For most sane warriors, they would run. In fact, many experienced soldiers would state that not running was a fool’s decision, the actions of that of a suicidal moron. After all, who on earth would continue to fight when they were completely out of energy and faced with a decent swarm of enemies?

Not the Wushi. No, even when she was being charged by seven beasts, she did not feel the urge to run. Rather, she felt glee, the feeling of being pushed up to the wall and given the chance to finally prove herself.

Her master had told her before that the most dangerous type of enemy was a desperate one. There was a reason one never corners a wounded animal, for they will become a storm of death in a last-ditch effort to survive. However, for years, she never could understand what her master meant by this. A wounded, cornered animal was the most dangerous? How was that possible when they were going to be far too weak to fight back?

She understood his worries now. Right here, she didn’t feel as exhausted as before. Her legs had loosened up, her arms weren’t as heavy as before, and her energy levels were soaring. At this very moment, she felt free. She felt more alive than ever before.

The first wolf that approached her launched its right claw towards her, aiming to rip her throat out in one fell swoop. It clearly did not expect her to redirect the incoming strike to the left, nor did it anticipate her countering with a palm strike to the face. Even though she wasn’t able to blast apart its skull in one strike, the fact the beast’s teeth shattered and went flying told her more than enough.

The beast whined as it took a few steps back out of pain, giving her the distance and time to strike once more. She brought her hands together into one fist and slammed them right onto the monster’s head. The yaoguai’s eyes bulged out of its head and its skull cratered from the impact, before flopping onto the ground dead.

That kill forced the rest of the beasts to halt in their tracks and they all started to back up. They all looked at each other for a brief moment, before nodding and snarling at the Wushi. Then, they began to split up and move in circles.

The moment of suspicion gave her another chance to take a few deep breaths to collect more energy, but not for long. One of the beasts slammed its hand onto the ground and proceeded to rip out handfuls of dirt while two other monsters started rushing her from opposing sides. However, things were different. She had been given the chance to recover slightly, which meant she had enough in her reserves for this maneuver.

With another breath, she focused her will onto the dirt being held by the monster. All of that earth solidified and formed into spikes, which proceeded to launch themselves right into the beast’s head. The creature obviously could not predict such an event occurring, as there was no way to defend against such an attack. The two spikes went and pierced right through its skull, leaving two holes in its head.

She then backpedaled a few steps back and forced the charging beasts to slow down and redirect their attack to keep up with her. With this maneuver she was able to take the chance to rush forward with a sweeping kick. The attack landed, which caused both of the yaoguai to collapse onto the ground. She turned to capitulate on this chance, but she was unfortunately not given the chance to do so.

Another beast tackled her to the ground. She landed harshly and found herself under the foot of one of those beasts. The monster roared before swiping at her neck with both claws. She caught both of its arms before they could connect, but now she was fighting a losing battle.

The sharp claws were getting closer to her face and she knew the others were rushing in now. With another yell, she reared one of her legs back and slammed it right into the knee of the beast. That impact created a loud crack that resonated throughout the area and forced the beast’s leg to cave inwards.

It cried out in pain and collapsed in on itself. The Wushi used the chance to get away from the beast and stomp right on its head to finish it off. At that, she had to turn quickly to avoid another strike from one of the other monsters still standing. She took a few steps back once more and took grasp of the situation.

The two she had knocked down before were still on the ground, trying to get back up. Three had been taken out by her hand, which left these two standing as the more important issue in mind. She had to ignore her instincts at this point, there was no way she would be able to take out the two on the ground and fight back against the other duo all at the same time.

But she could make things easier for herself. She crouched down and secured two stones in each of her hands, before looking at the two standing monsters. They both growled at her and started to take a few steps forward. She grinned before rearing back and launching the two projectiles directly at them.

They reacted quickly. The one on the left crouched down quickly and jumped forward towards her while the other one tried to back away and dodge the incoming rock. However, that didn’t end up paying off, as the flying stone ripped right into its throat. The beast gagged as it fell to the ground, blood gushing out of the open wound as it desperately struggled to get the protrusion out to no avail.

The last standing beast came closer. The two were now a breath apart. The Wushi sneered as she reared her leg back, ready to knee the beast in the face. That smirk was wiped off her face when she felt something slam right into her stomach.

She staggered. The beast slashed her stomach. Pain erupted throughout her abdomen and blood began to ooze from the open wounds.

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A gasp. A few steps back. The beast kept up its assault, but the Wushi was able to shove the beast a good distance away. She gasped and covered the bleeding slashes with her left hand. She thought about that strange injury to her stomach, before realizing something.

