"Please tell me you have any sort of plan for getting us out of this mess. I can escape with flight but...carrying you as well?" Yuno took a look at Luna.
"Escape will be unnecessary. We were tasked with taking down enemy numbers while also being threatened with a command for our safe return. Thus, we will proceed, as planned."
"We are surrounded! Hmm!" Yuno swiftly took down a Shadower and an Enmity jumping behind Luna, "What do you mean 'proceed as planned'?!"
"A mere hurdle, small in size for my combat capabilities." she slashed a Shadower jumping her up front with an upward movement of her scythe, "Your flying ability also most suits my disengagement tactic for an advantageous position obtainment. Follow me."
Luna dashed to the nearest spot in the circle she could reach at extreme speeds, swiftly cutting down the first wave of enemies in front of her with a wide slash of her scythe, before vaulting forward in yet another slashing motion twice, once leftward and once rightward. In her ever-aggressive forward movement, Yuno assisted her by flying up into the air, launching sword waves in a very careful and slow manner as best he could, trying to balance assisting Luna in her escape from the encirclement while also avoiding actually hitting her. Once Luna managed to reach the outermost layer of the circle, she nimbly jumped above and over the last few monsters standing in her way. Before managing to disengage and reposition, however, while upside down from her summersault-like jump, she quickly disposed of one last small batch of enemies before landing and forcing the situation to a more comfortable position for both her and Yuno. Flying back down at her they both managed to get themselves ready, this time facing directly at the monster hoard, albeit with a very large and thick wall directly in their backs, forcing them yet again into an immediate battle without a chance of them catching their breath.
"You got enough explosives to actually get through the back?" Yuno prepared himself.
"Even with sufficient explosive power, it would be more than ill advised to use them in an area without proper cover from the immanent blast. We are forced into a head on assault, unfortunately. However, assessing numbers, we may succumb to being overwhelmed if we do not manage to address the enemy properly."
"Just jump the wall already and let's go!"
"I struggle to find sufficient platforms to do so, as the height far exceeds my jumping capabilities. But the mission status of routing out our enemies remains unchanged. As such, we will engage again, by force of circumstances and orders given."
The monsters came to a stop, both Luna and Yuno were holding their breaths in anticipation, knowing full well that the savagery that they held was never going to halt, less something they feared enough to instinctively follow was to appear. In a scene out of a horror movie, from the mass of monsters appeared three very different-looking ones. The typical sight of the hard skinned Corrupted generals, 4 of them, appeared, standing two in the left and two to the right, as they settled their soldiers down.
Yuno created a mock Excelsior in his tiny hands, "Luna..."
Luna seemed to pause at the unfortunate circumstances, "Though the power levels we previously held have been expanded, as I have heard from your assault in Corosta, I was certain I could face this enemy. However...four times as much, at once, might prove more chaotic than preferred."
"I'm sure I can muster an overwhelming degree of Dante's Obsulyte to blast through this wall, it must be a mix of stone and steel which I can probably break!"
"Negative. Doing so will render you incapable for further combat which you will be much needed to succeed, or worse, incapacitate you and turn you into a liability of which the plan will fall apart due to both lack of allied numbers and need of protection. I will fight, as instructed, to the best of my abilities."
Yuno unwillingly agreed, "Goddess...no. Gods. If there are any left up there, watch over us."
"A most warranted prayer." Luna prepared herself.
Among the 4 Corrupted generals standing before them, menacingly facilitating their presence in an effort to break their spirits via intimidation, another monster approached from the hoard. As soon as it came out, out of instinct alone, the face of Yuno, and to a much lesser extent, Luna's dropped. Unlike the other hardened, grey Corrupted generals, a very similar one to their design appeared. But this time, completely different. It was much more humanoid looking, not with sharp claws for hands, or anything else other than its missing facial features that would betray it as a monster in its entirety. Its entire body, resembling that of the Titan that Anya and Dante fought back at Sandaco's National Treasury, was completely black, rough and hard in texture, with very steep red veins going throughout it, in the same way the Titan's did, going at visible 90-degree angles all the way around the surface of its body. Despite not looking nearly as vicious as the others at first glance, this shell of what appeared to be a humanoid more than made up for it, with its sheer presence speaks volumes about how much of a threat it was. Down to its very fingertips, like a painted mannequin the uncanny monster seemed to be curiously 'looking' at them, head pointed in their direction as it lacked any sort of movement, no necessary body parts to convey any emotions. As if the sky eluded, it seemed that the sunset and the clouds covered the moon, as one looking directly at the monster would find themselves getting lost in the same darkness as its rough skin, seemingly having it increase in size in front of them as they got ever so tinier.
"What the hell is that?"
"Drima had warned us about the probability of a new enemy. I suppose that this must be it."
