Blood was dripping down to the middle of her forearm. Livya could feel the warm liquid flowing down the wound caused by her opponent's knife. In front of her, a man with a decayed appearance held a knife along with a short sword, the tip of the short blade stained red.
She was caught off guard, but managed to disarm the stranger, which cost her a cut and her revolver, which flew far away. Holding the small axe, she felt her hands sweat from both nerves and pain.
Fortunately, all the pedestrians managed to escape without any casualties. She prepared for the fight, analyzing any abrupt movements from the enemy, and then, with quick steps, the sword was thrust toward her.
Livya didn't want to risk dodging, so she blocked the blow with her weapon, but regretted it the moment the steel clashed, making her wound bleed even more. Realizing her pain, the attacker began raining down blows.
They were too close to dodge, forcing her to parry and block all the attacks. With every strike, she felt tears filling her eyes. Then, a feeling of hatred exploded inside Livya. She was tired of always being saved by others, tired of feeling weak. She parried with all her strength a blow that aimed to tear open her stomach.
The man didn't expect that and felt his arm thrown back with the brutal force of her strike. He saw the girl step forward and take a solid stance. She attacked him with a diagonal slash, aiming at the spot where his arm was still recovering from the previous blow. Using the weight of his weapon moving backward, he managed to dodge by mere centimeters the blow that cut through the air. He regained his balance and thrust his knife, taking advantage of the opening her strike had created.
Seeing the approaching blade, Livya threw herself to the right, hitting the ground hard. She felt the air leave her lungs with the impact. She had avoided the strike. Still on the ground, she saw the attacker coming and preparing a bottom-up cut.
She waited for the right moment to parry the attack. As the sword ascended, she swept the air with her small axe, deflecting the blade. Stepping back a few paces, she felt sweat dripping down her body.
She was managing to defend herself, but she knew that she couldn't win just by defending. Then, the memory of the brutish figure covered in iron, holding an enormous sledgehammer, flashed in her mind. How could she kill "Little Sister" if she couldn't even handle a skeletal man? She bit her lower lip until a line of blood ran down her chin. She let the hatred consume her and attacked.
She advanced, preparing an overhead strike, easily read by the man, who lowered his blade toward her head, but she smiled victoriously, raised her axe to block the enemy's strike, and with her free hand, she drew her knife, plunging it deeply into his foot.
The man grimaced in pain, and Livya took the chance to spin her body, making a semicircle with the weapon. She felt the resistance of the air as one of his hands was severed by the axe, and finally, the steel hit the man's temple, piercing deeply into his skull and brain.
Livya released the handle that had locked on the bone. Staggering, she stood back up as the man collapsed. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and the pain from her wound returned violently. She had forgotten about it for a moment due to all the adrenaline.
"Livya!!" shouted Naomi, who came running down the street, holding the katana.
"I'm here," she replied with a proud smile.
Naomi approached her companion, and seeing the dying man with half the axe lodged in the side of his head, she shifted her attention to Livya, noticing the tear in her arm.
"Are you okay?" she asked, gesturing to the cut on her arm.
"Yes, it hurts a little, but I've been through worse," Livya replied, patting the place where the spider had attacked. "Why did it take you so long?"
"I was attacked too."
Livya remained silent, her mind working at full speed. Who in their right mind would attack Crows? But the man's appearance didn't look like that of someone with a clear mind.
As Naomi distanced herself from the newcomer, she analyzed the body, the clothing, and the weapons, which were similar to those of the ones who attacked her. A breeze carried the scent of illness and fluids to her face. Making a grimace, she opened up more space between them.
"I finally found you!" shouted Gabriel.
The young man was running up the deserted street, followed by a short woman with oversized glasses holding a shotgun far too big for her body. Naomi recognized Hylari, but seeing her walking and not behind a table struck her as odd.
"How did you find us?" Livya asked.
"It was just a matter of going against the crowd," he stopped next to Naomi and saw that she had no injuries, which was no surprise. "Was it just him who attacked you?"
"A few streets from here, I found one too," Naomi replied, growing increasingly curious.
"I see," the young man said, lost in thought. Concern grew on his face.
Hylari ignored everyone and went straight to the fallen man. She knelt and grabbed the corpse's hand, bowing her head as she removed something from the limb. She stood up and wiped her knees with a few taps. She said:
"He has one."
Livya noticed the scene, and when the old woman spoke, Gabriel's face twisted with worry. She wasn't the only one—her companion noticed it too.
"What?" the newcomer asked.
"This," Hylari replied, holding up the black ring. "They are or were Crows."
"Naomi," Gabriel called, snapping his partner out of her stupor. "Did the thing you fought have the ring?"
"I don't know," she said as she felt the ground collapse beneath her. "This can't be true."
"Tell me where the body is, I need to see this."
Naomi pointed out the location of the body to Gabriel, and that's when Hylari interjected.
"Let's meet at the parking lot, we need to talk."
So, Gabriel went to where the last body lay, while the three of them headed to the parking lot. Both Naomi and Livya felt something bad in their chests.