Lunar Awakening-Chapter 63: Bloody Bride

She dashed forward as a volley of arrows exploded through the air in her direction. She managed to dodge a few of them before more arrows impaled her in the thighs and chest. She then staggered and lost her footing, eventually falling to her knees with a loud thud; coughing out blood.

It was apparent that she had no knowledge on his to fight two awakened superhumans, this gave the two even more confidence to face off against the monstrous creature.

"Death..." The words were cut short as she coughed out even more blood, staining the floor beneath her.

"Sister!" Melissa screamed at the top of her lungs, still buried in her father’s hands.

The monster’s gaze shifted and fell on her little sister and settled there, for a moment Melissa could have sworn that she could see the flicker of a smile on her monstrous sisters face.

"Sis—ter?" Melissa barely said.

A teardrop smashed into the pool of blood beneath the monster, and then another.

Melissa’s broken green eyes widened as tears rolled down her eyes also, she struggled against her father who pulled her tighter.

"She’ll kill you." He screamed at her in fury.

Melissa cried out. "Father, she’s hurt. My sister is hurt."

The monster was indeed crying, and smiling too. It almost seemed like she was at peace. It made everyone wonder if she was happily sacrificing herself for a noble cause. But did monsters have a noble cause to being with? They were mindless savage variations of beasts, or was there something more to the monster currently being slaughtered in the room?

Mr. Neuman wanted to cover his eyes as he watched his daughter get impaled by arrows in a brutal display. Yet within himself he wondered— was this mercy or cruelty on his part? He wondered what would have happened if he had ended her all those months back. As a father, was he obligated to watch? In a way he felt he had to see this through to the end as a duty, but why did he still question himself?

The monsters lips broke open as blood pooled from her mouth and she let out a hoarse moan. She tried to articulate words but failed to, the awakened with the mace however did not care for this as he knocked her to the ground with a powerful blow from his weapon.

No matter how many times her body was impaled by arrows or the number of times her head was bashed in with the war mace, she never screamed, never cried. Mr. Neuman wondered if it was by choice or by design. It was almost painful to watch the putrid display and he hated that fate had forced him on such a part.

Or perhaps he had forced himself down this path the day he locked her up, so was this fate’s retribution or his damnation. Forced to watch both mother and daughter die.

The sound of her skull being bashed in repeatedly resonated within the room. Melissa’s body trembled every time the thud sounded accompanied by a squish. The monster looked at them with cold, lifeless eyes, echoing the same words over and over again.

"Death..."

"—for—"

"The... sinners."

There was a difference however to tone at which she spoke. What had once been empty words was now remorseful and heavy.

Mr. Neuman watched as his daughter’s life was coming to an end with trembling eyes and cried silently, Melissa wailed hitting her father and trying to reach her sister.

"No, she’s my sister." She wailed. "Don’t hurt her. She’ll behave I promise."

One awakened, however, stayed away from the conflict. He simply stood at a quiet corner of the room as if trapped in a world of his own. His sights seemed to be aimed at the pool of blood that was still stretching over the floor. But no one paid him any mind.

At this point the monsters head had been disfigured and distorted, her skull smashed open and her brain clearly seen visibly from the open crevice. The brain pulsed softly, blood bathed her face-- giving her an unrecognisable grotesque appearance that would make one throw up just by a glance.

The awakened with the mace raised his weapon high in the head like a flag of victory and prepared to bring it down on the disfigured face of the monster in one quick swing. His face also had smears of blood on it, and a wide grin stretching.

"Die you damn bitch!" He boomed as he brought down the mace with a loud battle cry. He expected to hear the sound the brain of the monster being crushed and the the rest of her skull exploding open. Instead, there rang the loud sound of an explosion— of a shot fired from a military gun.

The sound resonated throughout the room, causing everyone to freeze in place. It even helped the catatonic awakened shake free from his mental shackles. ’What the hell was that--?’ Leo thought as he gasped back to life.

The awakened with the mace who had only been halfway close to smashing the monster’s brain to a pulp felt his body freeze instinctively. His hands trembled, struggling to hold up the mace.

For a second there was a type of silence that could only be heard from the inside of a cemetery, the silence felt cold to the bones.

A second more passed before their eyes turned toward the direction from where the shot was fired. Their eyes slowly widened and their breaths hitched in their chests as they saw the awakened archer’s eyes roll back into their sockets. Smoke sizzled from a bullet hole fashioned into the middle of his skull, right between his eyes.

For a second no one said or did anything, the air only grew colder by the second as the loud shriek of a young girl drew their attention to Melissa who was no longer in her father’s arms but was now being restrained by the nanny at the edge of the room.

The nanny, who had once bore a beautiful and peaceful look on her face, now had it half smeared in warm blood. Her eyes were icy and lifeless, like that of a trained killer. Her long dark suit and gown swayed slightly, her white shirt was stained in blood. She had one hand restraining Melissa in a chokehold, the other holding up a military gun similar reconfigured Desert Eagle.

The awakened with the mace turned and screamed in confusion. "What the hell!"

In that moment of hesitation and confusion, the monster somehow rose to her feet and slashed him across the neck. She watched him gurgle blood from his slashed throat and fall to the ground. Her eyes grew colder and lifeless eyes like they had been earlier before tilting to face the nanny. "Oh, sweet death!"

She inhaled deeply, her body slowly healing as she leaned down and took a bite out of the body and chewed on the flesh sluggishly.

Mr. Neuman gasped in shock. "Madelyn, what’s this nonsense? What are you doing to Melissa?"

The chief bodyguard was about to pull his gun when two shots were fired at him at an incredulous speed. Two holes drilled into both his shoulder blades, causing him to cry out in pain as his hands fell limp to his side. The gun fell to the ground with a soft thud.

Leo simply stood where he had been all the time, still stunned and trying to digest all of the new information flooding into his head all at once.

Had two awakened superhumans who had survived in Hellscape just been killed by a nanny with a gun? Why were they killed?

The nanny tightened her grip on Melissa’s neck causing the girl to cough through tears. "Listen, child. You are about to be a pivotal wedge in the history of humanity."

"What are you talking about, Madelyn?" Mr. Neuman asked. "Return Melissa to me this instant."

The nanny’s eyes grew so cold it was hard to perceive they had ever been warmth dried in them. "Madelyn... I have always hated that name. You stand before the third arm of the Abyssal Octet."

Before Mr. Neuman could say anything, however, the young awakened who had done nothing all this time spoke. His voice breathing new air into all the chaos. "You were there... at the club, when those two died." He could not recall most of the scents since they were all muddle together, but he was sure he had smelled hers distinctively. Until that moment, he had been too preoccupied to make the connection.

"Leo-san?"

Leo turned and stared at Hinata, whose features, despite being bathed in blood, softened considerably. Her face had also healed to the point where the part where her skull had been smashed open was barely visible. "Hinata," he said in a cautious voice.

He was now in a very tough spot. He had to stop Hinata from killing Melissa, which was his original mission. He also had to stop the nanny from killing him too-- which made him wonder why he was still alive. Still, what was the nanny’s motive and was she ever a nanny to begin with?

Did she want to protect Melissa from Hinata, or was there some other deep truth behind it? Also, how was he supposed to fight while avoiding flying bullets—and more importantly, why were the other awakened stationed outside not smashing through the door to protect them?

Unless...

Leo’s eyes shot up. "The mayhem from before... it wasn’t Hinata, was it?"

Madelyn’s eyes darkened as she spoke. "No, it wasn’t."

Leo’s felt his body run cold, like he had just been trapped in an inevitable situation.