3rd Person POV
It felt as though time stood still as the liberated group felt their chance at freedom burn up to a crisp as they watched one woman slowly walk towards them with a sadistic smile. Gale's mind raced as he tried to find a way out, but he couldn't focus and began to panic because he had no plan to escape. The others in his group froze as well, unsure what to do and only able to watch in horror as Rekka slowly approached, stood, and spoke.
"I'm impressed! There aren't many who can pull one over me as you all have!" Rekka exclaimed.
"I honestly thought for a moment I was about to die, but thankfully I managed to put up a shield just in time before the rocks fell."
She then showed the group a small wall of flame that seemed to bend and cover her head.
"It was a good plan! Using one of those morons' faces to call me and using the mutt to lure me down and into that trap was impressive! I had to crawl my way through the debris and almost suffocated due to the lack of oxygen, and had to dig my way out through the rubble and some of the corpses of my men."
She then began to laugh and said, " Who would have thought that me, Rekka, a former sergeant, would be brought so close to death by a bunch of pathetic little bastards! So I promised myself that when I got out of there, I would personally kill every last one of you~. Don't worry, though; I'll leave at least maybe one or two of you alive with all of your limbs cut off to serve as an example to the next batch I bring in~."
The entire group shivered in fear at how happily the woman spoke, and no one made any moves for fear that the cruel woman would single them out. Both sides stood in place for what felt like an eternity until Rekka spoke up, "Well? Aren't any of you going to try and fight back? Who knows, one of you might get lucky and kill me before I kill all of you. Please come to me, or I will come over there. Your choice."
At this, a few people who were a part of the riot grabbed their pickaxes and charged at Rekka, who stood in place waiting for the approaching attackers.
"Rahhhhhhhh!"
One of the attackers lifted their pickaxe above their head and jumped into the air, ready to bring it down on the woman's head, but before the attacker could bring it down, he was quickly stabbed through the neck by Rekka's sword, which moved faster than the attacker could realize.
"What an obvious attack. Leaving yourself that open with no way to protect yourself is an idiotic move. How did you all manage to kill my men with such basic moves?" Spoke Rekka as she kicked the body off her blade and towards her other soon-to-be victims.
Shaken by the death of their comrade, the ones charging towards Rekka stopped in their tracks, leading to them being cut down by the brutal woman.
The first was stabbed through the chest and through the heart, killing him instantly.
Once Rekka pulled her sword out, she rushed towards the second person and cut off both of their arms, leaving them screaming in agony
She then sped past the third, who in an instant had his head cut clean off. All of this was done in less than a few seconds, and once she was done, Rekka stood in place facing the group and said, "That was a nice little warm-up ~. Who's next?"
Although they were filled with fear, members from the riot group and the recently liberated slaves braced themselves and charged towards the cruel woman. Rekka smiled and charged towards them, ready to continue her massacre.
While this happened, Gale regained his focus, shook Lucas back to his senses, and told him to work on the ship and get it ready to leave. Shaken, the young teen nodded, grabbed Max, and prepared to grab Clover, but the snake girl moved away from Lucas's hand. She looked toward her friends with a smile and told them, "Thanks for always having my back, you two. If you manage to get back home... tell my dad I love him." She then grabbed the knife on her waist, as well as another she had picked up off another body, and began to charge towards the fight.
"No!" yelled Lucas and Max as they reached for their friend.
Gale stopped them and told them, "If you don't get this ship moving, we'll die, and her sacrifice will have gone to waste!"
Gale didn't like this, but they had to get the ship moving no matter what. Lucas gritted his teeth, ran toward the console, dragged Max along, and yelled at the engineers to follow him unless they wanted to die. Snapping out of it, the engineers followed Lucas, and before they did, the lead engineer yelled, "There are weapons in the crate over there in the corner!" She motioned her head in the direction of a metal box in the corner, and Gale rushed towards the box and lifted the cover to find guns that resembled handguns and assault rifles and what appeared to be grenades in varying colors. Once he located the weapons, he yelled for the group to grab one and get ready to fight. The remaining people hesitated but eventually ran to the chest, grabbed a weapon, and joined the fight.
