"It’s over." She told herself. Nothing could survive this hell. She won.

Stone cracked to her right, and she saw a mechanical soldier coming at her. This cyborg's right hand was severed, blood was gushing from within the flesh, and a human eye was popped. Yet the mechanical eye still worked, and the foe lifted his claw to finish her off. Aranea started to stand up, feeling pain in her entire body.

"Let’s dance the pain away, then." She mumbled, waiting for a strike. She can take the first one. She should be able. Then she will tear off his head with her…

She was still thinking when the large form of a wolfkin smashed into the soldier, crashing him against the wall with her legs. Aranea blinked when she understood who this was.

"Hey, how ya doing?!" Olesya asked cheerfully as she leapt away from the wall, grabbing Aranea before she collapsed from exhaustion, “Girl, you look like shit, lemme tell ya that!" Aranea blinked again. Yes, it was definitely Olesya, she was even bigger than before. "Now lie down and let me and my pack take care of the rest. We will show you how it’s done." The scout teased her fellow, carefully holding Aranea with one arm.

She fell silent as they both heard loud footsteps. Something came to the truck, lifted the entire vehicle, and then tore it in two. Allahkoliken's form had been blackened by the explosion, and wires with cameras had burned away, but he stood unharmed. He held two sides of the truck in his hands before throwing them several meters away.

"You dared to ruin the paint on my body. For this, I will tear away first your right arm, then your left arm. Then I will tear off your head." An angry voice boomed from the chest of the machine.

"On the other paw, it is stated in the teachings that thou wilt share with thy fellow sisters in times of need." Olesya said in a weak voice.

"No, no, he is all yours, I insist." Aranea joked, feeling despair. This blasted thing seemed to be invincible.

The wolfkins of Siri’s pack appeared from behind the machine, firing shardguns into its massive bulk. Without turning, Allahkoliken shrugged his long shoulders, and metal ropes shot back from behind his shoulders. Steel ropes wrapped themselves around the pack members, and several wolfkins screamed in pain as restraints began to tear through their armor and burrow deep into their skin. Allahkoliken raised his arm, and the blades on his fingers twitched in anticipation.

"Drop me and run," Aranea whispered, "Look after my pack if you can. Someone needs to hit Sly in order for him not to forget to eat, and someone should knock Kate around from time to time in order to keep her bile level down."

"Eh, let’s try to get away together." Olesya whispered back.

"This thing has lasers."

"Oh, then we are dead anyway," The scout said, swallowing her drool nervously. Despite her bravado, Olesya was terrified.

"Beg for your life, bitch." The machine was almost on them, its arm moving toward Aranea.

The screams of the wolfkins stopped as someone shot away the wires that held them. The behemoth started to turn as two massive forms landed on the ground behind him. Warlord Martyshkina, a large black wolfkin who wore no helmet, stood up. Her armor was a brown color.A fur coat, a rarity in these lands, was flowing from her shoulders, held by the pauldrons of her armor. A large scar was visible in the space from her left lip to her left ear, no fur grew on the damaged flesh. In her paws were two oversized revolvers. Seemingly instantly, she pointed her gun at one of the green creatures on the road and fired. The shot made the entire upper body of the foe disappear in an explosion of gore. Near her stood the form of Janine Ironjaw, her oversized bulk dwarfing even the form of her fellow warlord. Janine's legs and arms looked a bit too small for her massive torso, yet she moved around with ease. She raised her flamecaster, two rings ran around the barrel of the weapon until two red diamonds appeared above and one below. A white-hot flame shot away from the barrel of her weapon, turning a nearby mechanical soldier into molten remains, the flesh was scorched away instantly.

"New playthings," Allahkoliken laughed, "Who will be first? Or are you ready to die together?" He turned away from Aranea, and Olesya hurriedly began carrying her friend away from the battle. Aranea could see how Siri, in the distance, was dragging Sonya away. Other members of the warlords’ packs had arrived, taking injured away and leaving space for the warlords to fight.

"Shall I kill him?" Martyshkina lazily asked, spinning the revolvers in her hands. She threw one weapon in the air, reloaded the second gun, and repeated the same process with the first weapon. Instead of answering her, Janine moved forward.

