Chapter Sixty-Eight: Michaelo

Sparks flew as blades clashed. The ruthless young woman wielded overwhelming force, leaving Alex utterly defenseless.

“You’ve lost!” As his sword was knocked from his grasp and he landed on the ground with a thud, the girl pressed her blade to his throat.

“Perrin! Please, come to your senses!” Alex, unwilling to accept defeat, desperately tried to reach her.

“I am perfectly clear-headed,” Perrin replied coldly. She drew a rope from her cloak, binding Alex’s hands behind his back.

Dragged through the city walls, Alex was shoved before Jia Zhengjin. Perrin gave his knee a sharp kick, forcing him to kneel on one leg.

Alex looked back at Perrin, his eyes filled with despair. He could never have imagined that Perrin would turn on him like this.

“Master, I have completed the task,” Perrin said expressionlessly to Jia Zhengjin.

“Very good!” Jia Zhengjin looked down at the humiliated man kneeling before him, resignation in his voice as he shrugged. “Brother, I truly pity you.”

“Spare me your gloating!” Alex shouted furiously, “You must have used some evil magic to make Perrin act this way!”

Perrin placed her hand on Alex’s head and forcefully pressed it down, making him stare at the cold, hard ground.

“Hey, don’t be like that!” Jia Zhengjin interjected hastily. “After all, he is your beloved… Oh, wait! He’s the man hopelessly in love with you. Treating him like this is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Perrin released her grip, her voice indifferent.

To be treated this way by the woman he loved, who now obeyed a foreigner’s every command, made Alex’s heart ache so much he could scarcely breathe.

“So, you’re the village chief’s son, aren’t you?” Jia Zhengjin asked, looking down at Alex.

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Alex raised his head, glaring with hatred. “You cruelly murdered my father. I will avenge him, no matter what!”

“No, no, no!” Jia Zhengjin wagged his finger in front of Alex’s face. “Your father brought it on himself. He was an old man who abused his power and caused harm. Normally I respect my elders, but he dared covet my wife and even imprisoned my father- and mother-in-law. That’s too much! I merely gave him the punishment he deserved. Who knew he couldn’t endure it?”

“No matter how you try to twist it, you can’t change the truth!” Alex retorted furiously. “If you have any guts, kill me now! Otherwise, we are enemies until death!”

“To be honest, I’m not worried at all.” Jia Zhengjin shrugged. “You couldn’t even beat Perrin. You’re no threat to me.”

“What magic did you use to control Perrin? Release her at once!” Alex roared.

“I don’t know any magic…”

As he spoke, a low, bestial roar echoed from afar, followed by the villagers’ panicked cries.

“Awooo!” The kobold sentries sounded the alarm.

“Perrin, throw him in the dungeon first. We’ll deal with him once this is over,” Jia Zhengjin ordered.

“Yes,” Perrin replied impassively. She grabbed Alex by his clothes, hauling him off toward the dungeon.

Jia Zhengjin hurried up to the city wall, shielding his eyes from the sun. The villagers whom Wolf had previously frightened away were now running back in terror, shouting as they fled.

“What’s happening? Prepare for action!” Jia Zhengjin commanded. Wolf and all the kobolds readied themselves for battle.

“Help! Somebody help!”

“Megalo! Megalo!”

“I don’t want to die!”

“Rudy!!”

“Run, George!!”

“No!!”

“Rudy’s been eaten!”

“George too!”

“Shan’s been eaten!”

“Don’t eat me! Please, don’t eat me!!”

Over five hundred villagers surged forward in chaos, their numbers dwindling as they fled.

What on earth was happening? Jia Zhengjin watched in confusion.

Before long, a hulking figure appeared on the horizon—about six or seven meters tall, resembling a primitive man slathered in green paint. But this giant had three heads sprouting from its neck, an abomination. As it caught up with the villagers, it seized people in its massive fists and stuffed them into its mouths, chewing with gruesome, bloody relish. In moments, it had devoured more than a dozen people!

“Megalo? What the hell is that?” Jia Zhengjin stared in shock at the monstrous creature.

“What do we do?” Wolf asked.

“Don’t just stand there! Go save them!” These were, after all, Tina’s villagers, and Jia Zhengjin had promised her they’d be spared. If they were all eaten by this beast, he’d break his word.

Wolf received the order and sprinted toward Megalo.

The villagers, terrified for their lives, saw the monster behind and a werewolf blocking their path ahead. Today, it seemed, was certain death.

They squeezed their eyes shut in despair—only to realize, moments later, that the werewolf ignored them, leaping past to confront the monstrous Megalo.

Megalo noticed the werewolf and lunged with its massive hand, eager to sample a new kind of delicacy.

Wolf leapt nimbly aside, dodging the attack. His claws flashed, raking deep bloody furrows across Megalo’s chest. The creature, unfazed, counterattacked, intent on catching and devouring the werewolf.

But Wolf was far too agile and strong, darting around Megalo and attacking relentlessly with his claws.

As the panic-stricken villagers neared the city gates, Jia Zhengjin called out, “Why are you all running? There are so many of you! Turn around and shoot your bows! Wolf is keeping the monster busy—attack together! Stop running!”

The villagers, lost in chaos and leaderless since Alex’s capture, instinctively obeyed Jia Zhengjin’s shout. They forgot their earlier anger and desire to storm the walls and kill the foreigner.

Megalo, despite its three heads, was sluggish in movement. Against Wolf, it was powerless—its simple minds fixated on fighting him rather than hunting the easier prey among the villagers.

Regaining some composure, the villagers drew their wooden bows, keeping their distance as they unleashed a concentrated volley at Megalo.