Chapter 24: BLOOD ALPHA (1.2)

The Blood Alpha surveyed the carnage with a predator's satisfaction. Her pack, once a blur of white fur and fang, now lay still, a testament to David's unexpected skill. "Strong?" She rasped, her voice a gravelly whisper, her blue eyes boring into him like twin ice shards. But David refused to be cowed.

He knew a single miscalculation could spell his doom. Silence hung heavy between them, thick with unspoken threats. A slow grin stretched across the Blood Alpha's face. Her smile was a promise of pain, a predator savouring the hunt. "No fear?" she mused, a purr rumbling deep in her throat. Her fur bristled, standing on end as the aura she'd unleashed, a tempestuous whirlwind, receded.

"You shall know fear," she declared, her voice echoing with cold amusement.Then, with a blur of motion so fast it defied perception, she vanished. Gone. David spun, searching frantically, Frostfang raised in a desperate ward. Even with his heightened senses, honed by countless battles within the tower, he couldn't track her movements. Had this place itself conspired against him? Panic clawed at his throat.

Just as despair threatened to consume him, a voice, filled with predatory relish, hissed in his ear, "Looking the wrong way, prey."The world exploded. A fist, heavy as a falling star, slammed into his jaw. A sickening crack echoed through the night, the taste of blood filling his mouth. But before he could even whimper, a searing pain ripped through his chest, the wind knocked from his lungs as a brutal kick sent him skyward.

He saw the platform fall away, the firelight below twisting into a distorted kaleidoscope. Before he could brace himself, another bone-jarring impact sent him crashing into the dead trees below. Disoriented, his vision swimming, David realized with chilling certainty – that his reflexes, his instincts, were no match for the monstrous speed of the Blood Alpha. He was already losing, and the fight had just begun.

The world blurred into a whirlwind of claws and pain. Mid-air, the Blood Alpha lunged, her razor-sharp talons aimed for David's heart.

In a desperate act of reflex, David slammed the Frostfang daggers together, forming a makeshift crossguard to deflect the blow. The force of the attack was immense, sending him hurtling through the air like a ragdoll, carving a furrow in the soft soil meters away from where the Alpha landed with a predatory grace.

"You blocked me?!" The Blood Alpha roared, a hint of surprise laced with amusement. This unexpected resistance promised a more interesting game – she could finally toy with her food.David, his body broken and battered, pushed himself to his knees, a river of blood staining the ground. Yet, a new glint ignited in his eyes – a swirling blue and white vortex that mirrored the secrets of the cosmos.

His skill, Celestial Wheel, had activated in the nick of time, a shield against annihilation. He knew he was outmatched, outpaced. So, he devised a desperate gambit.With a burst of speed that shattered the sound barrier, the Blood Alpha reappeared before him, her massive hand reaching out to crush his neck like a twig.

But amidst the pain, David found a sliver of twisted defiance. A chilling grin split his bloodied face.

"Oi," she rumbled, her voice laced with venom, "Why are you so damn happy?"The Blood Alpha was thrown off balance. Anger flared in her eyes. This wasn't supposed to be fun for him! Before she could react, David lunged forward, his right hand a blur as he aimed a vicious stab at her neck. But the Alpha was faster, her reflexes honed by centuries of battle.

Her hand shot out, an iron clamp that met David's wrist with a sickening crack. She expected a scream, a display of fear. Instead, David merely winced, his long white hair a curtain obscuring most of his face.

The Blood Alpha stared, a flicker of annoyance crossing her features. He launched his only weapon, and she caught it with ease, breaking his wrist in the process. But his reaction, his lack of fear, unnerved her.

There was something else in his gaze, a spark of something dangerous, something she hadn't anticipated. She shifted, focusing on his unarmed hand, her gaze narrowed as she waited for his next move. This fight was far from over.

"Is that all you've got?" she mocked, her voice dripping with disdain.

"Four," David whispered, barely audible.

"What? Speak up!" she roared, her icy eyes fixed on David, whose head hung low.

"Damn insect," Blood Alpha spat, convinced she had broken David's spirit.

"One," David murmured, almost inaudibly.

"Speak, human," she snarled, "Grant me the courtesy of a final plea before I silence you forever." Her voice, once a melody of the night, now thundered like an avalanche. Crimson fire blazed in her eyes, a predator toying with its prey, but David remained silent. 

"If you don't have anything to say, then die!" she growled, her white aura bursting chaotically around her. It covered her form like a raging storm, and her predatory eyes glared at the battered David she held in her grasp.

The ground trembled under the force of her power, and the air itself seemed to shudder. Never in her lifetime had she been so infuriated by a mere human who refused to yield to fear in her presence. She, the Blood Alpha, child of the god that governed the moon, the pinnacle of predators. And this human dared to look down on her even in the face of death.

Stretching her arms, she slowly pierced David's chest, her claws emerging from the other side.

"Zero!" David screamed in agony, his voice echoing through the trembling air, pleasing the Blood Alpha.

"Yes, that's the right sound," she exclaimed, a twisted satisfaction gleaming in her predatory eyes.

But!

Agony lanced through the Blood Alpha's core, ripping her focus from her prey. Her gaze slammed down to where David's hand, moments ago trembling and empty, now held a gleaming dagger that had dared to draw her blood. Where the hell had that come from?A harsh, humourless bark of a laugh escaped her lips.

"Weak," she snarled, the word dripping with venomous amusement. This lowly SSR dagger, a toy in the hands of an insect, had managed a mere scratch.

"A pathetic attempt at surprise, wouldn't you say, human?" she taunted, relishing the momentary flicker of fear in David's defiant stare.Her amusement died faster than the echo of her words. As she mocked him, her grip loosened.

David, just a limp doll moments ago, became a dead weight, crumpling to the earth with a sickening thud.

The Blood Alpha turned away, the human's demise a mere formality.Then, the world fractured for a moment, a blinding flash of cerulean erupting before David's dimming vision. A blue screen materialized in the air, the stark words "[Spell Activated]" hanging heavy, followed by a chilling inscription in crimson: "[Death Reversal]."

A horrifying metamorphosis rippled across David's face. A wide, chilling grin, devoid of any warmth or joy, stretched across his bloodied features, a stark contrast to the abyss that had replaced his defiance. His eyes, once filled with a desperate spark of determination, now glowed with an unsettling, malevolent amusement.

He looked not like a man defying death, but like a predator relishing the hunt, a dark amusement dancing in the depths of his gaze.A red sigil mirrored the wound David had inflicted, burning angry and malevolent on the Blood Alpha's side.

An unnatural chill emanated from the mark, a cold tendril of dread slithering down her spine. Something was terribly wrong, a discordant note in the symphony of her power.

The human's defiance had taken an unexpected turn, one that sent a shiver down the very spine of the predator.

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A/N: The Blood Alpha is rattled! What dark secret does David's smile hold? Don't miss the next chapter to find out!

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