"No way. The thing we saw...it's nothing like this. Its way more...normal looking!"
"It must be eliminated anyways. Our enemy is formidable indeed."
During the ceremonious wait for their higher up over, the four lesser generals charged right at them, the rest of the hoard simply waiting, standing and granting behind the black figure that stood before them. Luna, unwavering as she always has been, carefully studied their fast movements as they came right at her. Yuno, mustering the same amount of instinctual bravery as he did fear moments prior, dashed right back at them. Targeting one of the generals, he fearlessly smashed right into it while holding the sharp edge of the blade in front of it, knocking it down as it turned its attention to him instead of Luna, damaging its abdomen by causing a visible gash from them colliding with each other.
"Come on! You taught me from this mistake much too early for me to repeat it!"
The monster, rapidly getting up as it knocked Yuno away regained its balance almost immediately, standing right before him once more. Despite his attempt, the gash he created has actually started to rapidly heal right in front of him, as if it was using the exact same tactic Enemy and Hikari had discovered whilst sharing damage among their bodies. It was certainly, not a normal healing rate for the damage caused, even by Obsulyte users -some of the strongest ones- standards. The greater black monster standing behind them, even after all that, lay perfectly still as it just looked at them both fighting, a spectator in the battle. Being exemplified by Luna, despite his noticeable fear, Yuno did not back down as he looked at his enemy recovering, instead taking the same position he always took as he anticipated a coming attack, ready to fight back.
"Watch out, something is wrong with the other ones too! They heal a lot quicker!" Yuno yelled.
The monster trying to land an attack on Yuno quickly succeeded as his sharpened hand made contact with the skin on his tiny body. However, as he braced for impact, Yuno quickly found his muscles acting on their own as he momentarily disappeared and reappeared, launching the exact same counterattack technique Dante constantly abused in his fighting style, a large red flash following his movement as the Corrupted found itself being flung back a considerable distance behind the spectating black monster.
Yuno quickly realized, "We're synced better? Woaha, awesome!" he got excited.
Meanwhile, Luna faced with another 3 Corrupted herself, and struggled to keep up. Faster than usual, almost if they were in an enraged state, the three Corrupted constantly lodged at her with their entire bodies, all the while they tried among many, to land a singular devastating blow to end her life. Despite a number of successful hits from Luna's insufficient guard against that many onslaughts, her endurance did not falter, her body sustaining injuries without her buckling or bending one bit.
She went on the offensive, "Please, disappear."
She managed to quickly land a devastating blow on one of the monsters circling her back, quickly forcing it to kneel as the swipe of her scythe decimated its knees. Not wasting a single moment of her chance, she quickly ignored the other two Corrupted and went for the kneeling one. Having her scythe running all across her left, edge pointed outwards, she directly aimed and decapitated the kneeling Corrupted as the blade made contact with its hardened neck with deadly precision, before she turned around mid-dash and kicked the falling body right back at the other Corrupted, ending her dash as she retook her stance and knocking back one of them completely, while the other barely hanged onto the ground. Yuno, now with more space available, quickly went back to Luna's side, as they prepared to face the other remaining higher monsters.
"The monster before us, Corrupted aside, can be named as a major culprit for the difficulty of this battle." Luna looked at the Corrupted behind the black monster slowly approaching back.
"What is it even doing?"
"There is a direct correlation between enhanced and more aggressive enemy behavior, along with weaker allied abilities when existing within its field of view. Corrupted behind the monster appears to approach slowly, and the damage sustained from the Corrupted I initially eliminated seems to be more permanent, as opposed to your opponent, who looks to be back in their original physical state.", she pointed at the Corrupted Yuno had counterattacked, it had already healed back to the point of re-engaging, "I additionally feel the power, Obsulyte related, being interfered with on my internal mechanical system. The black monster is to be held responsible for all that, as it is well guarded by the existence of both a defensive Corrupted formation around it, with the addition of the mixed Enmity and Shadower mob behind it, preventing it from being directly targeted due to those defensive measures."
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"I can swoop in from above and try to land a hit on it, see if I can do some damage to it," Yuno suggested.
"Negative. As you have noticed, we are able to strategize fully in the heat of battle, due to the monsters obeying their every command. With that, you are more than highly likely to be intercepted if it chooses a sacrificial vessel to protect it, which will only help at you be immediately exposed. Adding to the fact that Dante's abilities are more than resonated within you, though not fully, only means that the requirement of a direct physical attack to unleash one of your devastating counterattacks will only contribute complex layers to your plan, rapidly increasing the danger level."
"There's way more to what I can do than this, Dante too."
"Agreed, but admittedly none will be as effective as either special ranged attacks rapid enough to break through the body count at the monsters' disposal without us getting fatigued enough to be eliminated."
