Again the bell tolled. A shiver ran down Arcturus' spine just as before, that unnatural sound provoking an instinctual sense of dread within him. He looked on with dismay as the shadowy nightmare, the men at the door had called it an 'echo', simply stood back up. Gone were the wounds they had inflicted upon it in the heat of the moment, not unlike the way that the beast's hand had gruesomely stitched itself back together.

[i]The bell.[/i] His yet unnamed ally was right. So long as the bell could chime, wherever it was, their hateful assailant would not cease in its efforts to kill them. The young officer's icy blue eyes shifted away from the echo to glance at those in the door. Beast and man alike stood uncertain, hesitant at the sight of the reincarnated horror. These foes of theirs seemed undisciplined. Literally just townsfolk with a cobbled together arsenal, resembling an unruly mob more than any organized adversary.

His mind working quickly, Arcturus turned his gaze back to the inky foe standing between him and his comrade. He figured it to be the biggest threat, and he wanted to kill it before the beast could regain its nerve... Just as he was thinking that, beginning to move towards the echo in order to attack it from behind, the man in charred clothing was suddenly sent flying across the room. Just as it had done to their other comrade not a half-minute earlier. The sight at once both made his heart sink and steeled his aggressive conviction. However he had not taken two steps towards the shadowy being when the reassuring words of the other man reached his ears.

Arcturus was hesitant to leave the other man alone against the vicious echo, but as he turned to face the beast he realized that he didn't have a choice. The heinous monstrosity had more of a spine than he'd judged it to. Flourishing his saber, the young man stood his ground, letting the beast do the work of closing the distance while he tried to steady his breathing. Truth be told it was an intimidating sight.

Yet he wondered whether he was the only one who felt that way. The men outside the door had repeatedly referred to him and his ally by that strange title. [i]'Hunter.'[/i] It was a moniker that seemed to instill some apprehension in them, and the way they looked at him... Arcturus still did not know what they meant, but perhaps he could take advantage of it? [i]Perhaps he could break their ranks and run them down like sheep.[/i]

The thundering sound of a gunshot, the familiar discharge of a rifle, caused his muscles to tense momentarily. A reflex born of having been under fire many a time. This time the room was not filled with the scent of gunsmoke, however, as the unseen gunman did not appear to be firing on them. This realization caused Arcturus' lips to curl up into a smirk. Whatever was going on out there, their enemies were now fighting on two flanks.

There was no better time to [i]attack.[/i] Arcturus suddenly rushed forward, ducking down once he was in range to more easily strike at its legs. He didn't have preference for either leg, targeting whichever one was furthest forward. It was a forceful strike, intended to bring the [i]thing[/i] to its knee. For his piercing, predatory eyes were not fixed on the beast's legs at which he struck, but instead upon its disfigured face. He knew it would simply regenerate from any injury it gave it, but he wondered...

[i]Could it regrow its head?[/i]