Breathing was labored, the overwhelming feeling of fear compressed the ribcage and caused the minds of these people to wander and wander about imminent death.

His teeth were chattering as if they were freezing to death, but it wasn't cold in the area.

In that place there was nothing like cold, but rather an extremely intimidating aura.

What creature was causing such a harsh and heavy atmosphere? Capable of making people shiver with fear: It was a Spider Gorilla.

Unlike the Spider Monkey, the Spider Gorilla does not have the characteristic tail that can be considered an extra limb. What it does have are three pairs of muscular and intimidating arms on each side, as well as a pair of strong legs. A single blow from any of these limbs would be enough to burst a person's skull, mutilate him, break each and every one of his bones and, in the best case, kill him immediately.

Its fur is dark brown and it has a total of six eyes, the main ones being of normal size.

Large, pointed fangs are located on the upper and lower jaws. Inside its jaws, a strange organ is visible that also serves to launch the web characteristic of its race.

On land, this magical beast moves like a Gorilla, although it can also do so like a spider using all of its limbs and leaning its body forward.

The Spider Gorilla was surrounded by a total of four Spider Monkeys who, like the largest beast, seemed to be searching for something. They looked very restless and grunts as they observed the entire place.

Meanwhile, with their teeth chattering in a state of deep uneasiness, two people were scared to death, hidden behind some trees surrounded by vegetation, they watched, sunken in despair, calculating what the hell to do and what the next action to take should be in order to get out of the place alive.

They were both on the verge of fainting just from hearing the Spider Gorilla's growl, as if it were giving orders.

-Uuhh, OHHH grrrrr-

The magical beast's eyes moved incessantly, searching for something or perhaps someone.

“H-Hey,” called the first one, a young man who appeared to be about eighteen years old, trembling like a falling leaf due to the breeze, “is that thing an ALPHA-class magical beast?”

"No, it isn't," his companion replied, although it was a fact that he was in the same situation of fear and despair as his young companion, he knew how to control his emotions, not letting anything leak out.

The man continued as he looked out into the clearing, surveying the powerful magical beast from head to toe. “That’s an adult BETA class, we’re lucky it’s not an ALPHA. Still, don’t let it see you.” The man poked his head back into the shelter of the tree trunk. “It’s enough to take us out without the slightest effort, it’s too strong for us.”

“A-aren’t you supposed to be someone strong?” asked his companion. “Didn’t you tell me that you have killed many people of higher ranks? Go and scare him away.”

The older man gulped, feeling his heart racing. “I was just finishing them off. Most of the work was done by my companions. Don’t be stupid. Even if I’m strong, I won’t be able to do anything. I should at least be on par in strength and skills with a fairly experienced BRONZE rank knight of equal power. When I left my life as an adventurer, I had only reached the power of a rookie BRONZE rank.”

“You're a fucking liar,” his young companion claimed. “The only reason I asked to be your partner was to use you and not have to fight strong opponents, you crawling worm.”

“Say whatever you want, I can still finish you off…” and again they had to remain silent because the Spider Gorilla roared again and this time with much more vigor.

-UUUHHH OHHHHH OH OH OH-.

With his six arms he hit the entire area that included his pectorals, it seemed that he also had a total of six. His roars rose in volume and intensity. The magical beast hit the ground hard causing a slight protuberance to rise, the Spider Monkeys began to jump as if they were challenging something, always located behind the largest one.

“Don’t you dare move a single muscle,” the older of the two mercenaries ordered, almost trembling with fear, as the Spider Gorilla was letting out an unimaginable amount of murderous intent. Those intents were directed at who knows where, in other words, not at them, and yet they felt like they were going to wet their pants at any moment.

-UUUOOHHHHHHHH-.

The Spider Gorilla gave one last scream before speeding off into the shadows, followed by all of his Spider Monkey escorts. Better they fight somewhere else than he does it here with them as spectators.

-HA HAAA HAAAA-.

Both of them were breathing with marked difficulty, as if they were holding their breath all this time for fear of being discovered. “I thought that damn magic beast had discovered us- the younger mercenary's body kept shaking, he even had to make a small effort to calm down “and we still have to keep watching. What the hell is going on up here?”

Said question was directed to the older of the two, hoping that he would have the answer. “Why are there so many magical beasts in this forest? I wouldn’t be surprised if the rumors of that OMEGA class are true, there might even be... -.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” his older companion replied. “If an OMEGA class inhabited this territory, there would be nothing left of the city, even worse if it were those other two classes.” He sighed again, sheathing his sword. “But it’s rare to have this kind of agglomeration of magical beasts. I wonder if those old men are aware of it. I hope they’re preparing some countermeasure against magical beast attacks.”

“If that weren't the case,” the young man took another deep breath, drawing in as much oxygen as possible before continuing, “we might be looking for ways to escape.”

“Seriously, stop talking nonsense,” the major said, much more serious and calm. “Don't risk us like that. If any superior were to hear the utter stupidity of your escape plan, they would execute us both. You know very well that no one can escape from large criminal organizations.”

“Oh! Don’t worry about it,” their skin bristled like a porcupine when they heard a voice so close to them.

