The first order of business was getting both Sydui and Polyu back to the infirmary.

I doubted that either one would be too hurt... but I wasn't about to leave that up to chance.

As soon as he was able to give them both a once-over, Hund gave me the report. "They both seem perfectly fine. Sydui is definitely worse off, but Nemeses are known for their resilience. Polyu is just plainly exhausted from overwork, she'll recover in a day at most."

I sighed in relief, I had been dreading the possible outcomes.

I suppose the fall seemed worse than it was then, which is great to hear.

"So I have a question really fast if you don't mind." I said after a while.

"What's that?"

"Is that really how you pronounce the plural of 'Nemesis'?"

----------------------------------------

???

The cooldown of [Second Chance] had come and passed with little in the way of difficulty.

Most of the champions around were simply not able to deal with my [Skills].

As an experiment I choked down a champion's limb, only to have it disintegrate from inside me.

It was a truly strange experience which I could only really describe as 'unfulfilling'.

On my travels I found a ring of tree trunks set into the ground with a trench.

...A wall it seems to be called.

Who made it?

Unlike usual, the answer never came to me.

I suppose that means there's only one way to find out.

There was a single individual on some sort of a man-made hill made of wood... a guard tower... I suppose that makes that individual a guard then.

I circled around the wall from a distance, searching for an opening while remaining out of sight.

I found that there wasn't any place that was better to attempt to enter than any other, so instead I decided to wait for an opening.

After all, it's not like I had anything better to do.

----------------------------------------

Andrew

My question to Hund proved to cause a much more in-depth discussion than I expected.

We talked at length about pronunciations, which lead to talking about how we can talk to each other.

It was a fun conversation, even if we had pretty much no facts to work with.

It had to end abruptly though, because Hund had duties to attend to, including checking on all of the injured to make sure they hadn't worsened.

I found myself in the unique position of having basically nothing to do as I waited for everyone that needed to recover.

I decided to do an upgrade that I'd been putting off for a long time.

I noticed that Hole Puncher had a massive overheating problem, and metalcorns had coolant that never dried for blood... so why not combine those two things somehow?

The major issue was that I didn't have any good way to forge or cast metal tubing... or to work with metal in general here in town; and even though the wooden parts never caught on fire during an overheat, wooden tubing wasn't going to be any easier to make for me anyway.

That's when it struck me: I have a lathe!

While I couldn't really coil the tubing like I wanted, I could still make straight tubes full of the blood. Unlike water, it didn't have to circulate, so it would even matter anyway!

The next issue was about Sydui.

I didn't want to leave her behind, especially because this forest was infested with Nemesies... excuse me, Nemeses...

My point is that she'd be helpful to have, but I obviously don't want to push her and get her killed.

I decided to go to her and see how she was doing before making any sort of decision.

I arrived at the medical facility to see how everyone was doing.

As I opened the door, I felt someone also open it from the other side.

Speak of the devil.

"Sydui? I thought you had tons of injuries." I asked her incredulously.

"Oh Andrew! As it turned out I was mostly just exhausted, I'm a Nemesis now, being unkillable comes with the territory."

I looked at the many bandages that covered her body. "Are you sure?"

She looked down. "I honestly can't even feel them."

"That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be careful with them." I countered.

She looked up into my eyes with an intensity that I hadn't seen her wear in a while. "Andrew, I've been shot before, I've been stabbed, these injuries feel more like papercuts... keeping the bandages on feels like more than enough to me."

I stared back into her eyes, searching for even an ounce of uncertainty.

After I found none, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "In that case, how would you like to go with me on a quick jaunt?"

----------------------------------------

Sydui

I wasn't really sure I understood why were were going on a "jaunt", even though he explained it.

It's not that I didn't understand how the theoretical upgrade would work... it was more a question of why this was so important that we'd split our forces in the middle of a crisis.

Not that I understood half of what Andrew was thinking...

Andrew had merely told Hund and Juohen that he and I were leaving for a little bit, and to "man the fort" while he was gone.

I swear with all of these strange little phrases he says...

It was a little bit after we had climbed over the wall and set off, Andrew started acting strange... -er than usual.

He started setting sticks and rocks in odd places with his feet.

After a while he whispered a question into my ear. "Do you notice anything strange?"

Confused where he was going with that thought, I whispered back. "Other than you, no."

