Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 21 - Huntress Ascendant

Elania took in the two Darkwalkers darting in at her calmly. She considered whether she should turn and run or look for some sort of high-ground that would give her an advantage.

In the half-second she had, she decided on neither.

One [Darkwalker] was closer than the other and she darted for it. It grounded itself firmly, then reached out to slash at her with a razor-sharp strike with its paw. She caught it on her shield; the claws digging deep into the soft wood. Her arm was free in the loose arm strap, though, and she twisted so she could grab its leg.

Fingertips digging into its flesh in an unbreakable grip, she shoved a chunk of [Power] into her stance and then waved her arm, flinging the [Darkwalker] into its compatriot like a flail. The two cats went rolling in a lump together before they slammed into a rocky wall.

A chorus of roars erupted from what seemed like every direction, echoing off the walls to create an intimidating sound. She glanced on across the fields; everywhere she could see Darkwalkers were coming out of hiding, they had been resting in the shadows and waiting for some signal that her arrival seemed to have triggered.

Dozens of Darkwalkers suddenly began to assault the outer farms, and dozens of Mushroohum warriors that had been harried on the roofs were pulled down and dragged into a frenzy of tooth and claw.

A nearby growl returned her attention to her two opponents. They’d righted themselves and turned back to her, this time approaching with much more caution. The one she’d thrown limped on three legs since the leg she’d tossed it with was dislocated and bent backwards at an odd angle.

She pulled a javelin from her pack and leveled it on top of her shield, moving to a crouch.

Making herself smaller prompted the unharmed one to attack with a pounce. She caught the leap with her shield, and gripping the spear near the tip she jabbed it into the beast’s belly twice in quick succession before tossing it past her. The first one moved in slowly to swipe at her, but she lashed the javelin across its face, dragging a bloody line across both its eyes.

The one she’d stabbed came at her back, but she jumped to the side and threw her javelin at the blinded one. Extra [Power] into the throw meant it punched through the beast’s ribcage and into what she hoped were some important internal organs.

That didn’t buy her more breathing room from the one rushing toward her, though. She drew her knife as she sidestepped a second swing and follow-up bite.

When it tried a third swipe, she lunged inside the blow, grabbing the cat by the side and flipping herself up onto its back.

It jumped backwards in an attempt to dislodge her, but her legs clamped down on its ribcage hard enough for bones to crack.

Elania pumped [Power] into the blade to enhance its sharpness; it cut cleanly through the creature’s throat all the way to the spine. Death was nearly instant, and she triggered the absorption before they hit the ground.

The one she had impaled earlier was lying on its side, its chest heaving as it took its last breaths. She absorbed it as well, pushing her power over the limits.

[You have absorbed 17 Power!]

[You have absorbed 19 Power!]

[You have gained a level!]

[Your body has reached the limit of its capacity for Power!]

[Find a stronger body or reduce your current Power!]

[Your body has exceeded the limit of its capacity for Power!]

[Your body is experiencing thermal degradation!]

[You have gained Darkwalker Affinity!]

[Consume more Darkwalker Essence to enable darkwalker Transformation!]

[Due to your high power, Regeneration is enhanced!]

[Power: 183/158]

Elania resisted a sudden urge to lick her fingers clean from the Darkwalker blood as it finished dissolving into motes of light. Heat trickled from wounds and slashes she hadn’t even realized she’d received at the time. The pain was dulled by her sense of calmness, and the wounds began to knit themselves closed rapidly.

Fire filled her core. It had been a while since she’d felt what being over the limit so much was like. A sheen of sweat formed on her forehead, and each breath felt like ice inside her lungs.

The sickness didn’t come, instead she felt invigorated as she watched the battle going on down below in the cavern’s fields. She spotted a block of Mushroohum warriors exiting the palisade in a square formation, their shields and spears up as they moved toward the nearest outskirt building that was still besieged.

It looked like they were moving to relieve the defenders there and take them back to safety. She wasn’t sure that they’d make it in time, but she admired their bravery. Almost immediately, Darkwalkers began to harass them with snarls and snaps.

