Explosions of sound and force ripped into the wide, dirt-paved road, some clashes so violent they shook the foundations of nearby buildings. Occasionally, yelps and cries of fear emanated from a dark interior, reacting to the screech of stinger versus metal.
For her part, Beelzebub felt like smacking her head against a rock - it would likely be less stubborn than the bastard she faced. She thrust with her stinger, so quickly a bullet would seem slow. Then she did it again three times.
Each thrust was deflected with perfect precision, like a machine that could move a bayonet faster than sound designed specifically to foil Beelzebub’s attacks. There was no trick, no mysterious Ability, no unusual application of Mind. Beelzebub could tell. Slash, thrust, parry, over and over without success. She could see Ben’s view, his inability to land a solid hit on Jey despite his speed. This was nothing like that.
Greyan moved with unparalleled grace, flowing naturally like the river outside the central hive. Beelzebub had seen nothing like it in her short life. Even her perfect, amazing brother Bedivere couldn’t compare - with pure physical might, speed, skill, and Mind, Greyan was the pinnacle of combat.
Greyan deflected a particularly deep thrust with a flowery twirl, and quicker than Beelzebub could react, he struck out, his gauntleted fist sending Beelzebub crashing into an already cracked door. Another wall was destroyed as she flew through it, and again, and again. She crashed through three buildings without managing to stop herself before she stopped. Dazed, she gasped for breath, Mom’s Ability going to work healing the new injury. The Ability had already been hard at work trying to keep Beelzebub in the fight, and this was just another addition to the pile of damage Beelzebub was gradually accumulating.
A growl turned into a furious roar. Beelzebub shot from the doorway so quickly that the entire front of the building cracked. Stinger first, she tried to catch Greyan off guard, get in closer than his bayonet’s range.
He simply dodged. The power of her flight was enough to push Greyan away, but nothing else. Despite the sudden attack, despite her speed, despite enduring enough power to push his entire body, Greyan still struck out with his weapon and give Beelzebub another scratch.
Of all her injuries, of all the attacks, the tiny scratch that Greyan had just clipped into her leg did something to Beelzebub’s psyche. Her rage was already boiling over, her Mind oozing off her like bright red sludge, but with the scratch, it was as if an earthquake shook her soul. The focused, powerful anger suddenly exploded like a volcano spewing emotion into the night air. Greyan’s helmet twitched. A flinch? No. Acknowledgment. The emotion Beelzebub felt, the rage and excitement, were unlike anything she’d felt. It wasn’t just a thrill of battle - it was like a toxin, arresting her body.
She’d never felt so good in her life. It was like she had never been truly alive until this moment, this fight. She looked at Greyan, the Knight Commander already coiling his body, preparing for another assault. This was what she wanted, what she needed. She would fight with her life on the line, she would come close to death, and she would kill Greyan. Then she would go to the capital and do it all again, with every Knight she could find.
The bayonet nearly skewered her, but her stinger met it just in time. Greyan’s helmet twitched again when he looked at her. Did he notice something different?
“You’re having fun, bee. Hm. A warrior at heart, a brutal one at that. But young. Inexperienced. Your Mind betrays everything you feel. It’s so extreme that I’d almost wonder if it were purposeful.”
Beelzebub didn’t respond, electing only to continue attacking. What was the point? He wouldn’t understand her anyway. And, she didn’t want to understand Greyan, the person, any longer. She wanted to fight. Everything that needed to be said could be said in a fight.
The two exchanged blows, Beelzebub struggling to match Greyan’s most forceful strikes. Her thoughts raced. Overall, Beelzebub was faster, and her average blow was stronger than Greyan’s. But he was more skilled, and the peak of his strength went above Beelzebub’s. What advantages did she have?
She was realizing how outmatched she actually was. Their Minds? She wasn’t sure, but Greyan’s Mind was stronger than any human she’d encountered - only Jill Yemonto even came close. Thanks to it, she hadn’t even landed a hit. Their Abilities? As far as she could tell, Greyan hadn’t even revealed it yet. And her own required her to sting her opponent. And she hadn’t even been able to reach his armor yet; who knew how durable his shiny metal shell was? He even had the advantage of range - not something Beelzebub would typically consider. Bedivere also lorded his range over her, with his excessively long stinger, but with enough speed she could sometimes overcome that hurdle. Not so with Greyan.
There was Elofan’s Ability. But if this was the power Greyan could display while under its effects, she assumed it would take ages for him to become weak enough for her to dominate. Mom’s healing Ability was one of the few things Beelzebub could count on. It kept her in the fight, it afforded her time. She was sure even Greyan felt a tinge of frustration at seeing his successful attacks rendered near useless given enough time.
To make matters better, the Ability had become more potent. Beelzebub knew that one of the attacks either she, Ben, or one of the humans received must have been grievous enough to result in Mom’s Ability leveling up. It still wasn’t absurdly powerful, but it was strong enough to be extremely annoying.
