Chapter 432: Perfect Hunter?
The dust was starting to settle, the building which Ralph had been smashed through shook but didn’t completely crumble.
The Iron beams that supported the inner structure of the building kept most of its body upright but a lot of concrete and glass had already fallen to the ground, killing a lot of people in the process.
The humans who had been here when the destruction happened had all run away. Those who couldn’t escape fast enough had been crushed by falling debris.
Blue lightning flashed from one end of the street to the other.
The sound of blows being exchanged rapidly was heard.
A loud bang echoed out as Ben was blasted through the walls of a building. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he burst with power, launching himself back at Ralph.
Ralph seemed to have gone completely crazy. His eyes shone like those of a rabid dog and his body vibrated uncontrollably.
Ben’s wolf ears were pressed backward due to the rushing air, he threw a powerful hook at the werewolf.
Ralph responded by biting at Ben’s fist, a bold move that could seriously kill Ralph.
And it did, the blow shattered Ralph’s teeth and split his lower jaw into two parts. Ralph’s head exploded like a watermelon, spraying his Primordial blood all over Ben’s body.
Ben didn’t rejoice though, this wasn’t his first time killing the werewolf.
His calves bulged and he jumped away. Just then, a claw materialized behind him and slashed at the ground.
It was Ralph, another Ralph.
Same grey fur, same yellow eyes. The only thing slightly different was that he seemed too...focused.
It was like he was too hell-bent on killing Ben. This shouldn’t be so as Ralph, even though in a state of confusion and feeling a lot of pain, still had his survival instincts.
Ralph might be strong but Ben was clearly stronger physically and a direct confrontation with him was bound to result in his death.
If so, why was this second Ralph recklessly throwing away his life just to fight Ben?
Ben waved his hand, smashing away the head of the werewolf and pouncing away.
"Who’s hunting who?" Ben asked himself, frustrated.
It was a truly confusing battle. The real person they were hunting was nowhere to be found but his clones were relentlessly attacking them.
"I have a bird’s eye view from up here, positioning for a fatal attack," Zion’s voice reached the minds of Ben and Jocelyn.
He was perched on top of a building, crouched at the very edge of the rooftop with his black trench coat billowing in the night wind.
His grey eyes were focused on the battles happening below.
On one side, Ben was tangled with one or two werewolves at the same time. There were never more than two, Zion noticed.
Once Ben killed one, another one would instantly take its place. It seemed as if they were frenzied spirits being summoned from another dimension to take on a form that resembled Ralph’s.
Zion couldn’t sense any coherent thoughts from the minds of these clones. They were simple-minded and had only one goal at heart.
On the other side, Zion saw Jocelyn battling what looked like the main Ralph.
Ralph had...changed.
Just looking at him, Zion felt his heart palpitate.
Blue electricity coated all of Jocelyn’s body and attacks. She cast lightning blows and electric beams at her foe, only for them to be cut down by the third most terrifying set of claws Zion had ever seen.
The current Ralph wasn’t like his clones which looked like regular werewolves.
The main Ralph still stood on his two inverted knees and pawed feet. But he was bigger now.
He was a combination of explosive muscles and extraordinary speed. He was bulky, but his muscles fit so well around his body like pieces of a puzzle that they allowed him to burst out with speed not matching his size.
Everything about him had been enhanced, evolved with the goal of making him the perfect hunter.
His grey fur had gotten thicker and darker, but they were also positioned in a way that didn’t hinder his movements.
His snout had gotten a little bit longer and the two fangs sticking out of his upper jaw curved down and exposed themselves to be a couple of inches long.
His yellow eyes were different as well as Ralph now had two eyeballs within each eye hole. It was fascinating, yet weird to look at.
Four wolf ears now stood erect on the sides of his head, each pointing in a different direction.
Needle-like spikes lined the back of his head and flowed down to his tail which was entirely covered in these silver needle-like objects.
Ralphs were yellow, and they glowed with a yellow-ish black light.
