CHPT 247: Make Him a Vengeful Soul.....

The smell of burnt Deer blood filled his nostrils infinitely as the hot red fluid dripped onto his chest and arms. Instead of causing saliva to run from his mouth like a flowing river, the scents only made him want to vomit. Demons were anything but appetizing.

Only nauseating and aggravating. A fact made worse due to his physical state. The hand he ripped through the HellBred Buck that lay on top of him stung and ached in response to his heavy Elemental attack. As if all of his magical potential swelled and gathered in his right hand and exploded as he turned the forest into a room of thorns, leaving his nerves and bones feeling like they'd just been smashed by a rock.

He lay there after for a while, spent-- but not done. When the sounds of more attackers fell on his sharpened senses, the call to action was unavoidable. But, before he could accurately respond, the Berserker took his place.

She stomped through the forest, freezing the dead leaves and grass into glimmering natural sculptures while her hands spewed frost like the heavy breaths of a Frost Giant.

What followed was something as beautiful as it was destructive. An explosion of icy winds, glaciers and cold gusts that swayed and spun around her like a tornado spitting out sharp hills and peaks of Ice. The Elemental blast ripped through the forest and and blended with his thorns ultimately giving the Demonic beings no choice but to be ripped by his wooden spikes or her glacial mounds.

When the madness settled, he watched her, standing at the center of a world split by blues, whites, browns and greens. Her body stood in front of him, but her mind was elsewhere-- yanked away by exhaustion. He knew the feeling.

Just as he once fought to avenge his Father and keep her alive inside a Tangent against the Lupines of Remus. Just as he wielded the forests of the Tangent as if they were his very own weapon. Just as he cast a bolt of wooden lightning down at Dolion and was left unconscious, bleeding from his eyes and ears. Ursula did something similar within the forests of earth.

He was now able to see things from the other side. And Ursula was able to save him along the way.

"Nice job, U--" Before he could even finish the thought, his ears twitched and his eyes flashed to the sight of twigs and branches falling from above her.

In a flash of black and glowing red, the HellBreeder made its second appearance. Only this time, it wasn't here for Claude. It's blazing hellish sun-like eyes burned through Ursula projecting hostility that even the most sensory deprived of individuals would feel on their skin like a distant heat.

Another wave of adrenaline washed over him in an electrifying emergence of power, "URSULA WATCH OUT!"

He was too late. Too slow to intercept the wind-bending tail-whip the HellBreeder sent in her direction, smashing into her midsection and sending her flying through the forest at breakneck speeds.

The sounds of the forest disappeared. The sounds of the HellBreeder's laughter did the same. So did the distant cracks and grunts his friend let out as she smacked into trees and flew through bushes painfully. All he could hear was the steady pulse of his own heart, beating faster and faster with the advancement of his transformation brought on by the Lunar Artifact.

In a rush, he threw the Deer carcass off of him, causing it to wrap around a nearby tree as him and his pack lunged at the Demon.

Sometime along the way, two wooden short-spears found a home in his pawed hands-- giving him ample opportunities to lunge and stab at the Demon on the hunt for blood and pain from his tormentor.

Each attempted strike and bite punched holes into the wind-- but only the wind. The HellBreeder danced around each attack and reveled in his descent towards primal madness.

Left jab....Ghost and Noct followed....

"Iss this howw you treatted my babies??? Do you ennnjoy feeling what i felt?"

Onyx and Cali disrupt.....right jab..

"Yourrrr hate....it's delicioussss..."

Frosty, Ashe and Shadow went for it's tail and legs-- only to miss. Double lunge...

The HellBreeder finally shut it's mouth, only to let it's right leg do the talking this time.

While it kept the Wolves at bay with it's tail, the plated shin of the creature smashed into his ribs, causing him to roll and flip the grass-- no worse for wear and only angrier than before.

He thrashed and snarled while his body mimicked the movements of a tumbleweed until his fists found the floor and allowed him to push himself into the air. He went from rolling to airborne in seconds, immediately throwing his two spears at the creature while the Wolves moved to attack below.

The wooden weapons whistled through the air like bullets. Despite this, the first spear wasn't fast enough. With a sidestep, the HellBreeder was out of harms way.

Frosty was determined to watch the second land. He took off in the grass, circling around the battlefield and coming at the Demon from the right. Like a tiger, the PitWolf softened his steps, loaded his limbs and pounced.

FWOO!

He soared through the air and clamped his jaws over the creatures remaining arm, using his heavy weight and built up momentum to spin the Demon right into the oncoming second spear.

FWIP!

SQLCH!

The spear sunk into it's back and ripped through its chest, covered in black blood.

In a fit of rage, the creature swung at Frosty's fleeting frame only to miss and feel the spear be ripped from its back. Before it could fully turn to address the new threat, a foot smashed into the side of the Demon's head.

The roundhouse kick dazed the creature enough for Claude to drop to a crouch and stab the spear through the creatures knee from behind.

SHNK!

The feeling of bone splitting under pressure told him he'd hit his mark.

"AAAAACKKK!" The HellBreeder screamed as it's back arched and tail swung in a last ditch effort to deter the onslaught.

The Wolves backed away but Claude was too close, taking the thicker base of the tail to his stomach, resulting in him being sent crashing into a tree.

He didn't stop though. The Lunar Magic that lined each cord of heated muscle was far from being spent. With a snarl, he pushed off the tree and allowed the HellBreeder to witness his continued descent towards the madness it so strongly craved.

The violence continued, brought with an added ferocious edge from Claude's full transformation and the HellBreeder's newly ripped wounds appearing every passing second.

