It's a pity that he doesn't have a handy Dual-Handed Greatsword right now.
If he had a Dual-Handed Greatsword, Rein could have fully unleashed the power of the Giant Bear Sword Technique, and his combat strength would have been further enhanced.
At the moment, he only has a standard-issue Bastard Sword from the Night Watcher's Army.
However, the Bastard Sword would do, with a slightly longer hilt allowing for two-handed use, though the blade was too light to fully bring out the power of the Giant Bear Sword Technique.
Soon, Rein and the elite of the Night Watchmen met Hamilton in front of the city hall, clad in knight armor and wielding a sword and shield.
Fully armed, Hamilton's imposing figure combined with his nearly square stern face made his sheriff presence quite commanding.
Upon seeing Rein, he nodded slightly as a gesture and didn't have time to exchange more than a few words with him.
Once everyone had gathered, Hamilton began briefing them,
"Just now, a good number of people from Habsburg Manor have entered the Nightingale Forest to the west and have roughly located the ferocious werewolf with the help of hawks and dogs."
"The creature is cunning and is currently hiding in a secluded valley."
"Now, our team along with the Habsburg Manor's team, will advance in three groups to encircle and capture the ferocious werewolf."
It dawned on Rein that the manor's hawks and greyhounds had set off first to ascertain the werewolf's location—a clever tracking method indeed.
After a simple mobilization ceremony, Hamilton donned his round, bucket-shaped plate armor helmet, took the lead personally, and swiftly headed toward the designated location with more than twenty elite Night Watchmen, including Rein.
This time, the Night Watcher's Army was responsible for the north side of the valley, which was furthest from Flashgold Town, so time was quite tight.
Inside a hidden valley.
Savage Claw, feasting heartily on a "young beast," glanced upwards at several eagles in the sky with his green oily eyes.
These eagles seemed a bit odd, constantly circling and calling directly above him, but he didn't care much about them.
The place he occupied was a carefully chosen valley with three different exits leading outside.
Even if humans came seeking revenge, they could do nothing to him, and he might even catch more "meat" to enjoy.
If the "iron-men" came, he would just burrow deep into the forest, where humans would not dare to follow.
A burst of barking suddenly arose from the western entrance of the valley.
This made Savage Claw immediately vigilant, and he put down the pitiful "young beast," looking up to see.
If he was not certain about the eagles, the barking confirmed that humans had indeed tracked him down.
Suddenly, a slim and lean greyhound burst out of the dense woods; upon catching sight of Savage Claw, it began barking excitedly.
If not for their significant difference in size, the greyhound would have surely charged at him!
"Such an annoying little thing, a human's lapdog!"
Savage Claw's paws dug in, instantly sending dirt flying and creating a small depression in the ground; his massive form shot forward like an arrow toward the greyhound.
"Whimper~" The greyhound's eyes filled with terror, and it immediately turned around to return through the dense forest the way it came.
Although the greyhound was not powerful in combat, its long and strong limbs made it very fast when running. Even though Savage Claw was faster, the dense trees in the forest made it difficult to kill the greyhound immediately.
"(Common language) Found it! It's right here!"
Noisy human voices followed.
Savage Claw realized the situation seemed to be turning sour; he rolled his green oily eyes and halted his chase, quickly turning around to head for another exit at the south side of the valley.
He quickly left the noisy commotion behind, which pleased Savage Claw.
"These foolish humans, making such a fuss and ending up with nothing—they must have quite the expression on their faces."
"Tomorrow or the day after, I'll make a comeback with a counterattack! Heh heh!"
"This time I didn't get to eat the freshest, juiciest human females, a regret I must remedy!"
As Savage Claw hurried along, thoughts like these crossed its mind, its eyes a gleaming, cunning green, flashing with sly satisfaction!
Suddenly, a chorus of barking erupted from the entrance to the southern valley.
This caused Savage Claw to change color and come to an immediate halt, leaving behind two deep furrows in the ground!
"Damn it! The humans know about this southern exit too!"
Savage Claw glanced hatefully in that direction and then made for the northern exit of the valley—it was their last way out.
At this moment, Savage Claw's state of mind was no longer the calm and serene one it had had at the start.
But it wasn't entirely in a panic either; as it ran, it muttered, "Lucky for me I was prepared in advance, or else I would have been caught in a pincer attack by the humans."
As Savage Claw neared the northern exit of the valley, it deliberately slowed down, listening carefully for a while, and, hearing no dogs barking, revealed a satisfied smile.
"Stupid humans! You think you can catch your grandpa Savage Claw? Dream on! Heh heh heh!"
After that, Savage Claw sprinted towards the northern exit.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
A dense volley of arrows gave Savage Claw a huge fright, but luckily it was quick to react. Its large and strong body immediately produced a light cyan flow of air, and its speed surged dramatically, allowing it to dodge most of the arrow storm.
Savage Claw dashed behind a large tree for cover, peering intently ahead.
There, at the northern exit of the valley, loomed several humans clad in leather armor, bows in hand, and among them, leading the group, was an unusual 'Ironskin'.
This team was none other than the Night Watcher's Army, led by the 'Ironskin' Hamilton, the Sword and Shield Knight.
Although the sun had just risen, casting a dim morning light, within the Nightingale Forest, fog blurred the vision, and dense vegetation under the patchy tree shadows meant visibility wasn't all that great.
Fortunately, Rein now possessed the passive ability Dark Vision, which allowed him to clearly make out the vicious humanoid jackal-wolf figure.
Standing over two meters tall, its limbs were long and powerful. It wore a shabby mix of leather and chainmail armor that seemed to be cobbled together from various human mercenaries, put on in a hurry and fitting poorly.
The creature didn't hold any weapons, but its claws gleamed coldly!
The child-servant it had been carrying was nowhere to be seen, its fate easily imagined.
While Rein and his companions observed the beast, Savage Claw was sizing them up as well.
"'Ironskins' are too tough to deal with, and there are so many human archers around."
This made Savage Claw extinguish the idea of a fight to the death.
It immediately turned and rushed towards the valley's southern exit.
Faced with an 'Ironskin', it would rather confront a horde of ordinary human soldiers.
But as Savage Claw approached the southern exit, it was shocked to find there stood another 'Ironskin' wielding a Dual-Handed Greatsword, alongside dozens of soldiers in chainmail, nasal helmets, and holding various weapons.
At that moment, Savage Claw's heart plummeted.
Not giving up hope, it made a mad dash for the first exit, the western side of the valley, only to find yet another 'Ironskin' with a sword and shield, and a group of human soldiers there as well.
Savage Claw was in despair!!
The next second, a fierce look crossed Savage Claw's face!
"Now, leaving through the western and southern exits is out of the question; they're still human territories, who knows what other traps await me there."
"So the only way out is the northern valley exit, back into the depths of the forest, where I can catch my breath!"
Having made up its mind, Savage Claw started to sprint with all its might, a grey-black shadow once again dashing at high speed towards the northern exit where Hamilton and Rein were positioned.