Chapter 137: Chapter 129: Of flesh and steel

"Let’s test this theory." Carty replied to Bogumila.

She and Velka moved at the same time. Carty had jumped in the air, landing a crushing kick with both legs against the bigger woman’s snout, while Velka whipped a roundhouse low kick aimed at Bogumila’s ankle. The bigger wolfkin never moved a muscle, she still stood with her arms spread, ignoring the push against her snout and the hit against her legs. Carty landed on two paws, performing an elegant somersault to get away from the wolf nag, and was soon joined by Velka.

A thin trickle of blood ran from Bogumila’s left nostril. The woman licked it off, looking contemptuously at her opponents. Both scouts had moved in unison, coming at Bogumila from both sides, slamming their fists against her lower ribs from both sides. Still, the woman was unmoving, ignoring the flurry of blows that came upon her from both sides.

Aranea only now realized just how massive Bogumila was. Standing still, she towered over both opponents, their heads barely reaching her neck. The wolf hag’s arms were thicker than Cary’s shoulders, her paws were the same size as Velka’s head. After four straight hits against her ribs, Bogumila clenched her fists.

"Show’s over." She simply stated and swung at Carty.

The scout jumped back, giving a nod to Velka. With almost reckless determination, Carty charged forth, grabbing Bogumila by her left wrist and trying to jerk her to the side. Velka moved at the same time, jumping in the air and punching twice. Once against Bogumila’s neck, the second time against her right eye.

"That’s right," Alpha nodded amiably, "There are always weak spots…"

"Not against Bogumila." Ashbringer cut her off, pouring more water into her mouth. She motioned with her paw, and Aranea saw the impossible.

Both attacks accomplished nothing. Aranea had a hard time believing this. Sure, maybe Bogumila’s muscles were tough enough to guard her neck, although the warlord saw how Velka recently turned a metal safe into a ball of metal during the training. But the punch against the eye… Bogumila blocked it with her eyelid.

"This is impossible!" Aranea gripped the edge of her table. "No one can pull this off!"

"Ravager and Eugenia can and have done so." Paride pointed it out.

"Bogumila is neither one of those!"

"She can pull this off because of her special training," Ashbringer smirked, seeing how Bogumila’s paw closed around Carty’s thigh, "Bogumila is not just some musclehead, no matter how hard she tries to fool you. No, she is actually the most well-read woman in my pack. She has studied physiology, cybernetics, medicine, physics, cuisine, and even psychology. All for the sake of building up her body without relying on her power. She had even assisted doctors in autopsies, learning the inner workings of our bodies. During her birth, the shamans had to cut her mother to help Bogumila squeeze out. It was her mother's first life-giving, and no one expected Bogumila to survive, let alone grow to this size, but..." The giant wolf hag lifted Carty in the air, "This is the result. She has tasked the males in her pack with cutting her body, causing constant damage to her skin. Upon healing up, her skin grows a bit tougher each time. Bogumila also eats a lot and, through her training, keeps her skin loose, allowing quite a bit of freedom of movement within the skin. Nowadays, even males’ claws can no longer cut her flesh deeply."

"A fellow researcher, I see," Till Ingo smiled and raised his glass in toast, "Even if her field of study is a little orthodox, the human body is a viable subject for study."

"Bogumila once submitted her research about bodybuilding to the UNU, hoping to become a student there. I and Dragena helped her fill out the form right and vouch for her."

"Oho! And the result?"

"It was rejected by a peer review. They claimed that a normal human could not achieve such rapid growth without the use of a large amount of drugs. The UNU stated that such a high dose of roids would kill anyone," Ashbringer shook her shoulders. "Bogumila did try to use them once, but dropped them after I tore off her liver."

"Decrepit, outdated fools!" The scientist exploded, slamming his metal arm against a table, "Normal humans! There is no such term anymore in our world! To reach our true potential, we must work with each group individually. Did you happen to keep the rejection email? I will solve it myself."

Bogumila has lifted Carty up, using the woman’s body as a whip against the stone floor. The blue-furred wolfkin gasped for air, feeling how the bone in her leg snapped like a twig under this casual show of force. She rolled to the side, trying to stand up in vain, while Bogumila stomped toward Velka, never once hurrying up, never once attempting to defend herself. Ignoring the incoming kicks against her abs, Bogumila punched once, tearing off a skin from Velka’s shoulder. The scout had managed to dodge the attack at the last moment, trying to circle around the wolf hag.

