Mark flung his spear as the Elder Beast approached, but the bear was as quick as it was big with reflexes that seemed too good for such a large beast. The spear was easily swatted to the side without even scratching the beast.
'I guess they don't get that big without fighting hunters with spears at least a few times . . .'
As the bear rushed forward, tooth-filled maw first, Mark decided against dodging and decided to test his new strength against the giant beast. He slammed his fist into the beasts mottom jaw, slamming it shut without getting bitten first.
After the uppercut, Mark then dashed to the side of the bear, which was now reeling from having its brain shaken instead of the prey of its flesh filling its mouth.
By the time the bear had recovered, Mark was already upon it with his spear in hand. He sliced the fur at its right shoulder, exposing the flesh beneath.
The bear gave a loud roar, but swiped with its left arm, forcing Mark back. It tried to turn its head to lick its wound, but Mark gave it no breathing room. He tossed the spear right through the bear just above its left hip.
This brought the bear down, but it was furious. It roared so loud that it seemed to shake that part of the mountain. Mark, though, was already dashing past the beast to grab his spear once more. It lost most of its momentum, so it was just a short distance away, and the bear was struggling to stand back up since part of its back muscle and tendon had been sliced clean through.
With Mark now behind the beast, it turned with a menacing growl, but as it was halfway turned around, the butt of Mark's spear slammed into the side of the beast's skull. This caused the beast to fall forward as its momentum shifted, giving Mark a clean shot at its heart, which is what Mark was shooting for.
He jabbed his spear clean through the upper ribs, fitting just between the top one and the second one, angling it slightly up and to the side to make sure the spear penetrated the heart fully.
He knew from experience that he needed to give the beast space to die, or he would be attacked during its death throes. So, he pulled his spear out quickly and jumped back a span to give the bear a bit of room.
The bear was slow to react, swiping out at the already distanced Mark, then stumbling forward while its strength failed it. It wined a bit, slightly confused, but then it looked at Mark, who was keeping his distance, and Mark could tell the beast understood that it had been the one to die in this battle.
It still weakly swiped at Mark, fighting until it finally lost all of its strength and collapsed with a weak roar. Blood finally stopped gushing out of the hole in its chest, and its breathing ceased.
Mark left it where it was lying and ran to Sid who was still on the ground leaning against the gate.
*Cough* *Cough* "Damnit, Mark, you really fucked them up." *Cough*
*Wheeze* "Ugh, I don't think I'll make it."
Mark knelt down, assessing the injuries Sid had sustained. They were quite extensive. Shattered bones, a missing arm, but worst of all was the exposed bones on his torso. The flesh was barely clinging to his ribs, and it looked like a few claw marks had exposed his chest cavity. How he was still alive was beyond Mark.
"You fought hard, Sid, harder than any I have seen before you. That the gate is still standing is a testament to your tenacity. Rest, get some sleep, and when you wake up, this whole nightmare will be over."
Sid just nodded his head and slumped as his breathing relaxed. It was as if he was holding onto his life until someone told him it was ok to rest. Mark thought he was dead, but then the fool started to snore.
'What the hell is this guy made of?'
Since Sid still seemed to refuse to die, Mark picked him up as gingerly as he could and rushed him to the crevice to get some first-aid and whatever else medical attention the gate guard could get.
He dropped Sid off at the crevice, noticing guards shifting from gate to gate, reinforcements being called.
"Sam," Mark called out, as he Sid down. "The North gate needs reinforcements badly. This is the last of the guards that made it there."
The green-eyed captain of the crevice guards and commander of the growth defences sprinted over to speak with Mark. He looked down at the sorry state of Sid, sympathy in his eyes.
"Crazy, this one is still alive, thought I suppose his family is known for having that tenacious vitality. You said this is the last of the north guards? Just him?"
Mark nodded, pulling some nearby bandages over and handing them to Sam.
"I need to head to the West. I see Phill over there; it must be bad."
Sam nodded as well, "It is, the West is being attacked by several chimeric panthers. They could use you."
Mark just wordlessly headed over to Phill with a brisk pace as Sam stooped over Sid to help with the bandages. Soon, Mark could see more villagers coming forward with more medical supplies to help the wounded.
'Sid should be ok if he is going to make it this far . . .'
When Phill noticed Mark approaching, his gloomy face lit up a little.
"Mark! Are you here to help out at the West Gate? We could really use some help."
Mark patted his brother-in-law on the back, "Then let's be off, try to keep up."
Without waiting for Phill to respond, Mark took off at a full sprint, which caused Phill quite a bit of trouble, but his worry for his men and the defence of the West Gate allowed him to keep sight of Mark the whole way.
When Mark made it to the gate, he noticed that there were three chimeric panthers chewing up some of the gate guards. There was another trying to make it over the gate, and there were several bodies spread out over the area behind the gate. It was a bloodbath.
Phill audibly gasped as he caught up with Mark. His face went white as his breathing sped up much more than when he was trying to catch his breath. Mark left him there, where he would be safe.
The panthers had noticed the newcomers, but they were not prepared for Mark slamming a spear through one of their skulls from so far away. The two remaining panthers on the ground dropped their prey as their numbers were instantly reduced with Mark's advance.
Mark didn't break his stride as he retrieved his spear. The remaining panthers were wary and hesitated to attack, which was bad for the one on Mark's left since he sharply turned to that panther when he plucked his spear out of the first panther's head and sliced off the head of the panther he charged by repeating the trick he used against the Unikuma. He grabbed the far end of the shaft and swung his spear, increasing his reach by over three meters.
The third panther lept at Mark at this point, but he had already recovered and speared the panther through the chest while it was still in the air. He then redirected the force of the panther into the ground so its dead body didn't land on him.
The last panther was still on the gate, but now it was hissing at Mark, who had just, apparently, murdered the cat's entire family.
Mark picked up one of the spears off the ground that he noticed was a reinforced weapon he had repaired recently, and threw it straight through the panther's eye, causing it to finally drop into the village. It twitched a couple of times before going still.
Mark turned back to Phill, who still looked quite shaken up, muttering to himself.
"Get up, Phill. We need to get back to the crevice, and I need to get back to the East Gate."
In his incoherent state, Phill stood up and followed Mark without complaint. They quickly made it to the crevice where Mark had Phill take a seat as he informed Alex of the situation at the gate.
"Thanks for letting me know, and for getting rid of those chimera. I will dispatch a few hunter parties. The other hunting parties we dispatched from the East gate have yet to return. Are you headed that way?"
Mark nodded, "Yeah, I figured that would be the spot with the most frequent attacks this growth. I really didn't anticipate so many chimeric panthers grouping together. This growth is weird."
As Mark took off back to the East Gate, he heard Alex call out at an even tone, "You're telling me . . ."