Survival instincts tend to be strong in these kinds of situations, so I force them to draw their respective swords once more. Tension returned to the scene, thick drops of sweat rolling down their faces.

That voice was heard again: “You can talk about that plan all you want and I guarantee that no one will be able to hear you. After all, you will die in this place.”

Their skin crawled, especially the eldest of the two. For some reason, the eldest felt that whoever owned the voice was far superior to both of them, and only one idea came to his mind, a single idea: “we must escape.”

“Hey,” he called to his young companion, “whoever is watching us. From the way you have expressed yourself, I assume that you are alone. Confirm that by remaining silent for about five seconds.”

And five seconds passed. “So you are alone,” he said again.

“Shut up,” the older man added, sweating heavily. “Don’t be stupid. Do you think she’ll give herself away and tell us if she’s really alone?”

“Whoever you are, you won’t be able to beat us in battle,” it seemed like just knowing about his apparent numerical advantage had raised the younger man’s morale. From being scared to death of the adult BETA class beast, he was now even smiling a little nervously.

The young mercenary continued speaking, trying to make a deal with the person hiding in the shadows. “Why don’t you just leave and we’ll leave things this way? We’ll let you escape and promise not to chase you.”

He got no answer. “What do you say? I think it would be better for you to accept the deal, otherwise you would only have death or a hard life of slavery left for you.”

“This brat,” the older man thought, searching for options, emphasizing abandoning him above all others. “He hasn’t realized that this person is much stronger than us and the only reason he is hiding would be to analyze us.”

He looked around again, at the bushes, at the trees and at all the branches that blocked the view of the starry night. “I can’t find it, but I’m sure it must be close because otherwise we wouldn’t be able to hear it so clearly.” He looked back at his companion who, in his opinion, had only been talking nonsense.

Finally, the mercenary who was supposed to be much more experienced smiled, already understanding what his young companion was up to. “I get it, so your talk was meant for that purpose and I thought you were trying to intimidate her.”

Smiling somewhat nervously, the elder gave an analytical look towards the trees trying to find the enemy, “So all this time you have been trying to locate her, you are not as useless as I thought.”

His companion was not startled because he had said it quietly enough for only him to hear. “And you just realized it, you useless old man,” he replied in the same way. “She is too stealthy, I can't even hear the sound of a leaf brushing against her.”

“He must be using sound magic to hide,” the elder added.

“Don’t be an idiot, old man. If she used magic, we would feel it the moment she used it, unless she used it before coming here,” the young mercenary replied.

“You are right,” said the old man, “then all we have to do is use sound magic to discover its location... SOUND MAGIC...”

“Don’t be stupid, you useless old man. If you use magic we’ll just alert someone else” the younger one narrowly misses and hits the older one.

“I have decided which of you will be the first to die.”

For a moment the young man looked up, right above their heads, and saw something strange. What he saw was a black shadow that seemed to be standing on its head. Looking at them with terrifying, glowing eyes, which sentenced them to death just by looking at them.

“There, that’s a beastwoman,” a thin whisper carried those words from within the young mercenary to the outside, “just by looking at her I can tell she’s very experienced, much stronger than us.”

“I already knew that,” added the old mercenary.

Neledia was standing upside down, her strong claws digging deeply into the thick branch connected to a large tree. Her tail, which should have fallen to one side, was straight, almost touching the branch, all by sheer force.

“I hope you both are more than ready to die,” she said, and from her position she bent her knees, sending more strength to her feet, to her claws so that they wouldn’t fail her. “You two are nothing more than vile scum, and for that, I promise to kill you the way you deserve, beings like you deserve it: as simple trash.”

Neledia pushed forward, although her fur did not allow us to see the moment when her muscular legs propelled her traveling at breakneck speed towards her victim. Both arms extended to the sides forming a cross, in her hands her precious axes with which she has had countless battles, adding this one to the list.

“WE HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE; WE MUST FIGHT AGAINST HER!” the shout came from the youngest who stomped hard on the ground.

“Earth Elemental Magic: Earth Wall.

Ignoring that the use of magic should be left aside, the young man used earth magic, erecting a strong earth wall in front of them. The wall looked strong and sturdy and capable of withstanding the strongest of attacks.

But it seems that Neledia was traveling at a faster speed and she arrived with them long before the wall grew high enough to prevent it from protecting them.

“SHIT!” the old man exclaimed, raising his sword and preparing to receive it. “GET READY TO FIGHT, WE MUST KILL HER AT ALL COSTS.”

The young man seemed to want to analyze the situation, to see what they could do to emerge unscathed from a confrontation against the beastwoman. Unfortunately, time was not on their side since Neledia, with her incredible speed, was already with them, between them both.

Neledia spun in the air with axes in her hands, both raising their swords as shields.

The young man saw the tail of the beast-woman, which had a strange ornament, approaching him, intending to hit him head-on. “SHIT!” he exclaimed as he raised his guard and managed to intercept it with his sword, thus preventing the sharp object emerging from the ornament from making a hole in his entire abdomen.

Although Neledia only attacked him with her tail, the young man felt too much force put into it, a very heavy blow. Without lowering his sword, he was thrown backwards, dragging his feet and digging a shallow path.

