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*POV of Bugman the dwarf.
With his heart broken yet his will remaining defiant, Bugman stares at the greater daemon bloodthirster which may become his doom. When he woke up this morning, he has no idea that he would be facing his last stand today.
Freedom, which is what he and all his boys fight and labor for. Freedom from the hassle and bitterness of life. Freedom from pain, worry, and hunger. Earning enough gold so they can forget the pain and feed their family while having a couple of stiff drinks at the end of the day.
That was all they want at the end of the day, to earn a living while staying safe and healthy to enjoy their olden days like old fogies while complaining about today youngsters just like the rest of the longbeards dwarves at home complain about them.
This job was supposed to be an easy walk in the park. Get in, make sure the ship interior is clear of danger, hack everything and put it nicely in working order for their client to take home. Lai Dai has always paid their due in the end despite being a human corporation. Not once did Lai Dai tries to scam the dwarven people in their history of dealing business with the Amarr Empire.
However, the safe wall of freedom that they have built has crumbled overnight as everyone has died within this accursed ship. All because of the naivety of a human child! What is left beside despair within his heart are mixed and whirling in a maelstrom of chaos.
Fear.
Regret.
Rage.
Shame.
Acceptance.
When Bugman sees the towering figure of the bloodthirster greater daemon walking closer, he knows that his life is coming to an end. His boys have perished, and their souls consigned to the deepest part of hell as a plaything to an unspeakable evil.
He feels fear because he knows his fate is likely to join them. He feels regret because he was the one who asked the boys to join him in this cursed venture. He feels rage because a little girl brings about this fate upon them because of ignorance, just like Pandora's box. He feels shame because when the lass died, partly because of his action, he felt savage joy for his role in her death and therefore avenging his boys. And finally, he felt acceptance when the figure of the bloodthirster shifted his attention to him after decapitating the lass and placing her head on the makeshift throne of skulls made from his comrades and their slaves.
Bugman chins up his beard and prepares himself to show his ancestors how a true dwarf would die, with iron in his belly and a string of curses spitting on the enemy's face. His remaining group of four orc slaves also prepare themselves to death while hoping that they could bring an enemy down with them as they died as an honor guard. Iden Versio is still motionless on the ground behind them, but to Bugman, he believes that this way at least she would not feel pain as damnation approaches.
As the greater daemon footsteps echo loudly and shake their resolve, an unexpected event give rise to an unlikely hope in the form of a giant werewolf. The form of the snarling giant werewolf wielding a giant cleaver suddenly appears from a rift without explanation. This event causes both the daemons and mortals in the cargo bay to pause with shock and confusion. Both sides stood and gaped at the intrusion before the giant figure suddenly dashed and ripped apart some blood letter daemons blocking its path.
This is tantamount to declaring its allegiance as an enemy of the daemons. Bugman let go a sigh of relief, as he wouldn't be able to stand if there is another type of daemons roaming the warp.
Bugman has memorized and seen the profile of every known daemon type as well as their unique characteristics from the Amarrian government intelligence briefings.
From the amarrian intelligence briefing that he could remember, there are supposed to be only three different types of daemons in the warp. The three types of daemons known to Bugman are Khorne, Nurgle, and Tzeentch.
Khorne types are bloodthirsty and powerful daemon consumed by rage and hatred. This type of daemon often use greatswords and war axes, having extreme brute force and high physical strength. Khorne types excel in assault role and fighting heavily armored opponents.
Coincidentally, it is the type of daemon that Bugman is currently facing and the most potent threat facing a dwarf as dwarven people typically wear heavily armored dropsuits as a matter of course. Scout and lightly armored dwarfs are non-existent exemplified by the fact that there are no words for sprinting in the dwarven dictionary.
Nurgle types are monstrous and persistent daemon consumed by a desire to infect and multiply. This type of daemon often uses large hammers and war sickles, having extreme sheer staying power and cockroach-like vitality. Nurgle types excel in outlasting and poisoning opponents not wearing a hazard suit.
Tzeentch types are unpredictable and opportunistic daemon consumed by sinister plots and guile. This type of daemon does not wield weapons but instead hurl orbs of energy which mutates a living being, having extremely high chaotic warp energy and the capacity to engage in a ranged attack. Tzeentch types excel in ambush and terror attack against lightly armored opponents.
Unfortunately, this information is second-hand information for the Amarr, as any intelligence on the warp comes from raiding the hardware and interrogating members of the hated blood raiders faction. So far, the blood raiders are the only faction in the universe still researching the warp, due to their method of utilizing faster than light travel. They are the only faction in the universe fanatical and insane enough to use the warp as a means of faster than light travel.
The limited scope of the amarrian knowledge because of the Amarr's famously staunch conservatism is shown prominently at this moment. Bugman have no idea whether the beast type daemon in front of him are intervening because it has the intention to help them or because it wants to prey on them instead. He hopes that it is treating the current fight as a territory dispute, as that means he could still have his beard intact when the fighting is over.
Bugman can only stare in terror as the large beastman furious assault cut a straight path in their direction by slaughtering the smaller blood letter daemons blocking its way. He shudders as the giant bloodthirsters daemon roared in a challenge and crushed a few of its smaller cousin in its rush to engage the new violent interloper in a bloody fight.
