Chapter 45
Four Against Four (Part 3)
Ryle stood up and faced her opponent, who had somehow managed to become an incredibly imposing figure. The blonde fighter knew that she should have been around the same height and have about the same build as Yin, so what was it that was sending shivers down her spine?
A strange aura seemed to be surrounding Yin’s body, like barely visible flames dancing around her frame. Other physical changes included her muscles seemingly growing larger and her height increasing slightly, But the most terrifying change had to be her eyes, which were now glowing red, making her look like an enraged demon that had come straight from hell to cause death and destruction.
It was upon observing this monster of a woman before her that Ryle came to a sudden and horrifying realization. Her opponent was a berserker, a warrior who uses their rage to increase their physical abilities.
There were different ways that these rage-fueled warriors could achieve their heightened abilities. Some needed to ingest special herbs or potions to activate this stage. Others needed to be put under hypnosis for it to work. And others could just activate their furious state through their own abilities, which seemed to be what Yin could do.
However, the one common thing about berserkers was that upon achieving this state, they became almost unstoppable. Their bodies hardened so much that almost all attacks could only do so much as the bite of a mosquito and their strength became so terrifying that even wild beasts larger than man could be torn apart with just their bare hands. But the worst of all was that these monsters would fight furiously until the very end and beyond. Even if one of such warriors had a spear or a sword pierce through their body, they would still keep on fighting like nothing had happened, only succumbing to their wounds once all others around them were dead.
While some would ignore such stories as mere tall tales, Ryle knew far better. There had once been a bounty that she had tried to claim, but had immediately given up on after seeing what her target was capable of. A group of around ten other bounty hunters had come to claim the man’s head, only to end up torn apart or crushed into paste, along with most people that had been unfortunate enough to be close when it all happened.
Ryle herself had been lucky enough to hide fast enough in a nearby alley, but she had still witnessed the massacre that happened right before her eyes. It had been a sight that would haunt her in her nightmares for many days afterwards and still be a memory that brought terror to her very core.
Now someone with that same power that had traumatized her back then was standing before her, except this time she couldn’t hide. Ryle not only doubted that she would be able to get away if she tried, but she couldn’t risk Yin turning her rage towards Arkay. She’d rather die than let that ever happen.
“What’s the matter!? Where’s all that spunk you had not too long ago!?” Yin asked in her enraged state while staring down the opponent before her. “Don’t tell me you’re now starting to piss your pants and realize what sort of a mistake you made! Or should I go and skin that kitty for you!? Would that get you back into the fight!?”
In one go, all fear washed away from Ryle as soon as Arkay was being threatened.
“Oh, don’t you worry… I’m not regretting a damn thing here,” the blonde fighter said as she got herself ready. “With the exception of letting you lay a finger on Arnie, I’m all good over here. So why don’t you bring it on!?”
In her berserker state, every form of irritation would send Yin off into a bloodthirsty rage. Whether it was someone attacking her or even just a slight insult, the offending party would receive no mercy from her. So it was no surprise that Ryle’s taunting would get the same reaction from her, which was to charge towards the perceived enemy like a raging beast.
When it came to The Four War Maidens, Yin was the powerhouse of the group, able to perform insane feats of physical strength. Her role in any battle was often to pulverize the defenses of the enemy lines with overwhelming force, reducing the opposition into bloodied paste. This was something she could often do without activating her berserker state, which was why her ability was mostly left as a trump card that would only be activated if necessary.
The problem with the berserker state was that the user often wouldn’t be able to differentiate between friend or foe, making them as much of a threat to their allies as well as their enemies. But now there was no one around that Yin really needed to look out for, as the few random soldiers that might get caught in the destruction were of no concern for her. The only people she ever worried about were the other War Maidens and possible higher-ups in the military. With no one from either group no longer around, she could let loose without any worries.
Yin’s attack had been very fast and powerful, to the point that it left a small crater to the ground where her fist collided with it. Had Ryle not moved out of the way, she wouldn’t have survived such an impact.
Knowing that she was at a disadvantage when it came to fighting up close, Ryle opted for a method that she had hoped to avoid. Pulling out the whip Lexton had made for her, she gripped it tightly in her hand, readying to finally try it out in actual combat. The reason she didn’t want to use it was because she didn’t have enough time to practice using it, which meant her skills with it weren’t exactly the best.
Not to mention, the idea of using a weapon made by Lexton, a person she wasn’t exactly all that fond of, wasn’t a tempting idea in the least. She could just imagine the smug boasting she would have to endure from the kobold, if he were to ever find out that she actually used the whip.
However, this wasn’t a situation where she could afford to be picky, so Ryle swallowed her pride and got ready for a really dangerous field test.
