It seemed as if even the mutant monsters fell prey to the old adage of failing to look up. Most of them had the excuse of not having proper necks that could tilt upwards, but they could still angle their bodies.
Without her mercenaries to foolishly point her out, Genoa was feeling surprisingly safe up high.
From the bugs at least.
Genoa turned back to Eva.
The girl was also looking out over the street below. Her hair flowed in the wind, continually hovering behind her. Unlike Genoa, Eva had completely turned her body away. As if she had already dismissed the idea that she could be harmed by Genoa.
“So,” Genoa started. She still had to ask to be certain. “Are we going to fight now?”
“I’d rather not,” Eva said, finally turning her attention back to Genoa.
It had only been a few seconds, but a few seconds could be an eternity on the battlefield.
“Have you seen Arachne?”
Genoa shook her head, using the opportunity to glance about for any potential ambushes. “Not since the demon split us up.”
“We should find her.”
“To fight?”
Eva gave a callous shrug. “If that is what it takes.”
Splatter
Razor-edged talons sunk into the wooden wall next to Genoa’s face. The partially collapsed building groaned, protesting the force, but otherwise stayed intact.
Which was great. Genoa didn’t much care for buildings collapsing on top of her. She had enough of that raiding unstable ruins for the guild.
Though, at least she wasn’t being actively attacked by hundreds upon hundreds of monsters in those ruins. Maybe there was a tomb guardian of some sort, but that usually capped out at one or two.
The only thing that came close to her current situation was necromancers, typically after they decided to wipe a small town off the map. But zombies and skeletons tended to be physically weak. So long as they didn’t catch her off guard or find some way of trapping her, they were no big deal.
These giant bugs tended to be far more robust. They required a good amount of force to dispatch and, even if she hadn’t been hit until now, they looked like they could do a great deal of damage with a single lucky strike.
A faint sensation of pain tingled in her cheek, reminding her that she was in the middle of battle. Not the proper time or place for reminiscing.
Genoa blinked straight backwards. Now behind the insect, she lifted both of her arms over her head. Tightening her grip on the massive sword in her hands, she plunged it straight downwards.
Iron cleaved the bug into two even halves.
An unnatural whisk of the wind caught Genoa’s attention.
A metal clang rang out as her blade intercepted two talon-tipped arms. Putrid ichor slid down the blade at a steady rate.
It took a moment for the creature to notice. After a moment, a pain filled cry came from the beast in front of her.
Genoa kicked up. Her heavy combat boot met the gaping mouth of the insect, not only silencing it, but sending several sharp teeth straight into the brain.
She blinked again, barely vacating the area in time. A rain of acid ate through the ground where she had stood. She whirled towards the direction the acid had been launched from.
Just in time to see the snake-like worm eat a ball of fire. She raised a shield as the acid-soaked innards scattered into the air. Pieces came down, sliding harmlessly off of the faint bubble surrounding her.
The corner of her eye caught a wave of a black hand up high on one of the few still intact buildings.
Genoa nodded towards her partner in thanks even as she cut to her right with her reformed sword. Her blade sheared part-way through the chitinous armor of one of the bugs. It caught up on one armored plate, requiring Genoa to use both hands to force it the rest of the way through.
There was just no end to them. At least Eva was taking care of most of the acid-spitting worms. Genoa had her hands full with the dog-sized bugs.
Eva’s fighting style brought up bad memories in Genoa. It was far too reminiscent of guild recruits that had far too much confidence in their own shields.
Those recruits would sit back, playing the heavy artillery. Heavy artillery was well and good. Someone capable of unleashing a lot of firepower was quite valuable in a team.
Unfortunately, they tended not to move much. The moment something managed to shatter their shields, they typically wound up as paste on the floor.