Bugman gasps as the bloodthirster daemon leap high to the air, raising both of its great axes to cleave the beast man head into twain. He choked when the beastman dared to meet the bloodthirster high in the air and slashed its massive two-handed cleaver clashing with the bloodthirster great axes in midair.
The moment both attacks clashed together, there was a brief silence as the massive cleaver shrouded in a pulsing dark aura fought against the raging violent red aura of the great axes. Both otherworldly weapons are a hairbreadth away from each other as their auras forcefully repel the other weapon.
The volatile mix of auras eventually gives in as both monstrous combatants put all their physical strength into the deadlock to break the stalemate. With a crisp sounding clink as metal touches metal, everything became swallowed by a bright explosion which blinded and deafened Bugman and his orcish slave companions.
"Arrghhh! By my grandmothers sagging tits, damn it all to hell!" Cursed Bugman as he closed his eyes in pain and making himself prone on the ground to make him as small a target as possible.
Unfortunately, fate decided to be offended by the old dwarf curses and decided to intervene. Bugman squeals in horror as he felt a large hand picked him up from the ground like a wee babe and then throws him through the air like a frisbee.
"Sweet Odin's beard!" Shouted Bugman as he spins in the air like a frisbee.
Bugman prays to his ancestor's deities below the earth for salvation, a prayer which would seem granted as he felt a large pair of hands catching him safely. That relief turns to fear when he could feel that the pair of hands is too large and too hairy to be one of his orc slaves.
That fear then turns to horror when Bugman could feel a hot stinking breath on his face and the growl of a beast directly in front of him. Even though his eyes are blind, he slowly opens his eyes and as the stars obstructing his vision gradually disappear.
When Bugman's vision clears, he instantly regrets it as he saw the horrifying face of the werewolf who bared his fangs and growls at him.
And thus Bugman soiled himself before fainting, dead to the world.
*POV of Raine the Dryad.
While all this is happening, the remaining four orc slaves are in the fight of their lives as the smaller bloodletters would rather fight the orcs rather than intervening in the battle between two titans. Just like always, the peculiar sight of bloodletters waiting for their turn to fight the orc slaves one-on-one are baffling to Raine, who is currently watching the battlefield from a bird's eye point of view above her prone headless body.
The sight of Bugman's terrified expression is amusing to watch, the struggles of the orc slaves are fascinating to watch and the dance of her boss summon when dodging the aggression of the bloodthirsters is exciting to watch.
Raine immensely enjoyed the spectacle unfolding before her. No wonder the Romans like to watch similar blood sports in the Colosseum of Ancient Rome. There is a primal and savage pleasure when viewing such a bloody fight.
Usually, Raine doesn't feel much emotion when living her life, yet she could still feel a stir of emotion when looking at the rich emotions displayed on someone else's face when they are struggling for their lives. Perhaps this made her a bit evil if not for the fact that she prefers looking at someone's laughter, but fear and panic make such a good break in monotony once in a while.
‘Ah, an orc just died.' Thought Raine as she saw one of the orc slaves succumbs to his injury and his soul dragged out screaming and kicking before being consumed on the spot.
To Raine's disappointment, The three remaining orcs slaves become disheartened, and despair starts to appear on their faces. The struggle become meaningless to watch when the fight is gone from one side.
‘Atroce, stop playing around. Be a dear and kill all the cannon fodder, will you? My pawns are tiring, and they are no longer able to fight well.' Thought Raine telepathically to the summoned giant wolf boss ‘Atroce.'
Atroce paused for a fraction of a second before he ducked under another mighty swing of the giant bloody axes of the bloodthirster. His charge, the dwarf he is instructed to protect, Bugman have become unconscious and foaming in the mouth. Bugman condition worsened as the old dwarf is forced to be carried by one of Atroce's arm under heavy acceleration when he danced around the bloodthirster.
‘Yes, mistress.' Replied Atroce respectfully.
Raine then watched as Atroce curiously bit one of his thumbs and quickly smeared the blood on the ground.
The blood lingers for a split second before a magic circle surrounded by runes expanded on the floor and three dark-colored hounds jump out from the magic circle.
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The hounds growled and bared their teeth at the giant bloodthirster in front of them, even as the magic circle disappeared and faded into nothingness on the ground.
‘Hooo, I didn't expect you to have minions of your own. What are they?' Asked Raine curiously.
‘Those are Galion's, my monster slaves. They are not sentient, and I could summon them at any time at no cost to me to assist in battles. However, I could not summon more than three of them at any time. The only way to dispel them is to kill me first. This ability is not only limited to me. All boss monsters have this ability granted to them by the Ragnarok System.' Replied Atroce politely.
Raine's gaze is still locked on to the Galion hound when suddenly her vision blurred.
‘Eh? That's weird. My vision has gotten blurry.' Thought Raine with worry.
‘From what I can see, you are low on oxygen mistress. Normally your avatar breathes through your leaves. However, since you are decapitated, you have a minimal intake of oxygen since the head contains most of the life support function of the avatar. As I am not able to retrieve your head at the moment mistress, You could deploy your auxiliary branches from your back, and the leaves would absorb oxygen as well.' Answered Atroce hastily as he blocked and countered strike the bloodthirster with only one hand as the other hand is preoccupied with carrying the unconscious dwarf.
