The copious amount of messages from Orange informing me what had been damaged wasn’t making me feel better. And if I hadn’t healed from worse, I would’ve questioned if I would survive. My nanites quickly realigned the vertebrae in my neck, recreated the ones Shadara’s arrow destroyed, repaired my spinal cord in both places, sealed and repaired the hole in my chest, and reopened my windpipe and esophagus.
We suggest you flee with your companions. The werewolf is far too powerful for you to handle.
Can we flee?
Shadara released a salvo of arrows at Tasha. Tasha plucked each arrow out of the air effortlessly while lazily strutting towards my friend.
“Stop!” Elara’s scream forced everyone to cover their ears. Ruptured eardrums were added to my list of injuries that had almost been mended.
Tasha growled as she glared at her sister. “You wish to die again? So be it.”
Tasha’s body lost all definition as shadows swallowed her up and shifted like an ink blot floating through the air towards Elara. The banshee stumbled back and tripped. Tasha reformed next to and stood over Elara, claws swiping. A gust of wind kicked up a cloud of dust and pushed Tasha away from Elara.
“You will not harm the Soul Nexus, lycanthrope.” The sphinx’s paws dug into the floor as he flapped his wings again.
I pushed myself up and looked at my energy. Orange, I don’t have time to be guessing at these bars. Can you make them simpler? The bars on my HUD blinked and became percentages. Much easier. And for these, keep them as whole numbers but rounded down. That should give me somewhat of a buffer from pushing myself too hard.
I pulled my gun out and watched two more arrows fly towards Tasha, but she flicked them away with her claws. Elara scrambled away from her sister while the sphinx pounced over her. Tasha slashed at the sphinx with her claws. A trail of darkness flowed behind them, only to strike a cloud of sand, and the sphinx appeared behind her, slamming a massive paw on her back.
The huge sphinx pinned Tasha to the ground. She growled, and the shadows enveloped her body and slipped out from under the paw. Her claw reaching for the sphinx’s face was the first to materialize, followed by the rest of her. The claws opened four deep gashes on his face, oozing blood while black smoke floated out from the wound.
As the sphinx reeled, I swallowed and tightened my grip on my gun. We said we would help Elara defend the sphinx. I have to do my part.
I aimed and fired. Tasha’s body sped up as she turned to me. The genuine look of surprise twisted into a snarl of pain as the bullet pierced her shoulder.
The shadowy werewolf clutched the wound and glared at me, the red in her eyes leaving a slight trail too. “You live?”
“I’m already difficult to kill, and I’ve already made my speed my power, so I don’t think I’ll accept your offer.” I dashed to the side, aiming another shot at her. “Besides, I’m not a fan of all that fur. No offense, Shadara.”
“None taken,” Shadara said as she let out another volley of three arrows. Tasha batted away two, but the third stuck into her palm, but not very deeply.
Tasha pulled the arrow out, and I saw that my bullet wound wasn’t very deep either, and she wasn’t bleeding. We’re barely scratching her.
The sphinx roared as he rubbed at the wound Tasha gave him that was still smoking. He exploded into a cloud of sand, and the swirling cloud floated off up to the second level. The wound wasn’t smoking, but it was still marring his face.
Tasha lunged at Shadara with incredible speed. Shadara barely dodged, but Tasha’s claws raked across the stone floor, sending sparks flying. With a sweeping motion, Tasha summoned shadows that coiled around Shadara, ensnaring her. The werewolf’s claws slashed down, cutting through the shadows and leaving deep gashes even through Shadara’s armor.
“Don’t hurt them.” Elara wailed. It reverberated through the library.
The sonic force sent Tasha momentarily stumbling back and me repairing my eardrums again. Tasha growled as she turned back to her sister. The sphinx reappeared from the swirling sand, and his wounded face was partially healed. He pounced at Tasha, aiming to pin her down.
Tasha transformed into a shadowy mist, effortlessly slipping through the sphinx’s grasp. The mist swirled around him, momentarily blinding him with darkness. Tasha reformed behind the sphinx, her claws leaving ethereal trails as she delivered a swift kick to his hind legs. The sphinx roared in pain, but Tasha didn’t let up and slashed savagely at his back.
Deep wounds, all smoking, left the sphinx collapsing to the ground. As Tasha turned her attention towards me, I fired another round, aiming for her center of mass. The bullet hit, but Tasha’s body shimmered. She grinned menacingly, unfazed and uninjured.
I’ma gonna die.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Shadara unleashed a barrage of arrows, aiming for vulnerable spots. Tasha weaved through the air, dodging most of them, but one arrow managed to graze her side. The wound, however, was superficial, and Tasha retaliated by closing her fist, conjuring shadowy tendrils that reached out to ensnare Shadara. The panther woman jumped away, avoiding all but one of them that wrapped around her ankle.
Shadara hit the ground hard, only to be pulled towards the other tendrils that then grabbed her other arms and legs and pulled them taunt. Tasha flexed her fingers as she lazily strode towards Shadara. I fired another two shots, leaving me with fifty percent of my mana, only to see Tasha casually dodge them by taking two steps forward.
Elara summoned spectral hands that reached towards Tasha. The banshee’s ethereal touch grabbed Tasha’s shoulder. But Tasha laughed, a chilling sound that echoed through the library as if the attack had done nothing.