Neledia took advantage of their numerical equality against the old man. “I've told you, old man,” she said, gripping her axes tightly. “You'll both die as if you were just simple, disgusting trash, because that's what you are.”

With dull agility Neledia swung her precious battle axes. The axes moved at dizzying speeds and despite that the old man managed to intercept her, not badly.

But the old mercenary was sweating profusely and was already beginning to tire. Step by step, he retreated, doing everything possible to stop, dodge and counterattack Neledia. He knew he was inferior to her, but he could not afford to let himself be killed.

“What do you want from us, beast-woman?” he asked as he crouched down, dodging what could have been a masterful decapitation. “We are not your enemies; I don’t remember bothering you with… uuuhhhh.”

Neledia is much faster than her opponent, so she took advantage of the fact that the old man's hands were busy holding back her attacks, and in this way, she took advantage to deliver a very well-placed knee directly to the abdomen.

The old man doubled over in pain, spitting blood mixed with saliva, causing his grip to give way, something that would not be wasted by Neledia. The beastwoman brought an arm back and quickly attacked him, the axe pointed at the old mercenary's head.

Despite being in an unfavorable situation, the old man managed to react at the last moment, taking a step back. Unfortunately, he did not manage to escape completely unscathed as Neledia's axes grazed him, giving him an unpleasant open wound on the left side of his cheeks.

Blood dripped from his cheeks, splashing onto the ground. “Damn it,” he groaned in pain as he touched his wound, feeling the warm crimson liquid leaving him. “Just tell us what the hell do you want from us?”

“What do I want? It’s very simple, you are my enemies.” Neledia’s whisper was one of death, in her bright and cold eyes could be seen reflected the end of their lives “you, your partner and everyone who belongs to VARANUS.”

Neledia clenched her fists tightly, letting her obvious murderous intentions leak out, she had no intention of even hiding them “all of you criminals only cause trouble and suffering.” She glanced sideways at the other who was trying to compose himself “your miserable lives are not enough to give comfort to all the unfortunate souls that must be wandering in this world, and all for being killed by vile criminal organizations like the one you belong to.”

“You are from Gignit! My companion and I have never set foot on the soil of your city, not once have we been to Gignit.” The old mercenary analyzed the situation, he began to think of what he could say so that his words would have a greater impact and perhaps she would have some compassion “nor have we attacked the race of beastmen, we have not harmed a single one of yours.”

“And what about the humans and demi-humans who cohabit in Gignit?”

The old mercenary's face paled as his shoulders rose in an unmistakable sign of tension that ran through his body.

The words spoken by Neledia seemed to be poison that burned the old mercenary.

"Won't you say anything to defend yourself? You know that your silence gives you away."

The old mercenary was about to speak, but Neledia interrupted him again.

“You have destroyed the lives of the citizens of Gignit, people who were once slaves and who barely escaped from that miserable and tortuous life” Neledia gritted her teeth, her sharp fangs promising to leave deep holes in the skin.

And angrily, she began to growl, “some of them lost very important people, some sacrificed themselves so that their family members could escape.” For a single second, she looked down as sad memories flooded her mind, “even with a broken heart and no will to live, they still managed to get ahead, work with dignity, fall in love again and start a family.”

The old man looked into the distance, because right in the middle of the werewolf's speech, something caught his attention behind Neledia. It was his companion who nodded at him. He prepared his sword and prepared to attack her from behind when the old man gave him the signal.

“You slave hunters, mercenaries or whatever you are, should not continue living because if that is the case,” she took a step forward, “you would only be causing more pain to other people…”

“NOW!” the old mercenary gave the signal and his young companion attacked, intending to impale her from behind.

“DIE, FUCKING BITCH.”

The scream came from behind, but Neledia seemed unfazed. She is a woman of the beastmen race, her sense of hearing is much more developed than that of humans, it was more than obvious that she heard the footsteps of the young man who intended to attack her from behind. The mercenary did not even try to hide it.

Neledia stepped aside as she spun, now facing the bastard who attacked her, leaving the young mercenary at the mercy of the beastwoman.

Left leg forward and right leg back, right half of body moving backward and the other half forward. A position too perfect to land a blow and she wouldn't waste it. From her position, she launched a tremendous punch, it was so fast that the young mercenary didn't even have time to stop and prepare to receive it.

The young man felt as if his skull had shifted a few centimeters, he felt an indescribable pain in the area of his face. Something in his neck creaked, if it didn't break at all it settled.

He was thrown into a tree with such force that his collision only caused more damage and pain.

-Aaarrggg-.

He groaned in pain, but Neledia did not stop. In just a matter of seconds she was already throwing one of her axes, the one in her right hand, towards the young man, hitting him in the arm and imprisoning him for a few moments. He groaned in pain again. Closing his eyes, he screamed to the sky.

-AAAHHHHH-.

Neledia watched her young opponent but could not afford to be distracted. Her ears twitched and, as if they had a life of their own, they moved to one side. It was an unmistakable sign of danger, as she instantly had to crouch down, bending both legs as much as possible. Her eyes looked up, capturing the exact moment when the old mercenary's sword grazed the tips of her ears.

