"Huh?" Amelia blurted out in disbelief as battle began.
"Hide!" Yuri shouted. Zombies moved forward to cover them, bullets piercing the bodies of the dead as Yuri moved, avoiding being shot.
But in the next moment, he felt sharp pain deep in his stomach, blood spilling from his mouth, turning his shirt red. Looking down, he found a dagger piercing his body. Confusion flashed in his eyes, then regret.
"Felicity... So you were..." He looked up with disappointment and sorrow, his expression disheartened as he pursed his lips.
"From the Indulgence Faction? That's what you call us, correct?" Her eyes were cold, every trace of her usual narcissism and exaggeration vanishing as if they'd never belonged to her in the first place, replaced with a murderous smile, her eyes crazed... like a Lunatic.
Yuri's expression darkened, his face hardening as he gritted his teeth. He killed the doubt trying to bloom in his heart, grabbed her arm, and yanked her forward, his forehead crashing into her face, shattering her nose.
Felicity tried to pull herself back, twisting the dagger in his stomach. He groaned with a pained scowl but continued headbutting her. Soon, though, he was kicked, her heels blasting him back as he rolled across the ground.
His strength simply wasn't enough to overpower a Lunatic.
Bang!
Amelia flicked off the safety, raised her revolver, and squeezed the trigger with a bloodthirsty sneer. Her shot pierced Felicity's back. The woman's legs buckled as she looked back with disdain.
Amelia spat, leaping back to avoid a vicious strike, reloading and firing rapidly as Felicity closed the distance with a dark smile.
She was just that powerful, durable, and quick, catching up in seconds. Her fist lashed out and Amelia felt pain erupt from her diaphragm, her eyes widening as saliva dripped from her mouth. She crashed against a tree, her bones on the verge of breaking.
It felt like her lungs were pierced by thousands of needles, not allowing her to inhale air. Her breathing was fast and uneven, chest rising and falling quickly as Felicity walked toward her.
"Don't be so arrogant, child." She grinned, grabbing Amelia's hair and lifting her up face-to-face.
In response, Amelia spat her bloody saliva directly onto Felicity's face, her white teeth dyed crimson as she grinned. "Then stop being such a bitch, ugly motherfucker. Hahaha."
Felicity's eyes dimmed, her expression unreadable as she wiped her cheek. Her entire body radiated bloodlust, a hint of madness seeping into her mind like poison in clear water. "Die, you wretched girl."
She raised her dagger, its tip touching Amelia's chest, about to sink into her flesh, but in the next moment, Yuri slammed into her. Both of them fell onto the grass while Amelia was dropped, breathing heavily.
Felicity's fist connected with Yuri's jaw, her strength growing as she shattered his nose, then kicked him away with a disgusted snarl. Sanity slowly faded from her eyes, embracing the chaos of insanity as she bit his shoulder, her teeth pulling back flesh and ripping it out.
"Ughhh..." Yuri gritted his teeth, circling behind her and holding her tightly, his legs wrapped around her body to prevent her escape, his arms locked around her neck, trying to suffocate her.
However, slowly, he felt himself leaving the ground. Felicity stood up, grabbed his arm, and yanked him into the air, smashing him down. His bones shook and air left his lungs as he gasped.
Her eyes were crazed and intense.
Bang!
Bang!
She took a step back, looking up to see Amelia holding a revolver with trembling hands, her eyes dim and unfocused, her breathing ragged, barely taking in air.
"ARGHHHHHH!!!" Screaming and fully entering her berserk state, Felicity dashed forward to rip Amelia to shreds, abandoning sanity entirely.
She was about to butcher her, shatter her bones and mutilate her like a beast. However, she froze, a chilling sensation enveloping the area until every beautiful flower curled, every tree thinned, and grass turned black. Everything was withering away, consumed by merciless fingers of decay.
At the same time, Maric ducked, avoiding a brutal strike and countering with his own vicious kick as he straightened, staring at the Werewolf and the Zombie. He was outmatched.
If it was just a Zombie like him, he was confident in emerging victorious. However, the Werewolf, even if weaker, turned the situation problematic.
The Zombie was a middle-aged man with a bleak, hollow face. There was no emotion on his features. He had dark hair and blue eyes, his posture slightly hunched. As for the Werewolf, he was fully transformed, glistening ivory fangs dripping with venom, eyes blood-red and standing tall. He towered over everyone, three times bigger than any mundane man, with powerful, bulging muscles and obsidian claws. His fur was dark and lustrous under the light of the sun.
This is bad... He thought, his face expressionless as he leaped back, analyzing the situation. That's why Lady told me to take care of things quickly and leave immediately. The Indulgence Faction was trailing behind, huh? And Felicity... She was the one feeding them information. Understood.
In front of the Werewolf were a few puppets he'd turned with his venom, and dozens of zombies controlled by the blue-eyed man.
"Admit defeat, Maric." The Werewolf grinned, his claws scratching a tree, leaving gaping holes.
Maric didn't care about his words or mocking. He was cold and unflinching even in the face of potential death, even as numerous zombies and turned werewolves dashed toward him, intending to tear him apart.
