"Nix, you need to slow down."
"You saw the notice Ju'Shal, they're gonna be wiped out."
"But you're still-"
Ju-Shal was interrupted by Nix suddenly stopping and turning around. Bringing her hand up to the Wolf-Kin's chest, Nix stopped her in her tracks and stared up at her. "Ju'Shal, I cannot and will not sit on my ass as they die. I know you're worried, but this isn't how I work."
Behind Ju'Shal were 8 more Armored Personnel, who were gripping their weapons and panting softly as they stopped. They all felt as concerned about Nix as the Wolf-Kin was, but figured it would be best for her to try and calm their Chief down.
"What would we do if you were injured again, or worse, killed. We can mourne other fallen and move on, but you are to important to lose." Ju'Shal shouted as she forced Nix's hand away and glared at her.
It was then that the group had gotten word that the reinforcements that had been sent that morning had been arrived and helped to defend the two groups of refugees. They had gotten lucky that the groups finally met at the meeting point, allowing for easier defense. Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the system alerted them of two more of the Armored personnel perishing in battle while Jennifer was heavily injured.
They could then feel the domininating aura that Nix exuded. It felt like a ice was gripping at their throats, the coldness that could only come from the underworld gripped at their throats and made it hard to breathe. Yet Ju'Shal stood firm, resting her hand on Nix's shoulder. "Please, we need you."
The aura wamred a bit at these words, allowing the others to breathe and stagger back a few steps. Ju'Shal sighed in relief thinking Nix had finally calmed down, only for the woman to suddenly hug her and make her tail swing around quickly.
"I'm sorry." Nix whispered to Ju'Shal before letting go. She then turned around and took a few steps before getting down on her hands and locking her feet to the ground. "Follow as fast as you can." Nix ordered before suddenly disappearing. A few moments later, a rush of wind pushed the small group forward a step.
Looking at the system, they could see Nix was moving at an impossible speed, using the tree tops to jump around and push onwards. The group could only look to Ju'Shal, who had her teeth clenched and was growling. "Those who can't keep up can forget about food later. We must defend Nix at all costs, got it?"
"Understood." The group responded quickly before following the Wolf-Kin in a sprint. They had never seen Ju'Shal so angry before, but how could they blame her?
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A few shouts and screams sang through the air over the songs of metal and bolts being shot. Vela was thankful to finally have the reinforcements arrive, even more so when they met up with the other refugees. Now that their numbers more than doubled all together compared to the soldiers, they could sew them hesitating. A majority had hidden behind the trees to avoid the bolts and arrows, some being picked off by lightning magic drawn from Sasha. She was then shot in the shoulder by a stray arrow from a crossbow 10 meters away, forcing her behind cover so someone could help her pull it out.
"We need to push through, Jennifer is still fighting." John called as he blocked a mace with his shield and skidded back a few inches.
"No, we have to stay here and protect the refugees. If we rush, more dead will follow." Vela shouted back at him, bringing her greatsword down on a soldier and forcing him down on his knee. She then kicked his chest to push him back a few feet, swinging around to bring her sword up across the man's chest to make him fall in a bloody mess on the ground.
Due to exhaustion, she couldn't stop the spear that followed up and stabbed her in her hip and forcing her onto her back. As she fell, she caught a glimpse of Je'Tya taking an arrow to his shoulder, forcing his arm to drop as three more arrows pierced his chest. He fell silently as his rifle fell to the ground, narrowly caught by Vern as he parried a sword meant for the Lizard-Kin. It was then the system notified them that a third person had perished from their unit, followed up by another one, who's head was pierced by a spear.
Vela then looked up to see the soldier had raised his spear and stabbed it down at her neck. She dropped her sword and barely caught the hilt just as the tip scraped her neck armor. Another notification suddenly appeared in the corner to show John had perished as well, falling due to the teamwork of three soldiers.
As Vela struggled, tears began to well up in her eyes, with the spear drawing ever closer. She was enraged and deeply saddened by the losses. 17 refugees had already died, as well as three of the regular soldiers ontop of the 5 of the advanced units. This rage caused her to pull the spear into the ground next to her neck and kick the soldier back, making him stumble a few steps back.
The man drew his knife and readied himself to jump onto Vela, only to suddenly disappear from her view, followed by an explosion of dirt and a rush of wind. The battle paused as everyone turned to look at the dust cloud that had suddenly appeared. Within it, the deep red etchings of the familiar neon light could be seen. Those defending wanted to cheer for the arrival of that familiar figure, but the aura the figure produced was deeply unsettling.
"Everyone, form up around the refugees." Nix's cold voice called out over the intercom. The those that recieved the order couldn't think to even talk back, swiftly grabbing those out in the field and bringing them back to the refugees.
As Nix stood slowly, the cloud began to disappate, showing she wielded a sword in each hand. The armor looked much more advanced, but the deep red neon lights made everyone think that a Demon had truly descended upon them. The enemies moral began to drop as well, seeing the soldiers armor beneath her had all but caved in, crushing the man before he could even react.
As the group behind Nix formed up, the system showed 21 remaining enemies in the area, with 8 left back where Jennifer was fighting off against someone. "Vela." Nix's voiced called over.