Beelzebub easily dodged a bullet, and only narrowly dodged the follow-up stab. A battle of attrition wouldn’t work. Greyan wasn’t weakening fast enough, and the healing, while effective, wasn’t infallible. The moment she sustained enough damage, Greyan would either kill her or pivot to help his teammates, leaving her in the dust. She had to find a way to beat him.
It wasn’t completely hopeless. A strike there, a slash here, pushed Greyan to the point of him grunting with effort. Whether because of her speed and resulting power, or because his bayonet was not designed to act as a sort of makeshift sword, eventually she might break through and get close. But it would be a monumental feat.
“You’re a stubborn thing. Annoyingly so. I’m beginning to see how you caught Jey off guard.”
Greyan’s words struck a chord in Beelzebub. Jey was just a failure - her attack was aiming to kill, not incapacitate. She wasn’t sure how, but somehow Jey had moved just enough to avoid getting her brain pierced. It wasn’t speed like Greyan’s, and even with her senses that were revealed, she shouldn’t have been able to react so quickly. It was like her body moved more quickly than things could even happen.
Greyan didn’t continue giving her clues. Instead, with his words, the pressure of his Mind spiked significantly. Before, Beelzebub had scarcely sensed anything from the Knight’s Mind. Like him, it was ever calm, like a babbling brook that courted violence. But this spike could mean only one thing: his Ability.
Her vision was good enough to the scraps of wood that flew towards her and she dodged, expecting a trick. The wood flew towards Greyan and clunked pathetically against his armor. Despite herself, Beelzebub tilted her head.
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Greyan chuckled. “Even I can see you’re confused. Yes, my Ability is nothing special. All I can do is pull objects towards myself. I wasn’t sure how effective the distraction would be on you, what with your insectoid eyes and all. But I suppose it’s better than nothing.”
Beelzebub wanted to cry. Instead, she laughed maniacally. She wasn’t as smart as some of the other bees, but she wasn’t that stupid! What did Greyan take her for? He was supposed to be the one who gave her what she needed, a proper fight to the death. Instead, he was mocking her.
It was a lie, surely. Anybody could pull or push objects with Mind. Most likely, it was a clever ploy, intending to catch Beelzebub off guard. He would lie, creating an artificial spike in his usage of Mind to pretend to use his Ability, then catch her off guard with his true power.
As if! Once again, Beelzebub wanted to scream in annoyance. This was a ploy meant to deceive an idiot, or maybe a stupid animal. Who would think an Ability that weak was the ace in his sleeve? Obviously his Ability was something entirely different.
Some of the bees, including Belial, buzzed in her head. Maybe she was right, but what if it was actually a double-sided trick? His Ability actually was to pull things towards him, but he just made it seem weak to mess with her thoughts.
To Beelzebub, nothing changed. If anything, she was more determined than ever to kill the human before her. With a snort of spite, she used her Mind to pick up a collection of wooden scraps, far more than Greyan had picked up, crushing them into a tight ball which she launched at him at blinding speed.
It wasn’t much for an attack. Greyan dodged it easily and chuckled again, much to Beelzebub’s annoyance.
“Either you can understand me, or you’re just a spiteful creature. Most likely both. Regardless, I’m telling the truth of my Ability. It may prove more troublesome than you expect.”
She doubted that, but the annoying buzzing from the hive forced her to keep his threat under consideration. If it turned out to be a threat, Beelzebub was in serious trouble., Greyan was already pushing her beyond her limit, so she needed to think of something, fast.
Think… Yeah, that might yield results. She had already practiced the thing Mom was learning. Focus. She wasn’t sure how it would help her overcome Greyan’s overwhelming power, but she knew her win condition: sting Greyan. Her Ability would activate, and he’d no longer be able to keep up with her. If the focus somehow allowed her to get that single sting, she would have a chance. Greyan wouldn’t be able to tell, but Beelzebub was smiling, a wild look in her eyes.
She would kill him.
----------------------------------------
Ben was sure of it: Jey could only hear really good. Just like he could see really good. Somehow, she was using her Mind to take advantage of the knowledge her senses provided, allowing her to react to things practically before they even happened.
It wasn’t fair! Ben could see good, and he couldn’t predict the freaking future. Who ever heard of hearing the future? Seeing the future was the thing everyone talked about!
A barrage of stings landed on Jey’s armor, not enough to cause damage but still knocking her off-balance. She growled and adjusted herself, kicking and punching so quickly that Ben almost had to try in order to avoid them. She wasn’t faster than a bullet, so avoiding her attacks was no trouble.
Until she clipped one of his wings with one of her wild kicks. Oh right. Thanks to her hearing, she didn’t need to be as fast as Ben. She could hit him just by knowing where he would go. He backed out of her range, hoping she would tire as he watched for an opening. Instead, he took note of the state she was in.
