"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!" Bruce yelled as the strange SUV collided with their car. It seemed like he just couldn't catch a break. Now, on his way to the harbor, he was attacked by unknown assailants for unknown reasons.
"Henry!... You're going to die today, you shithead... I found you!" One of the attackers, Caleb, screamed.
"Oh, Caleb, is that you... it's been a while, brother-in-law... How's your mum... and sister?" Henry retorted, laughing like a hyena.
Caleb's anger intensified, and he rammed into the back of the mustang that the three were driving.
Henry skillfully picked up the pace and skillfully maneuvered to escape the assailants during the high-speed chase.
As the road bent, neither Bruce's group nor the assailants could see the fuel-carrying truck approaching from the opposite side. Reacting quickly, Henry swerved the car into the woods, narrowly avoiding the truck, and decided to take his companions out of the vehicle before it could be completely totaled. Time seemed to slow down as Henry grabbed Bruce in one hand and Gloria in the other, and they all leaped out of the car just before it flipped, crashed and exploded.
The assailants' SUV met a similar fate as it collided with the oncoming truck, resulting in the tragic death of the truck's driver. However, to Henry's surprise, all the assailants, who were Lycans, came out of the gory scene unharmed. Lycans were non-humans capable of extraordinary strength feats beyond human comprehension. While a strong human might struggle to lift a thousand pounds, an average Lycan could effortlessly throw ten thousand pounds. They were significantly stronger, faster, and lived longer, especially when transformed into their beast form.
Henry sensed that Caleb hadn't just brought ordinary Lycans; they were powerful ones, A-tier and above. Protecting Gloria and Bruce while fending off such tough opponents would be a daunting task even for an S-tier Lycan like Henry.
He instructed them to take cover somewhere, but Gloria defiantly refused, offering to help Henry, "I can take care of myself, shithead... I'll protect you and Bruce".
"I don't know what's going on, but I'll be damned if I let myself die in a place like this without rescuing my daughter," Bruce declared and grasped a thick wooden branch nearby to defend himself. The silence was suffocating, and their hearts were pounding in their chests. All three readied themselves for the impending fight. They were fully aware that this was no ordinary brawl, but a deadly confrontation with Caleb, an S-tier Lycan, the prince of his own clan and pack.
Henry chose not to undergo a full Lycan transformation but activated his retractable claws and bared his fangs. His eyes glowed with a reddish-brown hue, showing his ferocious resilience.
Gloria's expression was focused, as magical ringlike projections and constructs enveloped her arms. Her eyes emitted a pure white light, and an ethereal force seemed to displace the rocks beneath her feet in a mesmerizing, circular motion.
Bruce, though awestruck and terrified by these transformations, stood firm and clutched the makeshift weapon tightly in his hands.
"Shithead, where are you?... Shithead, it's time to meet your maker!" Caleb taunted, whistling and singing as he approached the group with seven of his lackeys, two of whom had fully transformed into wolfman forms.
Contrary to what Henry assumed, only two of the lackeys were A-class Lycans. Dealing with them wouldn't be overly difficult, but his primary concern was protecting the normie, Bruce, from the other five F-rank Lycans, who posed a serious threat.
Eight against three —an unfair fight— but if anyone could alter the odds, it was Henry.
"Shithead, you made friends... wow... I feel sorry for them. They'll join you in hell, I'll make sure of tha-" Caleb paused, momentarily captivated by Gloria's beauty. He looked her over and smirked, "I'll make that one my slave, don't damage her too much," he continued, wiping the drool off his lust-filled face.
Gloria's response was sharp as she sent one of Caleb's Lycans flying with a powerful beam of light.
The fallen Lycan lay lifeless at Caleb's feet. A massive hole was in his chest with smoke billowing from it. Growling fiercely, Caleb commanded his remaining men to attack, and with a semi-war cry, the Lycans charged at them.
Before the two groups clashed, Henry, sporting a wolfman transformation and a smile on his face, offered Bruce a word of encouragement, his already deep voice deepening further mid-sentence, "Hey, normie... Don't die."
Despite his fear, Bruce steeled himself and charged into the fight. With no formal training in martial arts, he now faced beings that could snap his neck like a twig. One of the F-tier Lycans who was unable to transform into a wolfman, lunged at him and tried to strike his heart with his fist. Luckily, Bruce stumbled, causing the Lycan's hand to get stuck in the bark of a nearby tree. Bruce seized the opportunity and used a stone to bash the unfortunate Lycan's head.
Meanwhile, Gloria skilfully exhibited her prowess. She took down another Lycan by blasting its left leg and beheading it with a sword made of light.
"Three down... Five to go," they all thought out loud. Bruce and Gloria skillfully utilized the terrain of the woods and managed to defeat another Lycan. Gloria instructed Bruce to close his eyes then temporarily impaired the vision of another F-tier Lycan with a flask of light. Seizing the chance, Bruce bludgeoned the affected Lycan to death.
"Henry, watch out!" Bruce yelled while Henry ripped off the head of one of the A-rank Lycans. The last F-tier Lycan remained, closely watching them, and then attacked Bruce from behind, leaving him badly injured. But Gloria swiftly came to his rescue. With both hands, she unleashed a powerful attack that instantly killed the Lycan.
Caleb was already growing impatient and increasingly furious over the demise of his men so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He lunged towards Gloria with the intent of killing her.
