Remember this my friend, a satisfying meal will cause a wolf to slumber. But sooner or later the hunger always wins.
Chapter 32
"Hey! How's your stomach? You eat a lot for what you look like..."
"Thanks for the meal, Gen!"
"My wallet is a little skinny now, but young ones like you should all be energetic like that! Being able to eat as much as you can, when you can, is a privileged for those who are still alive. Eat as much good food as you can now, so that you won't be left with regrets at the end."
"Sure. But next time I'll treat, maybe we could go out for drinks."
"Sure pup, that is if you can handle it."
"I've never backed down from a challenge, you're on."
Another day another battle, lets go see what missions Hibari has for me today. But something grabbed my arm, the scent was familiar so I didn't lash out.
"Oh, sorry about the before... I was being a little too emotional," Licca... "How is your God Arc since?"
"It's been fighting like a champ."
"If it starts acting up, make sure you let me know immediately okay?"
"Of course, you're the only one who really knows how my God Arc ticks. I won't trust it with anyone else but you."
"Thanks."
"I have to go now. Excuse me Licca."
As I went down to talk to Hibari, I noticed Tsubaki and Saki were there too."Saki... it's been a while since I've seen you on this Floor."
"Hey Okami. Just came to brief you on your mission today. We're cultivating Hannibal's Bias Factor now, but the contamination and the lack of data is just frustrating... Once we have more samples, well be able to create an Arc that can stop Hannibal's regeneration and destroy the cell bindings. So the point is, I need you to go gather as many cells as you can, big chunks or small pieces! I'm relying on you!"
"Consider it done."
"Listen closely. The priority is to retrieve its core." Tsubaki ordered. "Don't chase too far. Once you're done, retreat immediately!"
"Yes ma'am," then I leaned to the side of her, noticing Soma sitting on the bench. "Hey Soma! You up for a round two?"
"Sure. All we have to do is beat the Aragami up and retrieve its core. Simple enough, and the same as always."
"That's the spirit. Gather the others and let's move out!"
****** Infernal Subway ******
"Alright everybody it's round two and I'm itching for some payback. So, let's begin." She practically jumped into the Infernal Subway.
Something about Okami was off. Not only did she not have the usual anxiety of being in the Infernal Subway. But she was actually excited to face this Hannibal when last time she was terrified. But maybe I'm thinking too deep into nothing, after all she's probably still out of it from last night.
"Come on Soma, I need to sleep." Okami said down to Soma as he invaded her room, taking most of her bed and covers, laying his head on her lap.
"Not a chance, you still owe me for that punch." Soma said crossing his arms.
"I said I was sorry."
"Sorry isn't going to change anything. Now work those magic hands and start singing." Okami sighed and began to brush her fingers through his hair.
"At least share the covers." Unknown to Okami, Soma was grinning at her
"Nope."
I got another good night sleep and got even with Okami, two birds with one stone. Perhaps it's the lack of sleep that's throwing her out of character, I hope that's the case. Cause I don't even want to think of her showing signs of Transforming.
"You guys take care of the little guys, I'm going after the King." She said storming pass a Vajratail and a Fallen Ogretail. I could see the Hannibal as it was going up the stairway.
"Wait you idiot!" I said crushing the Aragami's skull without remorse cause of the need to rush to that crazy woman's side before she gets herself killed.
"Soma, Kota, I'll extract the cores! Catch up with our Leader!" Alisa said, devouring the recently fallen Aragami.
"Roger!" Kota replied as we rushed off.
All we heard was a 'Got it' and a roar as our Leader was already engaging with the Hannibal. She was attacking away while dodging claws and fireballs.
"Hahaha, he be-if a dragon!" She would chackle with glee as she stormed him mercilessly. "Oh, watch out! He breaths fire!"
That said, the Hannibal blew out fire from his mouth, closing off frontal attacks. But Okami came to its side and took a bite while it was occupied with its front.
During the fight it got a good whack on Kota, knocking him down for the fight. Okami was there in a second with a Link-aid and a comforting 'Can you get up?' With Kota back in the fight a few seconds later the Hannibal was down for the count.
"That was a breeze, wasn't it." Alisa said in triumphant.