"Sydui, I'm serious, I think we're being followed... and that they're extremely good at stealth."

"What makes you say that?"

"They haven't tripped any of my sound traps, which means they either aren't there or they're stupidly good at hiding."

"Maybe they're not there, like you suggested." I offered, attempting to ease his very strange concerns.

"Listen around us Sydui."

I listened and heard nothing strange, there was the sounds of the forest ahead of us like there usually was. "I don't get what you're saying."

"There's no forest sounds behind us."

I did my best to turn my head nonchalantly so that I could change my ear-angle without it being suspicious.

Sure enough, if I strained my ears I could barely hear the small lack of sound he described.

I tried my best not to look as worried as I felt. "How did you notice that?"

"Honestly, I couldn't put my finger on why it felt so off until very recently... just about when I started this conversation."

I looked up at him in disbelief.

He could tell that was something wrong without knowing what it was?! What the hell even is Andrew?!

As I looked up at him, his face softened and he placed a hand on my head. "Don't worry about it, I just wanted to check if you had seen it or not. I'll come up with something even if you haven't."

He then rubbed my head gently.

It felt really really good.

I leaned into his hand in order to make the most of the contact.

"You're extremely adorable, you know that Sydui?"

My face got warm. "Shut up."

----------------------------------------

???

A strange pair to behold.

I had been stalking them since they had left the walls.

[Andrew The Unorthodox, plus four other titles]

Danger Level: Mostly Harmless

[Sydui The Night Ripper, Nemesis First Stage]

Danger Level: Moderate Threat

Why was there a Nemesis traveling with a champion? Not only that, but they seemed to have some level of comradery.

I will have to have her tell me before I kill her.

As much as it pains me to remove a potential pawn, this 'Sydui' seems too intelligent and committed to my target, so she must die too.

The question becomes: 'How do I best fight them?'

While I certainly have a decent chance to be victorious in a two-on-one fight, I would have a much better chance of success after I had slain the easier target, allowing my full attention on the more difficult one.

Additionally, they seem to have comradery as stated before, so more than likely I can goad her into overextension if I kill the weaker one in just the right way.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

I grinned inwardly, my plan beginning to solidify.

It's decided!

I'll cause a distraction.

----------------------------------------

Andrew

My girlfriend likes being pet, that's something I never thought would be real.

I'd definitely been inspired by anime to consider the possibility of petting any such waifu, but the fact that it became part of my life honestly excited me.

But enough about my very own badass cinnamon roll, there's more important things to think about.

Namely, the being who I can't get to make any noise no matter what I place in its way.

The stress was starting to kill me, I had half a mind to just yell for it to come out!

At least then I'd know what was there!

That's when a Nemesis charged toward us.

[The Furious Deforester, Nemesis First Stage]

Danger Level: Certain Death

It looked like a six-legged elephant-rhino had been augmented by a power-tool-loving mad scientist.

It had two tusks which ended in a pair of circular saws, as well as a pair of rhino-horns that were replaced with jackhammers for some reason, as well as several random other things jutting out in odd places.

At full gallop it was easily moving thirty or forty miles per hour, even despite all of the trees it simply shoved out of the way as it sped along.

Sydui and I ran perpendicular to its route, both picking opposite directions, hoping that it had trouble turning.

As physics would have it, it had a massive amount of mass, so it did have trouble turning as expected.

However, it didn't charge at me, it charged at Sydui.

Sydui barely managed to roll most of the way out of the way, only just being grazed in the torso by the strange pseudo-beast.

That graze still managed to knock her on her ass even then.

I took aim at The Deforester, waiting for moment it would stop to turn.

"Hole Puncher, up the speed and the-"

Suddenly I felt two sharp pains in either shoulder, followed by a weight that knocked my onto my face.

"Now now, I can't have you ruin the spectacle just yet... we've only just begun." A voice gravelly masculine voice whispered into my ear.

"What are you, a generic anime villain?" I growled back.

"Oh~ It speaks. Most simply try to avoid their fate... I suppose your title indeed applies."

"What do you mean? What title are you looking at?" I asked, now confused.

"Why, you're Andrew The Unorthodox of course."

What?

"What about my other titles?"

"You're very talkative for someone in such a position, but I suppose I'll humor you. You're listed as having four other titles, but it doesn't specify."

"Honestly, I'm a bit relieved to hear that."

"Oh~? Why's that?"

