Chapter 69: Forest Attack
In the next second, Phantasm Beasts burst from the bushes on the left and came out of nowhere on the right side. They moved on two legs with frightening speed, with their claws extended, mouths opened to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth, and their yellow eyes glaring.
Reinhard instantly grasped it was four from the left and four from the right.
Reinhard stretched out his hand as a black-blue jagged blade with Intricate engravings and wisps of energy trailed from its edges like smoke.
Beside him, crimson-gold light flared as Longinus appeared in Marie’s hand. While on his other side, Joseph summoned Arondight, the grey lance catching light along its edge.
"They’re Cheronos," Marie said quickly as she kept her gaze on them. "It isn’t just these eight coming at us. There should be more either watching us or on their way as they hunt in packs."
Reinhard and Joseph both nodded before moving. Reinhard rushed out to the right, his boots digging into the earth as he accelerated toward the four Cheronos on that side. Behind him, Joseph mirrored his movement and rushed left toward his own targets.
Marie’s arm snapped forward.
Longinus left her hand like a bolt, as it pierced through the air and swiftly past Reinhard, who was closing in. It struck one of the right-side Cheronos directly through the center of its body, the force of impact lifting it off its feet and slamming it backward into a tree. The creature’s screech cut off abruptly.
The three remaining Cheronos on that side faltered, their heads snapping toward their fallen packmate. Their yellow eyes widened with bodies tensing with sudden uncertainty before they quickly turned around to continue.
But it was too late.
Reinhard closed the distance in a second as Zenuken became a blur in his hands. The first Cheronos barely registered his arrival before the blade swept horizontally through its midsection, the cut so clean that the creature’s upper and lower halves separated without resistance.
Blood splashed out!
The second Cheronos tried to react with its claws rising defensively. Reinhard spun low, his sword sweeping out in a wide arc and hacking towards the beast’s leg. The blade cut through both of the creature’s legs, with blood splashing out once more. It toppled forward with a shriek, and Reinhard’s return swing silenced it permanently.
The third lunged, teeth snapping toward his throat. Reinhard sidestepped quickly before his body turned as Zenuken came up in a diagonal slash that caught the Cheronos from hip to shoulder.
It trembled and cried out before crumpling.
Reinhard glanced around, seeing the blood splattered across the ground and bushes, painting leaves and earth. Longinus dispersed in fragments of light, vanishing back, and he glanced to see it being resummoned by Marie.
Before he then shifts his gaze to see Joseph reaching the other four Cheronos.
Arondight thrust out, the lance rushing out and punching through the chest of the first Cheronos and continuing into the one behind it. Both creatures jerked, their screeches overlapping before dying in their throats. Joseph pulled the lance back with a sharp twist, and both bodies collapsed.
The remaining two Cheronos on his side split before the left one slashed with claws that were surrounded by the wind. Joseph lance came up, intercepting the wind-claw with a ringing impact that sent sparks flying. He pivoted into the block, using the momentum to drive Arondight forward in a piercing thrust that caught the creature through its open mouth and out the back of its skull.
Then, in the next moment, the final Cheronos fired a concentrated bullet of compressed air.
Joseph grabbed the nearest corpse by its arm and yanked it up. The air bullet slammed into the dead Cheronos’s body with a wet thud, punching through but losing most of its force. Joseph dropped the corpse and thrust Arondith through the gap, catching the living Cheronos through the heart.
Then, as he pulled out, another ear-splitting screeching rang out!
Twelve more Cheronos burst from the bushes, their screeches rising in pitch and fury. They spread out immediately, trying to surround their prey.
Four targeted Reinhard, releasing bullets of wind in rapid succession. The compressed air rushed through the air and grew as it traveled from multiple angles. Reinhard’s body moved as he sidestepped left, the first bullet passing inches from his shoulder.
A lean backward let the second whistle pass his face, then a quick shift right avoided the third, and the fourth one he deflected with Zenuken. The blade angled the wind bullet harmlessly into the ground, where it exploded in a burst of torn earth.
Then he rushed towards them, and Zenuken hacked down on the first one, splitting it from shoulder to sternum. He then quickly stepped towards the second that tried to move, and his blade blurred as he chopped horizontally through the throat of the second.
The third tried to retreat, but Reinhard’s slash caught it across the abdomen, making it cry out. The fourth lunged with its mouth open, but its eyes widened as Zenuken hacked down on it, splitting it in two.
Reinhard’s movements never slowed, as he glanced to see Joseph being attacked by two wind bullets and two claws.
But then, a crimson-gold spear rushed past Joseph’s shoulder and punctured through the first Cheronos, then the second, and even the third. All three Phantasm Beasts were pinned together like specimens on display before they collapsed.
Joseph chuckled before he turned his attention to the remaining five that were now trying to regroup. But he didn’t allow it as Arondight swept in wide arcs, which led to him cutting through two of them. Then he continued thrusting out with his lance, leading to one of them being filled with holes.
One tried to slip inside his guard, but his pommel smashed into its skull with bone-crushing force. While the last one came from above, its claws slashing down from the sky, Joseph simply thrusted up.
And ended it before then filing its body as another wave of Cheronos came rushing out. But it didn’t matter, as the trio cut, slash, block, thrust, and slaughtered the Cheronos that were trying to ambush them.
Marie’s Longinus flashed through the air repeatedly. Each throw finds targets with terrifying accuracy before dissolving and reforming in her hand for the next throw. She moved between positions, keeping angles that gave Reinhard and Joseph clear paths forward. And if any of them came close, she would thrust or sweep out with her spear.
The waves continued for two more minutes before they stopped.
Reinhard, Joseph, and Marie began glancing around, and after ten seconds, Joseph dispersed his weapon.
"I don’t feel any of them from the wind, we are good." Joseph says, making Reinhard and Marie nod.
"You guys are still ingesting the souls from Mensis?" Reinhard asked.
"No, I am good at absorbing more." Marie says with a thumbs up.
"Me too." Joseph says.
The three of them quickly moved to devour the souls of eight of the Cheronos. Then the leftover ones were absorbed by Mimir, whom Reinhard summoned. The Black Crow flew over each body and opened its mouth, leading to a swirling black wind.
Reinhard watched as white streaks of light rushed out from the bodies of the Phantasm Beast and into its mouth.
As Mimir was devouring the souls, the expression of the trio changed. As all of them felt the intense hunger, anger, and desire flooding through them.
Reinhard had to hold his stomach while Marie grabbed onto a tree, and Joseph crouched down with a groan.
Damn this hunger and need to eat. It’s been a long while since I felt like this. I was hoping this would never happen again. Reinhard thought as he gritted his teeth. He would much rather have the countless voices speaking in his mind, the odd dream, or even pain filling.
Then, having to deal with the familiar feeling of dying of hunger, and being willing to eat anything to satisfy it.
Finally, the hunger faded away with the anger and desire going five seconds later.