Chapter 138: Chapter 130: The final round is about to start.

Sonya dodged a blow aimed at her snout. The woman who attacked her, a member of the Omega team, punched with her right paw, forcing Sonya to circle her from the right. The most obvious way to counter this movement was to grab the opponent by the wrist and elbow, bringing her down on one knee and shattering the exposed limb.

Aranea knew that this was a fluke, even before the omega had struck with a hook and an elbow. Sonya blocked both hits with her paws, not allowing the woman to yank her arms free. The wolf hag immediately followed with a headbutt against the omega's temple, distracting the woman long enough for her to grab the neck and put her in the chokehold.

The omega briefly tried to break free before slamming her paw against the stone and admitting defeat. Sonya let go of the opponent, allowing her to stand up, before briefly shaking paws with the woman.

"Bravo!" Virginia clapped her paws, sitting on a pile made of several unconscious opponents. The wolf hag stood up, still clapping, and walked down the bodies like a queen. "I am glad that you’ve made it this far, Sonny."

"It’s Sonya for you, Virginia," The woman looked around and sighed, "Can I just give up?"

"Nope," Virginia smiled, jumping off the pile of bodies and rolling her eyes at the medics, who hurriedly started to drag the wounded away, "They are all fine, just a few broken bones! Stop it! You are ruining the perfect scenery! Oh well… As I was trying to say. I’ve waited years to settle our score once and for all."

"Years?" Sonya tilted her head, "We are living less than two hundred kilometers from each other. What was stopping you before?"

"No true hero ever violates a helpless, frail elder. But now that your age has reverted… It’s payback time, granny!" Virginia shouted, taking a combat stance, her left arm before her, the fist of her right arm at the same level as her head.

"Granny?" Sonya simply raised her brow. She looked herself over, rolled up the sleeve of her tracksuit before showing a glittering fur to Virginia, "Ignore the sweat. See this quality right here, Virginia? It means I am younger than you."

"I… I am not older than you, you senile old hag!"

"No, no, I'm telling you the truth. Technically, according to our biological age, you are closer to being a granny here, Virginia." A mocking grin appeared on Sonya's face, and she put her paws on her hips, balancing on the tips of her feet.

"Argh! Stop! Stop confusing me by spilling out weird things, granny! You are making my head hurt!" Virginia grabbed her temples briefly before charging at Sonya.

The wolf hag let the angered opponent approach her before kicking up with her leg, hitting Virginia’s lower jaw. The impact sent Virginia’s head backward, almost to the point of snapping her neck. Without wasting a second, Sonya followed up with a straight thrust.

And fell to the side when Virginia made a low kick with her right leg, throwing Sonya off-balance. The wolf hag landed on one arm and made a somersault, gaining distance between two foes. She could worry less. Virginia fixed the position of her head, looking after Sonya with a grin on her lips.

"So, this is your famous cushioning." Sonya checked the bruise on her left leg.

"Heh, I knew that if I played along, you would go for a KO straight away, granny," Virginia grinned back, cracking her knuckles, "I wanted to feel your kicks at least once before I won this," The claws slid from her feet, and the wolf hag walked around the opponent, creating small sparks and clacking sounds with each step. "You left me with quite a number of scars the last time."

Sonya charged at her foe in silence. Virginia didn’t even try to dodge, accepting the first straight punch against her snout. Sonya gasped, receiving a jab against the chest. Grinning her fangs, Sonya responded with a low kick, forcing Virginia to take a step away. Jumping up, Sonya attacked anew, only to be sent back with a knee hit.

"Oh come on," Virginia shook her head, "The others give a good fight to each other," The arena shook under Bogumila’s might, "Unseal your claws! I wanna have a real fight!"

"Who said that I need claws to cut you?" Sonya smiled thinly, opening and closing her paws.

"What is this cushioning?" Ofelia asked, plucking up a fruit from her plate.

"A kind of martial technique," Scorpio tickled her cheek with the tip of his tail, "Certainly you've heard about instances when toddlers survived a fall from a great height that would have killed an adult, my dear?"

"The parents of such children are scum of the earth," Ofelia grumbled. "If you gave birth to a child, at the very least have the decency to watch over them."

"True. That’s not the point. The point is, Virginia’s technique works in a similar way. Before getting hit, she relaxes her whole body, going ‘limb’ if you will. The moment an attack comes, she surprises the foe by staying conscious and going on offense. A useless technique."

"Useless? Why is that? It sounds so cool!" Ofelia demanded to know.

"There are several reasons for this, lady Ofelia," Aranea interjected, "The first and most obvious of which is that we have claws." She let out her own and showed them to Ofelia. The woman quickly grabbed her paw, admiring the size and length.

"They look so cute! Why didn’t you paint them? Oh, the black color would be so vibrant in the morning light…"

"As I was saying, Ofelia," Aranea took away her paw, blushing after noticing the mocking grins of Keyl and Scorpio, "Virginia’s technique won’t save you from being stabbed. The next problem, this technique relies on utter awareness of the situation. And lastly… We are fighting in power armors most of the time. Cushioning isn't much use. Make no mistake, no true martial art is useless, if nothing else, it builds up your muscles, character, and frame. But against Sonya, well…"

Sonya moved forward, making a single thrust aimed at Virginia’s face. The wolf hag only grinned, tracking to make sure that it wasn’t aimed at her eyes. Aranea chuckled, seeing the confusion in Virginia’s eyes when Sonya’s paw flew past her cheek.

You are reading story Duty, empty dreams and trying not to become a monster. at novel35.com

A bloody slice appeared on her cheek. Uncertainty flashed in Virginia’s eyes long enough for Sonya to whip across the other woman’s knees with her own leg, throwing Virginia on the ground.