"It means you'll underestimate me!"

I sent the axe-headed heel of my sabaton into roughly where I expected his crotch to be.

He screamed in surprise and pain, clearly loosening his grip.

I used my arms to pull his claws out of my shoulders, and then flipped onto my back.

That's when I saw him.

He was covered in a strange mixture of scales and fur, as well as a body shape that reminded me of the halfway point between a spider and a dragon. His face looked the unholy nightmare child of an alligator and a piranha, complete with three rows full of finger-length teeth that staggered between rows.

But that wasn't even the worst of it.

[The Voracious Stalker, Nemesis Second Stage]

Danger Level: Certain Death

His eyes filled with glee and my eyes filled with terror.

"Second stage?!" I blurted out.

"Oh~? Already?" His mouth unhinged, opening wide enough to easily fit my head and most of my torso into a single bite. "I only really have one way to celebrate... please do taste better than the others."

I suddenly snapped out of my stupor and aimed Hole Puncher up at him.

He only had time enough for a patronizing stare before I blew his head off with a powered-up bolt.

The rest of the body jumped backward, causing the remnants of his head and neck to flap around in the air behind him.

"This is ridiculous... and disgusting..." I said, getting off the ground and nursing the several aches that the Hole Puncher's recoil had created.

I reloaded and fired.

The body easily dodged the projectile, despite having no eyes.

It was then I realized that it had several ear holes all over its body.

Whoever made this monstrosity knew exactly what they were doing.

I pulled out Shreddy and splashed him toward The Stalker, knowing full well that I'd miss by a mile.

The body used that moment to pounce at me.

"You activated my trap card!"

Shreddy lunged from the ground toward the now midair Stalker.

The Stalker somehow managed to twist its body and shift its weight to dodge most of the splash, but not enough.

"Tear him apart!"

'Got it!"

Shreddy clearly wasn't having much immediate effect, but was causing strain on the scales that formed the first barrier to cutting The Stalker.

I was playing the long game now... I was certain I could win a war of attrition.

Then a new head suddenly burst out of his body, replacing the last one I had removed.

"That was certainly a nice set of parlor tricks, but I really doubt you'll be able to reproduce such feats anytime soon."

I rubbed my temples in frustration. "This nonsense again huh?"

The Stalker cocked his head to the side. "Again?"

"Yeah, I fought another champion who did something annoyingly similar."

"Do tell~"

"Piss off Stalker."

"Oh that's not very nice! This is how you repay me after I told you your title? For shame!"

I really wasn't in the mood for banter anymore. "Alright Hole Puncher, full charge for the next few shots."

'Understood... how do you plan on shooting multiple shots however?'

"You'll see, just focus on keeping your string as intact as possible... extra recoil and heat is perfectly fine."

'Unfortunately I cannot reduce the effects as requested, as maximum output is the byproduct of using all of the downsides possible to their maximum as well.'

"Damn... I had to try... reduce aim a little then, and only only add enough speed to hit him."

'I will do what I can.'

"Are you talking to your... crossbow right now?" The Stalker asked.

"Yes and it's very rude for you to interrupt." I retorted.

"I suppose then that my next action would be even ruder then." He said, suddenly breaking into a sprint toward me.

"I'm sorry if this stains you Hole Puncher." I took out my flask of metalcorn blood and splashed it all over.

'This feels disgusting.' Hole Puncher replied in her usual perfect monotone.

I aimed, waiting until The Stalker got a little closer.

I fired at center of mass, hitting him just to the right of his neck instead. His foreleg and a good chunk of his torso instantly being ripped off.

Hole Puncher had become probably twenty degrees hotter to the touch all at once, even as I was forced ass over teakettle by the recoil.

I ignored the pain and got back up, moments before taking a fatal blow to the neck.

The Stalker was getting desperate.

I kicked him in the teeth, trying to knock out a few as I reloaded.

No such luck, but it did buy me the bit of time I needed.

I fired again, blowing off another portion of The Stalker's upper torso, leaving his neck without enough muscle to support his head.

I scrambled back to my feet and lunged at him, attempting to grab him, but he jumped back with little effort.

"What is it you hope to accomplish by all of this? What sort of final blow can you deal this way?"

"For being as smart as you are, you're not very good at lateral thinking."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

His back leg suddenly severed because of Shreddy's efforts, causing him to fall onto one side.

And the tree I had Shreddy cut started to fall.

