Aranea's plans had long gone awry.
She had some suspicions as to how bad it was but still didn't understand the full extent of the mess she made.
If she did know, then her reaction would be something along the lines of-
"...are there any save slots to reload from...?"
But that would be a conversation for a later date.
September 11th, afternoon. Ashen Falls Mountain Range, between base camp and the Imperial Alliance's Military Academy; in the North-West.
Today they were the hunters stalking the prey.
Savana was carefully counting the Corrupted Humans one by one.
It took some time due to the guards changing shifts and some of them coming and going every couple of minutes to do something inside the cave. But, eventually, she returned to her Squadron with the results.
"29 Corrupted Humans, 3 of them look as strong as that leader from last night and the rest are weaker."
"A person goes into some cave every 15 minutes or so and has guard shifts rotating every hour."
"That's all."
Jotting down the information, Silvia drew out the composition of the terrain and the general location of each enemy.
"Aranea?"
"Doable."
"Good."
Confirming their plan, the group huddled together and awaited the arrival of the night.
Soon enough, ancient beams of moonlight sifted past cages of ashe; the night-bound sky was dimly illuminated beneath its almighty presence.
Their almighty presence.
The beautiful twin moons.
Pinching her eyes, Aranea honed in on the trail of smoke puffing from the dead campfire.
It made one wonder, what was so precious in that cave for them to be willing to set up a campsite out in the open.
'Precious huh...'
Aranea had her suspicions.
She just wondered...
Could these two handle that basic truth?
Well, they had no choice; soon they would be thrown on the battlefield, and it was better to get used to it now.
"Aranea." Silvia's voice interrupted her.
"On it."
Far above the campsite, on the side of the cliff, multiple large rocks began shaking.
The vibrations rapidly multiplied, dislodging the rocks from their mother's hold; soon enough, boulders the size of a car began tumbling down the edge of the cliff.
Rumbling the earth with every thunderous collision, the Corrupted Humans noticed the incoming boulders moments after they were dislodged.
A few Mages stepped up, their greyish blue Mana which was mixed with Abyssal Power coalesced to form a slope.
They planned to redirect the boulders off the edge of the cliff into the ravine beside them.
The Squadron hid on the mountain above the campsite; the bitterly cold winds pierced their faces at rapid rates. The freezing temperatures would have frozen them over if not for Fire Magic.
Gazing through the mild snowstorm, they looked up at the boulders. Soon, those tumbling boulders were going to pass by them.
This was a risky location but they had full confidence in their ability to survive some rocks.
Even if there was a slight deviation in their plan, they could win the fight through brute force alone.
...as long as no hidden powerhouse mingled within them.
Right then-
Rumble.
Crack!
The boulders swept by them, rushing directly at the greyish barrier.
Injecting the barrier with more Mana, the Mages below held steady. They had to be ready to produce a second barrier if the first one wasn't enough.
BANG!
The sound of rocks colliding with a metallic object reverberated throughout the mountains, drawing the attention of wild, mutated animals.
They began rolling down the side of the barrier as predicted.
Then-
Crack...
-cracks spread across the boulders.
And.
Booom-!
They exploded into rubble, ash and dust. The source of the explosion ruptured the Mana Barrier, sending the smokescreen of messy rubble into the campsite.
Smaller rocks pattered down, lightly wounding and grazing the Corrupted Humans.
"Shit! Mages! Clean up!" One of the leaders had to shout to get his voice across, the sudden assault disordered the others.
Normally boulders didn't explode, a Mage had to be behind it.
But where?
The smokescreen was too thick, it was hard to see further than a meter with how dark it was.
Darting his eyes around-
Crunch...
-he looked up.
Crunch.
At the vague shadow speeding down the mountainside.
Crunch!
A slight shimmer reflected from their weapon, opening his mouth to scream it out-
Schwing-!
The edge of the blade was suddenly reflecting itself right in front of his eyes.
The engravings shimmered with the moonlight.
And he swore he could see blood before the sword had even cut into him.
Blood?
No.
Those were...
Splash-
Eyes.
His head spun through the air, fountains of blood accompanying him to the afterlife as the pain from the decapitation momentarily overloaded his working brain.
Thud.
Rolling onto the ground, the sand, dust and ashes smothered his severed neck, clamping down on the exposed blood vessels.
The murderer's silver hair glistened in the night as she glanced down into his dull eyes.
She remembered the words Aranea had given to her.
---
Tap.
Pushing her finger into Silvia's toned abdomen, "You want to know how to kill?"
Silvia nodded.
"Then remember this simple fact."
Aranea grinned.
"All things have a family. All things have people they love."
She dug her finger deeper with the aid of her Mana.
"All things have people who love them."
"When you go for the kill, never forget that, look them in the eye and remember it."
"Because just as they have that, you also have it."
"Things you care for, things that care for you."
Aranea's soft voice gradually turned indifferent, cold.
"And remember, if you don't kill them. They'll kill the things you care for."
"So kill."
"Look into their eyes."
"And watch their life fade away."
---
A stone sunk into the pits of her stomach, Silvia could see the emotions drain away from those eyes.
