Summoned and Unwanted

Fragments of hardened earth, fur, and yellow blood went all over the place. The dark knight promptly jumped again before the blood splattered on her armor.

The yellow blood lying on the ground melted the snow. The blood sizzled and evaporated as if it was boiling. The longer the blood remained on the ground, the more the ground appeared to be missing a small layer of dirt.

This was the reason Awa did not let any yellow blood touch her. The blood not only contained the element of heat similar to Vincent’s mutation but also acidity to melt what it comes into contact with as well.

Even though the undead bear was constantly injured, it didn’t show any signs of emotions other than devouring what was in front of it.

The undead bear dragged its feet and pushed its upper body upwards. Shortly, the undead bear stood on its two hind legs.

The colossal undead bear became far taller than before. Its mouth opened, and its head rapidly approached the pesky opponent injuring it without stopping.

The pair of powerful legs swung down, and they kicked the approaching fangs. Awa gained extra height while watching two fangs shooting inside the undead bear’s throat.

Awa shot a shadow line and attached it to the large paw below her. Awa kicked her attached leg upwards to pull herself downwards and descend.

.....

After delivering a powerful kick and knocking the paw downwards, Awa raised her leg and shot a shadow line on the undead bear’s throat. With another quick backward kick, Awa speeded forward.

*Boom, Crunch* The sound of the undead windpipe getting crushed could be heard. The force of the impact caused the undead bear to lose its balance. It started dragging its hind feet backward.

Awa jumped, and while in mid-air, she planned to deliver another attack. However, her plan quickly changed when multiple earth spikes emerged from the body.

Awa chose to assess the situation and slowly free fall with the cape making her body light.

Awa landed on the ground and looked up at the colossal monster in front of her. She was very small compared to the monster in front of her.

The moment the ground rumbled, Awa raised her foot and said, “Quake,” while slamming her foot and causing a cobweb of cracks in the ground.

Awa didn’t wait for more attacks to emerge from the ground. She jumped up high in the air once more.

A paw swung from the left. It was heading to hit Awa. Second, after the other, the paw reached Awa. The moment she was about to be hit, her body disappeared.

Awa appeared above the undead bear’s shoulder. She raised her leg to fall and deliver a powerful drop kick. However, from underneath the skin of the shoulder, a large earth spike extended towards Awa.

The two forces collided with one another. Half of the large earth spike broke while Awa lost her balance. From the broken earth spike, new ones extended toward the falling Awa.

Awa curled her body in a fetal position, and the shadow cape covered her body. The darkness condensed itself and hardened.

The ball of darkness shot a shadow line toward the ground right before impact. With a swift pull, the ball of darkness was about to descend, but before this happened, the earth spike hit and pierced through.

The ball of darkness returned being a cape after landing on the ground.

Awa appeared lowered on one knee. Her hand moved along a scratch on her chest armor. “Thanks, Night, for saving me.” She said.

Awa raised her gaze and noticed all the damage she had caused to the undead bear was mostly healed halfway. She could understand why Vincent wanted everyone to escape. It was hopeless to resist.

Awa stood up and jumped back. *Boom* The undead bear landed on its front legs, and the ground shook as if there was a momentary earthquake.

Awa landed a couple of meters away from her previous location. If she didn’t retreat, Awa would be flattened by now.

Awa turned around. She was shocked to see Vincent in front of her. He was being helped by two Dullahans to remain on his feet. The third Dullahan was carrying Plow, Zero, and the female Cefeye on his back.

“V-Vincent! Why are you here?” Questioned Awa. Not only was she afraid to fail in protecting Vincent and those beside him, but she was also worried about his deteriorating condition.

“The clan leader wants to fight.” One of the Dullahans explained.

Awa gasped. She couldn’t believe her ears for hearing such crazy words. The gravely injured man in front of her wanted to fight in his condition. Awa couldn’t believe Vincent wanted to die.

“I tried my hardest to get used to his body enough to fight without losing my life... but now you want to fight instead of escaping?”