"Cushion this." Sonya came crashing down on Virginia, slamming her own elbow into the wolf hag’s belly.

The rust-colored wolfkin gasped for air, feeling the full force of the punch. Jerking with all her body, Virginia landed an elbow hit against Sonya’s blow, throwing the woman off herself. Grasping herself by the sides, Virginia jumped off the ground, evading the incoming wave of thrusts from Sonya.

New slices and cuts appeared on Virginia’s neck, chest, and shoulders. One of the shamans jumped to the arena's edge, looking up at Valerye. The warlord merely shook her head, indicating that all was fair. Bleeding from a few dozen cuts, the rust-colored wolfkin let go of her sides, inhaling the air loudly, and kept backing away from her opponent, receiving cut after cut.

"But how!?" Ofelia stood up, darting to one side of the dais to look better at the fight, "Shouldn’t this cushion technique make Virginia all but immune…"

"Friction," Aranea observed Sonya's leg strike in an arc, tearing through the cloth and leaving a long slash against Virginia's chest. "Back in the village, Sonya trained herself by slamming her fingers against the stone. Breaking them again and again, until she could bury her arms in the stone all the way to the elbows. She kept doing it with her legs. This led to her skin becoming rough to the point that she can injure you by wiping her paw against your body with enough speed."

"But then! Scorpio, we are going to…"

"Please, Ofelia, let go of your worries," The black wyrm let out a laugh, "I worked with young Virginia for a long time. It matters not what sort of clever trick Sonya has in store."

Virginia grabbed Sonya’s paw before she could land a thrust on her shoulder. Without a halt, the wolf hag followed up with an uppercut into Sonya’s chest, sending the woman backward. Not allowing her opponent a moment of respite, Virginia followed after Sonya, punching and kicking.

Sonya raised both paws before her face, trembling with her entire body as a rain of blows flowed over her body. Virginia wasn’t just standing in one place, she attacked from the left and the right, smashing Sonya’s ribs in one moment and going for her pelvis from the other side in the next. The wolf hag turned into a blur, moving around her opponent, beating her up without mercy.

And Sonya endured. Her arms got swollen. Bruises, like gigantic zits, grew on her legs. Blood flowed from her mouth, wetting her track suit. She waited. Ignoring the cracks in her sides, ignoring the flashing pain in her arms, Sonya had waited for the moment.

And when it came, she struck without mistake or hesitation. A straight punch into Virginia’s lower jaw caught the wolf hag right in between her flashing movements around the opponent. A brutal hit meant to send the brain into a spin capable of causing a temporary blackout

This perfect hit... fell short. Virginia, like Sonya, was waiting for the strike. She went limp at the moment of striking, enduring the attack and immediately coming back with vengeance, striking with both fists at Sonya’s vulnerable solar plexus.

Sonya’s legs gave in. The force behind the blow sent her back. The wolf hag’s mouth opened like that of a fish, trying to suck in at least some air. Virginia caught the wolf hag before her body touched the stone, lowering the opponent gently and starting to massage the damage area, helping Sonya to inhale once more.

"This was fun!" The rust-colored wolfkin hugged the opponent after she breathed anew, "Let’s do this again, only with claws and fangs next time!"

"I am too busy for this," Sonya weakly hugged Virginia back, "Sorry, but I have a family to look after now."

"Then I help you with your family, and then we can fight until night turns into day!" Virginia helped Sonya stand up, throwing up her arm along with hers. "It’s what heroes do!"

The crowd cheered for them, and Aranea was among them, saluting Sonya. Previously, the wolf hag would scowl and snarl, accusing everyone of being a weakling for cheering up a losing team. But the events of this war had changed her. Sonya was now standing on her weak legs next to the profusely bleeding Virginia, smiling genuinely and warmly. The smaller cuts and slashes on the rust-colored madwoman had already started to heal. Some of them even closed. Sonya, however, wasn’t weak. Many more were still open, with gaping, lacerated wounds all over the body.

Sonya stepped away, helping the medics carry the last wounded wolfkins off the arena. She allowed Tiny to hug herself, accepted a fist bump from Kate, received a pat from Sly, and got a drink from Kaleb. Wincing in annoyance, she sat on the chair, allowing Geldi to start applying medicine to the swollen limbs.

And Virginia walked toward the remaining opponents as sprightly as a morning light, unfazed by any and all cuts. Annie approached with a confidence born of years of training; her breath was easy. Olesya came closer, more warily, looking around as if in confusion that she had lasted so long.

They met in the center, saying nothing at first, just looking over each other as the packs chanted their names. Virginia and Olesya looked at each other and charged at Annie together.

The warlord barely had time to block the first hit from Olesya when Virginia’s fingers reached for her cheek, burrowing deep in the meat. Annie grabbed the arm, forcing the fingers out of her snout with sheer physical force, and responded with a kick against Olesya, driving the warlord a step back.

"Is this how it will be?" Annie laughed, taking a stance, "Hah, it does make sense to start with the strongest one…"

"Don’t get the wrong idea, Annie." Olesya cut her off.

"We just didn’t like that you were the only one uninjured, that’s all." Virginia added, looking hungrily at her opponents.

All three wolfkins struck at the same time. Olesya blocked Virginia’s punch with her metal elbow, striking at Annie with her biological paw. Virginia endured Annie’s kick. And Annie frowned, feeling Olesya punch her in the forearm.

The final round had begun.

You can find story with these keywords: Duty, empty dreams and trying not to become a monster., Read Duty, empty dreams and trying not to become a monster., Duty, empty dreams and trying not to become a monster. novel, Duty, empty dreams and trying not to become a monster. book, Duty, empty dreams and trying not to become a monster. story, Duty, empty dreams and trying not to become a monster. full, Duty, empty dreams and trying not to become a monster. Latest Chapter