The two strange people who Tom suspected to be Altered Hunters charged forward without hesitation. The others couldn’t believe that there were people like this that actually existed.
They had all heard about the Altered Hunters’ existence through the news every now and then, but the stories about them didn’t really seem realistic. As an organisation that seemed to be against the very existence of Altered, how were they able to match those superhuman people?
Right now, they were able to witness it for themselves… at least they would have been able to, if it had been safe for them to stay. Altered Hunters were considered to be dangerous criminals on the same level as gangs, if not worse, which was why most of the group was still inclined to get out of there as soon as possible.
“We won’t get a better chance than this, let’s go!” Marie hurried them along, already running ahead, with Kai following closely behind her.
“Tom!” Xin shouted one more time at her classmate. He looked at her, and for a brief moment, it appeared as if he was going to follow her, only for him to turn around and continue watching the fight. In his mind, Gary wasn’t safe, in fact his situation might have just gotten worse.
Having had enough of the other’s nonsense, Xin lifted her leg up, and swung it out delivering a roundhouse kick right to Tom’s head. His body fell to the ground, knocking him out cold.
“What did you do that for?!” Innu shouted in confusion, not having expected the girl to be this ruthless. Xin went to pick Tom off the ground, and dragged him over to Innu.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with him. First he calls one of those beasts Gary, then he wants us to help one of those beasts and now it seemed like he wanted to stay behind. He can hate me later if he wants to, right now the important thing is to get to safety. Anyway, you said you were strong, right? Help me carry him, he isn’t that heavy.”
Innu wanted to decline, especially since there were literally monsters chasing them, but in the end, he felt like he couldn’t say no to Xin. Fortunately, from the looks of things, the Altered Hunters seemed to be doing a good job facing the werewolves.
As Tom was placed on Innu’s back, a loud growl could be heard from behind, and to their surprise, both of the werewolves seemed to be ignoring each other, as well as the Altered Hunters, and were now staring at Innu.
“Why me again?!” The high schooler cried out in despair as he ran as fast as he could with his classmate on his back. The werewolves leapt in the air, yet the Altered Hunters were ready for them.
“I’ll take on the bigger one, you can handle the small one, right?” The larger hunter asked his companion who nodded. The two of them intercepted the beasts without any signs of fear, using their specially made batons. Each one hit the underside of the werewolves, electrifying them on the spot, causing them both to plummet down.
As soon as they landed, they both went to swipe at their respective attacker, yet the Altered Hunters proved to be skilled enough to avoid the fast claws. Slowly as they continued to avoid the hits the two werewolves and Altered Hunters were getting further and further apart from each other, though by this time the teenagers had managed to run quite a distance away.
The large hunter was only slightly shorter than the black creature that he was facing. With the armour and weapons on him, it looked as if he would be able to put up a good fight.
“Are you sure you want to stay in your full form? You’re just making it easier for me to fight you this way.” The hunter taunted the beast. The next second, the werewolf got on all fours and leapt towards the hunter. With his electrified baton, he hit the side of the werewolf’s ribs, yet the other seemed to have expected it. Its sheer size, weight and momentum allowed the large creature to push through despite the damage it sustained.
The black furred werewolf opened its large mouth wide and clamped down on the hunter, who shoved his forearm into the beast’s mouth. When the werewolf closed its powerful jaws it was stupefied, surprised that its teeth were unable to break through whatever armour they were wearing.
“This is no ordinary armour!” The man shouted, and realising that the batton did little against his foe, he placed it away, pulling out the sword by his side. He swung it fast, and the werewolf was barely able to get away, but not before the weapon lightly scratched the outside of his chest.
Blood had been drawn and the creature could smell burnt flesh. Looking at the sword, he realised that it was far from being ordinary, the edge lit up in a scorching red.
“I saw flesh between your teeth and you have the stench of blood on you.” The hunter said. “You Altered make me sick!”
——
Not too far away from where they were, the smaller hunter was facing off against the brown werewolf. Not only was it smaller than its fellow beast, but it seemed slower and less powerful which was why he had been tasked with facing this one. Nevertheless, his training had taught him never to underestimate his enemy. One moment of carelessness could spell his demise.
The small hunter pulled out a second electrified baron, and held them in both hands. He looked at the werewolf and was carefully watching him. It had gotten on all fours, and pushed off its powerful legs, taking a swipe at the young hunter.
He leaned back, and narrowly avoided the blow, being faster than what he had imagined, making him nearly lose his balance. Still, he caught himself with his arms, arching his back, and went to kick the beast who had now jumped over him.
Seconds before his foot made contact with the beast, a small blade could be seen sticking out from the top of his toes, which had pierced the brown werewolf straight in the stomach. The creature howled in pain, and when it landed it rolled about on the ground. Blood was dripping from the werewolf. Unlike the other one, this one’s wounds seemed to be healing at a far slower rate.
It was then, when the hunter saw the back of the Werewolf, he could see that a tint of its hair on its head was slightly green. He was unsure how he had missed such a striking detail.
‘Reminds me of someone.’ The hunter thought, but as soon as the werewolf turned around and showed its giant teeth, he knew there was no time to think about unnecessary things.
——
The group had finally made it out of the forest and on to the main street. They all wanted to collapse right then and there, exhausted as the adrenaline that had helped them get this far had nearly been exhausted.
“We’re finally safe.” Marie fell to her knees on the pavement, yet two shadows soon cast over her.
“We received a report that an Altered had appeared in Cipen Park. Are you the ones who made the report?” When Marie looked up, she could see two figures displaying their golden badges with the symbol of a white rose.