The moment Andrea landed on her feet, she shot forward at impossible speed. The Priest was still laughing wildly, but the instant he saw her disappear from his sight, his laughter stopped. His body tensed as he braced himself, his blue scales tightening across his chest as he prepared for the impact.
Andrea’s fist slammed into him.
The force of the blow shook his entire body, and for a moment, the Priest’s feet left the ground. Blood immediately spilled from the corner of his mouth as the scales covering his chest violently collapsed beneath Andrea’s fist. Several of them shattered into fragments while the flesh beneath them was forced inward, leaving a deep depression in the centre of his chest.
The Priest’s eyes widened.
Andrea’s fist remained pressed against him, her face only inches away from his as she studied the damaged scales.
"Hmm, what did you use to strengthen your defense? These don’t contain any sort of runes."
The Priest couldn’t answer. His mouth opened slightly, but all that came out was a strained breath as he struggled to keep himself from vomiting blood. He refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing him lose control, even though the force of that single punch had nearly knocked the air out of his lungs.
Andrea suddenly pulled her fist away and shot backwards, giving him room to recover.
The Priest staggered before finally planting his feet firmly into the ground. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, his expression twisting with humiliation as he stared at Andrea.
Yuri stood several meters away, her black blade held loosely in her hand. The surface of the sword reflected almost no light, making it appear darker against the white snow. She could have attacked the Priest while Andrea was striking him. In fact, Yuri was even faster than Andrea, but she knew her physical strength couldn’t compare to Andrea’s. Even if she landed a clean strike, she wouldn’t be able to generate enough force to leave the Priest struggling to breathe like Andrea had.
Yuri looked over the transformed Priest from head to toe.
"He looks more hideous than usual."
Andrea settled beside her, keeping her eyes fixed on the Priest.
"What he ate wasn’t an artifact, as he called it. It has to be some kind of flesh. If the Chief has access to more of it, we might have some trouble with him."
Yuri turned towards Andrea with the same calm expression.
"What about the creature they’re eating to transform like this? Wouldn’t it be more terrifying than the Chief?"
Andrea shrugged.
"We’ve seen the Chief and what he can do. Let’s worry about one monstrosity at a time."
Yuri’s eyes glanced in Andrea’s direction, she could tell that Andrea was hiding something, but she also knew that Andrea was always full of secrets, so she decided to just let it go.
The Priest’s expression darkened as he listened to them speak. He had expected fear. After consuming the flesh of a god and transforming into something beyond his previous limits, he had expected the two women to finally understand the difference between them.
Instead, they were discussing him as though he were another problem they needed to solve.
His claws slowly tightened.
The scales covering his body began to glow faintly beneath the clear sky, and the air around him grew colder as a violent pressure spread from his body. The snow around his feet began to tremble.
The Priest actually began to grow larger as his transformation settled further into his body. His shoulders widened, his arms thickened and his blue scales spread across more of his body, overlapping one another until there were almost no gaps left between them. The damaged scales on his chest began to peel away, falling into the snow before new ones quickly grew beneath them, restoring the area Andrea had damaged moments earlier.
"Hahahaha... Now that you’ve foolishly allowed my transformation to be completed, your death is surely imminent!" the Priest bellowed.
Yuri stared at him for a moment.
"So that wasn’t his full transformation."
"It seems so."
Andrea turned towards the Priest and raised her voice.
"You should’ve mentioned that. We would’ve given you more time."
The Priest’s mouth opened as he prepared to respond, but he suddenly choked on his own spit.
"You tall, stingy apes didn’t even give me a full two seconds! Stop claiming the moral high ground!"
Andrea’s expression remained completely unchanged.
"We probably shouldn’t give him any more time," Yuri quickly added.
Andrea nodded.
"I’ll overwhelm him. You try to finish him off."
Yuri nodded, and the next moment, both women shot towards him.
Andrea actually reached the Priest first.
Her blade swung towards his neck, but the Priest raised his arm and blocked it with his scales. The impact produced a violent clang that sent sparks flying, but unlike before, the Priest didn’t stagger. His arm barely moved.
"So you’ve chosen this moment to die, no matter. I am prepared to deliver your souls to the blind gods of the underworld". The priest said coldly.
Andrea’s eyes narrowed as the Priest’s grin widened.
He swung his other arm.
Andrea ducked beneath the attack, but the movement still forced her to change direction as the Priest’s claws tore through the air above her. She immediately drove her knee into his stomach and followed with a punch aimed at the same faintly damaged section of his chest.
The Priest attempted to jump into the air, but Andrea’s fist struck his side instead.
The scales cracked beneath the impact, but they didn’t collapse as they had before. The Priest barely reacted before his enormous hand swept towards her.
Andrea raised her blade.
The claws slammed against the enchanted weapon and forced her backwards several meters, her boots carving deep trenches through the snow.
Andrea was stunned that she lost that exchange, but Yuri had already appeared behind the Priest. Her black blade flashed towards the back of his neck.
The Priest suddenly turned his head, his hand shot backwards.
Yuri’s eyes widened as his claws caught the blade before it could reach his scales.
The Priest grinned at her.
"Got you."