Monster village (part 2)

The inside of the wolfman shaman hut was far more ascetic than what one would expect, even from the glimpses of the interiors of the other tribesmen's abodes.

It was almost fitting to call it primitive.

Despite beds and plaid blankets that have become common amongst its brethren, the shaman opted for a thin layer of hay at the corner of the room to be his sleeping spot.

The one thing that could be called furniture was a massive shelf taking over the west wall, filled to the brim with various herbs and minerals, as well as a small stone furnace dispersing a faint medicinal smell.

Similarly, it was pointless to look for any sort of decorations besides bones and rocks braided together with straws hanging down from the ceiling.

The Wolfman Shaman was curled up on the hey, with the fur of its previous form used as a hooded cape and a blanket.

The monster had an aura of death around it – not the dangerous one, but simply one announcing the end of its life.

"Leaderrrr... Thhhhe prrrriest of deathhh is hhhhherrrrre."

"...ah...!"

The tribesman leading Zorey and Vernlily approached the shaman and gently nudged its side, making the weakened monster let out a quiet yelp.

"...thhhhank you, my chhhhild... leave us now..."

The shaman struggled to sit up but still waved its paw-like hand to send the tribesman away.

"Yes, leaderrrr. Frrrriend..."

The tribesman kowtowed before the shaman and left – nodding its head to the masked priest of death with sadness in its eyes.

"...frrrriend... With my deathhh one of my childrrrren will be able to evelove into a leaderrr and take ourrr villlage to thhhhe next stage... not to mention thhhhat... I fearrr my data becoming corrrupted and turrrning against my beloved childrrrren as an undead... could... could you see to my end so it wouldn't hhhhapen...?"

The once fearsome creature was too exhausted to play around with words and went straight to the point, lowering its head to the masked priest of death and its undead companion.

"I will. But she would be the one dealing the finishing blow. You see, she's..."

"Shhhhe was thhhhe warrrrriorrrr prrrrrotecting thhhe hhhuman village I hhhhad to destrrrrroy in orrrrrderrrrr to establishsss thsssis place... I do not rrrregrrrret a thhhing... but... I neverrr wanted hhhherrrr to turrrn into an undead... If only my taking my life is enoughhhh forrr you to become appeased and you will not rrrraise yourrr hhhhand against my childrrrren..."

Zorey stepped aside and moved his hand towards Vernlily, about to introduce her, but the humanized wolf interrupted him as he raised his head and looked into the burgundy flames covering the under girl's face.

"Hhhhhaaaa... Morrre thhhan anythhhing, doing it thhhhis way lifts a burden frrrrrom my hhhhearrrrt..."

The creature sighed and lowered its head again – as it did, the wolf skin slid off to the side, revealing a mostly human form of the hunched monster.

If not for the status window, the humanized wolf could pass off as an actual human with some rare Class that changes the apperance of its wielder, like berserker or beast warrior.

For the next few moments, the room was eerily quiet, as if the three beings inside were even there, but the silence wasn't perfect either, as the voices of the tribesmen and the beastmen children could be heard with a bit of focus.

"Prayer."

*Haaaa*

As Vernlily didn't make even the slightest move, Zorey acted first, raising his hand and using the Skill that engulfed the Wolfman Shaman.

"...haaaa~"

*WHAM* *SPLAT*

"...!"

The very next moment, just as the weakened monster let out a sigh of relief, Vernlily rushed out and brought down her shield-arm, turning the other monster's head into a bloody pulp without as much as a moment of hesitation.

*squelch*

"..."

Vernlily straightened her back as the stringy fragments of gore stretched out and fell off her shield as she was staring at the fresh corpse as if waiting for it to do something else.

But then a second passed, and then another – after they turned in minutes, it was clear that the dead wolfman shaman would not become an undead, and the undead girl turned towards the silent priest of death.

"With that, it seems that the grudge you had should be resolved, and there should be nothing stopping my Skills from getting rid of your malice."

The boy took off his mask and tried to smile and sound as if he was happy, but honestly, he could not feel any worse...

"Zorey, you see... You weren't the only one keeping..."

After observing him and gathering her own courage, Vernlily clenched her fists and spoke up.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

"?!?!"

"!?!?"

Just to be interrupted by the deafening sound of an explosion that almost caused the shaman's hut to collapse coming from the outside, followed by screams, roars, and cries.