Cuts, rips, scrapes. Claude and his Wolves opened it all along the HellBreeder's armored flesh. But the attacks were returned in kind. Blasts of Hellfire flew past his bulbous shoulders and burned through the Nature he called forth in combat while heavy kicks connected with his ribs and legs intensely. They were both beating eachother senseless, the question was; who would win? The handicapped HellBreeder or the Lupine of Romulus supercharged by the Moon?

The tide of battle ebbed and flowed, favoring each member randomly. For now, it rose in Claude and his Wolves' favor.

FWO!

He threw a low-kick at it's speared leg, the creature jumped, leaving him to kick up a wave of grass in its wake. In a flash, he rounded his leg back and sent a sidekick into it's stomach.

Thud!

The HellBreeder stumbled backward just in time to dodge another barrage of Wolves lunging at it's face.

Claude leapt at the opportunity and aimed a hand at it's feet.

They'd fought long enough for the HellBreeder to understanding what he was attempting. Another leap sent the creature into the air and away from the dangerous expanse of Nature.

No grass or roots rose.

The HellBreeder looked at him angrily in response to falling for the bait. It'd played right into his hand and was now unable to move right in front of him.

FWSH!....FWHS!..

In a panic it began to spit out globs of Hellfire at his fast approaching frame. All misses.

Claude closed in on the creature in seconds, grabbing ahold of it's leg and using the Demon's downwards descent to guide it into a tree.

FWOOPSHH!!

The leaves up above shook and fell as it slammed into the wooden structure. On it's way down, vines and roots rose from the ground, climbing up the bark to reach and tie down the Demon like freshly hunted game.

Claude snarled and raised his spear, ready to poke holes into the creature until there was nothing left.

As he closed in, images of the HellBreeder's gruesome work filled his mind like early morning nightmares. Images of the cabin filled with blood and mutilated bodies. Images of his friends being beaten by the Hexenbiest. Memories of what it felt like to have the Plated Snake's sandpapery underside grinding away his flesh in preparation to eat him. It all played in a blood red haze while his spear closed in.

"I'll rip you to piec--"

FWSH!

A bright and precise blast of Hellfire lit the ground under the HellBreeder, causing the natural binds tying it down to turn to ash just in time for it's tail to rise and smack him senseless.

The barb of the tail was hard as iron, causing the feeling when it hit his face to make him feel as if he'd been bludgeoned by a hammer. A perfect hit.

He smashed into a nearby tree and split the back of his head open against it, causing red to splash against the brown bark like a smashed watermelon.

Before he was given any time to recover, armored fists began connecting with his face and snout in repeated fashion.

BOOM!....BOOM!....BOOM!

[HP is at 65%.....50.....35% (141/405)]

"[Claude!....Your hands....raise your hands!]" Arne's voice rang out in his mind like a distant stranger, going further and further away with every punch that slammed into his face.

He could hear snarls and barks in the distance, slowly followed by sounds of impact and pained yelps. Then, nothing.

The world was becoming soundless. The pain was becoming well, painless.

On his way towards unconciousness, he could hear the distant roars of something echoing as if they occupied a cave.

***

"WWWWAKE UP!...Cllllaude!.....I want you awake...I want you to seeee me take your heart!"

The HellBreeder ripped him from unconsciousness. He could feel his blood dripping from everywhere down onto his chest. His heart pounded like repeated lightning strikes.

His blurry vision centered on the HellBreeder, fists dripping with blood as it backed away with it's tail shaking and thirsty for blood.

"I....swear I'll kill you..." Claude growled.

"No.....No you won't chillld..." The HellBreeder cooed. "I'm going to rip a hole in you....annnd then I'm going to drag you to wherever your human girlll is laying and I'll make you watch me transform her as youuuuu die."

Claude straightened-- a movement that fired off sharp pains in his face, neck and chest. His eyes peered into the HellBreeder's.

Otherworldly conviction. That's all he saw. Eyes so intent on seeing his blood spilled that they probably didn't see or hear a thing else. Like the footsteps that were slowly approaching.

It took Claude a moment to hear them too. A moment too late.

The HellBreeder's tail moved, flying towards him like his very own demonic executioners axe. For a moment, everything surfaced.

Dolion. Samuel. Fenrir. The Raiders. The Midnight Wardens. Ronin. The world...Frosty, The Glorian Lion and the Wolves....and his revenge. All snuffed out by a steaming tail.

The last bit of energy he had bloomed. Furthered by Wild Magic. Roots and Vines moved to wrap the HellBreeders legs, but the tail continued. The Demon was too focused on seeing him die. Too focused to feel the roots and see the wall of ice rising between them.

In a flash, the wall rose, movement flew into his blurry vision and the sounds of breaking and tearing filled his ears.

All to sudden to see. He flinched, closed his eyes and missed it all. But his nose and ears worked in replacement.

For a moment there was silence. Then heavy breaths...and the scent of blood. Human blood.

His eyes snapped open.

A wall of blue barely over 8ft loomed over him. In front of it, Ursula stood leaned over him. Her breaths were uneven, eyes flickering in and out of honey brown and pure white.

He was too shocked to understand what was happening until she coughed and blood splattered onto his snout. The action caused him to look down and see the tail of the HellBreeder bursting through the wall of ice and emerging from the far left side of her chest where blood poured down her shirt like a fountain.

She laughed suddenly. A hoarse and weak sound-- nothing like her usually cool and breathy laugh. Her words were the same, but she forced them out anyway with a smile on her bloodless face.

"I got....I...got a-another save...."

Something switched in Claude's brain as he watched her eyes slowly close while she smiled.

The last thing he remembered before the better part of his brain shut off was the sound of ice crackling and a Demonic screech.