39 Chapter 39: Alpha Male versus Beta Male (1/2)
Normally, slashing open the wrist of a person would be considered a fatal blow.
Evidently, the Lycanthrope Alpha's physical makeup was different from a human's. Its grip did not loosen at all, but instead it was tightening. I struggled to breathe as the increasing pressure crushed my already broken ribs and caused them to puncture my lungs. I was beginning to drown in my own blood. I flailed wildly, my attempts to escape ending in abject failure. The Lycanthrope Alpha responded by raising me to its jaws. I could only watch helplessly as two rows of glistening white giant teeth grew larger and filled my vision.
”Big Brother!” Adrian yelled.
”Richard!” Alicia was forced to divert her arrows, not only because I was too close to the Alpha's face for her to risk firing at the enemy, but also because the surviving Lycanthropes had closed in on the four surviving Black Roses, forming a ring of claws and fangs. They were battling desperately to keep them at bay, reducing the horde of werewolves at a drastic rate and thinning them out, but there were still so many.
”Don't worry about me!” I snapped. ”Focus on staying alive!”
The Lycanthrope Alpha seemed to sneer, and then snapped its jaws shut to bite my head off.
Before the glistening fangs could sever my head from my neck, however, I completed my summoning spell.
”Taurus!” I yelled.
An enormous bull materialized in the sky and crashed into the Alpha with devastating force. Impaling the screaming gigantic Lycanthrope with his horns, Taurus smashed it down onto the ground and stomped on it with his front legs, crushing both giant wolf and earth beneath him.
The Alpha could no longer hold onto me. The moment its grip weakened, I tore out of its claws and leaped to safety. Unfortunately, the moment my legs hit the ground, red-hot agony tore through my body. Wheezing, I clutched my chest and staggered backward.
Honestly, I would have summoned Vermillion Phoenix, White Tiger or one of the other Celestial Guardians if I could, but they took more time. Taurus was not as powerful as them, but he didn't require as much time. And time was a commodity I was extremely short on. Fortunately, it seemed that Taurus might be able to overpower the Lycanthrope Alpha.
The Alpha struggled to its feet and tried to break away from the rampaging Taurus, flecks of blood and drool flying from its maimed jaw. It desperately fought off the giant bull that was goring it and made a last-ditch lunge for me.
”Smart move,” I remarked calmly as I watched the pouncing Lycanthrope. ”You can't beat Taurus, so you aim for me instead, knowing that he will disappear if you manage to kill me. Too bad you're forgetting something.”
The Alpha had been grappling with Taurus for quite some time now, which gave me enough time to cast yet another spell. After all, if I could summon a Constellation spirit, then I probably had more Constellation spirits in store in my sea of consciousness.
Before the Alpha could reach me, a huge wall of earth burst out of the ground and struck the Alpha right in its chin. With a pained yelp, the giant Lycanthrope fell on its back, clutching its ruined jaws.
”Thanks, Capricorn,” I said as an enormous Sea Goat emerged from the earth. He nodded and closed in on the fallen Lycanthrope Alpha, ready to finish the job. ”Leave the Alpha to Taurus. I need you for another job.”
Ignoring the burning pain in my chest, I hurried toward Alicia's position. The four of them were still alive, but bloodied and slowly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. Brandishing Gemini twin swords, I cut a path through them. Capricorn bounded behind me, trampling over the smaller Lycanthropes or knocking them away with his huge horns.
”Richard?!” Alicia was staring at me, surprised. ”How…?”
”No time. Follow me! All of you!”
The four Black Roses didn't question me. Capricorn stampeded through the lines of the Lycanthropes, opening a bloody route for us to run through. My schoolmates gratefully followed the huge Constellation spirit, who was leaving blood and death in his wake.
”Richard?”
Alicia spun around when she realized I hadn't followed. I was still standing in the center of the prowling Lycanthropes, all alone.
”What are you doing?!”
”Finishing what you've started,” I replied wearily. To be honest, I was at my limit. My broken ribs were grinding against my chest, and I couldn't breathe. My vision was growing hazy and my body was gradually refusing to respond to my mind's commands. ”You were on an extermination mission, weren't you?”
”Are you crazy?!” Elliot bellowed. ”Don't try to be a hero, you idiot!”
”Stay where you are,” I ordered icily. The four Black Roses hesitated, hearing the steel in my voice. Dismissing my Gemini twin swords, I looked at the pack.