82

82
Third Person POV The terror in Lord Noah's eyes was clear. Just when the tide had been turned against them and they were at a disadvantage because Raphael and Muriel had teamed up once more, Artemis ended up being injured. In his injured state, he was far too weak to continue this fight because not only was he exhausted, he was also terribly wounded. In this part of the fight, it would be expected of him to tag out and rest somewhere under treatment. But these two foes wanted their lives, and he would not escape so easily. "Artemis!" Lord Noah exclaimed and ran to support Artemis. Artemis fell down weakly, holding on to the left side of his belly where he had been punctured. Lord Noah held him and tried to put a bit of pressure so that blood left that particular spot slower. "Why are you holding me as though I am some wounded dog? Calm down, Noah. It's just a simple flesh wound. I'll be fine. Now let's focus on getting these two so that we can both continue with our lives," Artemis said with a shaky voice. There was clear worry in Lord Noah's eyes as he carefully held Artemis. Artemis was losing blood now and he was getting weaker by the second. He needed immediate medical attention, and if he didn't get any, he would probably die. It had been a long time since Lord Noah experienced something like this in a battle. "Well, well, well, isn't this trouble in paradise? A second ago, the both of you were looking so confident, and now look at you. It's too bad though, the two of you were exceptional old men and you should have died when you were old. But now the two of you are going to die like animals just because you faced the wrong enemies," Raphael said and began to approach menacingly. Muriel followed closely behind him, and that was when the both of them knew that they were in trouble. Muriel was the first to attack, and he went straight for Artemis. Just when his punch was about to land on Artemis's face, Lord Noah blocked it with his right arm. Raphael attacked viciously from the left and landed a vicious kick on Lord Noah. This was a kick that Lord Noah was supposed to block with both hands, but since he was already protecting Artemis with one, he took it with only his left hand, and his left hand ended up being wounded. Seizing the opportunity, Artemis flipped around and threw a roundhouse kick at Raphael. The kick landed cleanly on Raphael's face, throwing him to one side. But immediately after that, a fresh punch from Muriel landed cleanly on Artemis's face, wounding him. Artemis was blown aside and Muriel quickly stepped back. Immediately after that, Muriel and Raphael launched themselves directly at Artemis. They didn't even give Lord Noah any time to react, but then when Lord Noah decided to strike at them, they immediately changed trajectory. Their attack switched from Artemis to Lord Noah, and the both of them, using a vicious punch and a direct kick, blew Lord Noah into a nearby wall. This was an attack that neither of them had said anything to each other about, but simply knew exactly what to do. After Lord Noah was blown aside, the wounded Artemis was left alone with the two of them. They did not hesitate to unleash all their hatred on the wounded Artemis. Violent punches rained down on Artemis and the sound of broken bones could be heard. Artemis let out a shrill cry to express the agony he was feeling. But that did not stop the two of them from bombarding him. As soon as Lord Noah regained his bearings, he immediately jumped into the fray, but before he could get there, a loud, nearly deafening sound came from Artemis. Artemis suddenly exploded by swinging out both arms and launching himself out of the ground. Raphael and Muriel were blown aside and Artemis immediately got his feet back on the ground. He was now covered in blood, which was all his. He was badly wounded and needed to be treated immediately. But Artemis kept on screaming and kept on tightening his muscles. The aura that was exuding from him grew stronger and stronger until it began to resemble that of an Alpha. Suddenly, Artemis took on a whole different aura and the color of his eyes changed. From bright yellow, they began to take on a dark brown until eventually a faint red. Artemis's eyes were no longer the yellow color which a regular werewolf would have. They began to take on the shade of red, and it made him seem all the more terrifying. Raphael and Muriel were shocked by what was happening, but considering Artemis was badly wounded, they decided to finish him off. Therefore, using one more coordinated attack, they both attacked from left and right and jumped in the air, hoping to land a heavy kick on Artemis. If this kick were to land on Artemis, it would shatter more than one bone and leave him near dead or even dead. Just when the kicks were about to land on Artemis, Artemis reached out for both their legs and grabbed onto them tightly. He squeezed them so hard that the sound of bones creaking could be heard. Artemis then swung them into a nearby wall, which they crashed into heavily. There was dust everywhere and debris came flying. Artemis began to take deeper and deeper breaths, and with each breath, his aura grew thicker and thicker. With an increment in aura, there was also a deepness to the redness of his eyes. His eyes were getting more and more brightly red, which made him begin to look like an Alpha. Lord Noah was observing this from the side, completely shocked and flabbergasted. There was no way Artemis could wield such strength. Just a second ago, he was wounded and weak. He was so badly injured that Raphael and Muriel had been able to press him into the ground easily. The kicks that the both of them had