Reinhard glanced around at the transformed landscape, his eyes taking in streets that now appeared charred and blackened. The smell of smoke and fire filled his nostrils, as if the destruction had happened moments ago rather than years in the past.
A howl pierced the night air before a Werefang landed heavily on the cobblestones before him, its crimson eyes fixed on his position. Reinhard furrowed his brow and quickly summoned Zenuken as the beast prepared to attack.
Then a streak of black rushed from the back of his hand and landed on his shoulder. It formed a black crowd, who blinked and then stared at the Werefang. "Tier E Werefang, not much danger!"
"Well, that's good." Reinhard muttered before saying. "Go off to the side and observe. When the battle is over, just tell me the information."
Mirmir asked. "What if the opponent is dangerous?"
"Then come warn me." Reinhard says, leading to Mimir to nod its head and rush off from his shoulder.
The Werefang rushed forward, swinging its arm in a wide arc. A blade of compressed wind shot toward Reinhard, who responded by hacking out with his sword and shattering the wind into harmless fragments that dissipated in the smoky air.
Without pause, the beast rushed towards him and became a blur of motion. Reinhard recognized the straight-line attack pattern and brought Zenuken down in a decisive chop, timing his strike perfectly. The blade caught the Werefang mid-charge and cleaved it cleanly in half with blood splashing out.
Both pieces crashed into the ruined building behind him with a light crashing sound. But Reinhard's attention was already elsewhere as he needed to find Marie and Joseph.
As he began moving deeper into the burnt district and looking around for his friend, his instincts screamed danger. He dashed forward just as the ground where he had been standing smashed into fragments. Three Werefangs emerged from the destruction, their claws buried deep in the broken cobblestones after striking from above.
One creature attacked from above while Reinhard was still processing the ambush. He ducked low as claws swept through the air where his head had been, simultaneously thrusting Zenuken backward.
The blade instantly arrived and plunged into the Werefang that had tried to strike him from behind.
He pulled the sword free and stood while twisting his body, slashing out to intercept a sweeping claw attack. The blade severed the appendage cleanly, sending the Werefang stumbling backward with a howl of pain and rage.
The remaining Werefangs rushed at him with mouths agape, their fangs gleaming in the moonlight. Reinhard grabbed the wounded Werefang and forced it between himself and the other three attackers before kicking it forward like a living shield.
As they bit down on their unfortunate packmate, Reinhard gripped Zenuken tighter and activated Drasil Step.
The world began to slow down, and the blue-white ripple spread outward. Reinhard made his way between the suspended monsters, their jaws deep into the Werefang, and eyes narrowed.
Zenuken became a blur of deadly motion as he dismantled the Werefangs.
The sword's edge slashed across necks, through fur forearms, and straight down the jawline of the largest Werefang, splitting it in half. As he finished, he turned into an overhand slash that intersected with the next Werefang's reaching claws.
The blow carried through the beast's wrist and buried itself in its chest, nearly bisecting the creature in a shower of blood.
Still locked in slow time, Reinhard noted the smaller Werefang at his back. He reversed the blade, using the momentum to slice through the beast's exposed back. Then he thrust his sword out and Zenuken plunged through the head of the beast.
When time returned to normal, all four Werefangs collapsed simultaneously, bearing the wounds that quickly caught up to them.
It's then he heard the sound of combat echoed from another section of the ruined district. He knew it was Marie and Joseph, most likely they were battling other Phantasm Beasts.
But before Reinhard could move to assist them, his instincts screamed another warning. Zenuken was already in his hands as he dove to the right, quickly rolling on the ground.
Just as four needle-thin black tendrils had pierced the space where his heart had been, impaling a chunk of burnt wood and pinning it to the next wall.
The attack was so fast, so almost invisible, that he realized only after he landed that he had seen it at all.
Reinhard eyes widened as the original tendrils split and multiplied, creating a forest of shadow spears that pursued him relentlessly. Reinhard waited until they closed distance before side-stepping and bringing Zenuken down in a chopping motion that severed multiple tendrils at once.
