Lunar Awakening-Chapter 65: A Battle Of Claws

Unable to summon his artifact to use as a weapon against Hinata, Leo was forced to take the brunt of her monstrous attack head-on. He raised his arm to block her long nails that had curved slightly onward; a second later, he could feel them digging into his flesh and leaving a deep gash on his arm.

A pained groan exited Leo in that instant. Before he could think, however, he was sent flying backward several feet by a strong blow to the chest. He groaned again, practically feeling his ribs shatter at the impact.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he could see her darting forward. Her face contorting and becoming a horrid mix of pleasure and fury. Leo had always been someone who preferred efficiency in all of his battles; he had only lacked the tools back then. And now he did not have the breathing room to summon a weapon, even if he could—would it be useful?

Now that he thought about it, the red needle was a rapier, a thin weapon that could be easily broken if attacked strongly from the side. The monster before him had claws, and so did he?

But was he confident in using his own claws?

Before he could come to a decision, he dodged an attack from Hinata’s claws as they dove for his eyes. Xavax called out to him, "You better not die, rat."

Leo had always used everything he had when he fought; he had to remember that he was doing this for his family. He had learned the Moon God’s battle art after all. Leo charged forward this time, his throat letting out what seemed like a low growl. He hoped the battle art would prove to be useful.

Using the rage he felt from the pain of the wound he had sustained, and fueled by the full moon, his hands snapped wide open, long curved black claws growing out from every one of his fingers. He felt stronger this night than he had ever been before.

With all this in mind, he charged forward and swung his claws right at Hinata’s face like he had practiced many times before. She evaded his attack like she had seen it seconds earlier and slashed him on the side. A loud grunt erupted from his lungs as he thrust forward this time, his claws digging into flesh and leaving a huge gash on her neck.

Hinata staggered for a second before attacking again. Leo watched the gash on her neck begin to heal at a drastic rate.

Hinata’s attacks became more erratic and without reason. Leo, who had struggled to match her at first, quickly started to adapt to her attacks. He was almost predicting her attacks.

There were two reasons why he could adapt so quickly to the monster. The first was due to the fact that, as an awakened superhuman with quite a bit of experience under his belt, he could adapt to certain conditions. The second reason was simply due to the Moon God’s battle art. Repeating what he believed to be a rough imitation of the basics of the battle art caused him to notice something.

The Moon God’s battle style caused him to fight defensively at first, like the first part of a dance. It allowed him to observe and study his opponent’s fighting style and counter it. The second part of the dance was the ability to suddenly launch a counterattack and throw off the beat of the fight. These were the only parts of the battle style he could grasp at the moment.

Leo weaved every one of Hinata’s attacks as soon as they reached him; the gust of wind created from her monstrous swings told him his head would be smashed open if he took one hit. He found an opening and thrust his own claws forward, this time striking her on the chin.

Hinata wailed in monstrous rage as her movements grew faster. He could see her eyes pulsing redder with each passing second.

Dammit, Leo screamed in his head. How did she just get faster?

His mind could barely keep up with her movements; his lungs struggled to sustain him. He could feel his temperature rising drastically, his eyes wavering for a fraction of a second. Hinata broke through his defense and slashed him across the face, causing him to groan inwardly.

Leo knew he had to figure something out if he was going to win this fight. He took away the part of his mind that focused on the nanny with the gun and focused entirely on Hinata. It was clear he needed to be fully committed to this fight.

Just like he had done on the day of the battle royale, Leo surrendered solely to his senses and tried to incorporate them into the Moon God’s battle style. He did this in an act of desperation. Using his eyes to look at not just his enemy but the entirety of her being caused his eyes to feel heavier; his ears could pick up sounds he could not normally hear.

The entire ordeal burdened his head but surprisingly made him much faster and more adept in the battle art.

He could almost visualize himself dancing across the battlefield like George as he read Hinata’s attacks perfectly. His body was burning and sweating, but somehow he could feel a cold breeze caress his skin; the world then seemed to slow down by a second.

A familiar chime threatened to interrupt his flow state, but he paid it no mind.

A claw came for his head, aimed at his eyes, but he had perceived it a second earlier. He ducked under the attack and started his violent rain of claws on Hinata. He continued to strike, this time imitating the very same attacks she had used on him earlier. Her growls soon turned into pained moans as her clothes were shredded to reveal a bloodied mess underneath.

Leo watched Hinata stagger, her pale face now bathed in crimson blood. Her breath had turned into a wheeze that barely sounded; everyone living in the room simply stared at them in silence.

"I must..." Hinata tried to speak. She winced in pain instead, her eyes widening as she stared at the man—or more directly, the thing that resembled a man. She could not help but growl at him.

In response a low guttural growl reverberated from Leo’s ribcage. His ears started to grow longer until they were pointed. His fangs emerged from his mouth, facial hair sprouted from the sides of his face, his nose widened and became less human. Leo looked more bestial, his eyes pulsing with a dark purple glint.

Hinata roared at him, her voice almost failing.

Leo roared back, more primal. He struck out at her, his claws ripping out half her face as it sent her falling to the ground in a pool of pale red blood.

Leo then roared again and looked around the room. His gaze flew over the nanny, who had her gun cocked at him, and then settled on Melissa, who lay on the ground, devoured by fear. He could hear her palpitating heart beating loudly and pumping blood; it entranced him and caused his mouth to water.

His claws grew longer as he started to walk toward where Melissa lay helpless. His eyes filled with hunger and want as he stretched out his claws, causing his knuckles to make a loud snapping sound.