With Liam's reminder, Rona subconsciously glanced up at the man's arm, and what she saw instantly changed her expression.
"What... what is going on here?"
Rona was a bit bewildered. She had heard of people getting infected or sick after being bitten by a rabid dog, but she had never heard of body hair growing longer after a dog bite. Moreover, it was happening too quickly; he had just been bitten, and there was already a reaction?
"No... something's not right, this is too strange!" Liam quickly pulled down the man's sleeve, covering the rapidly growing body hair on him.
The man's breathing became heavy and short. Liam seemed to have thought of something and pulled open his eyelids, revealing an eye filled with bloodshot veins, almost completely red.
These eyes were still unfocused and vacant, but Liam knew clearly that these were not the eyes of a rational and moral human, but rather those of a bloodthirsty beast.
He realized the problem was more serious than he, or anyone, had imagined. What was now roaming the forest might not just be simple packs of wild beasts.
"I think I know why Lister's dog suddenly went mad."
Liam had never known that there were such monsters in the forests of Gilneas. The injuries they caused seemed to transmit some kind of "disease," and this disease progressed very quickly, first affecting the injured hound. Moreover, this disease could be further spread through secondary transmission.
Just half an hour after the hound was injured, it transformed from a well-trained, loyal hound into a ferocious, rabid beast. And this effect seemed to spread even faster in humans; immediately after being bitten, this unfortunate dog trainer showed the same symptoms as the hound.
"What happened? Why does this man look so pained?" Darius walked over to Rona, looking at the man who was being supported by Rona and her attendants, but whose eyes were still tightly closed, and whose jaw and body were constantly trembling, and asked.
"I don't know either. He was bitten by that mad dog and then turned into this."
Rona hadn't noticed the details Liam had discovered. She looked at the increasingly distressed man and answered her father's question with some anxiety and worry.
"Uncle Darius."
Liam stood up and whispered something into Darius's ear. Darius's face showed surprise, and he quickly knelt down to verify it, finding that it was exactly as Liam had described.
"I suggest we tie him up with ropes, otherwise, if he truly loses his mind like that hound, we could easily be completely defeated from within." Liam's face was grim. He felt that those watching them from outside the cave might not be unintelligent beasts.
"Just... do as you say." Darius gestured to his guards, who immediately took the man aside to deal with him. "Damn it, what on earth is attacking us? Are there such monsters in the Black Forest?"
"Regardless, our most urgent task now is to find a way to leave here or rendezvous with the rescue party." Genn walked up to Darius and said urgently, "Hiding here is not a long-term solution."
"My father is right. We know nothing of their numbers or intentions. They are lurking now, probably waiting for someone among us to be bitten by that hound," Liam added. "And... if we consider the worst-case scenario, the commotion that just happened inside the cave might have already been 'heard' by them. Beasts' five senses are much sharper than ours."
Darius and Rona were horrified to hear this. It made them feel not just surrounded by a group of terrifying beasts, but rather targeted by a group of cunning and experienced hunters. These creatures had intelligence, could coordinate, and had even set a trap specifically to lure them in.
Thinking about why they left a hound weaker than a human, but instead abducted the hunter, it was probably because they didn't want the people here to know what they truly were, letting them die in ignorance.
Fortunately, Liam discovered something was amiss in advance. Otherwise, if Darius had treated the creatures in the forest as an ordinary pack of beasts, thinking that a cave and a few guards could hold them off, Darius and his team would likely have been completely wiped out, with no one spared.
"But I'm afraid we can't easily leave this cave," Rona said, looking at Liam. "If it's truly as you say, our rash entry into the forest at this moment, with our long procession, would make us targets—we've already paid the price of two men in the forest."
Liam fell silent. Indeed, Darius and his men had already paid the price of two hunters to prove that in the forest, they might die without even seeing their opponents. They could only rely on defending this cave to seize a glimmer of hope.
But... they couldn't stay too long. Liam felt that if they truly dragged it out until dusk, when the sunlight faded, the dim forest might become the grave for all of them.
Genn patted Liam's shoulder, "You go fire the signal flare, tell our people we are here, and wait for the guard to arrive. A few beasts are nothing to fear, and staying here for a while is not a problem."
Listening to his father's words, Liam immediately nodded. Indeed, they couldn't let the others present feel overly panicked, as that would be detrimental to them. Besides, perhaps he was just overthinking it; those monsters should not be able to contend with the Gilneas army.
A blue signal flare exploded in the forest's mid-air. Liam put his smoking short pistol back into its holster, warily surveying the surrounding forest—just like the place they had been before, the forest here was eerily quiet.
Genn and Darius's guards also received orders from their masters and began to gather materials on the spot, using nearby wood and stones to build some rudimentary shelters. This way, if beasts attacked, they could provide some defense.
They didn't know what kind of creatures were stirring in the forest, but for now, they could only treat them as a pack of beasts. Being surrounded by beasts was still better than being surrounded by monsters, especially intelligent, man-eating monsters.
However, after the rescue flare was fired, the sky gradually darkened, but rescue was slow to arrive, and the surrounding forest remained eerily quiet.
Liam leaned against the low stone wall, watching the light in the forest dim little by little, his mood growing increasingly anxious.
Genn stood beside the Prince, silent, but his gradually sharpening gaze indicated that the King's heart was not calm.
When the last faint yellow sunlight filtering through the leaves could no longer slant, there was finally movement in the forest. Liam abruptly looked up in the direction of the sound, and the next sight made his hair stand on end.