*clang*

*WHAM*

"...!"

Zorey and Vernlily rushed outside – the door appeared to be stuck, but it didn't stop the masked boy who tore it off from the hinges and cast it aside, momentarily speechless at the sight of carnage.

Before his very eyes, almost half of the monster village was engulfed in flames, with a good part of the wall being blown off by some powerful magic skill, and the adventurers were pouring in, ganging up on the unprepared wolfman tribesmen still disoriented by the explosion.

"JUST AS WE THOUGHT THERE ARE BEASTMEN AMONGST THEM! DON'T KILL THEM DIRECTLY. WAIT FOR THE MONSTER TAMERS OR THE NECROMANCER TO FINISH THEM OFF WITH THEIR FAMILIARS!"

"!!!"

The roar of the heavily armored man leading the assault stirred Zorey awake, and the boy hurriedly put Vernlily's mask back on to disguise himself into a monster.

*WHOOOSH*

"Wh...?! VERNLILY, DON'T!"

While he was doing that, Vernlily already sprung into action, and the boy's heart dropped as he was sure she was going to use this opportunity to join the slaughter.

*CLANG*

"What the...?!"

"?!?!"

But the next scene made him speechless as the undead girl jumped in between a wolfman tirebman shielding two beastman children and a warrior in skimpy fur armor swinging a massive greatsword and blocking the strike with her shield-arm.

"THERE'S AN UNDEAD ON THEIR SI-hurgh...!"

*STAB*

The warrior with a greatsword staggered back and raised his voice to alarm the others, but his shout was cut short by Vernlily's other hand piercing his exposed throat...

*WHOOOOO* *SPLAT*

"...?!"

...which was followed by a blast of burgundy fire that disconnected the human's head from the rest of his body and sent it flying back and even hitting the shoulder of another adventurer.

"FRRRIEND! WE WILL HOLD THHHHEM BACK, PLEASE SAVE THE CHHHHILDRRRRREN!"

"!!!"

Zorey was spotted by the tribesman who took him to the shaman's hut and flinched as the monster roared at him before throwing itself at the advancing adventurers.

"...!"

Even with that, Zorey hesitated.

Fighting against the human adventurers could easily result in their death and Zorey getting red-named, which would ban him from most of the settlements – not by his choice this time.

"FRRRIEND...!"

The tribesman's roar pierced through the chaos – the humanized wolf was using its body to block the tamed monsters in service of the monster tamer as they had their eyes set on the crying beastmen children desperately clinging to their parents or each other while death and destruction were swallowing their village.

One of the children turned around and looked straight at the masked boy and reached their tiny hand towards him...

"YOU DAMNED HUMANS! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!"

*WHOOOOSH*

*SLAM* *SPLURT*

[You defeated Jeremiah's tamed monsters]

[EXP points granted]

[Warnig!]

[Killing any more of another player's tamed monsters will result in an orange name penalty]

Zorey's heart filled with rage, and he howled – the next moment he full-body-tackled the tamed monsters, ripping through them as if they were made out of red gelatine and receivieng a threatening notification form the System.

"GHAAAAAAA?!" "UUURGH!" "HUAAAGH...?!"

*WHAAAAAAAAAAM*

"Don't fight them! I will hold them back – you protect the children!"

The very next second, Vernlily ran to Zorey's side, pushing a bunch of adventurers in front of her with her shield like a bulldozer, and called out to him, sending the humans flying.

"But...!"

"Don't act stupid now, Zorey! Don't you think they all will turn into undead afterwards?! It's just a part of your job! HMPH!"

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

The masked boy called out, but Venrlily scoffed at him and slammed her shield to the ground, erecting an eight-foot-tall wall of burgundy flames dividing the attacking human forces from the retreating wolfmen tribesmen and the beastmen children.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a perfect solution and many humanized wolves ended up trapped together with the adventurers, but instead of despairing, the monsters gained a second wind in the sails of their determination as their brethren had a chance of survival.

"Hold on to me, and don't let go!"

Zorey stepped back from the flames and effortlessly picked up a bunch of beastmen and one tribesman.

"They have a Paladin, so be careful!"

"Palladin...?!"

Before rushing out, Zorey called out to Vernlily, causing her to flinch as she suddenly appeared hesitant.