I sprinted towards Tasha. I need to buy time for Shadara to escape and the sphinx to recover. The sphinx again transformed into a cloud of sand and disappeared. With a burst of speed I couldn’t keep up with, Tasha lunged at me, her claws slashing through the air. I leaned back as best as I could, but a shallow cut marked my cheek.
I twisted and rolled away as my face burned far worse than a simple scratch should’ve.
The sphinx, regaining his composure, roared. His massive paw slammed into the ground as a rocky spike burst out of the ground, aiming for Tasha’s back. Tasha round-house-kicked the earthen spike, shattering it.
Tasha seemed to revel in the fight, her laughter echoing as she held her arms out. “This is so much better than what I expected. How long has it been since someone survived longer than the briefest of seconds against me?”
Shadara struggled against the tendrils that held her suspended in the air. I covered my cheek as I stared at the insane, shadowy werewolf. Is there any chance?
After her moment of gloating, Tasha turned on Shadara. I fired another round at Tasha, aiming for her legs. The bullet missed her knee by inches. As Tasha raised a claw to disembowel Shadara, Elara cupped her mouth with her hands.
“Die!”
The air rippled between the sisters. Tasha grabbed her ears and dropped to a knee. The tendrils holding Shadara evaporated and dropped her unconscious body to the ground, blood pouring from her ears.
I sprinted up and performed the kick Orange drilled into my mind last night on Tasha’s face. She went sprawling to the ground, but my foot felt like it kicked a steel block.
Tasha growled, shot to her feet, and lunged towards me, her claws extended. With astonishing agility, she swiped at me. I leaned back and under the attack. I kicked her gut, but I might as well have kicked a mountain. What if I try Orange’s trick—the one where I try several strikes in rapid succession in the exact spot to break through hard surfaces?
The werewolf slashed at me again. This time, I grabbed her wrist and pulled myself to the outside. Unfortunately, a shadowy spear shot out from her side. I tried to use my arms to block it. They stopped it, only after it pierced through both of them.
She broke off the shadow appendage and pushed it further into me, stabbing into my right lung and pinning my arms to my chest. With one more thrust, she forced me to the ground, and the shadow tendril forced its way into the ground.
Everything hurt. All I wanted to do was scream, but I couldn’t breathe to do so. My nanites began forcing out the shadow spear, but then the edges of the spear dug into me as it grew barbs. After tearing more internal flesh, the spear left me nearly writhing as it anchored itself to the ground.
With a grin and a chuckle, Tasha turned away, only to be swatted by the sphinx’s paw. She crashed into a bookcase, and it exploded into chunks of wood, paper, and dust. The spear evaporated, and I reflexively rolled over and spat out the blood that was drowning me as my nanites went to work.
Shadara’s body was perfectly still as she lay face down on the ground. The sphinx spread his wings out wide, and several feathers glowed yellow. Tasha burst from the wreckage as a featureless teardrop of shadow, flying towards the sphinx. With a flap of his wings, the sphinx sent the glowing feathers at Tasha. They peppered her body but didn’t slow her down.
She reformed above the sphinx, with her fists raised like a hammer. Elara flew up, grabbed her sister’s leg, and pulled her back. Tasha kicked Elara in the face, sending the banshee flying towards me and herself awkwardly falling to the ground.
The sphinx didn’t let Tasha hit the ground before flapping his wings again and swallowing up the werewolf in a dust tornado. Elara slammed into me, and we both tangled up as I felt several ribs cracking from the impact.
My lung was at least healed enough to let me groan as I checked on Elara.
She didn’t show the slightest mark of damage. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to. Let me help you.”
I held up my hand to stop her. “Stop… Don’t…. Worry… Me….” I can breathe, but good grief, it hurts so much right now.
Elara froze as she watched my wounds continue to heal before giving a nod and phasing through me to her feet. “I’ll take care of Shadara.”
I shook my head. “Your… Voice… Strong… Use it.” I forced myself to my knees. She does more damage with her screams than Shadara and I could ever hope to do. “I got her.”
Warning: Corruption requires expulsion. You will feel a substantial amount of pain.
More than what I’ve already experienced in this fight?
Yes.
A burning feeling built in the center of my chest and rose to the back of my neck. Oh, no. I’m going to throw it up. If knowing what was going to happen made it worse, then I wish I hadn’t been moving as fast as I was. With a heave, the fire in my chest jumped into my mouth and forced its way out from there. A torrent of blood and ink poured out and pooled underneath me.
It felt like the deviant spider’s acid was dissolving me from the inside out again, and my head was about to explode from pressure.
It was over as quickly as it started, and Elara had barely taken a step towards me once she likely heard me vomiting. I shook my head and checked my energy. I started this fight at over eight hundred percent, and now I’m down to just over four. What have we even accomplished?
The dust tornado flashed and became a huge amber crystal, with Tasha trapped inside. Elara and I both stopped and stared. Did he just trap her? Is it over?
Tasha’s red eyes glowed brighter as it looked like her body was vibrating in the crystal. The sphinx vanished into his sand cloud again. My stomach dropped out from under me just before the crystal exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. I dodged most of it, concentrating on the larger, more dangerous pieces.
The shadows covering the werewolf’s body had dissipated in several large chunks, revealing regular black fur. She was on all fours, panting heavily. Her eyes were no longer glowing either. They were normal wolf's eyes, just bloodshot and red. I could see all the places where she had been hurt earlier were bleeding. So we are damaging her.
She struggled to her feet. “No more games.”