The air traveling with the sword made some of his fur dance for a very brief period of time.

Had she not ducked, Neledia would have been split in two horizontally, and would now be lying on the ground dead.

But that wasn't the case.

From her position and resuming her standing posture, she spun around kicking the old man's legs, it was a very hard kick. Her opponent felt pain like never before, she could even swear that the bones in his leg splintered.

-KKKKKK-

The old mercenary gritted his teeth, trying his best not to close his eyes. The blow from the beast-woman and the pain that accompanied it was barbaric, so much so that it was impossible for him to react and Neledia, once again, would take advantage of it.

As she stood up she landed a strong left hook on the old man's right ribs. His ribs must have been broken as he instantly spat out blood as he backed away.

Neledia landed another blow, this time a right kick to the left thigh. The old mercenary almost felt the need to dig his foot in and rub the injured area.

It was obvious that a huge bruise had formed under the old man's clothes.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“This is for all the people you have tortured,” Neledia swung the axe with her right hand, hitting the old man’s right eye, thus closing one of his two windows to the world.

The blood jumped out in small quantities, I literally had a cut in my eye.

The precision of the cut made by Neledia was such that it even split the iris and pupil in two; he was blind.

-AAAHHHH AAAAAHHHHHHH-

The screams of pain were not long in coming.

“DAMN YOU BITCH, HOW DARE YOU!” The old mercenary’s only healthy eye had turned red due to blood vessels bursting from an unprecedented level of rage.

He let out so much anger that blood came out of his nose. “YOU WILL PAY DEARLY, I SWEAR I WILL TURN YOU INTO A SEX SLAVE, YOU WILL BE THE WHORE OF ALL OF VARANUS.”

The old mercenary's anger was increasing as the pain of losing one of his eyes increased. “YOU'LL BE WORSE THAN A BITCH! IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT YOU'RE A DISGUSTING, FLEA-DRIVEN BEAST WOMAN! WE'LL PLAY WITH YOU SO HARD THAT YOUR LEGS WILL STOP WORKING, WE'LL DESTROY YOUR MIND! WE'LL TEAR YOUR VAGINA APART AND BREAK YOUR ASS! THEN, WE'LL DISMEMBER YOU AND FEED YOU TO THE PIGS.”

Neledia did not let the insults and serious threats affect her, she looked at the man very seriously.

“First of all, I am a werewolf, not a vixen. I would appreciate it if, in these few seconds of life you have left, you would stop confusing my species. It is not nice that you treat me as something I am not.”

She took a step, causing the old man to take two steps back in fear.

“Second, I just want to let you know that I have a husband who makes sure to leave me ecstatic and immersed in pleasure to the point where I can’t walk. I’ll bet anything that he does it much better than you guys… human.”

And she said it with a lot of contempt in every word, all while smiling mockingly.

Neledia loves her human friends who live in Gignit very much. She gets along very well with all of them. The problem is those who live outside. It doesn't matter if they are good people or bad people, she hates them without discrimination.

“And finally, to make me pay dearly, you would have to defeat me first and that is something absolutely...” Neledia took another step towards him, tightly gripping the axe in her hand “impossible for you.”

Then Neledia returned to the attack, crashing the axe against the old man's defense again and again. The old man brandished his sword in desperation, completely losing his reasoning so much that he didn't even try to retreat and gather his thoughts. Neledia overwhelmed him only with brute force.

Sparks flew with each clash between the axe and the sword. The old man was breathing with great difficulty, it was costing him too much.

The wounds that were present throughout the old man's face and body and that showed Neledia's superiority.

The adrenaline did its thing, thanks to that the old mercenary stopped feeling pain in the area of his eyes, but it was not enough. Maybe he didn't feel pain, but it was only a matter of seconds before his body took its toll on him. "I SWEAR YOU'LL PAY DEARLY FOR THIS, DIRTY WHORE, DISGUSTING WOMAN BEAST!" The old mercenary screamed again, launching a slash right towards his enemy's neck.

“You only know how to attack the neck?” Neledia sneered as she dodged and took the opportunity, “Now these are real martial arts techniques.” She shifted the axe from her right hand to her left, drew back her fist, and launched her magic technique.

“WOLF FANG RISING”.

The blow connected in the pit of the stomach.

The blow was barbaric, brutal, so much so that an almost invisible ring of pressure could be seen forming behind the old mercenary who instantly fell to his knees, his arms pointing towards the ground.

The old man had his mouth open, from which blood was falling pleasantly, but without stopping. Blood was coming out of his nose, his eye, and even his ears. He did not make the slightest sound, he was totally catatonic, losing blood.

His clothes were still in place, but underneath them, right in the area where he received this last impact, the mark left by the powerful blow was visible, and as strange as it seemed, it resembled the mark that a large wolf's bite would leave.

“This was for all the people you've killed, you filthy old man.” Neledia stopped paying attention to the old man, focusing her gaze now on the only one of her opponents still standing.

“You already have my full attention” and she said it in a flirtatious tone.

“Damn you,” the young mercenary complained as he unclasped his hands and threw the axe aside. The pain was tremendous, but he was still able to bear it.

