With enemies spotted ahead, the four-assault squad went forward while Ike stayed behind to guard Cassie. It was a short walk ahead, and the combatants were readying themselves.
A jagged construct of [Embodied Wrath]'s wings emerged at Kades' back, while he manifested the blood-red gauntlets from [Ring of the Ravaged], the familiar sharp smirk at his lips, and eager hunger in his amber eyes.
He led at the front, his desire to dive into familiar and combatable combat leading him like a moth to a flame. Behind him was Nephis, sneaking quietly in a tight arming doublet. The beige padding tucked around her while she held a long silver sword at her side, a simmering stoicness in her stride.
Sunless crouched behind, seemingly blending further into the shadows, obscured slightly, only brought out by an azure blade at his ready. And behind him was Sandra, anticipation clawing at her, spinning the two daggers silently in her hands. The wind slightly shifted at her presence.
Their reliable scout was the first to speak.
"There are four scavengers here, and three kind of centipede things close by; we will have to kill them all quickly to not draw more over," Sunless explained from beyond his dark retreat.
Seven enemies, with the chance of more—are we sure this is our best option? Sandra questioned, a hint of anxiety finding her tone.
"We're going towards the swarm of scavengers! It's lucky that we can even fight this little." Sunny spat.
Nephis glanced back, her silver eyes piercing through the shadows at Sunless. "Quiet. Our advantage depends on it." The Shadow and Sandra nodded, keeping their steps soft against the sand.
The group at the moment was hidden behind the shade of a large burst of crimson coral, with about 35 meters between them and the scavengers.
They were gathered, scuffling over a large chunk of flesh, most likely the meat torn off a sea beast's corpse, the leftovers from its gargantuan body left as a succulent meal for the surface dwellers. The gathered clicks of their mandibles echoed out through the maze-like structure of the forgotten shore.
Kade peeked over the crimson cover, his sharp eyes observing the soon-to-be victims.
'Let's hope this goes better than last time,' Kade prayed. Even though he had slaughtered many scavengers last time he fought, he also lost because of his flaw—he killed a fellow sleeper and nearly died...
This time, though, he had the support of Nephis. The legacy had proved herself an incredibly competent fighter, and to have the support of such was a great boon... Sandra was decent as well. Sunless, though, Kade might have assumed the worst, but he could feel his soul react to his divinity.
Having such an attribute surely meant something, so he would expect better of the uptight shadow.
The four split up, circling the coral clearing where the scavengers tussled in the open, allowing the group of sleepers to hide themselves behind cover, just for the perfect time to come out guns blazing.
The sun shone silently above the beasts. For the corrupted creatures of the forgotten shore, it was a morning of survival like any other, but to the unfortunate scavengers caught unprepared.
It was a funeral.
A slight breeze of wind picked up the sand, carrying the grit across the surface, right beside the armored beasts, before picking up, four distant pairs of eyes watching the weightless sand shift, until the wind coiled in on itself.
Growing stronger, faster, and larger by the second--
Until it burst.
The sand shot up, creating a gritty veil against the sun, blinding the scavengers for just a moment. Just enough for the gathered sleepers to strike.
Kade burst from cover under the golden sun, a crooked grin tearing across his face. [Embodied Wrath] sparked to life, its jagged wings howling with orange energy. The construct pulsed, powered by [Unyielding Asura], and launched him like a ballista bolt.
The g-force hit him, and Kade felt the world pull back on him as he was sent forward. The wind roared in his ear as he homed in on his target, the scavenger unaware of his coming opponent until Kade crashed onto its back.
The three other scavengers barely had time to notice Kade before their own set of attackers launched upon them. Sandra flew from above, carried by an updraft, before gracefully drifting down, her hair fluttering in the wind—while her daggers caught the sun, gleaming dangerously.
Sunless darted from the shadows, his azure blade repelling the light and exuding a deathly aura, coming from behind the beast like its destined demise--Nephis appeared at his flank—her silvery blade alight with bright, alluring flame, whipping forward at her victim.
From there, fate was in the hands of the sleepers.
Kade did his best—his blood-red gauntlets slamming into the scavenger's head like battering rams, the beast lay stunned but far from dead. Sandra's daggers bit down like a viper onto her scavenger's neck, but the blade failed to dig deep enough, failing to sever its spine.
Sunny's strike ran true and cleaved through the scavenger's back; the beast instantly turned motionless as it fell dead to the sand. Its fellow scavenger, noticing the carnage, prepared itself.
