"Go," breathed Caelum softly as Raiden took off at a sprint. Feet pounding the ground, his arms pumping back and forth, nearly stumbling over himself. Suddenly, he planted his left foot forward into the rich soil, stopping himself halfway down the hill and fumbling in his jacket, pulled a wire that connected to his Halberd.
Looking up he took a deep breath. "If you don't want to die! Come! Here!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. The two students fighting for their lives spared a glance at the interruption whereas only a couple of Grimm did the same.
The two watched in confusion as the blue-dressed boy with a halberd turned on his heel and began running uphill at a crouch. A deafening release of gunfire then flew over his head, impacting around the area of the two survivors.
Raiden glanced back as the 'burst' of gunfire, sounded as if it sent well over a hundred rounds past his skull. The moment he looked, he saw a slim path in the Grimm's circle carved out by the gunfire and two colored blurs burst past him.
Raiden scrambled to his feet to pursue after the two boys didn't even spare him a look as they ran uphill to the safety of the machine gun's buzz. With his halberd in one arm and his other pumping like a crank diverting air straight to his lungs, Raiden watched his back through the HUD interface on his glasses that were connected to his weapon.
Those Grimm were getting too close for comfort and the Alpha was nowhere to be seen. With Caelum's warning still fresh in his head, he knew it to not be too far away. For now, his entire essence was focused on getting to Caelum and the safety behind his gun.
More than once the bark and chatter of Caelum's gun fired over their heads as they ran uphill. More than once, Raiden felt a gust of air or a tug on his clothing before a short burst of gunfire would suddenly breeze past him followed by a soft thud from behind.
Focused on the goal ahead of him, Raiden couldn't help but worry that the last things he would experience were the discomfort of running, hunched down with only the sound of his new partner's insane gunfire all around, his labored breathing, and the sight of black loamy soil and red leaves at his feet.
He had descended the hill in seconds, getting back up felt like minutes. The next thing he noticed was the black and red beneath his feet changing as he stumbled over Caelum's barricade.
Reorientating himself, he sat up and looked around while wincing at the loud volume of Caelum's MG. The boy operating it was seemingly unphased by the sound, recoil, or daunting pressure of their situation. He was the only one currently fighting, the other two were next to them but catching their breath, they were clearly nearing exhaustion themselves. The mild wounds they sustained were evidence of their low aura.
Raiden couldn't bear leaving it only to Caelum. With the flick of a switch, the polearm then glowed the same soft blue as his clothing and eyes before the forward half uncoupled itself and slid back into a barrel. The back half clicked as an electrical lock whirred and a rifle butt formed. The axe head remained underneath the barrel as the hammerhead split in two, still providing itself as a blunt instrument but providing a clear line of sight for his electronic HUD. The process was quick and the white weapon hummed with a pulsing blue energy.
He shouldered his rifle and took aim yet the sight was overwhelming. Dozens of the beasts scattered about. Running through brush and up through trees. There were so many targets he didn't know where to aim.
Then from their left came a small group of Beowolves flanking their position. Still preoccupied with the majority coming up the middle, Caelum could not direct his focus. Raiden shifted his weapon back into its halberd form and prepared to be overwhelmed in melee.
It never came. The lead beast sprinted forward unknowingly plucking a wire and the pin attached to it. The two Beowolves following it caught sight of a small black canister jump in the air before it exploded and sent shrapnel into their faces. Two more mines thinned the numbers and sent shrapnel into the small herd. It was as the first few Grimm stumbled forward with fresh wounds in their backs that Raiden and the two boys he had helped, struck.
Lunging forward, Raiden brought down the hefty axehead onto the lead Beowolf, the blade biting into the nape of its neck and spine. The two boys stood on either side of him and fired their weapons. The boy to his left used dual-handed gun blades, large calibers judging from the sound and size of their cylinders. The boy to his right fired some sleek-looking SMG, a .45 caliber by the magazine size yet it seemingly had no recoil.