He looked behind his enemy, seeing his companion kneeling completely still. “Shit,” he complained to himself. “She has knocked him out, I have to do something and wake him up. I won’t be able to fight her, she will kill me without trying. I have to get to him.”

The young mercenary made a gesture to move forward or rather towards his partner, a small tic ran through his face as he endured the pain his pierced arm was giving him, now dripping with blood and to top it off Neledia had also moved a few steps towards him.

“I have to avoid her- he seemed to be hallucinating because for a moment he could swear he saw a strong magical aura covering the werewolf. Obviously, they were mere products of his head because she had not yet used magic, it was the simplicity of her strength that made him feel overwhelmed “she is too strong to face alone, maybe it is a bad idea, but if I want to get out of here alive, I must use magic” he swallowed “I just hope no one can sense it”.

“He’s planning something” Neledia thought to herself, “I wonder if he has already realized the true state of his companion… although I doubt it.” For a moment, she looked away from the young mercenary, towards the ground, his missing axe lying on the ground.

Suddenly he felt like magical energy was swirling around the young man and he opened his eyes, but not in surprise, it was simply out of pure instinct.

The young mercenary extended his arm forward.

“Fire Elemental Magic: Fire Spiral Impact”

The young mercenary used a lot of magical energy in that attack and the sign of that was the enormous spiral of fire that was thrown out from his being. The magical offensive went at full speed towards Neledia who physically took a step back, but mentally she was already two steps in front of him.

“Water Elemental Magic: Water Expansion”

A huge amount of water emanated from Neledia herself, quickly expanding, Neledia was literally floating inside, watching as the spiral of fire crashed against her protection. A large amount of steam formed “I had no other choice” she thought to herself “it would be a real nuisance if a fire started and got out of control, I hope no one noticed.”

The young man was breathing with difficulty.

“I hope the old man is okay,” the young mercenary muttered. “I misjudged my attack.”

The water vapor was diminishing revealing Neledia and the area where she was ''underwater''. That damn werewolf is too tough and if that magic attack couldn't harm her, I don't know what else will! Suddenly he saw how Neledia extended her arms forward and with each one of them she pretended to be a mouth.

Even underwater she recited the magic spell.

“Water Elemental Magic: Water Wolves.”

All the water rushed forward and in just a few seconds that mass of water had split into four smaller ones and then took the form of ferocious wolves. The four water wolves, as a form of defense, took up a position in front of Neledia who, somewhat soaked, was observing her opponent in a very bad way.

“You could have caused me a lot of damage if I didn’t know some defensive spells. If you’re done, allow me to continue.” She pointed forward and instantly sent her wolves to attack her young adversary.

The water attack was running as if they were real wolves and they traveled at high speed towards their enemy, with pure intentions of liquidating him as soon as possible.

“This is bad,” said the young mercenary. “I can feel a tremendous concentration of magical energy inside those things that he threw at me. I’m sure they could break through any rock shield I raised. They’re much stronger than me.” He looked at the water wolves one by one as they approached him. “The only thing I’m sure of is that if just one of those things touched me, it would be the end of me.”

He looked back to the front, there were only a few seconds left before they would hit him, he looked up at the skies – it's the only way.

“Earth Elemental Magic: Rock Control.”

Just inches away from being hit by Neledia's attack, the young mercenary used earth magic, the most basic spell, but at the same time one that has saved the lives of thousands of people on countless occasions.

A pillar of earth emerged beneath his feet, propelling him into the sky. The water wolves crashed into the pillar, causing a loud explosion and water to spray out in all directions. “Fleeing through the air was the only way to escape.”

A shadow covered him completely, he looked forward and was almost in shock when he saw who it was "so fast, how is it possible?" he asked himself, seeing Neledia who already brought the arm that held one of her axes back. Aiming directly at her head.

“She was on the ground; how did she get here so fast?”

And Neledia launched her blow, the axe blow seemed to even cut the wind, having as its only destination to shatter his skull.

“DAMN IT” the scream was heard in every corner of his mind, he didn’t know what to do anymore. He was at their mercy, just a few centimeters away from perishing. But even so, he wouldn’t give up.

With all he could, the young mercenary raised his sword and at the last moment placed it in front of him as a line of defense.

The axe collided with the sword, sparks flew and Neledia raised her eyebrows. Although it might not seem like it, she already wanted to get this over with and go see her young companions.

They were the important thing right now, she obviously trusted them, but she still couldn't help but be worried. In the position she was in, she turned one hundred and eighty degrees and sent her young opponent in the direction where she had been standing just a few moments ago. "Just die already," Neledia muttered, wanting to finish off the mercenary.

The strong beast-woman's descent was brutal. The young man had to make a tremendous effort to regain his balance and make a couple of turns in the middle of his forced descent, otherwise he would crash badly and that would be dangerous for his integrity. Both legs touched the ground, retreating a few meters before stopping.

“So much strength,” he said to himself, “I know that the beastman race tends to possess a strength superior to that of humans,” he looked at the path he left beneath his feet, “but I didn't know how much strength they truly possess, nor does he need to use the axe to kill me, he would simply need to land a strong blow on me.” And again, surprise, uneasiness and disbelief took hold of him when he saw what Neledia had just done.

