I Explore Urban Legends - Chapter 134: A Bizarre Battle (Patreon)

Wolf got back to his feet and looked at the children inside, letting out a puzzled growl.

"Awoo?"

The children immediately erupted in excitement.

"Whoa! It's a werewolf! That's so cool!"

Evan and Dylan quickly took the opportunity to film him.

Good. They're okay.

Wolf turned around, ready to finish off the last few bats.

Just then, one of them transformed into human form.

It was Alison, the woman who had come here a few days earlier.

She landed on the ground, looked around, and visibly relaxed.

"Looks like most of those bats are already dead. All I have to do now is kill you too, make it look like everyone wiped each other out, and I can slip away."

Wolf's heart sank.

This woman was clearly different from the other bats. She was probably their leader.

Sure enough, Wolf didn't stand a chance this time.

He had never been particularly good at fighting in the first place. He'd only been forced into it today. Killing a few bats was manageable, but an elite Blood Servant was another matter entirely.

Before long, several wounds had opened across his body, and Alison had already drained a considerable amount of his blood.

She, meanwhile, hadn't suffered so much as a scratch.

"Big dog, why don't you let your blood become my dinner?"

Wolf felt a wave of despair.

Then heavy footsteps came pounding through the forest.

Wolf turned and cried out in surprise.

"Watson? What are you doing here? Run! I can't beat her!"

Watson came charging toward them, panting heavily.

The moment he spotted Alison, he rushed straight at her.

"Ha! You ignorant little bear. You really think you can challenge me?"

Just as Alison raised a claw to strike Watson, her arm suddenly stopped.

She glanced sideways and discovered several strands of spiderweb wrapped around it.

With a hard pull, she finally tore herself free, but by then Watson had already lunged forward and sunk his teeth into her arm.

Alison frowned and swung her arm with tremendous force.

Watson, who weighed well over a hundred pounds, was sent flying into a nearby tree.

"Bang!"

The impact made the entire tree shake violently.

Thanks to Liam's repeated enhancements, Watson had become remarkably tough. The collision only left him a little dazed.

Alison raised her arm and looked down.

Watson's teeth had mangled her forearm.

A moment later, the flesh around the wound began writhing, and within seconds, it had completely healed.

Wolf had been about to rush over and help Watson, but after seeing Alison's strength, he swallowed nervously.

...

Elsewhere, Liam stood panting heavily, surrounded by more than a dozen Vampires whose condition ranged from unconscious to possibly dead.

Charlotte's voice reached him.

"Watson already dealt with the bats near Emma's group, but there's a very powerful Blood Servant over at Wilbur's. I'm helping them now, but I don't know how much longer we can hold her off."

Liam nodded and looked at the old man who still hadn't made a move, along with the remaining Vampires beside him.

"What? Are you scared?"

The Elder had personally watched Liam tear through the Blood Servants, and his expression had turned grave.

"I don't know why your body possesses such incredible strength, but we will not allow you to tarnish the honor of our bloodline."

The Vampires around him threw off their loose cloaks.

Underneath, they were covered almost head to toe in bulletproof armor. Each held an alloy longsword in one hand and a handgun in the other.

"Let this monster witness the power of technology!"

Liam stared at them helplessly.

"I feel like you guys are the ones who look more like monsters."

Before he could finish, several Vampire warriors rushed him at incredible speed, raising their handguns at the same time.

A protective shield formed around Liam, stopping the incoming bullets.

When they saw that the guns had no effect, the first Vampire to reach him raised his alloy longsword and brought it down toward Liam's head.

A lightsaber materialized in Liam's hand, blocking the strike.

"Buzz!"

The Vampire clearly hadn't expected him to pull something like that out and froze for a split second.

The lightsaber sliced through the longsword and continued toward him without losing momentum.

"Slash!"

The Vampire reacted quickly and jumped backward, but the lightsaber still cut through his bulletproof vest.

Liam forced the first Vampire back, then turned and saw the others surrounding him.

"Getting ganged up on isn't much fun. I think I'll call in some backup."

He opened the fanny pack at his waist and scattered its contents onto the ground.

The Vampires immediately raised their swords and prepared themselves.

Then they saw what Liam had thrown.

A whole pile of green toy soldiers.

The cheap little plastic kind that came by the handful for a few dollars.

Had he lost his mind?

The thought had barely crossed their minds when Liam shouted,

"Soldiers, open fire!"

The toy soldiers suddenly came to life, raised their rifles, and opened fire on the surrounding Vampires.

"Rat-a-tat-tat!"

A dense barrage of bullets slammed into their bulletproof vests.

The rounds didn't penetrate, but the impact still forced the Vampires backward.

Liam immediately shouted another command.

"Switch to grenades!"

Half of the soldiers pulled grenades from their belts, yanked the pins, and hurled them at their targets while the other half continued laying down suppressive fire.

In reality, Liam didn't need to speak to control the toy soldiers.

He just thought it was more fun this way.

"Boom!"

Explosions erupted one after another.

Several Vampires managed to avoid the grenades, though not without taking injuries. A few others were caught directly in the blasts.

When the smoke cleared, those Vampires had been mangled beyond recognition.

But they still weren't completely dead.

Instead, their bodies began swelling.

They grew larger and larger until each one had transformed into a hulking, muscular monster over ten feet tall.

Watching from the side, the Elder spoke.

"When a living being dies, the energy within its corpse does not disappear. We have successfully made the dead move again. This is the culmination of our technology."

He threw off his own cloak, revealing a massive, muscular body completely at odds with his shriveled old head.

"But you can turn mere toys into soldiers. I've lived for hundreds of years, and I've never seen a power this extraordinary.

"I will capture you, study you, and eventually make that power mine."

The way the old man said it made Liam's skin crawl.

"You old bastard. You want my power? Keep dreaming."

Liam emptied the rest of the toys he was carrying onto the battlefield.

Toy soldiers, marionettes, and rag dolls surged forward and clashed with the Vampires.

Grotesque monsters and adorable toys tore into each other, creating an utterly bizarre battlefield.

Seeing all his subordinates tied up in battle, the Elder realized he would have to handle Liam himself.

A faint blood mist began rising from his body.

Then he pulled out a red syringe and injected its contents into himself.

Next came a handful of brightly colored pills, all of which he shoved into his mouth.

Finally, he pressed a button on his clothing.

Electricity began crackling across his entire body.

"Bang!"

Liam didn't wait for him to finish.

He fired.

But the shot passed straight through an afterimage.