You see, The Stalker's [Regeneration] didn't allow him to stop Shreddy from going inside of him, so Shreddy simply expanded his surface area until he could cut a whole lot of stuff all at once.

"I see... I was outwitted then?" He looked up at me with resolve. "I suppose you win."

He was crushed under the weight of the huge tree trunk, causing his gore to become dust.

"Shreddy, make sure to look for the item drop, I'm going to go look for Sydui."

'Gotcha.'

"I'll be right back."

----------------------------------------

Sydui

I was in so much pain it surprised even me.

I breathed heavily on the ground next to where I had just killed The Deforester.

Where was Andrew? I mean even as fast as The Deforester was, he should have caught up by now.

It was then he finally jogged up to me.

"Where were you?" I asked between breaths.

"I was attacked by the one that was following us and almost died."

I gulped. "Oh."

An awkward silence immediately followed.

Andrew then looked me up and down, before breaking the silence. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just tired."

He leaned down and picked me up, continuing toward our goal. "I'd really like to go back home, but we may not get another chance like this for a long time... so we're going to press on."

At first I was going to protest, but then I realized how comfortable I was.

It reminded me of... previous events...

My face got warm again.

It was only a little bit farther before we made it to Andrew's small enclave.

He put me down gently and got to work.

I was well enough to stand on my own at this point, so I watched as he made the tubes.

It wasn't exactly the most interesting process, but it needed to be done.

By the time we were done, we had a large variety of tubes of different sizes and shapes.

Andrew also made quite a few extras, likely in case of repairs.

After he was done, we began to head back, but Andrew stopped for a moment.

He turned to me. "Hey Sydui, do you want to hold hands on the way back?"

I tried to temper my enthusiasm. "Yes! I mean... yes."

"Damn you're adorable."

I practically threw my hand into his chest. "Just take my hand already."

The way back was significantly more pleasant than the way there.

We easily avoided all Nemeses that crossed our path, we weren't in a major rush to return for any sort of emergency, Andrew and I finally had some time to be alone and just enjoy each other's company.

I'm not going to say that wasn't any stress at all, there were plenty of close calls and near misses, plus the fact that Andrew never found an item from the Nemesis he fought put him on edge... but we were both there together and we knew that we could support each other.

When we finally made it back, there wasn't anything that demanded our attention, which was a nice change of pace.

Andrew made sure to have us both checked up on, but other than minor injuries and an order to be careful with the burns on Andrew's hands, we were released without incident.

"So Sydui..." Andrew began as we exited the medical building. "I noticed that there's not really much going on right now, and I need to be careful with my hands for the time being, meaning I shouldn't try to attach the tubes yet... I was wondering if you were alright cashing in that I-Owe-You from before."

"What do you mean?"

He whispered something into my ear.

"Yes! I mean... yes."

I have to say, ever since I fought The Deforester, I had been in a strange state of anticipation. I really wanted to just ignore whatever he was talking about any given time and bring him to bed... so when he asked if I wanted to have sex again, my emotions got the better of me a bit.

My Nemesis body had brought with a great many changes, one of them was that sometimes after a lot of exercise I'd started to feel this strange sensation and strong desire for sex, which was never something that I had experienced before, even after having sex the first time.

I was a bit embarrassed to say so to Andrew, so I just decided to tell him later, when it felt like the right time.

As he lead me to our home, as soon as the door shut, I was taking off clothes.

"Woah, okay, I'm into it." He replied as he turned from his door-lock-checking.

He followed suit, both of us disrobing as quickly as we could.

It felt as good as it always did to finally have my breasts hang in the air, no longer compressed against my chest.

And as I removed my panties, I realized they were wet.

I was pretty certain that they shouldn't be like that, but Andrew looked directly at it and said nothing, so maybe he had some experience with that sort of thing?

"So, should we skip the pleasantries and get straight into it?"

Instead of replying, I aimed his penis and shoved him inside of me.

It felt amazing... better than even the last time, but it also felt like I could last so much longer.

I wanted to continue to savor the moment, but Andrew had other plans.

Andrew pushed me onto the bed mere moments before beginning a slow rhythm.

It felt like he was thrusting into my entire being, reverberating all over me.

I wanted more.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and forced us together faster, as fast as we could manage to go.

He moaned loudly, clearly feeling as good as I was.

He apparently also took that to mean that I was ready for maximum force.

