Another cry echoed through. Asa knew that the hunters were torturing the woman. It was a method used by that race when hunting humans.

  If he turns around and runs to save him, he will fall into this stupid trap, and the result is that the two of them become decorations for some beastman tribe.

  The waters of the Danube River flowed gently and rapidly eastward, with tiny waves rising as if beckoning to him.

  Come on, come on, jump in and its safe, although it will be heartbreaking, it will be regretful, but at least you will be alive. After a few years, maybe you will forget about this matter, and even use it as a topic of conversation with friends over drinks. If you cant forget after a few years, then youll definitely be able to forget after several decades.

  Perhaps you can use this sadness as motivation, and in a few years become a general, leading an army to sweep away all the beastmen on the continent, avenging that woman...

  The third scream was heard, already weak to the point of being almost just a worried illusion.

  Asa let out a loud curse, the most poisonous one he knew, turned around and ran wildly back the way he came, shouting at the top of his lungs to inform the pursuers that his stupid trap had worked just as he had hoped.

  Less than ten minutes later, Asa, who had been running wildly, saw the pursuer and the woman he was holding in his hand.

  Her raven-black hair spilled out from the hood, dishevelled and obscuring her anguished expression. Her right hand was twisted in a grotesque pose, resembling a withered branch, its bones shattered beyond recognition. The damage wasnt caused by a single blow, but rather by repeated fractures, each one inflicted after the last, until there was nowhere left to strike.

  Asa let out a sigh of relief, apart from this hand, it was temporarily impossible to see where she had suffered fatal injuries. She was just like a small chicken waiting to be slaughtered, being held in mid-air by the hunter, weak moans came from her mouth, the sound was intermittent, as if the claws that were pinched on her neck could cut off her breath at any time.

  Along that hairy giant claw, Asa saw the beastman who had been chasing him for three days at such a close distance under the daylight for the first time.

  A giant figure, a foot taller and half wider than him, with brown fur covering his entire body, high-standing ears, yellow pupils, a narrow mouth, and a dog-like head - this is a werewolf. The proportions of its various parts are roughly similar to those of humans, but the perfect curves of muscles and bones also reveal the power and agility that is beyond human reach.

  The werewolf wore a specially made leather armor, and the meteor hammer on the ground that had crushed more than a dozen of Asas comrades heads was also specially made. Humans and dwarves could not use such a huge weapon. This terrifying equipment matched his body perfectly, enough to let him take on an entire team of soldiers alone.

  However, this lone werewolf didnt look as intimidating and menacing as it should be, but rather somewhat pitiful. The fur on its left arm had been matted together with blood, and the wound was still slowly bleeding. Ankhas slender sword wasnt any less deadly just because it couldnt be used for chopping, its unique blade would rip apart surrounding blood vessels and tissues once rotated after piercing into flesh, the long and thin body of the sword was forged from the finest alloy of dwarves, capable of even piercing through bone.

  On the back of his left paw, there was a charred mass that could be seen to have been burned and exploded muscle tissue after being scorched. The surrounding fur had already been burned off. This was the mark of the fireball technique. Looking at the slight scorch marks on the hair on his head, it could be known that this was originally a fireball shot towards his face, which he blocked with his hand in a situation where he couldnt dodge. The timing of this fireball must have been grasped extremely well.

  If they were to work together with the woman, their chances of winning would actually be quite high... Asa felt an overwhelming sense of regret. Now all he could do was go all out and make a desperate gamble, there should still be hope, after all, the Hunters left arm had already...

  The hunter let out a low growl, bared his teeth and flexed his shoulder. Asa didnt understand the meaning of this expression, but he clearly saw the muscles on the paw that grasped the woman bulge up.

  The prey has arrived, the goal has been achieved, and the bait is naturally useless.

  "Stop!" Asa let out a hoarse shout and rushed towards the pursuers.

  "Crack", the crisp sound of bone breaking, Asa couldnt tell if it came from the womans neck or his own body. His legs, exhausted from running, had no strength left to dodge, and Asa almost watched with open eyes as the pursuer accurately kicked him in the chest, sending him flying like a straw man, heavily crashing into a tree. The knife in his hand also got stuck in the tree.

  Ah Sa curled up like a shrimp, blood and saliva overflowing from his mouth and nose. Several ribs were broken, fortunately not piercing the internal organs. In his chest cavity, countless fierce bulls seemed to be charging left and right, squeezing out all feelings except pain, making it impossible for him to take a breath.