“I will gamble with my life...” Vincent told Awa with a weak voice.

Awa wanted to reject Vincent’s desire to die, but she remembered now wasn’t the time to converse. Because of this thought, Awa realized the undead bear behind her didn’t attack them. It made Awa confused.

Awa turned around and discovered the reason why. It was obvious where the large yellow glowing eyes were looking at. Vincent had become the undead bear’s target again.

However, for some mysterious reason, the undead bear not only didn’t attach, but it started acting strange. The undead in front of her was showing emotions. It was a thing undead. They were unable to express themselves since they were dead.

The undead bear showed a profound expression of anger and a hint of cautiousness. The mouth contorted to reveal sharp teeth, and the brows deeply frowned as if it was enraged.

During the assault, Awa did not see the undead bear make an expression, yet upon the appearance of Vincent, the undead bear acted as if an enemy it recognized was in front of it.

Awa turned around to face Vincent. “I will not allow you to sacrifice your life. My life was saved twice. My life will be the one on the line and not yours.”

Vincent raised his arms and removed them from the two Dullahan’s shoulders. He gritted his teeth and moved forward by himself with his determination.

*Tap* Vincent touched Awa’s helmet. He forced his lips and his eyes to show a warm smile. “Take good care of...” *Cough* “Plow and Zero.”

“But... your time is not now...”

Awa couldn’t hold her tears from falling. She wanted to stop Vincent from uselessly sacrificing his life, yet she felt horrible about denying his determination.

“No...” *Sniffle* “Plow does not want...” *Sniffle* “To lose Vincent Vincent...” *Pho...*

“Plow. I will be back.” Vincent said without looking back.

Vincent didn’t want to take one last look at Plow. He didn’t want to lose his determination by watching little Plow crying and trying to jump off the Dullahan’s arm.

Vincent held his injured side and limped over to the undead bear. He ignored anything Awa and Plow told him. He needed to gamble his life in order a chance to win.

[Vincent. This is the moment of truth. The little guys beside me and I are with you to the very end.]

Vincent felt comfortable that Kazumi, Wolfie, Freerie, Bright, Watz, and Helle were with him, even if the idea was crazy with an unknown chance of success.

Vincent glared at the undead bear a declared, “I bet my life to take you down.”

The moment the last word was spoken, the undead bear moved its head forward, and Vincent disappeared from everyone’s view. *Chomp, lick, gulp* Vincent was swallowed whole.

“NOOO!” Awa screamed. She jumped up high in the sky in a fit of rage. “Give Vincent back!” She exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

Awa attached a shadow line on the undead bear’s side and pulled herself with all the strength she possessed. She sped through the air and delivered a mighty kick to the side of the stomach.

However, the undead bear was on all fours, and it was difficult for Awa to land a good hit to the gut. Other than breaking some earth spikes, crushing some hardened fur, and spilling acidic yellow blood, nothing happened.

“I said return Vincent!” Awa exclaimed at the top of her lungs again.

Awa jumped and latched a shadow line on the undead bear. The moment the line was attached, Awa kicked her leg backward with her acceleration of six legs and shot at the undead bear like a destructive bullet.

Once. Twice. Trice. Awa was like a destructive bullet ping-ponging up and down. The more Awa got used to her new body, stat boost, and power boost of Dark Knight Trait, the more her speed and reaction time increased.

Fragments of hardened earth flew randomly, and blood spilled. Awa was the undead bear’s nightmare.

The three Dullahans couldn’t believe how powerful Awa was. Plow remained crying while Zero remained on standby as Vincent had instructed. On the other hand, the female Cefeye stared at the undead bear’s mouth.

The earth spikes were not enough to stop Awa’s rage. Her speed was too fast for the undead bear to counterattack.

The undead bear could not die from such attacks, yet it could not land a hit on Awa at the same time. As time passed and as Awa landed a destructive kick after the other, the undead bear started to show the emotion of annoyance.