Raine urgently deploys her branches from her back. As she did it hastily, the branches grow too fast and breaking through even her undersuit and armor. The branches rises a few feet from her body before leaves grow all over the branches.
On the upside, her vision is returning to normal, but on the downside, it made her very exposed. It's not a regular occurrence when a corpse suddenly sprouted like a green bean on a bed of tissue.
‘Too much growth mistress!' Warned Atroce as he witnessed the change in his charge.
A change that is also noticed by the bloodthirster, with malicious eyes and gears barely turning in its head, have managed to take the conclusion that the corpse on the corner has some importance to its opponent. With a roar, the bloodthirster pointed at Raine's figure and spoke in a demonic and gruff voice.
"RAAGGGHH! Destroy that body!" Screamed the bloodthirster loudly and with madness in its eyes.
The surrounding remaining bloodletters who are waiting for their turns suddenly glared at Raine's figure before they start running and waving their greatsword in the air while roaring in their battle lust. A wave of twenty bloodletters, including the ones abandoning their fight with the remaining two orc slaves, rushed as one towards her. Apparently, the usual rule of one-on-one engagement is disregarded when ordered by a greater daemon.
‘Oops.' Thought Raine, dumbfounded.
Even the greater daemon are locked towards Raine before having its path is blocked by Atroce. The moment Atroce realizes that all the remaining daemons have made a beeline towards his mistress, he dropped the unconscious Bugman like a sack of potato without hesitation. Furthermore, with the capability to use both hands now, Atroce have the upper hand when clashing against the greater daemon bloodthirster once again. He manages to slashes hundreds of time at the exposed blood thirster's legs and tendons. Boiling blood spurts from the deep gashes and hamstringing the greater daemon movement.
With desperation Atroce could only direct his monster slaves, all three Galion's, to defend his mistress while he keeps the more significant threat pinned. With a loud howl, the three dark hounds disappear from his side at the speed of a gale at his command and reappear with jaws biting and crushing the windpipe of the rushing blood letters before spinning in midair and tearing off half of the bloodletter necks.
Even then, the daemons life force persist, and they are still able to drag themselves towards Raine. The mortally wounded daemons finally expire when the Galion's finely shredded their body thoroughly using fangs and claws. Some of the bloodletters are responding to this threat within their midst and hacked apart the Galion's in retaliation.
To the blood letter's displeasure, another magic circle appear near Atroce and three new Galion's leap and harass the blood letter's flank again while dragging down the slower daemon to their knees before mercilessly shredding them to ribbons.
Tense seconds ticked by with the infernal horde approaching closer until they are within Raine's spell range. And without hesitation, she silently cast lvl 10 Soul Strike in quick succession. As five orbs of spiritual magic almost instantly appear from her right hand and strike the enemy, she immediately cast another lvl 10 Soul Strike with her left hand and continued casting them alternatively.
Spiritual orbs are raining down on the hordes mercilessly like bowling ball sized hail and smashing faces and torso, crippling and incapacitating bloodletters as they fall to the ground like chaffs.
Thankfully spellcasting accuracy is unaffected by sight as the spiritual orbs keep homing in on the approaching horde regardless whether they try to avoid it or not. Just like a turret of death and destruction, she keeps blasting the ever closing blood letters while they are being harassed from the rear by the Galion summoned by Atroce.
Raine could appreciate the speed of the Galion's nipping at their heel and going for the throat once a bloodletter is pinned down and fallen. Her spells have also steadily taken their tolls on the size of the horde. As half of the bloodletters have already been cut down before the bloodletters start to adapt to her attack. The remaining bloodletters have ruthlessly begun to use the half-dead bodies of their kin as a shield while continuing to rush at her.
A brutal tactic, but effective as five bloodletters have entered into melee range in relatively good condition before she could wipe them out from range, one of them throws the dead carcass of its kin straight at her headless torso, which she blasted aside with a lvl 10 Napalm beat spell like a shotgun.
As the carcass is blasted aside, Raine is helpless as another blood letter follow closely from behind the thrown corpse. The roaring blood letter then slashed at her torso, before she blocked it by sacrificing her already outstretched hand.
SNAP!
Raine bit back a whimper as one of her arm snapped like a twig before falling to the ground, and blood starts to gush from the stump before slowing to a trickle as the open wound closes on itself. For the bloodletter's trouble, the bloodletters who did the blow received a lvl 10 Souls Strike to its face, thereby obliterating its head like a cracked egg.
As the bloodletter is falling to the ground, Raine noticed that she became surrounded by four bloodletters. Three of them still carries the carcass of its kin that they used as a shield. Dread starts to build up within her as one of the bloodletters is about to repeat their earlier tactic and about to throw the carcass of their kin again.
Before the bloodletter has the chance to do so, the three Galion's have arrived with bloody jaws, dripping with daemon's boiling blood. As if the cavalry has come to save the princess in crisis, each Galion tackled the bloodletters carrying their kin, and have fallen to the ground even as they fumbled and grappled with their fangs and claws in a whirlwind of blood and violence.
Raine could breathe a sigh of relief as she turns towards the only blood letter left. Contrary to the other specimen, this one looks more prominent and more cunning. She would have to treat this one as their commander as this blood letter seems to be a cut above the rest.
Raine then lifted her remaining hand and aimed at the commander blood letter as if daring it to come closer for a blast in the face. However, different from the rest of its kin, it seemed to pause and consider something before looking around the surrounding battlefield.
