Chapter 253: Kumoe Did Not Run
NineLivesLeft hit the road on all fours.
Mud splashed beneath his hands and boots, but his body never settled. The moment his weight touched the ground, he sprang toward Alexandra with the sudden speed of a hunting cat.
His right hook went for her throat.
Alexandra caught it with one sword and slashed toward his ribs with the other. NineLivesLeft twisted around the attack, yet the tip still opened his side.
[Pride Mark: 1]
Kumoe rushed him from Alexandra’s left.
Her curious head snapped at his wounded leg while the right watched his shoulders, searching for the next change in direction. The middle stayed close to Alexandra, green light already gathering around her muzzle.
NineLivesLeft saw all three responses.
He sprang backward and planted one boot against a wet rock.
Prowler’s Rebound sent him sideways through the rain. His body sailed past Alexandra, struck a low branch, and redirected again before she could turn.
"Kumoe!"
The right head barked.
Too late.
NineLivesLeft dropped behind Kumoe and ripped one hook across her rear leg.
White fur split. Blood spotted the road.
Kumoe yelped and stumbled.
A system warning filled Alexandra’s vision.
[San Kumoe has been affected by Tendon Rake.]
[Torn Tendon: Movement Speed reduced by 25%. Sudden directional changes increase damage received.]
[San Kumoe has been affected by Bloodscent Lock.]
NineLivesLeft landed several steps away and drew in a slow breath through his nose.
"Both targets locked."
The middle head immediately twisted around. Green light wrapped Kumoe’s injured leg, slowing the bleeding and restoring her HP.
The wound began to close, but the deepest part remained open beneath the dark-red Bloodscent symbol. Every pulse of the effect forced a thin line of blood through the healing flesh.
The right head barked again.
The restoration strengthened.
NineLivesLeft watched with open interest. "So the middle can heal both of you. That settles one question."
Alexandra’s gaze sharpened. "Stop talking about her like she’s a test dummy."
"Healing won’t clear either debuff," he continued. "You need a cleanse, or you wait out the timer while I keep opening the wound."
Alexandra glanced toward the road behind him.
It remained the only clear route to the boundary.
Before Kumoe had been injured, they might have forced their way through him together. Now every sharp turn risked triggering additional damage from Torn Tendon, and the steep, rain-slick terrain made every other direction even worse.
Escaping with Kumoe limping would give NineLivesLeft exactly what he wanted.
Alexandra rushed him instead.
Her swords came in fast, one cutting high while the other threatened his stomach. NineLivesLeft blocked three strikes, slipped around the fourth, and caught the edge of her right sword inside his hook.
He twisted his wrist.
Alexandra changed her grip before he could wrench the weapon free and drove her knee toward his ribs.
NineLivesLeft caught her leg against his forearm.
He turned and threw her sideways.
Alexandra hit the road, rolled through the mud, and rose before he could reach Kumoe again.
"Stay behind me!"
Kumoe moved closer but did not retreat.
The curious head continued following NineLivesLeft’s scent. The right watched the branches around him, while the middle kept restoration flowing into the wounded leg.
Alexandra stepped directly in front of her.
NineLivesLeft stopped.
For the first time since activating Beast Inheritance, genuine disappointment crossed his face.
"What?" Alexandra asked. "Did your stolen instincts finally tell you to run?"
"They told me you’re throwing."
"I’m not in your party. Keep the coaching to yourself."
"You’re a Duelist pretending to be a tank."
The words landed harder than Alexandra expected.
NineLivesLeft pointed one hook toward Kumoe.
"Your entire build rewards movement, pressure, and constant damage. You need to keep those marks alive, but every time I look at your wolf, you plant yourself in one place and wait for me."
"I’m keeping you away from her."
"You’re giving me every decision."
His voice remained calm, which somehow made the criticism worse.
"I choose where you stand. I choose when you attack. I choose which opening you throw away. All I have to do is threaten the pet, and you stop playing your class."
Alexandra’s jaw tightened.
"You don’t know anything about my class."
"I watched your fights."
"You watched clips."
"I watched enough."
The Pride Mark above him faded while Alexandra stood between him and Kumoe.
[Pride Mark has expired.]
NineLivesLeft glanced at the empty space above his head.
"There. You lost the stack without me doing anything."
Alexandra wanted to attack him for the smugness alone.
Instead, she checked Kumoe over her shoulder.
The curious head met her eyes. The middle remained focused on the injured leg, while the right continued watching NineLivesLeft.
All three were ready to fight.
Alexandra still could not bring herself to move aside.
NineLivesLeft’s gaze shifted toward Kumoe.
"You’re treating the warning like the killing blow already landed."
"One mistake, and it will."
"So you’ve stopped playing your class. You gave up the road, let your mark expire, and planted yourself where she can’t move without you."
