Ready Or Not (2)
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Jytte gulped hard
I could see beads of sweat trailing down her face after what just happened. The same went for Myra, her usually calm demeanor had all but vanished in the blink of an eye. Their eyes swelled in anticipation as if they were waiting for some sort of sign.
The situation seemed untenable.
At the moment, I was absolutely no use in a fight and neither Myra nor Jytte were showing any signs of enthusiasm at the prospect of fighting this thing. If this woman were to attack us now, then it would be a bloodbath, the inn wouldn’t hold up if these three all started throwing their weight around in here.
“W-what do we do?’ Jytte stuttered frantically.
“For now....let’s just wait and see what happens. I don’t know who she is or what she wants, but if we’re lucky she might just end up leaving.” Myra replied timidly
“L-Leave? But she’s just standing there.”
“I can see that, but we’re better off just watching for now. This woman...something’s off about her...”
As if to add more weight to the hopeless circumstances, something strange started happening as soon as that woman stopped below our windowsill. The rune fragment I took off Ulric’s corpse a few weeks ago suddenly started...glowing.
The walls of our darkened room were instantly bathed in a pulsing cerulean light, drawing the dumfounded stares of my other companions in the process. I reached inside my pockets and removed the tiny crystal-looking object.
Its essence felt vaguely familiar.
Strained gasps were coming from my two guardians who were just about ready to ask the obvious question when my eyes suddenly shifted to the silhouette that spontaneously popped into view.
A pair of hazel-colored eyes were glowering at us from beyond the thin pane of glass, the face of their owner — who should have still been at ground level — contorted into an expression of twisted malice.
Her body was curled up as if to shield herself from the world, which was in fact the opposite of what that gesture was meant to be. Slowly, her hands begun to unwind their previous self-hugging position, and then....
“Tch! Crap get down!” Myra frightfully shouted; within a single second my vision flipped as Jytte tackled me to the floor.
The sound of an explosion roared; the inns timber frame quaked ominously as some overbearing force blasted off the ceiling, sending splintered wood and debris raining down like deadly confetti.
I heard screams, moans and wails coming from all directions, but the most notable voice of all came from the woman who just landed gracefully inside the confines of our now roofless atrium.
“Nice to meet you, everyone. My name is Nephthys, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She announced casually, taking a few steps forward.
“Nice to meet you, eh?” Jytte groaned, lifting her armored body off of mine and pulling a thick splinter from her shoulder before tossing it aside. “Introductions are past due at this point, so just tell us what you want and why you killed that guy.”
“Heh, all right then. What if I told you he and a bunch of other thugs tried to have their way with me?”
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“That sounds a little hard to believe, those guys are idiots but they didn’t seem like fools. The difference in your levels is way too big for them to attack you unprovoked, besides...” she formed a scowl “You reek of blood; it's not just from one or two people, either —You’ve killed dozens before coming here, haven’t you?”
A chuckle came from our visitor
“Looks like I got caught again, I suppose I still need more practice, but you are correct. I killed them because I was hungry and what I want here are your lives.....and that little trinket this boy has, I believe you people call it a rune. Who knew I’d find such a great bonus all the way out here? This really was worth it after all!”
She grinned at me, before setting her gaze back onto Jytte who simply gasped at the sound of her demands.
“Are you with that Aryan guy?”
“Indeed, we are called Gehenna. Though given the current circumstances, Aryan might not be acquainted with us for much longer.”
“I see. That makes things simple then.” Jytte replied, her eyes now sharp. “You’re not leaving here with anything.”
“Oh? And how exactly do you plan to stop me?” Nephthys retorted rather cynically, yet the simple smile on her lips had yet to fade.
As things stood, Jytte currently had a very small chance against this woman. The explosion just now had knocked us away from her bow and quiver on the left side of the room. A few arrows were dislodged from it here and there, scattered about the floor, but without the full set there was very little she could hope to accomplish.
She must have realized that because as soon as her eyes scrolled over to the items in the corner, a deep vertical gash appeared in the wooden floor.
“Don’t even think about it.” Nephthys said, lowering a raised finger.
A bead of sweat rolled off Jytte’s chin, she smiled wryly and took a step back.
“Well then, how about this!?” She blared
Her leg stomped on the ground with a force strong enough to quake the small room. The space shook as dozens of metal arrows abruptly sprang into the air from the sudden jolt. Our aggressor, who was now stumbling backwards widened her eyes in awe as she stared at the charging archer.
After crouching, Jytte darted at her without warning. In just a few strides, she was already within range of the falling arrows. She snatched one from the air and flung her arm back as if to throw it like a javelin— All at once, she forced a contraction from the muscles in her legs all the way up to her torso.
“Enchant!!”
The word rolled off her tongue with impeccable ease, it was the activation signal for the weapon in her hand. As soon as the command was given, the arrow began glowing with a fierce aura.
“Catch!” She shouted, lunging the enchanted projectile at its target. The arrow sped across the room like a lightning bolt, connecting with its target at a frightening speed.
“Oh my?”
A red splatter streaked across the walls, mingled with fragments of flesh and bone, forming a gruesome mosaic of carnage. Although Nephthys had raised her hands at the last second, the speed boost granted by the enchantment allowed the arrow to easily pierce through her ribcage and pin her to the wall.
“W-what is this!? H-how dare y-you!”
She tossed and turned in agony, lurching up fresh batches of blood in the process.
“Now Myra!”
@#$^&*%$#@*&^%(*&
The slur of words that sounded above my head forced the water in the atmosphere to compress and form a sphere the size of two barrels. It floated above our heads, a small distance away from Nephthys’ struggling body.
Then came Myra, descending from the skies like a well-timed savior. Unlike us, she must have fled to the skies earlier to avoid getting sliced to pieces.
The Faerie raised a hand and said: “Hailstorm”
Instantly, the large orb froze over to form a thick block of ice, then it shattered into a myriad of fragments— Each one sharp and glistening as if to reflect the cold fury of the caster.
The storm of small blades rained down on Nephthys’ body, each fragment piercing through the air with lethal precision. They struck her from all angles, a relentless barrage that left no room for escape, the sheer force of the ice leaving a trail of frost in its wake as it sliced into her skin.
By the time the relentless barrage ceased, the only thing I could make out was a mangled mess of punctured limbs. Though the sight may have seemed gruesome, this wasn’t over yet. If these things could be killed that easily then they wouldn’t need to be locked away for all eternity.