Bloodborne - 147 Beware the crazy hunter

Karla didn’t know whether the other hunters were alive or not, let alone if they were capable of lending her a hand. Curtis had disappeared after the second beast punched him with all its might. ‘It seems I can never have it easy in this place.’ Karla was running through the forest and used the trees as cover.

The two beasts either smashed the small trees in their way or went around the big ones. Their speed was phenomenal. If it weren’t for Karla jumping around and zigzagging, the beasts would’ve caught up to her and finished her. ‘I can’t keep running forever. It doesn’t look like I can separate them either. Time for plan: improvise!’

Against one, she could’ve used a hit and run tactic. Against two, she just had to rely on her survival instinct and come up with something that would help at least slow them down. Karla jumped high and landed on one of the trees. ‘If I get surrounded, I’m dead. I might as well try this crazy plan.’

The two beasts saw Karla jump on the tree and stood right below. They started pounding on the tree and the latter shook, threatening to fall at any moment. Her agility was of great use as she used the momentum from the tree swaying to jump farther towards another tree. ‘Damned beasts, can’t you just be a little bit slower?’

The two monsters were abnormally fast for their size. As soon as Karla landed on another tree, they would immediately follow suit and arrive immediately next to her. ‘This is bad. This is really bad.’ Karla kept on jumping from one tree to another. Her initial improvised plan failed miserably. ‘I have to risk it then. I refuse to die helplessly again.’

The moment Karla landed on another tree. She blindly jumped down and thrust her Saif downwards. After observing the two beasts, she had a vague idea regarding their speed. She decided to risk a surprise attack. She relied on her instincts combined with the enhanced capabilities she gained from the blood ministration.

A loud screamed filled the forest. Karla’s weapon tore through one of the beast’s neck and blood splattered everywhere. She managed to land a critical attack on one of the beasts. However, that was not enough to instantly kill it. The beast turned toward Karla and screeched with all its lungs. Putrid air filled Karla’s nostrils and almost made her faint.

She felt movement behind her and instantly ducked. The second blood starved beast slashed with its claws but missed Karla. Instead, it tore through the other beast’s mantle. It’s worth mentioning that blood starved beasts have mantles that flow behind their backs. The mantles are just their own skin that has been flayed and only attached through their neck.

The injured beast was infuriated and punched the other, sending it several paces away. That opening was enough for Karla to gamble again. She jumped on top of the injured beast and held the torn mantle with both hands. She jerked the flayed skin with all his might and detached it from the beast’s body.

That was enough to send the beast into a frenzied state. Karla, sensing imminent danger, used the beast’s body as a platform and jumped on a tree nearby. She kept jumping from one tree to another until she put enough distance between her and the injured monster. When she turned back, she saw purple fumes spewing out of the monster’s body.

All the plants around the beast withered and died instantly. ‘Poison!’ Karla was glad she ran away the moment she felt danger. The uninjured beast noticed Karla on a tree and followed her. “Do you need help with that miss?” Karla heard a deep voice from beneath the tree. The two hunters were done with their assignment and came back at the perfect moment.

“There are two of those here,” Karla shouted at the two. She could feel them getting tense the moment they heard that there were two. “You take care of this one, I’ll finish the other.” With that, Karla jumped around the trees towards the poison spewing monster. “Beware of its poison!” Her voice reached the two hunters as she disappeared in the dark.

“Where the hell is Curtis?” shouted the tall hunter as he activated his Beast Cutter. The big chunk of metal extended and became like a chain. It would definitely need a lot of strength to wield such a weapon. It looked like a gigantic saw that could extend using chains linked to each chunk.

With one swing, the weapon hit the beast in the face and staggered it. “Go around it, we need to keep its focus dispersed. It’s too fast for its size.” The big hunter told the skinny one. The latter nodded and immediately ran around the beast. The blood starved beast growled as it looked at the two hunters. It could clearly feel the danger it was in. It looked behind it, towards its companion and saw it fiercely fighting the little one.