“Hope this is as good as you made it out to be, Lex,” the blonde mumbled to herself as she gripped her new weapon tightly. “It’s the best I’ve got right now.”
After taking a deep breath, Ryle used all of her might to swing the whip. There was a loud crack that echoed through the air, followed by a scream of pain as the weapon made contact with soft flesh.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the War Maiden that was crying out in pain from getting whipped, as it was Ryle herself. Thanks to her lack of experience, she had accidentally hit herself on her cheek with her whip, leaving her holding the sore part of her face while letting out a stream of some rather colorful language.
“GODDAMMIT! SON OF A BITCH!” Ryle yelled between her screams of pain. “What kind of an asshole makes a weapon like that!? I’m gonna kick his all after I’m done here!”
Meanwhile, Yin could only stare at her opponent in confusion and mild annoyance, not sure whether she should be laughing at Ryle’s antics or getting angry over her not taking their fight more seriously.
“...What the hell is wrong with you?” Yin asked with a raised eyebrow. “Were you dropped on your head as a baby or something?”
“My brother asked the same thing. Don’t know why,” Ryle muttered before calming herself with a deep breath. “Anyways, no use crying now. I just need to make this work on my second try now.”
With another attempt at swinging the whip, Ryle was able to make the weapon fly towards her opponent this time. However, Yin barely moved in response, as she simply raised her arm to block the attack. The whip wrapped itself around the War Maiden’s forearm, as didn’t even look a bit phased over the attack.
“Was that it? This is the best you can do?” Yin asked with a growl, her anger beginning to rise once more. “This isn’t a goddamn game were playing here, but a fight to the death! Would you mind taking this at least a bit more seriously!?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ve been serious the whole time,” Ryle said with a grin. “You’ll just realize that way too late.”
Clicking the switch on the handle of her weapon, Ryle sent an electric shock traveling through the whip and right into Yin. Sparks of electricity flew everywhere, as the energy coursed through the War Maiden’s body.
“Ha! Take that you cocky bastard!” Ryle yelled, seeing how her plan had apparently worked. “Guess you shouldn’t look down on your opponents too much or else they might kick… your… ass…”
The blonde fighter’s taunting died down as she saw the electricity stop, yet her opponent remained standing. In fact, had it not been for the small amount of smoke rising from her body, one would think that nothing had even happened to Yin at all.
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Ryle had hoped to use the electric charge from the whip to knock out or at least momentarily incapacitate the War Maiden, so that she could have moved in to finish the fight. It seemed as though that she herself had done what she had accused Yin of and had severely underestimated her opponent.
“So… That tickled quite a bit,” Yin said while gritting her teeth in fury. “Allow me to pay you back for that.”
“Uhh… Oh shit… This did not go the way I planned at all,” Ryle said with a nervous chuckle. “I’m going to assume that you’re not going to just forget about-”
Before the blonde could finish her question, her body suddenly lifted off the ground, as Yin used her insane strength to pull on the whip, causing the one holding the weapon to rise up in the air. Ryle barely had time to let out a surprised scream before her body collided with crates stored in the building.
image [https://i.ibb.co/KXZX7xh/Ch-45-Pic-1.jpg]
“Ow… I’m going to take that as a no…” the blonde fighter muttered weakly, as she got up despite the pain her body was in. “Seriously, crates full of canned fish? Couldn’t I have landed on something a bit tastier at least?”
Ryle’s complaints came to a sudden end, as she noticed a shadow appear over her. Acting on instinct, she quickly rolled out of the way, as Yin landed there with her fist connecting to the spot Ryle’s head had been at just seconds ago.
“Are you not done mocking me!?” Yin roared in rage as she chased after her prey. “I will not have some wannabe trash warrior come and insult me like this!”
“Trust me, insulting you isn’t exactly my objective here!” Ryle said as got back just in time to avoid a foot trying to stomp on her head. “In all honesty, right now I’m just doing my best to survive!”
The blonde fighter did her best to avoid the oncoming attacks from the enraged War Maiden, which she had been able to do with relative ease. Due to her being stuck in a state that let sheer rage control her movements, Yin’s attacks weren’t exactly executed with a lot of finesse. All of her punches, kicks and other moves were predictable, allowing someone like Ryle to dodge and avoid them. The berserker state was most likely used against more regular opponents, who didn’t have the skills to avoid such attacks, or as a surprise tactic to catch your enemy off guard before turning them into a bloodied mess on the ground.
However, despite this, Ryle knew that she was at a serious disadvantage. Even if she was able to avoid all the attacks thrown at her, she could still feel the sheer power behind them and could tell that just one hit would be enough to kill her. To make it worse, the wounds she had suffered in her previous battle with Blair were taking their toll on her. While none of the injuries were fatal, the loss of blood that was accumulating from her wounds was draining her strength. It wouldn’t take long, until she would be unable to avoid a fatal blow and she’d end up dead.
