Chapter 260: No More Rerolls
The crimson symbols above NineLivesLeft faded before either side moved again.
[Pride Marks have expired.]
His gaze flicked toward the empty space above his head, but losing the marks did not restore his earlier confidence. Broken branches covered the road, torn roots filled the mud, and sap ran from long cuts in the surrounding trunks.
Alexandra and Kumoe had taken away his easiest routes.
They had not taken all of them.
NineLivesLeft studied the remaining trees, already piecing together another path through the forest.
Alexandra allowed him to see that she had noticed.
Then her expression changed.
Her eyes widened toward something behind him. One sword lowered slightly while her grip tightened around the other.
"Kumoe," she whispered.
The curious head turned toward her.
NineLivesLeft smiled. "Again?"
Alexandra backed into the wolf. "Don’t move."
"You already tried this scene."
"I know."
Her voice did not crack this time. It came out quiet and numb, as though Alexandra had finally understood how badly Kumoe’s wounds had worsened.
The middle head’s restoration kept the wolf on her feet, but blood still darkened the white fur around her shoulder and rear leg. Every pulse of Bloodscent Lock prevented those injuries from sealing.
NineLivesLeft watched Alexandra stare at them.
She allowed her mouth to tremble.
"You’re not good enough to fool me with the same performance twice," he said.
Alexandra kept retreating.
That convinced him more than any reply could have.
The first act had been deliberate bait. This looked like Alexandra trying to repeat it after losing control of herself. Her timing was slower, her body too rigid, and her attention remained fixed on Kumoe.
NineLivesLeft went for the wounded shoulder.
He rebounded from one of the remaining rocks and dropped with both hooks angled around Alexandra’s guard. She caught the first, but the second slipped past her.
Kumoe did not dodge.
The hook opened a shallow line across her shoulder.
Alexandra’s stomach twisted at the sight of white fur splitting, even though the wound was controlled and far from Kumoe’s throat.
Kumoe endured it.
The middle head sent restoration into the injury before NineLivesLeft could pull his hook away. The right barked to strengthen the effect, while the curious head locked her jaws around the wrist holding the weapon.
NineLivesLeft’s eyes widened.
Alexandra caught his other hook between both swords.
His arms were trapped on opposite sides.
Kumoe dragged the first weapon arm downward. Alexandra twisted her blades and forced the second one high, exposing his chest.
The curious head released his wrist and drove her shoulder into the arm before he could recover.
[Shared Opening created.]
[Shared Openings: 4/5]
"You let me cut her," NineLivesLeft said.
Alexandra drove one sword across his ribs.
[Pride Mark: 1]
"I trusted her to take a wound we could control."
"That’s your solution?"
"No." Her other sword struck before he could pull away. "It was her decision."
[Pride Mark: 2]
Kumoe had chosen not to dodge. Alexandra understood that choice from the right head’s steady stare and the way the middle had gathered restoration before the hook landed.
The wound had never been Alexandra’s sacrifice to offer.
Kumoe had made the choice herself, and Alexandra had trusted her enough to follow it.
NineLivesLeft kicked the curious head away and tore one arm free. The right barked before he could swing, allowing Alexandra to catch his hook and redirect it past Kumoe’s face.
The middle head lowered, and the rest of Kumoe’s body followed.
All three heads moved beneath his guard.
Alexandra cut high, forcing NineLivesLeft to cross both hooks in front of his throat. Kumoe rushed into the space beneath them and struck his injured leg.
His stance broke.
Alexandra’s sword followed through the opening.
[Pride Mark: 3]
[Shared Opening created.]
[Shared Openings: 5/5]
The quest window flashed at the edge of Alexandra’s vision.
[Shared Openings completed: 5/5.]
[Defeat the Beastslayer.]
NineLivesLeft caught the shift in her attention. "Five?"
Alexandra smiled. "You tell me. You’re the one writing the guide."
He shoved away from Kumoe and sprang toward the nearest intact trunk.
The right head barked.
Alexandra reached him first and cut across his weapon arm.
[Pride Mark: 4]
NineLivesLeft planted his boot against the damaged bark. Prowler’s Rebound activated, but Kumoe’s curious head caught the back of his armor before he could launch cleanly.
The sash around Alexandra’s waist pulsed as Kumoe’s damage refreshed the Pride Marks.
NineLivesLeft twisted violently and tore himself free, leaving a strip of anti-beast armor between Kumoe’s teeth.
Alexandra drove forward. One sword occupied his remaining defense while the other entered through the exposed seam.
[Pride Mark: 5]
[Wolf Pride has been activated.]
Warm strength flowed through her body.
Five crimson marks burned above NineLivesLeft, and Wolf Pride settled into Alexandra’s stance. His hook caught one of her swords and tried to wrench it aside, but she held her ground.
Alpha Rend had reached full power.
NineLivesLeft recognized the opening posture and abandoned his attempt to escape. He rushed Kumoe instead, gambling that Alexandra would cancel the skill to protect her.
Kumoe charged him too.
The right head barked.
The curious one feinted toward his wounded leg, forcing him to lower his hook. The middle continued feeding restoration through Kumoe’s shoulder as the wolf ducked beneath his other arm.
Alexandra activated Alpha Rend.
Crimson light swallowed both swords.
She crossed through NineLivesLeft in a violent flash, consuming all five Pride Marks as the blades tore through his defenses.
Her first sword struck the hook he had lowered toward Kumoe.
The weapon split near the curve and spun away in two pieces.
Her second blade ripped across his chest, tearing through the silver claw patterns and opening his anti-beast armor from shoulder to hip.
[Pride Marks consumed.]
NineLivesLeft stumbled several steps.
Wolf Pride remained active. Consuming the marks had fueled Alpha Rend, but the five-second effect continued, keeping Alexandra steady as she turned and raised both swords again.
The broken hook disappeared into the mud. His remaining weapon shook in his hand while blood poured through the ruined armor.
NineLivesLeft’s HP dropped to a narrow red sliver.
Kumoe stood beside Alexandra, all three heads panting. The middle continued restoring the injuries to her shoulder and leg, while the right watched the Beastslayer for another desperate move.
The curious head spat out the strip of armor.
NineLivesLeft looked down at it.
"That had anti-beast resistance."
"It still does," Alexandra said. "It simply isn’t attached to you anymore."
He managed one weak laugh. "You completed the openings."
"We did."
"The quest still requires my defeat."
Alexandra kept both swords raised.
NineLivesLeft looked toward Kumoe. Even now, his eyes measured her wounds and searched for the fastest path to her throat.
Wolf Pride faded as its duration finally ended.
[Wolf Pride has ended.]
The loss of its support made Alexandra’s arms feel heavier, but her stance did not change.
NineLivesLeft tightened his grip around his final hook.
"If I get the kill first, none of that matters."
Alexandra stepped closer to Kumoe.
She did not stand in front of her.
They faced him shoulder to shoulder.
NineLivesLeft’s slit pupils moved between them as he prepared one last charge.
Alexandra lowered her swords.
"There won’t be a reroll."