> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 6)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +10 Energy gained
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 7)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +10 Energy gained
Her rage had completely taken over, and she swung and swiped and butchered. Flashes of lightning streaked by her, and she knew Susan had her back.
The angels screeched and hissed, but they kept tripping over the bodies on the floor. Wherever they placed their hands and feet, they skid on blood and tumbled over one another. Jenny and Susan stepped back as they had to, both of them screaming and striking as best they could. At least they were all Tarnished Angels and easy to kill now that they’d leveled up and strengthened their stats.
> Leveled up!
>
> Jenny Huang, Level 8 -> Level 9
>
> +2 Stat Points
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 9)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +10 Energy gained
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 7)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +10 Energy gained
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 7)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +10 Energy gained
> Leveled up!
>
> Jenny Huang, Level 9 -> Level 10
>
> +2 Stat Points
> Ranking Bonus! Stage i -> Stage ii
>
>
> Congratulations on breaching the first threshold!
>
> 30 Stat Points have been awarded
>
> 1 Energy Core has been awarded
Her head felt as though it would implode. The thoughts kept coming, and the strain on her muscles kept increasing. She was running on pure adrenaline, her stamina nearly out, and she couldn’t even make sense of the Ranking Bonus message. What was an Energy Core?
She struck the next angel down, and it landed at her feet, blood gushing from its mouth and the huge gash she’d made in its neck.
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 8)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
More energy? They gave more energy now? Before she could process it, another angel grabbed her leg with both hands. With a scream, she swung her hatchet, separating its arms from its shoulders, and it landed on its face. Its teeth still gnashing. It wriggled towards her as she kicked off its arms. She ended its life with another thwack, bringing down her hatchet just as she would on firewood.
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 9)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
They’d been forced back, down the hall away, away from the stairwell. Jenny was sweating all over underneath her armor. Her breathing was ragged, and there were only split seconds to catch her breath. How many angels had she killed already? How many were left?
She glanced at Susan whose pink helmet had been knocked slightly. She was bleeding from several scratches on her face, but any angel that got near her fell to the floor after a jolt from her cattle prod. Every once in a while, a bolt of lightning erupted from the prod and pierced through any angels that seemed like they would crowd Jenny.
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And more than once, if an angel got the best of Susan, Jenny would throw her hatchet at it. Either killing it outright or cutting into its back and giving Susan an opening to finish it off. Golden light flashed each time Jenny recalled her hatchet.
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 8)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 8)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
That same wild thrill from earlier filled her chest. Was this a second wind? What runners felt when they reached the point of exhaustion but managed to push through? A burst of inner strength... Maybe it was because she’d ranked up. She felt a wave of strength even as her lungs burned with every shallow breath. She felt like she could do this forever. She wanted to kill every single one of these creepy fuckers.
> Bloodlust Ecstasy Bonus
A thought emerged in her head, but she couldn’t quite focus on it. It came and went and she had to push an angel back with her hatchet’s handle, its teeth having been inches from her face.
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 7)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 9)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
> Leveled up!
>
> Jenny Huang, Level 10 -> Level 11
>
> +3 Stat Points
They were nearly at the double doors. That would let them into the Math wing, where Oliver’s class had been. The school library was down that way too. If they could just get through the doors... it would slow down the angels enough. Maybe they could even get into a classroom and bolt the door. If they could just get a chance to rest and use their stat points.
But before she could yell at Susan, a scream, shrill and loud beyond anything else in the hallway, echoed all over. Her blood ran cold. She recognized it.
Then there was another. This one was higher pitched and sounded like a group of women screaming at the top of their lungs.
The Tarnished Angels stopped attacking. Only about a dozen were left now with many of them dead on the floor. Jenny and Susan stepped back, shaking and trying to steady their breathing as they saw the two figures standing in the lobby. Two Wretched Angels. They must have come from one of the other halls. Sweat ran down the side of Jenny's face. She felt cold. She felt like she might throw up again.
The first one was massive, bigger than the one she’d killed earlier. It had a glistening black covering with what looked like tendrils coming off its back. It had muscle. That much was obvious. It looked about as big as the senior boys who’d spend all their free time in the weight training room. It was male judging by the thing swinging between its legs as it moved on all fours.