"Y-yes Commander."
"Clean up here." Nix called back before jumping forward at a small group of soldiers. Her speed gave them no time to defend themselves, they could only helplessly watch as Nix danced around them. Blood sprayed from the necks of the five enemies, silently falling to the ground as Nix sheathed her swords. After grabbing the canisters from her chest, she threw them in various directions where enemies had taken up positions. Once the last one flew out of her hand, she disappeared once again. After the rush of wind flew past the refugees, various explosions erupted from the enemy. Screams flew out as soldiers fell, some missing limbs while others had barely gotten their shields up to defend against shrapnel.
It was then that the system alerted them. The enemies number dropped to 12, all of them heavily wounded due to the explosions. This shocked everyone, who could only watch as the soldiers crawled around in pain.
"God's, this is how Nix fights?" Vern said as he fell onto his butt, finally catching his breath.
"No, this is different. She wants no survivors, and wants them to suffer as much as they can. Quickly, we must kill the rest. Those without armor will begin treatment of the wounded." Vela quickly turned around and gave the order before walking over to her greatsword.
"What of Nix?" Sasha asked as she injected herself with her last syringe.
"Don't follow her until things are in control here. I fear we will only get in the way." Vela sighed as she picked her sword up. "Let's hurry up so we can meet her."
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"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Jennifer cried out as she clutched her severed forearm. She then fell onto her knees and hunched over, gasping and panting hard. She was exhausted, unable to rest due to the pressure.
The Va'Rish was surrounded by soldiers who all had their weapons at the ready, encircling her to keep her from running from the forced duel. Her opponent was the current Chief of Stone Keep, the son of Whispered Flame, Fire Claw. He barely had any scratches on his armor from her, while his greatsword was soaked from her blood.
As well as the loss of her hand, she had deep cuts all over her body. It was clear the man was toying with her at this point. Just as she would try to go for the killing blow, the man's soldiers would intercept her and strike at her blind spots. It wasn't that the man was the better fighter, it was that he had his soldiers doing all the hard work while he tortured her.
"Aww, look at this. The most feared woman of the forest, the Red Berserker herself, beaten and broken before me." Fire Claw roared to his fellow soldiers, causing them to laugh.
This was the third time this has happened, and it may well be the last. Jennifer looked over at her fallen hand, which still gripped her sword. She wanted to reach over and grab it, but the Dru'Kel had stamped down on the severed wrist and ground it against the ground, causing her to grit her teeth.
"What's say we end this and assist the others, they must be finishing up by now." The man laughed as he gestured for his soldiers to step forward.
However, they were frozen in place. Fire Claw was a bit confused, but soon he felt it as well. He couldn't tell where it came from, but the blood lust they felt was physical, stopping their movements and threatening to choke them.
"I see I've made it in time." A cold voice called from behind Fire Claw. The group turned around to see a woman in similar armor to the Va'Rish, only it had a hood covering the head while the of the robe hung loosely on her.
Jennifer looked up and gave a pained sigh. "Nix...I see...you're here."
"I'm sorry Jennifer. It seems my armor wasn't enough to save you all from this fate." Nix said coldly as she drew her blades and stabbed them into the ground. She then pulled her rifle from her back and laid it on the cross guards of the sword before stepping towards the group and cracking her knuckles. "Rest now, I'll take care of these ones and get you patched up."
Fire Claw then raised his scaled brow and held up one of his arms. "So you're the inventor of these strange armor and weapons. Why waste your time on these worms, join us and we will gi-"
"If those are your last words, then I'll start right away." Nix interrupted and dropped her arms. Her fists clenched hard, threatening to hurt her own hands from the pressure.
The man then clicked his tongue and sighed. As he waved his hand, the soldier closest to him rushed at Nix with his shield up to his face and his sword raised. Nix simply stood in place and rolled her neck. After a few small hops, she rushed the man and pulled her right arm back. Instead of a fist, she clawed her fingers and brought her palm up towards the man's shield.
His first thought was how foolish this woman was for trying to punch his shield. The second, was how impossible it was for the woman to punch a hole through his shield. The last, was how strong she was for raising him clear off the ground with one hand. The man tried to punch her arm down or claw at her, his legs kicking at her chest. Yet she remained unfazed as she stared Fire Claw down.
This caused the man to take a step back out of fear while his heart beat in his chest. He knew that Stone-Folk were heavy. Even his people struggled to pick them up with two hands, yet this woman held him unfazed, as if she simply captured a young thief from the streets.
"Wh-what are you all doing? KILL HER!!" The man shrieked at the rest of the soldiers.
The remaining soldiers then gathered their courage and charged at Nix wildly. This caused Nix to sigh and shake her head. In response, she flexed her hand and punctured the chain mail surrounding the man's neck, crushing and piercing his flesh before flinging him to the ground in a silent scream. Though the man hit the ground, her hand still held the man's torn throat and chainmail, as well as a good amount of his freyed beard. On her forearm was the shield she had punched through.
This caused the group rushing her to suddenly stop. Just this sight alone was enough for fear to take their hearts and freeze in place. What was scarrier was watching the woman tear the shield off before rushing towards them.
