BANG! BANG! BANG!
Seconds before the skeleton beast could attack the girls, the sound of gunshots resounded across the indoor park, three magic explosions blew up one of the skeleton beast's whole head! The creature quickly fell into the ground, collapsing into a pile of bones.
CRAAASH!
"Hahh… Milady, are you alright?!" Steiner, Elisa's bodyguard, sighed in relief, on his hands was a small gun with strange runic inscriptions.
"R-Right, you had a magic gun!" Elisa felt relieved, even if slightly.
Magic Guns were still not widely available in the market and could only be bought by larger organizations, or very rich people. Elisa's family got her covered in that department and allowed some of her bodyguards to equip themselves with some of them.
Now that the threat of monsters appearing out of gates or from the wilderness was becoming a reality, holding guns capable of piercing through their thick hide and tough bones was a must. Normal weaponry didn't work too well on monsters, due to their bodies being reinforced with their Magical Power.
Therefore, magical weaponry was necessary, a luxury that only the richest people out there enjoyed at the moment. Not even normal police were equipped with it yet, meaning that a single gun and a few bullets must have cost a true fortune.
"ROOAAR!"
However, although one of the skeleton beasts collapsed, the second rushed towards them fearlessly, Steiner swiftly gunned it down, shooting at the head as he had been taught.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"GRYEKH!"
The first shoot ended missing but the two ended hitting the monster's skull, half its head collapsed, but the creature resiliently kept charging. Undead monsters were different than Living Monsters, they did not bleed, and would keep moving until they were grinded to dust or had their cores destroyed.
"Shit!"
Steiner tried to reload the gun, but in the time it would take him, the beast already reached him, swinging its huge claws against him and slashing at his chest!
CRAAASH!
"AARGH!"
The bodyguard groaned in pain, being thrown away several meters, hitting the wall right behind the girls and vomiting blood. As strong and trained as he was, he was still a normal human and not an Awakened.
"S-Steiner!" Elisa started crying while running towards him, looking his chest covered on blood and his face completely pale.
"R-Run, young lady…" He muttered, continuing to vomit blood. That hit most likely twisted all his internal organs to mush. "I was foolish… I should have… let someone else take my role… An awakened could have… taken care of that monster… Ugh, I just… I wanted to stay… by your side… I'm sorry…"
"N-No! Wait, wait, I am not prepared for this! Please don't die, Steiner!!" Elisa cried, hugging her bodyguard. "Don't leave me!"
Steiner was more than a bodyguard to her; he was like her uncle or even a father. Due to the selfishness of her parents and their lack of attachment to their daughter, Elisa grew up most of her life surrounded by servants and bodyguards, her mother and father always "too busy" to remain at her side.
Steiner was someone that knew her since she was three years of age, he had feed her, washed her, taught her many things, played with her, and had accompanied her to literally anywhere she went, always supporting her and protecting her.
"GROOOAAR!"
The skeletal beast rushed towards Elisa, while Anna panicked. She didn't know what to do, her only instinct told her to grab Elena and run, she had to prioritize her love even before her friend, as painful as that feeling was.
"Shit! We have to run, we have to run, ELENA! LET'S GO! HURRY!"
"No…"
"E-Eh?"
Anna stepped back, as Elena let go of her hand and quickly started to change her appearance, her skin turned blue, and horns grew on her forehead, while her black hair became silvery-white.
"There's a secret I've been keeping from you, Anna… I'm sorry."
A mass of Mana emerged on her hands, taking the shape of a sword. Without a doubt, this imagery was the very same of Anna's Avatar in BNLO!
"E-Elena?!"
"I'm an Awakened too."
Elena's eyes shone with crimson light, making Anna's entire being feel paralyzed on the spot. With a flash of blue flames, Elena disappeared from the scene, rushing towards the Bone Beast attacking Steiner and Elisa.
"ROOOAAR!"
"Steiner!"
As Elisa cried over her dying bodyguard, Elena appeared above the bone beast, a split of a second later, her sword descended towards its neck, cutting through the head!
SLAAASH!
"GRYYAGH!"
The beast's skull exploded into pieces, while the rest of its body swiftly stepped back, its phantasmal senses were still there, guiding the creature and swiftly attacking Elena again!
"I-Is that you, Elena?!" Elisa couldn't believe what she was seeing either.
"…" Elena didn't answer, fully focusing on slaying the bone beast. "Just like you always do it in the game, move the sword like that! Your footwork too!" She whispered to herself.
"SHAAAAH!"
The monstrous bone beast continued attacking Elena with a barrage of claw attacks, while Elena kept evading while moving through the incredibly footwork she learned back BNLO, changing her stance constantly.
CLASH! CLASH! CRAAASH!
She felt the intensity of the hits more than ever before, it was a completely different experience than fighting the frail and slimy Hollows. However, through the change of her stance and her magical sword parrying the hits, she was getting there!
"RAAAAH!"
With her Will was fueled by her desire to protect her friends. Her whole body erupted with phantasmal flames, which harnessed their prowess into her blade made of darkness. Each slash of her blade cut through more and more bones, weakening the creature in seconds.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
"ROAR!"
The monster quickly leaped into the air and then descended towards Elena with all its might, attempting to crush her with its weight alone!
BAAAM!!
However, Elena managed to evade the attack, leaping just in time, before her Aura emerged out of her body once more. This time, it resembled dozens of blades.
"[Pseudo Sword Ki Aura]"
The swords flew off, piercing the monster's body, as one just managed to slash through its crystal core, moments before all the blades exploded.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Amidst the sea of blue flames and darkness, Elena stood valiantly, glancing at the bone monster's remains… Anna couldn't help but skip a beat.
"S-She's fucking awesome…"
At the same time, a group of mysterious people that were lurking around, wearing armor made of black wood and covered on poisonous herbs and mushrooms, glanced into the distance, noticing her.
They wielded strange scepters made of this cursed, malefic wood. Their eyes glowed with dark green color, and their auras exuded an aura of corrupted nature and decay…
"We found her."
"So this is the daughter of their new goddess?"
"As we talked before, we'll be taking her life. I presume you don't mind, Demon."
The trio glanced at a single handsome man, as tall as three meters, muscular, with a small black beard and long black hair, wearing sunglasses. He looked completely normal, but exuded a tremendous, demonic aura.
"Yeah, I don't mind…" He smiled. "I'll take care of the rest. This'll teach her a lesson, to not mess with us anymore."
"Then let us begin, Blighters. While those damned Druids are not here yet." The leader of the strange people laughed. "By our Lady of Decay, Kalma, we shall feast on Nature's Life!"
