Ren

She couldn’t believe the change that happened in her friends. She was furious too, but if yesterday someone told Ren the, seemingly, ever-cheerful Aki would go absolutely berserk, she wouldn’t have believed them.

So this is what “together till the end” means: a family that takes care of themselves no matter what. And the fact that I know they would do the same for me… I hope I will never prove myself unworthy of that trust and commitment.

She looked at Ulrech’s sword.

No. This won’t do.

‘Savri,’ she said. ‘Follow me. I’ll show you where the armoury is.’

The demon’s orange eyes lit up.

The ornate metal door leading to the room was still locked when they got there.

Probably, Kojiro didn't trust his men with the contents.

There was quite an arsenal there, as her father spent a small fortune on firearms. Those raping bastards getting their hands on it… Ren shuddered at the mere thought. She took a keyring out of her bag and carefully opened the door. Savri whistled upon seeing the contents: swords of all kinds, rifles, pistols, axes, maces, even a polearm or two. There were also stands with armour, but they didn't have time to put any on. The one thing that Ren was looking for was a wooden box with golden filigree ornaments showing a harpy hunter. She unlocked it with another key from the ring and opened the lid. Inside there was a well-made black composite recurve bow, a string and a pair of archery gloves.

Item: Bow of the Bloody Perch

Class: Weapon - Bow - Recurve Bow

Rarity: Artisan - Rare

Durability: 50/50

She put on the gloves and quickly strung the bow. Then she grabbed a quiver and slung it across her back.

‘Can I see it?’ Savri, who just helped herself to an arming sword, asked.

Ren handed it to her. ‘

‘A friend in the Abyss was a good archer,’ Sav said. ‘Was always more of a sword and gun person, but I always appreciated archery. Seems well-made too.’

‘It’s a sort of family heirloom,’ Ren explained. ‘It belonged to my great-great-grandfather from my mom’s side and was passed down the generations. Mom brought it here after she married dad. It was supposed to go to Kojiro, but he never had any interest in archery, so I was trained in using it instead.’

‘It will be an honour to fight alongside someone wielding such a storied weapon, then,’ the demoness smiled.

‘Thank you.’

‘I hope you don’t mind me taking this,’ Sav pointed to the sword.

‘You are helping me retake the place, so, as far as I am concerned, anything you want to take from here is yours.’

‘I will put it to good use, I promise.’

There was nothing but cold malice in that statement. Ren could relate. The old clan rite to earn such a bow was to hunt down a monster of some power. There was no better time for her to start using it then. There were plenty of monsters to hunt here. The fact she was such a monster until recently sickened her to no end.

It will take me a lot of time to redeem myself. But… this will be a good start.

Sounds of shouts and running started coming from the corridor.

‘More of them. Get ready!’

Ren nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring and held her breath.

Two men with swords in their hands burst into the armoury. She hesitated briefly.

It’s so much more difficult when it is your hands that need to get dirty.

Then the words of one of the men from the wine cellar echoed in her mind.

…while most of us only went once…

She loosed the arrow. It pierced the man’s chest. Savri disposed of the second one.

‘Good shooting,’ Savri noted, as she finished off the man Ren shot with a magic bolt from her gun. ‘Let’s keep going.’

Savri

She didn't want to tell this to Aki and Caeileera, but part of the reason Sav asked them to check the upper floor was that she suspected that Lilyth was either somewhere on the lower one or inside the camp. Nyx damn her, if she was going to let them see her in the state she was likely in. And speaking of…

Nyx?

‘Yes?’ the goddess answered with urgency in her voice. ‘Did you find her?’

How did you…

‘The link she had with me went dead a few hours ago…’

Oh no… Is she…

‘No. Not as far as I know. Ere didn't see her in… her realm.’

Why didn't you tell us…

‘I can’t, ‘Nyx sounded like she was crying. ‘We can't show that much preferential treatment to you mortals, even our champions, as it tends to cause far more damage in the long run; or interfere too much because we don’t want to limit your ability to make choices. Do you know how much pain it is to know someone you care for is in danger and you can’t do anything?’