Henry sensed this but was preoccupied with the other A-rank Lycan. All he could do was scream, "Gloria!" Despite being bloodied and battered, Bruce pushed Gloria aside just in time, as Caleb pounced on him in his wolfman form.
Caleb removed his teeth from Bruce's torso, leaving Bruce on the brink of death with a huge bite mark on his left chest and his left arm almost fully detached, only hanging by a few muscles and tendons.
This horrifying sight made Gloria shriek in terror as tears streamed down her face and she desperately sent out a barrage of attacks at Caleb to keep him away from Bruce.
She ran towards Bruce, her heart pounding with fear and sorrow. Meanwhile, Henry, in a fit of rage, punched the other A-tier Lycan, sending him crashing into multiple trees before losing consciousness.
He quickly darted to Caleb, backing Gloria and Bruce. "This is between you and me, Caleb," his voice was seething with anger and hatred.
"He-He-He... You're going to pay for what you did," with his face twisted into an evil grin, he replied.
"You know you can't beat me... Caleb," Henry retorted.
"We'll find out about that soon enough..." Caleb responded as he lunged towards Henry.
As the intense fight between Henry and Caleb began, Gloria was busy trying her best to stabilize Bruce, even though she wasn't particularly skilled in recovery or healing magic.
"Bruce, stay with me... Hey, Bruce," with tears in her eyes, Gloria pleaded with Bruce as she did her best to staunch the bleeding. "I can't do much for an alpha Lycan bite, but I can at least try and decrease the pain, can't I?" she questioned herself. Her mind was all over the place but her focus was on tending to Bruce's wounds.
The fight between Henry and Caleb got much worse. Henry had ripped a tree from the ground and hurled it at Caleb, who obliterated it with a single swipe. They moved at such incredible speeds that even a speedometer couldn't measure. The friction between their feet and the dry leaves on the ground ignited a fire that began to decimate the surrounding area.
"Is that all you've got, shithead... You've gotten weaker these past few years, or is it the drinking, or perhaps the lack of an actual pack that has made you this useless... you dirty blood?!" Caleb taunted with a cruel smirk on his face as he launched his attacks.
The mention of the word 'dirty blood' caused a flicker of reaction in Henry. It was the very word that had scarred his childhood and left him feeling depressed long before the annihilation of his pack and clan.
"Well, ask your mum and your sister how this dirty blood rocked their worlds!" Henry responded with a smirk on his face, driving Caleb to the brink of madness.
Seizing the opportunity, Henry delivered a powerful punch that sent Caleb crashing to the ground, creating a small crater. Although tempted to finish Caleb off, Henry chose to check on his companions first. As he ran towards Gloria, who was still crying and desperately trying to patch up Bruce, he was transforming back into his human form.
"How's he holding up?... Isn't there anything you can do?... His heartbeat is getting fainter... He's dying, Gloria," Henry was saying worriedly.
"I know... I know he's dying... but I can't do anything... He got bitten by Caleb. His chance of survival is less than one percent... getting bitten by an alpha is most of the time a death sentence. I'm the worst witch ever. I don't know what to do," Gloria said with remorse and sadness in her voice.
"If anyone can survive this, it's this normie. There's something about him that's not... normal... Come on, think. There has to be something we can do to save him," Henry said, trying to encourage Gloria to keep hope alive.
"Eva... She can do something." Gloria wiped her tears as her hope rekindled.
"That old hag... then, let's go already... He's already lost a lot of blood... but wait. Our car is totaled... what are we going to do?" Henry asked.
"I can do it... One more time, I can manage, but I might not be able to do it again for a while. I can open a portal to her house and... I will," Gloria tried not to sound as feverish as she felt but she gulped multiple times and nodded to herself. She frantically searched in the dark for the piece of wood that Bruce used to defend himself.
"... I'm hungry..." Bruce finally regained consciousness and uttered his first words while wheezing with unimaginable pain.
"Keep quiet, dumbass. I was meant to protect you. Why did you do that? " Gloria's eyes watered up as she responded. "Henry, go look for a rope, please," though she was relieved that Bruce had finally regained consciousness, she was still deeply worried.
"I don't know. My body just moved on its own. Also, I couldn't bear to see you get hurt," Bruce mumbled, fading in and out of consciousness. Gloria's eyes melted with tears.
"Hey… Bruce, please stay with me…" she said as she lightly tapped his cheek. "Where's the rope?!" she yelled.
"Here it is," Henry responded after shredding a piece of the wrecked car seat. She took the piece of wood Bruce was using to defend himself and, with the rope, braced his almost severed arm. Henry carried him on his back, and Gloria began opening the portal.
"Bruce, stay with me..." Gloria pleaded as they passed through the portal together.
They arrived at Eva's house, which looked deep within the heart of the woods. The old witch's house stood like a mystical haven. Its weathered facade blended harmoniously with the enchanting surroundings.
"Bruce, Bruce... Hey, Bruce," Henry shook Bruce, and his heart sank.
"What happened?" Gloria asked, her heart on the edge.
"His heart... it just..." he said reluctantly.
"It just what?" she asked, berating him.
"His heart just stopped beating." Henry replied.
Her eyes became dull. She glanced at Bruce, bit her lip, then glanced at Henry again.
"No…" She gasped.