~ Holy Sword Temple ~
Much like the ghouls she'd faced in Cheddar Village, these were slow-moving and loud. Still scary? Yes. But this time she was going into the fight armed with the knowledge of what they were and how to kill them, and weapons crafted specifically to accomplish the task.
Her sword cleaved neatly through the first ghoul's head. The body collapsed at her feet in a pool of blood. She didn't have time to celebrate her first real monster-slaying, though, as more ghouls were drawn by the sounds of the battle. The fruits of her training were about to be put to the test.
Seras hacked and sliced through head after head after head. It was best to aim for the head with ghouls, since she only had one sword to work with and a failed stab at the heart of the undead could put her in a dangerous position. Of course she had her gun for backup, but it wasn't meant to be her main weapon, and she wasn't carrying nearly enough ammo to take on the horde of ghouls that swarmed the corridor before her.
The monsters' numbers worked against them in this case. They crowded against each other in the hallway, impeding each other in their efforts to get to the human - who probably seemed like a tasty snack to them, despite the fact that she was wielding a blessed silver blade and cutting them down at a decently efficient rate.
Even though she was doing well on her own, there were so many of them that she considered calling for Anderson to come and help her. But then she recalled the way he'd told her to take care of this floor, as if he had complete confidence in her ability to do so.
I can do this, she told herself. I will do it. I'll make Father Anderson proud.
She paused only long enough to flick the gore from her blade and readjust her grip on the hilt, then got back to work cutting down ghouls.
Seras wasn't paying much attention to the moans and groans made by the ghouls as she slashed her way through their ranks, but neither had she entirely tuned out her surroundings. When the level of sound suddenly changed, she definitely noticed it. It seemed that the ghouls at the other end of the hallway were impatient to get over to this side, if the increased volume of their groans and the way the entire crowd surged forward at once was any indicator.
Trying to give herself more room maneuver, Seras took a few quick steps backward. A low cry escaped her as her back met the wall on her third step. For a moment she was tempted to panic, but then she noticed that most of the ghouls - even the ones closest to her - weren't focused on her at all, but rather on whatever was going on at the other end of the corridor.
Had Anderson already cleared out the upper floors and returned?
Over the sounds of the ghouls, she could faintly hear... laughter? And was that a gunshot just now?
Not Father Anderson, then. But who else could it be?
More laughter, more gunshots, more ghouls trying to get away from whoever was attacking them from the other side.
Well, I guess I'll find out who it is soon enough.
Seras hefted her sword and leapt back into the fray. Whoever the other person was, they were ripping through the ghouls like tissue paper, not even bothering to use their gun most of the time. By the time the two of them came face to face after both striking the last ghoul at the same time (she through the head and he through the heart), Seras's fear had faded - replaced almost entirely by curiosity about who the mysterious monster-slayer might be.
He grinned down at her with a mouthful of sharp shark-like fangs.
Vampire, she realized with a shock.
Not sparing another moment for idle contemplation, Seras raised her sword and struck.
~to be continued~
