Ega took a long breath, feeling his throat sting from the burning hot air. Staying calm and focused was the most important thing that he had to cling onto, especially whenever the world seemed to be on fire.

  The grayish blue fur all over Vulf’s body was as tough as steel, but he wasn’t completely covered. Dashing in, Ega aimed at the gaps where flesh was exposed; around the joints, hands, and parts of the face, but cutting into Vulf wasn’t going to be easy.

  Their blades clashed, sending sparks flying into the air. Pushing his momentum, Ega continued his onslaught of strikes, leaving Vulf on the defensive. For the first few clashes, it seemed like the two of them were even, but a slight gap started to form between them.

  Ega was moving only a split second faster, but with more and more sparks dancing at the clash of their blades, the gap began to widen. He was beginning to gain an edge in speed, and with that edge, he feinted a thrust towards Vulf’s eyes only to slash his sword onto his sword wielding hand.

  Gritting his teeth, Vulf tried to counter, only for his weakening strike to be easily parried. Realizing his disadvantage, he quickly moved back to create distance, giving both of them a few seconds to catch their breath.

  “Despite what you said, you have the swordsmanship of a damned knight.” Vulf could recognize those movements from anywhere.

  Clean, precise, and methodical, those were the essence of Ega’s strikes, something that Vulf knew how to dismantle completely. Despite the injury on his hand, he began to smile. He had killed plenty of knights before, and with a newfound confidence, he began to move.

  Digging his sword into the ground, Vulf flung the dirt directly at Ega’s eyes and dashed towards him, ready to cut him down. However, assuming that Ega only knew how to fight like a knight just because of his swordsmanship was the greatest mistake he could have made.

  Vulf stopped himself mid-dash as two daggers flew directly towards his eyes. He parried the sudden attack, but it was already too late. Ega had moved forward, and paying the favor back, he threw dirt into Vulf’s eyes.

  Caught by surprise, he began to swing widely to keep Ega at bay. But wild swings were full of gaps. Finding the perfect moment, Ega thrusted his sword toward Vulf’s eyes, but exhaustion was beginning to catch up to him.

  Rather than pierce through into his skull, he thrusted his blade into Vulf’s mouth. Still, he couldn’t let this moment go to waste. Slicing through his cheek, Ega began to carve out a larger mouth for Vulf

  Vulf retreated yet again, screaming as he finally removed the dirt from his eyes. Just as he pried them open, he saw Ega pouncing right onto him. With the strength of a bear, he knocked Vulf onto the ground, digging his blade into Vulf’s free hand and pinning it to the ground.

  Pulling out another dagger from the back of his belt, Ega aimed for Vulf’s eyes again, furiously trying to jam it through his skull. But a hand quickly got in his way as Vulf let go of his blade to block the attack.

  For a few seconds, they were locked in a stalemate with Ega trying to push the dagger down into the eye and Vulf desperately trying to keep Death’s scythe at bay. But Vulf’s strength began to wane, and the dagger began to inch closer and closer to his eye.

  Vulf began to take notice of the face of his soon-to-be killer, his expression didn’t belong to that of a noble knight or a cunning hunter, he knew that expression from anywhere. It was an expression that belonged to those from the slums, the face desperate for survival.

  It was this desperation that fueled the burning buildings surrounding them. It was this desperation which fueled his hunt for Mithril Blood. And it was that same desperation that was infused into the tip of the dagger which began to pierce Vulf's right eye. He screamed out in pain as the dagger dug deeper, but he refused to die here.

  Vulf knew of desperation just as well as Ega did, and though his soul might never fully recover, he began to mix the soul of the moon wolf even deeper into his own soul. Gaining the little bit of strength that he needed, Vulf tore his pinned hand out of the blade and sunk his bloodied fist into Ega’s abdomen.

  Vulf punched Ega right at his liver, sending him flying for a distance before he landed face to face with the roaring flames. Both of them took some seconds to recover, Vulf from all the lacerations on his body and Ega from the exhaustion and liver punch that he received.

  As Ega freed himself from the paralysis of pain, he sluggishly rose to his feet, ready to get into another brawl. But Vulf didn’t have the same idea. Instead, his back was turned to Ega and he lifted his face towards the sky.

  Ega tried to throw his dagger to stop Vulf, but the moon wolf fur was too tough for the dagger to even scratch him. Suddenly, a loud howl rang through the flame lit night. Though unexpected, Ega knew exactly what that was for; to alert his men of their position.

  “That kid isn’t with you anymore, huh?” A smile spread across Vulf’s bloodied face as he started to sprint away from the battle.

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  All of the injuries had slowed him down, giving Ega enough time to draw his bow and shoot a desperate arrow onto the back of Vulf’s knee. There was a howl of pain as it pierced true, but he tore the arrow out and hobbled forward regardless.

  Ega tried to chase after him, needing to pick up his sword first. As wrapped his fingers around the grip of his sword, an arrow whizzed right past his cheek, leaving a deep gash across his face.

