To tell the truth, Genoa was starting to get used to it as well. She seemed less like a demon and more like a person with every passing day. Only through conscious effort was she able to acknowledge Arachne’s unnaturalness. It wasn’t something Genoa ever planned to forget.
Still, they were allies for now. “Up to their room.”
The number of visible sharp teeth doubled. “Again, you should have stuck around for Nel’s explanation.”
Genoa moved to adjust her sunglasses. She froze halfway and dropped her arms to her side. A nervous tick and one she was trying to get out of the habit of doing. They were perfectly set on her face anyway.
Instead, Genoa shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She loosened her grip on her knife and waited for an explanation.
Arachne took the hint. She raised one of her spindly fingers and pointed down a hallway opposite from the staircase. “Eva is inside one of the hot springs. They’re on the bottom floor.”
“Alright, where to?”
“Follow the trail of broken furniture and ruined floor.”
That was good enough for Genoa. She blinked ahead of Arachne, eliciting a low growl from the demon. It didn’t matter. Juliana was somewhere in the middle of all this mess. She blinked again, straight to the end of the hallway.
One direction was clear, clean, and undisturbed. The other had two of the monsters slowly making their way down the hall. They paid no attention to their stray limbs bumping into and splintering a picture frame here or knocking over a potted plant there.
If there was any doubt that the creatures were being directed, it evaporated with that sight. At least one should have wandered off down the other hall, but there was not a trace.
Genoa almost blinked straight past them. Arachne would be able to take them without issue. Now that she was inside, Genoa would have to conjure the earth she used–much more taxing than simply tossing it about–or potentially destabilize and destroy the dorms by pulling it out from underneath the floor.
Blinking past could cut off a path to retreat if the hallways ahead were filled with even more of the creatures.
Frowning, Genoa raised her knife. Both had their backs turned towards her. Perfect. An iron rod through each of their skulls before they had the opportunity to react would be best.
Two rods, each the size of Genoa’s arm, formed with an exertion of her magic. They started the size of her pinky finger, but every pass of her magic added one layer after another.
Arachne barreled past with a mad cackle. It was somewhat disconcerting that the most human-like aspect of the demon was a murderous laugh.
Both creatures turned at all the noise. “Damn it.”
Arachne vaulted over one creature. Her claws dug into the shoulders. As soon as her feet hit the ground on the opposite side of the creature, Arachne pulled. One of her legs exploded out of the creature’s chest while its head and neck separated.
The other creature did not stand idle while its companion was dismembered. Slits along its arms opened up. Spines exploded out without any aiming.
It didn’t matter. There were enough to hit everything.
Genoa manipulated the two iron rods into a single sheet in front of her. It was too small to cover her entire body. She had to crouch behind it.
The spines hit an instant after. Some embedded themselves deep into the metal. More than a few poked out the other side.
Genoa stood once the last spine hit her wall. She reformed the iron into a single lance. Spines still poked out from various places. With a flick of her knife, the lance rocketed away from her, embedding itself into the creature’s chest.
She ran up as the thing slumped to the ground. Arachne shoved off the corpse of the first creature. Half of her chest was looking a lot more like a porcupine than any sort of arachnid.
“I could have dispatched them without any trouble.”
“That’s no fun,” she said as she started plucking spines out of her carapace.
“We’re not here for fun. We’re here to rescue our kids.”
“Eva is not my child. Sister might be more accurate.”
Genoa blinked, but shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. We need to get to them.”
“I agree.”
They took off again. Together, this time. If Arachne was going to charge around without care for tact or subtlety, it wouldn’t do much good to blink around. Instead, Genoa focused her efforts on conjuring up more iron.
An arm reached out from one of the side rooms. It crossed Genoa’s vision as it arced towards her.
She flicked her eyes to the side. Another creature. Another human torso with its arms replaced.
Genoa started to duck. The arm came fast. Too fast. She didn’t have a second to blink.
Claws raked across her face. Only her enhanced durability kept her from losing it entirely.
The force from the blow made Genoa take an involuntary step backwards to maintain her balance.
A second set of claws used her stagger to scrape against her calves.
