Something changed abruptly in the air around them, but Kaiser wasn’t immediately sure what it was as he trailed Alfred, who was sprinting ahead. It was only after a heartbeat that the realization hit him — the noise of the battle had changed. The hunters' roaring shouts, which had once been filled with confidence and victory, now held a strain of something darker: confusion, pain, and panic. Even more unsettling, the beast’s relentless, guttural shrieks were now gone. For a creature like that to stop shrieking, there were only two possibilities: either it was finally defeated, or...

Kaiser narrowed his eyes, a look of grudging respect crossing his face as he looked at Alfred’s back.

'He predicted that, that damned thing would shift back to a hound and slip right through the crowded hunters’ feet.'

Though, he had been skeptical of Alfred’s role as leader at times, seeing him take this cold, calculating approach from the sidelines. Kaiser had to admit that he was truly worthy of that role, because the leaders doesn't need brute force alone. Combat required more than strength; it was about anticipation, strategy, and understanding. For advanced combat is both a battle of wisdom and strength, not muscles solely. Which is applied in every battle.

A true warrior stayed alert to every detail—not only at what was seen, but also at what was heard. Perhaps even smells, tastes and fell...

In any case, Alfred is now tracking where the hound is by paying close attention to every sound from the hunters’ pain-filled grunts, likely using them to determine where the creature was moving, biting as it weaved through the crowd.

Soon, Alfred’s eyes flashed somewhere, and Kaiser noticed him zeroing in on a spot.

'There!'

As if on cue, a dark, shadowy figure emerged on the other side of the skirmish, a good distance ahead, and was already aiming for the cover of the deep, dark forest.

Alfred reacted instantly, changing direction mid-sprint to intercept the beast’s path. The power he summoned was astonishing, his pace accelerating with inhuman intensity, but Kaiser kept up with ease, his own physical prowess surging as they speed forward. Within moments, they were nearly parallel with the creature’s trajectory, ready to meet it head-on.

And in that brief moment before collision, Alfred’s entire frame flexed, his muscles taut as coiled steel as he reached behind him. With a deadly elegance, he unsheathed the massive sword strapped to his back, wielding it with both hands. Timing his swing precisely, he brought the enormous blade down in a powerful arc, carrying an overwhelming weight as he slashed it with devastating force. The sword cleaved through the air like a falling avalanche, its trajectory aimed squarely at the beast.

The Hunter's aim was true. The great sword struck the hound mid-stride, cleaving the creature in two as cleanly as a knife through butter. The sheer force of the blow flung the bisected halves in opposite directions, sending the two mangled pieces away. The strike even left a small crater where the blade cut into the earth, causing a slight tremor to run through the ground.

Kaiser blinked, momentarily stunned by the power of the slash. Alfred had severed the beast with such precision, so the creature couldn’t possibly survive that right? Or at least enabled it from running?

'Right!?'

However, to his dismay, the front part lived!

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It continued the run as soon as it landed with its two legs, at the same time, an unnatural twitch ran through the beast’s front half, as though it was refusing to accept defeat. The back, mutilated section is shifting into a new form, twisting in a grotesque manner as two new legs were born from the parts of its severed body.

The transformation was hideous and nightmarish, a patchwork monstrosity reassembling itself into something functional, yet wholly wrong. The new body was smaller and more compressed, now had a gruesomely small head and other undescribably, disturbing features as a result of creating two new functional legs with the forceful use of other body parts that were absolutely not fitted for groundwork.

'That’s the ugliest dog I’ve ever seen…'

He barely had a moment to process this hideous resurrection when he noticed Alfred’s intense gaze fixed on him.

That's all it took for him to understand why he made him follow.

Out of everyone here, Kaiser was one of the fastest runners, perhaps the fastest, and that creature was not going to escape under his watch. He clenched his jaw, then began to give chase.