That man had talked about some kind of god. Could he–

She turned towards where the man had been before, only for her eyes to widen in panic. He was rushing towards the Huntress with obvious intent in his eyes. That moment of shock gave way for the beast to slam its claws right into her right arm, piercing the flesh and sending shockwaves of immense pain throughout her body.

She screamed. The beast roared with glee. At least, until the Wushi slammed a handful of petra right into its mouth.

She watched as the salts solidified and began to burn the beast from within, the reaction with fluids causing it to solidify into a singular entity. It gagged, retched, and backed away, its movements nothing more than the last bits of struggle to continue to live.

It didn’t take long for it to turn to dust.

In that time, the Wushi slammed some petra on the open wounds on her arms and stomach and bit back the scream that was coming out, letting the salts solidify and act as a temporary bandage. Something she would have to get resolved later, but right here, right now, that wasn’t important.

She had to help the Huntress.

She started to move towards her ally. The other beasts had gotten up and chased after her, still trying to strike her down and do that evil man’s bidding. She didn’t have time for this. So, without further ado, she forced the earth to launch two spikes directly at the beast’s stomachs.

The strike went through and she was free to continue rushing forward to help the Huntress. And at that moment, her friend desperately needed her help.

The girl was down to her knife, as her bow seemed to have been dropped at some point. There were five of the beasts still trying to get her and the incoming threat that was the vile man. The only reason why the five monsters hadn’t rushed her still was due to her heavenly abilities, where she was able to create minor obstacles and defenses to protect against the beasts temporarily.

Why she hadn’t used the abilities to kill any of the beasts was not something the Wushi focused on. No, what she was focused on was getting to the Huntress before that bastard could. She had to go as fast as she could go, otherwise–

Her legs gave out. She collapsed on the ground and she could feel all of the energy from before disappear. Her consciousness faded in and out and her vision got blurry. She tried to get back up, but her arms refused to obey her anymore. Her legs weren’t responding anymore and she could barely move at this point.

Thus, she was forced to watch as the man slammed right into the Huntress with his own body and knocked her down. She could only stare in horror as the other beasts came in and got ready to strike the girl down, only to be stopped by the man. She couldn’t do anything as the man slammed a foot onto the child and hefted his ax, his intent clear as day.

No, that was wrong. She wasn’t going to lie here and let her die, not on her watch. She was going to save her, right here, right now.

But she didn’t have any strength to move anymore. She couldn’t get her body to listen to her anymore, which means she couldn’t get up and rush over. No, she couldn’t do anything physically to help her.

Which left her heavenly abilities as the last resort. She was too weak now, but surely she should be able to tap into her remaining qi to command the earth to save her friend.

So, with the last bit of her strength, she slammed her will onto the earth and demanded it move to her desire. However, this didn’t last for long. She knew that attempting to use one’s abilities with low qi was dangerous, but she underestimated the extent of that danger.

The moment she attempted to command the earth, the world struck back harshly. Her entire body burned with pain and she could only gasp and wretch as blood started to pour out of her eyes. Her head felt like it was being rushed, the weight of her actions too much to bear.

But she had to. She couldn’t falter now, not like this. She had to keep going. With a single cry, she slammed the rest of her whole being into the world and once more, tried to get it to move to her will.

She succeeded this time, but not to the extent she desired. The giant spikes she desired became nothing more than nails and the overwhelming force she demanded was replaced with lackluster results. But it was enough.

Those nails ripped through all of the remaining beasts’ feet, causing them to howl in pain and reach for their injuries to get themselves free. The man scowled as he jumped back, with dents at the bottom of his metal armored boots. That was, until he turned back to the Wushi and blinked.

A giant rock came spiraling at him with high speeds, the shape taken directly from the same arrows shot by the Huntress earlier. The projectile came flying at him with the target being his torso.

There was no way for him to dodge this attack. Blocking would definitely be something he could not do. Thus, he had no choice but to die.

At least, that was what the Wushi hoped. However, her wishes were not achieved.

With a smirk, the man pointed at the incoming rock. Then, in a single second… It exploded. Every single fragment all scattered across the area, the force behind the attack seemingly vanishing into nothing.

The man smiled and sighed, before looking directly at her. Without hesitation, he walked slowly towards her. He hefted his ax over his shoulder as he got closer, until she was within striking distance.

He stared down at her as he got his weapon ready. He still had that nasty sneer on his face as he got ready to strike her down.

“Any last words?”

Last words. Nothing could really come to mind right now, no profound statements, nothing. Though, she wasn’t too worried. After all…

There was no way she was going to die here. So, all she did was spit once more at the vile villain in front of her.

The man merely sneered at her reaction.

“I figured.”

Then the ax blade came down right at her.