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Chapter 105 - The Werewolf Vs The Vampire

The broken storefront was silent, but the shadows moved.

Inside the wreckage, beneath twisted metal and shattered glass, a figure stirred.

Chains rattled.

Rowdy stood.

His arms hung back at a brutal angle, thick rusted chains wrapped tightly around both forearms, looped over his bloodied fists like ancient bindings. A long, heavy section of the chain dragged behind him, snaking across the floor like a dead serpent. His clothes were torn to shreds, revealing a deep, jagged gash across his chest. Blood soaked the fabric, running down his ribs in crimson rivers. His face was cut, one long slice over his right brow, the eye beneath glowing like molten lava.

He was hunched forward.

Breathing slow.

Measured.

A beast calculating death.

Outside, Sawyl kept walking toward Sam.

His blade dragged behind him with a metallic screech, and his voice was as casual as a man commenting on the weather.

"Well... that was fun," he muttered, licking a streak of blood from his lip. "Would've liked him to last a bit longer, though. Shame."

Sam's breath hitched.

Her eyes widened.

She wasn't looking at Sawyl anymore.

She was looking past him.

"James..." she whispered.

Then louder.

"JAMES!"

But the figure in the shadows stepped forward, eyes gleaming like a crimson furnace.

"I'm not James," Rowdy growled, voice low and rumbling like an earthquake beneath the skin of the world.

"I'm Rowdy."

The chains clinked and swayed as he straightened his back, blood dripping from his knuckles.

He tilted his head, eyes locked on Sawyl.

"...And you're not laying a finger on her."

Sawyl stopped.

The huge brute slowly turned his head, his one glowing blue eye shining like a cursed moon through his tangled hair.

A slow, crooked grin stretched across his bloodied face.

"Well, well... Round three it is."

Rowdy exploded into motion.

"ROUND THREE, BITCH!" he roared, the chains clashing violently against his arms as he sprinted forward, a blur of fury and motion.

Sawyl swung his greatsword in a massive horizontal arc aimed to decapitate...

But Rowdy slipped under, his body weaving low like a snake through grass.

He emerged into a tight peekaboo boxing stance, arms up, forearms shielding his face, fists clenched and tight as stone.

BAM! BAM!

A quick jab-cross combo slammed into Sawyl's sword arm, the metal gauntlet ringing with each hit.

Sawyl's wrist faltered from the impact.

He snarled and fired off a low kick with his left leg toward Rowdy's thigh...

But Rowdy caught it mid-motion, intercepting the strike with a brutal left hook to the inside of Sawyl's knee.

The brute staggered.

Rowdy stepped in, short and vicious.

JAB! to the gut.

HOOK! to the ribs.

CRACK!

Sawyl's body lurched from the impact, breath forced out of him.

Then...

WHAM!

A violent uppercut with the left hand snapped Sawyl's head back, blood spraying from his nose as his towering frame stumbled two steps backward.

But the monster didn't fall.

Sawyl grit his teeth, face twisted with rage and brought his blade down in a furious vertical slash...

WHOOM!

Rowdy sidestepped, the blade crashing into the cobblestones and splitting them like ice.

Before Sawyl could pull it free...

CLANG!

Rowdy uppercutted the blade's flat side, slamming it with the chain-wrapped fist...

The enchanted force reflected back through the blade...

SMASH!

The broad side of the sword rocketed upward into Sawyl's face, and the magic repulsion ignited...

BOOOOM!

Sawyl was blasted backward, flipping head over heels before crashing into the dirt, tumbling and skidding, a trail of blood smearing behind him.

He lay still for a moment.

Then pushed up slowly, head swaying.

Blood drenched his mouth. One of his molars fell from between his lips as he grinned wide.

That blue eye gleamed brighter.

He stood tall... and slammed his fists together.

Then raised his hands...

...into a Muay Thai stance.

"Elbows and knees now, bat," he said, wiping blood from his chin with the back of his hand. "Let's see if your bark's got bite."

Rowdy didn't speak.

He just hopped on his feet,

light, fluid, ready.

In his peekaboo stance, the long chain hanging between his wrists rattled with each bounce, dragging across the ground like a metallic tail.

His glowing red eyes never blinked.

No words.

Only war.

They circled.

Two apex predators...

A bloodied god of Muay Thai.

A chain-draped monster of speed and rage.

They charged...

Rowdy and Sawyl, two monstrous silhouettes colliding beneath shattered moonslight and swaying lanterns.

No words.

Just instinct.

Just violence.

CRACK! CRACK!

Rowdy launched a double jab...

The first, slipped masterfully by Sawyl, his head weaving like a boxer's dance.

The second, blocked with a raised forearm, metal clashing against flesh-wrapped bone.

Sawyl countered, his shin swinging up in a sharp low kick toward Rowdy's thigh...

... but Rowdy lifted his leg, narrowly avoiding the strike.

Sawyl's eyes flashed. He switched mid-kick...

THWUMP!

A side kick blasted toward Rowdy's abdomen...

BOOM!

Rowdy absorbed the impact with crossed arms, skidding slightly...