just landed on him were not kicks that could be easily caught. Even if Artemis were to be fully healed and in peak state, those kicks were too heavy to have been caught by his bare hands. Those were kicks that could bend even iron and shatter stone. To think that he had caught them so easily and actually thrown them away. Artemis no longer possessed the strength of a regular werewolf and had surpassed the limits of what a regular werewolf would be able to do. The strength Artemis was currently demonstrating was strength wielded by only one being and one being only. He was wielding the strength of an Alpha. "How could this be possible? There is no way werewolves are capable of switching abilities so quickly. How is it that you were so weak just now but you are so terrifyingly strong now?" Muriel said in a fit of rage. "I have no idea what is going on with me, but I have every intention to use this newfound strength against the two of you. I don't know about you, but to me, this battle has been an entire roller coaster. But now I guess it's time to put an end to this," Artemis said, slowly approaching Muriel and Raphael. Just when his steps were incredibly slow, he suddenly moved so fast that not even Lord Noah could follow him with his eyes. In one second, he was behind Muriel and smashed Muriel's head face-deep into the ground. Within the period of time Raphael turned to look in that direction, Artemis had already gotten behind him and used a devastating punch to send Raphael into the ground as well. After which, Artemis jumped into the air and stomped on the both of them with both legs, leading to them coughing blood. Then he jumped to another side to catch his breath. The speed and strength Artemis had just demonstrated was the type of strength not many alphas were capable of. Lord Noah looked on in shock and terror. "How in the hell could this be possible? You are no longer wielding the strength of a regular werewolf. You are now using the strength only accessible to alphas. How is it possible that you are so strong?" Raphael asked, digging his face out of the ground. "It's only a myth... But I've read it somewhere on just how werewolves initially came to be," Lord Noah said in a shaky voice. "What the hell are you talking about? What does that have anything to do with this?" Muriel asked, running out of patience. "It was said that the first werewolves were nothing but a motley band of barbaric villagers. They were known for hunting and killing wolves, part of a sacrifice they did monthly. This sacrifice involved them gathering a total of 100 wolves and killing every single one of them. They would then go ahead to use this blood not only to bathe themselves but bathe every inch of their village. This was their way of cleansing themselves from evil spirits. No evil spirit ever visited their village, and they always believed that the reason behind that was this special sacrifice. One day, they happened upon a pack of special white wolves. They did not know the origin of these wolves or whatever species they belonged to. But they could tell that these wolves were incredibly special and that one of them was worth a thousand of any other wolf. Therefore, they gathered all the white wolves they could find and used them for the sacrifice," Lord Noah elaborated. "What the hell has that got to do with anything?" Raphael asked, enraged. Clearly, Artemis was now on a different level than them, and their very lives were in jeopardy. They were frustrated listening to Lord Noah ramble on and on. "Well, it was said that these barbaric villagers sacrificed these white wolves, and their village got many, many blessings. It was said that crops bloomed and the babies born were all healthy. And the villagers celebrated and were overjoyed. But they did not know they had made a grave mistake. They did not know that these particular white wolves had been blessed by the moon goddess, and the Moon goddess took a special liking to them. The moon goddess brought down her wrath against them and decimated their village. But when she decided not to kill the innocent, she decided to punish the men. She cursed them to have the body of the wolves they had killed and gave them the strength and speed of these wolves, but in exchange for strength, they became primal and lost control. The chief pleaded on behalf of his village, and the Moon goddess showed them mercy. The chief took on all the burden and accepted the punishment of the Moon goddess. The moon goddess cursed him with the abilities of a wolf even in human form. The chief became the first-ever alpha, and from then on, more and more werewolves were created from his bite. The chief was able to make more werewolves by simply biting them, but he was able to make alphas through passing on his genes. The werewolf chief was able to make a total of 20 alphas before dying. And from then on out, it was said that an alpha could only be created through heredity. But over the years, few cases have occurred where a person attained the abilities of an alpha without having to inherit it. These people had the virtue and kindness to incur the favor of the Moon goddess," Lord Noah said. "That's absolutely absurd. There is no one who has ever become an alpha without having to be born one. I'm having a hard time believing what you are saying, old man," Muriel said. "It was said that he who shows enough virtue and receives favor in the sight of the Moon goddess will be blessed by her. They will be less primal and yet have all the strength of an Alpha. Each and every time these people have appeared in history, they always made their names in the history books. And clearly, that is what is going on with Artemis."