Neledia was falling towards the ground, but from her position she was lucky to have a tree nearby. She placed both feet on the thick trunk, using it as a support point, "you will never be able to escape from me." And the beast woman pushed herself with great force, so much so that she destroyed the part of the trunk where she had placed her feet.

Neledia was thrown out at high speed, as if she were flying. With axe in hand and ready for the second attempt to smash his skull.

“IT’S A MONSTER.”

The young mercenary turned around and began to run at high speed towards the front. He hadn't even noticed that a few meters in front of him was the old man lying on the ground. Completely soaked, but still with a blank look. "WE HAVE NO WAY TO DEFEAT A MONSTER LIKE HER."

He thought again, making a move to jump forward. But, due to the circumstances of life, at that moment his right foot got stuck in the root of one of the many trees in the place.

“But what?” Neledia couldn’t believe it. This was the second time that this guy had thwarted her attempts at execution. The young man saw the moment when Neledia passed very close to him, brushing his hair. “This can’t be a coincidence.”

Being in the air and added to the great momentum that Neledia achieved, it was impossible for her to stop her trajectory and she ended up impacting a few meters forward, hitting the old mercenary full force.

PUM

A shallow hole with a diameter comparable to the height of an old man formed where Neledia's axe hit. "That's the second time you've escaped my attacks, it's too rare," Neledia commented, standing up and removing the axe from the ground, as it had completely pierced the old man's body, or rather, destroyed it. "It seems you're very lucky, too lucky I would say. Are you a user of Unique Magic that grants luck or something like that?"

Meanwhile, the young mercenary began to stand up, trembling, unable to believe what he had seen. “The old man, y-you just destroyed the old man.”

The young man looked to the sides, at what were or appeared to be hands, at an entire leg and then nothing, just unrecognizable pieces of flesh and a lot of blood spread all around. “You killed him,” he said again, something that was picked up by Neledia’s powerful ears. “You killed the old man.”

“Wait, did you… no, I get it now.” Neledia looked at the remains of the old mercenary and then focused her cold eyes on the integrity of the young mercenary. “I found it strange that from the beginning you didn’t demand anything from your partner, all this time you believed that the old man was just unconscious, didn’t you?”

Neledia was not a bad person, she does not have a hobby of making fun of others, especially the weaker ones. She spends her time helping and enforcing the rules of the city. She is well known, respected and loved by all the people who live in Gignit.

But mercenaries and slavers deserve your hatred and your mockery: “this old man was already dead after I gave him that punch, that is, he's been dead for a while and you haven't noticed.”

The young mercenary's eyes widened.

“I realize that you couldn’t see the amount of magical energy I gathered in my magic technique, I really did pack a lot of force into that punch. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that when I hit him, he exploded from within.”

As already said, Neledia is not a bad person, but now she enjoyed making people who make other people suffer suffer. It gave her a certain feeling of relief as if she were getting revenge for something “in the end he just turned out to be a talker, just like you.”

“You killed the old man with just one punch?” The young mercenary looked back at the small hole where she had landed. “In the past, the old man was someone very strong, but you killed him with just one punch.”

Neledia smiled at him and nodded. As stated, Neledia seemed to be enjoying all of this, but it was due to a deep desire for revenge that she has had for far too long.

...

“DAMN HUMANS” the scream was accompanied by so much desperation and pain, it was as if her broken voice reflected nothing more than a lost battle “LEAVE HER ALONE, SHE’S JUST A GIRL”.

“DADDY, PLEASE HELP ME!” and the beastman’s scream was joined by that of a little beast girl who was lying on the floor being stepped on by a group of people “DON’T LET THEM KILL ME.”

...

“Dad…” Neledia murmured, clenching her hands tightly with the axe already held high.

“Old man,” said the young man, “we shouldn’t have messed with this city, we had to escape from this damn criminal organization when we had the slightest chance.” He looked at Neledia who was approaching him, “we are not like the others, we are not real fighters because we always use others to get ahead.”

Now, the young mercenary turned his attention back to the imposing figure of the werewolf approaching him. “We can't confront them, we're not as powerful as those of higher rank within the organization.” He swallowed, taking a step back. “We can't defeat this kind of monsters.”

Neledia stopped walking, focusing her bright eyes on the entire integrity of the frightened young man, as if she were truly judging him for something very bad that he might have said.

“Monsters?” she asked, tilting her head to one side, pretending to show confusion, not understanding the young man’s statement.

Neledia continued speaking. “Are you serious? I’m the monster here? You’re really telling me that I’m a monster, aren’t you? A damn mercenary or slave hunter.”

The young mercenary was hyperventilating, listening to every word that came out of the werewolf's mouth, he could even breathe in the negative emotions coming from the angry Neledia.

“Tell me one thing,” Neledia added, “how many people have you killed? No, better yet, tell me how many people have you stolen their freedom from?”

The young mercenary swallowed.

“Is this a very difficult question that you can’t answer or you just don’t remember? Then let’s change the question to a much easier one that even someone like you could answer. Tell me, how many women have you raped? Or maybe they were little girls? Do you even keep track of how many lives you’ve ruined?”