With another kill to his name and several more to his allies, they took a short sigh of relief before the same happened on the right, and then the forward defenses were breached. All sides were being closed in and some were trying to get behind them.
Caelum's MG had been practically firing nonstop except for a single expedient reload and his barrel grew cherry red inside its shroud. Popping a small latch from the side he ejected the barrel with a gloved hand. Surely feeling the heat yet unflinching as he reached into his coat and pulled another barrel, slamming it into place and locking it.
As soon as the barrel locked a large black hand with porcelain claws slammed atop the log before his face. The Grimm's jaws separated, intending to clamp down atop his head. Throwing himself back, Caelum grabbed the sizzling expended barrel and jammed it down the beowolve's throat.
A distorted scream and gurgling arose as the creature swept at Caelum who avoided the blow. With his MG at his hip, he grabbed the bipod which clicked and detached itself. The tool extended into a thin blade which he used to slash at the belly of the creature before sweeping its legs with a harsh kick.
The Beowulf fell, scratching at its blistering throat in pain as Caelum plunged his blade into its skull and fired his weapon from the hip to suppress the ever-oncoming horde. "Uphill! Now!" he shouted over his shoulder.
Raiden was reluctant to obey as he watched the oncoming droves of black creatures. The two they had saved held no such reservations. Raiden watched the two he saved, run up to the hilltop without so much of a glance back as Caelum shouted again from behind. "You wanted to save their asses, so go make sure they don't die!"
Raiden gave a cursory nod before running after the two. To his surprise, he was catching up to the two boys. The one in green stumbled, falling over a hidden root and burying his face in soil as his weapon knocked the air out of his lungs. Clutching his stomach he wheezed out a series of incoherent profanities as his partner doubled back for him.
The taller boy extended his hand when Raiden noticed movement in the treetops. A shadow lurched from branch to branch almost leaving them undisturbed despite its size. In an instant, it lurched down intending to rip the boy in brown apart.
Pure instinct took Raiden as he unplugged the wire from his weapon and threw it like a javelin, a desperate attempt as he had no training but it worked regardless. The weapon deviated slightly and rather than impaling, the hammerhead impacted the descending Beowolf's face and knocked it to the ground. The large boy in brown reacted by shifting his gun blades into daggers with brass knuckles for grips and lithely jumped over the beast before impaling it from behind.
The battle was dragging on, long and tiring. The Grimm must have felt the same as that deep, reverberating howl emerged from the trees. The Alpha was making its move.
Retrieving his weapon, Raiden ran past and ordered them to follow. Surprised looks were given but ignored as Raiden pressed on and the two did as instructed. The same song and dance, he was running again and most worryingly he noticed Beowolves running alongside them from the treeline.
Worry permeated through his mind, Caelum was trapped down there alone.
Another howl came from behind followed by a series of barks and his eyes dilated. Turning, he saw the large ominous figure striding behind. The Alpha was following them.
He couldn't even recall what he was thinking a moment ago as he felt a cold sweat break out as he pushed his legs as hard as they could go. To his peer's credit, they went about slowing the Beowolves to their flanks with gunfire.
They soon arrived on the hilltop, a small clearing with little vegetation. Simultaneously they all spun around. The two boys began firing wildly, reloading and peppering anything that moved. Multiple Beowolves fell but the Alpha continued. Almost as if it knew they could not harm it, the beast strode toward them at an almost leisurely pace.
Raiden fumbled with his weapon, the wire into his stock, his weapon shifting as it glowed. His glasses illuminated slightly as the HUD came into view. His peers fired at the Alpha, hoping for a miracle that one of their rounds would do something.
Raiden shakily shouldered his rifle, his HUD with its magnification, made it even more evident just how badly he trembled. With a slow, quivering breath he aimed. The beast closed to twenty meters, he could practically count its teeth, perhaps his imagination but it seemed to be smiling in anticipation of a well-earned meal.