She watched his soul fade away.
Gone.
Forever.
It was surreal.
She, Silvia, had ended someone's life prematurely. All for the sake of learning how to kill.
But, there was no problem.
They weren't Human.
They were Corrupted.
She had to convince herself.
Taking a moment to collect herself, Silvia's dripping crimson eyes turned to the next leader.
Her steps sank into the smokescreen.
They were deep, hesitant steps.
But still, they moved.
Tonight was going to be their last.
-----
Savana stepped into the cave.
The ones outside were for Aranea and Silvia to deal with and she would dispose of the few in here.
But before she left, Aranea warned her.
[Ready your heart and mind.]
That was the first time Aranea had shown care toward her. Savana liked it.
She really liked it.
All she had to do now was kill.
And for that, Aranea left her with one simple sentence.
She took her aside and whispered into her ear.
[I know you can do it.]
Savana's heart tingled, Aranea believed in her, she was starting to care for her, even if it was for murder.
That was enough, for now.
[Not enough.]
Savana's curvaceous body stuck to her military outfit, her glossy pink lips grinning as she stepped further into the darkness.
The pools of deep wine in her eyes glinted seductively.
That's right.
It wasn't enough.
She...
[I want more.]
Flickering dark flames erupted around her body, pulling her into the darkness.
Her body melted into the shadows, wrapping around the cave walls as she sped inwards.
---
A while later the darkness melted into the light.
Two torches flickered beside a wooden door. There was nothing else in the cave, just the torches and the door.
No guards.
Walking up to the door, she traced it with her Mana and found no protective Magic cast on it.
Plugging her ear on the door-
[Ah~ Fuck~!]
The erotic moans of a man seeped through the planks of the door.
Slapping noises merged with his moans continuously but she couldn't hear the sound of the 'partner'.
Spinning the serrated, curved daggers, Savana lifted her leg; pumping her flaming black Aura through:
Crack!
She plunged it through the door, smashing apart the planks.
The debris clattered across the floor.
Clatter...
And it echoed through the large opening.
Clatter...
Then back to Savana.
Metal bars, a prison, covered the left half.
And on the right half was a table lined with cushions and straps.
And Savana blankly stared at the man on that table.
Then at the 'partner' below him.
The 'partner' was strapped to the table.
Her eyes were dazed, no...
Empty.
Her breasts were exposed, her nipples bruised from extensive pulling.
Her abdomen was bleeding and battered from whip marks and punches.
Now she knew why she heard no sounds from the 'partner'.
Not because they were quiet.
Not because they were drugged.
Not because they were dazed.
But because they were...
Smack.
The sound of flesh pounding came from the left, from the prison.
Savana forced herself to look into that cage.
At the dozens...
Of corpses.
The 'partner' wasn't quiet nor dazed or drugged.
They were dead.
This Corrupted Human was raping a-
"Who!"
Pulling out, his bare body exposed itself to Savana.
Savana stepped toward him and swung her arms.
Sizzle...
Dark flames engulfed her flying daggers, rapidly burning up the oxygen in the room.
The Corrupted Human had no opportunity to dodge, the dagger pierced straight through him.
Straight through his nether regions.
Savana took another step toward him, ignoring the freakishly agonising screams erupting from his vocal cords.
Pity?
She held none for him.
Her figure flashed through the room like a strand of passing light, the sound of wind exploding echoed through the room as she stopped instantly, centimetres away from him.
Lifting her right dagger, she thrust it at his flailing shoulder.
Crack!
His bones shattered, the scent of cooked flesh wafting from his body.
Pulling it back out, she made sure to kindly cauterize the wound.
Then-
Crack!
-she plunged it into his other shoulder, repeating the same action.
The Corrupted Human raised his head with wails screeching from him, his Abyssal Power tried healing the wounds but Savana's Mana prevented it from doing so.
His Abyssal Power was too minute to stop her.
Lifting her boot Savana stepped onto his chest. She pushed it down to the ground, etching a mark of the soles of her boots into his ribs with flames.
Listening to the sounds of his flesh cooking and his shattered vocal cords screeching and crackling, Savana's facial expressions remained stagnant.
Savana thought her first kill would be difficult.
But it was surprisingly easy.
SPLAT-!
Her foot pierced through his chest, crushing his heart beneath.
Momentarily gazing at her mess, Savana pulled her foot out, carefully burning off the stains on her boots.
She stepped away and glanced at the corpse on the table.
Savana could see the physical marks of the sexual assault on her still dripping off the edge.
Sickening.
That word summed up this cave.
Savana couldn't bear looking at it a moment longer, she turned her head away apologetically. Whether she was apologetic that they hadn't arrived earlier or it was the guilt from not having the courage to look at the aftermath...
Perhaps both-
'Damnit.'
Step...
A footstep echoed from the entrance.
Savana recognised that iconic hair instantly.
"Good job, leave the rest to me."
Savana nodded, retrieved her daggers, kept her head down, and walked past Aranea.
Then...
Fwoosh-!
Bellowing flames cremated the room.
They cremated everyone but the Corrupted Human.
Aranea would not let him rest in peace with them.
Never.