Chapter 33: End of the Hunt (1/2)
Nyx struggled to stay airborne after having been blasted away by the tempest. Gantt who she was helping had already been dropped off in the forest below.
She flapped her shadow wings to go up again and see what Aquila was doing. If she was willing to, she had the choice to pin the Divine Eagle down at the cost of a huge chunk of mana that would probably leave her incapacitated for a while.
But before she could make a decision, her eyes widened in shock as she spotted something falling from the sky, heading straight toward Aquila. She briefly recognized the two wolf tails before the figure crashed on Aquila, creating a crater and raising a cloud of dust.
Leis leaned on his sword to stand up along with the help of his gang and also witnessed the event with wide eyes. Allan groaned not far from him as he rubbed his head in pain.
Then, they heard the sounds of a chain coming from within the dust cloud and a second later, two azure small scythes shot out and landed on both sides of Aquila, stabbing the ground.
”You?!” It was followed by Aquila's incredulous shout and the clearing of the dust after a wave of his wings. Everyone's attention was instantly grabbed by the being on the eagle's back.
It stood at least three meters tall with fur black as the night with a significantly longer portion on the back of its neck, similar to a mane. Its eyes seemed to be something out of a fairy tale, looking like a glowing red black hole. While on its rear legs, the muscles of the beast were easily noticeable, borderline bulging.
But what they primarily focused on was the ear-breaking grin the beast was displaying as well as the blue-colored chain of a Kusarigama that was constraining the eagle's neck.
”What are you waiting for?!” The humanoid wolf roared. ”Move your asses and pull on the chains!”
That voice was utterly unrecognizable for all of them and the tone was even more so. But that weapon couldn't be a coincidence.
Leis was the first one to recover. ”Quick! Separate into two groups and make sure those scythes stay where they are!”
The Wing Walkers got into action and Aquila groaned. His mana flared up but his concentration was shattered by the appearance of an albino snake who suddenly bit his eye, blinding it.
A blue venom infiltrated his system and it got dangerously close to reaching his brain before it was stopped by his mana. He let out another whistle-like cry before chanting his magic a second time, ”[TEMPEST!]”
The werewolf on his back fell off surprisingly easily while the snake consciously decided to ride the winds to move back. On the other hand, the people who had grabbed the chain in time used it to not get blown away, which backfired on Aquila as the chain around his neck tightened.
He grunted and lifted his claw before stomping on the ground, casting another magic, ”[Quake!]”
The ground started shaking and more than one person lost their footing and let go. Aquila tried to exploit that opening to get away and deployed his wings. ”Atzpul!”
When he activated his skill, an unnatural wind was generated below him and made him take off with only one flap of his wings. The Wing Walkers were about to get dragged along when another voice joined the battle, ”[Iron Maiden!]”
Nyx glided over and raised a hand to the sky. Two shadow constructs shaped exactly like Aquila's wings appeared before growing spikes under it. Nyx dismissed the System prompt telling her of the creation of a skill and brought her hand down.
Aquila let out a cry stronger than the ones before as his wings got pierced by countless spikes but even then, he refused to completely fall back on the ground.
”Throw the grenades!” Leis ordered and the remaining explosives were thrown. They exploded above Aquila who was momentarily slowed down by the shockwaves of the explosions. But he still had enough force to get away. That is until another force suddenly weighed him down.
His golden eye darted to find the source and quickly spotted Flavia in the distance. ”[A-Anchor!]”
He almost failed to chant because of the pain and Flavia instantly felt like she was carrying tons on her back. She collapsed on her knees but in a show of stubbornness, she maintained her telekinesis, and Aquila's take-off was ultimately canceled.
In a moment of absolute frustration, the Divine Eagle almost missed a voice coming from behind him, ”Five of Hearts.” For a second, he sensed an incredible mana signature that should not be possibly present during a tutorial.
