Chapter 186: Your She-Werewolf Has Arrived, Your Majesty
"Vampiric Nightbird!"
"Vampiric Nightbird!"
Geralt and Agatha exclaimed in unison.
"I heard about it from my mother. It's an extremely vile form of dark magic. The caster curses a pregnant woman about to give birth, causing her to die during labor. The fetus is then transformed into a monstrous Vampiric Nightbird, which bursts from her womb. It feeds on her rotting corpse within the stone coffin, growing until it's strong enough to crawl out at night to hunt."
Agatha said gravely, "It looks like the Vampiric Nightbird has matured. Otherwise, it would only prey on small animals. Once it reaches adulthood, it starts hunting humans."
Geralt nodded in agreement.
Of course, he had only read about it in books—this was his first time encountering one in person.
"Then who cast the curse?" Gu Yi asked.
"Who else could it be?" Allen smiled cryptically in the direction of the royal palace and said, "I've seen episode three of the first season of The Witcher. The real culprit… let's keep that secret for now."
"You mean the king?" Geralt's expression changed slightly as another possibility occurred to him.
The current king had seized the throne. He probably knew there were hidden truths and might be using them to cover up the real story—with the group unknowingly doing his dirty work.
"Just sit back and enjoy the show," Allen said, pulling out a map.
The red marker indicated the starting point: the Kingdom of Temeria.
It was a route chart from Kamar-Taj, tracking the movements of the griffin mage across the European continent before his death. Allen was calculating how much supplies they'd need for the journey.
The mechanics behind Kamar-Taj's teleportation required two conditions: either visual familiarity with the destination, or a specific person they were seeking. Meeting either requirement allowed for teleportation.
So, Allen couldn't just teleport anywhere on the map at will.
Before coming to Temeria, a seasoned mage had shown him an image of the location using illusion magic. That's why he could teleport directly here.
A desolate mountain castle.
At the entrance stood two guards, faithfully fulfilling their daytime watch duties.
Fortunately, they only worked day shifts. If they had to stand guard at night, they would rather defy royal orders and flee Temeria with their families.
Whoosh…
A chilly breeze swept by.
The guards involuntarily shuddered and caught a whiff of the foul stench wafting from the castle.
Awooo…
"Was that a wolf howl!?"
The guards looked around anxiously. "Is a werewolf coming out?"
"Aren't they supposed to come out at night?"
"Werewolves aren't vampires. They're not afraid of sunlight."
Woof…
"Run for your life… it's a werewolf!"
"Wait for me—help!"
The two guards fled in panic, dropping their spears in a mad dash to escape.
They even raced each other—after all, werewolves always kill the slowest one first.
From the corner outside the castle, Allen emerged, looking pleased with himself. "A little trick and I scared them off."
"… …"
Geralt, Agatha, and Gu Yi all stared at him, visibly exasperated.
"You could've just explained your purpose," Gu Yi reminded him. "There was no need to scare them."
They were here to eliminate the werewolf. The guards should've let them through—there was no reason to stop them.
"Yao-mei, I won't let you question my genius," Allen retorted stubbornly.
Toilet plunger staff tucked at his waist, he strode into the castle with bold steps.
A wave of nauseating stench slammed into him, the overwhelming rot of years-old decaying innards.
Blegh…
He barely made it a few steps before fighting the urge to vomit.
"Disgusting… I miss the vampires that invaded Gotham—they were at least clean."
In Allen's eyes, vampires at least maintained a semblance of hygiene.
He tore a strip of cloth from his waist and tied it over his nose to reduce the stench.
He walked straight to the far end of the castle's main hall.
Along the way, they passed many desiccated corpses, all sharing one feature: their bellies had been ripped open, and their organs were missing.
"This is characteristic of the Vampiric Nightbird—it's a picky eater and only consumes internal organs."
Seeing the scene before them, Geralt was now fully convinced that it was indeed a Vampiric Nightbird.
A bloodthirsty, ravenous werewolf wouldn't be so selective—it would devour the entire body.
At the end of the hall stood a stone coffin.
On the edge of the lid were bloodstained claw marks, darkened by time.
Agatha said firmly, "Vampiric Nightbirds hate sunlight. It's definitely hiding inside the coffin."
"Let's open it and wake her up."
Allen stepped forward, placing his hands on the edges of the coffin and pushing.
Creeaak…
The lid didn't budge. Instead, the coffin shifted slightly on the floor.
"Why won't it open? Is it locked?" Allen frowned, inspecting the seam between the lid and the coffin—completely flush, no gap at all.
"It might be holding it shut from the inside. It'll probably open itself once night falls," Geralt said, glancing out the window. "The sun is almost down. When it climbs out, one of you must immediately lie in the coffin to block its retreat. If we can keep it out until dawn, the sunlight will lift the curse."
With years of experience hunting monsters, Geralt already had a plan.
Gu Yi and Agatha exchanged a glance, both clearly reluctant to be the one inside the coffin.
Setting aside whether it was bad luck—just the stench alone could kill someone.
"Let's go!"
All three turned to look at Allen and were stunned speechless.
He had hoisted the entire stone coffin onto one shoulder and was striding out of the castle with ease.
"He's that strong? Why would he even need my protection?" Geralt muttered in disbelief.
"Maybe he needs a guide. It's easy to get lost in Europa," Agatha replied.
She had grown up on the continent with her mother and knew that even a small detour could lead them across the border into another kingdom.
Europa was divided into four major regions, each vastly different. Some nations, due to religious beliefs, were extremely hostile toward witches. Whether white or black, they'd be burned at the stake if caught.
Allen carried the coffin straight into the city, and the townsfolk scattered in fear at the sight.
It wasn't just the taboo surrounding the dead—it was his inhuman strength that shocked them.
The stone coffin easily weighed over a thousand pounds, yet he carried it single-handedly, like a mythological demigod.
Commoners had no concept of divine power. Anything beyond human comprehension was simply called a miracle.
"Halt! This is the royal palace—no one enters without the king's permission!"
The guards blocked Allen's path, especially fearful of the coffin he carried. If it dropped, someone would be flattened.
A portal shimmered open.
Ignoring the guards, Allen strode into the palace.
To be honest, the guards' warning was mostly symbolic—no one wanted to die for their job.
Inside the royal chambers, King Foltest was preparing for his evening entertainment.
Hearing the commotion outside, he impatiently stopped his warmup with a maid and got up to investigate.
Bang!
The doors burst open.
"Your Majesty, your she-werewolf has arrived."
Allen casually set the stone coffin on the floor. "I even shipped her discreetly—no one saw her along the way."
It was definitely discreet—he brought back the whole coffin.
"I told you to get rid of it!" Foltest said, face full of urgency.
Allen held out his hand like he was asking for money. "Whether I get rid of it or not, you still need to pay up first."
"I'll have it brought right away—just hurry up and take care of it," Foltest said anxiously.
Thud!
A loud bump came from inside the coffin.
The sun had now set.
The Vampiric Nightbird was ready to hunt.