"Brute force through them?"
"Negative, as we lack the firepower on the levels needed for multiple Corrupted in addition to the new monster combined. However...I can endure. I will request help through the communication system, and I need you to follow the plan if you will. The nearest other objective is one handled by Hikari and Terna. Go and aid them to complete their task as fast as possible, then lead them towards my location."
The monsters, now reorganized after the slight setback, had already started to accumulate more Corrupted numbers towards them as they emerged from the crowd, having doubled by turning other Shadowers into a higher form, now being a total of 8. Yuno and Luna could only watch as they all assumed the same position as the former, evenly split on the left and right of the black monster. Obvious as their movements were, their getting prepared and reorganized for yet another attack on both Yuno and Luna only helped to further facilitate the need for reinforcements.
Luna promptly opened her coms, "I request immediate backup to my location."
"Hmm? Luna? Everything alright? I thought you out of everyone would have it under control!" Tiki answered her call.
"I am in the presence of a new threat, one which powers up existing enemies. I can hold out until Yuno is able to get a hold of Hikari and Terna, them being the closest to our location. He can assist in them completing their task and guide them to me."
"There's no way I won't lend a hand right now!" Hikari worryingly said.
"No way in hell. We had a plan for a reason. You absolutely must stick to the plan, Hikari! If you don't, and this entire mob you were supposed to clean ends up on Victorian vanguards at once, there's no guarantee if they'll hold it or not!" Dante said.
"We can't just leave her be!" Terna answered.
"You can hold on, right Luna?" Dante asked.
"Affirmative. Approximately an hour before major setbacks due to calculated issues, such as physical fatigue."
"More than ideal, if we factor in that Yuno, will help Hikari and Terna with their piece of the pie. Luna...please, hold on. If you can't, just hop out and regroup with Hikari and Terna immediately. We're not losing anyone here today. I and Dante are pinned by the hoard on the front and back we have to deal with, so stay vigilant until we can also maybe drop by.", Tiki commanded.
"Affirmative, although my intent of trading my life for the sake of other souls will be of consideration if I deem the enemy numbers that of too high a liability."
"No, you...your task...dammit." Dante got overwhelmed.
"New plan. Me and Dante are about to wrap up with these shitheads and get ourselves out of this mess. Teams are going to merge into two. Diva, you're coming with us the moment you wrap up your task with Hikari and Yuno, because I need to especially babysit you after dropping you on the field practically naked and begging to be killed... Hikari, I need you and that opposite-colored alter ego on Yuno and Luna after you're done. Regroup and head towards the eye of the storm after you do so, and we will do a two-way assault instead of three, with higher firepower on each side. Double time and make sure you don't die!" Tiki and Dante hopped off coms.
"Hang in there. Terna, let's go head-on as well, right now! I'll protect you, but we have to hurry!" Hikari and Terna hopped off the coms as well.
"Luna...you got this?" Yuno asked her in a worried manner.
"I do. Now hurry and fly over to our allies. I will not fall." she reassured him.
With a subtle nod after a brief pause and a look of hesitation, Yuno flew up and away from Luna, leaving her behind as the monsters got ready to attack. Luna, ever so expressionless only looked at them with her blank stare everyone was so used to. To her, it was just another task that needed completion, and just knowing what duties were laid upon her by those she deemed her superiors only helped her into further commit to it, fighting not only for herself and the survival of her sister but others far beyond what she would ever meet, to come to know all the faces that were depending on this one fight's outcome. As if she felt heavy for the first time in her life after the mechanical parts of her body were implanted, she marched forth towards the monsters before they could act first. Her still expression and emotionless motion, baring not the eyes of a killer but a soulless vessel, even terrified the black monster that was meant to break her morale instead, its humanoid nature and motion only further confirmed the fact that it too had doubts in its head for the threat it faced. Nevertheless, with no visible movement or notion thereafter, the Corrupted generals got enraged yet again, darting towards Luna as she braced for impact once more herself.
"You cannot continue to draw breath if oxygen is even of value to you. For the sake of my mission, I must dispose of you." she took her fighting stance.
Only managing to land a single blow to a Corrupted general directly at the front, her mighty upward slash cutting it in half and killing it instantly, Luna found herself struggling in the span of a few moments after. Every single time she tried avoiding an attack, there was always another monster behind her, landing a blow as she endured. Trying to use her extreme speed to even dodge that was futile as well, as she could barely avoid three well-placed consecutive hits by the Corrupted in full battle sync before eventually being hit again by another fourth blow coming her way. Barely able to avoid anything, she instead swapped to the offensive, her body enduring as much as it could as she allowed hits to land on her in order to more freely move and attack herself. Faster than expected, through her graceful and swift movements, she was only able to land swift strikes on her surrounding foes, most of which were meaningless as they all rapidly healed themselves back before she could accumulate enough hits to cross dangerous physical thresholds for them to consider backing down.
