It was a surprise to Nathan what he managed to notice even as the Demon’s drew closer; the bloodthirst in their eyes, the dried blood that spoke of previous hunts, the way their claws slid free, and their grotesque appearance, magnified now that they were closer. Somehow, within the time it had taken the horrors to reach him, Nathan had stopped the shaking and settled into an eerie calm. His situation was downright bad, yet despite knowing that he didn’t feel the slightest sense of panic. The lead Demon chose to leap right over the wreckage in front of Nathan, pouncing down on him, while the other three charged around to flank him. 

The thin arm came down in a flash, claws poised to cut through Nathan’s neck and rip into his chest. 

A screech, born from surprise rather than pain, filled the air for a split moment before that was silenced. The swing hadn’t just unarmed the Demon like Nathan had intended, but with his newfound strength he had actually managed to cleave through the creature’s neck as well, beheading and killing it instantly. It’s arm and head flipped through the air several times before they fell to the ground, and in that time the odds had evened out somewhat.

He didn’t know how he was able to do what he did, but against these odds, Nathan wouldn’t turn away even the slightest advantage. He simply took what he could get, and he got a lot. He had thought it was simply adrenaline, but that possibility was thrown out the window almost instantly. The fact that he jumped nearly two meters over a wrecked vehicle, avoiding the other three Demons that didn’t hesitate in the slightest, was proof enough. Whatever it was, he could contemplate on it later, when there weren’t a few Demons out for his blood. 

Nathan’s hand was brought to bear almost instantly the moment one of the remaining Demons bounded over the wreckage. A series of sharp cracks filled the air as he pulled the trigger, but instead of crashing dead into the ground, the Demon scrambled to get back up. Evidently these things had encountered other humans and firearms before; the way it had brought its arms up to protect itself spoke of previous experience. Bloodthirsty and carnage-driven Demons might have been, but Nathan loathed the fact that they weren’t dumb beasts. Before he could finish the creature off, it flung itself out of his reach and scrambled backwards and towards the other two. 

Surprisingly, and almost certainly attributed to whatever was influencing him, he didn’t even need to look back up to know what the other two were up to. They flanked the injured Demon’s sides, alternating their gazes between him and their pack member. This uneasy lull in the violence gave Nathan some time to think and he quickly ran through his options. While he had managed to kill one in a single blow, it had been out of surprise. If the three approached him all at once, his odds of winning weren’t the best. Better to retreat than to fight an unsure battle, but the question now was how?

Before he could think further though, the Demons pressed in against him again. Forced to fight, he fired off what remained of his magazine at one of the creatures, forcing it back and allowing him a two on one scenario. There were simply too many avenues of attack for him to cover and stand his ground though, and Nathan was quickly forced to retreat. Blade met bloody claws numerous times in the span of moments, and despite his seemingly enhanced strength, he couldn’t do much. They didn’t feel any pain, or at least that’s what it felt like, and every time he knocked one down the other would be on him too fast for the finishing blow. It had only been a few seconds, but the third one, he noticed it out of the corner of his vision, was about to join in and that was something he couldn’t allow.

He had to do something, and he had to do it now.