Everywhere he swept those claws, it seemed as if the void would be torn apart.
There were many other changes that Zion was not seeing and didn’t have the opportunity to observe.
With this transformation, Ralph was able to go toe to toe with Jocelyn and even put her at a disadvantage.
Every attack he sent her way and she managed to block sent her flying through the walls of two or three buildings.
All this bashing of walls was causing her serious back pains and she could feel cracks forming on her bones as well as pieces of her flesh tearing away beneath her clothes.
Zion, watching all this, realized that Ralph’s body was naturally engineered to not make him the perfect hunter, but the perfect hunter among wolves.
Or I’m this case, werewolves.
His claws were longer and sharper, he had four ears for detecting movements from all angles. Two eyeballs, each looking in different directions and seeing the world differently.
His fur which was thicker and also lighter at the same time was also something to be accounted for.
It wasn’t just Ralph himself, but his abilities too. They had all seen Ralph blend in with the environment, some sort of camouflage technique.
Then there were his clones as well which gave him a slight numerical advantage.
Everything accumulated to create this one-of-a-kind hunter.
Or rather, a hunter that was perfect for Jocelyn and Ben...
If not for the fact that Ben and Jocelyn were completely different breeds from what Ralph was used to on this planet, he would have won or escaped.
They had also decided against using their true wolf forms as they were trying to capture Ralph, not kill him.
Zion blinked his eyes, images of the battle were being analyzed and sent to the active collective spirit channel.
He had not joined the fight as he was looking for the perfect timing to strike. As a Spirit Wolf, he knew the perfect technique to use that could bring down Ralph.
His intuition was telling him not to let Ralph see him if not the latter would prepare in advance.
His position, crouching on the edge of the rooftop, reminded him of his younger days in Eridoria, hunting through the snow and being stealthy.
*BAM!*
Jocelyn rammed her shoulders into the abdomen of the large werewolf. She rained down multiple punches per second, rushing his abs with the rapid fire of a machine gun.
The ground beneath Ralph exploded as he stood his ground, barely moving more than a few meters.
Ralph slashed down with his glowing claws, seeking to rip her in half.
Zion saw his opportunity at this moment. He immediately jumped off the edge of the rooftop, diving straight for the werewolf.
His body turned translucent, gaining an intangibility trait.
This state of intangibility allowed Ralph not to sense his approaching presence.
Ralph had slashed down. Jocelyn had dodged but was not unscathed.
One of the claws had hit her shoulders, forming a deep ash that cut through her bones.
Her right arm was effectively disabled and her combat ability would diminish. Her chances of defeating Ralph had gone down a lot.
Thankfully, Zion was coming to her rescue.
There was no loud bang or mighty roar. Zion’s intangible form directly sank into Ralph’s hulking mass from above.
It was anti-climactic.
Just like that, Zion’s body had merged with Ralph’s body, disappearing just as it had appeared.
Ralph paused, his four eyeballs reflecting his confusion about what had just happened.
Jocelyn stood far away, holding her bloodied shoulder with her other hand. She eyed the werewolf, ready to shift into her true wolf form at the moment’s notice.
Ralph growled at himself, or at Zion who was still inside him.
He could feel Zion forcefully trying to take over his body and mind from within and it was working.
Ralph panicked, what kind of power was this?
His mind was failing, fading in and out of consciousness with every second that passed.
Ralph could sense a much stronger enemy approaching. Time was running out, and he had to run. But Zion was still possessing his body.
Silence.
The sirens of police cars got louder and louder. They had taken so long because too many strange things were happening at the same time in different parts of the city.
"We’ve been quite lucky, haven’t we," Olivia said with a sweet smile on her chubby face to Zabita.
Both of them had been strolling casually and sightseeing when they noticed the commotion and wandered here.
Zabita lazily stared at Ralph’s distant body which spasmed uncontrollably, trying to expel the spirit within.
She casually raised her hand and pointed her finger at the werewolf. Hundreds of buildings close to them groaned in protest.
"Yes, we have, Olivia..."