"On your right!"

Helen gripped the sword tightly and desperately swung the sword, blood poured over her as the forearm of the wolf creature flew through the air. Feeling the blade cut through the muscle and bones of the arm shook the blade, her fingers feeling slightly numb from the experience. Gritting her teeth, Helen doubled her effort on holding onto her weapon.

Grasping at the stump, the wolf howled in pain as it tried to contain the spurts of blood, leaking out from between its fingers. Its eyes trembled in fury, locking onto Helen. Snarling, it released its hand, ignoring the increased flow, and swung its vicious claws.

Helen didn't see the attack, but something in her mind lit up and she ducked, feeling the air rush over her head. The air made her hair dance about. It was a second later when she realized what had happened.

Trembling at the thought of being killed in an instant, Helen almost dropped her sword. "How in the world did I dodge that?"

A heavy thumping in her chest brought about an intense feeling of either running or fighting. Not even having the time to look at the others, she gazed upon the creature. Eyes widening, she did the only thing she could think of.

"This is it!" Helen thrust the tip of the blade into the chest of the creature. There was slight resistance and a crack before it slid into the thing.

Before it could respond, Helen remembered to twist the blade, feeling bone being widened and muscle being shredded.

Blood covered the chest of black fur and a shudder went through its body. It was only able to slightly turn its head before losing all strength and crashing to the stone floor.

Stepping on the beast, "I'll be taking this back," Helen pulled out her weapon.

Seeing it laying on the ground, Helen thought about how human it looked, the way it stood on its two legs and had hands similar to a person's. Fighting the bile trying to spew out of her mouth, "I can't think of them as people." Shaking her head, "I need to keep going!"

Turning her head, she witnessed the others battling for their lives. No longer were there flashes of light from guns, the ammo having been used up long ago.

Wiping her face with her forearm, trying to clear her vision, her eyes flickered to the tears and cuts on the suit. "Feels like each time I fight these things, I lose more of my clothing..."

"Damn it! Aim better! You nearly hit me!" Sin yelled at Michelle. Jumping back as one of the wolves lunged at her, she used her ninjato to slice through its side. In a smooth moment, she turned her hips to kick the creature away.

Stumbling to its side, it growled, saliva drooling down its snout. As it crouched, an arrow blossomed on its eye and making it collapse.

"Sorry about earlier!" Michelle apologized to Sin.

Grinning, "If you could do that, why didn't you do it earlier?" Sin looked at the young girl.

"I was aiming at the one behind it," Michelle stuck out her tongue cutely.

Mouth hanging open, Sin stared at the girl. "I'm going to be killed by that girl one of these days," She mumbled under her breath, shaking her head.

Helen turned back at the monster she killed, seeing it had faded away and left behind several items. "Looks like something decent, this time?" She wondered to herself as she noticed a small pack, a larger sword, and coins.

Picking up the sword, she had a strange feeling as though it was superior to the one she was using. Helen didn't know whether it was because of the craftsmanship, but deep down there was a sense of needing to keep it. Thinking it would be a waste to dump her old weapon, she went over to the pack.

Grabbing the shoulder strap, she knew it would be able to fit her sword. Opening up the cover and releasing the cord which kept is closed, all she could see inside was darkness. Sticking her sword into the void, Helen could feel the back reacting and become slightly heavier.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Pressing her lips together in thought, "It can still hold more stuff." Quickly picking up the coins, they were tossed into the pack. Closing it up and putting on the back, she looked at the new sword picked up from the ground.

"Let's go help out the others," Helen whispered to her sword.

Rushing to the others, she saw Catharina fending off two of the wolves.

Rolling back with smooth skill, Catharina dodged a kick from one of the monsters. With ease, she rolled to her feet, the sword in front of her. Sparks showered her as one of the monsters slashed its claws at Catharina, who blocked the move with her sword.

Seeing Catharina struggling against the monsters, Helen charged ahead, leaping over the occasional corpse yet to fade away. When she was within range, Helen went around to sneak up behind one of the creatures.

Clenching her teeth, "Just do it as you did! Don't forget to follow through!" Making sure Catharina noticed her, Helen held the pommel close to her chest and braced herself for the impact. "Don't hit the spine!" She begged as time felt like it slowed down.

A jarring sensation rippled along the blade, numbing her hands. "Damn! I must have hit a rib!" Focusing on the task at hand, she felt the weapon wedge itself between two of the ribs. It wasn't long before the tip pierced through the other side.

"C'mon!" Helen cursed as she tried to turn the blade, hoping to inflict maximum damage inside the thing.

The blood sprayed into her eyes, blinding her.

She heard a snarl of the other wolf, making her breathe rapidly, her hump pumping adrenaline into her. "I fucked up..."

"No, you don't!" Catharina's voice sounded like a valkyrie, the sound of a blade cutting through flesh.

Feeling the wolf she impaled weaken, Helen frantically tried to pull out the sword. Thoughts of being beheaded as the thing bit off her head rushed through her thoughts. "I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" Helen kept thinking, gripping the blade and panicking when the sword didn't come out.

Soon hands were on her, she screamed, "No! No!" Repeatedly tugging the weapon, desperately trying to get it free.

"Helen! It's me! It's Catharina!"

It took a while for reality to be processed in her mind, the blood still blinding her eyes as both hands madly gripped the sword and pulled on it. The moment it sunk in how Catharina had killed the other wolf, Helen became lightheaded. At the same time, the wolf's body trapping her weapon faded away and she dropped to the ground.

Tender hands caught her at the last moment, preventing her head from striking the stone floor. "Helen!" Catharina called out, an attempt at getting Helen to regain rationality.

Breathing regularly, the world was soon revealed as a hand wiped away the blood. Helen saw Catharina holding her shoulders. "I need to get better at this," Helen chuckled humorlessly.

"I recommend you don't get your weapon stuck on your opponent's ribs." Catharina teased, smiling in relief.

A cheer of the others was heard, signaling the end of the battle. Sounds of her friends and the Special Operation members congratulating one another was heard, everyone thankful for the threat to be finished.

"You're not going to faint on me, right?" Catharina raised an eyebrow, a mocking grin plastered across her face.

Laughing at the woman's joke, Helen didn't fail to notice her body feeling a little better. "I wonder if this is due to killing several of those things?" She thought to herself.

Thinking they were one step closer to getting out of this place, Helen couldn't help but smile in relief.