For a brief moment and involuntarily, a lot of memories ran through the young mercenary's head, looking at Neledia he could hear the voices from the past who begged him for mercy:

“PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!”

“WAIT, DON’T DO IT.”

“MOM! DAD! SAVE ME.”

“PLEASE FREE US”.

“NO, I DON’T WANT TO BE A SLAVE ANYMORE.”

“PLEASE STOP, I’M STILL A VIRGIN AND IT HURTS TOO MUCH!”

“MY DAUGHTER! RELEASE MY DAUGHTER, YOU DAMN WRETCH!”

“HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO STEAL THE PURITY OF A LITTLE GIRL?!”

“WAIT, DON’T KILL HIM.”

“DADDY NOOOOO.”

His breathing became somewhat tedious, now those voices had just become a true torment.

“You call me a monster just for fighting and killing them, applying your own ideologies of not leaving a single enemy alive” Neledia clenched her jaws “the only difference is that I... we do this to save our own, while you do it to fill your pockets at the expense of the lives of others, you cannot continue living because there is a huge possibility that you will come back in a couple of years much stronger.”

Neledia revealed her sharp fangs, fury evident on her face, “You were the ones who attacked us, you were the ones who hurt us, you are the ones who seek to turn us into slaves, you are the ones who profit at the expense of our lives and now for wanting to rescue our people and defend us you call us monsters.”

“Think about it, you moron, we… Gignit would never have acted if you left us alone BUT NO!” The shout was laden with resentment. “You had to attack us, you had to hurt us and not just the adults but the CHILDREN too, you can’t even leave them alone.”

She walked forward again, “You have committed many crimes against our city, but the worst of all crimes has undoubtedly been messing with Gignit’s offspring. How are you capable of hurting children? If it weren’t for that, you and this scum that you have as a friend could still be alive.”

For a fleeting moment, Neledia's eyes emitted a fierce gleam that promised death "now it's your turn to feel fear and beg for mercy as surely all your victims did" Neledia stretched out her hand trying to hold the young man's head, he didn't even move, he just watched as the werewolf tried to take his life "and rest assured that I will not have mercy on you."

“I'm not a monster like you think, but…”

With his left hand he squeezed his opponent's head while with his right hand he moved him backwards, preparing a wide cut with which he intended to finish his opponent.

“…In order to save all the people you have in captivity, this disgusting, flea-ridden werewolf will turn into the most vile and hideous monster you have ever seen.”

"No..." The young man muttered through his teeth, he looked visibly upset by everything Neledia had told him and even more so by what she intended: to kill him.

The young man knew that Neledia was absolutely right, after all he has killed many people and among them demi-humans, beastmen and even other human beings.

But he never did it alone “help...” he said it again in a low voice with his trembling hands shaking, he needed help because he had never fought against someone who greatly outclassed him, he always depended on others to fight “help me...”

“No one will come to help you, so accept your fate and die” he launched the cut aimed at the head of the adversary who only opened his eyes full of veins.

“DAMN STREET BITCH” the young mercenary shouted furiously, spitting saliva in the process “I HAVE KILLED MANY DOGS OF YOUR KIND, YOU WILL JUST BECOME ONE MORE BITCH IN THE CROWD”.

Neledia stepped back just as the young man, somewhat unhinged by the fear that overwhelmed him, attacked her with his defenses on the ground. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO THREATEN ME LIKE THAT? I'LL KILL YOU ALL." The scream came from what could be the center of all his fury.

“I WILL KILL YOU, ALL THE DOGS OF YOUR KIND, AND I WILL PROSTITUTE THE FEMALES TO GET SOME GOLD FROM THEM.”

The young mercenary smiled in such a malicious way that it simply implied that he had lost the little reason he had left.

“I WILL MAKE YOUR CHILDREN SUFFER SO HORRIBLY THAT YOU WILL EVEN HEAR THEM SCREAMING FROM HELL... UUGGGG”. He could not continue because a right hook closed his mouth, it was so strong that some of his teeth said goodbye forever, getting lost among the abundant vegetation.

“MO-MO-DAMN BITCH”.

He was kicked again, causing him to stumble back a few meters.

–AAHHHH–.

And again he screamed in pain, taking one of his hands to his ribs, they were broken. With rage reflected on his face he looked at Neledia, the face of the beast woman was the very representation of fury, with her tail moving in sync with her steps she approached the subject intending to destroy him even though he was alive.

“FUCKING WOLF, I WILL RAPE YOUR DISGUSTING BODY”- he shouted again “YOU WILL NOT KILL ME!”

“Reinforcing Magic: Leg Strengthening.”

The young mercenary's legs grew muscular, they were even visible through the clothes he wore. Left leg forward and right leg back. Hands positioned as if to launch the most powerful kick he had ever launched in life, when Neledia was within his range he smiled madly and maliciously.

“YOU ARE SO STUPID” he said “YOU WENT STRAIGHT INTO THE WOLF’S MOUTH”.

He threw the kick, feeling the wind on his legs breaking and brushing against his skin, it felt quite rough due to the speed at which it was traveling. In his mind, Neledia was being torn apart by his attack, according to his imagination she exploded just by making contact with his powerful leg.

