"Keuk!... It hurts... it really hurts,"
Grace murmured to herself, lying on the ground, trembling with pain. Her injuries began to heal rapidly, and as seconds passed, she felt the throbbing ache subside.
*THUD* *THUD*
While still on the ground, waiting for her body to fully recover, Grace sensed heavy footsteps approaching quickly from behind. Realizing she couldn't remain vulnerable and waiting to be attacked, she mustered her strength and forced herself to stand, despite not being fully healed yet.
"Kukuku... what a surprise. I thought I shattered every bone in your body. How are you still able to stand?"
Cobra said, his tone amused, upon witnessing Grace rise even after his attack, which would have paralyzed an ordinary person.
Hearing Cobra's words, Grace turned to face him, her eyes filled with determination and a glint of bloodlust.
"Even after using 80% of my strength to attack him, he is still unscathed. Unlike me, who almost died from one of his strikes... and the other one still hasn't made a move."
Grace thought, her mind racing as she glanced at Scorpion.
"The only way for me to turn this around is if I transform, but if I do and can only manage to kill one of them..."
Grace paused, carefully weighing the risks and possibilities in her mind.
"Hey, Scorpion, can you see this? She's cooking up some ideas in that little head of hers. Ku-Kuku,"
Cobra remarked, filled with malice and a hint of amusement.
"Hey, girl, I don't know how you managed to get up after having your bones shattered by me without any mana to heal you. But you better give up any thoughts of turning this fight around and surrender, because my next attack might leave you in a coma for at least five months,"
Cobra threatened, walking toward Grace, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword.
"Heh..."
Grace scoffed, dismissing Cobra's words.
"As a servant of my liege, surrendering to someone like you and the 'One' behind you would be the biggest shame of my life... And who is to say that I cannot turn this fight around,"
Grace declared with confidence and a determined smile.
"Ah... Did you just look down on the young lord?"
Cobra asked, his voice laced with surprise and hostility. His mana surged as he drew his sword from its sheath.
*SHING*
"It seems this bitch needs to learn a lesson. Hope you won't blame me if she loses a limb,"
Cobra remarked, casting a sidelong glance at Scorpion.
"Normally, I would have stopped you, but since she dared to look down on the young lord, you can do anything you want. Just make sure she doesn't die,"
Scorpion added, glaring at Grace.
"Kuku. Just what I wanted to hear!"
Cobra exclaimed with an evil grin, prompted by Scorpion's words. He pointed the tip of his sword directly at Grace, signaling his imminent attack.
"Phew... Control... control. All I need is to control it,"
Grace muttered silently to herself, ignoring Cobra's actions.
"First, I will take those defiant eyes of yours,"
Cobra declared as he dashed toward Grace with lightning-fast speed.
*WHOOSH*
In a split second, the air crackled with tension as Cobra's sword neared Grace, poised to strike with deadly precision. The tip of the blade hovered dangerously close to Grace's eye, frozen in a moment of suspended time.
"I just need to gain control, just like my liege showed me," Grace thought, her mind flooded with memories of her liege teaching her the art of partial transformation. She focused her mind on those memories, attempting to replicate what her liege had done.
With the threat of imminent danger, Grace's brain activity surged, heightening her thinking and comprehension abilities.
"Ah... I think I get it," Grace murmured to herself, a flicker of understanding in her eyes, as she moved slightly to the right, evading Cobra's attack by a hair's breadth.
*WHOOSH*
"!!!"
Cobra wore a surprised expression as Grace narrowly evaded his attack, causing his sword to slice through empty air.
*SWISH*
"What!..."
Cobra exclaimed, shocked that his strike had missed. He quickly regained his composure, turning to face Grace, but she had vanished from sight. He glanced around frantically but failed to locate her.
"COBRA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LOOK UP!"
Scorpion's panicked voice echoed through the air.
Startled by Scorpion's urgency, Cobra quickly looked up and caught sight of Grace hurtling toward him with a powerful mid-air kick, carrying tremendous momentum. Predicting the trajectory of the attack, Cobra smirked and raised his sword to block.
