9. Vilehounds (II)

His beast summons functioned as natural extensions of his will. They did his bidding instinctively and effortlessly. Just like Raziel didn’t need to think about his knees in order to walk, his beasts moved on their own, but according to his intent.

But he couldn’t control them completely.

With the [Alpha Vilehound]’s spit covering the two [Vilehounds] eyes, the two smaller beasts reared back, afraid for their own health. Raziel mentally pressed them to get back in the action. After a short battle of wills their yellow eyes glowed brightly and they growled viciously one more.

The fireball inside the forge of the [Alpha Vilehound]’s throat built quickly.

Raziel knew that if the [Alpha Vilehound] was able to unleash the fireball, the effects would be disastrous. The current scene was essentially a spark about to hit a river of lighter fluid. The shed full of kids would combust. His two summons would roast. And that wasn’t even the end - clear green fluid speckled across the grassy courtyard. It would all go up in flames. Raziel touched his cheek, feeling a droplet of the fluid on his cheek too. Glancing down, some of it had soaked into his clothes.

In unison, the two [Vilehounds] crept up to the enemy. They lunged upwards, locking their jaws into the [Alpha Vilehound]’s right and left arm respectively, dragging it down, holding it in place.

The half-liquid fur and musculature of the [Alpha Vilehound] oozed out between their teeth.

Raziel’s pulse beat steadily. Could he even kill this thing?

If the beast’s heart was also made of ooze then how would arrows do any damage?

He didn’t have time to theorize.

The [Alpha Vilehound]’s throat was expanding rapidly. Its mouth and trachea were bright like it had captured the dawn between its teeth. Five seconds. They had five seconds left.

Reaching deep down, he found a scrap of strength he didn’t even know he had left. Raziel steeled himself and threw everything he had into pulling the arrow back, his face going red. He kept pulling and pulling until his elbow was further back than he’d previously been able to get it before.

His beast summons clenched down even harder on the [Alpha Vilehound] pinning him in place.

The arrow sailed through the flaming throat.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

The [Alpha Vilehound]’s head exploded in flames.

The flames instantly traveled over the beast’s body, its skin crackling and popping and exploding like firecrackers. An acrid stench lit the air. However, the headless [Alpha Vilehound] continued to stand, clawing at Raziel’s two beast summons. Its body was more ooze than flesh.

Incensed, the [Alpha Vilehound] then leaped onto the school shed. The children inside screamed in shock and horror at the sudden attack. The beast punched through the roof, as if reaching for one of them with its cruel claws.

The beast might as well have been a sentient pile of acid.

What was Raziel supposed to do?

Through the snarling of the beasts, his [Hyper-Vigilance] picked up the sound of the shed door creaking open. “Catch!” Verminta threw him a heavy set of chains. She grimaced afterwards, clutching her wounded arm. Her HP went down by another 10%.

Right, he didn’t actually need to kill the [Alpha Vilehound]. After all, the village guard was supposed to be on the way. A whole group of combat-class villagers. Maybe they had some secret magic technique (a technique that they’ve been pretending not to have) which could deal with the threat.

Raziel just needed to ensure everyone survived until then!

His whole body was sore to the bone.

But so what?

He charged forward with the chains in his arms.

Even with the added weight, the Hunter’s Pursuit bonus caused him to feel like he was flying. If he had to put a number to it, he tentatively thought that he was running 50% faster than he was naturally capable of. This was the crazy benefit of the [Hunter] class!

He circled the [Alpha Vilehound], crossing the chains over its entire body. The beast tugged on its constraints. Raziel was lifted off his feet as he tried to rein the beast in. Right. The [Alpha Vilehound] was still extremely strong. Much stronger than Raziel himself.

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Acidic spittle flew everywhere. Stinging agony flecked over Raziel’s arms, coin-sized burn marks sizzling into his skin. The sensation was like hot oil had splashed onto him.

Raziel intentionally released the chains. His beast summons snatched the ends of the chains in their jaws, pulling them taut. While the two [Vilehounds] weren’t as strong as their alpha counterpart, they were still stronger than Raziel. Plus they were heavier.

To Raziel’s consternation, another fireball began forming inside the [Alpha Vilehound]. This time it was inside his burst-open stomach. The fireball was a bright, acid-green, and black waves roiled ominously across it. Raziel’s heart dropped at seeing. He didn’t know what kind of fire it was, but it wasn’t ordinary fire - the aura it gave off felt extremely dangerous - and it was developing at a rapid pace.

His [Vilehounds] must’ve felt similarly, because their wills started tugging against his again.

“GO!!” yelled Raziel, the command striking the [Vilehounds] like a physical blow.

