“Rita… you came…”
Roxanne mumbled in relief as the female werewolf stepped into the limelight. Her body was partially transformed into a wolf, and she had a menacing look, daunting a few of the hunters who remained.
Since Roxanne had taken out two of them and Rita just killed off two, their remaining numbers were ten.
“I’m glad I made it in time, looks like you’ve gotten yourself into a bit of a mess, Roxy” Rita sighed.
Even though she was relieved to see her dear friend, the circumstances wouldn’t allow them the opportunity to be more cordial.
Donald looked even more flustered by Rita’s presence. He was definitely not expecting this.
“Shit! This wasn’t what he told us… That damned beast. Did he trick us?!” Donald thought within himself.
Larry had explained how they were to execute the plan, giving them information concerning Roxanne which they were happy to exploit.
Pushing aside his nervous look, Donald refused to appear weak in front of the opposition.
“So, another one of your comrades has come, what of it? Soon, she will also collapse due to the toxins in the air.” Donald said, feigning confidence.
“Oh? You mean the wolfsbane? That’s not going to work this time.” Rita smiled.
Donald’s eyes bulged upon hearing that. He convinced himself that the werewolf was bluffing. She had to be!
“You should really stop pretending. Any moment now and-”
“Its simple, really. As long as I hold my breath, I won’t inhale any of the gas that you’ve filled this room with” Rita revealed, interrupting Donald.
“W-wha-?!” Donald let out.
“I can hold my breath for thirty minutes, you know? More than enough time to deal with you dregs” Rita said, returning her face to a serious form.
“That’s it! Everyone, fire freely!” Donald commanded.
The Hunters followed Donald’s instructions and launched the bullets nonstop. Rita moved at a much faster speed than Roxanne, displaying the gap in their physical prowess. Moving in flashes, she danced across the room, using her senses to predict the trajectory of the bullets before evading.
Dashing to one of the flustered Hunters, she slashed his throat, causing him to let go of his weapon as he grabbed the bleeding part of his body, choking on his blood.
Rita grabbed the gun, pointing it at the Hunters as she shot. The men ran for their lives as the bullets were fired across the room. Even with her accurate vision, Rita managed to kill only a few.
“Tch, I’m not used to this…” She mumbled.
Clearly, she had never wielded a gun before.
Donald gritted his teeth in frustration. This wasn’t how it was meant to go. He was prepared to lose perhaps one or two of his brethren at most, but this was going too far. At this point they was barely five of them left.
He had to take action, before it became his turn.
Moving a few steps away from his position, while Rita was distracted with one of the Hunters, mercilessly killing him, he rushed toward Roxanne’s damaged body and pointed his gun at her.
“That’s enough, wench!” Donald yelled, his hand on the trigger.
Rita’s eyes widened in shock as she saw the sight. Her brief moment of hesitation gave the remaining Hunters leeway to shoot their pounds at her.
“Arghhh!” She yelled as two shots successfully landed on her even when she tried dodging at the last minute.
Blood dripped from her wounds as she crowded in annoyance.
“Arkk!” She groaned, feeling the effects of wolfsbane within her system.
“Shit… The bullets were laced!”
Looking at Roxanne in her weakened state, Rita was determined to save her friend.
“Huhuhu, not so tough now, are you? Say goodbye to your friend… you beast” Donald grinned with satisfaction.
Roxanne tried her hardest to move, slowly raising her body, but she knew very well that she wasn’t going to make it in time. Rita hurriedly dashed toward her, ignoring the terrible wounds she had.
Donald gleaned victoriously as he pulled the trigger, aiming for Roxanne’s head.
>KPA!!!<
The stifled gunshot propelled the spinning bullet which moved at ultra speed to drill into it's target.
This would be a fatal shot.
>Splurge<
"N-no…" Roxanne's eyes widened.
She was a few meters from the landing point of the shot. She recollected how she got there. How, in a flash, Rita dated toward her and pushed her aside while the bullet hit her instead.
"Rita!!!" Roxanne screamed, starting at the bloodied image of her friend.
The drilled hole in her stomach looked severe. Rita chocked, laying on the floor as she groaned in pain.
"This is the end for both of you. It took longer than I thought, and the sacrifices were also greater than expected. But… at least we'll be ridding this world of not one, but two werewolves." Donald declared, pointing his gun at Rita to finish the job.
Roxanne didn't want her friend to die. Yet, she was powerless to do anything to stop it. Her body ached and her breathing was uneven. She wanted so desperately to love, but her wounded body wouldn't listen to her.
Donald placed his finger on the trigger once again, pressing it tightly against it. Within a second, he would finalize the act… And her friend would be dead.
"No… anything but that!" Roxanne's mind rang.
"Kpa!!!"
The shot rang, and the bullet was launched.
"Noooooo!!!" Roxanne screamed.
All of a sudden, the whole world froze. Roxanne could see everything around her. The remaining Hunters as they pointed their guns, posing like mannequins. Rita's pained expression, Donald's gleeful face. Even the bullet that was launched remained still in the air.
"W-what is this… What's going on?" Roxanne asked herself.
Suddenly, she noticed that the pain she felt was gone. Now dwelling beyond the boundary of time and concepts such as pain, Roxanne rose to her feet and felt everything around her.
She was not certain of what to make of the power she was experiencing, but suddenly she knew just what to do.
"Moon goddess… I thank you!" Roxanne smiled, prepared to launch her counterattack.
For at that moment, she had awakened a new Art within her. One which dwelled outside the realm of the six which had been revealed to her.
"Luna's Wish"
Beyond any boundary, she was granted the power to achieve her objective!
"You're all dead!" Roxanne's eyes glowed as she transformed to her half wolf state.
There would be no more mercy this time.