"Once I block her attack, I'll take her legs,"
Cobra thought confidently, underestimating Grace's prowess.
As Grace closed in, the moonlight illuminated her form, revealing her partial lycanthrope transformation.
"...What the hell is that?" Cobra muttered, his voice filled with surprise. But before he could recover from his shock...
*BANG*
Grace's kick landed directly on the center of Cobra's sword with astonishing force. Overpowering the mana coating the sword and delivering a direct hit.
"Keuk!... How did you..."
Cobra's words trailed off, blood pouring from the corners of his lips. Grace held him down, her feet exerting immense pressure on his sword. His entire body trembled as he struggled not to be overwhelmed by her strength.
*CRREEEAAAKKK! *
Under the pressure Grace exerted, the ground beneath Cobra began to crack.
"Heh... I told you... you do not deserve my surrender. Now give up and die!"
Grace shouted, increasing the pressure on Cobra's sword.
"YOU... FUCKING BITCH! THERE IS NO WAY I WILL LOSE TO A FEMALE! AAARRRGGHH!!"
Cobra roared, his voice filled with rage and defiance. As he summoned all his strength to repel Grace.
*WHOOSH*
While Grace and Cobra were struggling. A gust of wind blew past as a figure appeared beside Cobra—it was Scorpion.
"I thought you could handle this alone, but you underestimated your opponent,"
Scorpion said, his tone laced with disappointment and determination. With a swift motion, he drew his sword, preparing to attack Grace.
"THIRD-CLASS SWORD SKILL– GALESTORM BLADE FURY!" Scorpion declared resolutely, unleashing a rapid flurry of sword strikes. His swift movements created a fierce gale storm, directed straight at Grace.
*WHOOSH*
"!!!"
Grace noticed the attack hurtling toward her, but she couldn't dodge it in time. She raised her hands, covered in thick fur, to block the incoming assault.
*BAM*
"KYAAH!..."
Grace cried out in pain as the attack struck her, sending her flying several miles away from the ongoing battle area.
*WHOOSH*
------------------------------------------------
FIVE MILES AWAY FROM COBRA AND SCORPION.
Grace crashed into the second floor of an abandoned villa, the impact accompanied by a loud explosion that reverberated through the night, catching the attention of the Capital's Knights patrolling nearby.
"Cough... Cough. Argh..."
Grace groaned in pain as she struggled to free herself from the debris that had fallen upon her. Eventually, she managed to crawl out and lay on her back, looking up at the night sky.
"So beautiful..."
Grace muttered with a smile; her gaze fixated on two exquisite purple stars twinkling above. She extended one of her arms toward the stars as if attempting to reach them.
"My liege is so beautiful... even the heavens reflect your eyes at night,"
Grace whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. She knew that her chances of escape or victory had vanished. Both of her legs had been severed in the crash, and even with her werewolf healing abilities, it would take time for them to regenerate.
*WHOOSH*
*WHOOSH*
"!...?"
Grace detected the approach of two different groups of people heading toward her at incredible speeds, using her heightened werewolf senses of sound, smell, and sight. Distinguishing the two groups, she realized that the first group approaching from the left consisted of Capital Knights, most of whom possessed second-class grandmaster strength, with the one leading them boasting third-class grandmaster prowess. And the group approaching from the right was Cobra and Scorpion.
"Keuk... I can't let the knights recognize me. I can't be a burden to my liege,"
Grace resolved silently as she began to transform into her wolf form.
*CRACK! *
"AAARRRGGGHHH!!..." Grace's agonized scream pierced the air as her body convulsed, enduring the torturous process of bone-shattering transformation. Each crack and snap echoed her excruciating pain, surpassing all but one of the tortures she had ever endured.
*********************************
ONE MINUTE LATER.
"AWOOOOOO!"
A powerful and resounding howl erupted from the villa, piercing the stillness of the night.