Taking a look at her surroundings, Ryle started to think of what she could do to turn the situation around. As luck would have it, she found something that she could use just for that.
Spotting a pile of large metal supply containers, Ryle quickly made her way towards it while avoiding Yin’s attacks. Once she had reached it, she stood close to it and turned her attention towards the War Maiden.
“Hey moron! Are you even trying to hit me at all!?” Ryle yelled in a mocking tone. “So far, your attacks have been so easy to dodge that I’m having a hard time staying awake! Guess the famous Four War Maidens aren’t worth shit in the end, huh!?”
With her mind clouded by the berserker state, Yin could only respond to the mockery aimed at her in one way, which was violent fury. While taunting might not have been necessary to get the War Maiden to act in such a way, it did put a lot more energy into her charge.
Letting out a primal roar, Yin charged at Ryle and threw a punch that would turn even the mightiest of warriors into a gory mess. By just a few inches, Ryle managed to move out of the way of the fist, letting it collide with the pile of containers she had been standing by. The shock from the blow was so powerful, that the entire pile shook violently, causing some of the containers on top to fall down.
And just like Ryle had planned, a couple of them fell on top of Yin.
Even if a normal person would have been killed by such a heavy object falling down on them, Yin was far from normal. The collision with such things still hurt a lot and she was even brought down on one knee for a short time, but overall all that had happened to the War Maiden was that she was left a bit disoriented and with a bad headache.
This was still going according to Ryle’s plan, who had expected her opponent to survive the falling containers. What she had hoped for was to get a small pause in Yin’s attacks, allowing her to initiate the second part of her plan.
Using her whip, Ryle grabbed a hold of a nearby barrel and used her strength to throw it at Yin, who was still recovering from the earlier hits. Seeing as how she was completely defenseless, she couldn’t put up much of a protection against the barrel coming at her. The metallic surface of the barrel soon connected with Yin’s face, whose nose was left bleeding from the hit.
“Y-You little bastard!” the berserker yelled angrily while holding her bleeding nose. “I’m gonna make you pay for-!”
Yin’s threat was cut off by another barrel smashing into her, knocking her down to the floor. She quickly got back up, only to be forced to block an impact from a crate this time. This was followed by more heavy objects being thrown at her by Ryle.
“What’s the matter, asshole!?” Ryle taunted as she kept grabbing and throwing things at her opponent. “You were gonna what!?”
This was the blonde fighter’s plan. Since close combat was out of the question due to high risk it carried, her best option was to keep her distance and use long range attacks to eventually wear down Yin. But since she wasn’t all that proficient with using her whip yet and her opponent was someone that could easily free herself or pull Ryle towards her if she were ever entangled by the weapon, the blonde fighter had decided to make the objects around them into her projectiles.
Ryle’s battle plan seemed to be working, as she was able to keep throwing things at Yin fast enough to not allow her to get back on the offensive. Even if she was an incredibly powerful berserker, her stamina wasn’t limitless and she eventually began to show signs of fatigue. This was also true for Ryle, who was also starting to run low on energy. At this point, both fighters seemed to be about equal in terms of remaining fighting prowess.
It seemed like Ryle was finally presented with an opportunity to finish the fight, as Yin’s berserker state ran out, causing her body to go back to normal. This was great news to Ryle, as the people who finally returned to normal after such a huge boost in power, were left exhausted and vulnerable. The blonde fighter’s knowledge had come out on top in this fight, as Yin fell to her knees.
“Looks like I wasn’t the only one getting tired,” Ryle said with a grin while she was panting from exhaustion. “Too bad you’re more worn out than I am! This win goes to ME!”
Once she declared her victory, the blonde fighter dashed towards the exhausted War Maiden and aimed to give a powerful roundhouse kick to Yin’s head to finish her off. However, just as her attack was about to hit, the War Maiden suddenly grabbed her leg in a powerful grip, before giving her a glare that sent shivers down her spine.
“You think you’ve won… you little shit?” Yin growled as she threw her opponent away before pushing herself up on her feet. “I’m not about to lose… Not yet! I’ve got too much riding no my shoulders! This will only be over once one of use is dead! AND IT WON’T BE ME!”
Ryle quickly got up from the ground, before Yin could take advantage of her downed state. The War Maiden still had enough energy to put up a fight, so the battle wasn’t over just yet.
Yin quickly closed the distance between herself and Ryle, leading to an all out brawl, as the two warriors were locked in a last desperate struggle. Punches and kicks were thrown. Some of the strikes were blocked, while others connected. Blood was splattering on the ground, as neither of the two was backing down a bit.
