Chapter 18
977 Words
Immediately after receiving the order, he nocked an arrow into the bow, pulled the string as fast as he could and let the arrow loose. It flew with great speed to his target.
“Crow” stopped in his tracks and, with one hand, caught the arrow aimed for his chest. It had an aluminum shaft for light weight and a sharp tip meant to go through flesh. Though he caught it, it still cut him. The hand that held the arrow began to bleed at the thenar webspace. He tossed the arrow over his shoulder with no regard for possible bystanders. Lowering his center of gravity, he began to run at full speed toward the archer.
In response, the archer began firing arrows one after the other, pulling the string as far back as he could before releasing it. He fired ten in the few seconds that passed.
“Crow” ran toward him, dodging any arrows that came close, which most did. Neglecting the other Hunters around his target, he ran.
One of the Hunters around the archer, pulled out his combat knife and attempted to stab “Crow”.
“Crow” grabbed his arm and flipped him over his shoulder, just as Zexal taught him. He pulled out a customized stake he had made from his jacket and threw it into the Hunter’s chest, breaking through the ribs and into his heart. He picked up the knife and held it in a backhand grip. He took a deep breath and ran again.
Another Hunter intercepted him, slashing at him with a sword.
“Crow” met his blade with the knife in his hand. He gave a push to his left, attempting to knock his opponent off balance, followed by a swift kick to the side of the head.
The tremendous force caused the Hunter to fall to the ground, stunned. He attempted to recover and get up quickly but failed.
“Crow” pulled out another stake from his jacket and threw it into the Hunter’s chest. He picked up his sword and hurled it at the archer to stop the excessive wave of arrows.
The sword hit an unintended target. Someone had jumped in front of the thrown blade, its end piercing out of his back.
“Crow” continued to walk toward the archer. Swatting any arrow fired with the knife in his hand, he steadily increased the speed of his approach.
“Tab, get behind me.” He nocked another arrow in his bow. He let the arrow loose, his aim starting to deteriorate in accuracy.
“Crow” watched it zip by without making an attempt to deflect it. Looks like he’s becoming exhausted. He smirked and exponentially increased his speed. As he passed the body with the sword rammed in the gut, he quickly thrust a stake into its chest and continued running to his target.
The archer shot another arrow at the demon as a distraction and pushed Tab away. He used the iron bow to block the knife coming his way. The knife clanged against the bow. Next, he thrust the bow upward and twisted his upper body to hit the demon’s jaw with the end of the bow. Right after it hit, he twisted his upper body the other way to hit the other side of the demon’s jaw with the other end of the bow. In rapid succession, he hit the top of the head, both sides of the jaw, and his chest, disorientating the demon. He attempted to use the center of the bow to break his target’s nose and send a shard of bone to the brain, thrusting it to his face.
“Crow” caught the bow in both hands, his eyes turned red, parts of his face turned pitch black, and his claws began to protrude from his fingers.
Tab came from behind the archer and threw a knife into the demon’s leg.
“Crow” yelped in pain, letting go of the bow and turning his attention to the knife jammed into his left leg.
“Run!” Tab grabbed the archer by the shoulder and began to run away. He followed after her.
“Crow” pulled the blade out of his leg and hurled it back to its owner.
The knife made a whistling sound as it flew across the space between the Hunters and the Demon. The archer stood in front of the blade and pushed Tab away. The blade embedded itself into the back of his skull, down to the hilt. He fell face first onto the grass.
Tab stumbled forward, regaining her balance before turning around. “Hells?”
She walked to his body, reaching out for the knife, tears building in her eyes. She heard footsteps approaching and instinctively drew back, pulling out the sword at her hip. She pointed it to the Demon approaching them. He looked down at the body and kicked it over to its back.
“D-don’t touch him!” She shouted, pointing the end of the sword at him.
He looked at her then dismissed her, turning his attention back onto the corpse. He pulled a stake out of his jacket and threw it down into his chest. He then turned his blood-red eyes to the girl with the sword. He reached out with a hand to the sword, stroking the tip with his finger. He smiled, taunting her. He backhanded the blade, grabbed her by the shoulder and forced her down to the floor.
She gasped and grimaced at the pain.
He opened his mouth, revealing his elongated fangs, and bore down at her neck. Or at least, he planned to.
“Don’t!”
He stopped in his tracks, his fangs nearly piercing her neck. His thirst for blood had suddenly evaporated.
Is that you?
- Writer
