Provided they had any range on their vision, it wouldn’t be long before one of them noticed. Genoa wasn’t exactly trying to hide. It was a wonder they hadn’t noticed her up on the rooftop already. Sure, it was one of the taller buildings, but she was still standing in plain sight.
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.
There might be some merit to that. Genoa had no plans to attack the girl until she felt especially threatened by her. And unless Eva had been keeping a whole lot more secret than some blood magic and demon limbs, feeling threatened by her would take something extreme.
“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.”
Chapter 024
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.
It nicked me, Genoa thought as warm blood mixed with sweat before falling from her chin. It actually managed to cut me.
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.
No time to delay. She swung her arm back and upwards. At the same time, metal from her sword flowed up, forming a sharp blade along the length of her arm.
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.
Eva did have one thing going for her: she could blink. And she liberally used that ability to dodge volleys of acid or anything that got near her. Surprisingly, not much acid actually went her way. The city hall building was one of the taller buildings, and the clocktower on top taller still, but Genoa was fairly certain that it was still within range.
In addition, she had Arachne’s legs. If nothing else, they were quite adept at catapulting her from one place to another.
Given that she lacked the blood to create one of those powerful shields she had used back in the real world, she should probably thank Arachne for saving her life.
If only that same person–that same demon wasn’t trying to kill them at the moment.
Genoa spun. Her two-handed sword trailed behind her. Two separate dog-type bugs lost their upper limbs. She tilted the iron weapon down slightly, sticking it straight into the skull of a third. Momentum slowed by the limbs and the chitin, her blade stopped halfway through the creature
A rushing dog-bug forced Genoa to blink backwards. The teeth of one of the things she had just disarmed were far too close for comfort.
White hot plasma landed just beneath the rushing dog. It exploded outwards, sending pieces of the dog flying overhead.
And, it conveniently freed Genoa’s attentions so that she could focus on the dog at her backside.
She’d have to remember to thank Eva later. Even just another simple nod in her direction.
Her focus made up most of the hilt of her sword. Swinging it around, a pillar of earth erupted directly underneath the insect. The thing was launched up into the air.
Genoa ignored it in favor of two other fresh combatants approaching her. From prior experience, she knew that launched bug would have broken the rest of its limbs. Assuming the fall failed to kill the thing outright.
Genoa dashed forward, dragging her blade along the ground. She momentarily resized it, shortening the length. Once the length hit the sweet spot, excess kinetic energy acted as a spring, cleaving it straight up through the body.
At the apex of her swing, Genoa pushed out the metal. The length and end weight of her sword doubled in an instant. Using that weight, Genoa brought the sword down right between the eyes of the second beast.
Immediate area clear, Genoa took a moment to catch her breath. It was a good thing she had sparred so much with Arachne. Their fights had provided plenty of opportunity to sharpen up after having been retired for several years.