Bogumila frowned, feeling Carty’s arms wrap around her ankle. She didn’t break the opponent’s head under her leg. She didn’t even look at Carty, instead making a simple jab from her relaxed position. The wolf hag propelled the air with such force that it crushed Velka’s blood vessels in Velka’s nostrils, pushing the scout back.

Before Bogumila could proceed with her beating, a figure appeared behind her, landing a crushing hook against the back of the wolf hag’s head. Like a thunderbolt, the larger woman fell face down, burying her snout in stone.

Olesya didn’t stop with it. She had grabbed the woman by the left wrist, raising Bogumila’s head slightly, making sure that there was a place between her right temple and the ground. In the next moment, the metal leg came crashing down, slamming Bogumila’s head into the ground with such force that it spilled a shower of small stone pieces into the air.

"Velka," Olesya smiled to her subordinate, letting go of Bogumila, "You did good."

"Wait, you two…" Carty looked up, taking Velka’s paw, "Oh, I get it! Nice one, Velka, really nice! This was three versus one from the start."

"Not from the start," Velka corrected her, "I did a bit of improvising, before Olesya decided to come over and help. Thank you, warlord."

"And just like that, victory is ever closer to fruition!" Paride laughed happily, tapping his glass and producing a melodic sound. "Oh, I can’t wait to see Talsi’s face when she realizes that her champion went down in one…"

"Don't jump to conclusions, Iternian," Ashbringer yawned, "the second round is about to begin."

"Beg your pardon?"

Bogumila’s paw flew through the dust, grabbing Olesya by the face. The wolf hag slammed Olesya into the ground with a thunderous thud, creating a shockwave strong enough to cause even the tables on the dais to jump slightly. Still pushing Olesya face down, Bogumila, bleeding from the edges of her eyes and ears, started dragging the warlord across the arena’s edge, creating sparks when metal scratched against the stone.

"Olesya!" Aranea stood up, seeing a red trace from behind Olesya’s body. Bogumila was literally grinding the warlord against the stone, slowly tearing off her remaining flesh, while her paw tried to break the skull.

"How is it possible!" Ingo’s lenses flashed brightly, "Olesya’s legs power are greater than that of a regular scout in power armor! How is Bogumila still conscious!?"

"You said it yourself, Ingo," Ashbringer breathed heavily, gesturing to the medics to stay away, "Bogumila is a fellow researcher. Now it is your masterwork versus hers."

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Olesya growled, grabbing her opponent by the right arm. With an incredible amount of effort, Olesya pushed the paw away from her head, twisting her lower body at an impossible angle. No, not twisting. Aranea understood, seeing how Olesya’s waist made a perfect 180-degree rotation. Both of her knees crashed into the wolf hag’s side, throwing the woman almost to the middle of the arena.

The warlord tried to stand up, and, in this moment, Aranea saw something truly terrifying. Up to this point, Bogumila moved slowly, almost deliberately so. Her punches carried the weight of cannonballs behind them, but she herself walked around without haste. No more. She has turned into a blur, making two impossible-fast leaps. The first is to get behind Olesya. The second plan was to avalanche down on the warlord, knocking the other woman to the ground. 

Two arms wrapped around Olesya’s chest, creating a horrifying vise made out of living flesh. Aranea gasped in horror at hearing the sound of bending metal. Till Ingo stood up, fists clenched in shock at what was happening. Olesya ended up being overpowered by a badly injured opponent.

Bogumila leaned her head back, preparing to send her down. Olesya let out a low guttural growl, her crimson lens flashed with the brightness of a newborn star. With a titanic effort, the warlord broke the hold over her body, sliding underneath her opponent just in time to evade the headbutt.

The arena shook again. Bogumila’s head created a whole new human-sized crater in the arena’s concrete blocks. This was a mortal blow. Any lesser wolfkin would have been maimed, no, outright killed, by this human guillotine of destruction. Aranea wasn’t sure if even Olesya could have survived… this.

Bogumila raised her snout, shrugging off pieces of stone that got tangled in her fur. When she turned to face her opponent, she was met with a metal knee kick to the face. This threw her head back, producing a soft, wet sound that was heard even in the farthest corners of this hall.

Olesya immediately followed up with an uppercut made with her right paw, only for her paw to be enveloped by Bogumila’s own paw. The wolf hag was still conscious. What’s worse, she read the warlord like a book.

