Blood And Shadow

The dog's howls disoriented and distracted the Hunter for a few seconds, like the longclaws before, even interrupting its skill. The sound seemed like nothing special, only a little loud, but it affected the Ath'Taren.

The pair of huskies dashed towards the Hunter. The dark-grey husky jumped from one car to the next and then used any obstacles along the way, while the red husky followed right behind, the wound it received from the longclaws now a big scar.

I was happy to see them alive, but what could they do against this thing when even I was powerless?

"Fools, don't come. Save yourselves!" I shouted, hoping they did nothing silly and just passed through without challenging the Hunter. The Ath'Taren demon seemed to forget about me, turning to the huskies, furious Qi rippling in the air, "Shit, no! I'm here, you bastard!"

I grabbed a piece of the destroyed bridge, throwing against it, but it didn't even look at me, the debris shattering. I fell on my knees, trying not to collapse.

A tentacle-claw hurled through the air with amazing speed, aiming for the dark-grey husky. I clenched my teeth, hoping for the best. Suddenly, a surge of darkness-like New Qi enveloped the dog. It vanished in the shadows, evading the attack.

[Skill: Shadow Walk]

"What? That's…!" My jaws almost dropped to the floor. I was too focused on the fight and didn't feel the Qi in the dogs. The husky emerged from the shadows near the Hunter, darkness Qi fortifying its teeth, biting the demon's leg before the other tentacles could react.

[Skill: Shadow Bite]

The Hunter shrieked in pain; the bite tearing away a piece of its demon flesh. It struck back with the other tentacles, only to see the husky disappear once again, almost as if it was never there.

With its attention on the dark-grey, the Hunter was too slow to notice the red and white husky approaching. Blood-red Qi enveloped the dog, and a scarlet claw manifested from the scar on his body, slashing at the Hunter.

For the first time, the Hunter jumped away to dodge, creating a space between us. The bloody claw missed, and the red husky stood in front of me, while the dark-grey appeared from the shadows next. I almost couldn't believe my eyes. These dogs ranked up, activating the system and opening their path.

Not only that, I recognized their abilities. In the past, there was a famous foe from one of the faraway plains, capable of blending with darkness and using shadows to his will. [Shadow Hunter] Trail.

The Ath'Taren also commanded a being like a huge dire wolf, capable of commanding blood to attack, a fearsome and cruel killing machine: [Blood Hunter].

Rare and powerful Trails, sought after by those with Hunter's or Scout's paths. And those two received them as their First Trail.

'Human. We hold it back. You, run,' a voice spoke in my head, belonging to dark-grey staring at me.

'You can talk now!' The huskies also awakened an innate telepathic ability and learned the [Common Language] of this world through the Path. Dogs were already smart, but with help from the system…

'No time. Dangerous.'

He was right. The most rational choice would be to run. Yet something deep inside told me I couldn't let this bastard live. As long as we head south, the demons wouldn't go there for now, but that only applied to the common ones. This one was an elite with a skill. It would only get stronger and smarter, learning from experience and also benefiting from the Path.

If it was already this strong, how many lives would it take? How many people I know in this city would die at its hands? How many people would be saved if it were to disappear?

I couldn't harm it before, but now I had help. Those Trails were powerful in combat, able to hurt the demon. They surpassed me in terms of firepower. Do I gamble on them?

Or run?

Failing meant death. Running away meant it would come for us, even stronger than now. Those people still nearby would die. With him, the longclaws were also organized and hunted better. Those he would kill after this would be on me. Its death would slow the Ath'Taren down, frustrating their advance and buying us precious time.

In my eyes, the benefits outweighed the risks.

Dammit. I was ready to die before. There were times I should run, but now was not one of them. As long as there was a chance, I would take it. The warrior's blood inside me was already boiling.

'Let's kill this thing,' I said to the dogs through the telepathic link. I used them many times in my past life.

Dark-grey wagged its tail, 'I like you, awoooh!'

Red said nothing, only gazed coldly at the Hunter.

My wounds healed some because of the New Qi, and the bleeding stopped. I got up with some difficulty, stabilizing my breathing. Blurry vision, limbs heavy as lead, splitting headache. And yet I wasn't afraid. I forged my skills in the heat of battle for moments like this.

I instructed my companions simply, as I wasn't sure how much they could understand complicated commands.

'I will be the bait. You two, kill.'

I lunged forward. The Hunter only sent two claws after me this time. In his eyes, the other two were more dangerous than me. It would regret it.

I didn't bother dodging nor cast Defense Up, moving just enough not to get hit, but not slowing down either. The claws ripped my flesh, bringing intense pain, but I didn't waver nor retreat. The remaining claws struck at the huskies. They were too fast to hit.

The Hunter had six tentacle-claws but couldn't think independently with all of them. With three moving targets, his reaction speed was much slower. Dark-grey on the left used Shadow Walk, disappearing from sight. Red And White on my right summoned the blood claw to attack. I was close enough to land a strike, but the Hunter pulled its tentacles to attack Red.

It thought Red's Blood Claw was the strongest attack, trying to avoid getting hit. I stepped in, New Qi revolving around me, straining my body in a way that would bring a lot of pain later.

[Skill: Physical Boost]

My left hand raised in a stance, while my right hand moved back from my body, taking a knife-like position. I arched my left knee in front, my right leg positioned behind. The magic circle once again glowed in my left hand twice in quick succession.

[Spell: Power Up]x2

My head felt like exploding, but I didn't stop. The Hunter realized it underestimated me, pulling back its tentacles halfway from striking Red to focus on me.

[Northern Old Earth Army - Hand Demon Style - Spear Hand]

I focused my entire strength on the attack, aiming to pierce though, yet its tentacles converged in front of him, serving as a shield. My hand pushed the demon back, but couldn't pass through its defenses.

Heh. I smirked, "Got you, bastard."

Red finally got close enough, Blood Claw swiping furiously. Back then, I didn't cast Power Up on myself, but on my companions. Physical Boost was the bait. My spell enveloped Red, giving him much greater strength, turning his already deadly attack power even deadlier and merciless.

The claw ripped through the tentacles, wounding the Hunter, but it wasn't enough to kill it. The Ath'Taren looked in panic, let out a shriek, and tried to run. The mighty predator that looked down upon now feared for his life, wanting only to survive.

Before it could get away, Dark-Grey came out of the shadows in ambush, also powered up by my spell.

[Skill: Shadow Bite]

His fangs, deadly accurate, were strong enough to rip the life out of the Hunter.

It fell to the ground, lifeless.

Our victory cry echoed. The entire tension in my body dissipated, together with the last of my strength. I heard shouts from afar, from the Sergeant and his men, but I couldn't move at all. My vision blurred as the bridge fell apart.

Damn. I didn't have the strength to run away anymore. I would die under the debris. That was what I thought. However, before my consciousness faded away, I felt something sharp bite into my arms, dragging me away.