CHAPTER 553: THE HOWL

They didn’t waste a second. Clyde slung the rifle into position and fired the first shot that echoed through the ruined streets.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

...

The sharp cracks of gunfire rang out again and again as they moved, monsters dropping with each precise hit.

Mina’s aim was quick to follow. Her shots punching through skulls and bursting through twisted torsos. But a lot of it was missed as well.

Between bursts of gunfire, Mina glanced at Clyde.

"Won’t this attract trouble from people who hear the noise?" she asked.

Clyde didn’t even pause to look at her. He said, "That’s the point. If they know we’ve got guns they’ll think twice before trying anything and they will abort their plan to sneak up on us."

Her lips curved into a small, understanding smirk. "Oh, scare them before they even try."

Their pace didn’t falter. Thanks to the boosted stats the system had given them, the weight of the rifles, pistols, and the ammo-packed bags barely slowed them down.

Mina, who in her old life would’ve struggled just holding a loaded rifle steady now held it as if it were an extension of her arm. Her shots landed cleanly and dropping a target in its tracks.

It felt almost unreal. Something she’d never imagined herself doing before the world fell apart.

The streets now were filled with blood and silence between gunfire.

Clyde’s kills were methodical and precise while Mina’s movements grew faster. Her instincts became sharper with every kill.

Before long, a soft chime rang in her mind.

[Level Up] Level 16

She grinned faintly then reloaded.

"I got another level up."

Clyde’s eyes flicked toward her but his voice stayed even. "Good. I still need a lot of Exp before I level up."

Just like Clyde had predicted, no one approached them.

The echoes of their blazing guns and the trail of corpses they left behind painted a very clear message. Attacking these two was suicide.

The shadows watching from alleyways melted away. No one wanted to try their luck.

Time slipped by and the sky bled into darker shades. The sun slid toward the horizon. Its dying light was swallowed by the encroaching dusk.

This was it.

The moment the Second Scenario would awaken the Lunar Beast.

They stopped in a wide pedestrian area. A row of benches sat between shattered storefronts and the ground littered with dead monsters mutated human corpses.

Clyde dropped onto one bench with a bottle of canned juice in his hand, sipping without hurry. Mina sat beside him, her attention locked on her status screen.

Her fingers tapped through the interface, assigning every available point into Agility. Dual daggers were her strength now and speed was the stats she needed most.

They waited in calm silence.

Then, it came.

A deep, bone-shaking howl ripped across the city. It was so loud that the windows of nearby buildings trembled in their frames.

It was a sound that carried hunger, rage, and command all at once.

Mina froze for a heartbeat, then swallowed hard.

"That must be the Lunar Beast," Clyde said, his tone calm.

She gave a short nod, finishing her point allocation.

Both reached for their rifles in unison.

The first of the monsters emerged from the far end of the street. It was white shapes moving in the deepening gloom.

At first, they seemed like nothing more than shifting shadows but then the light caught on their white fur that looked as pale as snow. There were dozens of them.

The creatures moved on all four and fast. Their bodies are mutated versions of their old selfs. Dogs with elongated limbs and jaws stretched too wide, humans whose spines had hunched and warped until they walked like beasts.

All of them shared the same features. They have long, curved claws, fangs that jutted past their lips and eyes like cold blue lanterns burning in the dark.

The sound of claws scraping asphalt filled the air.

Clyde stood, raising his rifle.

"They must be the spawns of the Lunar Beast," he muttered.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

The first wave dropped fast, skulls exploding under precise fire.

Mina followed his rhythm, shots ringing out in quick bursts.

She aimed for heads and joints as best as possible though some were still missing. Her bullet tearing through fur and bone.

But for every one they killed more poured in from side streets, climbing over wrecked cars and leaping from shattered windows.

The stench of musk and blood grew thicker.

One of them getting close to them and lunged. It was a massive man-shaped thing with a mouth full of jagged teeth.

Mina shot it twice in the chest and once in the head, sending it crumpling at her feet.

She didn’t flinch, just pivoted and kept firing.

The air was alive with the roar of rifles and the sharp clinks of spent casings bouncing on the cracked pavement.

Clyde’s shots dropping the threats before they could close the distance.

Mina were fast as well. She killed anything that broke through his line.

But eventually Clyde’s rifle went dry. He ejected the magazine, slapped another in, and kept going.

Mina’s gun emptied too. The pile of bodies was high, but the street was still crawling with white-furred shapes.

Their ammo bags were getting lightened with each reload until nothing was left.

The rifles were empty.

Clyde let his weapon hang from its sling and reached behind his back.

The black shaft of his spear slid free with a whisper. He spun it once in his grip, the blade catching the faint light.

"Lets go," he said.

Mina dropped the empty rifle and drew both daggers, their edges gleaming. Her eyes locked forward.

The next wave rushed in and snarled.

Clyde moved first. His spear flashing in wide arcs.

The blade cleaved through fur, flesh, and bone with brutal precision. His attack leaving a spray of dark blood in the air.

Mina moved close in behind him. She slipped under a lunging beast then drove her daggers up through its ribs before she moved to open another one’s throat.

Her enhanced agility made her steps light, her blades moving faster than the eye could follow.

The street became a killing ground. White fur and red blood clashing in the dying light, their breath turning sharp in the cold air.

Still, the howls continued somewhere deeper in the city. The Lunar Beast itself had yet to appear.

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