A Burst of Action (4)

Jerome's blade flashed with undeterred might and the concentrated Enigma it released takes the form of a whip-like tail. But it only lasted for a fraction of a second, before the Enigma detached itself completely from the furious blade and flew to a straight path. The attack connected to the back of the Bloodhound Anubis with so much force that it made the beast lose its balance and take the unexpected fall. 

"UaaAAAaaAAARRHHH!" 

The howl of agony followed soon after, much to Jerome's delight. But the situation was far from over. Jerome looked for Nick's whereabouts and let out a cry. 

"Retreat" he shouted. "Take Gerald with you to Helen's position. Recuperate and join in later when you've rest up." 

Nick, tired from all the combat, had been all too keen to take a rest. So, he affirmed Jerome's command and quickly tended to Gerald who was still disoriented from the earlier bout.

'Let's see how much progress I made since the last time I met your kind.' 

A dangerous shine came out from the veteran hunter's eyes. The damaged done towards the wailing monster was successful. A large diagonal wound with massive streams of black blood oozed out of that large frame. The injury looked heavy, but unfortunate that it was short from life-threatening. 

It was to be expected though. Jerome's abilities lied on a type of solar energy that he manifested through Enigma. It was a specialized form of the Fire element. The element has devastating destructive capabilities, but the Bloodhound were built to be somewhat resistant to heat-based attacks. This was probably due to its affinity to the African and Arabian deserts as its environment. 

'Rather than heat, hunters equipped with cold elements like ice are a better matchup for this guy.' 

Hence, when considering the matchups, the Bloodhound Anubis may have a slight advantage against Jerome in terms of their innate abilities, but Jerome's strength as an S-Rank still gave him the edge. 

Jerome's feet then danced its way towards the Anubis. The recovering monster saw this and growled. The vicious light in its eyes were no more. Instead, they were filled with wariness and a tinge of fear. It had fought nonstop the moment it arrived here, and it realized that the situation was growing more and more unfavorable for it as time goes on. 

Hence, a fierce battle ensued between the man and beast. Jerome's relative experience against the Bloodhound gave him plenty of foreknowledge of the beast's attack patterns. He managed to avoid some of the deadlier blows from the Anubis and delivered effective combinations to counter it. But the one gaining experience wasn't only the hunter, the beast knew that it had to conserve its energy and made multiple strategic moves that took Jerome by surprise. The dance was on.

Boom!

Kkangg!

The intensity of the battle grew larger and larger and while the ones involved in it fought without a care, the same could not be said for the three A-Rank hunters recuperating in the near distance. 

"Damn...If things keep going like this, then the whole building will really fall upon our heads."

Nick whistled as he looked around. Numerous cracks started to show around, and some structures could not support themselves any longer and fell down. 

He then noticed that Helen was on her wits end. She did her best to hold until now, but the earlier clash when Jerome dished out that massive strike proved to be difficult for her to contain the after-effects. 

Nick didn't blame Jerome either. He knew that the older man tried his best to contain the damage and purposely directed his energy strike towards the monster, but some residue flashes were bound to escape the target. It was these energy residues that gave Helen much labor as they crushed many crucial points supporting this structure. Her hands were stretched out the entire time as multiple earthen pillars came from below to answer her will and prolong the lifespan of this building by just a little bit longer. 

"You okay there?" Nick asked with much concern. 

"Huff...huff...I'm okay."

Helen forced a smile and panted with bated breath. Sweat was covering her whole face and her haggard appearance further raised Nick's sympathy. Their situation was more or less the same as to what Jerome experienced prior to arriving to this Hastings facility. 

They were amongst the first respondents to arrive to this location after finishing a dungeon raid near one of the satellite towns of Quinton City. If this incident didn't happen, then they would be at the after party by now and celebrating their big win with beer in hand. But alas, that had to be postponed at a later date. 

Amongst the three, Helen had already somewhat depleted her reserves during their raid. So when they had encountered the Bloodhound Anubis, they silently agreed to position her to be more of a supporting role and not the main damage dealer. 

However, it seemed that they were reaching the limit as the fight dragged on. Gerald especially shined as the important figure that made the fight seemed more even. Though the drawbacks were significant. Gerald was the most physically impacted from this encounter. He was battered from left to right and was currently emptying most of their medicinal resources to get back up and running. So that left Nick to be the only one who can function in a sub-optimal manner. 

