The air was thick with a stinging, acrid scent—the stench of the evil god’s blood.

  Glenn felt only a faint dizziness upon breathing it in, but the antlered man and the sorceress immediately erected a protective spell to shield themselves from the fumes.

  "Werewolf! It’s entering its Last Frenzy! We’ve already covered this chamber with specialized magic. Its power will soon be weakened. Don’t clash with it head-on—just endure!"

  The antlered man issued his final warning.

  "Last Frenzy...? That doesn’t sound easy to deal with," Glenn muttered, steadying himself for the assault to come.

  The battered flesh-mass was rolling violently, swelling and contracting in chaotic pulses.

  Suddenly, a rhythmic drumming echoed through the air. The chaotic breaths of expansion and contraction began to sync with the pulse.

  The drumming quickened, faster and faster—until, under their tense gazes, the flesh-mass exploded.

  Shreds of divine flesh splattered across Glenn’s body, sizzling with corrosive heat.

  The other two remained sheltered behind their barrier, seemingly unharmed, yet both looked severely shaken.

  When the bloody haze dispersed, they saw the mass had not fully detonated—only its outer shell had burst.

  Beneath it was raw, glistening red flesh. Veins marked with strange floral patterns crisscrossed its surface, giving it a grotesque elegance.

  Moments later, a faint disturbance sounded beneath the mass. With a wet, squeezing motion, it expelled a mysterious form.

  The antlered man and the sorceress stiffened—this was clearly not within their expectations.

  The expelled creature lifted an arm-like appendage, bracing itself as it crawled upright.

  It was a four-limbed being, its body shaped like a grey cucumber. At the top—its head—glowed a luminous "X," another shining on its belly. Those markings, it seemed, were its eyes.

  Several umbilical-like cords still tethered it to the underside of the mass.

  Glenn guessed it had been forced out prematurely—its grey skin was soft, almost tender.

  The creature turned its glowing cross-eyes toward Glenn, then toward the pair behind him.

  Just as Glenn braced for an attack, the flesh-mass disgorged a second identical creature.

  A few seconds later, a third. And so on—until eight had emerged.

  Only then did the red mass collapse in on itself, hollowed out.

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  The eight grey creatures swayed unsteadily, their gazes darting between Glenn and the other two.

  "So this is the 'Last Frenzy' you were talking about? It doesn’t look right to me," Glenn said.

  But the antlered man could not answer. This scene fell squarely into the category of rare, catastrophic anomalies—mentioned only in ancient records—events that usually spelled death for the purifiers involved.

  When Glenn received no reply, he knew the situation had spiraled beyond their plan. He would have to adapt on his own.

  He barely had time to think.

  The eight grey creatures moved simultaneously—as though following an unspoken command—and all lunged toward the sorceress.

  Their speed was terrifying. Glenn swept in like a black gale, intercepting most of them, but one managed to extend a red tendril—when had it grown that?—and pierce straight through the sorceress’s abdomen.

  A surge of life energy rushed into the creature. The sorceress, experienced as she was, had prepared several safeguards the moment she sensed danger.

  Otherwise, she would have turned to blood mist the instant the tendril pierced her.

  Glenn severed the tendril with a single swipe. The detached portion dissolved instantly, but the sorceress collapsed, her mana draining rapidly, her life weakening by the second.

  Glenn was struck simultaneously by the remaining seven creatures. The Blazing Fangs' power was devoured in an instant, and even his Seventh-Tier werewolf curse-force was nearly exhausted.

  "It seems I’ll have to use the backup plan," he murmured.

  "What backup plan!? In this situation, whatever plan you think you have will fail!" The antlered man shouted, the only one still unharmed.

  Glenn did not answer.

  He mustered the last fragments of his strength, hurling the eight creatures back, then seized the two incapacitated companions and flung them into the passage they had come from.

  There were no evil souls or curses there—the antlered man would survive, but the sorceress... almost certainly would not.

  Seeing the tunnel blocked by Glenn’s massive back, the antlered man roared, "Are you insane!? Do you really think you can face an evil god alone!?"

  "Shut up. Stay back. I’m about to unleash something big."

  Glenn’s voice was unnervingly calm.

  A heartbeat later, the eight grey creatures skewered him clean through.

  The antlered man watched in horror as several red tendrils nearly pierced him as well.

  Before he could react, a surge of pure lunar magic filled the air.

  Glenn felt the bloodlust in his mind subside dramatically. Without hesitation, he allowed the wolf-poison within him to mutate and spread once more.

  The dense cursed smoke around him collapsed inward, swallowed by his body as a monstrous, world-rending aura erupted outward.

  The eight grey creatures sensed danger beyond anything they had known. Their instincts screamed for them to flee.

  But it was too late.

  Glenn’s lupine body surged outward in a violent transformation. Golden light rippled beneath his fur, and streams of molten gold spilled from his eyes and jaws.

  His vision shifted—he no longer saw mere colors, but the very essence of matter, of elements. He could see through the grey creatures, perceiving every structure that composed them.

  The Blazing Fangs transformed as well, roaring with the voice of a bone dragon—its cry filled with exultant ecstasy.

  Glenn’s body expanded until it nearly filled the entire subterranean chamber. Had he been able to stand fully upright, he would have stood over three hundred meters tall—a true monster.

  The Blazing Fangs grew more massive and terrifying, clinging to his colossal forearm like a pillar of heaven, its draconic engravings larger and more vivid than those of any real dragon.

  The eight grey creatures lifted their heads, staring in pure terror at the unprecedented monstrosity towering over them.

  Instinct urged them to flee immediately. But the walls of this chamber—reinforced by their own power, later expanded by some unknown force—were far too strong.

  Even if they tried, they no longer had time to break through.