> Wretched Angel (Level 26)
The other one was thinner. It was covered in light-blue and had two antennae sticking out of its head like an insect. Its limbs were long and thin, and it had flowing golden hair. While the bigger male angel was covered completely in that black shine, this was one was female, and its front was pale and uncovered.
> Wretched Angel (Level 21)
Jenny had the odd impression that the two Wretched Angels were a couple. And somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if these angels had some form of society. If they mated. If they felt love.
Sweat drenched her back, her sides, everything. Her hair was stuck to her face. Jenny was breathing hard and could see that Susan didn’t have much left in her either. She was barely able to stand. Both their armors were worse for the wear. Scales missing. Scratched up, and dented in other places. Was this it then? Was this as far as they went?
The Tarnished Angels backed away. They’d stopped attacking as soon as the bigger angels had announced their presence with their screaming. There was clearly a hierarchy. Some distant memory from when she'd studied pack animals came to mind.
She swallowed and adjusted her grip. There was a tremor in her arms and legs that bothered her. So, she pulled up her stats, wanting to use up the bonus she’d gotten when she hit level 10. Maybe if she could strengthen herself and boost her stamina and agility then.... She never got the chance.
The female angel dashed forward and was in front of them before they could blink. Susan cried out. The angel swung her long blue arm and hit Susan in the face, knocking her back and against a wall. She skidded to a stop a few feet away.
Jenny barely got to turn before the angel’s face was right beside her leg. Its teeth sank into her thigh. Her armor crackled and gave away, and Jenny screamed. It bit straight through and into her leg. She wanted to swing her hatchet. She could bury the edge in the angel’s blonde-haired head. But a motion in the corner of her eye drew her attention.
The other angel. The large muscular male was rushing for Susan, galloping on all fours.
“No!” cried Jenny, and she forced a step forward, turning her body even with the first angel grabbing her waist as it bit her again. She flung her hatchet.
It struck the black covering of the angel, clanging as though she’d hit metal. Her hatchet’s edge cut through, and the Wretched Angel howled in pain. Its tendrils wriggling like mad, it turned to face Jenny.
She could see straight into its white eyes. She recognized the look even though it wasn’t human. That was fury. That was completely and utter fury, a look she’d seen on her mother’s face one night when Jenny got caught with her stash of weed.
Blood rushed down one of her legs. She felt the hallway spinning as she fell to the floor. The one chewing on her leg had stopped. It scratched and pulled at her armor where it was broken. As though jenny was a fruit, and the angel was trying to get to her flesh. The creature stared with unblinking white eyes, a fierce scowl on its face as blood and drool ran down its chin.
The bigger one lumbered towards her on all fours, limping slightly with her hatchet sticking out of a shoulder blade.
Jenny covered her face with her arms. Trying to turn away. Trying to summon her hatchet. And before she knew it, she was struggling with both of them. It was a blur of black metallic skin, the tendrils, the blonde hair of the other angel. Blood. And teeth. She recalled her hatchet with a burst of golden light. She kicked the black one in the balls, and it howled.
But before she could attack with her hatchet, the blonde knocked it out of her hand. Jenny's fingers slid into its mouth.
There was a crunch, and she screamed again. Nails clawed her face, and she thought this was it. This was it. This was how she died. She screamed again and again, till her throat broke, still trying to push them off. Trying and failing to recall her hatchet as one angel chewed on her hand and the other grabbed her by the hair.
Just as the male was about to bite through her exposed neck, a burst of light filled the hall.
Several lights. They cut through the gloom of the veil. Both the angels hissed painfully, scrambling back to cover their eyes, leaving Jenny coughing and limp on the floor.
Am I dead?
Is that... holy light?
It’s so bright...
The last thing she remembered was a figure bending over in front of her. They were just a mass of brown and black, a silhouette in all the light. Was it another angel? A person? Jesus?
“Susan...” she tried to say. Don't touch her. Don't you dare touch her. But she couldn't speak. She was barely holding on to consciousness. She felt hands go underneath her, and her body came off the ground. Her head lolled back. Everything went black.