There was a pool of blue blood and dismembered corpses the size of a lake. There were armed beast people treating their wounds in the middle, and there were two people walking towards them.

“Maybe they want to negotiate,” said Josie.

“Imma shoot’em up,” said Bluntcoat.

“Do not damage the head,” added Butcher.

Ignoring his warning, Bluntcoat aimed right above Tommy’s chainmail, right in the middle of his face, on the bridge of the nose. His rifle fired, and the teen swung his longsword. Steam came out of the nozzle of the gun, but there was not a scratch on the enemy.

“Hey Butcher,” Bluntcoat gave him a look. “Who hell is he?”

“A pest. I suggest you reload.”

Tommy started running towards them, and although not as fast as the snakes, he could still leave horses in the dust. Josie jumped in front of her teammates and brandished her beet red weapon.

However, her swing missed and Tommy struck her face during the lull. The girl stumbled backwards while Bluntcoat shot several rounds, followed by Butcher’s charge which finally made Tommy stop.

“My face!” Josie clutched the cut on her cheek. “Back me up, guys!”

“I suggest ya handle the female,” said Bluntcoat. Since Butcher’s frame blocked his view of the enemy, he turned towards Natalie and started firing at will. The girl dodged or cut the projectiles, but was forced to retreat once Josie attacked her.

Some distance away, Tommy and Butcher were tying up loose ends. Despite being significantly slower on dry land, the killer was blocking all of Tommy’s blows and returning progressively deeper cuts in return.

“Sit still,” he bit his lower lip. “I will make your body a work of art.”

Despite activating the warrior’s breath, Tommy was slowing down. There was a bullet wound on his left thigh which impaired his movement. There was a cut above his right eye from which blood kept dripping into his socket.

The extended battle was taking its toll, and he was forced to fight while retreating.

“I’m going to carve your skull to perfection, file your teeth, so your agony is preserved. I welcome you to my collection!”

Butcher dropped his hatchet onto Tommy’s head. The teen blocked just in time, but his longsword snapped.

Turning his head to the right to avoid a fatal blow, Tommy screamed as his left ear and shoulder were cut. His balance was destroyed and he fell on his back. Not a second later, the butcher was on top of him.

He grabbed his head and pushed it into the ground while lifting his hatchet with left arm.

“Stubborn little lamb; I still can’t see the fear in your eyes. Perhaps I should cut you slowly, peel away the skin while you're still conscious to feel it. Would you like that?”

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He placed the hatchet near his face and slowly pushed it into the skin. Tommy let out a scream, but to his surprise, so did the butcher.

Someone flashed before his eyes, shoved the broken tip of his longsword straight into Butcher’s back and rolled on the ground in an effort to slow down his sprint.

“You slime!” Butcher wailed.

“That’s you, deepshit.”

While the killer reached for his back, in a frenzy of screams and curses, Tommy pulled himself out from under him and limped towards his friend.

“Can you still fight?” asked Michael.

“Yes.” Tommy lifted his broken sword before losing balance and falling on his bum.

“Sure you can. You just sit there and focus on healing; I’ll handle the porker.”

He threw Tommy his gloves, and after much hesitation, the teen put them on. Upon smacking them together, his bleeding stopped, but that was about it. His wounds had barely closed and the gloves ran out of mana.

“Careful,” said Tommy. “He’s fast and unpredictable.”

“Well I’ll be damned, so am I.”

While Tommy activated the warrior’s breath to hasten his recovery and Butcher kept trying to reach for the blade on his back, Michael sprinted towards him and tried to pull out the blade.

“Let me give you a hand.” The sight of him brought the killer back to sanity, and he tried to cut Michael as soon as he approached.

“You sneaky worm! Come here!”

“You jar of lard, I’m not going anywhere.”

About a hundred feet away from where Michael was insulting his opponent, Natalie was doing the same to her enemies. Josie tried to decapitate her again and again while Bluntcoat kept her on her toes. There was no room to counter or plan, so all she could do was talk.

“Miss Phuh, you look a bit tired. This is no way to prepare for a war.”

“What do you know, hmm? When this empire falls, the beast people will have the last laugh.”

“You don’t seem to be laughing though.”

Josie’s make-up was dripping all over her face from the heat of her own sword. Without Kane, she couldn’t corner her enemy, and despite Bluntcoat’s support, she still had to watch out for counters.

“You should’ve stayed out. Butcher will cut your friends, and then we’ll find the one hiding and deal with him too.”

“Oh.” Natalie’s eyes turned for a moment to the piles of snake corpses to their right. Finn was somewhere underneath, hopefully recovering his energy. Unfortunately, like Tommy, he could no longer help.

“Two against one, you sure know how to fight fair.”

“That’s how Kane’s fought,” said Josie. “I just hit till they drop.”

Natalie’s back hit the statue in the middle and Josie swung from above, trying to cut her in half. Natalie rolled and Josie struck the statue, releasing a wave of purple mana which sent her flying back.

“Where’s Nunac?”

Josie shook her head, and as soon as she focused her eyes, she started lifting the sword. Natalie was on top of her, the tip of her rapier just inches away from her face.

Suddenly, a bullet pierced through the teen’s arm, forcing her to retreat after leaving just a tiny cut on Josie’s forehead. Blood poured down Miss Phuh’s face, down her tiny nose and trickling past her downwards lips.

“Little lady, what is your name?”

“Will that help you die in peace?”

Josie stood up while biting her lips and tried to brush the blood off her face. Of course, all that did was smear her skin and broaden the wounds, causing more to drip out.

“Red looks good on you,” said Natalie. “It matches your sword.”

Suddenly, the tiny beast woman screamed like a banshee. Something snapped in her mind, and small canines protruded from her lips. Natalie prepared for combat, and Bluntcoat started laughing.

“Hey red-head,” he called. “Have you ever seen a berserker in action?”

“What’s that?”

“You’re about to find out.”