The smart thing to do would be to escape, run out of the cavern and wait until whatever was going to happen, happened. Risking her life fighting to defend Mushroohums that probably would turn on her and attack as soon as they could, was not a good idea. She had no promise of a reward for helping them, and the only real reason she had any inkling to do so was that Skinner had shown that they weren’t completely violent. That and they were people, and the Darkwalkers were mean angry predators.

The second-best thing to do would be to continue her infiltration, sneak around the battle, climb into the Mushroohum village, and look for her mana shard. Except she had very little idea on where it would be stored, and she’d almost certainly need to fight the mushroom men at some point. The leader could still have it in his belt for all she knew.

So why-why-why did she feel such an urge to rush down into the battle?

Elania stared down the path toward the fighting, slipping her knife back into her belt and pulling out a javelin. She couldn’t help but think at some point she’d turned into Lara Croft, fearless super adventuress.

The Darkwalkers were preoccupied and didn’t notice her approach until she was almost halfway across the fields to the nearest mushroom farm. The defenders there had all been pulled down from the building’s roof and torn apart already, but a few straggler Darkwalkers had remained to chomp down on the corpses.

How they found the Mushroohums palatable, she had now idea, their flesh smelled rotten and even with her…questionable appetite as of late, the thought made her sick.

The calm walk and lack of fear scent allowed her to make it very close to the group. When one looked up and noticed her, she let off a high-powered throw with the javelin so strong it impaled the beast and pinned it to the building’s wall, cracks splintering across the crude brickwork in a spiderweb pattern.

“Who’s next?” Elania asked.

The three remaining beasts snarled and charged at her. Four bodies meant sixty to eighty power, so she felt no need to hold back. When the first one reached her and pounced, she made a fist and punched it in the nose.

She’d gotten better at judging just how much [Power] she was putting into attacks, and she made it a twenty-point dump. That was a tremendous amount for a punch; she felt her hand burn with pain, and she realized it was a bit too much.

The Darkwalker’s face caved into its head, which caved into its neck, which caved into its body. Its body blew up like a balloon, then exploded into a shower of blood, scraps, and viscera.

Too much. Looking at her hand, the flesh had been burnt off, and it was a melted bone again. The option to absorb was still granted to her, and she took it, replacing the spent power in whole.

[You have absorbed 20 Power!]

[Your body has reached the limit of its capacity for Power!]

[Due to your high power, Regeneration is enhanced!]

The wave of pain from regrowing her hand washed over her; it was just as bad as before, but she was ready for it. This time she didn’t pass out, she couldn’t afford to in the middle of a fight. The attack was a miscalculation; she’d spend more power on [Regeneration] now, making the kill a net negative.

She jumped as the second arrived, spinning and kicking it in the side.

They flew apart; it slammed into a boulder while she flew straight toward the third one. It didn’t hesitate at the sudden reversal and clawed at her, but she drew her knife and stabbed it in between the beast’s paw pads, catching the strike.

Its other paw flashed in, and she let it claw her as she reached up to uppercut its jaw with her arm stub. The pain rocked her, and she realized she was screaming into its face louder than it was roaring back at her.

The blow lifted it up off the ground slightly. It raked her again, but she dumped more power into her mangled limb; golden glowing immaterial fingers appeared where her flesh should have been and gripped its throat as she did a rolling flip on it. It was forced to follow her move or have its spine snapped in the twist.

It landed on its back and tried to scramble away, sending them spinning on the ground like a top, but she refused to release it. Its glowing yellow eye stared at her defiantly as she pulled her knife free, then plunged it into the socket all the way to the beast’s brain.

It went still. She affirmed the absorption then turned to the last beast.

[You have absorbed 17 Power!]

[You have gained a level!]

[Your body has reached the limit of its capacity for Power!]

“I know. It’s great.” Elania murmured.

[Due to your high power, Regeneration is enhanced!]

The [Darkwalker] she’d kicked looked at her and roared. Then it spun and ran away. Her eye twitched with annoyance, but she couldn’t blame the animal. Whatever had enraged the beasts enough to assault the Mushroohum village had finally been overwhelmed by its survival senses.