"What was it that you told my kin before?" Janine asked in a calm manner, advancing on the huge machine and taking the huge axe from her shoulder.

"Will this be a melee?" Allahkoliken laughed, and beams shot from his eyes, stopping him dead in the warlord’s armor. Janine did not even bother to defend herself. Machine lifted his hand and flame shot forward, but one swing of the axe cleared space before the warlord, and the wind from her slash moved with such force that it dragged fire to the right. Janine moved forward casually, the axe back on her shoulder, the blade of her weapon looking up at the sky. Allahkoliken moved his hands behind his metal head, and his spine shot up from his torso. He closed his arms on the metal spine, taking it from his body and revealing it to be an oversized sword, "I love myself a good melee," The voice smugly said from his chest, "Let’s see how long you can last."

"Beg for your life, bitch. Were these the words that you uttered to my kin?" Janine asked, ignoring his boasts. Her voice was still calm, without threat. Each sentence was followed by a metallic click of her jaw.

Fire shot from behind the legs and back of the steel behemoth, carrying him forward at great speed, sword in his hand turned into a blur as he made his slash. The sword was almost at Janine's head when she moved. Only once before did Aranea see such speed. When her mother faced the sword saints. Aranea had failed to see a clear picture before, and she nearly failed to see it now. While Janine was slower than either of the sword saints, she was stronger. Normies and wolfkins alike told legends about how she once cleaved through the great gates of a walled city in the north. According to the legends, the gates were as thick as an entire tank and could withstand rockets and lasers alike. When Janine took her weapon into both paws, they were destroyed in a single blow. Janine no longer had her left hand, and many years had passed since then. Nonetheless, rejuvenation technologies kept Janine looking as young as she had before; there was no sign of gray fur on her body. With her single arm, she struck forward, the speed of her strike so great that it made the air scream and created a shockwave that hit even Aranea, despite the distance. The tip of the steel sword broke, and the right shoulder of Allahkoliken cracked under the massive pressure as the axe carved its path through his body. The remains of the steel blade missed the warlord, raining down on the ground in a shower of metal pieces. The steel behemoth recoiled back for the first time in fear on this night, raising his remaining hand to unleash a torrent of fire, and Janine struck again, slicing away his left hand.

"How… What the hell are you!" Allahkoliken roared, laser beams shooting from his eyes and bullets flying from his jaw. With a single slash of the axe, his head was sent away.

"Let’s see you do the same." Janine said, once again ignoring him.

"Don’t get cocky, you overgrown beast! Flesh will never be equal to steel!" As Allahkoliken jumped back, gaining distance between himself and Janine, his chest opened, revealing a massive cannon inside. Spikes on his knees crashed into the stone road, going down almost all the way as a cannon extended itself forward from his chest. With horror, Aranea understood that there was something… no someone behind the cannon. A brain, floating in a weird juice in a cistern of armor glass, was behind the cannon. No spinal column or eyes were present on this chunk of flesh. Rumors about the Bento tribe were true. They really were becoming one with steel. Energy started flowing into the weapon, preparing something deadly to be unleashed on the warlord, "I will blast you away in one shot. Not a single bone will be left for your wretched whores to chew on! Say your prayers!" The voice began to cackle madly.

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Janine raised her left hand. Metal circles began to run across her flamecaster, all three red diamonds appeared above her weapon. The form of the steel behemoth suddenly twitched, as if he sensed something. Aranea could hear the tiny buzzing noise of an alarm within the machine’s chest.

"Wait… If you shoot this… Stop it, you idiot! Do you even know what King will do with you for this? Don’t you dare!" The voice boomed, while the cannon in its chest fired at the same time as Janine fired her own weapon. A ball of white flame left the hand of the warlord, just as a multicolored laser beam shot from the chest cannon of the machine. The ball of plasma hit the beam and pushed it back, energy was flying away on all sides, melting the road and slicing through the stones of the canyon. Allahkoliken screamed in horror as his beam lost the struggle and the plasma ball was moving towards him. His screams were cut short when the plasma ball hit him in the chest, and the entire steel form evaporated almost instantly. The ball continued to move forward, making a new cave in the stone wall behind the vaporized foe. In a matter of seconds, the new cave collapsed as stones from above fell.