With the scuffle near them, the commander blood letter picked up one of the nearby carcass of its kin dropped by the other three bloodletters, before stabbing its only greatsword to the ground. The bloodletter commander then holds the corpse of its kin with one hand like a shield in front of it, before hurriedly approaching and pick up another greatsword from one of the other three still living bloodletters.
The bloodletter commander then hurriedly went back to the original greatsword before stabbing the second on to the ground as well.
On its second trip, Raine does not hesitate and let her opponent carry out its plan scot free. She cast a lvl 10 Soul Strike at the bloodletter commander with her sole remaining hand. Only to see the spiritual orbs from her spell blocked by the corpse the bloodletter commander is holding in front of its face.
The bloodletter commander growls at Raine before doubling its effort as the carcass of its kin is crumbling before it. For the second time, it stabs the third greatsword on the ground near the first two greatswords. She could see that it was thinking of making a third trip to collect the last remaining greatsword a distance away.
Raine decided to dissuade the bloodletter commander by continuing to cast the lvl 10 Soul Strike Spell and reducing the carcass of its kin into oblivion. The bloodletter commander persists in maintaining its position as it endures behind the three greatswords as if it's waiting for something even as it lost its meatshield.
Raine realizes too late what is its aim as she found that her mana points have become too low to continue using her Soul Strike spell. Recognizing that the barrage has ended, the bloodletter commander roared a challenge and took the opportunity to pull a greatsword from the ground before using both hands to hurl the greatsword straight at her.
Panicking at the sight of the approaching greatsword hurled at great force, Raine could only alter the course of the greatsword by casting the less mana intensive lvl 10 Napalm Beat. Only by a stroke of luck that the greatsword missed her body by inches as she managed to avoid it with the aid of the Napalm Beat spell and by sidestepping away from its trajectory as well.
Before Raine could feel relief however she felt a shock going through her body as another greatsword was thrown immediately after the first, this second one rotating after the first, the arc makes it impossible for her to avoid it so soon after dodging the first thrown greatsword. With a grunt from pain, the rotating greatsword manages to cut off both of her legs from under her.
As Raine dropped to the ground with her stomach facing downwards and with her back exposed, she could see the bloodletter commander running towards her to deliver the finishing blow. Pain distracted her mind, but she could still focus as her body limits the amount of pain she could feel past a certain extent. With a single limb left and nothing else, she raised her hand and blasted the bloodletter commander with a weak Lvl 5 Napalm Beat to the face, the strongest she could manage with an almost empty mana tank.
The lvl 5 Napalm Beat only serves to blind the bloodletter commander momentarily, but not before it managed to counter and hacked off Raine's single remaining limb in retaliation. Even without any arms or legs or even head, she still stubbornly struggles and not giving this daemon the satisfaction of seeing her be anything less than defiant against overwhelming odds.
To Raine, so what if she is headless, armless and legless and left with only her torso? For her species, it is merely a flesh wound! She still has the forces of nature behind her back! With that in mind, she manipulated the branches at her back to entangle the bloodletter commander. Instead of leaves, she replaced them with thorns all over the branches which cut into the bloodletter flesh and drawing droplets of boiling blood to the ground.
The bloodletter commander roared in pain as it ripped out a branch only to ripped part of its flesh away as well. Raine has no mercy left within her, she blinded the bloodletter again but this time permanently as she jammed her thorny branches into both if its eyes and bursting both of its eyes. She then entangles the bloodletter neck before trying to strangle the life out if it. In its struggle, her torso is thrown around in the air as the bloodletter commander tried desperately to free itself from her vengeful attack.
The bloodletter commander roared in fury and pain even when Raine exert more pressure on its neck. She found that it would take forever to kill this daemon this way and decided to be creative and grow blades of thorns around its neck. As the finishing blow, the branches with thorn blades spin around its neck. The thorny branches slowly and painfully cutting through before finally decapitating the bloodletter commander.
With an air of finality, both combatants dropped to the ground. One obviously dead, while the other is only about eighty percent dead.
At this point, Raine doesn't even have anything left. Her mana is empty, and she has no limbs and head. She absolutely couldn't move even a single branch at this point as the bloodletter claws lacerate her branches. Her body hurt all over, and she wants to rest.
In the distance, Raine could still see Atroce fighting it out with the big bloodthirster. Somewhere nearby she could also see that there are two bruised and beaten blood letters slowly approaching her position with the intent to kill.
…
The earlier three bloodletters who are tangling with the Galions are back, and they managed to kill the hounds with a single loss of bloodletter. Looking at the nearby figure of Atroce fighting, Raine could now see three new Galion's supporting Atroce in his fight with the bloodthirster.
Of course, there are, God forbid Raine would get a break at this point. What is it with her life and her role as entertainment for higher beings. It's not like its fun to go through such hardship even if fate decided to grant her with powers beyond any mortal man is supposed to have. If luck and God are the same, then she wishes someone would throw a rope in this kind of hopeless situation.
‘You hear me, God! I demand a Deux Ex Machina!' Thought Raine loudly to anyone.
Raine hears a pair of load roars in the distance with trepidation. Looking back towards the pair of bloodletters in the distance she becomes pleasantly surprised. Finally, help arrived in the form of the three last surviving orcs who looks like they just took steroids with foaming mouths ambushing and butchering the bruised and battered blood letters into pieces.