Gale grabbed a handgun and a yellow grenade and made his way as well, but was stopped in his tracks by Self Preservation, which stopped him from moving and caused him to drop to his knees.
"Damn it! Not now!" Gale cursed as he struggled to move.
He could only watch as the group charged towards Rekka and cursed his skill.
Rekka tore through her former slaves. Pickaxes missed by inches as she slipped past every swing and answered with cuts to throats, chests, and stomachs. Magic fared no better. Walls of flame swallowed incoming spells while burning spears shot back at their casters.
"Come on, at least give me a challenge!" exclaimed Rekka.
As she continued to attack, she quickly noticed and moved her head out of the way of an incoming projectile that sped past her. She looked in the direction the projectile came from and saw a small group of people armed with guns attempting to aim at her.
"Ohhh~ so you found the mana guns. Nice choice; those would hurt, so long as you hit me," said Rekka.
The weapons glowed in different colors as the group fired, sending multicolored projectiles streaking toward Rekka. Most of the shooters immediately lost their grip from the recoil. Rekka raised her blade and blocked the incoming projectiles and prepared to attack those who opened fire, but stopped and immediately raised her blade to block a speedy attack aimed at her neck by Clover.
"Damn it, so close!" exclaimed Clover as she soared past Rekka and landed on her feet.
Rekka recomposed herself, focused on Clover, and said, "Not bad. If I hadn't sensed your presence, you might actually have done a bit of damage. Unfortunately, you missed your one chance to inflict any lasting damage." Rekka then swung her blade towards Clover, who barely managed to block the attack and attempted to swing one of her knives at Rekka, who moved her head out of the way.
They exchanged blows, dodging and countering in rapid succession. Clover barely kept pace.
"Mana reinforcement? Not bad."
Clover lunged again.
Rekka caught her wrist.
"It's nowhere near enough."
Her knee slammed into Clover's chest.
Blood sprayed from Clover's mouth as she flew backward.
Rekka moved to finish her.
A metal spear screamed through the air.
Rekka caught the spear and hurled it back. It buried itself in Sasha's thigh, dropping her with a scream.
The group of people armed with guns eventually got their bearings and fired once more at Rekka as she continued to dodge the projectiles and saw Clover struggling to get back on her feet.
Rekka then sent out an arc of flame towards the group that caught one of them while the rest managed to dive for cover quickly. Rekka then ran and kicked Clover across the head, sending her skidding across the floor and landing on her back. Clover struggled to get up but was forced back down by Rekka stepping on her chest.
"Well done. It's been a while since I've seen anyone with as much talent as you. I think I might want to keep you!" said Rekka, smiling down at Clover.
"Screw you," responded Clover, scowling and attempting to get up.
"Now don't be like that~. I'm offering you a position with me in my business. If you haven't noticed, I'm in the market for new guards, and you look like a good replacement. I can offer strong benefits and a cash bonus. If you like, I can even let you keep a few of these enslaved people for yourself."
"Fuck you"
Rekka tapped Clover's elbow with her blade, then her shoulder, studying the arm as though deciding where to butcher an animal. "Hmmmm... I'd rather not lose someone like you, so I think I'll have to persuade you another way.... which would be easier... starting from the elbow or the whole arm.... We'll see how much you can take."
Rekka ignited her sword and severed Clover's left arm. Clover screamed in agony, clutching the spot where her arm used to be, and struggled to stay conscious.
"Relax, you won't die from that. I even cauterized the wound for you. Now then... did you change your mind?"
Gritting her teeth, tears streaming down her face, Clover stared at Rekka and replied, "No."
"Well, maybe the second arm will change that," and as Rekka prepared to cut off the second arm, she quickly moved out of the way as a hail of projectiles fired towards her. Once she moved out of the way, she saw where the projectiles had come from and saw the ship's weapons being aimed at her.
Rekka raised her wall of flame, giving the others enough time to grab Clover and Sasha and drag them toward the ship. Eventually, the ship's guns needed time to recharge, and in that moment Rekka condensed the wall of fire into a ball of fire and shot it towards the ship. The fireball slammed into the ship's side and exploded against its shield. The vessel remained intact, but the impact drained a significant portion of the shield's power.