Without wasting another second, Kaiser launched himself forward, determination blazing in his eyes as he pursued the grotesque hound, now bolting with a frantic urgency. The twisted creature stumbled and lurched, clearly weakened yet still driven by a dark, unnatural will to escape. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for it to stabilize itself in using its newly created form.

The prey—if it could still be referred to with that term—was proving far more troublesome to kill. A barrage of projectiles failed, tide of butchering slashes failed, too. Even the force of Alfred's mighty great sword that had cleaved the beast in half hadn’t managed to end it. With only its twisted upper half remaining, the shifter still refused to die.

Kai could have reached it, but was forced to slow down. Well aware that another set of ambush lay in the forest edge.

'I hope that would finally kill it. On second thought, I would be really glad if they could at least stop it.'

The creature darted ahead, nearing to the dim embrace of woods. However, another barrage of arrows and crossbow bolts rained down from hunters hidden above, streaking through the air to form a wall of piercing projectiles. Yet the beast zigzagged through the barrage, avoiding most of the strikes with erratic precision, its shrunken, grotesque form makes it a smaller target and also difficult to hit. Even the few that managed to land barely affected it, then got easily removed the next moment by a mere shrug, as if the monster fresh itself was cooperating to remove the buried sticks. Did its smaller body enhance its control over its own flesh?

Kai can finally speed up, but was unhappy by that turn of events. Fortunately, there were still ground troops left awaiting to meet it in the bushes.

Diving into the shadows beneath towering trees. The hound faced a set of slashing blades, unfortunately, none of the wielders were powerful enough to seriously damage it, let alone, cut its tough, regenerative flesh. And with the advantage of low visibility, obscuring obstacles of shadows trees and bushes coupled with its smaller body boosting it's elusiveness. The damned thing passed, staggered a little because of limb damage it received but restored back to normal quickly.

That was the last layer. The first two had worked together to slaughter it, yet failed. And now, even the contingency layer was broken through.

Kai retrained a sigh of frustration, for he can't blame anyone because they're not superhuman and the fiend was a total cheat.

'F*ck, Why can't you just die.' He now understands what the Bandits must have felt back then.

As it slipped into the dense woods, the terrain shifted in its favor. The dim forest, thick with shadows and bushes, created an environment perfectly suited to the beast's elusive movements, a place where it could dodge, hide, and weave with ease. Luckily, a pale, waning moon hung in the sky tonight, offering the hunters some light to work with, though it was far from ideal. But the problem is - speed.

The majority of Hunters were stuck in the forest edge. Thanks to the luxuriant natural obstacles and dim lighting, they had no chance of catching up with the swift hound that could traverse through the wilderness with ease. Echoes of their distant shouts and warm lights of their lanterns can be seen behind him, growing farther away as he chased with all his might. Kaiser still isn't sure of his chances alone against that appalling thing, luckily, Alfred was here. The only one able to keep up in the dim, uneven terrain, followed close behind, lantern swaying as he sprinted.

They're the only ones left.

Kaiser clenched his jaw as he removed any thoughts of holding back his physical expenditure. His determined not to let this nightmare escape into the forest depths.

He glanced at the swift runner in the side of his eyes. By now, the position he tried hard to create and maintain in that earlier skirmish can be of use. They're running side by side with terrifying speed, a mere few meters distance between them. If he wanted to, he could pounce at it, thus reaching the swift creature. However, doing so would either fail, allowing it to get away, vanish into the thick shadows, leaving them with nothing but exhaustion and failure. Or succeed in stopping it, but chances are slim with just the two of them.

'Argh, l wanna sleep!'

His hesitant on risking it.

Through the thick underbrush, they pursued the beast, their every step put effort in focus. Kai sidestepped roots and branches in the moonlit gloom, his eyes locked on the creature’s dark form darting a distance near his side. With most of the hunters far behind, following with lanterns that quickly faded to pinpricks, the duo pressed on, their expression as grim as the possibility of winning.

Moreover, a few more seconds of this, they would get dangerously away from the others.

He had to made a decision, soon.

However, Kai was distracted by a flicker of light appearing ahead.