Beast Soul

Meanwhile, near the sequoia tree.

Rustle! Rustle!

"GRRR?" Wolfe the dragon, who was quietly sleeping above the large tree branches of the sequoia tree, opened his eyes in an instant as his ears began to tremble, signaling that he had heard something - or someone - that could be a threat to him.

Swoosh!

The dragon got up from his resting position and on his four legs as he spread his wings wide, causing the air surrounding him to burst out backwards and out of the way, making the leaves tremble because of the sheer force that was behind that move.

"GRRRRRAR!" The dragon roared loudly as it flew up into the sky, but right when it shot up from the top of the tree, a bright white light could be seen flickering just a few meters away from the sequoia tree. It was only for a split second, but right after the light dimmed and disappeared, a loud noise echoed throughout the atmosphere as Wolfe the dragon, who was high up in the air, was suddenly flung sideways, as though something powerful had struck him, and then shot down onto the ground.

"GRRRAAA!" Although he was falling down, the dragon roared loudly as it swung its wings once again, causing the burst of air to shoot down onto the ground and propel the creature upwards, giving Wolfe enough time to readjust himself while he was still in the air.

"Wow! To think you were able to survive even after taking that attack right in the heart!" Special Agent Richard Edgerton, who was hiding within the branch of a tree just a few meters away from the sequoia tree, spoke softly to himself, his eyes now widened with surprise as he stared at the dragon with intrigue and astonishment evident in his eyes.

"Don't tell me that you've been evolving…" He muttered under his breath as he watched the dragon successfully maneuver its whole body within seconds and land on the ground with no problem, and clicked his tongue. He then pulled back the large weapon that seemed to resemble a rocket launcher and placed it on his back. And then, Special Agent Edgerton slowly stood up from the branch and reached for the branch that was right above him, and took out a futuristic rifle.

"It does look a lot bigger than before." Agent Edgerton said to himself and scratched his chin, as he began loading large cylindrical objects that were glowing in bright blue color into the rifle. 

Certainly, the Wolfe the dragon now seemed bigger and more muscular in size than from before. And it definitely could be a possibility that the dragon was in the middle of growing when he had tried to capture it, which made the creature all the more terrifying to him.

"What a wonderful creature.." He said with a smile on his face as he licked his lips. "It only makes me want to hunt you even more." He said with a sinister expression on his face, and he then pointed his rifle straight at the dragon, who was swinging his head left and right and roaring loudly, trying to find the person who was responsible for the attack on him just a few seconds ago.

BAM!

A bright light shot out from within the barrel of the rifle and headed towards the dragon with incredible speed. 

Whoosh!

The bright white light cut through various shrubs and leaves as it charged towards the dragon. Looking at the speed at which it moved, it seemed like the attack couldn't be defended against.

GRRRRRAR!

The dragon, however, seemed to have seen this attack coming, and Wolfe immediately flapped his wings right before the bright light took off from the barrel of the rifle, flinging him high up into the air right as the bright light reached near the creature, only slightly grazing the dragon on his feet, making a small wound, before slamming onto the sequoia tree and causing it to explode into pieces with a loud noise.

BAM!

Bits and pieces of wood began to fling forward as the trunk of the sequoia tree started to burn brightly right behind the dragon who was high up in the air, and the red flames and the rising smoke in the background of Wolfe gave Agent Edgerton an even more intimidating and terrifying image of the mythical creature.

Both the dragon and the special agent stared at each other, not making a single movement. The dragon's emotionless expression and the terrifying glare in his eyes made the special agent gulp down his saliva in fear, but it definitely wasn't enough to make him retract his gaze.

"He knows my location…" Agent Edgerton whispered softly under his breath and he clenched his fists. The dragon was looking straight at him, which meant that it most definitely had an idea of where he was. Although he was wearing his camouflaged clothes, the dragon could've easily retraced the path of the attack in order to find the location of the attacker. This meant that he had to make an escape, and that too as quickly as he possibly could.

Whoosh!

All of a sudden, Agent Edgerton pulled up his rifle close to his chest and immediately brought the scope close to his eye, and right when he made a movement, the dragon shot forward with incredible speed, lessening the distance between them in a matter of milliseconds.

BAM!

The sound of a shot was heard ringing all over the surroundings, as Wolfe the dragon burst through the tree that Agent Edgerton was standing on, destroying it into pieces and sending it flying in the air right before he crashed down onto the ground with a loud noise.

------------------

"GRRRRRAR!" As expected, the monster roared loudly as it leapt off from the ground, right after the group of boys had successfully carried an injured Clarice out into the woods. "Don't even think for a second that your attack had any effect on me!" Noah clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he said with a snort, his gaze fixated on the monster's bright red eyes. Although the wound was incredibly painful, he wasn't going to let the monster know of this fact. He didn't want the monster to know that he was currently weak.

Tap! Tap!

He slapped his palm on his chest, trying to intimidate the monster. "Come on, you son of a b*tch!" He said loudly, and the monster, as though responding to him, roared loudly before dashing towards him.

Noah screamed loudly as his transformed hands, which were now clawed, slashed at the creature that was heading towards him. 

Swoosh!

At that moment a change occurred. From within the mouth of the creature, instead of the long tongue that he was expecting, a bunch of tentacles began to pour out viciously.

"What the hell?" Noah, who was completely caught off guard by the sudden and strange attack, tried to maneuver his hand around the tentacles at the last instant. 

Slop! Slop! Slop!

However, the slimy tentacles wrapped around Noah's hand as some reached forward, trying to grab onto Noah's neck.

"I won't let you grab hold of me!" Noah, who had realized that he was in an unfavorable situation, immediately leapt up into the air and swung both his legs forward, aiming for the monster's chest.

GRRRRRAR!

Right then, as though it was expecting it, the clawed wings of the monster grabbed his foot and then slammed Noah onto the road with a loud noise, causing a crater to form around him. 

"Shouldn't we do something to help him?" Harold, who was watching the two of them fight, turned around and asked Gerald, who shrugged his shoulders with a bitter smile on his face. "And how on earth do you plan on helping him?"

"I don't know.. be a distraction?" Harold couldn't reply properly as he couldn't think of a way to help Noah in his fight against the bat-like creature, and he let out a helpless sigh. "I just think we should do a

something.. anything.."

"Since we don't know what kind of power we have, we'll only be a burden to him if we interfere in this fight.." Gerald shook his head and waved his hands dismissively as he spoke.

"And what if he loses?" Alphonso, who was tending to Clarice's wounds, asked, which made the rest of the group turn their attention towards him. "What if the monster wins?" He asked, as he raised his head and looked at Gerald. "What happens then?"

Gerald didn't reply immediately. He thought about it for a few seconds, and then, while biting his lips, he responded, "Well then, we'd have to try and forcibly activate our powers. And pray. Pray a whole lot."

Max, who was sitting next to Clarice and listening to the whole conversation, looked at his palms, squinting his eyes as he stared at his hand. 

He then turned his head and looked around him. The whole place was covered in large trees, shrubs and bushes.. His eyes widened.