  Turning toward the direction of the arrow, he saw five men approaching him. There were two archers in the back as the other eight stood with swords in hand, ready to finish off his ragged hunter. As much as he wanted to chase after Vulf, Ega needed to take care of these men first, and he had to do it fast.

  He knew that if he took too long, either Vulf would escape from his grasp, or judging from what he had just said, he’d take Ella’s soul and use it to finish their fight. Either way, both were catastrophic outcomes for him.

  Turning toward the ten men, Ega burned a soul to recover some of his strength. Even with the little bit of energy left, he was confident in winning. They were far from the same level as Vulf, and though they outnumbered him, he still had one trick left in his sleeves.

  Reaching into his soul sack, Ega threw the smoke bombs toward the men. As the bombs exploded into a large wave of smoke, Ega began to charge in, mixing the soul of a snake into his own. He could see them through the smoke, sensing their heat even against the wall of fire.

  Maneuvering through the smoke like a python, he struck at them one by one as panic and confusion took hold of them. Their screams were silenced as he brought his blade through them until finally, all ten of them had fallen.

  Dragging himself out of the smoke, he took another moment to regain what little bit of energy he could. Mixing so many souls into his own was beginning to weigh on him, causing his body to be unsure of which soul to incorporate to its structure.

  His owl and snake eyes were blending with each other, disorientating Ega for a few seconds until he began to calm down all the souls trying to be a part of his body. He dragged himself forward, looking for Vulf's blood trail.

  Spotting it in the distance, he took notice of an arrow off to the side. Seeing that his quiver was empty, arrows probably scattered somewhere after being knocked away by Vulf, he picked it up. Every arrow, every blade, every little trick that he had up his sleeves was imperative to winning.

  Slipping the arrow into his quiver, he began to move, ready to bring this hunt to an end.

  …

  Away from the flames, in the darkest corners of the slums was Vulf dragging himself through its shadows. He sniffed the air, trying to catch a trace of Ella. Blood dripped from his hands, face, and eye, but he pushed forward.

  He was raised in these slums, born and molded from the constant fights, tricks, and bodies thrown into some dark alley. He couldn’t die here, no, he wouldn’t die here, not after achieving so much.

  It was a stroke of luck that he had stumbled upon the Mithril Blood and an even greater stroke of luck that he had found Ella. For his luck to end like this, to just one bastard, he refused such a pathetic end.

  Sniffing the air once again, Vulf had finally found it, the scent of Ella. Though faint, he could track her down. Despite all of his injuries, he was creating good progress as Ella’s scent became stronger and stronger.

  He moved through the streets, through the dark corners and past the rotting buildings until finally, he saw her. Ella was panting, tired from the constant running. Hearing the footsteps behind her, she turned back only to be horrified at the bloody monster approaching her.

  She pushed herself to run, to move away as much as she could, but after taking her desperate steps, she stumbled onto the ground. There was only so much she could do, only so far she could run away before her body began to give up.

  “There you are.” His voice came out as a growl, like a beast ready to claim its prey.

  As he approached her, Ella desperately pulled out the dagger that Ega had given her, pointing it toward Vulf.

  “Just what are you going to do with that?” He laughs at her desperate attempt to keep him at bay. Kicking the dagger out of her hands, he grabbed her by the throat and raised her into the air. “I don’t even care if your soul hasn’t fully matured, give it to me now.”

  Just as Vulf was about to choke her to death, a whistling sound cut through the air before stopping right at Vulf’s figure. An arrow had pierced the back of his neck, and before Vulf could even make sense of anything, he fell over, dead.

  Ella gasped for air as he escaped from Vulf’s grip, shivering in fear from his dead body. From a distance she could see Ega approaching, dragging himself forward as if he had just left a warzone. He was covered in blood and sweat, his clothes slightly burnt and his figure ragged beyond belief.

  Standing just before Ella, he looked at Vulf’s dead body before turning back to her. “You good kid?”

  She was still shaken by the sequence of events, but hearing his sluggish words, she found enough comfort to nod her head at him.

  “Good… good…” Turning toward Vulf’s dead body, he crouched down. He groaned out his pain as his adrenaline began to wear off, revealing to him just how exhausted he was.

  Placing his hand on Vulf’s still warm body, he began to focus one more time. He could sense the Mithril Blood in the dead body, and using his own Mithril Blood, he began to pull it out.

  The blood stained his hand before seeping into his skin, giving him a hint of the Old Gods’ powers. Despite that, Ega hadn’t felt any better. In fact, he felt his condition worsen as he tried to adjust to the blood entering his body.

  Ega fell over, unable to control his body any further. As much as he tried to cling onto his consciousness, it began to slip and his eyelids began to fall.

  ‘Shit, shit, shit.’ Ega began to panic, fearing the worst. Vulf’s men could find them and finish him off. Maybe some bandits would stumble upon them and kill them. Hell, even Ella could kill him and claim his Mithril Blood.

  Ega didn’t, no, he couldn’t put it past anyone. But as much as he wanted to stay awake to protect himself, it was all too much until finally, his consciousness had faded.