Raiden's glasses filled with a red frame at the Grimm's proximity, its mass filling his sight. Panic clouded his mind as his breath hitched. His finger twitched and a slight warmth graced him as his weapon discharged.
There was no flash or the telltale sound and smell of powder being burned, only the whispering crack of a hypersonic boom, and a brief blue light. The confident Alpha's charge ceased as it fell forward, sliding into the dirt. The beast roared in fury as it floundered before bursting into the treeline once more.
The two nameless boys looked out where a single, large, black leg lay, smoldering into ash as three trees lined up behind the shot slowly tottered over. They slowly turned inwards to Raiden who shakily lowered his barrel and greedily sucked in air as he remembered to breathe.
"I gotta get me one of those." said the green-clad boy in awe. His taller peer simply nodded in agreement as they watched the pulsing weapon dump heat from the coils lining the barrel. Their fight was far from over, however.
The air filled with a piercing screech, causing the boys to cover their ears lest their heads feel as if they would split apart. The sound died down and as they cautiously lowered their hands, another sound picked up.
They must have drawn most of the Grimm in the area. Including Caelum's handiwork, they probably eliminated the other applicant's share of Beowolves in the forest. Yet there was the sound of paws pounding the ground and the labored breath of more. The black silhouettes appeared from the foliage and easily numbered a dozen.
"That's it? More than manageable" scoffed the boy in green racking the bolt on his SMG.
"They seem to have run out of steam, this must be the last of the pack." added the boy in brown as he swung one of his revolvers into its blade form and aimed the other.
Raiden swallowed a lump in his throat, his weapon wasn't capable of being fired like a semi-auto, needing to be reloaded after each shot. He still had cooling issues and there was a matter of just how it operated. Even if he could fire as much as he wanted, with its penetration it wasn't something he could just swing around. With shaky hands, his weapon shifted into its halberd form once more as the wire detached itself and retracted into his jacket.
The final wave of Grimm closed in without hesitation. Both of the unnamed boys stood next to Raiden and fired, striking down two of the leading beasts. The pack dispersed around them. Half went left and half went right. Raiden held the front as the boys on either side of him pivoted backward, closing their backs to his.
The boy in green was dumping ammunition and as soon as one stick was empty, he had rammed another in.
The boy in brown took well-aimed shots, clipping their joints, and once the creature fell, finishing off their heads. One cylinder would empty then he would shift his weapons forms and show just how ambidextrous he was.
Four more beasts fell as the final six rushed in unison.
The boy in green's SMG shifted into a blunt weapon, a form of metallic baseball bat of all things. Two Beowolves came at him and with a swift swing, right a loud crack emerged from his bat as it shattered the first monster's skull. The second was almost upon him taking advantage of his opening.
The boy was quick to react and released his left hand from the bat, with a loud thud, he backhanded the creature with a fist. Disorienting it before bringing his bat down onto its head with one hand and repeatedly beating it into a soft, wet ash pile in anger at his newly bruised hand.
Simultaneously, the boy in brown dealt with his two wolves. Both Beowolves swung at him to which he impaled his gunblade into the wrist of one. Wrenching the limb to the side caused the beast to shift, unwillingly receiving the blow of its comrade.
Disregarding the damage to its joint the Grimm tried to fight despite the limits of its joints. The boy then pulled the trigger, the large caliber round blew off the beast's paw as he placed the second blade into its neck and repeated the gesture.
The second Grimm had wasted no time in trying to kill the boy. It had tried ripping through its ally to reach him but couldn't as the boy utilized the beast as a shield before decapitating it. The beast swung both claws down only for the boy to show his strength and parry the arms while placing both blades into its chest. With the flick of a small switch on both revolvers, the blades unlocked, freeing the barrel to pivot off a joint upwards. With two clicks the Grimm's head was erased in a fountain of red mist.
