Setting off to get moving again, Tāo remains motionless. Then he sits down on the ground, licking his wounds. Tāo is injured in multiple places; bruises are visible all over his body from the repeated blows he took, not to mention the small holes in his skin caused by the bullets he absorbed—though they are shallow, thanks to his thick hide.
« I guess we can sit for a few minutes. »
She exhales for a moment, very briefly enjoying their victory before getting back on the move.
The soldiers' screams and the wolves' howls were so frequent that she eventually stopped paying attention to them, crossing the ruins the city had become.
Dust floated in the air; the many streetlights still standing struggled to provide light, just like the buildings that were still upright.
Moving from street to street, favoring narrow roads in search of Alan, assuming he wouldn't be at the center of the battlefield.
« Where did you see him last? »
Jack tries to remember.
« I lost sight of him when the battle shifted toward downtown. »
« Then he must still be in the city… let's keep going. And if we have to, we'll head straight into the heart of the war. »
« Dead? » Tāo says.
« I hope not… »
« Me neither, I fully intend to make it back. »
After wandering around the city a bit longer, they quickly realized Alan wasn't nearby, turning their gaze toward downtown. They hesitated for a moment, looking at each other.
« Alright, here's the plan: we search every building still standing in downtown. And if possible—yes, I said "if"—we avoid fighting. »
Jack nods, Tāo looks at her without really understanding; Jack translates for him, and he nods in turn.
They had barely set foot in the center when a soldier's body was hurled in their direction, clawed all over and bleeding out. Then a gigantic wolf leaps at yumiel, stopping just in front of her when it sees Jack and Tāo.
It turns around and dives back into the heart of the battle.
« Okaaay… »
They enter the first building that still looks intact. Carefully searching the floors, calling out to Alan from time to time. They exit without finding anything and head to the second building farther down the street, where several soldiers and wolves are locked in combat.
yumiel sends out her daggers, helping the wolves and allowing them to kill quickly, taking their hearts before swiftly heading into the other building.
« Remind me what the word "if" means? » Jack says, holding brains in his hands.
« He was blocking my way… » she says with her mouth full of blood, tossing the hearts to Tāo.
Jack looks at her, not looking for conflict but instead saying, "I want to have fun too."
« Fine, okay. Until we find Alan, we can allow ourselves to eat a little—after all, we have to get stronger. »
Searching the building, they find nothing but a sort of cemetery for wolves. As if hundreds and hundreds of wolves suffering fatal wounds had gathered here.
Tāo isn't indifferent to it, showing faint signs of sadness. Heading up to the roof, he comes across a heavily injured soldier bleeding profusely.
Approaching him, he opens his jacket, revealing an explosive belt.
« Oh my God, I'm scared, an explosive belt, oh wow. »
Sending her daggers, the man presses a button he was holding in his hand, exploding into a thousand pieces. They head back down, return to the street, and continue forward, eliminating soldiers along the way before entering another building farther ahead.
While exploring the building, they hear a loud noise coming from outside, followed by growls and whimpers, rushing up to the roof. She peers toward where the sounds came from.
A giant wolf, visibly exhausted. In front of him, a man floating above the ground. The wolf attempts an attack but is repelled as if by an invisible shield, then flung backward, crashing into a streetlight before landing among debris.
The wolf tries to get up; the man extends a hand, pinning the wolf to the ground with a kind of invisible pressure, preventing him from rising. Raising his other hand, he makes the streetlight float before driving it into the belly of the wolf pinned to the ground.
He whimpers in pain, his muscles contracting and twitching, before shrinking, returning to a human form—slowly dying as he bleeds out.
The man approaches him, whispers a few words, then leaves him to agonize in pain.
Tāo begins to growl, but yumiel grabs his snout, forcing his mouth shut. He struggles at first, but the cold look she gives him is enough to calm him.
After lingering in the street for a while, speaking into an earpiece he had, the man suddenly takes off into the sky, heading toward where he had killed the commander—and very likely his soldiers.
yumiel whistles.
« Phew, we'll avoid fighting that one—"if" possible. »
Jack chuckles. Leaving the building, he approaches the man who died impaled by the streetlight.
« Poor guy… I wouldn't want to get impaled by a streetlight. »
« I think the worst part is dying from it. »
yumiel approaches and rips out the heart; Tāo immediately growls at her, showing his refusal to consume a former fallen comrade. But yumiel didn't care. Jack did the same, taking his brain.
« Hey, hey, easy there, my pretty little softie. He's dead—what do you want to do with him? Bury him? Ahahahah. »
yumiel's mocking laughter absolutely does not sit well with Tāo; he's seconds away from jumping at her. Jack has to intervene, speaking to Tāo to calm him down, defusing the situation. After that, she holds out the heart to him, but Tāo slaps yumiel's hand, knocking the heart to the ground before heading toward the other building at the end of the street.
She watches him go, then looks at the heart on the ground.
« Suit yourself then. »
They move up the street in gloomy silence. The few soldiers who could block the way are killed by Tāo. Following behind, she can tell he's upset as they quickly reach the third building.