The coins screamed toward Ty. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact, but just before they could strike him, a sudden whirlwind of motion and a sharp cracking sound filled the air.
When Ty opened his eyes, a mysterious woman stood between him and the coin-wielding assailant.
She sported a bright blue cloak over a button-up shirt paired with standard jeans, her strong and lithe physique initially made Ty mistake her for a man due to her muscular build.
Stumbling to his feet, Ty managed to utter a shaky "thanks" for her timely intervention. The woman turned to him, her face expressing a mix of concern and strained composure.
"You shouldn't be here, human!" she firmly declared, blood trickling down her forearm.
Still trying to gather his composure and comprehend this surreal encounter, Ty introduced himself, saying, "Thank you for saving me...I'm Ty, by the way."
"What do you mean, human? Aren't you one, too?" Ty repeated, confusion and curiosity apparent in his words.
"More importantly," he then continued, noticing the blood that was trickling down her arm, "Are you okay? You're covered in blood. We need to get you to a hospital."
Pulling out his phone from his pocket, Ty declared, "I'll call 911. They can help us."
However, much to his surprise, the woman cast a doubtful glance at his phone and muttered, "I'm not sure what that is, but I think it will be too tiny to help."
Meanwhile, the man they had just faced responded with a sly chuckle.
"I thought I killed you, young lady," he sneered. "I don't know who might have sent you, but you should know that this is way out of your league.
I'm only assigned to collect the souls of humans tonight so you should leave before you might get yourself killed in the crossfire."
With her whip held high above her bloodied arm, the woman fired back, "I won't break my vows just because some rotten mercenary wants to steal more souls. You will release the ones you've taken at once!"
The man's mocking laughter filled the air as his face grew paler under a strange mist, licking a bit of blood off his wrist, he declared, "I won't mind wringing both your necks dry."
The moment he said that, his face contorted as fangs began to protrude from his mouth, and he advanced towards them, until he was only a blur.
Ty, shaken after witnessing the scene and struggling with his phone, desperately tried to call for help, however, all of that was of no use as the network simply displayed "no bars."
The man who was before them just a moment ago, appeared right between Ty and the woman, raising his fist to strike at Ty's chest. His eyes were bleeding a bright red, and a twisted excitement radiated from him.
As the fist closed in, Ty cursed, "Dammit, what are you?" However, just when it was a few centimeters away from Ty's chest, it came to a sudden halt, ensnared by the lady's whip as she commanded, "I told you, you won't be taking any more lives."
As if moving on his own, Ty instinctively shouted, "Get the hell away from me!" and drove his fist into the man's face, causing his head to shift as a flurry of blood streaked from the man's cheeks.
His laughter paused for half a breath before it returned, "You might have some use after I kill you."
The man flexed his arm that was wrapped in the woman's whip, pulling her towards him, attempting to strike at her before she could catch his hand and flip him over, she then planted a resounding kick in his chest before yelling, "Holy light!"
As soon as she said that, the heel of her foot started to shine brightly, causing a small explosion on her heel and on the man's chest, sending him hurtling about 20 feet away.
Rising from the ground, with a smirk on his face, the man remarked, "You are such a mischievous girl."
With that, he continued, "So you were sent for the investigation from the Holy Triad." As he spoke, he casually wiped the blood from his chin, while the bruise that resulted from Ty's punch seemed to have healed rapidly.
"Well," turning his attention back to the woman, he said with a smirk, "you can consider your investigation complete and be on your way. This is out of your league.
If you hurry up, it might be possible for you to get someone useful on the scene before I kill the man and take his soul."
Ty watched the exchange between the two with growing trepidation. He very well knew that he was over now and the situation was also becoming increasingly perilous.
To the man's response, Kieran boldly declared, narrowing her eyes with determination as she shouted, "I am Kieran the Hunter! I will not back down from any monster or creature!"
She shouted with conviction, adopting an offensive stance before advancing towards the man by lowering herself slightly before lunging herself in his direction.
