returned to his hand.

“Right. I can’t give up now, especially after all this effort. The power of pureblood might be right in front of me, so I can’t just stop here… Huh?”

Kariman furrowed his brows. Suddenly feeling psychologically uneasy, his instincts were ringing alarms.

He raised his head and looked back. He instinctively sensed hostility directed at him. And he saw a green light cutting through the sky.

It was approaching him in a perfect parabolic arc.

‘…Green Arrow?!’

He had heard of it. Like silver arrows to a werewolf, they were deadly. He quickly summoned his magic to create a protective barrier.

Whoooom!

He tried to create a three-layered barrier, but before he could, the green arrow struck.

It was much faster than he had anticipated. Its power was strong.

The barrier, which could block dozens of arrows, couldn’t withstand even for a moment and shattered.

The fearsome reputation of the green arrow was no exaggeration.

‘What?’

That was Kariman’s last thought.

Whoosh!

The green arrow swiftly stole his consciousness. His excellent regenerative ability was meaningless. Kariman’s body, with an arrow lodged in his forehead, fell backward.

Boom!

“Kariman?!”

The two werewolves watching from the side were startled by their comrade’s death and turned to see where the arrow had come from.

There were creatures hiding on the hill like rats. For a moment, they looked like elves, but their shabby appearance caught their attention first.

“Humans. Get them!”

“No, kill them!”

The two werewolves, Tella and Ail, exchanged words and moved their bodies.

As they kicked off the ground, they had already closed half the distance. Arrows flew toward them, but they bounced off uselessly.

“I’ll kill you!”

Tella shouted.

Immediately, her form exploded into acceleration and vanished from sight. They lost track of her movement.

The vanished Tella appeared behind DM. Feeling the menacing aura from behind, DM turned around in alarm.

“!”

He tried to respond with the arrow in his hand, but his movements were sluggish. Before that, Tella’s claws would tear him apart.

The moment DM’s face turned pale, he realized something was in front of him.

Bang!

Then Tella’s swung claws collided with the air. It was the barrier Audrey had created.

Cracks began to form on the transparent barrier and then shattered like glass.

The time gained was about two seconds. In that interval, Audrey’s two golems moved.

One shoved DM roughly with its body while extending a shield, and the other swung down a raised sword toward Tella.

Creeeak!

The shield made of metal was torn by sharp claws, but it didn’t break through. It didn’t even budge.

Tella lowered her stance, avoiding the sword and pressing against the shield with her shoulder.

No matter how heavy the golem was, if it was supported by two legs, it would inevitably fall if its balance was disrupted.

She noticed it wobbling. A natural opening presented itself.

“Ha!”

The fallen archer and the terrified priest; both seemed easy to kill.

Tella’s eyes glinted. Her choice was the priest, whose escape route was much cleaner.

Just as she moved, an arrow flew towards her.

Swoosh!

DM, who had been knocked down by the golem, hurriedly threw the arrow he was holding.

It wasn’t particularly threatening, so she trusted her tough hide.

As expected, the arrow didn’t embed itself. It hurt, but it was something she could quickly recover from.

She reached the priest and opened her mouth wide.

“I’ll bite you!”

Snap!

“Yikes!”

Her teeth clamped down. Tella saw the priest barely slipping away in front of her. A man with a shield pulled at the priest’s collar from behind.

“Damn it!”

She was furious at having missed by such a narrow margin. This was no time to be dazed.

Tella saw magic reaching out toward her. It appeared to be chains, definitely a binding spell.

“These guys…!”

Their response was alarmingly quick. She nimbly dodged the chains and began to retreat.

For now, it seemed best to fall back. She would summon the red wolves she had scattered and come back.

“Ail!”

Thinking this, she called out her comrade’s name, but received no response.

Wondering what was happening, she turned her head and witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Ail’s head was flying away, leaving his body behind.

The moment she saw that, Tella made a quick decision. She immediately turned and began to run.

Just as she had approached, she quickly distanced herself from the mercenaries, but a hot voice suddenly came from right beside her.

“You’re too late.”

“?!”

A man with black hair had somehow caught up and was swinging his sword.

There was no dodging it. As he said, it was too late.

“Wait…”

Swish—

———-