The men circled me, four to each side. It felt weird being on the other end of the stick in terms of being hunted. I guess the shoe has a way of biting back hard when it is on the other foot.
I wasn't really perturbed in the slightest; I'd survived worse before. What were a few lowly, arrogant humans to a royal wolf like myself? I didn't think they could even lay a finger on me.
The first of the four lunged towards me, grasping his blade with two hands. He dashed towards me with a great deal of speed, a small gust of wind projecting on his body. I knew these humans were superior to their old forms, having studied them from a distance, but now being attacked heightened that realization more.
I grew my claws and fangs as long as I could make them. I realised long before this new body was quite different from my old one, in that my claws weren't as long as they used to be, along with my fangs. Maybe that came with being an Omega, the loss of some parts of my abilities that felt like a part of me.
Regardless, I bounced out of the way of his swipe, side-stepping his follow-up, and I flashed my claws at his neck, intending for his head to share the same fate as his other former friend. That should have been the case if it wasn't for a missed judgment from me on the length change in my claws, just barely grazing his neck.
I missed…? I thought, as the man reeled from the attack, allowing his next friends to charge me.
One of the shoulders bumped me, as the other slipped to my side, readying his firearm to my head. I was still stunned from my own ineptitude, but I needed to move. I could hear the hisses of scraping metal from his weapon as his fingers closed around the trigger.
Just as he fired his shot, I reeled back out, watching the contents zip right over my head. I backflipped away from the four, evidently still having my dexterity from before, but still a bit slower than I liked.
Okay…maybe this isn't going to be as easy as I thought. But I know who to worry about now, and one of them still hasn't attacked.
The one that hadn't attacked seemed the skinniest out of all of them, having a couple of daggers to his keep. He didn't push me like the others; visible sweat trickling down his face. I could smell his fear pungently in the air; he was more than still frightened of me, even with his other compatriots looking to end me quickly.
He was the weakest link.
I got a plan, I smirked, on the ground on all fours.
It was my turn to attack, and I was not daring to waste it.
My speed was less than ideal, but it was enough for what I needed to do. I raced towards the front-facing two, forcing them to ready themselves for a guarding attempt. But this was nothing more than a feint, as I vaulted over both of them.
The third one then pushed me—I knew he would do this. I slide under his blade with finesse, now stuck between him and the fourth guy. The last one was stunned to see how dexterous I could be, despite being in a downgraded form. He tried to retaliate to my sudden presence, but my claw was faster than his dagger, freezing him in place in fear of his death.
I knew his friend behind me would sneak attack me while my back was turned. Using the time bought from the fear I put in their weakest link, I had ample time to turn on my heels and parry the blade strike meant to cut me in twain.
"How did she…"
His head was off his body with one perfectly slashed claw from my free hand.
One down, two more.
The other two were sent into a frenzied state. This was exactly what I needed.
I remembered back to when my father talked about how the best way to overcome someone is to break them in one way or another. But the best and most effective way was mentally destroying them.
Considering my father had done the same to me when I was executed, I can see why he tended to hammer that one into me, even if I wasn't on the frontlines fighting.
The other two came in quick and fierce, but using the corpse I created before, I shoved the headless carcass into the first enemy to advance. This was enough to stagger him, leaving him wide-open for me, gash his neck wide open with a double crossed-claw slash.
His faint gurgles filled my ears delightfully.
Two down, one to go.
The last one had his gun to the side of my head once more, this time even closer than I initially thought he could get to at that time. I still needed to keep a level head however, as my answer was easily in the hands of the second man to fall.
The man's falling blade was free from his corpse's grasp, slowly falling to the ground. Without hesitation, I spiked the blade into the third man's leg, crumbling him to a knee. I then backhanded the weapon out of his hand, forcing him to kneel before me.
He was left utterly defeated.
I reared my fangs high and took a heaping bite out of his neck. I had never tasted human blood; I hated the iron taste of it, and it was more than flavourless.
I ripped out his throat, leaving him to fall over and perish.
The last one stood off behind me, motionless, despondent, and inconsolable. I didn't feel an ounce of pity; they chose to do this, and frankly, they got what they deserved.
I slowly sauntered over to him, my new body covered with red blood from all I had done. My muscles ached for me to rest, but not until all of them were gone. With no amount of real power, I gashed the last one across the throat, leaving him to fall and die at my feet.
My breaths were uneven, I hadn't fought like that before, except during my training with my father, but I guess all of it came in handy. It was probably going to be the only thing I could rely on nowadays.
Even so, the second I was done, I collapsed onto the ground, shaking uncontrollably from how strained my muscles were.
I overdid it. God damn this wretched body. If it were only my real body, I would be fine. I groaned.
"Hey, Miss! Are you okay?!" a voice called from behind me.
It was quite deep in tone, sounding almost like a soldier. There was no way that any had survived, but there I was hearing another wolf call to me from behind. Delirium had to be setting in.
I felt a head slip under my arm, pulling me from the ground.
"You're one hell of a fighter, you know that?" He said.
I dared not look him in the eyes, keeping my eyes low, just enough so I could see his body but not so he could see them. The last thing I needed was for him to see me as an Omega.
Even if I was being helped, that could very much change on a dime if he saw my identity.
The man was armored, bearing the insignia of the fallen empire upon his neck. In a way, I was more pissed off than thankful for another wolf to be coming to my aid. It mostly had to do with late entry to the fray, as well the new reality of my situation as a lone wolf.
A few others came from behind with him. They must have been alerted to come over here from the end of my fight. Great, I guess I really need more people to see me and possibly find out how much of an outcast I really was.
"Don't worry, I got you. You did well to survive all that. Now, just rest, okay?"
Honestly, the furthest thing I wanted to do was take him at his word. I didn't have anyone to trust, not while I was in this body. He didn't know I was an Omega thankfully, so maybe I could get some even a sliver of rest.
I closed my eyes, taking what little time of peace I could, until a grand tremor shot over the fallen kingdom, shaking everyone who came with him to their core.
It appeared everything wasn't at ease yet.
The tremor came from a far distance across the territory, turning everyone's attention to it.
I thought I knew what a rageful beast was like, but what I saw was the truest incarnation of the wrath taking shape.