The needles were far sharper than the spears, but would likely do less damage if they hit. Not enough mass. While mildly certain that she could keep the blood together and force it through her body, Eva wouldn’t. They’d act like earthen projectiles for now. As such, she didn’t feel as bad about attacking from a complete blind spot.
Fifteen needles of blood fired at Genoa’s back. A few aimed for her neck. Unlike last time, Eva staggered the needles. Even if Genoa somehow caught onto it, she’d have to keep her shield up longer. Split her concentration.
Arachne was advancing, but glacially. This could give her an opportunity to turn the tables completely.
Without even turning her head, Genoa stepped–or rather, blinked to the side. A good half of the needles pelted nothing more than a boulder she had raised prior to blinking.
“What.”
Eva felt her control over some of the blood slip as too much dirt contaminated it. Her teeth grit together.
And she blinked! Inconceivable! On a debris ridden battlefield. Arachne was throwing Genoa’s own rocks back at her as fast as she could.
She could have easily clipped into some stray rock or a piece of earth jutting out of the ground. That would have taken her out of the fight instantly.
She didn’t even look to the side before she blinked! How
It was bad enough that Eva had to double-check and ensure that Genoa did not have any Nel-eyes squirming around her body.
She didn’t.
What’s more, Eva had completely forgotten about blinking. She hadn’t tried stepping since she replaced her eyes. Something to be rectified as soon as things calmed down.
Eva readied the remains of her needles and had them hound down the now rapidly blinking Genoa. She paid careful attention to avoiding losing any more needles to stray boulders.
Some of her blinks even took Genoa straight backwards. Somewhere she couldn’t see even in peripheral vision.
“How is she doing this?” Eva asked nobody in particular. She certainly wasn’t asking the giggling Juliana.
The ground opened beneath Arachne once again. The demon must have been ready for it. The moment the dirt shifted, she jumped.
Right into a flying boulder.
That she somehow got on top of before it landed.
The boulder in her face did blind her for a few crucial seconds.
Genoa blinked behind Arachne and elbowed her in the back of the head.
Eva stood in open-mouthed incredulity as Arachne stumbled forwards.
The spider-demon failed to round in time with any of her limbs.
Genoa blinked again.
And Arachne, spun backwards and unsteady, caught a boulder in the back of her head. She went down. Face first into the ground.
A very literal into the ground. The earth opened up and ate Arachne.
Genoa turned and immediately started bombarding the shield with boulders. Each one larger than the last.
“This is bad.” Very bad. Eva poured a significant amount of blood into maintaining the shield. It would dilute Arachne’s blood, but it would buy time.
“Come on, Arachne. Get up. You can’t be out.”
Eva had half a mind to summon a demon and drain them to fuel the shield and more attacks. It wouldn’t work. The summoning circle was out in solitary confinement. Not to mention the time it would take to get a demon to willingly agree to a contract that involved shedding its own blood.
Arachne, in full on Arachne-mode no less, erupted from her earthen tomb. She landed right on top of Genoa.
“Juliana,” Eva barked without even looking to see if Genoa had survived. She started moving towards her bedroom.
At this point, Eva wasn’t worried at all. If she could somehow blink backwards and sense the blood needles, she couldn’t have missed Arachne’s massive form sailing through the air.
“If the shield goes down, how likely is the chance that your mother will cease pelting my building with rocks before this building is completely unsalvageable.”
The sounds of battle resuming outside confirmed her lack of concern. Hopefully Arachne would keep her busy for a few minutes.
Also hopefully without killing her.
Juliana sounded far more serious than she had during her earlier bout of laughter. “I guess that depends on what kind of mood she is in.”
“Knock on my door if she surrenders,” Eva said, “but do
Worthless thaumaturgy. Useless blood. She had used all of her stores of Arachne’s blood in the shield. Even if her own wasn’t useless, she wasn’t willing to shed more at the moment.
The headache and lethargy were already settling in.
But Eva liked the prison. The women’s ward particularly. It was a great home.
She wasn’t willing to lose it.
It was cheating. Dirty, terrible, and hopefully painful.
Eva promised to apologize later.
