Realizing that evasion was out of the question, Glen's arms underwent a complete lupine transformation, swelling as he resorted to the technique of catching the blade with his bare hands.

As the colossal sword descended, he gripped it between his two wolf claws. The force transmitted through the weapon startled Glen.

The strength in his arms at this moment was such that even a fourth - level knight would have been overpowered. The fact that he felt strained was ample evidence of the power of this magic.

The black liquid dripping from the massive broken sword was also extremely corrosive, and Glen could already feel a searing pain.

This formidable magic dissipated in less than a second after Glen intercepted it.

Evidently, its duration was extremely short, vanishing immediately after delivering a single strike.

The Black Sword's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight before him.

However, he quickly realized that he had encountered a formidable opponent and began chanting the incantation for the wind - riding spell, intending to make his escape.

But Glen would not give him the opportunity. As soon as the colossal sword vanished, he charged forward.

Before the Black Sword could complete his incantation, Glen was already upon him!

"Save me, my precious!"

The strange, pitch - black raptor transformed into a dark shadow and lunged straight at Glen. In mid - air, it instantaneously grew to the size of a griffin and opened its mouth wide towards him.

"What on earth is this?"

Glen, already leaping in mid - air with no way to change his course, smoothly plunged into the raptor's mouth.

It was a direct journey to its stomach.

Once the raptor closed its mouth, it shrank back to its original size and flew back into the Black Sword's embrace.

Just as the old gentleman was about to proudly utter a few words of praise, the black raptor suddenly began to thrash about. Then, an arm pierced through its chest and abdomen, and further into the Black Sword's chest!

The arm gradually expanded as it emerged from the raptor's chest and abdomen, so what protruded from the Black Sword's back was a wolf claw of normal size.

The Black Sword spat out blood, his eyes filled with reluctance and a desperate yearning for life, but he still slumped to the ground, powerless.

Glen tore through the flesh and emerged from the body of the black raptor, instantly reverting to his normal size.

I was hoping I wouldn't have to change my clothes this time... he thought with a tinge of resignation as he shook off the blood and gastric juice from his body.

Witnessing the tragic death of their most powerful fighter, all four of them, including Snooker, were consumed by fear.

"I understand. We shouldn't have come to cause you trouble, friend. This was all a misunderstanding. What do you want? I'll do my utmost to satisfy you. In fact, I've long been dissatisfied with those imbeciles in the Punk family. As long as you let us go, we promise to break away from the Punk family and never show up in front of you again!"

Snooker was a man who knew when to yield. Sensing that the situation was extremely unfavorable for him, he immediately cast aside his previous anger and began to grovel.

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The other three mercenaries followed suit, making various promises and offering enticing benefits.

Glen remained silent, slowly advancing towards the group.

After speaking at length and receiving no response from the other side, Snooker grew desperate and exchanged a meaningful glance with his companion.

The latter immediately understood.

Just as Glen was about to reach them, Snooker suddenly threw a strange - shaped ball to the ground.

Bang!

With a dull thud, thick black smoke billowed out, obscuring a large portion of the view.

Glen came to a halt.

The next moment, a dagger exuding a magical aura pierced through the smoke, aimed directly at Glen's throat.

With a casual swipe of his hand, Glen batted the incoming dagger away and reached into the smoke, seizing a mercenary whose mouth was gagged. The opponent attempted to resist, but Glen simply delivered a punch that shattered his skull.

As the smoke gradually cleared, the remaining three launched simultaneous attacks, charging from different angles!

Glen took a step forward, grabbed the weapon of the person in front of him with his right hand, swept him and the weapon to the side, and then used the momentum to turn and deliver a side kick!

Two of them were sent flying, and one had his neck snapped by Glen's grip.

The ones who were sent flying were Snooker and a mercenary brandishing a curved blade. After landing, they attempted to flee.

It was a futile effort. Glen easily caught up with them and dispatched them one by one with a single claw strike.

Thus, all the attackers that night met their demise!

Glen thoroughly searched each of their bodies, confiscating all items of value. The dark mage, in particular, had an abundance of peculiar objects on him.

However, he knew that they were surely useful and took them all.

The only disappointment was that he did not find anything resembling a storage ring. He was unsure whether such items did not exist in this world or if the mage simply had not carried one.

Glen walked over to NightRoar, which was lying on the side, panting with its long tongue extended.

It appeared extremely weak.

He carefully examined its wounds. Although the healing process was slow, it did not seem life - threatening, which put Glen at ease to some extent.

"You're a bit weak..." he murmured with a frown.

NightRoar let out a whine, expressing its helplessness.

Glen squatted down and inserted a finger into the unhealed wound.

After a long while, he withdrew his finger and said, "As I expected, it won't work..."

I can't control the wolf venom in NightRoar's body. Forcibly replacing it might cost its life... Glen pondered, stroking his chin.

Unable to find a way to strengthen NightRoar, Glen had to put the matter aside for the time being. He said to it, "Stay here and rest easy. When I find a way to strengthen you in the future, I'll do my best. Remember to dispose of the bodies."

With that, Glen left the place.

When NightRoar encountered the enemies, it had deliberately stayed away from the pigsty, so it had not been affected.

Glen was quite satisfied with this and decided that he would not be stingy with rewards for NightRoar in the future.

...

The night passed.

In the morning, Glen was awakened by a knock on the door.

He got out of bed and opened the door to find Tia standing there.

"Mr. Glen, Master Ravel and the elven lady have been asking me to wake you up. They said they're waiting for your arrangements. I'm sorry for disturbing your rest."

After hearing her words, Glen ruffled his somewhat disheveled hair and said, "All right. Tell them I'll be down soon."

The little maid curtsied and went downstairs.

Glen closed the door again and touched his face and hair.

Thanks to the wolf venom, he could control the growth of his body hair at will, so Glen never had to worry about the length of his beard or hair.

However, the current length of his hair was such that it could get disheveled during sleep. So, after some thought, he shortened it, making it just a bit longer than a crew cut.

"Without a mirror, I wonder if this hairstyle suits me?"

he whispered softly.

After washing his face casually, Glen immediately went downstairs.

Ravel was dressed in plain, commoner's attire, which made him look much more presentable. He was sitting on a chair, bored out of his mind as he stared at the ceiling.

Gotaya was leaning against the door, gazing outside with a far - away look in her eyes.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, my employees."

Glen's voice drew their attention. "Follow me. I'll assign your tasks."

"Employees?" Gotaya frowned. She had a feeling it wasn't a very flattering term for her.

Ravel didn't give it much thought. He was more open - minded.

First, Glen took them to the pigsty and repeated the same words he had said to Ravel when he first arrived.

As soon as Gotaya saw the state of the pigsty, she frowned. After hearing Glen's arrangements, she couldn't help but jump up:

"You... You want me, a great elven warrior, to do this?"

"So what if you're a great elven warrior? Can't a warrior engage in animal husbandry?" Glen shrugged. "And even though I'm stronger than you, I still do this, don't I?"

"Stronger than me?" The elven maiden looked skeptical. "Don't think you're so great just because you defeated a few mercenaries. If I hadn't been trapped, they wouldn't have stood a chance against me!"

"Then how did you get captured?" Glen looked at her with a look of disdain.