Attempting to even damage them severely with stronger attacks as she hammered down her scythe, her mechanical strength forced the ground to crack upon impact as the edge plunged into the earth, was meaningless, the Corrupted's enhanced speed being more than capable of easily getting out of the way before it landed. Their assault was tireless and relentless without any visible stopping point as they kept going and going. Eventually, even Luna was starting to crumble as she struggled to regain her balance. Though no pain was felt as she could never again come to feel such a thing, it was obvious to her that even the machinery she thought made her nearly invincible had a much lower punishment capacity, as she started being dragged down by her body being unable to support its massive weight. Faced with a much larger threat than she thought, her calculations were proven completely false as she overestimated her abilities in a fit of a mix of what appeared to be the pride and the ever-so-boiling blood of her youth, despite it all, she found the determination to keep going.
"This battlefield will not be the end. The shame of death upon a first deployment will not be let off to drag the image I must protect, if even for just Lina.", her eyes lit with light and determination of both machine and human, "Major H.I.V.E. safety and administration regulatory sectors connections eliminated. Physical Obsulyte flow limiters of subject LF-007-E deactivated. ENGAGE."
As if her throat became the speaker of a megaphone, sirens placed around the village were forced to echo their usual wave of warning sounds as Luna's body lit up in white, completely overflowing with energy enough to blast away the barraging Corrupted and giving her space. Her wavy hair flowing along with the energy waves constantly discharged from her entire body and the grip on her weapon enough to cut the flow of air between her palm and the pole, she jumped right back onto the thrown back Corrupted, giving chase. At the same time, not wanting to contain them any longer, the black monster threw at her the entire mob of Shadowers and Enmities along with the remaining 7 Corrupted generals and trying their best to fight for survival.
Luna landed right on top of a Corrupted general with force enough to partially dismember it as she landed, "SEIZE ALL YOUR RESISTANCE."
She quickly grabbed the leg of one of the Corrupted generals as she avoided its lodging attack, twisting around and slamming it on the ground. Hammering her scythe right in front of its head and puncturing the ground, she dragged the weapon with such force that like a buzz saw, it cut a straight line right on the ground and the Corrupted itself, ending in a brutal upward swing that decimated enemy numbers as a burst of energy followed after, Luna being in total control of the situation.
"ADVANCING.", she announced ever so loudly.
Right when three more Corrupted generals jumped her, she swapped to her side profile and anticipated the attack, briefly held into position by the monsters around her. Her hand itself turning to that of a light blade, she swapped to her forward profile yet again, before flicking both her scythe and her other light blade hand forward and to her two sides, the two Corrupted generals that were stopped on the left and right of her being severely wounded as they crashed onto the mob besides her, while the one on the front was completely annihilated on the spot. Realizing quickly that the black monster's abilities started to kick in on the two Corrupts she tossed aside, she set her sights on one clean shot at ending its existence.
"TARGET LOCKED ON."
One singular Corrupted making a mad dash at her, presumably under the command of the black monster for its survival, tried to block whatever she was trying to do. However, Luna was more than prepared as she prepared for her devastating move. As if a material vacuum occurred, the Corrupted protecting the black monster, along with several Shadowers and Enmities attempting to do the same, were violently thrown forward, right into Luna's scythe's range, her taking only one step forward as she violently unleashed a hit powerful enough to cut the gathered monsters at once, ending in her turning around in a kneeling position as she faced away from the monster itself, now in the open as a brief window where its allies tried to rush to protect it.
"ELIMINATING."
Before a single other Corrupted general or other lowly monster could get in her way yet again, a massive ion cannon appeared right on top of Luna as she was kneeling with her scythe running across her back. With no charging time at all, as compared to other machinery, the cannon fired a giant laser beam right at the black monster, disintegrating every atom it consisted of, with the devastating beam causing no further damage to its surroundings as it slowly started disappearing once its range had supposedly reached its limit. Luna then quickly recovered back to her standing position as the swift but powerful blast was over, having succeeded in eliminating her target and setting her sights on surrounding remaining forces.
"PROCEEDING WITH OBJECTIVE FUTHFILLMENT FOR MISSION COMPLETION."
The battle raged on as the enemies that were left were more than keen on fighting instead of fleeing, the effect of the black monster being weakened but still lingering even after its death. Despite what was presumed as a leader's death, they were not backing down as they aimed to still kill a very powerful, but heavily injured Luna they had worked hard to do so. As Yuno flew ever closer to another front, her holding out would be her only option, her friends but allies trying as much as they could to overcome a hurdle carved in the middle of a path connecting them both.