Talin watched the chaos unfold, his body rooted to the spot as Annabeth dispatched bandit after bandit with terrifying efficiency. Each death chipped away at his confidence, his resolve crumbling with the growing pile of corpses.
Then, the strength mage landed a solid punch.
Talin's eyes lit up. A flicker of hope emerged from the carnage. She's not invincible, he thought. As Annabeth dropped to one knee, clutching her ribs, Talin saw an opening. His heart pounded as the thought formed in his mind: This is it. This is the chance.
He planned his move, envisioning a decisive strike that would turn the tide. Yet, when Annabeth knocked out another bandit with a savage punch to the groin, his confidence wavered again.
No, he told himself, shaking his head. This monster has to die. It's the only way.
By now, Talin had abandoned all thought of interrogation or answers. Killing her was the only logical course left.
He steadied his breath, raising his hands to conjure magic. A faint, icy blue light began to coalesce around his fingers, growing into a sharp, deadly spear of solid ice. The Tier 5 Ice Spear spell shimmered in the morning sun, its lethal intent unmistakable.
As Annabeth turned her attention to the strength mage, Talin hurled the spear with everything he had. The projectile screamed through the air, aimed directly at her back.
For a moment, it looked like it would hit.
But at the last possible second, Annabeth's instincts kicked in. She backflipped out of the way, her reflexes saving her life. The spear missed its mark, tearing through the edge of her white dress before embedding itself in the skull of an unfortunate bandit. The man didn't even have time to react before the icy weapon ended him.
Annabeth landed gracefully, her fiery gaze locking onto Talin. The remaining bandits—only five now—turned to glare at him as well, their expressions twisted with a mix of frustration and disgust.
Killing a comrade, even accidentally, was unforgivable.
Annabeth's eyes narrowed as she took in the shredded hem of her dress. The faintest flicker of rage crossed her face. To her, this wasn't just an attack. It was a personal insult.
"I was going to deal with you later," she muttered, her voice icy. "But now…"
Talin swallowed hard as she turned her attention back to the strength mage.
The brute grinned, emboldened by her temporary distraction. He charged at her, fists glowing faintly with enchanted energy.
Annabeth prepared to meet him head-on, but just as she moved to close the distance, something wrapped around her leg. She froze, looking down to see a thick, green vine coiled tightly around her ankle.
"Sh*t," she hissed, realizing her mistake too late.
The vine pulled her leg taut, throwing her off balance. The strength mage seized the opportunity, slamming into her with a shoulder tackle. The impact sent her sprawling onto her back, the air forced from her lungs.
Before she could recover, the strength mage straddled her thighs, his massive weight pinning her down. A cruel grin spread across his face as he raised a fist, the enchanted glow intensifying.
The strength mage didn't give Annabeth a moment's reprieve. A barrage of heavy punches rained down toward her face. Annabeth raised both arms to shield herself, bracing against the relentless blows. Each impact sent shockwaves through her body, the force rattling her bones.
She tried to lift her legs to grapple his neck and throw him off, but the vines anchoring her to the ground made that impossible. Worse still, his weight pressed down on her thighs, further immobilizing her lower half.
Blow after blow, she endured, keeping her arms tight in defense while her mind raced for a solution. Then, she saw her chance.
As her arms weakened under the assault, she purposefully left a small gap between them, baiting him. The strength mage's eyes gleamed with triumph as he charged his next punch, winding back for a devastating straight aimed at her face.
He fell for it.
In that crucial moment, Annabeth's arms shot forward, grabbing his neck and yanking his head toward her. She surged upward into a sit-up position and slammed her forehead into his face with a bone-crunching crack.
Blood spattered from his shattered nose, and his dazed body toppled sideways.
She wasn't done.
Annabeth moved to straddle him, intent on repaying his brutality, but the vines wrapped around her legs yanked her backward. She snarled in frustration, her hand shooting out to grab his ankle. He wasn't getting away that easily.
Dragging him along, she conjured a Tier 3 Lightning Bolt in her free hand. Sparks crackled and danced across her fingers, her fury giving the spell extra intensity. Her sharp eyes scanned the battlefield, locking onto the bandit orchestrating the vines.
The bastard stood amidst the remaining bandits, his arms moving like a conductor guiding an unseen orchestra. His smug expression made it clear he thought himself untouchable.
Big mistake.
Annabeth thrust her hand forward, and the Lightning Bolt lanced through the air, hitting him square in the face. The bolt sent a surge of electricity through his body, his muscles spasming uncontrollably.
The vines loosening around her legs confirmed she had the right target.
The bandit's stunned state lasted only a moment, but Annabeth wasn't about to let him recover. Another Lightning Bolt struck him, his agonized scream cutting through the battlefield.
Then another.
And another.
By the time the third bolt hit, he collapsed in a twitching heap. Annabeth's lips curled into a wicked smile. Being knocked out was merciful. She had no intention of showing mercy.
With her legs finally free, Annabeth rose to her feet, her eyes alight with unrelenting fury.
