"AWOOOO!"
"Die, you dogs!!"
BOOM! BOOM!
Tien Ha and Gerald were a whirlwind of destruction amidst the charging horde of Crimson Fang Hounds.
Gerald fought with a ferocious, animalistic intensity. His fists were a dazzling solstice of horror as he punched through the hounds. Blood splattered all around, drenching everything crimson. He was a fighting machine, unyielding and unstoppable.
Tien Ha, on the other hand, employed a more elegant and deadly fighting style. He controlled seven blood-red daggers with his spirit energy. Each dagger was moving with a life of its own as it sliced and diced through the hounds. The clearing was quickly becoming a gruesome scene of carnage, with severed limbs and disemboweled bodies littering the snow.
The mother Crimson Fang Hound became enraged by the slaughter of her offspring. She let out a earsplitting howl and slammed her massive paw onto the ground.
WHOOSH!
A wave of crimson ice erupted from the point of impact and rushed towards the Silver Blood Knights.
Tien Ha and Gerald were forced to dance through the treacherous icy onslaught with incredible agility. They deflected incoming shards and leaped over others.
But the mother Crimson Fang Hound was relentless. She whipped her tail and sent forth a barrage of razor-sharp ice shards towards them.
The Silver Blood Knights didn't panic. A quick glance at each other was all the communication they needed.
Gerald charged downwards to meet the incoming ice shards head-on. He slammed his fists together, and a colossal arm, made entirely of condensed blood, materialized above him.
The giant hand extended and swept downwards in a massive arc. The ice shards shattered against its crimson surface like fragile glass.
"Fowl beast! Get ready to be pulverized!"
As Gerald pushed forward, the giant blood hand clenched into a fist and slammed into the mother Crimson Fang Hound's face with thunderous force.
Crack!
One of her massive fangs shattered, and her head snapped back as she crashed into a nearby tree.
The Crimson Fang Hound roared in agony. She swung her tail in retaliation at Gerald, causing him to hurtle backwards with a bone-jarring impact.
At the same time, Tien Ha seized his opportunity.
"Sky Falling Daggers!"
His seven daggers expanded to over ten meters in length. They plunged downwards from the sky and impaled the mother Crimson Fang Hound's massive body, effectively pinning her to the ground.
"GRAAAAAHHHHH!"
The hound let out a howl of agony that shook the very foundations of the Blood Forest.
"Excellent work, Tien Ha!" Gerald shouted as he regained his footing.
Inside the Blood Sphere, Lin and Mei were awestruck by the Silver Blood Knights' display of power.
"They haven't even released their Soul Orbitals yet," Lin whispered. "It's simply breathtaking."
Tajmani, who was still recovering from her injuries, was circulating her inner energy to accelerate her healing process. Her bloodline legacy granted her a remarkable regenerative ability, and her wounds were already closing rapidly. She was eager to join the fight and finish off the Crimson Fang Hound herself.
"My turn now."
Tajmani's wounds had completely healed. She rose from her meditative posture and boldly stepped out of the Blood Sphere.
The battle was far from over, but she was no longer content to watch from the sidelines. She cracked her knuckles and charged forward with a fierce cry.
"HYAAAAH!"
Her eyes fell upon the mother Crimson Fang Hound's massive fang, which had been broken off during the earlier clash with Gerald. It was sticking out of the ice like a grotesque trophy.
She reached the fang and yanked it free. She then dashed towards the still-pinned mother hound.
"Take this, you overgrown mutt!"
Tajmani leaped into the air and plunged the fang deep into the hound's right eye.
SPLAT!
Blood sprayed everywhere, coating Tajmani's face in a crimson mask.
"Die! Die! Die!"
She twisted the fang deeper, relishing the beast's agony.
Tien Ha and Gerald, who had been momentarily stunned by her reckless actions, quickly flew to her side.
"Princess, are you alright?"
Tajmani licked the blood from her lips and grinned. "Never better."
She then let out a hysterical laugh and flipped backward, landing gracefully on the tip of a protruding ice shard.
Witnessing their leader's brutal injury and the princess's terrifying display of savagery, the surrounding Crimson Fang Hounds whimpered and fled into the depths of the forest.
"Cowards!" Tajmani taunted.
She didn't bother pursuing them. Her target was the mother Crimson Fang Hound, and she had no intention of letting it escape.
Lin and Mei flew up to Tajmani's side. "Wow, that was incredible! You delivered the finishing blow!"
Tajmani accepted their praises with a smug smile. She then sniffed the air and frowned. "So, he's still alive?"
She shouted, "Slave! Come out here! The party's over!"
Raphael, who had been hiding behind the ice formation with the little wolf cub, heard Tajmani's call.
'Her sense of smell is incredible,' he thought in surprise.
Before revealing himself, he gently placed the wolf cub on the ground. "Go on, little one. Run and hide. I don't want her to hurt you."
The cub whimpered and nudged Raphael's hand with its nose as if to thank him before disappearing into the forest.
Raphael then emerged from his hiding place. He started pretending to be amazed by the sight of the defeated Crimson Fang Hound.
"Wow, Princess! You're so strong! You single-handedly defeated that monster!"
Tajmani puffed out her chest with pride. "Of course I did. I'm the strongest princess in the entire Bloodthorne Empire!"
Tien Ha and Gerald exchanged an exasperated look. They had done most of the work, but Tajmani was taking all the credit.
"Now then, it's time to claim my prize."
Tajmani began approaching the mother Crimson Fang Hound. But just as she was about to extract its Solar Consciousness, the beast let out a powerful snort. A gust of icy wind blasted from its nostrils that shattered the ice shard that Tajmani was standing on.
"She's still alive!"
Everyone scattered to avoid being hit by the falling ice.
Despite its injuries, the Crimson Fang Hound was not ready to give up. It let out a defiant howl, struggled to its feet, and began to flee deeper into the Blood Forest.
"Trying to escape? Not on my watch!"
Tajmani was determined to claim her prize. "After it! Don't let it get away!"
The group dashed off in pursuit of the fleeing beast.
"Hey, wait up!" Raphael hurriedly shouldered the heavy bag and ran after them, not wanting to be left behind in this dangerous place.
The chase was on.