  This is an anticlimactic ending. Looking at the prey that had cost him so much thought over the past three days, only to find it was not even worth a blow, the hunter felt disappointed. He had originally hoped to end it with a brilliant and decisive battle.

  This morning, when he found obvious footprints and smell beside the bonfire, he was certain that it was a trap. How could this cunning prey seemingly deliberately show its tracks to him? It must be some trick. So he chased another line of footprints that didnt seem quite right. When he found his judgment wrong again and was deceived by the preys trick, surprise and anger completely disoriented him.

  And this other humans combat strength was beyond expectation, almost getting hit in the face by a fireball. Fortunately, this human was also very fragile and immediately lost his combat strength due to severe pain after having his arm broken.

  The result was ultimately his own victory. He successfully lured the escaped prey over, and now he could walk over and easily twist its head off.

  No, theres no need to rush. Savor the process, every detail, and see what this human will do when they know their life is about to end - it could be an interesting finale after all.

  Want to play one last trick? Or struggle a bit more? Or curl up into a ball and let out some meaningless wails of grief? Better not, Ive had enough of this already.

  Asa finally managed to catch his breath, the ribs in his chest felt like they were filled with knives, still moving up and down with each breath. He struggled to lift his head and look at the knife stuck in the tree trunk, the white sap secreted by the tree had already covered the blade.

  He recognized the tree, whose straight and thin roots had once reminded him of a sentence that was almost shameless. Now he remembered it again, looked at the woman who had fallen to the ground and was no longer moaning, and a force of grief and indignation supported him as he stood up, pulled the knife out from the trunk, and with all his might raised the knife and charged forward.

  The hunter almost looks at the oncoming prey with a pitiful attitude. Is this slow and obvious movement like that of a turtle your last struggle? Even every muscle twitch and distortion due to pain can be seen, as well as where the knife falls with how much force and in what place.

  The hunter raised the handle of his meteor hammer, deflecting the knife with no deviation. A loud metallic crash echoed through the air. As expected, the knife and hand were repelled together, along with the body being knocked back, leaving a gaping opening between chest and abdomen. With just one swipe of his claws from below, he could rip out that scorching hot heart.

  The hunter had not anticipated a seemingly insignificant detail. The tree resin stuck to the knife turned into countless small drops under intense vibration, splashing onto the hunters eyes and wet nose.

  Thats not sap, its thousands of sharp knives with deadly poison and thorns that have been burned to a deep red. The hunter let out a long, mournful cry that even he had never heard before.

  The entire world was replaced by this pain. The visual field first turned a deep crimson before completely blacking out, the nose was gone, and there was nothing but pain, even in the ears only ones own mournful cries could be heard. Then the remaining bodily sensations immediately discovered that an icy object had been inserted into the body from the lower abdomen all the way to the chest, not with much effort, but very resolutely squeezed out its position from among the originally neatly arranged internal organs.

  A fear that could even mask the pain rushed in, and the hunter subconsciously grasped something under his belly, using all his strength and fear. Then he heard another scream that was no less than his own miserable cry.

  Ah Sa couldnt hear the sound of his own wrist bones shattering into pieces, but he could feel countless bone fragments rampaging through his muscles and blood vessels, and even bursting out of his skin. He wasnt using force; he had long since lost all strength. Instead, he was using this immense stabbing pain to bend his knees and frantically thrust towards the knife handle. A richly elastic sensation of cardiac muscle rupture transmitted from the knife handle.

  The hunter suddenly stopped howling, clutched at his chest with all his might, so hard that the sharp claws pierced through his own fur and into his skin, as if trying to stuff back in shape the thing that had burst inside. But after stumbling a few steps, he crashed to the ground.

  Asa covered her left hand and knelt on the ground, wailing and panting for a while before she could barely get up.

  Its all over now.

  No, not yet. Cant stay here for too long, the corpse of the hunter will attract a bunch of lizards once it starts to smell. Already weakened enough to be preyed upon by those ugly scavengers, hope the womans backpack has some useful medicine or something high-end like that water purification charm.

  Asa walked over unsteadily. Looking at the womans pale face, which was once made beautiful by her smile, and in half a day, it would become food for those ugly animals just like the wolf mans corpse over there.

  Im sorry, its all my fault. Asa knelt painfully in front of her. Suddenly he saw that mouth seemed to move, and thought it was his own illusion, but immediately heard a groan, louder than his own.