A Gilneas soldier, dressed in black leather armor and holding a torch, stumbled out of the forest. His face and body were covered in blood and dirt, but he didn't seem to be injured himself. However, his scabbard and flintlock were missing. When he saw Liam's position, it was like a drowning man seeing a life-saving log.
He scrambled up from the ground, ignoring the fallen torch, and was about to run towards Liam's position, but before he could complete his movement, his entire body suddenly stiffened, and both his feet hung in mid-air.
The young Gilneas soldier looked down in horror at the sharp claws that had pierced his chest. His blood stained the dark fur.
The sharp claws had pierced his lungs and windpipe, and he could only make gasping sounds, unable to speak at all.
Immediately after, another claw pierced his abdomen, then flung the soldier's body away. After crashing into a tree, the soldier's eyes dimmed, and he had already lost all signs of life.
A massive, wolf-like beast's foot, covered in long, black, stiff fur, stepped on the torch the soldier had dropped. The flame abruptly extinguished, and the slanting sunlight on the open ground next to the torch finally faded away.
At this moment, everyone, including Liam, finally saw the true appearance of the monster that had attacked their group: it was a creature nearly three meters tall, immense in size, with a wolf's head but standing upright like a human.
Its jet-black fur seemed to absorb all light, and the sharp, claw-like nails on its hands were still dripping with the blood of the dead soldier.
This Worgen stood under a large tree about ten meters away from Liam and the others. Its eyes gleamed with sadistic ferocity, and hunching its body, it let out a low growl from its throat, like a wild wolf.
"Monster!" Liam witnessed the soldier's brutal death, drew his short pistol, and fired a shot at the Worgen. The Worgen didn't have time to react and a bloody hole was blasted into its body by the bullet.
However, the Worgen showed no signs of pain or retreat; it merely shifted its body due to the bullet's impact. It tilted its head, glanced at its injured left shoulder, raised its right claw to trace the edge of the wound for a moment, then stared at Liam with eyes full of hatred and hostility.
The enraged Gilneans also wanted to emulate their Prince and shoot the monster, but before they could raise their guns, this giant humanoid wolf suddenly let out a long howl to the sky, then retreated into the deep forest with extreme speed.
The guards dared not advance, and could only watch helplessly as the body of the tragically killed soldier lay at the edge of the forest. They knew that the monster had not gone far, and going to retrieve the body at this moment would very likely mean someone else would soon have to retrieve theirs.
Given the monster's robust build and height, even with firearms and sharp blades, they had no confidence of victory. And judging by its escape speed, they simply couldn't catch up.
That long howl still echoed through the forest, and what caused everyone guarding outside the cave to change their expressions drastically was that from every direction in the forest, responding wolf howls could be heard.
"How many of these monsters are there?!" Liam's knuckles were white as he gripped his short pistol, showing how much force he was exerting.
As the Prince, seeing his soldiers, his people, brutally die before him, this was completely unacceptable to Liam. That soldier was still very young, perhaps just married; his parents and wife were still waiting for him to return!
Genn saw Liam's anger. He placed a hand on his son's shoulder, helping him to calm down slightly. "Stay calm, Liam. I am as angry as you, but anger now will only cause us to lose our composure—those monsters, they are intelligent, and they are deliberately provoking us."
"Father, those troops... I'm afraid they are all..." Liam had already guessed that the rescue party was likely in grave danger. The number of Worgen far exceeded everyone's imagination.
By this time, the sky had completely darkened. If the Worgen were to attack, now would be the best time, and they were probably waiting for this moment.
Genn's expression was grim. "If the small support force has been completely annihilated, the outside will soon realize something is wrong, but we can no longer just wait to be rescued. If we cannot stop these monsters, I'm afraid by the time reinforcements arrive again, we won't even have bones left."
"Everyone, prepare for battle!"
...
"Are you sure?" Arthas pressed his gauntlet. "The place where those Worgen are gathered?"
Velinde's face was still a bit pale, but much better than when she first woke up. She nodded affirmatively to Arthas, "I have received a revelation from the Moon Goddess. In the northern part of the Black Forest, the Worgen have gathered..."
"Since the Worgen are in the north, then we need to intercept their leader and take him out," Arthas looked at the Gnome mage who was still continuously preparing to cast spells. "Milhouse, are you ready?"
"Uh, Prince, although this—Elf Lady provided me with a barely accurate coordinate, to avoid teleporting everyone into the void, I still need to make some minor adjustments."
Milhouse Manastorm gesticulated wildly in front of a magic circle as he explained to Arthas. Valeera twirled her dagger twice, saying somewhat impatiently, "Hurry up, Gnome, we've heard that from you almost three times now."
"Hey, little Elf girl, show some respect to the mighty Milhouse Manastorm! You want to swim in the void, that's fine, but I can't send the Prince of Lordaeron into the Twisting Nether!"
Milhouse retorted indignantly, but he didn't stop his work.
Arthas reached out to stop Valeera, whose face was as black as a pot bottom. "It had better be as accurate as you say, Milhouse. What I need is a two-way teleportation array; you have to teleport us back, otherwise we will face the entire wolf pack."
"Of course, of course, this small matter won't trouble me," Milhouse nodded confidently. "Although I might not be as good as Lady Proudmoore, the Manastorm family's teleportation spells have a different style."
Arthas stared at Milhouse. There was no other way; among the Secret Intelligence Agency, this was the only mage currently available with sufficient teleportation skill. Jaina was still busy enhancing her staff, and Arthas didn't want to disturb her for now.
Although paper records indicated that his teleportation magic had a 99% accuracy rate, for some reason, Arthas, who had slain countless demons and undead, and personally ended the Black Dragon Prince, always felt a little uneasy.