Janine's rings turned dark as the flamecaster began the recharging process. She put her weapon down, turning to Martyshkina, who put her weapons back in a motion too fast for Aranea to see. In one moment, the warlord still had revolvers in her paws, in the next moment, they were in her holsters.

"All done, it seems," Siri and Sonya appeared. Wolf hag Sonya was limping, yet she walked all the way to her warlord and fell on one knee. The wolfkins of the Sonya pack start moving back from the cliffs, carrying prisoners and injured members of the caravan, "We will count the losses and…"

"How long are you going to hide!" Martyshkina roared, thrusting her snout into the sky. A surprise appeared on Janine’s face as she also looked up.

Aranea heard clapping and saw a figure standing on the cliffs. A figure was dressed in a simple leather coat the color of sand, oversized pants held by a rope at the waist, a richly looking white shirt, and black boots. No anti-heat suit was on the newcomer, yet no sweat was running down his wrinkled face. His gray hair was receding. He appeared to be a typical normie, the same size as almost everyone in the wastelands. The only unique thing about him were the eyes. The whites of his eyes were solid green. The pupils of his eyes were solid black.

"Most excellent!" The old man shouted in a welcomed voice, "Not many can notice me when I do not want this."

"Only friends can sneak up on me," Martyshkina said, cracking her neck. "Judging by how hard it was to notice you and how you just happened to appear next to Resistance scum, I dare to make a guess that you are one of them. Ready to give up, or shall we make you shorter on the head?"

"Your guesses are both correct and incorrect," the man smiled, "I am a member of the Resistance, true, but these attackers here are most definitely not from our ranks."

"Bullshit," Janine said without raising her voice, "For whom do they work for then?" She nodded at the prisoners and the dead.

"I have no idea," The man smirked, "But I was sent to eliminate those who pretended to be us. I am so glad that you made my work easier. Truly, there is a future for cooperation between us. Now if you would just step aside and allow me to finish my job…"

He went silent as forms of Janine and Martyshkina disappeared, the ground underneath them exploded as they both jumped up. Martyshkina landed to the man's right, Janine to his left.

"Friend, I think you misunderstand," Martyshkina smiled, "We insist that you join us on the way to our camp. Our leaders have so many questions to ask you…"

"Ah-ah. I am afraid I must decline," The man smiled back at her, "You see, this road down here is neutral ground between our lands. No one really cares what happens there. But these cliffs here are the land of the Resistance. Touch me and…" He put his hands in his pockets and said, "War just might break out early. We wouldn't want this stain on your master's honor, would we?" Martyshkina only kept smiling, and the man sighed. "Anyway, I am a professional, so…" Something shot from his coat, tearing through the pockets. Small bones hit every prisoner in the head, striking with perfect accuracy. Some ricocheted off stone walls and even cars in order to hit their target, yet eleven people were killed in a barrage launched by the man, "Much better. You always got to finish the…" The old man was silent as Martyshkina pointed her gun at him, no longer smiling. He quickly raised his hands to the level of his head, the pupils of his eyes moved to the sides. Each pupil was looking directly at one of the warlords, "Come on, no need to sweat over small things."

Janine slammed the shaft of her axe into the ground, causing stones underneath the old man and warlords to fall. As they were falling on the road, Martyshkina put a finger on the trigger:

"Damn shame that you are now on neutral ground, eh, friend?"

"Actually, I am glad." The old man replied, "It is good to learn new things at my age. And dish out lessons for others."

Janine slammed her axe on the man, but his form disappeared, reappearing standing on the axe as it sliced the ground underneath him. Martyshkina fired, and the man threw up his right hand, somehow backhanding the bullet back into the shoulder pad of the warlord, causing the bullet to tear through the warlord’s armor and leave a mark on the flesh underneath. The man hit Janine with his left palm, striking her belly. His palm pointed up, and then he made a half-circle motion, turning the palm down. Aranea was unsure what happened, but the massive body of Janine flew backward, the armor on her chest cracked, and a drop of blood fell from her upper lip. Both warlords moved away from the man as he jumped back onto the cliffs.