Fighting only one beast was easier for Karla. Although its poison was very dangerous, she stayed cleared of the purple mist as she slowly hacked at it. The Saif was very useful for hit and runs. With Karla’s fighting style, the Saif was the best match she could ever hope for. With one uppercut from her weapon, Karla could shorten it and get immediately close to her opponent.

With another downward motion, she could swing her weapon and elongate it in the process. This would allow her to create some distance between her and the monster. With that tactic, added to her agility, she could easily hit the beast and run away from its retaliation. If looked like a person trying to catch a fly. The moment their hand extended, the fly would already be away from range.

Karla managed to enrage the monster and make its attack become reckless. The beast jumped back and landed ten paces away from Karla. It extended both arms horizontally as if inviting Karla to come over. ‘Is this thing taunting me?’ Purple fumes were instantly released from the beast’s pores and covered a large area, about a hundred feet.

Karla took her handkerchief and wrapped it around her nose. She jumped and disappeared from the mist. The beast jumped toward Karla but caught nothing. ‘I guess it was just trying to surprise me before it releases its poison.’ Karla was very cautious. Her fights in Yharnam and Yahar’gul made her very attentive to all details.

If she waited just a second inside that mist, she would be poisoned and the fight would turn ugly for her. When the beast realized that Karla had read through its attack, it let out another deafening screech and more mist spewed out. It blindly rampaged in its immediate vicinity. The beast seemed to completely forget that it was in a forest, that Karla was observing its crazed state from above.

After the beast’s rampage calmed down and the mist disappeared, Karla jumped down thrust her weapon through the beast’s back. She didn’t have much time. She knew the monster’s strength would soon outweigh hers. She jerked the weapon around and started rotating it, cutting a big hole on the spot her weapon landed. The beast shook its body violently and flailed its arms around.

Karla jumped away from the monster’s back and slowly walked around it. She knew she had disturbed the monster’s momentum. It was close to death, making it fierce but predictable. When Karla arrived in front of the monster, the latter saw her and its eyes became red. It swung its arm towards her extremely fast. Karla shot the beast then decapitated it after it got staggered.

She took her handkerchief and cleaned the blood away from her face. She then looked at the two hunters, struggling to kill the beast in front of them. The skinny one had a terrible time fending off the monster’s fast swings. The tall, monstrously strong hunter seemed out of breath despite holding his ground.

Using the beast cutter, he managed to push the beast back every time it started getting the upper hand. When Karla looked at them, the strong hunter had just landed a hit on the beast’s head. That destabilized it and caused it to retreat. Its eyes glowed red. ‘Not good!’ Karla ran towards the two to lend them a hand.

After the strong hunter noticed the red eyes, he immediately jumped back while swinging the beast cutter down. The extended weapon had an amazing reach which allowed the hunter to put a great distance between him and the beast, hitting it in the process. ‘What an amazing weapon!’ thought Karla as she ran towards the two hunters. ‘It’s a pity it requires tremendous strength to be used. Otherwise, this would be my second choice after the Saif.’

The skinny hunter wasn’t as fast. As soon as the beast’s eyes turned red, it looked at the closest person nearby and grabbed him. The skinny hunter released a miserable cry as the 20 foot tall beast stood on its hind legs and bit the poor man. The beast looked like it was munching on delicious prey.

Karla stopped and looked at the poor man being devoured by the beast. She was horrified. The skinny hunter’s eyes filled with tears. The sharp teeth tore through his flesh. The pain was unbearable. He thought of all the sacrifices he had to make in order to be accepted within the order.

He had spent countless hours buttering up the higher ups of the church until he was able to reach the inner circle of the Healing Church. As a church doctor, he demonstrated great potential even during excavations to the tombs of the Gods. His fighting spirit was soon noticed by the hunters that accompanied them. They later recommended him for blood ministration.

He finally found a way to prove his skills to the blood ministers who agreed to make him a hunter afterwards. After all the trouble he’d gone through, he was being eaten by a blood starved beast. The frustration inside of him built up to its peak. He let out a frustrated scream and the blood starved beast immediately released its grip on him.

“This is really bad, that hunter has gone crazy.” Curtis had finally managed to catch up to the team and was standing next to Karla when he spoke.