A wicked grin appeared on Elania’s face. “Tell your friends!”

She turned and collected the pinned-to-the-wall Darkwalker’s essence.

[You have absorbed 17 Power!]

[Your body has reached the limit of its capacity for Power!]

She looked at the damage from the impact. The clay brick was different from the stonework she’d seen before, and it seemed much weaker than the cavern stone. Punching her hands into the brick, she gained a handhold and then flung herself up.

She just barely cleared the second floor enough to get a handhold on the ledge. Pulling herself onto the roof, she surveyed the battlefield. Things had changed.

She was able to make out the individual Mushroohums in the battle formation now. There were about forty of them in a square, all shields and spears on the outer edge locked together and pointing outward while survivors from the building made their way out. She realized that one of the survivors had a different colored outfit; just like the one that had taken her mana shard.

He was important. They probably wouldn’t have bothered to leave their fortifications if he wasn’t.

A horde of Darkwalkers surrounded them; at least sixty, but probably more. They were leaping around so furiously it was hard to count them.

Despite the Mushroohum’s tactics, it didn’t seem like they were doing too well. Several were snatched and dragged away to be torn apart. Javelin throwers from the wall did their best to throw without hitting their allies, but it was far and most missed.

A heavy twang heralded a massive log projectile plowing through a half dozen of the Darkwalkers. The ballista bolt seemed to be the most effective, but it seemed that the Mushroohum only had one of them located on the middle level of the stone ruins over their village.

Elania’s heart calmed as she watched from her perch. The pain in her hand disappeared, and she looked down at it; [Regeneration] had done a good job. The new flesh looked perfectly normal. More importantly, her fingers worked as she formed a fist.

She licked her lips; the blood was probably hers. The Darkwalkers had been turned into motes.

It would be nice if the red-cape had her mana shard.

Maybe she’d try her [Demonic Aura] a little since she was fighting so many at once.

Her legs tensed, and then she flung herself off the roof toward the battle like an arrow.

***

Tre’gat’aru was one of the most experienced hunters and skilled javelin throwers of the tribe. Countless young shrooms had sought to mimic him, but few had survived the deadly reality of the world outside the colony on their first hunt.

The [Elnat] and [Ralfot] caverns did not prepare them for the vicious and cunning predators that prowled the far caverns.

Jal’yar’tin, the royal heir, had found himself foolishly caught in the tender fields when the attack had come. They’d held out for two days while warriors inside failed to sally out to rescue them.

No one had realized how many of the Darkwalkers had invaded. It was more than Tre’gat’aru had ever envisioned. He had slowly put together a formation of the strongest warriors to prepare for a final attempt to rescue the cut-off heir at the command of the king.

It had not quite been ready when the Darkwalkers had suddenly stirred after days of idle attacks. The sudden frenzy had caught all off-guard, and he had watched as the trapped Mushroohums on the periphery had been pulled down.

Panic ensued as the warriors ready for the charge formed up. There were only a few defenders for the prince remaining. When the gate opened, the full force of the Mushroohum advanced, a wave of encouraging spores communicating their unified intent to do battle.

Tre’gat’aru forced his windpipes like bellows, emitting a loud “Glua-Glaaaa!” as his own contribution to the spores filled the air.

A few Darkwalkers harried them, but their unified approach with shields and spears ready beat any stragglers back. They reached the tender farm building in record time, but then the difficulty started. The opening had been barricaded with everything inside. Spores filtered out, communicating the dilemma. Too many had died inside to clear the way quickly!

Warriors bearing two precious metal axes began to hack away while those inside removed the barricade. Two warriors remained on the roof. A rope was thrown up to them, and they pulled up two massive bundles of javelins.

Tre’gat’aru pulsed a wave of respect spores upwards. The two warriors would remain and provide covering fire until they were overwhelmed.

The pressure increased far faster than he anticipated. The situation began to devolve as warriors were dragged away. Spears pierced [Darkwalker] flesh as well, but the beasts outnumbered them and seemed intent to slay and devour as many as possible.