"That was a pretty bad hit! We can't take many more of those!" exclaimed Lucas.
While Lucas focused on Rekka, the engineers worked on starting the engines. They were getting close, as Lucas began to aim the recharged guns at Rekka, who sent another fireball to the ship. The fireball struck the ground beneath the ship. The blast tilted the vessel violently, throwing everyone inside off their feet. Gale slammed across the storage area. Self Preservation screamed at him to stay down, but he forced himself back to his feet. He stared at the approaching Rekka, who was preparing to attack the injured Clover and Sasha along with the group escorting them. He began to grow nervous as he had no idea what to do, as he had never even fired a gun and had no real way of attacking Rekka.
As he thought of a possible solution, he looked at the small yellow grenade at his feet, spotted James hiding in the ship, and thought of a plan. It was a ridiculous long shot, but it was all he had. Despite his skill, he grabbed the grenade, moved towards James, and grabbed his arm.
"I need your help to make an illusion," said Gale.
Startled by Gale, the teen nearly let out a yelp, but upon seeing him, James listened to his plan.
As this happened, Rekka's patience wore thin.
'Should I just kill them and be done with it? I'm beginning to get bored,' Rekka thought as she moved towards the ship.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a few people began to charge at her again. She scowled and said, "This again?" She engulfed the two with pillars of flame, and as she did, she noticed they began to disappear. The two people dissolved, almost as if they were a mirage, and in their place she saw Gale. When Gale came near her, she stopped in place and attempted to back away from the boy. As she focused on the boy, however, she failed to notice the grenade flying towards her head, which exploded in a bright yellow burst, sending Gale and Rekka flying.
[15/20] HP Remaining
As Gale painfully landed and felt the shock of the explosion in his body, he took a moment to catch his breath and saw Rekka's body lying out on the floor.
It worked.
Rekka had hesitated exactly as Gale had hoped.
Gale slowly got to his feet and began to make his way back to the ship but stopped in his tracks when he heard a voice.
"I'm done."
Gale looked back and saw the laid-out body of Rekka cover itself with fire and, using her flames, begin to rise from the ground and face Gale.
"I'm done having my fun with all of you," spoke Rekka with a furious glare.
She had managed to cover her face with a shield of fire, but she had still taken major damage to one side of her face. The left side of her face was badly burned and twisted from the blast. Her left eye was simply gone.
"I AM GOING TO KILL EACH AND EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU AS PAINFULLY AS POSSIBLE, STARTING WITH YOU!" Rekka yelled as she looked at Gale, grabbed him, lifted him by the throat, and began to choke him.
"Gack!"
Gale clawed at Rekka's hand, but her grip only tightened.
"Clever little plan, you disgusting mutt. You must have been the one to come up with the plan down in the mines too, right? That's twice now you've tricked me. Allow me to show my gratitude."
[14/20] HP
[13/20] HP
[12/20] HP
The numbers kept falling.
[8/20] HP
[7/20] HP
[6/20] HP
Gale felt his eyes close as the world faded to black, and he slowly lost all strength in his body.
'Is this really how it ends? What was the point of me coming to this world if this was how it was going to end?' Gale thought.
[5/20] HP
[4/20] HP
[3/20] HP
Just as the number began to near zero, a shot fired out and hit Rekka in her arm, causing her to drop the young boy, who began to cough and gasp for the air he desperately needed. Rekka yelled in pain and furiously turned in the direction of the one who fired the gun and saw a small, shivering girl holding a handgun aimed at Rekka.
"L-leave him alone," said Ashes as she continued to shiver in fear but continued to aim the gun.
Glaring at the girl, Rekka scowled and, in an instant, knocked the gun out of the girl's hand and lifted her by the neck.
"I don't like delivering damaged products, but just this once I'll make an exception," said Rekka, preparing a flame in her hand.
Just as she prepared to attack Ashes, she was interrupted by a powerful tremor that caused the entire island to shake, throwing her off balance and releasing the girl. The entire island began to shake, and the waves of the sea began to rise and move erratically.