‘Finally, something goes my way! There is a Deux Ex Machina! It's a miracle! I am going to survive! You hear that God! I am going to survive! HAHAHAHA! Wait. Why is the area around my body getting darker?' Thought Raine suddenly.
Raine could only watch as a giant hoof descends on what remains of her body.
‘Well shoot.' Thought Raine fleetingly.
A giant hoof, connected to the giant figure of the bloodthirster descended from the sky with giant wings and crushed Raine's torso on the ground with a loud sound of keratin hitting flesh and metal. The impact was so great that a large indent formed on the floor even when the floor is made from metal.
Unheard by everyone is the sound of smaller cracks as something smaller underneath the hoof broke. It is the sound of the remaining strings of explosive discs tied within Raine's black cat tail belt, which she used to clear the blocked passage to enter the ill-fated cargo bay. It is the sound of explosive discs crushed under hoof.
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As anyone could tell, if a car crashed into a weapon armory then you could expect fireworks to happen immediately afterward. Like thunder following lighting, a loud explosion ripped through metal and hoof, scattering metals, blood, keratin, and bone across the cargo bay.
The bloodthirster roared in pain but still managed to hold its hoof in place through sheer daemonic vitality. Pools of boiling blood from broken and mutilated hoof start to fill over to the torn and broken ground where Raine's torso previously lay.
Inexplicably the pool of boiling blood starts to drain before completely drying up. The bloodthirster looks down curiously before trying to lift its hoof, expecting to see a broken body. Only to find that no matter how hard it tries, its hoof remains stuck on the ground. Alarmingly, patches of dark inky liquid start to seep out from underneath its hoof and begin to beat like a heart.
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Currently, Raine only knows pain, she felt the giant hoof crushed her torso and cracks the body core. The main link between this body and her main Yggdrasil tree body back at home on Earth. Moreover, when the explosive discs went off, she could feel the force searing through her remaining flesh and scattering her bones. She fully expected to die and return to her main tree body as she could feel her core exposed to the air, still cracking under pressure.
That lasted until Raine felt boiling blood splashed and touched her core. Suddenly she felt as if she is being burned alive. The pain of the body was nothing to the pain of having her core exposed to this pool of boiling blood. The boiling blood caused her to feel the eternal wrath and fell supernatural corruption, and she could feel her core being further corroded from the surface and seeping further inside.
As sudden as it comes, it left just as suddenly when out of nowhere a cold and chill of the soul burst from deeper within her core and absorbs the heat from the boiling blood. Now she felt a new emotion which she seldom experienced that of cold fury, a state of being where she desires to destroy but tempered by reason and cold logic.
Raine's body may be gone and her core damaged, but by instinct, she felt that a force beyond her is taking over and she is too far gone to suppress it. Liquid shadows burst out from her core and drain the surrounding pool of boiling blood, consuming and subverting the boiling blood into more liquid darkness.
Raine felt rather than see the liquid shadow engulfing and covering the titanic bloodthirster who is still stepping on her. The bloodthirster roared and struggled to escape from her tendrils of dark liquid for naught as its whole body become covered in the foreign essence.
Lifeforce then starts to flow into Raine, with an aftertaste of insane rage and eternal wrath. She welcomes this feeling as it met her cold fury and found that it could not take over.
In the process of absorption, the bloodthirster withers and expires in seconds. It's essences returning to and adding to Raine's strength and power. She could feel the dark liquid breaking down bones and any organic matter. Without deeper thinking, she started rebuilding her body through willpower and instinct.
The witness to this turnaround is Atroce, the three orc slave survivors and one mysterious observer hiding in the darkened corner of the cargo bay. All of them have seen the figure of the bloodthirsters becoming fully covered by a moving and living black colored liquid without being able to understand what is happening at all. The bloodthirster struggles weakly for a few seconds before stopping and shrinking at a rapid pace. The figure shrinks before transforming into a fully healed figure of Raine, with a few difference. One of the difference is being naked again, somehow destroying what she wears is becoming an all too common occurrence.
Raine's exposed figure has grown to be the size of an early teenager, and her height has increased to become 145 cm or 4 feet and 9 inches tall with flat breasts. Her muscles have become more developed and compact. The colorings of her body have become more varied, now with streaks of red, black and green with green being more predominant, surrounded by stripes of black and red mostly around her arms and legs.
‘Ah, I never feel so alive… And so thirsty… I want something thick and warm to drink.' Thought Raine with intense thirst.
Raine looks around and felt awkward that Atroce and the orc slaves are staring at her like she is crazy. That lasted only until her attention are locked unto the figure of the unconscious Bugman laying on the ground.
Before she realizes it, she's holding and biting into a piece of still beating heart and sucking the blood out of it like a possessed heartthrob girl in a Justin Bieber concert with the real Justin Bieber heart in hand.
Shocked, Raine dropped the mutilated heart away before spitting out the hot and tasty blood from her mouth. As she spits out the rest of the blood away, she immediately regrets it as she now sees the lifeless figure of Bugman on the ground. The old dwarf torso ripped open by clawed hands, her own hands. Now that she can take a closer look at her hands, which are tipped with sharp claws like a cat.