Letting out a frigid breath, vapor escaped his lips, he touched the withered grass and temperature dropped rapidly, chilling winds sweeping away the leaves as frost condensed in his palm, spreading out and covering the area. Blinding rays of sun flinched, afraid of touching the approaching darkness, as a blast of cold, soul-piercing frost swallowed everything, turning every zombie and thrall of the Werewolf into icy sculptures.
He looked up, his face devoid of emotion, chilling and indifferent like the frost element surrounding him. At the same time, he distributed his zombies, sending them to assist Amelia and Yuri. Each dragged their stiff legs forward with hunger as they fought against other members from the Indulgence Faction.
Good... Zombies can handle them. Most of them are Prisoners and Lunatics, they can hold them off until I finish this battle. Now the question is... can I defeat them? It's a tricky situation. They intended to intimidate me with dozens of zombies and the Werewolf's thralls instead of helping their subordinates, which ended in me destroying them in a single spell. That means they're confident, which is understandable. They have greater numbers of Beyonders and possess information about us since Felicity sold us out. However, that also means I can create an opportunity to surprise them. His half-lidded eyes observed them with clinical indifference.
Lady was right... The Indulgence Faction knows we hide in Backlund... Doesn't matter. We'll just kill them all. He nodded to himself, steeling his resolve and facing the Werewolf and the Zombie.
Wind caressed the Werewolf's skin. The Zombie remained motionless like a statue while Maric's tense limbs contracted as he lowered his head.
For a second, they looked almost peaceful in the embrace of nature. But in the next second, both sides clashed like savage beasts.
Maric's nails grew longer, slashing down as if they were sharp blades, gleaming coldly. The Werewolf hissed, trying to bite off his arm. However, Maric turned around quickly, using his spell to turn the ground into a slippery surface. His knees buckled, sliding on ice, his nails raking at the Werewolf's leg, sinking into flesh and slashing out. Darkish blood erupted like a geyser as the beast fell to his knees.
Maric pivoted, about to deliver a killing blow when the Zombie intervened, using his spell to make walls of ice like pillars, trying to smash Maric between them.
But before they could touch Maric, the air trembled, then exploded violently. Faint black wisps covered the area, withering everything they touched.
"Time of the Full Moon will arrive in 13 days. That means I don't need to hold back." Maric's voice was emotionless as he raised two icy pillars of his own, driving one of them into the Werewolf's chest, blasting him off with ruthless precision. The Zombie leaped back a few times until the pillar stopped growing, reaching the limits of Maric's range.
Using the opportunity, Maric moved immediately, his eyes sharpening in focus as his palm connected with the Zombie's chest. Layers of frost spread at contact, but at the same time, the Zombie allowed himself to get hit in order to deliver a crushing blow suffused with the element of decay.
Maric leaped back, narrowing his eyes as he looked down, seeing his shoulder blackened. He'd avoided letting decay consume his body, but he was still injured. However, he'd also managed to hit his opponent, whose body grew slower and stiffer, his clothes white from the chilling cold.
My spirituality isn't doing well. If it was night, I would... That wouldn't change the situation, he's a Zombie too.
He looked back, watching his zombies holding back Felicity and other members of the Indulgence Faction. So they hired a Hunter, huh? And One of them... Cold-Blooded? So Lady was right. Some of the devils really abandoned the Blood Sanctifying Sect and joined the Rose School of Thought.
This is bad... Unlike Lunatics, devils are far more dangerous and cunning. Besides, each of them has different abilities, creating diversity and unpredictability, which is why you can't be prepared when facing them, and that's why everyone fears them.
He snapped his broken finger back grimly. His body was near-immortal, if his head wasn't destroyed, then he would remain alive. Besides, Maric was experienced and no stranger to pain. Through enduring the suffering brought by his pathway's curses, he'd gained tolerance to pain unmatched by many.
Now... the Werewolf has regained his senses. The more this fight is prolonged, the more disadvantageous my position becomes... At this point, I'll be forced to abandon Yuri and that girl... I need something unexpected to happen to turn the situation arou-
"Neiighhh!!!"
A loud snort echoed across the forest as a dark stallion leaped forward, his body muscular and fur lustrous, glowing under the light of the sun. He rose on his hind legs, his front hooves raised, then came crashing down on Felicity's face as she looked up with a crazed expression.
The impact smashed her jaw, a sickening sound of bones snapping was heard as she spat blood and teeth, falling to the ground and trying to rise despite being disoriented. But her earlier injuries were catching up, and the dark stallion didn't give her a chance. His hoof struck down, demolishing her head.
Her skull cracked, then shattered, brain matter and viscous liquid spilling onto the withered grass.
Vapor escaped the stallion's mouth as he looked up, his eyes murderous and filled with bloodlust, snorting at the death of the Lunatic.
"Neiighhh!!!" He snorted, eyeing the Beyonders who looked at the aggressive, bloodthirsty horse in disbelief.
And the rider who hurled a dagger, spinning in the air and penetrating the skull of another Prisoner.
"Next."