The two at the front tried to form a shield wall, only for Nix to jump over them and land on the man behind them. Pushing him to the ground, she threw her fist down and caved the helmet in, killing the man quickly. Another soldier tried to swing his sword down on her shoulder with a yell, only for her to catch the blade in her hand and crush it. The man tried to step away as his blade shattered, only to find the tip of his own blade had found his eye.
The two behind Nix finally dropped their shields and raised their weapons as the woman turned around. Taking a hard step forward, both fists found the two's stomachs, caving their armor in and forcing them onto their knees. Nix caught the two by their faces as they fell, crushing their heads without warning.
The last two finally gave into their fear and tried to run away from Nix as fast as their legs could carry them. Seeing this, Nix picked up a sword and reverse gripped it. Raising her arm, she whistled and pointed at the man on the left. They both turned around at the sound before their faces turned pale. She was about to throw it, and they knew the sword would hit. The man on the right tried to be brave, putting himself between his comrad and the sword Nix suddenly thrown with a grunt. Just as she'd hoped, the sword pierced the man's shield and forced him back against his friend, the blade piercing both of their chests and causing them to fall to the ground with a groan.
Fire Claw couldn't move as he watched the last of his soldiers fall. This woman. She was more ruthless than she was strong. She didn't drop her weapons just to show off her strength, she did it to make a point. She wanted to show just how lowly they were compared to her. It was then that Nix swung her head around and started walking towards him.
"W-Wait a second. H-how about a deal. THE MINES! You need metal right? We can speak to Father about g-giving you on-no two mines. How about it, let's let bygones be bygones." The man stuttered and begged as he held one hand up in defense, the other clutching the handle of his greatsword. Just as Nix got into range, the man smirked and brought his sword down on her with a hysterical laughter.
His laughter faded quickly as he felt a mighty resistance. He was aiming for the woman's shoulder, only for her to catch his blade in her left hand. Though it cut through the armor and made her hand bleed, her grip was tight.
"Clench your teeth."
As the words came out, Nix's right hand balled into a fist and came up to uppercut the man's chin. He felt like his head was about to fly off with his helm, causing him to stumble back a few feet and hold his chin. He just barely looked back up to see another fist coming down on his cheek and making his vision go black. Another punch to his side caused him to tumble to the right onto his back, bringing his vision back to him.
He coughed up some blood as he rolled onto one hand and knees, the other clutched his broken ribs. He then looked back up to see Nix walking towards him. Holding his hand up to her, he begged with tears in his eyes and blood down the side of his mouth. "Pl-please..."
The man begged for mercy, he prayed as hard as he could for any of the God's to save him. But there was no answer, only the feeling of Nix's boot on his shoulder as she gripped his arm and broke the armor in her fingers. Over the man's screaming, the cracking of metal and bones mixed with the tearing of flesh could be heard as the woman tore his arm clean off of his shoulder.
The man then fell onto his back and held his severed shoulder. He tried desperately to kick himself away from Nix, only for her to stomp down on his chest and cave his armor in around her boot. Pinned down, the man watched as Nix leaned in and rested her elbow on her knee.
"Run and tell your father this. I will soon be coming to deliver your arm in person. If you dare to run, I will come and hunt you down one by one." She threatened with no emotion. Her icy words heightened the fear he already felt, almost causing him to pass out.
Nix then pulled her foot from his chest and picked him up by his collar and onto his feet. She then pushed him and gestured for him to leave. "Run, or suffer another lost arm."
Her words caused the man to flee into the forest with a scream, holding his severed shoulder as he sprinted away. It wasn't until the man disappeared that Nix rushed over to Jennifer and pulled out a syringe.
"Hold still, I'll begin treatment." Nix said in a hurry as she jammed the syringe into the woman's neck.
"B-but I've already...taken one..." The Va'Rish tried to interject as she coughed. She had long since fallen onto her back and watched the battle that ensued. She had never seen such a merciless slaughter in all of her years in this world. She could feel every bit of fury being unleashed on those poor bastards. Though it scared her a little, she was happy to know Nix had come herself despite her condition.
"I lied about that, it was to keep anyone from over dosing after a period of overuse." Nix said as she tossed the canister away and pulled some bandages out to wrap up Jennifer's severed arm. "For now, you can rest. By the time you wake up again, you'll be safe and sound at home."
"Thank you...Nix..." Jennifer barely managed to get out before she finally passed out. It had been so long since she had last had such a peaceful rest, feeling safe in Nix's hands.
Nix then heard some footsteps behind her walking over slowly. Her system told her they were friendly, so she simply looked to the side and gave out orders. "Collect our dead and strip the corpses for their weapons and armor."
Vela and the rest could only nod and get to work. Before Vela could move though, she was surprised by Nix throwing a severed arm at her, the blood still leaking out. "Keep this one separate, I will deliver it personally."
Vela held her breath as she caught Nix's meaning. She wanted to interject with how impossible it would be, but she knew Nix's fury could not be quelled with just this. All she could do was call the others who were left behind to bring some more people to help collect their spoils.