The remaining three orc slaves nearby become spooked after seeing Raine casually killed their last remaining dwarf master. Even when the orc's mind is still affected by whatever drugs they consumed, they still have the sense to scatter and hide among the burning wreckages, unwittingly joining the mysterious observer in hiding.
‘Mistress. Are you alright?' Asked Atroce telepathically.
Raine jerked up at the sound of someone speaking through her mind. She turned around and spotted Atroce approaching her cautiously. Somehow Atroce looks very appealing to her. Irresistible, like a piece of crispy bacon on a Sunday morning.
With barely a thought Raine cast a lvl 10 Soul Strike, but nothing happens. No orbs of spiritual force appear to strike down Atroce. She tried a lvl 10 Napalm Beat, but that didn't work as well. When she tried a lvl 5 firebolt though, those appear instantly and are quickly blocked by Atroce.
‘Mistress! Control yourself!' Screamed Atroce telepathically as he put out the fire burning the fur on his arm.
Raine grinned wickedly as she stops caring about consequences and just felt that her body is flushed hot with bloodthirst and the means to quench that thirst is right in front of her. She needs to take it for herself.
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Purely on instinct, Raine melds into her own shadow before quickly appearing in another location, right out of Atroce's blind spot, his own shadow on the ground.
"Forbidden Technique, One thousand years of death!" Shouted Raine dramatically as she smirked with malice.
Feeling the presence of death, Atroce instinctually jumped away before Raine's attack managed to pierce through his exposed flank.
‘What was it! Such a terrifying attack! I have never heard of a Yggdrasil Dryad using a combat skill of such name! Could it be that she is no longer under the Ragnarok System?' Thought Atroce with cold sweat after he managed to avoid Raine's sudden attack.
Raine pouted as her improvised attack missed and disappointed that her opening move failed to incapacitate her prey. Since she felt that it couldn't be helped, she raised herself above the ground and adopted a fighting stance before suddenly dashing forward, closing in on Atroce retreating form. Once more appearing behind Atroce and scattering the nearby Gallion hounds.
‘Moreover, she just used a shadow phase skill. It is not supposed to be a skill accessible to a Yggdrasil Dryad. Even those of higher job skill class of Assassin ‘Cloaking' could only be used at walking speed instead of teleporting like this.' Thought Atroce frantically as Raine chased after his retreating form and continued swiping her sharp claws at any exposed part of his body.
"Is that the best you can do Atroce! I thought you are better than this! Where is the figure of the warrior who stands up against a greater daemon bigger than himself!" Shouted Raine as she managed to draw blood from some of her furious swipes.
Atroce continues avoiding Raine's fury swipes but finding himself cornered by her assault. With no choice, he performs a shadow shift and reappears at the other end of the cargo bay, away from Raine on the other end of the cargo bay.
"Mistress, there is no point for us to fight. Look around, there are no more enemies left to fight, and while I am bound by duty to protect you. I also have the right to defend myself." Said Atroce, loud and clear.
"There is always a reason to fight, for one your blood is to die for." Said Raine, as she licked her bloodied claws and shuddered in pleasure.
"The mistress has gone mad! Minions! Pin her down while I try to subdue her!" Shouted Atroce as he commanded his three Gallion hounds minion to attack and pin Raine down.
The three figures of Gallion hounds sprinted across the cargo bay with Raine locked in their sight. Within seconds they manage to reach her and proceed to bit down on both of her legs and one of her arm.
"Sanity is for the weak! Behold I am destruction incarnate!" Shouted Raine as she casually choked one of the Galion hound biting on her arm and proceeded to breathe fire on the struggling Gallion hound, incinerating the poor minion.
Not content with the demise of the Gallion hound burned to death, Raine proceeds to pierce through both hounds biting and pinning both of her legs down with red eye beams coming out from both of her eyes.
"Where does your ability comes from? They are unfamiliar to me, and I have seen many young Yggdrasil Dryads practice and spar in the Yggdrasil station." Growled Atroce at the demise of his minions as he was hoping that they could have bought him more time.
Once more, the summoning circle appears near Atroce, and three Gallion minions look again from within the summoning circle and then took a stand beside Atroce's figure.
"When I came to be after the giant bloodthirster daemon stepped its hoof on me, vast amounts of knowledge became available within my grasps. The knowledge also comes with how to create a replacement body you see before you." Answered Raine as she shows one of her bitten arm, the bite wound on the arm could be seen visibly regenerating before healing up completely.
"Such knowledge usually does not come freely mistress. You should return with me to the Yggdrasil station, and we should check what effect this may have on your body, both your main body and your avatar." Requested Atroce solemnly.
"Stop being a spoilsport, this feeling of being right can't be wrong." Said Raine with a pout.
"Are you hearing yourselves, mistress? Surrender, I would eventually win in the end. I am more powerful and more experienced than you. You are also outnumbered, I can keep summoning three Gallion minions no matter how many times you keep slaughtering them." Said Atroce diplomatically.
"You speak too soon Atroce, maybe you are right on some but certainly not in outnumbering me. Look again." Said Raine with a grin as she snaps her fingers.
From among the wreckages of the cargo bay, dark clouds swirl and gathers before forming a horde of dark-colored zombies with glowing blue eyes and wielding an equally shadowy sword. The zombies easily numbered in the fifties, surrounding both Atroce and Raine. Atroce grimaced looking at the numbers of minions she can summon.
