The dog was not any dog. It was a pitbull.
Or, putting it better, it had been a pitbull once.
It wasn't anymore.
Now it was a monstrosity, a creature born from horror B movies. Almost a meter tall, bloated muscles, red, oozing eyes, and a mouth big enough to munch a person's head.
And it had locked onto the girls.
***
"Fuck! Don't run, or it will attack."
Neither Clara nor Julia seemed to have heard Noara's words. Yet, they didn't flee.
Noara glanced at the other too, just enough to see that they had frozen.
At her mental command, a small UI appeared in the corner of her vision.
[MP: 21/100]
Tsk. Not enough…
The monster didn't attack outright. It was instead pacing, as if drawing a circle around them. But not exactly.
Sometimes it seemed like it was about to attack, then it would step back as if in fear of something.
Shittie's measuring us?
That wasn't usually the behavior of a pitbull, and Noara knew it. She had done enough odd jobs throughout the city to have her share of encounters with bully dogs in the streets.
No, not measuring us…
"Clara! Julia!"
The two snapped back to reality and looked at her.
"That thing's emotionally conflicted. That's why it hasn't attacked yet. Let's go back to the bar slowly, but without turning our backs to it."
Clara glances backward, then hesitates.
"That place isn't safe either. The thing can just follow us inside, and then we won't be able to dodge its attacks."
Fuck, she's right. The only door is on the second floor and…
The memory of that door made her stomach churn. She wasn't going back there so soon.
As if sensing their hesitation and increasing fear, the monster made a decision and lunged forward, sprinting straight towards Noara.
It moved in a flash, but then something landed between it and Noara, deflecting its charge.
Not something.
Someone.
***
Ana Luisa Hoshiro. Or, as her friends usually called her, Lu.
She was wearing her usual clubber clothes: an iridescent crop top, a high-waisted pink skirt, fishnet stockings, and heavy boots.
In her hands, she held an improvised 'spear' made from a dance pole and a knife.
"Bad dog! You picked a fight with the wrong protagonist!"
The monstrous dog lunges forward again, targeting the newcomer.
"Rhythm Step!"
She anchors the dance pole on the ground and does an acrobatic move, easily dodging the creature's attack.
But she doesn't stop at that.
The moment her feet land on the ground, she's already moving forward, the pole already wielded as a spear again.
"Step-Through Thrust!"
Lu runs forward, doing some dance steps, and thrusts her 'spear,' hitting the former pitbull on the flank.
Oh my fucking god, she's so gorgeous!!!
For an instant Noara even forgot that she was witnessing a deadly combat in which her own life was at stake.
But why the fuck does she say the names of her abilities as if this is an anime? WAIT! SHE HAS A CLASS! A fucking combat class!!!
But, despite Lu's flashiness, her attack didn't amount to much.
Not because of a lack in her performance, but because of the improvised nature of her weapon. It hurt the monster, but just enough to enrage it.
It growls and jumps forward, trying to bite Lu's arm.
She moves in reflex, taking her dance pole to block the attack, managing to stop its maw right before it reached her head. The pole bent, letting the monster get close enough that she could feel its breath on her skin.
"You stink!"
She forced the pole forward, jamming it sideways between its jaws. The creature thrashed its head around, trying to break the pole.
"Low-Bloom Kick!"
She uses the monster's momentum to land a kick on its torso. It whined and jumped back, reeling from the impact.
"Step-Through Thrust!"
This time, her makeshift spear did its job well, tearing the flesh right above the dog's front leg, making it go limp.
"Hahahaha! Wrong fight, Cujo-kun. You ain't the final boss here. I AM!!!"
But before she could move in to do the finisher, and before Noara could facepalm in pure cringe for her friend, the battle shifted again.
The cover of a drain nearby vibrated for a moment, as if something was pushing it from below.
A second later, a group of rats emerged from it, already darting towards Lu.
***
Noara, Julia, and Clara had been watching the fight with their breaths held.
They didn't intervene in it, not for lack of intent or courage, but for lack of means. None of the three are fighters. Yet.
The only weapon is a knife, in Noara's hand.
But the arrival of the rats meant that they couldn't leave it all to Lu anymore.
Noara's mind was already gearing up.
I've just recovered enough mana, so I can cast Velvet Snare ONCE.
"Noara. The rats…"
"Yes, I know."
She didn't even look at Julia, as she had already seen the rats.
"No, no. Look. They are working together, as if they were one body."
Noara stared at Julia, then back at the rats. She turned her emotion perception on.
The chaos of tiny bodies vanished, leaving in its place a single emotional presence. It was dense and heavy, like a storm cloud. There weren't several spikes of fear or hunger as she expected, but only one pressure.
"It's true. It's only one emotional center controlling all of them. It makes my life easier."
Easier to read, but I still have to decide…
The fight had assumed another rhythm since the rats arrived. Lu was hard-pressed on the defensive, using her makeshift spear to kill or shove off individual rats and try to keep the monstrous pitbull at bay.
The only silver lining was that the pitbull had its movements hampered by the crippled leg. It wasn't able to go all out. If it wasn't for that, Lu would have already been dead.
I have only one casting… fuck! Velvet snare.
She activated her skill with a mental command and directed it onto the dog.
She saw velvet threads lashing through the air, wrapping around the dog's intent.
The dog freezes, howling and whimpering.
Lu's eyes flicked to Noara quickly before she focused back on the rats.
Noara kept focusing on the skill, feeling the mana draining out of her like water leaking out of a bowl with a hole.
[MP: 0/100]
The numbers smeared into streaks of violet as the street darkened.