He had almost split her in half, all her bones were broken, lying on the ground in total agony regretting having caused it. Likewise, his strong imagination told him that all of that would happen just by connecting that attack, unfortunately for him, reality tends to be different.

Neledia concentrated a great amount of strength on her left arm. She knew she could withstand that attack without having to do that, but she didn't want to risk it. There were only a few centimeters left to connect.

BOOM.

And a little wind blew in the same direction as the kick. Under the young mercenary's feet, even some dirt rose due to the almost imperceptible movement.

The attack connected and nothing went as the young man expected, but quite the opposite.

Neledia, her left arm raised high, showing the forearm with which, she had stopped her opponent's kick, and between the two of them, the one who felt the most pain was the young mercenary. "IT CAN'T BE" he said, panicking, because it was true that this attack could destroy the bones of anyone, anyone who had the same strength or was inferior to him. "YOU SHOULD BE LYING DOWN AND DYING."

“You say I went straight into the wolf’s mouth?” Neledia asked as she changed position and now held the young mercenary’s leg with both hands. “It seems you have forgotten that here, between the two of us, I am a real wolf.”

And with his right leg he delivered a powerful and painful knee strike aimed head on at the knee, this is where it would be measured who was truly stronger.

-AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH-

The young mercenary's scream was agonizing, it seemed like the direction of his knee had been reversed, now pointing inwards at an angle that was impossible to avoid breaking.

–AAAAHHHHHH-

I couldn't continue fighting.

Neledia pushed him and positioned the axe as if it were a sword about to be unsheathed and emulated one of the attacks she had witnessed on several occasions from Herman, cutting off his arm almost at shoulder height.

The young man screamed at the top of his lungs, but Neledia was not finished.

She let herself be carried away by the force of the blow she had launched and took advantage of it to continue spinning, she would continue punishing him now with her tail or rather with the trick ornament she had on it. Now with the weapon exposed, she used it to continue causing him damage, but only with the tip, she sank it into his skin, tearing it.

But now Neledia had to complete a full turn, turning and swapping feet, and from being on the right foot she now used the left, leaving the other free. And she raised that free foot and let out her claws.

When she was in the best position, she launched a spinning kick hitting him right in the chest area, her claws penetrating and tearing the young mercenary's skin.

-AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-.

Once again the young man let out a heart-rending cry of pain, as Neledia squeezed his fingers causing his claws to move without even taking them out, in that way and after just a second his leg accelerated again culminating in a crescent kick, tearing off part of his skin and even some flesh.

Now the young mercenary was unable to continue standing, he fell to the ground writhing in pain, bleeding and launching a thousand and one curses at Neledia who stuck her claws in again.

“DAMN BEAST WOMAN” the young mercenary moaned in pain. “I CAN’T KNOW, I’LL GET OUT OF THIS, YOU’LL SEE AND I’LL COME BACK FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.”

His face was the living representation of anger, his features decomposed towards madness. Spitting saliva and blood, he completely ignored his left arm which rested a few meters away from him, dying.

Soon it would only be food for some beast or perhaps carnivorous insects.

“I WILL KILL THEM ALL, I WILL TORTURE THEM LIKE YOU HAVE NO IDEA, I WILL MAKE THEM SUFFER THE WORST HARDSHIPS ANYONE COULD IMAGINE. YOU JUST WAIT FOR ME, YOU’LL SEE.”

Neledia approached him, looking into the eyes of the madman in front of her who, even in his situation, continued to throw a lot of insults and threats at the one who would become his executioner. It was pathetic, but he was still a dangerous person and she had to exterminate him.

“My children, my beloved, no one will ever have to worry about you coming to hurt them,” she said, and with her left leg she stepped on the young mercenary’s right hand. The only healthy hand she had left, “and I will make sure you never come for us, die.”

The young mercenary couldn't help but feel terror when he saw Neledia raising her axe. She wasn't using any magic but he was still able to feel all the strength that was concentrated in that arm.

“STOP!” he shouted in vain, as Neledia had already dropped the blow.

She launched the final attack, traveling so fast that the poor guy couldn't even sigh. His head exploded to the sides, splattering a lot of blood and other disgusting things. A lot of gray matter spread out to the sides. Just by making contact with the axe the guy was already dead, the rest was just brute force.

Neledia stood up again, raising the leg that had trapped her opponent's only arm, revealing that she had also broken it with her step.

“Never mess with my family, much less with my children,” suddenly she heard something moving in the bushes, right near where she was. Neledia had to take a few steps back and looked into the distance, right where her other axe was, the only one that had no action.

“Will they be reinforcements?” she asked herself. “Damn, that’s what I get for wasting too much time. Now I’ll be late for our meeting point.”

What emerged from the bushes were not reinforcements or anything remotely similar, they were simply a total of three Sawtooth’s Snake who immediately observed with great interest the corpse located a few meters in front of them.

Their forked tongues even seemed to taste her from a distance.

“They were just these little magical beasts,” she commented, turning around and looking over her shoulder at the corpse. “If you want to eat it, do so. I just hope that such putrid flesh doesn't hurt you.” She finally headed towards her other axe and from there she went straight to meet up with the others.