Chapter 83: A bird?

As expected, after the Altered Hunter had brought out his sword with the heated edge, the larger Werewolf became far more cautious. It leapt up onto one of the large trees and climbed it midway, continuously growling at the hunter, as if trying to intimidate him. However, what it was really trying to do was wait for its wound to heal. It seemed to take longer than other injuries. Even when the Werewolf stopped bleeding there was still a burn mark that remained on its chest.

‘This Altered’s healing speed is faster than anything I have encountered before.’ The Altered Hunter noticed. ‘Its fighting style resembles that of a wild beast, making him very unpredictable. Still, it’s far weaker and has less tricks up its sleeve than other Altered I had to face.’

From the belt around his waist that was filled with items the Altered Hunter pulled out a small dagger, throwing it out at the Werewolf. The creature quickly dodged the attack, jumping to another tree, digging its claws in to keep it from falling. The Altered Hunter then pulled on something and the small weapon returned from the tree, a green liquid could be seen on its tip.

‘Should have known this Altered is incredibly agile as well. It seems to be learning as it fights. I only have three more poison daggers. If I can just hit it cleanly once, I should be able to bring it in, without getting hurt. It might be able to tell us if it has any comrades.’ The second the Altered Hunter thought this, he could see the Werewolf doing something strange.

It started to jump from tree to tree, although the movements weren’t too fast, with the moon being the only source of light, the beast’s dark fur made it hard for the Altered Hunter’s eyes to keep track of it. The forest proved to give the Werewolf a serious advantage in this fight, giving it plenty of trees to use. Springing from one tree to the other the Altered Hunter eventually lost track of it, unsure where it would attack from next, leaving him with only thing to do.

Wait.

The Altered Hunter held onto its sword tightly and before he knew it, it had pounced on him just like before. He swung his sword, aiming to inflict the beast with a devastating blow, but instead of flesh, he felt like he had hit solid metal. The Altered Hunter’s arms were shaking from the great impact. When looking up, he saw that his sword connected with the Werewolf’s claws, yet they had extended to the point that they were as long as its hands.

‘Just what are those nails made of?!’ Similar to the baton, the Altered Hunter’s current weapon had a button that would make it sear. However, as if the Werewolf had predicted this move, it had suddenly pulled back one hand to take a large swipe, hitting the Altered Hunter in the chest, and sending him flying a few meters through the air. He remained uninjured thanks to his strong armour, but he had to acknowledge that this fight was going to be way harder than he had initially anticipated.

‘If I had known it would be this tough, I would have notified the others… or at least brought a better weapon along. Who would have thought that the Altered in Slough would be so abnormal.’ Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets.

The first thing the Altered Hunter had done upon landing was to roll to the side, ready for the creature to follow up his attack, but when he looked up, he saw that the beast’s attention was no longer on his. Its head was looking slightly upward and it clenched its large teeth.

A few seconds later, the Werewolf could be seen jumping from tree to tree going higher and higher until it reached the very top of the largest tree in the area. It jumped off, leaping through the air, shining its claws at what was above them… yet it completely missed the mark, as its intended targets flew to the side, making him fall down.

Up in the sky were two people, a man and a woman, each one flapping large feathered wings on their back to stay airborne.

“Oh great, it’s them.” The Altered Hunter mumbled under his breath.

“It looks like someone managed to arrive before us.” Frank spoke to his colleague.

“Indeed, but I’m more interested in the Altered. It doesn’t look like your usual type. Very aggressive… though apparently lacking in the brains department. We need to bring it in for questioning. I have a feeling that it’s linked with the recent killings, including those at the construction site.” Sadie replied.

The two of them dove down at great speed, and when landing between the two parties, the leaves were chucked up in the air around them. Frank was facing towards the Altered Hunter, whereas Sadie was in front of the Werewolf now.

“You are always interested in the more dangerous looking ones.” Frank commented.

“White Rose, why do you always have to get in our way?” The Altered Hunter asked in a bitter tone.

“Because not all Altered are bad, yet you Altered Hunters seem to ignore that fact.” Frank answered. “This time you might have had a valid reason, but we know that’s not always the case. I’m afraid we will be bringing you in as well. It’s a shame, you would make great members of White Rose, if only you could go of your stupid dogma.”

The White Rose agent flapped his wings once more and dashed towards the Altered Hunter who swung his sword. Frank tilted his body to the side so it would hit his powerful wings instead. Then with another flap he pushed the Altered Hunter to the ground. The force of the attack was enough to break a normal person’s arm, yet the Altered Hunters weren’t regular people.

The White Rose agent threw out his fist, one could see that his arm had transformed into a strange talon mid way grabbing the sword. Frank started to flap his wings, gripping the sword tightly. No matter how hard the Altered Hunter pulled, he was unable to get his weapon free and soon found himself in the air.

However, this wasn’t the first time the Altered Hunter had to fight against White Rose. He had many more tricks up its sleeve, and pulled one of the daggers that was coated in a green liquid.

Meanwhile, the female White Rose agent was in the middle of battle with the suspected Altered killer, and she was having an easier time than she imagined. From her wings, she had pulled out several of her feathers, and threw them at the Werewolf.

Idiotically, the Werewolf didn’t try to avoid them, and just ran straight towards Sadie. When the feathers hit, the creature soon discovered that they were far more dangerous than he had believed. The feathers were as hard as iron arrows, piercing into the Werewolf’s body, pushing it back slightly.

The Werewolf quickly pulled them out of its body, allowing them to heal, and out of frustration tried to throw the feather back towards Sadie, but they had flipped to the ground just like a normal feather.

“This seems like it will be a very easy job.” Sadie sneered.