[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121106115827/samuraijack/images/6/6d/DZ.png]
"These are dust zombies, they may not be prettiest minions, but they are certainly the perfect cannon fodders. It's just too bad they have a pretty annoying weakness." Said Raine with a pout.
"It must be hard on you mistress, please share it I am willing to lend an ear to your hardships." Offered Atroce with sarcasm.
"Oh, what a bad boy. Trying to trick his master? Tsk, we can't have that. Well, their weakness is for me to know and for you to find out. Sick em boys!" Said Raine, as she whistled and gestured at Atroce.
With a howl, the horde of shadowy zombies lurched forward from all direction, swinging their swords in the air haphazardly. A horde of fifty zombies are running blindly, approaching closer to Atroce, yet before they could reach Atroce, the zombies are set upon by the hounds. The first few zombies then collapse to dust when the hounds first bite into their black flesh.
The hounds become momentarily blinded by the black dust and butchered by the surrounding dust zombies. The zombies then continue their assault towards Atroce.
Atroce scoffed at the weak zombies and dashed forward before ripping through their dark flesh as if it is non-existent. Atroce growled as the scattering dust irritates its eyes and senses. The hounds once again joining him at his side. Undaunted, he dashed forward and jumped straight into the horde before ripping the zombie apart like a berserker.
Atroce has already massacred more zombies than what he has perceived at the start of the battle, yet the tide of the zombies continues unabated. Looking up from his maddened struggle at the center of the zombie's horde, he finally sees that new zombies are forming from the scattered dust of the zombies that he has already defeated, Effectively creating an infinite loop of grunt reinforcement.
"I understand now, these dust zombies are corporeal yet burst into dust the moment they are hit. The dust is toxic and an irritant when inhaled or exposed to the eyes. These dust zombies are aptly named, and they serve as cannon fodders. The zombies could defeat weaklings or the common populace but burst when they gotten hit only once. Stronger opponents would massacre the zombies, but the dust would still hinder them and made them weaker. I still fail to see how you would prevail even with the help of these cannon fodders mistress." Said Atroce with a blocked nose and stinging eyes even as he continues massacring the zombies.
"Well, what are cannon fodders good for, besides becoming my meat shield while I do something else of course. I need time to see and know what you are capable of. After all in chess, the pawns go first." Said Raine casually as she stands at the back of the horde watching the proceedings of the battle.
"By all means mistress, I have nothing to hide. Of course, now that I know these hordes are unending I need to defeat you, and the whole horde would collapse into dust once and for all." Said Atroce as he increased his speed and slashed through the zombie's horde faster than new ones could be regenerated.
Raine smirked at Atroce confidence, along with the new knowledge she has learned that her most powerful ability is not her fire spells, or her eye beams, or her necromancy. No, her most potent ability is shapeshifting.
However, to do that Raine needs to intimately know and understand the capability of the being she is copying. The more intimate the knowledge is, the more ability would she be able to replicate. At the moment she has seen enough to copy the appearance of Atroce, everything else though would have to come from herself.
With that in mind, her body starts to shift into one big shadow before forming the shape of a big werewolf with a vague shadow like feature.
[https://t5.rbxcdn.com/00e972c6b16a23e47e0e6479dbd51326]
"Impossible! Your transformation is too great to understand! No Dryads have a shapeshifting ability, necromancy, shadow spell, or eye beams! The council would hear of this mistress!" Shouted Atroce as he is overwhelmed by shock.
Raine stretches her new form to feel the increased muscle mass. Her current form feels like it emphasizes power and speed in equal measure. Her sharp claws have become more prominent and sharper. Not only that, she has a long muzzle now filled with sharp and large fangs to tear through flesh and bone.
It is cute to see the flustered figure of Atroce as Raine copied his form. Unfortunately, she knows she could not copy Atroce's ability on the first try. At this point, she could only replicate the physical attribute of Atroce based on the muscle mass and skeletal frame. Plus, Atroce still has the Gallion minions and the large cleaver of his. The summon, she would not be able to reproduce as summons are based on contracts, but she does have an alternative with necromancy. The large cleaver she wouldn't be able to replicate correctly as well. Something similar maybe she would be able to manage, but it will be a hollow copy without the bell and whistle of the original.
"Well, I could explain it to you. It will be a lengthy explanation with twist and turns, highlighting my intelligence and brilliance. Underlying my motivation and reason why I am doing this. Unfortunately, I've watched too many movies so I won't waste time like a two-bit villain. Instead, please lay down, so I could suck your sweet, sweet blood." Said Raine with a newly grown muzzle and fangs showing.
Raine waved one of her arms towards Atroce, knowing that she managed to distract Atroce long enough for her dust zombies to finish regenerating to their full numbers. Atroce did not realize that her main reason to shapeshift is to distract and delay his assault, by not destroying the dust zombies faster than they could regenerate, it gives her the upper hand when she joined in the frenzy, in tandem with her undead horde.
Raine shifted in and out during the melee as the Galion hounds, her dust zombies and Atroce become embroiled in a mess. The Galion hounds keep getting destroyed and summoned again as the number of dust zombies does not give enough space for them to maneuver. The condition of Atroce is not going that well as well. As the moment Atroce swings his large cleaver, there is a window period where he is open and vulnerable.
