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Roger was startled.
He subconsciously gripped the iron axe hidden under his pillow, which had not left his side since that night.
"Could it be an illusion?"
His heart raced, and his breathing became a bit rapid.
Boom! Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky.
The view outside the window was clear, with no monster in sight.
But just as Roger's heart began to settle, a low roar suddenly came from outside, followed by a loud bang.
The wooden door groaned under the strain.
Bang bang bang!
Something seemed to be furiously slamming against it. Besides the noise, Roger finally saw another shadow lurking outside the window.
It was a fierce-looking blue Murloc, about 1.5 meters tall, different from the one he had seen at Kant's place. This Murloc looked stronger, its body covered with rough fish scales and adorned with some seaweed.
Their heads bore little resemblance to humans, with bulging eyes and a large mouth full of sharp teeth that took up half of their face.
Hunched over, they had strong and exaggerated palms with sharp claws!
"What in hell is this thing?!"
For a second or two, Roger's mind went blank, but the previous encounter had left him quick to recover. He rolled out of bed, leaped to his feet, and rushed to the door.
To prevent an attack from Kant, Roger used his free time in the past few days to reinforce the windows and doors of his cottage with multiple layers.
If it had been as before, the wooden door probably would have shattered on the first impact.
"I can't let these dreadful things get inside!"
The space inside the hut was cramped. Although the creature didn't seem as tall as an average person, its strength was presumably not great.
But with their oddly long limbs and likely very swift movements, along with their sharp teeth and claws, he would be torn to pieces in just a few breaths if tangled with them.
Faced with the crisis, Roger found his mind extremely calm at that moment. He dragged over a makeshift table to block the door, then took the iron axe and went to the window.
With the help of the lightning outside, he could see one of the Murlocs was frantically slamming against the wooden door, while another was wandering aimlessly.
Noticing Roger, the Murloc growled low and suddenly pounced at the window.
Thud!
Sharp claws streaked across the wooden board, stripping away large chunks of wood shavings.
"This bastard is fast!"
Roger was shocked.
Just then, he heard faint gunshots in the distance.
"It's Kant!"
"Has he been attacked too?"
Kant lived in the lighthouse, which besides the observation deck on top, was built entirely of concrete. Even a hundred of these creatures couldn't possibly topple the lighthouse.
Unless they could break through the iron door on the ground floor or climb along the walls to the top, the island's lighthouse was indeed the sturdiest fortress.
The gunshots became more frequent, indicating that more than one monster was attacking the lighthouse.
"What kind of world is this?"
Roger was almost too tired to complain. Taking advantage of a Murloc that had overexerted itself in an attack, he swung his iron axe.
Squish!
The iron axe cleaved through as if chopping into a chunk of soft wood, and with a scream, the Murloc's half-palm was chopped off by Roger.
Pale blue blood splattered, some landing on Roger's face.
After losing half its palm, the Murloc became even more frenzied. It moved with hands and feet, aided by sharp teeth, furiously slamming against the wooden window.
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Roger's reinforcement of the window was obviously inferior to that of the wooden door, and under the frenzied assault of the murloc, it was quickly breached, the creature roaring as it squeezed itself through the gap!
The first to squeeze in were half of its body and an arm, it opened its gaping maw wide, emitting a putrid stench, and its lower jaw snapped furiously, biting at the air.
Roger stepped back half a step.
He felt as though his heart would leap out of his chest at any moment; within three seconds, the murloc could completely destroy the window and force its way into the room, followed by another one!
With tingling scalp, Roger's eyes instantly bloodshot; hesitation and cowardice vanished utterly, as the will to survive overcame all fear.
He lifted the iron axe in his hand, all the strength from three enhancements pouring into it.
Whoosh!
He aimed for the murloc's neck and hacked down fiercely!
The iron axe shattered scales, severed muscles and nerves.
Roger's all-out strike inflicted a severe wound on the opponent but failed to kill it; blood sprayed everywhere, and the dying murloc became even more frenzied.
Roger didn't flinch; he pulled out the iron axe and struck again.
One axe, two axes, three axes...
He numbly swung his weapon, not knowing how long it had been, until a ghastly head dropped off the neck and blood gushed over Roger's face like a fountain.
Without a head, the beast was naturally dead as could be, but it seemed as if Roger felt nothing, continuing to mechanically hack away until the headless corpse was a bloody, unrecognizable mess.
Roger snapped back to reality, and intense fatigue suddenly surged through him; his palms were split, and his arms felt weak from overexertion.
However, before he could catch his breath, a loud bang came from the doorframe, and then the door shattered, another murloc bursting through!
"Fuck!"
Roger barely had time to curse under his breath before he picked up the iron axe and sprang into the adjoining study.
With his current physical condition, it was clear that going head-to-head with the opponent was not a wise move.
Roger rolled on the ground and then darted into the corner next to the doorway, clutching the iron axe; his attention, though, was entirely fixed outside the room.
"1, 2, 3!"
He silently counted, until he heard the heavy footsteps of the murloc inside the room, followed by a sharp snap!
A section of the study's floorboard suddenly flipped upwards at an immense speed, striking out!
"Now!"
His mind was exceptionally clear in that moment. Roger took a deep breath and then charged out.
As he rushed out of the study, what met his eyes was a murloc being struck by the wooden board, staggering backward.
At this moment, the murloc, though knocked by the impact, seemed to notice Roger but was a bit slow to react.
Facing a monster head-on terrified Roger to the point his legs felt weak, but now with no retreat, he clenched his teeth and charged forward!
Using the momentum of the charge and the hit from the wooden board, Roger leaped, the iron axe raised high in his hands and savagely coming down on the murloc's forehead!
Crack!
The massive recoil nearly knocked the iron axe out of his grip, and he missed the neck with this strike.
Although badly injured, the murloc still had the strength to fight back. At this critical moment, Roger abandoned the iron axe, rebounded his body, and leaped away frantically.
Rip!
A fiery pain spread across his back; Roger tumbled out of the way, but by then, the murloc, despite the axe embedded in its forehead, staggered to its feet.
Dizzy and the world spinning, Roger rolled to dodge the murloc's attack. In a moment of respite, he seized a thick wooden club and, during a lull in the onslaught, swung it at the back of the axe.
"Die!"
Crunch!
The axe blade followed the previously made incision downward, penetrating deep into the murloc's brain!
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