I was not, but I wasn't going to complain.

He proceeded to rail into me.

I wrapped the rest of my body around him both because I wanted to feel as much of him against my body as possible, but also because I felt like my body would float away in ecstasy.

Then, he stopped and I felt the same warmth as the first time, but this time I really understood.

He and I both felt the same release at the same time.

Both of us were panting for breath, looking each other in the eye.

We both knew that we hadn't had enough yet.

I was about to just start again, but he stopped me. "Hold on, I have an idea."

I have to say, his idea seemed incredibly enticing, even though I had no idea what it was.

He laid down on the bed and beckoned me over.

I made my way curiously to him, wondering what difference it made.

As he entered into me, I figured it out.

I slid down his shaft, and I learned that gravity is a wonderful, beautiful thing.

I placed my paws against his chest and found a rhythm, sliding up and down.

He grabbed my hips and pulled us together as he also thrust upward into me.

A pair of my eyes drifted closed, while the other two stayed transfixed on him.

I started to breathe heavily, all of the effort starting to get to me... but I couldn't stop, if I stopped it would all end... and I needed more.

I tried my hand at matching his earlier speed.

He and I both moaned and gasped as we emptied our build-up feelings into each other.

After a while, I simply couldn't feel anything except for him, all other thoughts were gone and we just connected in a way we had only done once before.

He ejaculated deep into me one more time, and I orgasmed in response.

Both of us stopped to breathe, but we didn't separate, we didn't want it to end, but definitely needed a break one way or the other.

I rolled to the side of him, careful not to break our bond as I did so.

He was the first to speak. "Wow Sydui... you got really enthusiastic after becoming a Nemesis."

I nodded sheepishly. "I was that obvious huh?"

"You're kidding me right? You and I were going to town there."

"You're certainly not wrong..." I admitted.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it... I was worried that I'd have to be careful with you forever."

I smiled.

But then my smile faded. "After all of this is over, what if I'm not like this anymore...?"

"Well, if that happens, I'll make sure to match your speed... the last thing I want is to be the only one enjoying myself."

I looked into his eyes and saw the genuine care in them.

I kissed him deeply, lost in the passion.

He started moving himself back into me and I stifled a yelp so that I could keep kissing him.

I was was way more sensitive at this point, each thrust feeling more like ten.

I pushed him deeper into me, all the way down to the balls.

He moaned into our kiss, and I knew that meant I needed to do it even more.

I disregarded speed and went for roughness, thrusting as hard as I could.

He broke the kiss, gasping for air.

He then matched my rhythm and thrust just as hard.

It felt like I was going to burst at any moment, brought to the height of pleasure and staying there for what felt like hours.

I never wanted to stop... but I knew the end would come for me eventually.

My insides clenched around him, hoping to taste every drop of him.

That was it, neither of us could hold back after that.

Both of us were definitely done for the rest of the day... we had both spent everything we had.

Finally we parted, as it almost felt empty...

We both laid sprawled out on the bed, smiling like idiots.

"I had fun." I said.

"Me too." He replied.

----------------------------------------

Yuluulth

Lviyr looked up from his viewer and over at me. "Would you like to get some more drinks?"

I shook my head. "Sorry, I'm busy at the moment."

"What do you want? I'll get you something."

"Same thing as always, is something up?"

Lviyr expressed agreement. "Yeah, I have to get away from my viewer for a while."

"Why's that?" I asked, the curiosity starting to build.

"Andrew's... at it again... shall we say."

I took me a minute to process what he was saying, and then I suddenly understood all at once. "Oh... yeah, you take a nice break."

"I will."

I looked back at my viewer, at my champion who was still slaughtering champions in droves... or at least in comparison to most at this stage.

He had long since broken into quintuple digits in terms of kills, but at this point the number of champions left meant he likely wouldn't be getting too many more... even then for this stage of the game, he's certainly going far faster than any other champion I've seen.

He must be extremely motivated to get the grand prize.

----------------------------------------

The Voracious Stalker

I found myself incredibly frustrated as my body reformed.

This was the second time I've used [Second Chance], but this time was different.

Last time it felt inevitable, beyond my control... this time felt like I was shamed...

Like I was dominated the same way I dominate others.

For the first time ever, I felt like I had a reason to kill something.

I decided to learn everything I could about this champion...

...I think his name was 'Andrew'?