Olesya smiled and jumped. Her metal paw turned, allowing the warlord to land comfortably on the opponent’s shoulders, crisscrossing the metal legs around the mighty neck. Pushing Bogumila’s right paw behind, Olesya squeezed her legs, aiming to choke off her opponent.

With utter calm, Bogumila has reached out and grabbed the metal leg with her left paw. The metal started to bend beneath the thick fingers. Still smiling, Olesya struck with her left paw, ramming her left index finger into Bogumila’s bleeding ear and rupturing the eardrum completely.

So this is what she was going for! Aranea smiled, seeing how Bogumila instinctively jerked to the side. And Olesya followed suit, throwing the wolf hag’s body aside.

The warlord never intended on beating the opponent head-on, not after the initial exchange. No, Olesya led her foe by the nose, always hitting Bogumila’s head or making sure that Bogumila would hit herself, never allowing her brain to stop shaking, never allowing the wolf hag to have a moment of concentration. Even for a professional like Bogumila, it was hard to fight with a word spinning before your eyes and doubly hard to make decisions or keep an eye on the surroundings.

Both opponents were at the arena’s edge. With her last motion, Olesya threw the larger woman off the stone platform, using her own impulse. Aranea realized there was wisdom in this. To win the Challenge, one must properly conserve one’s strength, never getting overly battered in any individual fight. By throwing off Bogumila, Olesya conserved just enough strength for a final bout.

The warlord stood up, cheered by Velka and Carty, who had stepped off the Arena. Olesya’s index finger laid limp, hanging from broken muscles and flesh. It got shattered in the last moment of the fight. The fingerprints of her opponent now decorated one of her legs.

Bogumila stood up as well, looking dumbfounded at her opponent. Finally, she has taken herself by the head, taken a breath, and smiled.

"This was an amazing brawl," The woman bowed to her opponent. "You won fair and square, warlord. Thank you for these valuable lessons."

"You were awesome, too," Olesya bowed back. "I've never been able to match you in strength for long."

Still bleeding from the edges of her eyelids, nose, ears, and mouth, Bogumila turned toward the dais and bowed first to her warlord, then to Alpha, and finally to Till Ingo.

"I admit your superiority, master Ingo. I have a long way to go still," The woman looked at him, "Say, if this is not much to ask, could you fix my ear?"

"It would be my pleasure."

"Oh, and I was thinking about replacing my lungs with implants," Bogumila slammed against the chest, "Because mine are fine, but I need a lot of air to supply the palace of flesh that is my body. And if it is possible, I would like to have something akin to Bel’s eyes."

"No, you won’t!" Bel shouted from the other side of the arena, stopping to look in the back of the walking Annie, "Bogumila, for the love of Spirits, don’t do this to yourself!"

"I tried to train my ocular muscles," The wolf hag scratched behind her head, ignoring her own bleeding. With a shock, Aranea saw that the woman’s fangs were in pristine condition. "I even tried steroids, but..."

"You did what?" Ashbringer stood up, throwing the tube away, "My pack will be clean, you got it, Bogumila? Or must I tear out one of your buds to make you understand this simple rule?"

"No, warlord." The wolf hag bared her neck.

Ashbringer had taken the invitation. On her wobbly legs, the warlord jumped off the dais, burying her fangs in Bogumila’s flesh, releasing a fountain of blood.

Alpha’s claw twitched. Aranea understood the supreme warlord’s thoughts. The Ashbringer was weak, frail. She started the right to dominance. If Bogumila wanted to, she could have fought back, starting a battle for the rank. Worse still, Ashbringer broke the tradition, earning herself the shamans’ scornful looks. No blood was supposed to be spilled outside of the arenas tonight. No one would have protested had Bogumila attacked her warlord.

"Thank you for helping me with my blood pressure, warlord," Bogumila smiled, helping Ashbringer walk back to her seat. "I swear on my life that I will never use steroids ever again. And anyone who would dare to resist your rule would have to pass through me first!"

"Make sure to engrave this in your very soul." Ashbringer replied confusedly, sitting on her armchair. Her breath increased, and the warlord had to shake her head before reason came back to her eyes.

"I'm sure we can figure something out," Ingo eagerly nodded, while Estefania and Mia jumped off the dais to treat Bogumila's wounds before she bled out. "I'll find you after this morbid event, miss Bogumila," Ingo promised. "We have a lot to discuss, you and I."

Olesya waved to Aranea and turned to face the two remaining fighters.

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