The final two came down the middle from behind Raiden. As they pounced he pushed between his allies and in wide-eyed fear, was at a loss for what to do. He knew he had to swing but what took place after he made a wild downward slash with the axehead was years of repetitious training.
The axehead deviated left, cleanly slashing the top of the right Beowolf's head off. As the second was a moment away from landing atop him, his hands smoothly slid along the shaft, bringing the momentum from the left, around, and down. The slight twist in his wrist provided the perfect angle for the Hammerhead to strike square atop the Beowolves skull, indenting it into a concave plate of bone.
The three boys breathed heavily as the ash engulfed them. Raiden let a chuckle of disbelief out as the boy in green sighed heavily. They had won. Yet something didn't feel right. A chill rose up their spines. The boys turned slowly to see the Alpha with its chest low and one foot cautiously pressed forward.
It had silently approached them, having closed within five meters as they slew its kin. The three slowly turned to face it, none making any sudden moves. The beast cautiously watched them in turn, raising itself and exposing the dripping wound where its hind leg used to be.
The three felt delirious as the staring match drew on. They stared into crimson eyes and a brow furrowed with rage as it stared back.
The beast let loose a petrifying screech as it lunged forward, intent on devouring Raiden first. He could not move, his allies, unable to react fast enough.
A sudden yell came from out of the blue as a familiar face slammed into the beast's side, throwing it off course. Caelum had tackled the beast.
His MG held firmly in both hands at the hip with the bipod blade locked forward as a long bayonet and hilt deep in the Grimm's side. The beast coughed blood, Caelum had hit his mark, the lungs. As he continued screaming at the beast driving his weapon into it and down to the ground, his feet tearing up the soil beneath, the boys to either side of Raiden screamed as well.
The beast managed to stand, fearful for its life as it nipped towards Caelum before the boy in brown jumped atop its back and drove his blades into its shoulders. A howl of pain came as it reared its head.
The boy in green would not be outdone in volume as he wound up his swing and busted the creature's front leg, bending it in half. His aura flared visibly around his arms and shoulders as he put everything into the strike. The Alpha began to writhe, kicking the boy in brown off and headbutting the boy in green away and worsening the wound in its side.
With only two good legs left on it, Caelum Drops to his knees, ripping the blade down and tearing some of the Grimm's guts out in the process. The Alpha writhed trying to free itself yet unable to get at him while he practically had it mounted atop his blade.
With a floundering beast writhing around in an attempt to rip him apart with its one front leg and blood sloshing atop him, Caelum turned his head. His back in the dirt and his weapon the only thing keeping the Grimm's flank steady he ordered Raiden. "Fight!"
Raiden snapped too. In an instant, his weapon transformed, a port opened where the receiver would conceivably be found, and acting on instinct deftly slid a round into place. Without attaching the HUD, he fired. The Hypersonic projectile ripped through the Grimm, from its mouth, out its rear leaving a beam of blue light in its wake.
The Alpha went limp atop Caelum's bayonet as he threw his head back in exhaustion, uncaring for the ash settling atop him as it disintegrated. Raiden himself was at a loss until the heat in his fingers awoke him to sensation once more and he dropped his railgun in surprise.
Caelum looked around as he lay down. The entire pack was dead and the two boys they saved were alive. Exhausted, beaten, but alive judging from the groans and sighs they emitted. His eyes turned to Raiden who was on his knees, too tired to move just yet.
The kid was shaky, unsure, uneven, and a little weak compared to other trainees. But he handled his weapon precisely and had a knack for utilizing it and himself in combat. He had potential. He had caught the last bit of their fight as the Alpha approached. The fear on Raiden's face behind his glasses. His combat instincts as he dodged and countered. Everything about him was slow and sloppy.
But he had made that weapon himself. He had high goals and talent even if he didn't know it himself. Perhaps, Caelum could find something worthwhile for his time before he graduated and had to return to 'service.'
-Chapter End-