Alexandra’s fingers tightened around her swords.
Kumoe’s right head remained focused on him. There was no panic in those orange eyes, only readiness for his next approach.
"She’s still fighting," NineLivesLeft said. "Make decisions for the wolf beside you, not the loss you’re imagining."
He attacked before she could answer.
Alexandra read the first push of his foot and followed. She cut toward his left shoulder, expecting him to use Prowler’s Rebound again.
NineLivesLeft committed to the charge instead.
Her sword scraped across his armor.
Both of his boots slammed into her chest.
Alexandra flew backward.
Before she hit the ground, NineLivesLeft was already heading for Kumoe.
"Kumoe, back!"
The wolf tried to turn sharply.
Torn Tendon punished her.
A damage number flashed overhead as the injured leg folded beneath her body.
NineLivesLeft’s hook dropped toward her neck.
Alexandra activated Lunge.
Crimson light wrapped around her body as she crossed the distance and knocked his weapon aside. Her second sword cut across his back before he could escape.
[Pride Mark: 1]
NineLivesLeft turned immediately.
One hook caught Alexandra’s right guard and dragged it down. The spectral claw around his other weapon tore across her ribs.
Blood spread beneath her armor.
Bloodscent Lock pulsed in response.
The wound made her impossible for him to lose. Every feint carried the same scent, and whenever she changed direction, his narrow eyes reached her destination before her feet did.
The stolen lynx instincts were reading her.
Alexandra kept attacking.
Her left blade went high and met his hook. Her right aimed for the damaged side, only to be caught as well.
Kumoe’s curious head lunged from behind Alexandra.
NineLivesLeft had already smelled the blood on her injured leg.
He stepped aside without looking and let her jaws pass his hip.
Then he kicked the wound.
Kumoe dropped into the mud.
Something inside Alexandra snapped.
She slashed at his face, but NineLivesLeft ducked beneath the blade and trapped her wrist between both hooks.
He twisted sharply.
Pain flashed through Alexandra’s hand. Her sword fell from her fingers, and NineLivesLeft kicked it out of reach.
"Three heads, three effects, and one injured body that can’t keep up with any of them."
Alexandra drove her remaining sword toward his stomach.
NineLivesLeft caught it beneath one hook, leaving their weapons locked between them.
"You keep calling her a body."
"That’s what the combat system sees."
"She has three times your personality."
"Personality doesn’t affect the loot table."
The answer gave NineLivesLeft enough of an opening to shove Alexandra away.
Kumoe struggled upright. Her curious head had already lined up on the outside of his wounded knee, but Alexandra stepped across that path before the wolf could move.
NineLivesLeft looked down at the lane she had closed.
"Your wolf saw the opening."
"You don’t get to use her against me."
"I didn’t create that angle. She did."
Kumoe’s curious head snarled. The middle continued restoring her leg, while the right watched Alexandra instead of NineLivesLeft.
"Then attack me," Alexandra said.
"She was about to." He pointed one hook toward the path Alexandra had blocked. "Kumoe already chose an angle, and you’re the one overriding it."
The right head’s stare remained fixed on Alexandra, cold and focused.
Alexandra raised her single sword.
"You’re enjoying this."
"I enjoy a fight once I understand the other player."
"You don’t understand me."
"I know what you do when I look at Kumoe. That’s enough."
Alexandra could not deny it.
The fear had stayed with her from the moment the permanent-loss warning appeared. Every time NineLivesLeft moved toward Kumoe, Alexandra abandoned her attack. Whenever Kumoe tried to help, Alexandra ordered her away and ruined their timing.
Trying to protect Kumoe had handed him control over both of them.
The single Pride Mark above him faded.
[Pride Mark has expired.]
NineLivesLeft looked up at it.
"You keep proving me right."
He sprang toward the trees.
Kumoe’s right head barked upward.
Alexandra turned, but NineLivesLeft had already pushed off a trunk behind her and returned from the opposite side.
One hook caught her remaining sword.
The other passed close enough to her throat that she had to lean back.
A hard pull tore the weapon from her hand.
Alexandra reached for him, but NineLivesLeft planted a boot against her stomach and shoved her onto her back.
The strike landed against Bloodscent-locked prey.
His body changed direction before touching the road, using Alexandra as the final point of contact.
NineLivesLeft sailed toward Kumoe.
The wolf struggled upright on her injured leg. Her curious head tracked him, the middle kept restoration flowing, and the right barked toward his true approach.
Alexandra rolled and grabbed the nearest sword.
She was too far away.
NineLivesLeft descended with one hook aimed at Kumoe’s throat.
"Think of it as a reroll," he called, laughing now. "Maybe your next pet gets better skills, and you won’t waste this much time pretending it’s family."
"Kumoe, run!"
Kumoe did not run.
Her curious head lunged straight into the attack.