But then more burst forth from the side, forcing him to duck and rush forward in a complex evasion pattern.
As he moved, he turned to identify the source of the attacks and saw a Werefang unlike the others. Its limbs were wrapped in shadow bandages, and six shadowy tails waved behind it while a black smoke trailed off it.
A mutated Werefang? Reinhard thought as he charged toward the Phantasm Beast, weaving between piercing tendrils that emerged from every shadow-touched surface.
The patterns became clear anywhere shadows fell, the creature could manifest its attacks.
Zenuken blurred through the air as he hacked through tendrils he couldn't evade while gradually closing the distance to his target. He continued forward, keeping low under the next wave of tendrils, and cut a zig-zag path through the rain of darkness.
Every surface was a potential launch point for the next volley. When Reinhard made it halfway up the debris pile, the Werefang shifted its stance and let out a roar. At the signal, the whole city block seemed to come alive with black spears.
But Reinhard sidestepped, ducked under a slash, spin and smacked awa the spears. He swiftly chopped four rushing from the side before flipping over the five that rose from the ground and then hacked down the three from the side.
When he finally reached the Werefangr, he swept the sword in a wide arc aimed at the Werefang face.
But then the blade bounced back harmlessly as a swirling shadowy barrier materialized around the Werefang.
Reinhard's eyes immediately found the source of a second mutated Werefang with shadowy wrappings around its mouth, limbs, and waist. Its outstretched arm maintained the protective barrier around its companion.
There are two of them with the second one providing defense.
More tendrils burst from behind him while the first Werefang thrust its claws forward, aiming to pierce through his torso.
But Reinhard remained calm despite being caught between multiple threats.
He activated Drasil Step once more.
Drasil Step.
Time began slowing down before Reinhard grabbed the attacking Werefang and hurled it toward the tendrils behind him. Then he threw Zenuken straight at the barrier-creating creature.
The sword rushed through the air, closing distance rapidly as the three-second window past.
Time returned to normal.
The Werefang he had thrown crashed into its own tendrils, which pierced its body in multiple places. The second Werefang quickly raised its hand, forming another swirling barrier just as Zenuken crashed into it. The sword was deflected upward through the air and embedded itself in a ruined building's roof.
But Reinhard didn't care as he delivered a powerful punch to the wounded Werefang behind him, smashing it into the ground beneath. But his instincts immediately warned of new danger as countless tendrils erupted from beneath the beast.
He leaped backward as the shadow-spears filled the space where he had been standing. The second Werefang was already rushing at him, its claws extended for a killing strike.
Reinhard unsummoned Zenuken from where it had lodged in the building above, then waited as the creature closed distance. At the last possible moment, he resummoned the sword directly into his grip and thrust toward the approaching Werefang.
But then the approaching Werefang growled before a black swirling barrier appeared around the creature just as Zenuken made contact.
The impact forced Reinhard's arms upward, and the Werefang within its protective barrier continued forward like a battering ram aimed at his chest.
Drasil Step.
Time slowed down before Reinhard swiftly side-stepped the barrier. Then he simultaneously hurled Zenuken at the first Werefang, which was struggling to rise from its position on the ruined ground.
As time returned to normal, Zenuken nailed itself into the first creature's chest.
The second Werefang's barrier suddenly expanded outward, catching Reinhard in its force and sending him flying into a ruined building's wall. He gritted his teeth as stone fragments rained around him, but his expression remained calm.
The second Werefang approached the embedded sword, bit down on Zenuken's hilt, and pulled it free from its companion's before throwing the weapon aside dismissively.
It grasped the wounded creature and began rushing away through the burnt streets.
Reinhard frowned as he pushed himself away from the wall, but his eyes widened as two streaks of light shot past him through the night air. One was crimson-gold and other grey that rushed towards the fleeing Werefangs and punctured through its side.
The creature stumbled under the impact but continued forward, crashing through the entrance of a burnt building. Reinhard could see Marie's golden-crimson spear and Joseph's grey lance protruding from the structure's damaged walls.
Footsteps approached rapidly from his left as Marie and Joseph came running down the street, their faces showing concern.