If Jey was slick with sweat before, now she was drenched. Her breathing wasn’t just heavy, it was wild and erratic. Her eyes were bloodshot, her muscles spasming. But what really made him cringe was Beelzebub’s sting. Bright red veins spider-webbed from the wound, crawling up her arm and even reaching her right cheek. Where before her Mind had been calm, tinged with a small amount of fear and anger, now it more closely resembled the roaring boil of a certain angry bee.
“Argh! Just stay still, you fucking insect! Fight me! I’ll kill you!”
Beelzebub? No, what Ben was seeing wasn’t her, but the results of her Ability, [Corruption Eruption]. It was working well, but it put Ben in more danger. The violence of her Mind wouldn’t be fun to feel the brunt of.
[Corruption Eruption
Level 4
Acquired by: Birth. From birth, you craved violence, and when the entirety of your Mind came into existence, it developed a method of ‘encouraging’ others to share your desire.
When the Ability is active, the victim of your sting is injected with a Mind-based venom. As the poison spreads, the victim’s Mind is influenced to crave violence and steep in rage. They will uncontrollably exert their Mind as long as they are corrupted, possibly to the point of Collapse. Creatures with a Mind more powerful than yours can more easily resist the corruption.
Level up: Cause the Mind Collapse of a creature with a 3rd Degree Mind or higher
]
Ben knew Beelzebub’s Ability, and he thought it was sort of freaky. He’d seen her practicing with it on squirrels and other forest creatures, enough to level it significantly. It was pretty effective on Jey, at least.
Jey’s helmet appeared in front of Ben’s face. Ben yelped and dodged out of the way of a crazed swipe of her hand. He looked down - they were several meters in the air! And she was still wearing her pieces of armor!
Jey began to fall, much more slowly than Ben expected. He was out of reach, and yet she still thrust her hand forward as if to grab him. To his surprise, her gauntlets flew off her hands, straight towards him. He tried to dodge, but the second gauntlet caught him by one of his lower legs somehow. Its fingers closed and pulled. Waves of Mind filled with rage oozed around the gauntlet. It was far too powerful; he wasn’t strong enough to resist, but he eventually slipped from its grip. Despite the escape, he growled in pain. His leg was mangled, enough for the healing to concentrate there more strongly than on any of his other wounds.
He needed to take this chance. Mustering all his courage and his Mind, he flew at Jey, stinging as quickly as he could. Going into the air, his domain, was a big mistake. Unlike on the ground, all Jey’s movements were made with Mind, exhausting her further. Ben even managed to catch her on her skin and clothes a few times.
Jey fell to the ground in a heap. She hadn’t been able to right herself. Ben flew, but Jey’s Mind exploded like a wellspring of nauseating fire. She screamed, making a sound Ben hadn’t heard from any human before. Something primal, containing all the fear and fury of a dying inferno. Stone, metal, dirt, wood all flew to meet Ben’s advance. It was all he could do to dodge the storm of debris flying at him.
It was too much. Ben was about to fly far away until he saw something odd. Some sort of bluish boulder was barreling through the street, straight for him. His confusion mounted. A gunshot rang out, strangely loud, and his gaze was drawn away from the fight. A lone bullet flew through the air, and he could barely see the others on his team stop to look at it.
None of them could see as much as him. He sent a signal to Grehn and Vlugh, warning them. Meyara was still on the move. He watched as the bullet flew far, right towards Greyan and Beelzebub. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t for Greyan to catch it. Ben could see it. He could feel it with his Mind. He cried out for Beelzebub, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t stop looking at the bullet, and yet her attention was pulled away from it towards Greyan himself. She couldn’t focus on both at once.
His bayonet pierced through her, grinding against her hard exterior. She roared, a mixture of rage and excitement. Despite being run through, Beelzebub took the opportunity to punch Greyan. No stinger, all Mind. The man’s head snapped back and he flew, crashing through a building, eliciting screams from somewhere inside.
Ben turned, the bullet now out of sight and far away. Jey was still struggling, but now someone else stood there. A Knight, resplendent in ghostly blue armor, flaunting a larger-than-life form of pure power.
“By the Human, this is ridiculous! The peasantry is rebelling, you’re getting your ass beat by some bug, and Meyara is still dealing with a couple of mercenaries. What has the world come to?”
Ben knew that voice. That snooty, mocking voice. The fourth Knight had finally joined the fray. He could see Muweh too, running towards the battle as fast as her old legs could carry. Oh, and one more thing. A bunch of angry cultists, waving around pitchforks and torches, beefed up on phantom swamp gas.
Ben wasn’t sure how to feel. The air was no longer fresh, now full of smoke and blood, along with the constant hint of lemon. The once idyllic little town looked like a bed of chaos. He was confident, but the battle was already taking its toll on him. He decided he wanted to know to fight, but he didn’t want to actually fight. Not like Beelzebub. He looked at the Knights, the mercenaries, the town, and the cultists. All he knew was that everything looked really freaking weird.