She was in the middle of conjuring another lightning bolt when a kick to the face from the strength mage-bandit disrupted her and sent her tumbling. She lost her grip and he rolled away from her before running to his bandit friend.
*Sigh.*
"At least let a lady get done with you before you run off tosomebody else," Annabeth bitterly complained as she got to her feet.
The vines had disappeared when their maker lost consciousness. Any magic cast by a Tier 8 or less mage would dissipate if he/she was knocked out or dead.
"She got you good huh?" the friend teased. He was giggling at the sight of the bent bleeding nose the strength mage-bandit had.
"Just f*cking heal me already!" the strength mage-bandit angrily ordered.
"Fine," replied the bandit friend, casting a healing spell on the strength mage-bandit.
"Hey!" Shouted Annabeth, "That's not fair! Heal me too!"
The bandit friend stuck out a tongue to tease her and declare his refusal. She stamped her feet and pouted playfully.
"After this much chemistry, you and I have a date now," Annabeth teased him, smiling maliciously as she got her dagger from its sheath.
Annabeth knew one thing for certain: the healer had to go first. As long as they had someone patching them up, her efforts would be wasted.
Moving with incredible speed, almost as if carried by the wind, she dashed toward the healer and the strength mage-bandit. Her dagger gleamed in her hand, and an unsettling grin spread across her face, almost feral.
The strength mage leapt out of her path, but she didn't care—he wasn't the target, not yet. Her eyes were locked on the healer, who hastily raised his hand to cast a spell. Before Annabeth could react, her vision flashed blinding white.
"Shit!" she hissed, her mind racing. Without hesitation, she hurled her dagger toward where she remembered him standing.
A scream erupted, followed by panicked swearing.
"Son of a b*tch! Ow! Fck! My arm!"
Annabeth let out a delighted chuckle despite her temporary blindness. But her amusement was short-lived. A heavy punch to her back sent her staggering, followed by the weight of the strength mage tackling her to the ground.
Reacting instantly, she encased her arms in earth magic and shielded the back of her head. The next punch landed on her reinforced arms with a dull thud.
"What the—?! Earth magic now?!" the strength mage sputtered in disbelief.
His confusion was evident. At first, he thought she was just a strength mage—her physical power was undeniable. But when he saw her lightning magic, he assumed she had trained her body intensively and used lightning as her primary element. Now, seeing her use earth magic so effectively, he was completely thrown off. Two primary elements? It was unthinkable.
That moment of hesitation cost him.
Annabeth grabbed his right knee, rolling to her left and yanking him off balance. With a sharp twist, she flipped him onto his back and pinned him down. Her vision began to return just as she loomed over him, her fists clenched and ready.
"Didn't… your… mother… ever… teach… you… not… to… hit… women?!" Annabeth roared, punctuating each word with a brutal punch.
The first two punches snapped his arms as he tried to shield himself. The rest drove his head deep into the earth. By the time she stopped, the strength mage's body was limp. He was well and truly out of the fight.
Annabeth sat back on her knees, panting. "This guy... was exhausting," she muttered, wiping sweat and dirt from her brow.
Her gaze shifted to the healer, who stood frozen with wide eyes.
"How are you doing, sweetie?" Annabeth teased, her tone dripping with mock sweetness as she stood.
The healer opened his mouth, no doubt preparing to scream a threat, but the moment was interrupted by the whistle of an ice spear. The projectile missed Annabeth's throat by inches, grazing the loose end of her hair, and embedded itself in the chest of another bandit. His chest froze instantly, the life snuffed out of him in an instant.
"Again?!!!" Annabeth, the healer, and a nearby bandit shouted in unison, all turning toward a mortified Talin.
Annabeth's rage burned hotter than ever. She looked down at her hair, now partly frozen and stiff.
"Ooh, you attention-seeker!" she snarled, her grin turning vicious. "Fine. I'm all yours."
She opened her arms wide, striding toward Talin with deliberate slowness.
Every instinct in Talin's body screamed at him to run, but when he tried, his feet wouldn't move. His legs trembled, his hands shaking as he attempted to conjure another ice spear.
It wasn't just fear. The ground beneath him had shifted subtly when Annabeth raised her arms. Earth magic. His feet were now partially buried, encased in hardened soil that felt like unyielding rock.
Talin's face paled as he realized his predicament. Sweat poured down his face as he focused on the spell, praying he wouldn't miss at such close range.
But Annabeth's cold, murderous grin made it clear: he wouldn't get the chance.
Unfortunately, Annabeth had already reached where he stood. His arms were the first thing she broke, and then his legs.
In the middle of Talin's screams, she said something about how he should never skip leg day when working out otherwise small rocks would make him a sitting duck, before using his sword to cut off his arms and legs.
Using fire magic, she burnt the bleeding legs to clot the blood but left his arms to slowly bleed out.
"I'll be right back," She said while kissing his forehead, "Don't go anywhere."
She chuckled at either her own little joke or Talin's expression who couldn't even muster a scream anymore out of fear.
She happily whistled as she stood back up to go and deal with the two remaining bandits. Getting revenge was a very intoxicating sweet feeling to her.