Meanwhile, the man stood upright, his fingers gripping the five gleaming coins, just when Kieran was getting closer to him, he whispered, "Dance with Pride," following that, a brilliant red light emanated from the coins before he blew air on them and the coins started shooting towards Kieran, their glow intensifying as they sped up.
Kieran countered by swirling her whip in a circular motion, her move connected with all the coins in elegance and sent them in different directions.
However, despite being redirected by her attack, the coins seemed to have locked their target on her and once again started heading back towards her.
This time, ignoring the coins, she closed in on the man, who had taken a defensive stance and was holding a small dagger in his hand while maintaining his creepy, confident smirk.
As Kieran deftly sidestepped the man's strike, she landed a powerful fist on his face before snapping her whip across his chest.
"ARGHHH"
But just then, one of the five coins struck her back, causing her to let out a cry of pain. Quickly deflecting it to prevent further harm, she rolled out of harm's way.
Determined, Kieran advanced toward the man while he quickly assessed the situation.
With a swift and unexpected movement, he dodged her incoming whip and grabbed her wrist, smartly using her own momentum against her and with a sly grin twisted her arm, forcing her to drop the whip.
Even before she could react, the man summoned his coins back onto his fist, placing one on each knuckle, and shouted.
"DANCE!"
He tilted his head and slipped past Kieran's punch before delivering a strong blow to her chest.
The impact from his attack at such close proximity sent her flying 30 feet towards Ty, who was still fumbling with his phone as it began to flash on, just enough to get a call through.
Seeing Kieran getting knocked down, Ty rushed over to assist her. He quickly picked her up and noticed the massive wound on her chest, her shirt was ripped and frayed at the spot the man had just punched, and she was bleeding profusely.
"COUGH!"
"I will be fine."
She coughed, her voice far weaker than before, however, Ty shook his head and insisted, informing her that he had called the police, in response, she simply gave him a confused glance, not sure what he was talking about.
Picking herself up, Kieran stared at the man and said, though her body shook, "If I have to go all out, I will!"
His body healed, and his smile returned. He knocked the dirt from his shoulder, cleaned his black blazer, and stated, "It's already over," saying that he brought his hand up again, showcasing each of the coins on his hand.
Ignoring him, Kieran took a stance as a blue aura slowly started building around her, and her whip began to crackle, emitting some kind of blue energy.
Ty looked down at his watch and noticed that it had turned back on after a clicking sound, displaying that it was 10:30 PM.
Ty then heard a voice on his phone stating, "Hello, this is 911; how may I help you?"
"There's a man in the park trying to kill me! Please send help." Ty immediately asked for help.
"Which park are you in?" The line went dead as he turned his focus back on Kieran, whose eyes widened as she proclaimed, "Where is the last coin?" She had noticed that the man only held four of those coins in his hand instead of five.
Chuckling slightly, the man stated, "Observant, aren't we?"
"However, you are a little too late for that," he continued before twisting his hand until his palm faced the sky, and he pointed his index finger forward, calling toward Kieran, "Checkmate, young lady."
Quickly, she screamed out to Ty, "Ty, watch out!"
Ty heard a short whistle noise behind him, however, it was too late. Time seemed to have slowed down for Ty as he felt a burning sensation piercing through his back, and soon enough, a cavity had begun opening up through his chest.
The man's coin had shot straight through Ty's chest, tearing a burning hole in its path. It sped past Kieran, who had momentarily lost her focus, and her entire world seemed to have halted.
Blood erupted from Ty's chest, staining his suit, while the phone slipped from his shaking hand and cracked against the ground.
Clutching the gaping wound on his chest and feeling the warm, sticky blood on his hands, Ty's vision began to distort. Everything went muffled, and all he could hear were Kieran's faint screams as she attempted to rush towards him.
In that chaos, Kieran lost her focus. Taking advantage of the situation, the man lunged toward her as his hand transformed into a tendril-like extension before his right arm smashed into Kieran, throwing her onto a nearby tree.
With a vice-like grip, he seized Ty by the neck and demanded with a smirk on his face, "Where was I, again?"