It was fortunate for them that Jerome, the respected S-Rank hunter, came by and took off a massive load from their shoulders. With that, it seemed time to finish off what must be done. Every passing moment right now proved that victory was in their grasp. The beast was getting cornered inch by inch with the relentless attacks from Jerome Vaughn raining down. It was in their best interest to not make this battle go on for longer periods of time considering Helen's stamina. 

Nick made eye contact with Gerald. The large man was on one knee whilst silently marveling at the strength showcased by Jerome for quite some time.

"How about you? Can you still deliver one more? It'll be great if we could deliver a combined attack for the finishing blow."

The big man took a pause and looked at his fists. He strengthened his grip and confidently raised it up for affirmation. 

"Let's go for one last blow and go home," he said gruffly. 

"Please do," quipped an exhausted Helen. "I swear I'm going to have an hour-long bath after this."

Nick and Gerald chuckled at the woman's complaint, and her behest caused them to raise their bodies to face the formidable foe once again. 

Meanwhile, Jerome noticed the presence of Nick and Gerald approaching from the distance. It took him a glimpse from the corner of his eyes to gain situational awareness. And with no established communication, he knew what they were about to do. The corner of his lips raised without him even realizing and he made some mental preparations to accommodate what was to come. 

'It's time.'

The older man mused to himself, and he let out a large sigh before bouncing off the ground and attacked with a new maniacal fervor. The Bloodhound Anubis too, tried to match that high octane intensity. But the situation was just becoming more and more unfavorable as it took multiple steps back every time Jerome came slashing down. 

It grew frustrated, angry and desperate. Some of its attacks became less and less efficient and relied more on instinct instead. This caused many large, wasted movements to appear more often and Jerome was all but happy to take advantage of it. 

Then, the opportune moment arrived. Jerome charged to aim for the head, but it was a feint. The Bloodhound Anubis was too angry to realize it and took the bait. It raised its arms and intended to meet the hunter's ire.

Bang!

Instead of attacking the head, the S-Rank hunter aimed for the chest after bouncing off of the back hand of the beast. The monster staggered and lost its bearing, while Jerome dropped down gracefully and bellowed as hard he could.

"NOW!"

As if right on cue, both Gerald Powers and Nick Chester leaped from two opposite sides to dish out their strongest attacks available. Meanwhile, Jerome wasn't one to be left behind either. He took a horse stance and positioned his blade primed for one last strike. From above, one could see that a triangle formation had quickly been formed with the Bloodhound cluelessly standing in the middle. The time was nigh for a three-way judgement. 

However, Mother Fate seemed to have other plans. 

"!"

"!"

"!"

"Krrr!!"

Just before the finishing, everyone involved be it monster or human, exclaimed in surprise. Because from below, a large suppressive presence made itself known. It was moving at an incredible speed, and it was heading towards their direction. 

BOOOM!

What seemed like a mini earthquake shook everyone off balance and the ground blasted without anyone's prior knowledge. 

"Fall back," Jerome instructed hurriedly. "Fall back!"

The hunters made their readjustments, cancelled their last-effort strike and quickly retreated to as far back as to where Helen was. All eyes were on the spot where the ground surface suddenly blew up. An organic smokescreen suddenly formed around the surroundings. Interestingly enough, the Bloodhound Anubis didn't try to take this opportunity and wreak havoc. It too watched over the same spot the hunters were looking, but this time with intense fear. 

The silence didn't persist for long as the sound of heavy steps revealed the source of today's surprise.

A monster, standing at the size of around 8 foot (240 cm) calmly arrived. It was pitch black in color and humanoid in shape. It had a head similar to a dragon with a sharp chin and menacing looking teeth. Its body shape seemed slender for a monster, but that didn't overshadow its compact muscles. In a way, it looked too elegant and majestic for a monster. 

Its eyes were like those of the reptilian species. Thin slits with a predatory glint. 

But what captivated everyone's eyes next astonished them completely.

Its right hand was clawing a bloodied mini–Bloodhound Anubis all beaten up and perhaps even lifeless. The draconic beast then dragged the lifeless body and threw it down to the ground. Right in front of the much bigger Anubis. 

It seemed to smile a little bit, if Jerome's eyes weren't lying to him and it mercilessly stomped the pupper's head. The scene was disgustingly gory as pieces of flesh and brain matter spread around the vicinity. 

Right after that, a loud wail sounded out from the Bloodhound Anubis.