"NOW WHAT?!" Rekka yelled as she struggled to stay upright.
A massive wave crashed over the docks.
It slammed into the airship and shoved the vessel onto its side. Gale, Ashes, and several others were swept farther from the ramp.
Rekka was thrown in the opposite direction; she staggered back to her feet, flames erupting across her body.
"I HAVE HAD IT WITH EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I WILL -"
Rekka immediately stopped yelling as she stared at the docks and saw a massive claw rising from the ocean and being placed on the docks, nearly destroying the land the claw landed on. Another large claw rose from the ocean, piercing the land from below and sending boulders flying towards the island, as the creature placed its other claw on the land and began to rise out of the ocean.
Black-and-blue scales broke the surface.
Then came its head.
Reptilian. Massive.
Multiple orange eyes burned across its face above a jaw lined with enormous teeth.
Everyone on the island could see an impossibly large monster rise from the ocean, and as it rose, the waves began to rise and fall.
ROOOOAAAAARRRRR
[2/20] HP
Gale just barely managed to cover his ears but could still feel blood drip from his ears as the creature roared and Gale attempted to get back on his feet. Even with a slight ringing in his ears, he heard a laugh that caught his attention, and saw Rekka laughing like a madwoman as she covered her ears and stared at the creature.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OF COURSE THIS WOULD HAPPEN TO ME! FIRST THE SLAVES ESCAPE AND SCAR ME, AND NOW ONE OF THEM SHOWS UP OUT OF NOWHERE! THE GODS ARE HAVING THEIR WAY WITH ME TODAY, AREN'T THEY?! AREN'T THEY?!"
Gale could see that any sense of rationality was gone from Rekka's eyes as she then completely covered herself in a cloak of flame and yelled: "WELL THEN I'LL PLAY YOUR GAMES!!!" Rekka then charged towards the massive creature and sent a fireball towards its head, which found its mark and exploded on the creature's massive snout. She then launched herself towards the creature's head and continued to attack it with spears of fire and multiple fireballs.
As this happened, Lucas bypassed the clearance, started the engines, and, in an instant, moved to the ship's controls and angled the thrusters to lift the ship onto stable land. From there, Lucas grabbed the comms and made an announcement that echoed out to everyone still outside the ship and said, "Everyone get on the ship! The engines are working, and we're leaving NOW!"
Hearing this, Gale forced himself to stand up and could see a few others who were knocked away by the wave start to run towards the ship. Gale began to run towards the ship, and as he started to run, he heard something.
"...help."
Stopping in his tracks, he saw something he hadn't noticed before: one of the rocks that had been sent flying from the creature landing on someone. He saw Ashes trapped under one of the rocks. Miraculously, her legs were the only things trapped under the large boulder and didn't seem to be crushed, but the young girl cried and continued to call out for help. Gale started to move toward her, but as he made his way, a window appeared in front of him.
[Self Preservation] activated
At this, Gale stopped in his tracks and could feel his body trying to force him to run away, as if his own body was yelling at him to get on the ship. Gale tried to move, but the instinct to run overwhelmed him.
As more people boarded, Lucas saw on the ship's cameras that Gale kept standing still, staring at the young girl trapped under the rocks, then took the ship's comms and announced, "Just leave her there!"
Gale heard the announcement and looked towards the ship as Lucas said, "We need to leave now! It's not worth risking your life for one person! You have to think about yourself!"
As he heard Lucas, Gale thought about what he had said and looked at his system; both were telling him to leave and survive. He took one last look at Ashes, who kept crying and asking for help. As Gale struggled with what to do, he looked at the girl, saw her change, and saw a small boy asking for help. It was a small boy with brown hair and bruises on his face that Gale recognized all too well before the boy changed back to the weeping Ashes. Seeing this, Gale took a deep breath, looked at his system, and spoke.
"Hey, system?"
As if in response, the system stopped displaying the skill and appeared normal in front of Gale.
"Go fuck yourself."
And the young wolf, with all his might, ran towards the trapped girl.