Their teeth gnashed into the chains and they took off like bolts of green lightning, dragging the [Alpha Vilehound] behind them. They broke through the tall wooden fence surrounding the schoolyard. The grass blackened behind them as the [Alpha Vilehound] was dragged through it.

Raziel could feel his beast summons mentally struggling, but their bodies didn’t dare disobey. Even though the [Vilehounds] had already died and their Beast Card version of them was just an echo, they possessed their original instincts. They knew Raziel’s orders had put them in extreme danger. They feared the green flame intensely.

They feared it even more than Raziel.

Likely, if the five [Vilehounds] and the [Alpha Vilehound] were part of the same pack, it was possible that they were familiar with the green flame and knew of its destructive power.

Reverberations shook the earth.

The health bars of the two hounds plummeted.

Raziel felt a tinge of relief - they were on death’s doorstep, but not dead yet. Heavily injured. He closed his eyes and looked inside his core. The two [Vilehound] cards were tattered, as though Raziel had taken them out and stomped on them. The beasts’ representations on the cards also looked quite bad.

Cautiously, the shed door squeaked open to release a small army of kids. They were the six-year-olds he had saved earlier. Sniveling noses, pale faces. Though the near-death experience had shaken them to the core, their shining eyes all stared up at Raziel with pride and awe.

Raziel supposed the older kids had an easier time running the distance to the gates. The little ones must’ve gotten scared and chosen to hide.

“Is the beast really gone?” one kid asked.

“I’m not sure,” he answered honestly. The strength of the [Alpha Vilehound]’s green fireball of death would’ve blown apart the entire school, but the beast had the power to reform. He wondered if the beast had been trying to avenge its dead brethren with that final attack. There was no sense in destroying all the food.

Either way, the [Alpha Vilehound] was the village guard’s responsibility now. Raziel was just a newbie who had stepped up in the interim. They should have better resources for dealing with these kinds of situations.

Raziel’s eyes widened, shaken from his thoughts. Verminta nestled into his arms and hugged him tightly.

The village guard soon appeared. Five men in various states of physical fitness approached them.

With a thought, Raziel recalled his two [Vilehounds] back into their cards. Twin acid-green wisps siphoned into his chest.

The six-year-olds didn’t quite understand what had occurred, and didn’t know that he had two Beast Cards. Everyone else who had been in the school that day had long since fled as far away as they could.

Only Verminta had seen anything, and judging by the way she was trying to climb into his body, he doubted she would say anything to the village guard about his new beast summons.

A [Brawler] handed Verminta an elixir which stopped her HP from dropping.

“It won’t heal you, but it’ll give you an extra couple of hours to get to a doctor,” the [Brawler] told her quietly. “Also, quick tip: if you hold your breath for ten seconds, your soulpane will minimize. That trick helped me out when I had newly awakened as an eleven year old myself.”

A tall and reedy [Hunter] whistled appreciatively at the incapacitated [Alpha Vilehound] in the distance.

“Ravenbone did this? But he’s just a kid. An F-Rank at that,” muttered one of the other guards. “Did your old man teach you a couple of magic tricks?”

“All I used was a bow and a couple of arrows,” he said. “Terrified the beast right through the fence.”

The [Brawler] elbowed the reedy [Hunter] and whispered. “Look - Ravenbone is a [Hunter]. He met the requirements. Must be something of a genius, right? The only person I’ve ever known to get [Hunter] at eleven is Callum Holt. And Holt is an absolute fuckin’ monster.”

“Well, since he’s a [Hunter], he certainly heard every word you just said.” The [Hunter] from the village guard grunted. “Anyway, it’s easier to get a good class young with inner village resources. Hmph.” He narrowed his eyes at Raziel, as if Raziel wasn’t an outskirter just like him. “The [Alpha Vilehound] was probably hurt to begin with. Those things aren’t easy to beat. Don’t get too smug just because you got the killshot, boy. Well then. Don’t these guys travel in packs? Where are the others?”

When their group came up to the second floor, the other [Hunter] laughed uproariously. “Haha! Ah hah! I knew it! [Vilehounds] are extremely crazy and violent beasts. It’s clear they got into a fight - maybe over a meal - and ended up killing each other. The alpha won but also ended up pretty injured. I see how it is now.”

Raziel simmered quietly. There were arrows sticking out of the eyes of these [Vilehounds]! What do you mean they all got into a deadly scuffle? Wouldn’t their injuries look a lot more vicious?

The [Hunter] kicked one of the [Vilehound] corpses over. His gaze went to the gash in their chest where Raziel had scavenged a card from. “I see you tried to plunder them too. Get anything good?”

“Wasn’t me,” said Raziel. He turned his nose up at them.

For now, Raziel took solace in knowing Verminta had survived. Hopefully the healer would fix her up quickly.

Next on the list… having a civil discussion with Father Linus.