(Author's note:  Negation-tipped arrows have been changed to barrier-piercing arrows. :D)

Chapter 18: Tactics

The rhino snorted, charging towards the duo. Empress and Helia immediately dove to the side, moving out of range.

“Could you please stab yourself?” Empress asked politely.

“Sure thing,” Helia drew her sword, “I still have a wound I need to transfer though.”

“Okay, I’ll distract it,” Empress nodded, “Find an opportunity to touch it.”

Empress teleported forward, employing a series of gauntlet-empowered blows. The rhino roared, stomping onto the ground. Its stomps caused the ground to quake and tremble. A nearby building collapsed, falling on top of a nearby player.

“Stop it, you stupid rhino!” Empress yelled. She fired a barrier bullet towards the creature’s eye. Before it could strike the target, the rhino’s horn glowed, creating a protective shield. The bullet struck it and bounced off.

Empress cursed, teleporting an arrow forward, striking the shield. The two forces fought against each other, creating sparks. Eventually, the power of Empress’s arrow dissipated, causing it to fall to the ground.

The rhino roared in triumph, charging towards Empress. Suddenly, Helia fell on it from above. She had climbed a nearby building.

She touched the Rhino, causing its leg to give out. It crashed to the ground with a large thud. Wasting no time, she ran her blade across her throat, causing blood to spill. Before she could collapse, she transferred the wound.

Blood immediately started flooding the streets. The rhino tried to roar, but only an unintelligible gurgle emerged. It thrashed, throwing Helia off of it. After a few moments, it died.

“Good work,” Empress smiled, giving Helia a high-five.

“Thanks, boss.” Helia smiled back.

“Let’s clean up the rest of the players, shall we?”

Helia cracked her knuckles. The surrounding players turned white from fear.

Howls of agony echoed through the streets, causing players in other parts of the city to shiver. They nervously headed towards the screams. When they arrived, they found the corpses of dozens of players. Many of them had holes through their stomachs or slit throats. Others were missing their heads, exploded by a tremendous force.

Off in the distance, Empress and Helia wallowed in victory. Helia handed over an intermediate power crystal.

“Here. I got the last one, this one’s yours.”

Empress opened her mouth to argue, but changed her mind, realizing Helia wasn’t going to give in.

“Alright, thanks,” she said, taking it.

“What now, boss?” Helia asked.

“There are still other players in the ruins. I have an idea, but I’ll need your help.”

Helia’s smiled evilly as she listened to Empress’s plan.

A group of superheroes were gathered together, looking for Empress. One of the players looked around nervously.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” a girl asked, “You saw what Empress did to all those players.”

One of the members of the group sighed.

“We didn’t see anything. Empress may be strong, but there’s no way she killed all those players. The wreckage was mainly done by that dead rhino we saw, I’m sure of it.”

“But someone had to have killed the rhino!” the girl argued.

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“Shut up Illutra,” the player told her, causing her to frown.

“Don’t tell me to shut up Flaron! We both know what Empress is capable of!”

As they walked through the streets, they kept their eyes open for any signs of movement.

Suddenly, a girl appeared before them, a gaping hole in her stomach.

“Help me!” she cried out, “Empress attacked me!”

The players immediately went on alert, looking around nervously. Illutra walked up to the injured girl.

“Where’d you see her?” Illutra asked.

“Farther down the street,” the girl groaned, “Please help me or I’m going to die of blood loss.”

Illutra sighed, reaching down to assist the girl. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She looked down in bewilderment. A large hole was in her abdomen.

She stared at the girl who was now mysteriously uninjured. 

“Thanks,” the girl yawned, pulling out her sword from her sheath. She swung it forward, catching Illutra in the neck.

The rest of the players roared angrily.

“What are you doing?!” Flaron growled.

“Killing you,” Helia laughed, throwing a small object in the middle of the group.

The barrier seed exploded with a boom, sending the crowd into immediate disarray. Helia charged into their midst, severing limbs with her blade.

A flash appeared near the bewildered Flaron, sending him into a panic. A familiar girl with a crown was in front of him.

She punched outward with her fist, catching him in the throat. His windpipe was instantly crushed, making him die shortly afterward from asphyxiation.

The might of the duo proved to be too much. The group was slowly and completely eradicated.

A blood-soaked Helia smiled ferally.

“That was fun!” she laughed.

Empress nodded in agreement. The kills had increased her notoriety and fame by a great amount. In addition, she had already gained two levels.

“Now that we’ve staunched the flow of players after us, we can hunt some primordial beasts. Keep your eyes out for any treasures there might be.”

Helia nodded, an expression of anticipation on her face.

The girls walked through the streets, keeping an eye open for anything that might attack them.

“Remind me to buy you a jetpack or something,” Empress told Helia, “Not being able to teleport is annoying.”

Helia put on a thoughtful expression, “How about rocket boots instead?”

“Sure,” Empress smiled.

“Don’t you dare forget,” she laughed.

Suddenly, flames sprung up from the ground, surrounding the pair.

Empress grimaced, “Looks like we’ve found a primordial beast.”

Helia put her back to Empress’s casting her gaze around.

After a few seconds of searching, they found the cause of the fire. A horse wreathed in flames was atop a nearby rooftop. It neighed loudly, causing the fires to rise in intensity.

“A horse?” Empress frowned. 

“…boss,” Helia said quietly.

“What is it?” Empress asked, glancing at Helia from the corner of her eye.

“I want it,” Helia drooled, her eyes sparkling.

Empress’s eyes went wide.

“What? Why?” she asked.

“You said I needed a faster way to travel. Besides, it matches my hair!”

Empress facepalmed.