I do. Thank you for your candour. I suspected it was something like that.

‘D-do you know what happened to her after she went missing?’

Savri gave her the short version.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

‘F-find her,’ Nyx said after a long pause, her voice breaking. ‘And make them pay.’

The last thing Savri heard before the link broke was Nyx’s loud sobs.

Lilyth

I woke up to the sounds of running around and shouts.

What’s going on? I thought groggily.

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was still alone in the tent. Then I heard the most unexpected and amazing sound of the day - gunfire.

I hope you all die, motherfuckers.

I felt much better so I slowly gathered myself up from the ground. I still felt a bit unsteady but regained my balance soon enough. Bracing myself against the pole I was tied to before I tried summoning just Luna. It made me feel slightly woozy but the blade appeared in my hand. The interface was still on the fritz, but now I was armed. Also, I was naked and covered in a crust of… man juices, so the first order of the day would be to find something to cover myself with. Every step hurting me, I slowly crept out of the tent and found myself in the middle of absolute chaos. I was in what looked to be a military camp set up in the courtyard of a… was that a fucking plantation house? It had columns and everything.

Why can't I remember it from when I got here?

My memories of the time between my capture and the… Nightmare were hazy to the point of non-existence. I couldn't even remember what Kojiro looked like. I still remember the feeling of his hands on my body and… other things as he forced himself on me… but not his face… why?

Another gunshot brought me back to reality. I shook my head to clear it.

There will be time for such mysteries later.

I dove into the next tent and saw that it was one of the tents my rapists slept in. I quickly rummaged through it and found a coarse and too-big-on-me white linen shirt.

It will have to do, I thought while slipping it on my body.

It felt wet and sticky in the few places where the cum of my abusers didn't dry up yet, but it was the least of my concerns, as I heard more gunfire and what sounded like… magical blasts?

By then I felt good enough to summon the second of my knives - Sol. Now, fully armed and emerged from the tent and saw that there was currently a small fire exchange going on in the courtyard. Two rifle-armed men hidden behind a stack of boxes were firing at Savri and Ren, armed with a bow she got… somewhere. The girls were taking cover in the doorway so they couldn't see three more Red Masks that were slowly creeping towards them hugging the walls of the house, one from the left and the rest from the right. I noticed two more dead bandits lying on the ground in the no-man’s land.

I was gripped by intense gratitude and fear.

They came for me… still, two against seven weren't good odds. Let’s even them out a bit.

Savri

I knew the rifle-holding bastard would be a problem, but there being two of them…

She wasn’t sure whether she could take them from that position. Eventually, they would run out of ammo or she would break through their cover, but every second increased the chance of extra Red Masks appearing, which is why the sight of a black-haired figure dressed only in a white shirt slowly limping towards the riflemen brought her hope.

Lilyth! I need to get their undivided attention.

She cast [Primaeval Shield] on herself, leaned out of cover and fired several shots at the riflemen. One of them managed to fire a potshot at her that impacted the shield with enough impact to shatter it, the resultant shockwave throwing Ren to the floor and mostly obliterating the round. Still, Savri’s attack achieved its intended effect, and the men were too busy hiding from the onslaught to pay attention to much else. She was going to continue attacking when Lilyth's hoarse shout reached her.

‘Savri! Flanks!’

Shit! she thought and jumped back barely fast enough to avoid getting her face skewered with a sword thrust. She still felt the sting of a cut on her cheekbone.

Fuck!

Two men with swords drawn burst into the building. A third one soon appeared behind them. She jumped back again and tried to raise her gun to fire, but the first swordsman knocked it out of her hands with another slash.

It was a short-lived triumph, however, as an arrow entered the side of his head and he crumpled to the floor. Savri used the window of time Ren bought her to draw her sword and lunge towards the remaining two men. To her great surprise, the half-harpy joined her, apparently not confident enough to use her bow again. She proved to be a useful distraction, and Savri, being a superior swordswoman, easily dispatched one of the men and together with Ren killed the second.

