Eryas manages to dodge to the side from the dark dog attack. Then the second dark dog launches its attack. Eryas pulls out the black throwing knife and tries to stab it. 

The first dog, however, dashed towards Eryas and hit him on the side. Both Eryas and the second dog miss their attack, but the second dog's fangs still manage to scratch Eryas's hand a little. Eryas rolls to his side from the hit. He groans from the pain.

Without wasting any seconds, both of the dark dogs launch their attacks onto the injured Eryas. He could do nothing but receive the attacks. 

He raised his hands in a defensive position, trying to block the sharp jaws of both dark dogs. One dog bit onto his right forearm, while the other went straight to his abdomen. 

The momentum also pushed him back further, nearing the edge of the building they were on. Eryas could not help himself groan from pain. 

The one that bites on the abdomen does not hurt so much as there is armour protecting it, but the one on the hand does. He felt like his hand was about to get torn off. The biting power of a dark dog is not a joke. 

Blood overflowing from his hand falls everywhere into his body. Eryas could not think clearly about what he needed to do to shake off the dogs. His mind was fully occupied with the unbearable pain. 

He wanted to reach for the knives, but the knife pouch was inside the dark dog's jaws. If he tries to force it open, his hand might actually get torn off. 

Eryas tries punching both dark dogs with his left, struggling to break free, until eventually the ground beneath them cracked open and the three of them fell down into darkness.

Inside the ruins of a falling building, the lights barely got through it. The calm environment was suddenly disturbed by coughing.

Eryas regained his consciousness. He coughed from the dust around him, and some blood was coming out of his mouth. 

He pushes himself from the floor, ignoring all the pain in his body. He manages to sit correctly on the ground and check through the damage. Luckily, there were no broken bones except for his right arm. 

He was relieved that it was not completely torn off. The way his right hand looked right now is so grotesque. His hand broke at the forearm; the area from his fingers to the middle of his forearm bent outwards. Blood was flowing out from the broken part of his forearm. 

The blood flowed out so much that it formed a puddle under him. His right hand situation has gotten much worse. Just looking at it causes Eryas to feel the pain so much worse. 

He steadied his breath, then carefully opened the knife bag in his right hand and took out the last black throwing knife he had.

He grabbed the knife and cut off the right-hand sleeves of his jacket. The sleeves were then ripped off completely, revealing the real look of his hand. His breathing hastened, his sweat dripped from his head, and he felt lightheaded and almost faint.

Around the injured area, everything was covered in red. The skin was bruised so badly that the entire wound was bluish-red. Deep red blood flows out of it. But amidst all the redness, there was suddenly one white colour that stood out from it. 

Eryas, suppressing the pain, brought his hand closer. His eyes widened when he saw that his bone was protruding from it. He could not discern which bone had been snapped, either the radius or the ulna. One of those definitely broke and pierced out from his flesh.

His left hand slowly reached out for the broken part. At first, he hesitated to touch. But then he strengthened his resolve and grabbed the bent wrist. The pain he felt was so outrageous, but he endured it. Tears slowly fell from his eyes, then he took one deep breath.

"ARGHHH!!!"

He pulls the broken hand and snaps it back into place. The pain he felt was so crazy and unbearable. It already ranked among the top five most excruciating pains he had ever felt. He is not sure what number it took, but it is absolutely worth it in those top five.

Right after those horrid screams he let out, his ears were greeted with the howling of the pair of darkness dogs. And the sound is near.

He quickly took the ripped sleeves and wrapped them around the wound. The pain still has not subsided; every time he turns the wrap, every time he feels the pain sting. 

He didn't have time to find anything suitable to become a splint, so he just wrapped the wound around the wound, trying to prevent further blood loss.

He could not sacrifice his knife as it was the last weapon he had for self-defence.

Eryas stands up, holding the knife tight in his left hand and runs away, hiding in the shadows.

After a few seconds had passed, he could hear two sets of footsteps of a four-legged creature closing by. 

He peeked through the gap in the fallen rubble he had hidden behind. He could see that both darkness dogs were approaching the puddle of blood that he had left on the ground. Both of them bring their muzzles close to the blood and slowly lick it. 

Surprisingly, both creatures instantly spit back the blood.

'Come on, I'm offended. I know that I'm manaless but it can't be that bad.'

And because of the manaless condition, those creatures couldn't determine his location either.

Eryas shifted his gaze across the area, scanning the ruins' structures. Then he took one rock into his left hand and threw it at the partially collapsed wall behind those dogs. Both darkness creatures turn their attention towards the sound and bark at it.

Eryas then took another rock and threw it at the unstable wall opposite the first one. The wall then falls, producing louder sounds than before. Both dogs turned and barked, but this time one moved towards the sound, leaving the other near the blood puddle.

This is what he wants, separating both of them. Now the other one was left behind; this is his chance. Eryas grips his black knife and leaps across the wall he hid behind. He walked with hastened steps, but no noise was made.

The confused and unsuspecting dog did not even notice Eryas's presence. The stench of blood from the nearby blood puddle masks the smell of Eryas. With one smooth motion, he stabs at the middle of its head right through its brain.

The darkness dog walks towards the fallen debris, checking if its prey is hiding behind it. It walks around, looking for any clues about its prey and sniffing the area. When there is nothing of interest, it turns back towards its friend.

That creature rushed back, barking, to check on its friend. The once-red blood puddle has turned black and grown larger. The darkness dog that had been killed was lying cold on the ground, unmoved. 

The blood from its head flows out from the wound like a fountain.

Looking at its friend, the one that was still alive, it barked a few times before continuing to growl in every direction.

Suddenly, there is the sound of debris moving from its left, the sound of something falling behind and the sound of footsteps from its right and left. The darkness dog was confused. It didn't know which direction to look. 

Until eventually, when it turns back, a silhouette of a man is already close to it. The dog did not manage to attack or bark, as its vision faded and blood could be felt flowing out from its head before it slowly fell to the ground, dead.

Eryas pulls out the black knife. He cleans the blade of the black blood. He was out of breath. It has been a year already since he was involved in any assassination activity.

"I guess I need to train my stamina back."

After he had rested a bit, he took a last glance at the area, confirming that both of his enemies had died entirely. Eryas walks away from the ruins. He walks out from under the half-collapsed building into the open road.

He took a gaze at his right arm. The makeshift bandage from the jacket sleeve has already turned dark red. He has already numbed himself to the pain. He could not feel anything below the elbow.

'I couldn't fight Hars in this condition. Need to regroup."

When he wanted to walk away, he suddenly heard a familiar scream.

"Let me go!"

"Help!!!"

"Let me go, you stupid bird!"

Eryas turns his head to the sky. He could see a large black bird was holding something... somebody in its massive talons.

"Clara!"

Clara, who was still struggling inside the bird's grip, heard her name being called from below. She took a quick glance and saw a silhouette of a man right beneath him. From the voice, she knew who it was.

"Eryas, help!!!"

Eryas slowly turns to where the bird is heading. Then he picked up the pace to follow the flying bird. Then he shouted.

"Clara! The knife! Use the knife!"

Hearing those words, she quickly took the black throwing knife Eryas gave her earlier. She almost dropped it before she got to hold it firmly in her hand. Every time she has the knife, she can feel a sense of dread coming from it. But this time, she needs to ignore it. Using the knife, she stabs right at the bird's legs.

Right after the blade of the knife bit deep into the leg, the sound of wings flapping instantly disappeared. She felt something was wrong about it.

"Huh?"