The wind howled past my ears for a fraction of a dangerous second.
Then came the bone-shattering impact.
Boom!
I crashed heavily onto the dusty, blood-stained stone of the street.
An unimaginably violent wave of pain shot straight through my entire left side.
My fractured rib screamed as it absorbed the brunt of the shock.
But my arms refused to let go.
I looked down immediately at my chest, gasping for air.
The newborn was safe.
He was wailing, terrified and shaken, but my body had successfully shielded him from the debris.
But I had no time to nurse my wounds.
Right before my eyes, the female creature and the Calamity were already locked in a brutal, no-holds-barred struggle.
Two colossal forces clashing with a savagery that didn’t belong to this world.
With a monstrous, heavy blow, the old woman Calamity backhanded the girl, launching her straight toward the large stone fountain at the center of the town square.
Crash!
The impact was tremendous, shattering the ancient structure and sending heavy blocks of the stone rim flying into the air.
Without losing a single second, the female creature lunged forward and gripped a massive jagged piece of broken rock.
Using her inhuman strength, she hurled it with all her might directly at her enemy’s torso.
The Calamity let out a piercing, shrill cry and bounded frantically to the side to avoid the flying projectile.
But it was nothing more than a calculated diversion.
Anticipating the dodge, the girl had already grabbed a second, heavier block of stone.
With perfect, deadly precision, she launched it.
The heavy boulder struck the Calamity’s legs with full force.
Crack!
An explicit, sickening snap echoed through the burning street—the monster’s bones had just completely given way.
The old woman howled in pure, unadulterated rage.
Then, in a display of absolute, stomach-churning savagery, she used her own long, razor-sharp claws to hack off her own mutilated legs.
Dark, thick blood sprayed onto the cobblestones.
But before the blood could even settle, a terrifying regeneration triggered.
Both entities roared in unison, a chorus of pure fury that vibrated through the ruins of the burning town.
Dropping to all fours like a rabid beast, the Calamity lunged wildly.
She slammed head-on into the girl.
The force of the tackle sent the female creature crashing into the fountain once more.
Explosion!
This time, the stone structure completely disintegrated under the sheer pressure.
Gallons of water poured out in violent floods, instantly inundating the entire town square, mixing with the soot and blood.
Staggering, drenched, and covered in deep lacerations, the girl forced herself up from the debris once more.
She was chancellable, but her eyes were still burning with life.
Suddenly, a strange, metallic gleam caught the light beneath her submerged feet, half-hidden in the murky, swirling water.
An ancient weapon.
Buried deep within the fountain base for years.
Her fingers wrapped around the hilt.
She pulled it free.
It was an ancient blade—a pitch-black sword that instantly began to radiate a heavy, suffocating, and oppressive aura.
The girl raised the dark weapon before her face.
Her piercing, murderous gaze locked onto the monstrous old woman through the steam and smoke.
The Calamity charged, kicking up spray, her jaws unhinged and wide open.
In a silent, blinding flash of movement, the black blade came down.
Slash!
The old woman’s head was cleanly, perfectly severed from her shoulders.
Her massive body collapsed face-first into the flooded square, dissolving into black ash without even a final cry.
But the nightmare was far from over.
The deafening racket of their duel had acted as a beacon for other predators.
From the dark, smoky alleyways, more Calamities were already rushing toward the open square, their red eyes glowing.
Black sword gripped tightly in her hand, exhausted but fiercely determined, the girl stood alone against the incoming pack, ready to dive back into the slaughter.
Meanwhile, I was still running.
Suddenly, a stray Calamity lunged directly out of the shadows, blocking my path.
My brain didn’t think.
My hand just moved.
I raised the heavy metal of my weapon, aligning the sights.
Bang!
With a point-blank, precise shot, I blew its head into a shower of black mist and fragments.
I couldn’t afford to slow down.
I had to survive.
I had to protect this child.
Every single monster that dared bar my path was systematically gunned down without a shadow of hesitation.
Finally, after a frantic, lung-burning sprint, the heavy silence of the night returned.
The sounds of scraping claws behind me stopped.
I was no longer being pursued.
I came to a halt, leaning against a charred wall, completely out of breath.
And that was when I saw her standing there.
The female creature.
She was standing right in front of me, the ancient black sword still dripping in her hand.
She was entirely spent, her body covered in deep wounds and drenched in the dark, foul blood of the Calamities she had just slaughtered to save herself—and perhaps me.
She was trembling violently from the sheer pain and exhaustion, but her dark, deep eyes were anchored straight into mine.
A wild card.
A potential monster.
I couldn’t risk her snapping and turning on us.
Slowly, painfully, I raised my weapon toward her chest.
I pulled the slide back, chambering a fresh, deadly round into the mechanism.
My finger tightened on the cold trigger.
I was on the very verge of pulling it.
Her bloody lips parted slightly, as if she was trying to speak, to utter a human word.
And…
Bang!
The bullet was already gone.