Then, a howl resounded and the werewolf landed next to one of the scythes. Aquila glanced at the humans and saw them visibly back away in fear at the imposing beast. He thought that maybe it would give him the chance he needed.
The werewolf grabbed the chain himself and uttered one word, ”Move.” The humans looked at each other and ran off without much resistance.
Aquila then tried to pull but something unbelievable happened. He wasn't the one who dragged the beast, he was the one who got dragged.
'What!? How does his strength rival mine?' Aquila thought in disbelief and before he knew it, the werewolf had forced him to topple over. The beast then leaped with the scythe in his hand and landed next to the other which he also retrieved.
The werewolf whirled the two blades in his hands with expertise and then grinned before yanking the chain attached to them. He then twisted his body to the side and slowly turned around.
'He couldn't be…!' Aquila opened his eyes wide as his entire body slid on the ground.
The werewolf laughed maniacally before pulling on the chain even stronger. He spun in place and the Divine Eagle was dragged around before he eventually lost touch with the firm ground.
Aquila, for the first time in this fight, wished he was not in the air. The werewolf maintained his ear-splitting grin as he gained more and more momentum until the large eagle was being jerked around in circles.
Everyone around watched dumbfounded, shielding their eyes from the wind caused by how the massive eagle was turning into a literal living fan.
”Holy shit…” Allan muttered.
A few seconds later, the werewolf let go of the chain, and Aquila was hurled toward the Eagle God's Statue which he crashed on with a loud sound. The entire statue trembled and the ground around quaked.
At the same time, Nyx's Iron Maiden faded away and she collapsed on the ground panting along with Flavia who had also assisted as the werewolf went all spinning top on them.
Aquila slowly got out of the hole he made in the statue and fell on the ground, without being able to move. ”This…!” He exclaimed in shock as he couldn't control his body anymore. Nothing was responding. Granted, he was in a lot of pain and the dizziness after what just happened wasn't helping but there was no reason for him to lose control of his body.
”This feels like a déjà vu,” a growl-like voice said, filled with amusement.
Aquila looked at the source with his remaining eye and saw the werewolf slowly walking toward him with a snake slithering up his shoulder. That's when he understood what happened.
”Energy venom… I thought I had stopped it with my mana,” he said with a helpless tone. ”It appears that it was too close to my brain, to begin with.”
”Pretty much,” the were beast said with a smirk. ”Not that you would have won if it hadn't worked anyway.”
Aquila's expression twitched and he squinted his eye to observe the being in front of him. He noted the mystical-like eyes, something he had never seen before, and then the two tails.
”A werewolf with more than one tail… I see you deserve the S+ designation. What is your name?”
The beast snorted and a silver case appeared in his hand. He silently took out a cigarette and looked at it with a scowl. ”Can I even smoke this shit in this form?” He asked himself and not only Aquila but everyone else who had gotten closer sweatdropped.
The werewolf shrugged and put the cigarette between his fangs and lit it up. He closed his eyes and a minute later, when he opened them again, their color had changed from red to purple. His whole demeanor even went from an unstoppable force to something akin to a true predator.
”Rakna Xiorra,” he answered the Divine Eagle's question with a much more tamed voice.
Aquila narrowed his eye. ”Split personality?” He voiced the first thing that came to his mind.
”Not exactly,” Rakna said with a huff. He approached the downed eagle and picked up the scythes on the ground. He grabbed the bases of the handles and twisted them. The blades along with the chain glowed and the entire thing began to shrink. Aquila felt the pressure around his neck fading and before he knew it, Rakna was putting a blue scarf around his neck.
”You can't really call it split personality since both sides are just me with different behavior. It's different from having two distinct people in your head,” he then finished his explanation and his ears twitched when he heard someone approaching from behind.
He looked over just as Allan grabbed onto his left shoulder and looked at him with a grin. ”Damn, Rak. You're fucking huge now. So, you were a werewolf, after all.”