But that was too easy. I know we were bound to improve from our last encounter, but not this much. There was no denying it, Okami had gotten stronger... but wasn't that a little too fast for a recovering fighter?
"It's over... I'm afraid your princess was in another castle." Okami said joking around with the dead-for-now Hannibal. "Alright, let's take a bite and get out of here before he gets back up. Unless you guys want to do another round?... What, no?... Fine, another time another day." Is she for real?
Taking a bite then waiting for the rest of us that could take a bite to get one, she headed for the exit which was conveniently right next to where the Hannibal had fallen.
"Pity, I was hoping to have some time to scavenge around. But oh well, let's go." But she hated this area, and would usually almost run to get out of here after the mission was done. Something was off about her, for now I'll just keep an eye on her and hope that things don't take a turn for the worse.
****** Den a few days later ******
The Den has been hectic these pass few days with Aragami attacking parts of the Outer Ghetto. We've had to evacuate the civilians to the Den for safe measures. Although I do love the idea of the Den being filled with the warm presence and innocence of children, I hate the fact that they've lost their homes. Home is a place of peace you can always go back to, a warm place for the heart to stay, I would hate it if I lost mine.
But what can we do? All we can do is fight and push them back. It's up to the people to rebuild their place of rest, all we can do is keep them safe to be able to do that.
I heard from Kota that Karel has been acting strangely, like staring at the mission logs with intensity. I wonder what's wrong? I'm glad to see my pact warm up to the other sub-pact members, why even Alisa was starting to better understand the Research pact. Seeing Karel by the mission desk as I walked up to him I encountered Shun along the way.
"Shun... how long has he been there?"
"For a while now. Karel has been looking into a really tough Aragami. Sure, it sounds like it'll make a lot of money, but... Whatever, it's none of my business."
He was lying, he did make it his business. Of course he cared for Karel's safety, that's why he stayed here to look out for him all this time. But something about this Aragami had him scared, he couldn't go on the mission but he didn't want to leave Karel like this. But he hid all this under a shell of indifference.
"Don't worry Shun, I got this." I tapped his shoulder as I passed him, approaching Karel.
He seemed somewhat hesitant when talking to me. "So, there's this target I've been waiting to hunt, but he's pretty tough. You want to lend me a hand? We split the rewards, half-half. Not bad, right?"
"A hunt you say? Hm, sounds like fun. Alright, I'm in."
"Yeah, thought you'd be up! Let's do this, alright?"
"Oh don't worry, this is going to be fun."
****** Later that night at the Den ******
She went out with Karel alone. While I was out on a mission she went on a mission with Karel alone! Not just for any Aragami, a Fallen Ouroboros. It's like she's playing with Death to see how far she can go before he snaps. And no one stopped her.
Has anyone even noticed her out of character behavior? Sure she usually does like a good 'hunt' in a small group. But she's becoming more feral, her kills aren't as gentle as they use to be. She's more silent and deadly, even for the slightest moment but it's still there. Suddenly they both come out of the mission elevator.
"Thanks for the help. You did better than I thought. It was easy for me to be around."
"I should be the one thanking you. It's been a while since I've had a good Ouroboro's fight. Let alone this new Fallen type I've never encountered before. It was such a rush! I loved every second of it."
"In that case I will ask you to join me again when I get a paying mission."
"I'll hold you to that. Hey Soma!" She said noticing me. "How'd your mission go?"
"Good, we've gathered quite a bit of data on Hannibal now. Our main objective right now is to stop it from moving."
"Sounds good to me. Well, gotta run."
"Wait, we need to talk."
"Sorry Soma, I already had plans with Alisa. Maybe next time okay."
And like that she was gone. I turned to Karel, doing something I rarely do but the Den noticed that I was doing it more often. I started a conversation.
"So how did the mission go?" Karel broke into a cold sweat with that question.
"It's a good thing I brought her with me. She saved my ass when it tried to crumble me. And she mercilessly kept biting into it. Giving me all the Aragami Bullets she could get. It was like watching a beast as she cut its eyes and horn, and if I didn't know any better I'd say she tried to break its spine. But with her killer skills I wouldn't mind doing another mission like that with her again. Well, gotta go. Before Shun starts bothering me about another mission."
And Karel left too, leaving me alone to ponder in my thoughts. Okami was changing, for the better or the worse.