Nephis dashed forward, but the alerted beast's panic muddied her accuracy, and the bright blade traced with sparks beside the scavenger's neck, missing the kill spot.
From there, three of the four were still standing and not happy about their predicament.
SCREEECH!! The scavengers roared in unison, the clacking of their crushing pincers like percussion, answering the sneak attack with unrestrained ferocity.
Sandra retreated with the wind, Sunless departed from his fallen foe, and beside Sandra, the little devil grimaced.
"Things can never go right, can they!?"
His azure blade whipped out to parry the upcoming scavenger. The duo started to dance between their foe, while Nephis was stuck alone with hers, her fiery determination burning strong as she dueled the beast, unflinching and dominant despite the size difference.
Kade, on the other hand, was being violently shaken as the scavenger desperately tried to pick the attacker off its head. [Vigilance] Sensing the repeated attempts, Kade made use of the attribute while trying to bludgeon the crustacean's head in.
Kade felt the shell crack under his assault, with every strike his hands deeper into its vertebrae, like mining for gold. He struck again and again. His repeated bashing was effective, yet not fast enough.
The wings of embodied wrath splintered apart, the broken stone collecting itself back into [Fight], forming the familiar rocky arms at his back. Kade laughed as he rode the beast, letting the adrenaline carry his mood.
"Twice the arms, TWICE THE CHARM!" Kade cackled, his new appendages joining in on the assault, the stone and flesh beating against its head like a heavy metal drummer. The overgrown crab, shrieking in pain, its limited intelligence being beaten out of it.
Meanwhile, Sandra supported Sunless, the shadow and spirit coming back and forth like the tide, the assassin like a crushing wave, powerful and vicious against the scavenger's carapace, while the lady was precise and controlled, cutting away at any breakage or weakness available.
Soon enough, their opponent was being shredded from the repeated attacks before its carapace finally crumbled apart like hard plastic, falling to the sand—exposing the soft innards of the beast.
Sandra waited for no one, a powerful gale propelling her forward, her twin daggers diving into the succulent flesh of the crab repeatedly. Her built-up anger and fear towards the beasts being unleashed.
They were the cause of her worries, the creatures that she had to fight against constantly, instead of a dormant beast like ANY other sleeper.
Instead, she was expected to fight awakened. It was a joke!
"I hate you! I hate YOU! I HATE YOU!" Sandra shrieked, her pale skin now embedded with blood and guts.
The physical therapy is too much for the scavenger. It tried retaliating, a last-ditch effort of revenge. But its attacking pincer suddenly disconnected, a shadowy azure blade flashing by. Sunless darkly stared up at the beast. The distressed crab watched in horror as its arm dropped to the floor.
Letting out a final dying whine before falling back onto the sand, gutless and lifeless.
Sandra, covered with blood, chest heaving, standing atop her fallen foe, Sunny already on the move, shouting at Sandra earnestly, "Don't just stand still! GET A MOVE ON!"
She felt a tug at her arm, and Sunny pulled her from the scavenger, grasping onto her wrist as he led her to Nephi's. She stared silently at her ally. She stared at her ally, silent and unprepared for the dash… But she let him pull her anyway.
- Kade was left to his own devices, that being only himself and his fists. The beatdown is entering its final stages, the poor scavenger's head finally breaking apart under his endless fury of blows. A dying screech before its carapace broke.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Without protection, all of Kade's limbs stormed with punches, sending its brain into mush, the creature beneath him faltering before gravity took hold. The stone hands were covered in blue blood and fractured chitin.
[You have slain an awakened beast: Carapace Scavenger.]
'That never gets old,' Kade sighed happily, giving one sad look to his broken punching bag.
The brawler leapt down from his falling platform, his eyes sharp and ready for more.
The final breathing scavenger didn't last long; having to keep its eyes on the three deadly sleepers, it attempted its best to brutalize them, yet Sandra and Sunny attacked relentlessly into its pincers, leaving room for the immortal flame princess to stride through unmolested.
Her glowing white blade gliding past, effortlessly through its weakened, guarded flesh.
The silver blade burned away the blood that dared paint its surface. Nephis turned back to the behemoth before its head thudded onto the sand, the desperation and hunger still present on its alien expression. Sunny and Sandra glanced at Nephis, who disregarded her kill.
The battle died down, with the scavengers silenced, and it was only left to the sleepers, who quickly gathered the soul shards from their opponents. Although they had won this battle, there was more to go.
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[Authors Note
[This is just a chunk of the chapter, im splitting it apart instead of uploading one bigger chapter, so that I can delete the break chapter while having the number change, so people think I uploaded lol]