"Oh?" the creature’s eerie smile spread, teeth reflecting black light almost oozing out their aura. "Someone stole my kill after I came all this way?"
Though the creature was smiling, there was an underlying sinister air to it, one that made Stella’s blood run so cold she didn’t dare to move.
The creature looked in the direction that Stella had pointed and its senses flashed outward. Almost immediately, it caught sight of three people, one who was walking away, and another two who were standing quite aimlessly.
Grey Temolt. It recognized that name. It had seen him before on the projected images, not that it had paid much attention. However, with a memory like its own, it didn’t have to.
Almost instantly, a head turned back to look at it.
The creature grinned wildly. However, just when it was going to make a move, its path forward was blocked.
A woman stood blocking its way, holding out a rapier in front of her and huffing in and out deep breaths. That breath didn’t seem to be out of fatigue, though. Instead, it was like she was trying to quickly lower her heart rate, using a special breathing technique.
But as much as she tried, that heart rate was accelerated to an extreme nonetheless. Every inch of Amunet’s body was primed and her adrenaline was through the roof.
Her shadow shroud was no longer there, and she stood like a true Egyptian princess. Her arms had golden bands around them, a simple dress of white Egyptian cotton tied into a golden band around her waist. She wore sandals on her feet and her eyes radiated such a bright gold they almost looked like blazing suns.
Her hair couldn’t seem to decide whether it was white or a dark gold. Almost like an underpinning of offset lighting, every time it wafted in the wind, a fluctuating dark gold flicker would dance as an undercurrent beneath it.
"You do not belong here." Amunet said coldly.
The creature blinked. "I... do not belong here?"
It seemed genuinely confused. It had never heard such a thing before, and it found it even more ridiculous that a human of a Cracked World was telling it this of all things.
Amunet didn’t reply, her gaze radiating a more and more frigid cold. She just needed a bit more to recover to full stamina. A few more seconds would be enough.
Whether or not that would matter in a battle against a creature like this, she didn’t know. But if it came down to it, she would make it matter.
"You really want to block me?" the creature asked, still baffled.
Amunet grinned. "I bet the rewards for taking your head won’t be too bad."
The creature blinked and then laughed. "Hohohohoho," the laughter sounded like prattling, clipped thunder, almost as though it had been faking its amusement before, but now its true laughter was cutting through.
"Yes, indeed, that would probably be the case. But you think you can do it? Or is it that you want to protect that boy?"
Amunet sneered. "That boy can protect himself, but he’s taken quite a few rewards for himself already. I think it’s best I take this one so I can keep up."
The black light of the creature’s grin spread through the air, spilling out much further than before as though in response to how amused it was.
Chi.
Its tail suddenly shot forward.
To its surprise, Amunet actually reacted, her shroud of shadows coming instantly.
The tail passed right through her as she launched herself forward.
The creature retracted its tail, half in surprise, half to ready itself. But by the time it had pulled all the way back, Amunet was already in front of it, thrusting out her blade toward its chest.
Realization hit the creature too late and Amunet’s blade rumbled to life, cutting forward too fast and too close to dodge at this point.
The creature looked down.
PENG!
Amunet’s rapier bent against its bony body.
BANG.
A great amount of power erupted out of it as it snapped in two. The expulsion of energy sent Amunet flying back and skidding across the earth while the creature was enveloped in the whirling inferno.
However, as the fire died down and the cyclone vanished, a creature reflecting black light around it was all that was left.
It looked down at its torso and the nick that was left on its body. It stood there in silence for a long while, almost as though ashamed that it had even been struck.
It looked up to find Amunet struggling to stand. Her shadows had vanished again on half her body, a burnt mess of skin reflecting to the world.
Blood drizzled down her broken arm, her breath coming out shallow and uneven.
"Quite bold," the creature said with a chuckle, "unfortunately, what does that get you?"
Amunet huffed for breath and sneered again.
She felt a lot better now. Maybe power wasn’t all that worth it.
As far as she saw it, if she was going to die anyway, why not die like this?
As if this creature would stop here. The reveal of Grey’s zone wasn’t just bad for him, it was bad for every city even near or close by.
This would only be the first. If they compromised here, they would compromise again, and then again, and in the end, they would become like every other Cracked World before them.
In that case, she might as well die on her feet even if it meant she wouldn’t accomplish what it was she wanted to.
’I’m sorry, Grey. I’m a selfish person. At the very least, I can use the life you spared to give you a few extra seconds.’
Amunet’s mind was strong, but her body was more injured than she knew.
She suddenly swayed and found herself almost looking at the sky.
Just when she was about to collapse, a palm pressed into her back, stopping her.
Grey appeared with a frown on his face, looking at Amunet’s state, and then the creature across from him.
"What exactly do you want, you ugly son of a bitch? You know what, don’t answer that. I’m pretty pissed the fuck off right now and beating your head in sounds like a great pastime."