"What! Are you sure Joey?" Lorian was startled.
"Ye-yes, I'm sure this is what she wore that night," Joey replied, tears falling down his eyes. "Grandma Hope, she's dead."
Lorian looked at the lower half with doubt in his mind. 'If this is the lower half, where is its upper half?'
"Kraaaaaaaaaaa! Kraaaaaaaaa!" a scream so loud it was heard by the whole village.
"Oh, shit!" Lorian cursed.
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Sao dodged the claws, but still got grazed on his face. He might be successfully evading the woman's attacks, but as time passes his body became riddled with wounds. Once, or twice, his chest, face, arms, and slowly his body were covered by his blood.
Sao bit the cap of the bottle of the enchanted oil. The woman's grinning face became closer, her claws ready to stab Sao in his face. Yet his face was calm. He dodged her attack by retreating and spraying the contents inside the bottle on the woman's face.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" she screamed, her hands hovering at her burning face. It continued burning that her healing couldn't keep up with the damage caused by the enchanted oil.
Sao looked at her struggle while catching up with his breath. His exhaustion became worse, blood leaking out of his wounds. He ripped off his clothes, revealing his lean but toned body. Using his ripped cloth, he wiped the blood on his body clean. Fortunately, they weren't deep enough.
Meanwhile, after the intense battle between Sao and the Immortal Ghoul, was also the same time Lorian uncovered the mound covered in dried banana leaves. The frantic woman whose head was burning in flames stopped screaming. Her face was anxious and horrified, without a second thought her claws became longer and sharper. And with a swing, she cut her head off her body.
Sao was shocked at her viciousness. Her headless body stood up, she didn't wait for her head to grow back. Bat-like wings spread at her back, Sao wanted to stop her but he was late. The woman blasted out of the roof her cries echoed to the whole village, flying in Lorian and Joey's direction.
Sao ran outside looking at the woman's destination. Anton followed suit, relieved that the monster had left them alone. But Sao was getting worried, his guts told him that his partner, Lorian, was right there.
"Anton, do you know where that monster is heading?" Sao asked while pointing in the direction the woman flew.
"Are you going after that thing?" Anton was confused. "Are you mad?"
"I don't need your sentiments. Wherever that place is, my partner and Joey are right there too." Sao was getting impatient.
"That's where the old lady Hope lived. I'll guide you there. I know a shortcut." Anton said, his face becoming serious.
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"Kraaaaaaaaaaa! Kraaaaaaaaa!" The deafening scream echoed across the village.
Lorian started sweating rivers when he heard the cry. He involuntarily swallowed his saliva, he knew something was coming, and it wouldn't be pleasant. His fate knocked at his doorstep, even though he didn't invite it.
"Hide Joey!" Lorian said with a trembling voice.
He dropped his bag down to the ground. His hands held the same things Sao used in battling that woman, a bronze knife and a stingray's tail. Lorian now knew what he was facing, and he knew its weakness.
Facing the lower half of Hope's body, he raised his arm holding the bronze knife. As he was about to stab Hope's lower half, the loud cry became silent, and the world stayed still. The bronze knife was an inch away to reach the organs of the lower half, but it vanished along with Lorian.
Lorian was sent flying, bouncing, and rolling to the ground like a basketball. The woman appeared, her kick was so strong Lorian's body arched like a bow. He was trashed like a can, kicked without any mercy.
Lorian grabbed his aching ribs, his mouth screaming without any sound. His breathing stopped temporarily, as he was having violent coughs with blood spraying out of his mouth.
He grabbed the stingray's tail backhanded, whipping it upward. But, his lack of speed, was seen through by the woman backing down near Hope's lower half. She hatefully hissed at Lorian.
"So the monster was you all along, Hope," Lorian said as he staggered while he stood up.
Joey at the corner couldn't believe what he heard. 'How can this young woman be grandma Hope? Was Lorian in the right mind? Why is he associating this young woman with grandma?' he thought.
Even though Lorian was in very bad shape, he still took a stance. His breathing was laborious, his stance look clumsy, and his crossed arms were shaking. He was afraid, afraid that he might die on this mission, but he wanted to live. That's why he needed to fight.
He knew that to kill the Immortal Ghoul, you must find their lower half and kill it. Lorian prepared his mind, it's a 'do or die' situation now. His eyes focused on Hope's lower half. As long as he could bury the bronze knife inside her body, everything will be over, and he will survive to see another day.
Lorian sloppily ran, and his stiff muscles awkwardly waved his weapons. Hope kept on dodging, kicking Lorian back to back. However, he continued charging, even when his body was covered in bruises and claw marks, he still gritted his teeth.
He crashed into the ground with another kick from Hope. Lorian was losing his strength, he tried pushing his body up but failed. Hope looked at the beaten Lorian, her claws turned sharper than before. When she was about to stab Lorian to death, she stopped.
Joey stood in between, blocking Hope's claws. "Grandma Hope, is that you?" he asked in disbelief.
Hope's claws retracted, she was speechless that Joey was here all along. Her eyes became moist, and her hand hovered over Joey's head but she couldn't let herself touch him, scared that she might hurt him. She was afraid that Joey would hate her after knowing she was a monster, a murderer.
She turned her back to Joey, unable to answer. Facing her lower half, she grabbed it carrying it along with her. "I am not your grandma Hope anymore! Go away from here, now!" Hope shouted.
Her wings spread out of her back. She looked back at Joey, feeling sorry for this child, but she must continue her goal. Hope started flapping her bat wings, with her lower half hugged by her arms.
While she was slowly elevating, she stopped in mid-air. A rope was tied to her ankles, restricting her from going away.
"Do you think you can run away, after beating my partner like that?" Sao said, appearing from the shadows, grabbing the rope, and slamming down Hope to the ground.