"I was sent to also 'sniff' you out, so to speak," He smiled, landing on the stones above, "Pardon for the provocation, but I just had to know how good the warlords are. I must say that…" A blood suddenly flowed from underneath his right arm, wrist of his right arm was sliced by the round from the revolver, and a long slash appeared on his right shoulder, with blood pouring from it. The old man looked at his injuries with a mild surprise.

"I hope we didn't disappoint you, friend." Martyshkina smugly said, reaching for her wound and sniffing her own blood.

"Just be glad that I was not paid for taking your lives on this night," The man looked down on them, no longer smiling. He said with a calm tone, "Or there'd be a few more dead bodies on the road. Enough for tonight. I bid you farewell." He jumped away, crushing stones underneath his feet.

"Wheh. Quite the customer," Martyshkina chuckled. "It's nice to know that the Resistance has someone worth our time."

"Check out the bodies. If some of them are still alive, save them, we need all the prisoners we can get. Tend to the wounds of caravan members and escort them to our camp. If any of them perish because of wounds, I will treat this as a challenge," Janine gave orders with a disinterested voice, "How many of our kin are dead?" She asked with a hint of emotion for the first time.

As the dead were counted and the wounds of the survivors were treated, Olesya was busy bandaging the wounds of Aranea. Aranea’s pack contacted her, reporting that two of the six people that they saved were in critical condition, so Aranea gave the order for them to go straight to the camp. Janine overheard the order on the com network and gave her brief approval, seemingly glad that Aranea solved it on her own.

"Just sew the wound edges together," Aranea said, frowning as Olesya cleaned her wounds and extracted the metal remains, "It all comes out eventually." Sonya came to her and Aranea stood up. The wolf hag took off the armor, giving it up to one of the wolfkins nearby. Her wounds were bandaged, but Aranea could see red appearing on the bandages.

"Drop your armor. Your friend can take it back to the camp," Sonya gave the order as Janine and Martyshkina came over to them, "It’s time. Follow me."

"Is it reasonable to leave?" Martyshkina asked, "What if this weird dude…"

"Marty," Janine said in a strangely kind voice, "Sniff the air. No one can stop this challenge now."

Martyshkina threw her head back and sniffed the air for a long time. Finally, her amber eyes opened, shock and awe were in them.

"Holy Spirits," She whispered, "Is this really?" She looked at Aranea, almost with pity, and said, "Girl, it’s do or die this time. This will not be a simple challenge. Two will leave, one will come back. If you want to win, let out your ancestry. Use the power, let it make you strong while there is still time."

"I don’t understand." Aranea said, "Challenges were never meant to be until death. One will submit, one will rise, and the tribe will live on."

"Not this time," Janine shook her head, "Sometimes, very rarely, the time of death comes. One must die, one way must end," She weirdly looked at Aranea and said, "You want something different, am I right?" The scout refused to answer, and the warlord nodded, "Two ideas clash. One way will perish."

"My warlords, it’s not my place, but…" Olesya threw herself on the ground, "Scout Aranea is wounded. She is hurt. It’s unfair, not right to make her fight now…"

Martyshkina leaped on Olesya, biting her in the neck and lifting her in the air. Surprisingly, the punishment this time was light; the warlord simply bit the scout's skin and forced her to stand.

"It is not your place," Martyshkina said, hitting Olesya lightly with a paw by the side of her arm, "But… I am human too. There are times when nothing we can do will solve the problem. Trust in your friend. If she fails, keep the memories of her in your heart," The warlord turned around, shouting at the packs to form up.

"You are injured. Let me make your burden easier." Janine said as Aranea removed her armor. The warlord crashed the shaft of her axe into the ground and grabbed both the scout and the wolf hag with her good arm, jumping on the clips in a single leap and putting the wolfkins on the ground. "This is all the mercy I can afford to give to both of you. Sonya," She addressed the wolf hag, "You served me well and I was never disappointed in you. If you perish, be reborn as someone happier in the next life. Aranea," The warlord turned to the scout and said, "You are a half-breed, not truly my kin. And yet I always thought of you as one of us. If you die, may you and your family reunite in the next life as friends or family. These are my farewell words to one of you. Fear nothing, for nobody can stop your duel on this night. Give it your all." She turned around and jumped down.