Finally, an opportunity to end the fight to the death when Ryle noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Yin’s right leg seemed to be hurt from her earlier assault, allowing her to hit it with a kick that brought the War Maiden to the ground. Yin tried to respond by grabbing at her opponent, but Ryle managed to jump back and put distance between them.
Yin tried to get up fast enough to put up some kind of a defense, but her damaged leg was hindering her too much. Because of this, she was unable to do anything, as Ryle’s whip wrapped around her body and pulled her close. All the damage and fatigue had built up so much that Yin couldn’t break out of her bindings fast enough, leaving her unable to prepare for what was to come.
Despite not having anywhere near the same amount of time as when she first demonstrated her special move, Ryle had managed to gather enough ki in her fist to unleash a powerful enough blast straight into Yin’s chest. The War Maiden coughed up blood as her body fell to the ground.
image [https://i.ibb.co/MZrsPRr/Ch-45-Pic-2.jpg]
With her opponent down and no longer moving, Ryle started to head back out. She still needed to make sure that Arkay was alright. She also didn’t know what Lexton’s situation was, as he was most likely facing one of the War Maidens as well. Not to mention, Erin was definitely fighting a tough battle right now, so she needed to get back to her as fast as possible.
However, the sound of someone standing up behind her stopped Ryle in her tracks. She turned around and her eyes went wide upon seeing Yin actually stand up, even after getting hit by Ryle’s most powerful attack.
“Don’t… think this is… over yet!” Yin said while coughing up blood. “I won’t… fall down… like this! I WILL KILL YOU!”
Roaring like a wild animal, the War Maiden went for another charge with her fists held ready for combat. Ryle, too taken aback by the sight before her eyes, was too unprepared to put up a proper stance. The blonde fighter was beginning to panic, as she had used everything she had and her opponent was still standing. She was starting to think that she would lose, as the War Maiden seemed to be a truly unbeatable threat.
However, just as Yin was about to reach Ryle, she fell to the ground. The blonde fighter could only stare in dumbfounded shock, wondering if what she had just seen was reality.
Ryle’s shock and surprise only grew as she suddenly heard the sound of crying come from her downed opponent. Knowing how brutal and cruel The Four War Maidens were she would have never thought that one of them would be able to shed tears.
“No… Not like this… I can’t let it end like this!” Yin said weakly while sobbing. “I can’t just die like this! I still need to… look after Ray!”
Directing her tear-filled gaze at Ryle, the War Maiden decided to grasp at the only hope she had.
“Please… Do what you will with me… But don’t harm Ray!” Yin begged. “That girl is innocent! She doesn’t deserve to die like this! Please let her live! Please!”
For a moment, Ryle’s resolve was shaken a bit, as she saw herself in the War Maiden a bit. Had she been in a similar position with her brother, she didn’t have any doubts that she would be acting the same way.
However, as much as she could relate with Yin’s plight, she still knew what kind of people The Four War Maidens were and the things they had done. Even if they had been turned into these monsters by the hands on Lune, there was no denying the blood on their hands.
“You know that’s not possible,” Ryle said in a calm and cold tone. “The things you four have done are not something you can just brush aside. None of you are innocent by any means at all.”
“I… I know what we’ve done! There’s nothing that can ever take away all the horrible crimes we have committed! Even if I now realize what Lune did to us and made us do, it still doesn’t make it right!” Yin screamed as she sobbed. “But Ray… She was always the best of us! She’s like a little sister to me and it was thanks to her that we four set out to become warriors in the first place! I know that kind and loving girl is still there, buried underneath the monster Lune created! Just let her have a chance! That’s all I ask! Please!”
Taking a deep breath, Ryle knelt next to Yin and looked at her straight in the eyes.
“I can’t speak for others, but the girl you’re talking about is currently facing someone who I know is too kind for her own good,” Ryle said while thinking about Erin. “If there’s anyone in this world who would be willing to forgive Ray, it’s her. So you have nothing to worry about. I swear.”
“Thank you… Now… I… can…” Yin said with a smile on her face as she closed her eyes for good.
Seeing that the War Maiden had passed away, Ryle turned around and began to walk back to where Arkay was. While a part of her felt somewhat guilty over lying to someone who was dying, she knew that there was no way any of the members of The Four War Maidens could be forgiven and let go. No matter how much one of them might beg and cry, there was far too many sins on the four of them, even if Lune was ultimately at fault for what they had become.
Still, Ryle had at least decided to let Yin pass away in peace, thinking that the person she saw as her sister would be safe. It was a mercy most wouldn’t have given. And mercy was something that was hard to come by these days.