‘Fucking hell,’ she swore. ‘We owe Lilyth big time. Again.’

Sav turned towards the door to go help the slimeling with the other too when they saw some dark shape drop from the sky.

Caeileera

I had to pull crying and screaming Aki away from Xyrus’s body. She pulverized his skull into a fine paste of viscera and bone and looked like she would just keep going.

‘It’s okay, Aki,’ I said. ‘You can stop now. He’s dead.’

I had to resist the urge to spit on his corpse.

That seemed to have snapped Aki from the rage-fuelled haze she was in. Her gaze first focused on what was left of Xyrus and then on her blood-covered hands and body. Realising what she had just done, she vomited our meagre breakfast all over her clothes and the floor in front of her. Then she began to wail and cry.

‘I gather then you are aware…’ I had a female voice begin to say, but I cut her off.

‘Yes.’

I had no issue recognising the woman in the room, as I could clearly see the family resemblance between her and Rennie, though her birdlike features were far more prominent. They had the same pointed ears and black-and-yellow eyes and, of course, the biggest indicator of the origin was her white-and-grey feathered wings, which matched the white colour of her hair, which, just like her daughters, was cut short with long sideburns. Rennie wanting to imitate her mom’s hairstyle was kind of adorable. When she was taunting Xyrus, I noticed that the woman's fangs were slightly longer than Ren’s, and now I could see that instead of curved fingernails, the woman's digits ended with actual, though neatly trimmed, claws. Her clothes were far more informal than I would expect from someone at her station, as she wore a simple pair of green shorts and a black short-sleeved shirt.

‘Thank you for the rescue, my friends. Though I imagine I wasn’t your intended target. I am Ireela of the Bloody Perch Clan,’

‘Ren’s mom, we know,’ I said wearily.

‘You know my daughter?’

‘Yes. She is here… somewhere along with another friend of ours looking for our elven friend.’

The woman began to cry.

‘Thank the gods. I was worried that…’

She didn't manage to finish as a gunfight broke out outside. We cowered near the floor level to avoid stray bullets.

‘I guess that answers the question of where my daughter is,’ Ireela said, barely masking her terror.

‘She’s with Savri. If anyone can get her through this alive it is her.’

Then I heard the voice that brought back hope to me, even if the message immediately stripped it away.

‘Savri! Flanks!’

‘L-l-lilyth!’ Aki blubbered and then looked at the sorry state she was in. ‘Pl-please, Caei. I can't let her see me like… like this.’

Yeah. Time for me to step up. I think it is time to let Aki just be a nineteen-year-old for a while.

‘Sure thing, honey,’ I reassured her and turned to Ireela. ‘Could you please take care of my friend while I go help finish this?’

‘It will be my pleasure,’ Ireela nodded. ‘And please… keep my daughter safe.’

‘I wouldn't have it any other way.’

As I exited the room onto the balcony, I heard Ren’s mom tell Aki:

‘Come, dearie. Let’s get you washed up and changed.’

Outside, I saw my missing wife engaged in hand-to-hand combat against two of the Red Masks armed with rifles. She was losing. Her movements were sluggish and it was clear she was in over her head. I cast [Create Sanguine Weapon] and as a glaive formed inside my hands, I unfurled my wings and dove towards the fight. I ran through one of the men, which gave Lilyth an opening to stab the other into his jugular. The bandit crumpled to the ground, trying in vain to stem the bleeding. I finished him off with a cut from mg glaive.

I turned towards Lilyth and immediately saw that she was covered in bruises all over her body. I moved to hug her but she stopped me.

‘I wouldn't.’

She indicated to her body and upon a closer look I realised that she was covered in…

‘Oh…’ was all that I could say, as I averted my gaze to give her some sense of modesty.

‘Oh. ‘she agreed wryly.