Horse-shaped body parts covered in broken black scales lay strewn across the surrounding field. Some cried pitifully, trying to crawl away despite losing the back half of their body.
“Lords above.” Allister breathed as the team glimpsed Leta’s aftermath, their mouths slack as they beheld the destructive power of a Queen let loose.
“And you thought you could take her on.” Someone nudged John, who only managed to gulp as he looked over the ruined earth with wide-eyed horror.
“We’re not safe yet.” Mic pointed a finger at a few moving shadows.
Several Night Mares on the outskirts of the herd escaped the attack and circled, snickering momentarily as they tried to understand what had just happened.
A moment later, they were galloping into the trees towards the still in shock team of Chosen.
“Move! Move!” Mic shouted, pushing the team forward toward Filothei Hill without a backward glance at the glowing Leta and the carnage she’d created.
‘Atreus and the team can hand three or four of those things.’ Her gaze turned towards what looked like a flock of birds heading her way.
‘Flocks don’t usually fly in a straight line like bombers in a raid.’ Leta poked the inside of her cheek with her tongue, contemplating the creatures that were fast approaching her location.
She attempted to pull herself into the air while channeling another storm, but found she couldn’t concentrate on both. When she tried, there was an immediate shooting pain that started in her eyes and seemed to be splitting her brain in half.
[The Host’s mental fortitude is insufficient for the simultaneous control of Magician’s Hand and Herald of the Storm.]
‘Yeah, no shit.’ Leta hissed and quickly let go of her hold on the storm, allowing the clouds to rumble without her guidance.
“Ow, dammit.” She winced, shaking the green spots from her eyes.
‘How am I looking at skill availability?’
[Four hours remain before the host’s brain recovers sufficiently for skill download. However, the Host can utilize up to five stat points, which must be divided among the stats. The Host’s body has not healed enough to increase a singular stat by this amount.]
‘I guess we’re doing this the hard way. Dump two in reflexes, two in speed, and one in stamina. If I can’t bring the sky down on them, I need to be too fast for them to land a hit.’
[Engaging eight Corrupted-Harpies in aerial combat requires the continuous application of Magician’s Hand at maximum weight capacity. The Host’s operational flight time is limited to 15 minutes before the onset of significant fatigue, with complete mental incapacitation occurring at 20 minutes.]
‘Will I still be able to use lightning strikes?’
[Single-shot lightning below 300,000 watts is possible when Magician’s Hand is not activated.]
“Not a full blast—just enough to send them tumbling. Gravity will take care of the rest. Do it, Gada.”
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[Allocating stat points now.]
Leta gritted her teeth and pushed through the hot pain searing her veins as she pulled her spear up. ‘Should have done this back in the car.’
[Unassigned nanite total at 5,210,054]
At this distance, she could clearly see the eight oncoming Harpies as their eagle-like screeches pierced the air.
Their bodies, roughly human in size, contrasted sharply with their four-meter wingspans, made possible by long, black feathered arms. Black feathers covered their torsos, transitioning to silver on their powerful thighs, which terminated in three hand-length talons. Their faces, though human in structure, were gaunt and skull-like, the effect heightened by sunken, golden-brown eyes that lacked any white. Thin plumes atop their heads resembled sparse hair, only to thicken and lengthen into prominent feathers at the nape.
Meters away, they gave another angry screech, the feathers at their neck bristling to fan around their heads like angry lizards.
Leta’s grip on her spear tightened as her eyes narrowed on the approaching beasts. “Alright, then. Let’s do this.”
With a growl, she concentrated on pulling herself up into the air. She could feel her heart lurch in her chest as she rose above the tree line, a momentary fear that was quickly squashed by the blistering rage of battle that coarse through her veins.
Leta’s halo of energy flashed as she pushed her body through the air, a vengeful snarl ripped from her lips as she drew her spear up to engage the first Harpy.
She expected it to pull up and use its talons to rip into her arms, a blow that she would have countered with her spear.
Instead, the creature twisted mid-air like a fighter jet, inverting itself as it flipped around to scrap her back with its claws.
“Jezzus, fuck!” She cursed as she rammed her weapon backward, the butt nailing the Harpy center mast, releasing a burst of electricity.
[The Host has taken slashing damage from Corrupted-Harpy.]
[Nanites routed for healing.]
~Contact Siphon removes 1,342 unassigned nanites.~
[Inert nanites cannibalized to increase healing speed.]
‘Holy shit, these things are fast!’ Leta’s back throbbed with a searing pain as the nanites fused the torn flesh, the Harpy’s dying screech echoing in the darkness before a sickening ‘squash’ marked its final descent.
She banked left, the creatures quick on her tail as they flew low over a football pitch, her teeth gritting as she prayed that they’d slip up on an elevation updraft.
Though momentarily slowed by the draft, the monsters quickly adapted, splitting their formation. One group of three followed her new trajectory, while the other continued straight, widening the gap between them.
‘Dammit, they’re gonna try to outflank me.’ Leta turned her head to see how close the three behind her were.
‘Too close! Too close!’ Barely three meters separated them. Leta could see the lead Harpy’s black gums framing a row of needle-sharp teeth as it let out an indignant squawk, as though personally insulted by her audacity to run.
‘Brakes!’
Tucking her chin in, she flipped onto her back and slowed to a near halt, her insides feeling like they were being jammed into her spin from the sudden change in velocity.
The surprise move worked.
The golden gaze of the Harpy widened as it was impaled on her spear, its black feathers going dull and falling from its deteriorating form in a shower of plumage.
[Corrupted-Harpy. Inert Nanites: 860,129. Absorb inert Nanites? Yes/No?]
[Contact Siphon has absorbed 495,532.]
[Warning! The Host has reached maximum Inert Nanite capacity.]
“Fabulous!” Leta grunted as she allowed gravity to take her down, the swipe of talons from the right passing harmless over head as she conjured a short, unorganized beam of lightning that caught the creature in its belly.
She pulled herself back up and forward, letting her victim plummet to the ground behind her as the third one dove from her left.
‘Up! Up!’ With a metal shove, she threw herself upwards, flipping mid-air to dive again, giving her the high ground and outmaneuvering it.
It attempted to roll and invert itself, its nature telling it to have its claws between its body and whatever was attacking it.
Animal intuition did not take into account a silver spear letting loose an arch of lighting that lit the night skin as it made contact.
‘Pull up!’ Her stomach churned as she leveled out, scanning the burning city for the others.
[The Host has reached the five-minute mark.]
“Come on, where are you… there!Against the light of a blazing building, she spotted a tight formation that was too small to be Mundane fighter jets but too organized to be normal birds.