Our Family Has Fallen

It was short-statured, probably around one meter twenty in height, just a bit taller than the crippled Pigmen.

But the biggest difference lay in the fact that the legs of these creatures were intact and incredibly robust, which allowed them to support their swift movements.

Another distinguishing feature was that, unlike the armorless crippled Pigmen, these dwarves were clad in haphazardly modified armor.

The disks that would normally serve as waist guards on other Pigmen now acted as chest protectors for this one. Its head was encased in indescribably odd protective gear that shielded its eyes and neck, leaving only its ferocious pig snout exposed.

Each of its hands grasped a rusted dagger, tied to its arms with ropes.

Without even looking, it was clear those dirty daggers carried countless germs. Not only would a cut be dangerous, but even a mere scratch could lead to infection.

Its combat style matched its physique: hiding its diminutive body in darkness and ambushing its prey as they drew near.

From a gaming perspective, if Pigman drummers were buffing bards, then these short-statured Pigmen were assassins lurking in the shadows.

If one of them managed to get close, it was likely to catch one completely off guard.

However, this team was no bunch of novices; they were all tough as nails.

Lance didn’t rush to attack but instead observed this new type of Pigman with great interest, his expression tinged with a hint of puzzlement.

Wait a minute, this creature wasn’t in my game memory of the Beast Lair, was it? Could I have loaded some monster mod and forgotten?

Amanda, on the other hand, was growing impatient.

Having slacked off for so long after arriving, she had finally started to adapt to the Beast Lair’s environment, and her earlier blunder made her all the more eager to prove herself.

”Leave it to me,” Amanda said, raising her hand and throwing a Flying Dagger, accurately predicting the Pigman assassin’s movement. However, the Pigman merely tilted its head, and with a flick of its wrists, its twin daggers batted the Flying Dagger aside.

It also locked onto Amanda as its target and surged forward, suddenly accelerating.

”HMPH!” Amanda wasn’t scared at all. With a scoff, her long whip was already lashing out.

The Pigman tried to dodge, but the whip in Amanda’s hand moved as fluidly as if it were an extension of her own body.

With a sharp CRACK, the charging Pigman assassin’s forward momentum was abruptly broken. This was followed by its pitiful squeals as it came to a stuttering halt, its tongue even lolling out, twitching.

The chest protector on its front and the metal visor and neck guard it wore should theoretically have provided resistance to such whip strikes.

But the problem was that the armor didn’t cover its snout. With such a large pig snout sticking out, it became the perfect target for Amanda.

On its exposed snout, the flesh had ripped open, and blood flowed incessantly. This caused the Pigman assassin such great torment that it scratched frantically but dared not touch the wound.

Consider Amanda’s background: the whip in her hand was no ordinary object. It could easily tear through skin, and a hit from it would cause wounds to bleed incessantly, inflicting continuous damage.

Combined with her skilled throwing technique and agile movement, it would be even more terrifying if her Flying Dagger were poisoned. Bleeding compounded with poison could send an enemy to their death even faster.

This fighting style was exceptionally effective against spellcasters with poor close-combat abilities, such as Tamara.

Or perhaps, she had been trained to be a Wizard slayer—the Seeker of Omens.

Being a professional, Amanda did not cease her attack. Her whip coiled and lashed out again powerfully, scaring the Pigman assassin into raising its daggers to shield its face.

But the whip didn’t hit its face. Instead, it snaked along the creature’s arm and struck its back, an area with no armor.

The force of the whip sent fur flying, and a bloody gash appeared on its back.

The burning pain of the wound and the sense of being toyed with sparked the Pigman’s rage. The pig-creature was furious!

It let out an enraged shriek, its daggers slicing back as it charged at Amanda, desperate to taste her flesh.

Assassins are particularly effective against spellcasters at close range. However, Amanda wasn’t a pure spellcaster and retained considerable close-combat capability. Thus, she seemed quite at ease facing the Pigman assassin.

More amusingly, its small stature made it seem like she was whipping a spinning top every time she struck it.

Meanwhile, Lance took the opportunity to step forward. He finally used the torchlight to get a clear view of the enemy confronting Boudica up ahead.

It was a creature slightly taller than the Pigman butchers but with a terrifyingly formidable physique and a waist girth twice as large.

Its skin was closer to pink. Its gigantic pig head was disproportionately large for its body, with rolls of fat obscuring its neck entirely. Even more notable were two stout tusks, each as thick as an adult’s forearm, piercing upward as if to rend the heavens.

Its limbs were robust, its fingers bore sharp claws, while its feet resembled hooves—different from the pig hooves of the Pigmen encountered earlier, looking more like those of cattle or horses.

It bore a bulging belly, with a patchwork Shield strapped to it. A ragged fur was wrapped around its lower limbs, and around its waist hung a very unique belt.

Surprisingly, the belt was embellished with numerous broken tusks. Such decorations couldn’t have come from humans, suggesting that a brutal pecking order still existed within Pigman society.

They had started using them as adornments, which indicated that Pigman society was evolving. Moreover, tusks, as symbols of masculinity and strength, retained value even among these barbaric Pigmen.