... then fired back with a vicious right overhand, a haymaker laced with chain.

But Sawyl ducked under and came up fast...

CRACK!!!

A right elbow smashed directly into Rowdy's jaw...

His head snapped to the side, blood spitting from his mouth.

Rowdy staggered, dazed...

But his instincts took over.

WHAM!

A left hook dug into Sawyl's ribs, the sound sharp and wet.

WHACK!

A follow-up straight right exploded against Sawyl's jaw, knocking the werewolf back, teeth gritted in pain.

But the beast wasn't done.

With a growl, Sawyl leapt, launching a brutal flying knee...

Rowdy blocked it with a desperate cross-arm guard, bones trembling from the shock.

But Sawyl grabbed him mid-air...

Locked him into a Muay Thai clinch...

... and began driving his knees in.

WHUMP!

One.

CRUNCH!

Two.

CRACK!

Three...

Each knee slamming into Rowdy's abdomen with sickening impact.

Blood gushed from Rowdy's lips, dripping down his chin as his knees buckled...

But Rowdy gritted his teeth...

He twisted, drawing back his fist...

TWHAM!

An uppercut flew...

But Sawyl stepped back just in time, narrowly dodging it.

Then...

THUMP!

Sawyl countered with a teep front kick, foot planting directly in Rowdy's bloodied stomach.

Rowdy flew backward, chains dragging as he slid across stone, coughing and retching blood.

But his fury hadn't burned out yet.

He planted his heel.

ROARED.

Then burst forward with a Superman Punch...

The chain-wrapped fist soaring through the air...

CLANG!

Sawyl blocked it, forearm catching the blow...

... and countered instantly with a right overhand of his own...

CRACKKKK!

It landed clean, right across Rowdy's jaw.

The force lifted him off the ground.

Rowdy crashed downward, spinning...

... but before his back could meet the earth...

BOOOM!

His fist slammed into the ground, using the force to spin his body upward in a savage twist...

And from that momentum...

WHAAM!!!

He spun into a backhand, the chain-wrapped right arm crashing across Sawyl's jaw with titanic force.

Sawyl staggered, dazed, blood spraying like mist from his mouth.

Rowdy breathed heavily, shoulders heaving. His vision was blurry. His body failing.

I have to end this now... I've got nothing left...

With a guttural shout, Rowdy leapt into the air...

twisted...

... and let the long chain unravel behind him.

As he passed over Sawyl's head, the chain wrapped around the werewolf's neck like a noose forged in fury.

Rowdy landed behind him...

And pulled.

With everything.

"DIE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" Rowdy screamed, muscles tearing, arms straining, chain tightening with the force of a falling mountain.

Sawyl's face turned purple, veins bulging.

His legs stiffened.

His claws scratched.

The chain groaned, links stretching...

And then...

SNAP!!!

The chain snapped in half.

Rowdy gasped, and suddenly...

His eyes dimmed.

The glow of crimson rage faded from his pupils.

His body trembled...

...and he collapsed forward, falling face-first toward the stone.

Sawyl's eyes snapped open.

His grin returned.

He twisted around with inhuman speed and raised a monstrous right straight...

Aimed directly at the back of Rowdy's skull as he fell.

Sam's breath caught.

She almost shouted...

"James!"

But she stopped. By covering her mouth with her hands.

Her eyes filled with tears.

Her heart throbbed.

She remembered...

The way he smiled.

The way he protected her.

The way he fought, even when broken.

Rowdy. Not James.

"…Rowdy," she whispered.

Then she screamed.

"ROWDYYYY!!!"

The sound tore through the air like a soul reborn.

And suddenly...

Rowdy's eyes snapped open.

Glowing. Blazing. Burning RED.

Still low to the ground, body trembling...

He twisted...

SLIPPED Sawyl's monstrous right at the last second...

ROOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!

And launched upward with his legs, driving into a counter...

A chain-wrapped right fist arcing like divine judgment...

BOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!

The punch landed flush against Sawyl's face...

CRUNCH!!!

The earth cracked from the impact...

He pushed harder...

His arm roaring with muscles flexing and fury...

SLAM!

Sawyl's head was driven into the ground...

CRACK!!

Stone split.

His skull caved. And Blood and Brains splattered everywhere.

The chain around Rowdy's hand shattered.

Sawyl's glowing blue eye flickered...

... and went dark.

Rowdy staggered backwards.

Then fell to his back, chest rising and falling with trembling gasps.

Blood everywhere.

Silence.

Then...

"Rowdy!"

Sam's voice cut through the air as she ran to him, hair flying, eyes filled with panic and awe.

She dropped beside him, brushing blood and hair from his bruised face.

"Hey... Hey, look at me," she whispered, choking back tears. "I see you."

Rowdy's lips curled weakly.

"…Was I at least... cool?" he rasped, blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth.

Sam laughed softly through her tears.

She nodded.

"Super cool."

She leaned down...

... and kissed him.

Fierce. Gentle. Warm.

In that blood-soaked courtyard, surrounded by rubble, moonlight, and victory...

Rowdy finally closed his eyes.

With a smile.

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