The slowly reached its claws toward the man as he was too scared to move. His muscles refused to answer and his mind was clouded with thoughts of his whole life leading to that moment. A bullet hit the monster’s claws but it did nothing except catch the shadow’s attention. 

 

“All I’m dreaming about are at least four hours of sleep… Can’t you see that it is the middle of the night?!” Said clearly annoyed Theo.

 

That gave enough time for the exorcist to run away into the building. At that moment the whole square became a battleground. All of the monks and exorcists went to the monastery’s basement to hide as Theo commanded them. 

 

“There’s no point in hiding. I can smell them out. They all are in one place… Underground.” Said the wolf as it sniffed around.

 

“You’ll never reach them… because you’re dying right here.” Said Theo with a cold voice and serious face. He wasn’t planning to play around. 

 

Theo took out his musket and shot a bullet at the monster. The fire from the rifle was blue and it followed the bullet. The monster simply caught the bullet and threw it away. Once it looked back Theo was missing. She couldn’t tell where he went by the smell because the blue fire destroyed all the traces of scent. Suddenly she was hit in the back. Once she turned around she saw a stick of explosives right in front of her face. She blocked the blast with her hands but the shockwave made her lose her footing. 

 

“That must be the monster that killed Victoria. The description that Leo told me matches that monster. But this shadow is level six at best. The only thing about it that might put it on a higher level is its speed… And logical thinking…”

 

“Show yourself, you coward! The pery is fighting back but in such a pitiful manner.” Shouted the wolf.

 

“I’m not a coward… I was preparing myself!” Shouted Theo as smoke bombs exploded in the square. 

 

The werewolf heard footsteps and swung her fangs toward it. She didn’t hit anything but then suddenly she got hit in the chin with a bullet and blue flames. Theo dodged her attack but she didn’t notice it and while dodging he slid under her and went into hiding once again. The shot clearly did some damage.

 

She suddenly heard a yawn and saw a silhouette of the man that was attacking her. When she jumped and attacked the man he vanished like his body was made of smoke. 

 

“Yoho.” Said Theo.

 

The wolf looked toward the man who was right beside her with a rifle pointing right at her. This time there wasn’t a bullet coming of it but a whole explosion. 

 

“Is he really just a human?” Whispered annoyed werewolf. 

 

“I’m a saint. Saint of Envy. Theo The Marksman.”

 

The werewolf swung its claws toward Theo but before it could reach him another explosion occurred. This time it pushed away the wolf and seriously damaged its paw. 

 

“How the hell did Pano fight against you… He is so much weaker!!!” Shouted an annoyed werewolf. 

 

“Because I wasn’t prepared.” Said Theo as he came out of nowhere and placed his rifle against the monster’s shoulder. With one pull of a trigger, he ripped off the shadow’s left arm. 

 

The werewolf tried to bite Theo in the neck but a golden chain appeared from the ground and stopped the attack. Theo looked back just to see Senzi in the square. 

 

“I told you to stay hidden!” Shouted Theo.

 

“I wanted to help…” Said Senzi.

 

In a matter of seconds, the chain snapped and the werewolf punched Theo and he went flying into the wall. The monster tried walking toward the man but more chains appeared and wrapped around her feet. She wanted to go after the kid but out of nowhere giant white crow grabbed Senzi and flew away.

 

“Vera! Finish off that man. I’ll take the boy to Rabbit.” Shouted crow.

 

“Fine with me.” Answered Werewolf as she had sight of an unconscious man. “Time to repay for my arm… I think you should be enough for it to grow back.” Said the werewolf as it licked its mouth. 

 

As the werewolf was walking toward Theo something stopped it. It couldn’t be that boy, she thought. It was something much more dangerous. Before the shadow could look behind, she was thrown hard into the ground. She saw a small man with a blindfold on his head. The blindfold fell off and revealed Leo’s eyes. His eyes were almost red and blood was dripping down his face like tears. Visible steam was coming out of his mouth. As if his whole body was boiling.

 

Even though Vera thinks of humans as prey, right now she sees another wolf in front of her. There was no fear in her but anger. Two wolves from different packs on the same territory. It could only mean one thing. Fight to the death. 

 

The werewolf made itself smaller to match her opponent's height. The thick fur disappeared with the height. By doing it she was able to regenerate her arm.

 

They both jumped each other and started with a contest of strength. It looked like they were equally strong. Leo used that opportunity and loosen up and pulled the shadow toward him. With that speed, he hit the monster right in the stomach with his knee. That hit had enough force for the monster to cough out the part of the exorcist she had eaten. 

 

This left the monster wide open. Leo punched the monster ferociously. It no longer looked like a fight between two wolves. Rather a boxer punching the training bag. 

 

When the monster tried to move away he kicked its leg so hard that it became broken. Next, he grabbed the arm and with his elbow, he broke the monster’s arm. Once it fell down he finished off the other leg. 

 

“Time to die! You, piece of shit!” Shouted Leo as he crashed the shadow's head. 

 

Once he did that he calmed down. Smoke began to come out of the shadow’s body and once it disappeared in the place of the werewolf was the rotten body of a teenage girl. 

 

“What the fuck is that… First was the girl with wings and now this…” 

 

Theo suddenly woke up in the bed and by reflex, he reached for his musket but all he grabbed was an apple. He was back in his room and it was early in the morning judging by the sun just rising on the horizon. He ignored the thought of being injured when he saw the bandage on his head and the pain in his stomach. He went straight to Senzi’s room. Once he entered the room he didn’t see his student in bed… But a grown-up man in a black coat. 

 

“What the hell are you doing in Senzi’s bed?! Noah!” Shouted Theo to wake up the man. 

 

“It was the first free bed I found…” Said Noah.

 

“That’s not what I wanted to hear…” Said annoyed Theo.

 

“Okay… I took a nap in the hotel but I was woken up by one of the exorcists who thought that I was dead because I was sleeping in a destroyed room. I came with him to check on my brother and once I did I got tired by the journey here and…”

 

“What about my student…”

 

“Ah… Right… The kid… Leo said something about him being taken away by the ‘fucking bird’ that attacked him.”

 

As Noah said that Theo ran out of the room. He went back for his staff. He took a briefcase for his musket. A handgun under the coat. He packed sticks of explosives into his backpack and a few rosaries attached to his belt. As he was about to leave, Leo blocked his way by standing in the door frame. This time he didn’t have a blindfold on his eyes but bandages.

 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Asked Leo.

 

“To rescue my pupil! Where else?!” Said agitated Theo.

 

“I know that! I’m saying you’re not going alone. I’m coming with you… And Noah too. By force but he will come.”

 

They all met in the monastery’s square where the corpse of the girl was lying untouched. Noah was clearly not interested in any of this. The smell of a rotten corpse clearly bothered him. He was surprised that none of them were disgusted by the smell. 

 

“So how do we find that shadow?” Asked Theo.

 

“If it was seven hours ago I would say by the smell. The crow had a similar smell to that roten body here. But the wind destroyed that plan. Then I found something… This corpse is connected spiritually to something. The energy leads toward the way that this bird flew.” Explained Leo.

 

“The corpse is connected? You know what that means?”

 

“Yes. We have a necromancer as an opponent. There is a chance that this girl is not really a girl but a necromancer in disguise.”