As she watched her son disappear through the door, Maria let out a quiet sigh of relief, whispering to herself, "At least he's safe… argh!" before her hand flew to the wound in her ribs, where warm blood was already seeping between her fingers.
"Looks like I won't last much longer…" she murmured, but despite the pain she forced herself to focus on the two werewolves lying on the floor, both of them already rising slowly, and that was when Maria noticed something — they were wounded too, deep gashes cutting through their fur-covered bodies.
"So it seems I'm not the only one hurt…" she said, snapping the whip against the floor so that the sharp crack echoed throughout the room before she lunged forward without hesitation, attacking the two monsters relentlessly while they were still recovering, the whip slicing through the air again and again and striking their bodies with brutal force — until, during one of her strikes, the werewolves dodged.
In the next instant, they both lunged at her, and Maria tried to evade, but her body was weakening, the wound in her ribs making every movement heavier, and one of the monsters attacked again, driving its claws straight through her chest so that she staggered backward, barely able to remain standing.
Even then, she tried to strike again, but before she could move, one of the werewolves grabbed the whip and ripped it from her hands, the weapon falling to the floor, and Maria collapsed soon after.
Then an unexpected sound echoed through the room — a slow, deliberate clapping, followed by unhurried footsteps, and Maria, lying on the ground, raised her head with great effort to see a man approaching, wearing dark sunglasses and carrying an elegant cane.
"Incredible… bravo," he said, continuing to clap as he walked toward her. "So this is the feared Belmont clan… ah, how the mighty have fallen."
One of the werewolves seized Maria and pinned her to the floor while the other — the one who had taken the whip — walked over to the man and helped guide him forward until the stranger stopped directly in front of her.
"How tragic… dying at the hands of a werewolf. Not even by vampires… the true enemies of the Belmont family," he remarked, tilting his head slightly. "That must be rather humiliating, don't you think?"
Maria tried to move, but the pain was unbearable. "You bastard… argh…" The rush of adrenaline from the battle was fading, and now the pain flooded her body.
The man sighed. "Well… although your family is clearly in decline, it is still one of the oldest hunter bloodlines, and I must admit… your library was worth the risk," he said, a faint smile appearing on his lips. "Besides… there is a certain pleasure in killing a hunter from the Belmont clan."
With the help of the werewolf, he stepped closer, then slowly removed his sunglasses to reveal a pair of cold, gray eyes. "It was a pleasure, Belmont," he said, and suddenly his fingernails began to lengthen and sharpen into claws before he drove them deep into Maria's chest in a single motion.
Her body trembled, her gaze drifted, and in her final breath she thought of Trevor — in the last moments of her life, there was only one wish in her heart: that her son would be safe.
The man pulled his hand from her chest, blood dripping from his fingers, and stood calmly as he flicked his hand to cast the blood onto the floor before removing a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiping his hands. "Kali. Ennis. I have what I came for. Let's go."
"Right, Deucalion," one of the werewolves replied, and her body began to change, the monstrous creature giving way to a beautiful dark-haired woman.
"Already? I didn't even get the chance to taste Belmont flesh," the other complained, still in his werewolf form as he slowly licked the blood from his claws. "And the child? Are we just leaving him out there?"
Deucalion adjusted the handkerchief in his pocket. "He's just a boy. No training. No abilities. He poses no threat," he said, turning toward the door. "Besides, while the two of you were busy fighting, I took the opportunity to collect everything I needed from their library." A faint smile crossed his face. "Now come. I have a great deal of material to analyze."
"Alright," replied the werewolf, known as Ennis, as he glanced down at Maria's lifeless body. "But are we really just leaving her like this?"
Deucalion stopped at the doorway and looked back for a moment before speaking calmly. "No." A cold smile spread across his face. "Let's give the Belmonts one final gift — and leave a message for the other hunter families."
He pushed the door open and stepped out of the house, followed by the two werewolves, and not long after, the flames began — small at first, then growing larger, until within minutes the fire had engulfed the entire house.