What could have driven so many of them up from the deep caverns and then bound them unnaturally together to attack? There had been signs that the deep levels had been smoked out, but the attack, in his opinion, had to be precipitated by a lesser god.

Why one would target the village? He had no answer.

More warriors fell. The great Cap-Launcher hurled a tree-length of death into the massed creatures, killing a half dozen of them. Javelins rained from above, forcing the beasts to dance as they snarled at the linked warriors. Some threw themselves into the line, their heavy weights knocking gaps in the defense so other beasts could drag warriors into the open where they were devoured.

Half their number had fallen, and yet they hadn’t even cleared the barricade or acquired Prince Jal’yar’tin.

The scent form spores of determination and courage were slowly replaced with ones of fear, despair, and defeat. The morale of the formation was breaking before his eyes, and despite his best attempts to halt the spread, his own “Glaa!” was overwhelmed by the press felt by his brothers in arms.

As a commander, he had failed.

When the red-haired human demon landed in the beast’s midst, he recognized her as the one that had taken his knife and belt in return for the [Ralfot] carcass. She’d gained multiple levels in such a short time, indicating she’d been active since they’d parted.

[Huntress - Lesser Demon - Level 19]

Anger and confusion filled him until she struck out at one of the Darkwalkers. It flew away from her small frame like it had been struck by a human artifice weapon. Thumbing head over heels, it rolled into one of its kin, both collapsing into a heap.

Yet, even with that power, his hopes faded as a dozen of the beasts turned and assaulted her. He could not contain his disbelief as she began to dance between them. “Glua-Glaa!”

She jumped. She twirled. He recognized his knife as it plunged into the beasts’ yellow eyes and carved out their throats. When they struck her, she withstood their blows. When she struck back, bones were crushed and flesh was rendered by the force of her fists alone. The dead fell at her feet and melted into floating golden motes of light.

They could not overpower her; she grabbed the torso of one and with her bare hands ripped it in half.

The Darkwalkers were not more agile; she danced between claw and tooth as if she knew where they would strike before they did.

The beasts were totally outmatched.

Tre’gat’aru felt a chill run through his center. He was sure they were all outmatched, no matter what level the gods had decided she had. The Survivor who had become a Huntress was surely worthy of the title of lesser god, despite his previous judgement that there had been a mistake.

She was death.

An explosion of blood reached even his troops, who had begun to disperse their confusion and weary states into the air with a chorus of spores. It was overwhelmed by the sudden scent of victory as the wood door crashed.

Furniture fell from the destroyed portal to the farm. Inside, he spotted the prince waiting while two of his attendants created a path. The two axe-warriors hewed the more fragile wood into splinters.

The prince emerged.

“Glua-glaa!” To return! The warriors formed up as the prince entered the center of the circle. He guided the young Mushroohum to call for their retreat to the colony’s bastion.

A sudden weight slammed into Tre’gat’aru. His chest heaved, all the warriors around him fell to their knees. Panic flared, but the Darkwalkers were similarly affected.

The demoness was not; a red glow had begun to form around her, red lightning crackling as power escaped from her body. Suddenly her knife flared a brilliant white as she slashed the air. An arc of energy shot out, and it carved a dozen Darkwalkers in half.

He and his fellow warriors grunted under the strain, but forced themselves back onto their feet. The weight of the lesser god’s aura was heavy, but not impossible to survive after adjustment. The pressure benefited them, though. Darkwalkers were simple animals, despite their sudden aggression. Their souls were immature, and not as strong as a sapient creature’s.

The beasts began to flee and crawl away, even as the Huntress chased them down. She moved freely as she cut them down, making massive vaults between each of her targets.

When they had nearly reached safety, the demoness landed from above in front of the formation, sending the warriors to a staggering halt.

He could smell nothing but fear and blood in the air.

Standing up, the Huntress held out an empty hand and uttered a proclamation in her alien, verbal tongue.

Her glowing ruby eyes landed on the prince.