Sticking to the shadows, he followed the pack of abominations from afar. With their enhanced sense of smell and powerful eyes, if he hadn't been careful, they would have quickly found him.
Fortunately for him, with so many other Fallen Spawn littering the streets of this ruined city, even if they had spotted him, they wouldn't be able to keep their attention on him.
Because just as he had, the other hunters of this city also noticed the packs weakest link. Many of them tried their luck at the female Elaphus Spawn but had left disappointed and broken.
The male Elaphus Spawn was a fearsome protector and didn't hesitate in trying to kill anything that reached for what was his.
Many times, Artorias had thought of moving onto a different target, finding the various injuried beasts which had tried and failed to reach the female spawn as prime opportunity. But each time he did, something else would capitalize on the opportunity faster than he could.
A vast majority of them were scavengers, predators in their own twisted way. If he could fight and move without restraint, he would have probably risked engaging with such a spawn.
Most of them sat in either the Rank of Horror or Beast after all. Even a mundane person had the ability to kill them.
But with how he was…it was a high enough risk going for the injuried Elaphus Spawn as it was. So, for now, he bided his time.
Hiding in the natural cover provided to him by the shadows and only moving when necessary. Eventually the male spawn would either get tired or slip up and suffer an injury.
Even if it didn't. He had watched it for the better part of two hours. He had gotten a good enough understanding of how it fought to work around it and get what he was after.
He just hoped his body wouldn't fail him when the time came.
He was, after all, heavily injuried and working on basically no energy.
Ascended could stay awake for multiple days, but with how messed up his body currently was, it was only his singular goal of killing the female spawn which was keeping him awake.
Stepping through another set of shadows, he let the shroud cover him once more when he stepped out. He could see at least three different abominations from his vantage point, each moving to the pack's location.
Unfortunatly, all three were nowhere near the strength to contest with the male spawn. With how the deformed stag walked, with its head held high and its horns proudly glistening with various shades of black blood, it didn't even seem winded.
It was as impressive as it was terrifying and annoying.
Really, was it too much for the Fallen Spawn to slip up even a singular time and suffer some sort of grievous injury? It would make his night in this cold city just a little bit better.
'…I'm starting to sound like Uncle Caelum,' the man was as mad as an abomination. But he was also a Grade 7 Ascended. He had always sworn that madness and greatness were two sides of the same coin.
Artorias hadn't understood it before.
But he was beginning to now.
Only insanity would push somebody to hunt through the deadliest time of a Death Zone and aim to kill an abomination for some food. An abomination, which was being hunted by countless other spawns and was being protected by a Rank Savage Fallen.
'Maybe I am becoming mad…no, I'm not. It's just been a stressful day.'
He would blame it on the stress and move on; he was just tired. Once he got some food and well-deserved sleep, he'd be back to normal.
Probably…hopefully.
Seeing the male Elaphus Spawn take out the last of the three lower ranked abominations, he moved from his hiding spot, and appeared a little closer, cloaking himself in the shadows.
The next few minutes were quiet, as the pack of four continued their journey further. Mentally, he noted how they were moving North, which meant he would have to backtrack if he wanted to find more of the marks his Fireteam had left.
With how nearly every building looked the same in this city, it all very quickly became a maze for anybody trying to navigate their way through it.
The only reason he had even a semblance of where he was going was because he had spent weeks in this Death Zone.
It was a weird brag, but one that he was surprisingly proud of.
After all, who else could say they knew how to navigate one of the deadliest places currently on the planet?
Pushing those thoughts away with the mental equivalent of a sigh, he stepped into the shadows once again.
When he appeared, he had been expecting the pack of four to still be walking uninterrupted through the streets.
What met him instead was something that he had only been hoping for.
Standing ahead of the pack, stood a familiar abomination. With four inky wings on its back, a hunched over inhuman body, and four arms ending with serrated claws, a Corvus Plumatus Validus Spawn was challenging the male Elaphus Spawn for the injured female.
'This was everything and more! Thank you, you divine bastards!' he gleefully screamed in his mind.
Whilst the Corvus Spawn was a rank below the male Elaphus Spawn, that didn't automatically mean the fight was tilted in the latter's favour.
When it came to the Ranks of Fallen Spawn, they were more akin to guidelines than true estimates of power. They were, after all, imitations of living beings, so their powers fluctuated individual by individual.
Which meant, just because Artorias had killed a Corvus Spawn earlier that day, it didn't automatically guarantee that he could also kill this one. It may have a similar body and Rank attached to its name, but it didn't mean it was the same.
It was similar to how every Ascended ranked in the same Grade were also not two carbon copies of each other. One maybe more experienced than the other and one might have a stronger ability.
That same logic applied to the abominations. Maybe it was a little smarter, maybe it was stronger or faster, maybe it was more likely to think logically than emotionally, as the Corvus Spawn he had fought did not.
The jump between the two Ranks wasn't even so major anyways, they were more akin to two sides of the same coin. If the female Elaphus Spawn were capable of keeping up with their male counterpart at the Rank of Monster.
Then what would stop the Corvus Spawn—a creature with far more versatility and weapons at its side—from being able to do the same?
The male Elaphus Spawn barked at the Corvus Spawn, bearing its razor-sharp teeth and releasing a threatening growl. The three female spawn behind it took several cautious steps back, two of them moving to stand in front of the injured one.
The Corvus Spawn screeched at the male, pointing one of its serrated claws before leaning back and…laughing?
Laughing seemed like far too strong of a word to describe what he was seeing. It was more akin to a shrill wheezing in the imitation of a laugh.
Either way, the bait seemed to work.
With a stomp of its powerful hooves, the Elaphus Spawn dashed forward and pointed its network of antlers down, aiming to pierce the Corvus Spawn.
Said abomination beat its wings and flew into the air, its mocking laugh following its ascent, before it twisted in the air and lunged for the twisted stag's body from above.
Artorias watched it all with rapt attention.
Abominations were twisted and corrupted by nature and the way they fought reflected that. There was no rhythm, no elegant footwork or experienced swordsmanship.
It was brutality made tangible. A brawl of survival, guided solely by the desire to kill and consume.
Serrated claws tore through skin and bone alike, powerful jaws snapped wings like twigs. A screech of pain, a growl of resilience and then another clash began.
The Corvus Spawn danced around the deformed stag's charges, mocking its every failed attack with a screech. It tried to land a strike from behind with its claws, only to be met the stag's hooves instead.
It backed away with another screech, one of its left arms hanging limply by its side. The Elaphus Spawn advanced again, its horns trained for the deformed body of the raven.
But it danced away from the strike once again, tumbling through the ground and lashing out with another claw. It got lucky, landing a strike that cut through the stag's snout and tore an eye.
Like he said, it was a brutal fight for domination.
But his attention didn't stay on the two predators for long. He wasn't here for them after all, no, his target was on its last legs, hidden behind the two female Elaphus Spawn and casting a perfect little shadow.
It was finally time for him to act.