"May! Watch out on your left!"
Bella kept her awareness of everyone's position, watching as Olivia helped manage the status of each of the members as they dealt with another swarm of monsters.
This time it was humanoid looking monsters with greenish-pale skin. Their ears were pointed while they had sharp fangs they'd often use as a weapon to bite unsuspecting Special Operation members when they thought the monster was killed.
Though everyone was energized compared to prior encounters, Belle felt they could be performing at a higher level. Using the spike on her war hammer, it plunged into the temple of one of the monsters. She quickly kicked it off of her weapon.
"I think it's the best time to test it out. My tank is nearly filled, so I won't have to worry about having enough energy to see if it'll work." Bella breathed heavily, having been fighting continuously against the never-ending flood of creatures. "If Cynth's reaction is universal, then I think it'll help push the tide in our favor."
Instead of thinking of the energy wrapping her body, Bella imagined it being collected inside of her throat. When she felt it was several times more concentrated compared to when she shone the light on everyone, Bella shouted, "Let's show these little shits what messing with PentaSoft's Special Operation Team will cost them! Forward! Push Them Back!"
Bella felt her voice become infused with the light. Unlike before, there was no blinding light, but a part of her felt as though their surroundings became a little brighter. Whatever fatigue in her body slowly faded away, being replaced with energy. The minor cuts on her arms and legs disappeared. "I feel like I could fight for days!" She grinned at being right.
"You heard our Squad Leader!" Olivia shouted happily, confidence and power oozing out of her.
As she observed her subordinates, it was apparent that they'd received a boost in power.
When one of the monsters ran at her, Bella swung back her hammer. Grinning viciously, the hammer struck the monster square in the chest. There was a satisfying crunch before the monster was flung back dozens of feet away.
"Shit!" Bella thought in surprise, not expecting such a drastic change in power.
Around her were shouts of surprise.
Olivia used her newly picked up sword and cleaved one of the humanoid creatures from shoulder to waist. It was as though she were cutting through butter with a hot knife. "What is this?!"
When Bella saw how Olivia had quickly dispatched her enemy, her eyes widened and eyebrows lifted in surprise. Though Olivia was a capable fighter, it wasn't to the degree where she could one-shot the monsters in such a manner.
Sin looked to have had a similar experience, several of the enemies lying on the ground, their heads removed from her ax. When Sin noticed Bella looking at her, Sin hesitatingly pointed at Bella, mouthing, "Is this you?"
Dumbly nodded, Bella felt a stupid grin on her face. Happy to see that her subordinates were no longer struggling to fight against the monsters.
"Squad Leader! Squad Leader! Squad Leader!" A chant began as everyone's morale boosted as they realized what Bella's yell had done.
Even some of those who had gained abilities were able to use them more efficiently, such as Su, who had gained some type of wind attribute. She was weaving between the monsters, using her spear to send shockwaves made from the air whenever she thrust forward the weapon. Numerous monsters were impaled by the wind.
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Su glided between the enemies, avoiding their attacks. Making her way towards a cluster of monsters, she spun in the air. As she twirled, the spear tip gathered momentum. At the tip, there was a swirling of air, and when she slapped it onto the ground, a wave of air shot forward and sliced the monsters.
Seeing how Su quickly killed half a dozen monsters made Bella grin. It also gave her inspiration, wanting to try something similar to decrease the number of enemies faster. Thinking of her ability being connected to some kind of light, Bella focused her energy into the palm of her hand. As the amount of power increased, the light began escaping from between her fingers.
Looking around, Bella saw a couple of the monsters waiting to join in. Flinging her hand forward and opening it, out of her palm, shot out a beam of light. It streaked towards the monsters and burned whatever it touched. Bella directed her hand and sliced through the bodies as though it were no effort.
Stopping the power, Bella breathed heavily and felt she had used nearly half of her capacity. "Maybe I shouldn't do that too often," She laughed, using an arm to wipe the sweat off of her forehead. Though she still felt energized, Bella felt a part of her become strained. It was as though she wasn't strong enough yet to use such abilities, causing it to take a toll on her body.
"If only I could go deeper into that place, maybe I'll be able to discover more abilities?" Bella thought back to how she was blocked from proceeding any further. "I'll need to figure out what allows me to dive deeper!"
With their newly gained energy, the fight didn't take much longer. Soon all the creatures were killed.
Some of the women high fived one another, while others just used their comrade as a resting wall, leaning against them. They looked tired from the intense battle, having to kill wave after wave of creatures, each one stronger than the last.
What was different compared to other times was how many of them wore grins on their faces. Instead of the typical blank expression upon killing all the monsters, they looked hopeful as though they knew it was possible to escape out of their former dire situation.
"Squad Leader!" Olivia ran over to Bella.
"It looks like we were able to finish those things faster than usual, this time," Bella grinned to her aid.
Smiling, Olivia nodded her head in agreement. Looking at Bella, she asked, "Squad Leader... Was the energy and power boost we all felt due to your ability?" There was a look of amazement and wonder on her face.
"Yeah. Hearing what Cynth said about feeling energized, back when I first noticed my powers, I got the feeling I'd be able to boost everyone's power and help them defeat those things faster."
Olivia's mouth was agape, hearing Bella confirm her suspicions.
Smiling at the reaction, "I'm feeling the same way about learning I'm able to do such a fantastical thing with these powers." Putting on a grim expression, Bella continued, "The problem is that I'm not able to continuously able to use such powers. Between the shout and my attack, I probably used up somewhere between seventy and eighty percent of my stored power. I'll need some time to build up my reserves before we run into any enemies."
"It's still amazing that you're able to do such things!" Olivia brushed aside Bella's concerns, not wanting to diminish Bella's contribution in the fight.
Feeling warmed by Olivia's cheerfulness and optimism, Bella wondered, "Will this hell of a place let things proceed so smoothly?"