Usually, any mobs would be blown away or destroyed after such a mighty swing, but this is the moment Raine shifted in from the shadows, and her first strike is one of Atroce's legs. With a mighty crunch, she shatters one of Atroce's legbone in between her fangs, before quickly jumping away to avoid a counterstrike from Atroce and melding back into the shadows.
"ARGGHHHHH!" Screamed Atroce loudly as he dropped to one knee while holding his broken leg.
There is a reason why Raine aimed for Atroce leg even though it is not lethal. The main reason is that for an agile fighter, losing your mobility means death. Now that Atroce is pinned, she directed her dust zombies to pile on top of Atroce. Atroce still managed to cleave through the dust zombies, but the strength of the strike is slower and weaker than before. Which is another reason for aiming for the legs, not many know but when swinging a weapon around half of the force going into the swing comes from footwork. Of course, she knows this from playing the sport ‘Golf' back when she was still alive as a human, but the principle still applies. The faster you swing, and the more harmonious your swing is with your leg movement then the ball would travel farther and with less effort.
As Atroce become more frantic with his movement, the dust zombies horde finally managed to pile on Atroce and blocking his view with leaping rabid dust zombies. Raine then took another swipe at Atroce when he is distracted by the zombie horde, by jumping out from the shadows and biting into Atroce's neck.
Atroce shouts in pain and try to dislodge Raine from his neck, but in his weakened and overwhelmed state are not able to separate himself from Raine's stubborn jaws. Atroce's situation becomes worse when she starts to suck the blood from Atroce's arterial vein and starts expanding her breasts with Atroce's lifeblood bit by bit.
"Get away from me! That's it! I am done being here!" Atroce shouted in distress.
Raine managed to consume a good amount of mana-rich blood from Atroce before he decided to disappear into a magical gateway, presumably canceling the original summons and returning to where Atroce comes from, which is the Yggdrasil station. The Galion minions kept busy by her dust zombies horde also disappear with their master's departure.
With disappointment, Raine laments the escape of her meal. Well, there is still the orc slaves survivor if she wants to drain their blood as well… Maybe not, they did manage to save her life once not long ago, and it would be poor manner for her to repay them by taking their lives. So, unfortunately, she has to be satisfied with what she already has.
Raine waved the wandering dust zombies away back into dust and proceeded to sit cross-legged in the middle of the ruined cargo bay littered with bodies of dwarves, orcs and even daemons. Nothing to do but wait for the Cruor spaceship to exit the warp, it should be soon now as it felt like it has been hours since she enters this god-forsaken ship already.
"Clap...Clap...Clap...Clap... Clap.." The sound of hand clapping could suddenly be heard from behind her.
Raine turns herself around to look at the source of the sound disturbing the peace. To her surprise, she sees the figure of Iden Versio coming out of a burning container, together with the three surviving orc slaves.
"Ahhhh, what a show Miss Raine. Simply splendid! It was such a thrill watching you come out victorious from such a fight even when the deck is stacked against you. I can't even start to comprehend everything you have shown me! It'll be a nightmare for anyone to face you in battle now. I am certain even if you face a whole platoon of troops yourself you could still wipe them out easily." Said Iden Versio with a thrill of someone who just got a jackpot in a roulette machine.
Raine became irritated at the lack of assistance from Iden during the fight. If Iden was around then why does she have to struggle to survive all this while?
"No thanks to you Miss Iden. Where were you when I was fighting for my life earlier?" Replied Raine getting irritated and half tempted to drain her of blood as well, but still mulling over it.
"Ah, give me a break. I was unconscious remember? Plus by the time I came to myself, I found you have already decapitated. Anyone I can see still alive was the old dwarf and some orc slaves. I might as well hide until things become clear. However, I did send three orc slaves to your assistance when I suddenly see you up and fighting again. Remember the combat booster I mentioned not too long ago? I took some and injected them into the orc slaves to boost their battle ability. And I was going to flank both of the big guys in the fight, but the first you have finished off by yourself and the second one was covered by some of your zombies, so I have to wait until I get a clear shot."Explained Iden with a soothing tone.
Raine still grumbled while her feelings of irritation stubbornly refuse to cool down, which feels unusual to her. In some corner of her mind, whispers urging her to drain Iden of her blood echoes, prompting her to mull that course of action and the consequence again.
"Aww, don't be like that Miss Raine. Here look at the video of my Pug, Mr. Chewbacca! I am sure you'll love her and forgive my mistake." Said Iden, as she projected a video of a small dog dancing in a loop.
Click here for video
Raine saw the video and laughed at the small dog antics. Curiously, her irritation disappears like a fog in the morning sun. With the disappearance of her irritation, so does the whispers of violent retribution from the corner of her mind.
"Very well, you are lucky that your dog saved you this time. However, if this happens again, I might as well confiscate that dog and keep it for myself." Said Raine with half-hearted grumbling.
"Much obliged Miss Raine." Said Iden happily as she turn off the video projection of her pet, Mr. Chewbacca.
Raine then shifted her attention to the three surviving orc slaves. Now that all of their masters are dead, she has no idea what to do with them as she doesn't want or need to kill them.
"Now what to do with all of you?" Said Raine absent-mindedly at the three orc slaves who looked like they just went through hell.