'Feral Beasts cub...'
If it was a cub, then it must've had parents. These stray wolves were one big family, and he just killed their youngest son.. daughter?? He didn't care to check.
Nero shifted back a little, but both of the wolves had already started to come forward. Cyrus was still a decent distance away, and if these wolves were even faster then their cub who was still a child, then they'd certainly catch up to Nero in an instant.
The cub was a dormant monster, so these two had to be awakened monsters at best. Beating them 1 on 1 may have been possible, but 2 on 1? He did not stand a chance. However, he had a way to even out those odds.
'It's time to use that Echo.'
He never had the chance to check its runes, so he didn't know what it was fully capable of. But it was a rank and 2 classes above the wolves, so it should win relatively easily. The only issue was...
'Crap.'
Echoes took longer to summon than memories. For memories it was about 3-7 seconds depending on how big it was, but for Echoes it was 15. The Nightmare creatures certainly weren't going to sit around and wait for it to manifest, so for the next 15 seconds, Nero was on his own.
15 seconds
The second the silver strings and sparks began to weave the Echo into existence, the wolves leapt at him. Exposing his back towards them would get him killed instantly, so he made sure to keep facing them, right up till the last moment.
Nero didn't move, and instead waited for one of the wolves to prance right towards him. Even with the 2x boost, timing a side step was difficult, but he pulled it off. When the first the Wolf was in the air in front of him, Nero threw his right fist right into its face, knocking it away.
13 seconds
While that stunned the wolf for less than a second, it didn't do any real damage. Nero was slow to react to the second wolf which circled around him, and jumped right on his back, pushing Nero to the ground.
It sunk its fangs right into his shoulder, much like the cub before it. But this time, its fangs were able to pierce right down to the bone, which caused Nero even more pain.
11 seconds
Nero tired to push himself back up, but having an awakened monster on your back wasn't exactly easy to lift, and having your shoulder being eaten didn't make it any easier either.
In the end, Nero pushed his Aspect a little as a wave of darkness shoved the wolf into the air. Quickly moving, he started to run right towards the original wolf that he punched earlier.
9 seconds
It was already sprinting towards him, and Nero wasn't intending on taking anymore damage. This time, he threw a heavy chunk of dirt which he scrapped from the floor earlier right at it.
It quickly scattered in the air, forming a dust cloud which blinded the wolf, yet it charged in recklessly while keeping its momentum. Nero took that chance to side step it again, and kicked it right in the side.
7 seconds
The earlier wolf though, quickly recovered and sunk its fangs into Nero's leg. Nero desperately tried to kick it off, but it refused to let go as it pressed even harder. He was about to use his Aspect once more, but then the first wolf jumped onto his back, making him fall.
He had to endure. Victory was just on the horizon, now he needed to grasp it.
5 seconds
Nero fought the wolf off his back, while his leg continued to be mangled and destroyed. He kept trying to slow it down by kicking it with his healthy one, but that was slowly becoming futile.
Another blast would surely do it, they were both here now so it could buy him more time.
But then he had a thought. He'd just been unleashing his Aspect recklessly, wasn't it possible to do it in a more controlled manner? He had been using the centre of his body as the origin for its release, but that was just where he did it naturally.
According to his Aspect ability description, inside him was an infinite well of darkness. If he was its child, why would just one part of his body act as its exit point?
Focusing on the place where he was feeling pain the most, he gradually began to release his Aspect. Just enough for it to cause a small blast that he could cancel out quickly.
The wolf was happily gnawing on Nero's leg with some difficulty, as it then sensed an incoming wave of danger. Before it could let go, a quick burst of darkness erupted from inside its mouth, blasting its head clean off.
[You have slain an awakened monster, Feral Beast.]
Its body was sent hurdling back, before lifelessly collapsing to the floor. Nero smirked as he turned his attention to the other wolf, which grew wary at its husbands... wife's? apparent death.
It jumped back away from Nero a little, scared at the sudden power it could use. The wolf bared its fangs trying to keep its intimidating appearance, and yet the human seemed to smile back at it.
"Behind you."
A tall shadow then loomed over it, causing it to freeze. It's head slowly turned around, just to see a tall, mighty, pure white griffin standing just behind it.
It raised one of its claws, and crushed the wolfs skull with such speed, that it couldn't even do anything to defend itself.
[You have slain an awakened monster, Feral Beast.]
Nero collapsed to the floor, exasperating. The continuous struggle had drained him of all his strength, and he was still losing blood from his horrible leg wound, and the bites around his shoulders.
He tried to drag himself forwards towards Cyrus, but it was no good.
Just before he passed out though, he commanded his Griffin to get help.
'I better keep my damn rewards...'
**
While one twin fell asleep, another awakened.
Name: Epsilon
True Name: End Of The Unbound
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Dormant
Soul Fragments: [0/1000]