Chapter 403 - Against The Pack

The calm, restrained breaths of the savage creatures shifted into a more constant growl. It was that slight shift that he recognized that lent him the information to act first. 

Just before the creature directly in front of him, veiled by the foliage, leapt out from its hiding, he stomped his boot forward against the ground. 

He was already midway through carving his blade through the air as the growling fiend jumped at him, baring its teeth at his jugular as its crimson eyes locked onto him. Backing his swing with the strength of the stomp, the air hissed as the steel took a slight curve before pushing through the beast. 

"Graah!" He roared. 

In a bloodied mess, his strike taken as a pre-initiative bisected the black-hided creature directly down from its nose to its tail as it fell to the grass in a mess of two halves. 

Looking down momentarily while he could feel the warmth of the blood that sprayed onto him, the general shape of the dark creature was that of a large canine that possessed a size roughly as large as himself. 

Along its back were spikes, running down its spine to aid in its intimidating appearance. It bore a set of curved fangs, almost like husks that hung outside of its lips. 

A dog? No...it's a monster, alright, he thought. 

Without much time to stop and investigate it, rampant shuffling in the foliage placed him back on his guard as Aiko pressed her back close to his. 

"I think that was just a test," he whispered, "I think now...they're pulling no stops."

Aiko gulped and nodded her head without replying with a single word, keeping her gauntlet-clad arms raised. 

Don't forget--your top priority is protecting Aiko, if things go for the worse, he thought, no...I can't think like that. Just trust her, Ren!

Gripping the handle of his blades fervently, the allowance of thoughts was halted as multiple of the large, muscular canines sprouted from the treeline, bearing their fangs with malicious growls emitting from their maws. 

"Come on, you overgrown mutts," he taunted them in a mutter, squaring off as he held his blades up. 

The leftmost of the two charged forward with each stride it took rumbling the ground beneath its weight as it let out a snarl. 

As it leapt to him, he raised his broadsword up to halt its fangs from digging into his throat--managing to catch the steel of his sword into its jaw. It fought against this hold, biting down against his blade with its powerful jaws that practically locked it in place as he held on fervently. 

It's strong!...It's heavy, too! He thought. 

With the broad, hellhound pressing its entire weight against him as it salivated down the silver of his blade, he got a peek at the other one--it already began to move towards him at a rapid pace. 

Knowing full-well that two at once could spell bad news, he jammed his left hand up, stabbing his dagger into the thick throat of the red-eyed beast. 

A whimper released as its jaws relaxed from his broadsword; retrieving his dagger from its neck, a fountain of crimson spilled out as the canine fell to the ground. Not risking any sort of shenanigans, especially with the girl fighting her own battle, he swiftly double-tapped the canine with a quick stab to its skull, ending its whimpers in an instant. 

It was just in time for him to duck and roll forward before the other could pounce on him with its giant, steel-clawed paws nearly pushing him down. 

"Bring it on, big guy," he muttered as he squared off with the hellborne hound. 

He could only see it out of the corner of his eyes as he focused on his enemy, but Aiko was holding her own--utilizing the sturdy nature of her gauntlets to defend against the hounds' attacks and retaliate swiftly. 

Attagirl, he thought. 

Though his secured, one-on-one battle with the salivating, black hound was feeling cut short as he heard rustling in the bushes directly behind him. 

With one foe in front of him, and one behind, he had to make a swift decision: he sprinted full force to the visible hound as it met him halfway. 

It leapt towards him; a predictable move after facing the others, allowing him to drop down to his knees, using the damp, slick nature of the grass from the previous rainfall to slide forward. Using his lowered position, he raised his sword as the sharpness of the blade slid through the underbelly of the leaping hound. 

As it fell through the air, its parted under section left it disemboweled as it crashed down against the ground while the young man jumped back to his feet just in time to be greeted by a set of swiftly approaching hounds. 

"--Ghh!" 

He was forced to use his blade as a stopgap once more, holding two of the ravenous canines back as they snapped their jaws at him--their maw filled with razor-sharp teeth only narrowly missing his face as their saliva flung onto him. 

Struggling as he pressed his strength against the pair of large, powerful hounds, he kept his boots pressed against the soil below--pressing his hand against the backside of his blade for further leverage. 

"Ah…!"

The scream came from Aiko; a sound that etched into his soul a desperate, unforgiving feeling as if everything needed to be tossed aside in an effort to help the girl. 

He couldn't see past the overbearing canines that continued snapping towards his face--even managing to graze his cheek as they drew blood. 

Shit…! He thought. 

Not wasting another second, he vanished with a swift dash into the shadows that caused both of the dark hounds to stumble forward as all of their strength suddenly lost its resistance. 

Appearing directly above them, he spun, allowing his blade to carve through their muscular, thick necks that were indifferent to the sharpness of his steel. 

In his desperation, he found himself accidentally using too much reinforcement as he managed to completely separate the hounds' heads from their bodies. 

Though he was more worried about what was going on behind him, swiftly turning around as he yelled the girl's name, "Aiko!" 

She was surrounded--though it wasn't as bad as it could be; he could only make out a small wound to her shoulder that dyed the pale-white fabric of her robes to a crimson in the afflicted area. 

It seemed that the only reason she hadn't been mauled yet by the pack of hounds facing her was she resorted to using magic--enhancing her fists with an aura of light. 

Why did they group up on her? Did they decide she was the easier target and prioritize her? He thought. 

Not wasting any time thinking about it, he rushed to her side--cutting away the two hounds that approached her from behind as he placed himself at her side. 

"How're you holding up, Aiko?" He asked with a drop of sweat clinging to his bleeding cheek. 

"...I'm fine. I can keep going," She answered. 

Although he wanted to point out the wound on her shoulder, he wasn't exactly in any place to talk as he felt a stream of warm liquid run down his burning cheek. 

...If I try to call her off or handle everything by myself, she'll feel useless. I've known her for a while now...I'd like to think I understand her, just a bit. 

I understand it myself. I've felt like that: helpless, weak--only able to exist on the sidelines while others protect me. I know that pain well. 

Everyday, with every action I take, I question myself; "Am I capable of doing this?", "Am I really someone that deserves their respect?", "Why do they listen to a useless nobody like me"..."What if the decision I make gets everyone killed?"--I can't stop it. In my head, I'm...adequate, but that's enough. As long as you place your trust in me, I can trust myself, then. So, I'll do the same for you, he thought. 

"Hey, Aiko," he called her name. 

"Yeah?..." The girl replied quietly. 

The hounds continued to encircle them, bearing their gnarly fangs as their beady, crimson eyes were filled only with hunger. 

"I've got a crazy idea," he said with a trembling smile. 

He could hear her visibly gulp as she looked at him with her purple irises, "...What is it?"

After a succinct explanation of the eccentric machination that he formed, Aiko hesitantly nodded her head as she fixed her short, beige and crimson locks. 

"It sounds crazy...but, I trust you," she gave him a small smile. 

He responded with a thumbs-up, "Glad to hear it!"

Though there was little time to discuss anything further as the cautious hounds seemed to grow more persistent in their approach. 

Lifting his sword in a peculiar fashion with the flat side facing up, he called out, "Alright! It's now or never, Aiko!"