The guards moved at once. They had been listening to Damien's blabbering and were getting tired of his bold and foolish claims.

Did he say that he could heal Nicolas when no healer could treat him? What a joke!

A beastman whose nucleus was ruined with all the mana in his body destroyed was making such bold claims. It was amusing and laughable at the same time.

However, because Wistoria did not give them any order, the guards could only pretend as if they were not listening to their conversation.

But now that they had gotten permission, one of them immediately conjured a magical handcuff which he carried in the space ring and tied it around Damien's wrists.

Damien: "…" Damn it. None of them was obedient.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Damien made one final attempt as he said to Wistoria, "If you do not accept my help now, then it will not be free the next time you come to beg me."

Beg him?

Wistoria scoffed in disdain.

"Take him away, what are you waiting for? If he doesn't go with you obediently then drag him!" Wistoria commanded the guards.

The two guards took a threatening step towards Damien who raised his handcuffed hands as he stopped the two guards.

"Woah there gentlemen," he said with a smile. "I never said that I will not follow you. Just tell me where I need to go, and I will follow you two. There is no need for you to get handsy with me, alright?"

"We can deal with this situation calmly," he then added with a pitiful expression, "I can't do anything to you two anyway. With my nucleus gone, do you think that I can outrun two beastmen? You will certainly not act violently towards a weak man like me right?"

"What will others say if you show your strength to a poor man like myself? That two beastmen tried to act all macho in front of a fallen beastman? That would be kind of humiliating wouldn't it?"

The two beastmen frowned when they heard Damien's words. For some reason, they had a feeling that they were being played by him but at the same time, they couldn't help but agree with Damien.

What he said indeed made sense.

A beastman had his own pride. If they were to showcase their strength on a fallen beastman, they would certainly be made fun of.

"Then follow us," the guard with a scar on his face spoke with a frown.

"Certainly," Damien inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. He was certain that he was going to be dragged like a rag just now.

Fortunately, the beastmen of this world were all about strength and power and paid little attention to scholarly wisdom.

If not they would have realised that they were played by Damien.

The two guards took Damien to the dungeon which was a horrible place. With only dim torches placed at odd distances, the dungeon was more or less buried in darkness.

It smelled of rotten flesh, blood and slimy moss.

Damien heard the sound of dripping water from the ceiling and the sense of foreboding started rising in his heart at a tumultuous pace.

And that feeling turned even worse when he heard the sound of water sloshing against his feet and the shoes that he was wearing started to get filled with water.

The two guards took him to a dimly lit prison where Damien found himself half submerged in water.

"Is there something that I should watch out for?" Damien asked the two guards when he heard the sound of the prison door getting locked.

At first, he thought that the guards would ignore him but surprisingly one of them turned to look at him with a nasty grin playing on his lips.

"If I were you, I would watch out for Aphotic Flesh-Eating Rats," said the guard with his watchful eyes as if eager to see Damien scream in panic. "They love eating the flesh of beastmen, you know?"

No sooner did the guard finish speaking, than someone screamed down the dungeon and the eyes of the guards started glittering maliciously.

"Then have a good night," the scar-faced guard said to Damien with a malicious chuckle. "We will see you in the morning if you can stay alive till then. Hahaha."

*****

"May the blessing of the beast god be with you," an elderly healer greeted Wistoria and Gilderoy in the main mansion.

His silver hair was combed neatly and he was wearing pale silver robes with a blue sash draped around his shoulders.

He was an S-tier healer.

"Lord Theodore," Gilderoy greeted the man with reverence. Even though the temple and the healers had aligned with the Imperial family, it would be foolish if they were to become hostile to the temple.

"Lord Wolfe," Lord Theodore greeted Gilderoy back. He turned his attention to Nicolas Wolfe who was lying on the bed with a painful expression on his face.

Before he began the treatment, Lord Theodore asked in a solemn voice, "What happened to him? If possible I would like to know what led to his current situation."

Wistoria pursed her lips but after a short pause, she relayed what happened to Nicolas and her mind went back to the day when Nicolas got hurt.

Three days ago,

'We need reinforcements!' Wistoria said to the chiefs of the army of the Wolfe family.

They have been trying to exterminate the nest of Four Horned Pythons, but there was more than one nest of these snakes which caused them to fall back.

'It will take three days before the reinforcements arrive even if we call for them now,' a gigantic wolf that stood on its two feet growled as he refused the notion of calling reinforcements.

The wolf stared at the pythons slithering inside the valley while standing on top of the cliff.

'We can deal with those beasts, Ria,' snarled Nicolas in his beast form.

'But—'

'There is no time to bother about such a thing! We have to deal with them now!' Nicolas interrupted her. He unsheathed his claws which were sharper than any sword before he swiftly added, 'This is nothing to us Wolfe!'

After speaking he jumped down the cliff on which they were standing.

Wistoria could not stop her brother from jumping nor could she stay behind when her brother was in danger.

She shifted into her beast form as well before jumping down the cliff as well.

Wolf Beastmen were known for their agility, speed and strength.

The fur on their bodies was impenetrable, which meant that the poison of the Four Horned Pythons did not affect them.

This was the reason why the Wolfe family was given the responsibility to exterminate these pests.

Even though they would receive some minor injuries, it shouldn't become a problem for them.