Chapter 28: Chapter 22

The troll charged, grabbing Aranea by her sides. The wolf hag grunted, unleashing the claws on her legs into the stone floor, stopping her backward movement and matching the strength of her foe. It took her a moment to understand that the troll was aiming for the weapons behind her back. Aranea smiled at his attempt, reaching behind the troll's back and piercing the skin behind his shoulder blades, grabbing them with her own arms. The troll only croaked when she broke one shoulder blade. The number kicked her in the belly, pushing the wolf hag away from himself, and stepped back, holding the shardgun in his arm. With her broken claws, Aranea failed to disable his second arm in time.

She allowed the power armor to fully close around herself, just in time to save her from the enemy’s shot. Without waiting for the next attack, Aranea dashed forward, closing the distance between herself and the foe. The wolf hag evaded the overhead hit of the troll, and the number attempted to crash her own weapon against her head. She kicked with her right leg, landing a hit on the troll’s jaw, utterly shattering it and breaking the neck of her opponent. The number’s head fell backward, dangling on the muscles and skin of his neck, while Aranea grabbed her weapon away from him, putting it behind her back once more.

Meanwhile, Cat broke free from Leila’s tail, The soultaker made a spin, landing a knee in Twelve’s face.

"This is not going to work!" Twelve almost sang while his own face was pushed deep into his skull.

"This, however, will!" Cat snapped back, taking a step back and kicking Leila’s laser from her arms. Grabbing the weapon with one arm, the soultaker frowned at the pain in her shattered shoulder. Despite the pain, she managed to take aim at Twelve, while he was busy fixing his face. The number screamed in worry, darting away, all too slow to evade the beam that melted his ear.

Melted. Of course! Idiot! Aranea understood at once. She opened a channel to Kate and Kaleb, frantically looking for anyone else. The only one who was nearby was a scout from Annie’s pack, the woman going by the name Kayleen: "Use acid grenades! Melt the bastard who attacks Leila! All others, carry the wounded to the entrance and support us with ranged fire, we will finish here ourselves!" The wolf hag spat, and all three soldiers turned to face Twelve.

The troll’s head fixed itself with a snapping sound, and he reached for Aranea’s shoulders, grabbing her shoulders. The mighty leg of her foe moved, aiming for the belly of the wolf hag. Aranea allowed the troll to grab her. The number before her had the body of a soldier, no doubt. But he was an amateur, utterly relying on the immense regeneration of his body to handle her, instead of proper hand-to-hand combat. The armor slid from her good paw and the wolf hag pierced with her claws beneath the patella of her opponent, twisting the very bone within her opponent’s body. With her second arm, she landed a quick strike against his eyes, popping them both. Allowing the weakened kick to carry her a step away from the blinded troll, Aranea reached out for the shardgun.

"Sorry for causing you so much pain, mister. I will try to end it fast." Aranea said to the troll, uncaring if the captured being could hear her despite the control of the number. The wolf hag fired three times, aiming directly at the chest of her foe. The shards pierced the skin and shattered the bones, tearing the organs and muscles within the troll’s body. The troll took step after step backward. Without giving him even a moment to heal himself, Aranea jumped forward.

The claws of her arm pierced into the wounds on his chest, breaking through the remaining flesh, pushing out the bones within. Her own body became a projectile, Aranea pushed the muscles of her legs to their very limit, pushing herself through the body of the foe. She broke through his chest, increasing the side of the wound and reducing the spinal column to nothing. Covered in his blood and flesh, she rolled behind the foe, while the troll’s body stumbled and fell on the floor.

Nearby, Annie threw Eight away from herself. The number rolled around, standing up. His feet splintered, each leg splitting in two, and his arms turned into blades. A long slash decorated the face of the number, he looked at Annie with utter hatred. The wolf hag looked beside him, and her eyes widened. The old man took the syringe from the metal tube and turned toward Svetlana.

"No!" Annie shouted, and her arms fell down like ropes by her sides. She took a step and disappeared from Aranea’s view. All that Aranea could see was just a blur, a movement so fast that it left a good dozen afterimages behind the wolf hag. Eight, still caught in his transformation, was thrown aside while Annie, moving just like Valerye, charged at the old man.

Five made a step back, trying to preserve the syringe, when claws hit him across the head, causing sparks to fly into the air. More annoyed than angry, Five grabbed Annie by her throat, throwing her from the podium. Aranea noticed that all the numbers who guarded the hostages turned to face Annie and decided that now was her chance.

"One more attempt and they will die." Five snapped his fingers, pointing at the hostages. The number was speaking in a calm tone, holding one hand over the syringe.

"Let her go," Annie said weakly, standing up. She spread her arms wide and allowed her helmet to slide from her head, looking at the number with pleading eyes, "Whatever you want to take from her, take from me."

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"You?!" Five laughed at this suggestion, "This girl," He pointed at Svetlana, "Has all the potential to become a warlord one day. Her body is brimming with potential. You on the other hand," He snapped his fingers and one of the numbers stepped forward, holding something resembling a holoprojector in his hands. The number pointed the device at Annie, and light covered her, while Twelve roared in pain behind her. The acid grenades allowed the wolfkins and their allies to ignore the unnatural stretching ability of their foe, now it was the number who was on the run, he desperately tried to get back to Five, while Leila took her weapon away from Cat and pushed the soultakers behind herself. The device in the hands of the number gave sound, and Five smirked, "As I thought. Your potential is miniscule. All is alm…"

Aranea cut him off, kicking the syringe out of his arms. While the fool was talking, she was sneaking at him from the side, praying to the Spirits that this idiot would keep his attention on Annie long enough. The old man looked at the syringe with mad eyes, while Aranea tore Svetlana free from the construction, wounding the wrists of the nurse in the process. The wolf hag did not care, wounds could be healed, lives could not. Five turned to Aranea, and Markus stepped from the air behind him, turning his flesh into the stone and backhanding the number into the wall. Aranea threw Svetlana across the room, grabbing a few hostages in her arms, just in time to leap over the numbers who were turning to face her. She and Markus managed to get six people to safety before Five broke free from the rubble.

"Six! Six is all what matters!" Five howled, jumping over his own soldiers. Annie came to face him, and the old man dodged her first hit with unnatural speed, while keeping his eyes locked on the syringe on the floor.

Twelve darted toward the syringe, slithering on the floor like a snake. The left side of his face melted, the eye turned into a crimson orb, the eyelid was burned away. His arm extended itself, readying to grab the syringe when Aranea landed before him, kicking the hostages to run toward the exit. The number only smiled, seeing the rail gun in the paws of Aranea.

His smile disappeared when Aranea fired. The flesh in his chest stretched itself, trying to contain the projectile that hit him on the left side. His eyes widened, distorting his facial features. Twelve grabbed himself with both arms, trying to hold himself steady, while the flesh on his back was gaining a cone-shaped form and pointing toward the wall. He tried to say something, but only gasps came from his mouth. Finally, the inevitable happened. The projectile burned its way through his body, hitting the size of the basement with the sound of an explosion. Twelve’s lung was bathed in the searing flame, causing him to fall on his knees, gasping for air. With a trembling hand, he tried to reach for the syringe while Aranea walked forward, fully intending to smash whatever was inside the accursed thing.

Something lifted her in the air, crashing her to the floor with unnatural strength. The rail gun fell from her grip, landing several steps away from her. Cursing from minor pain, Aranea summoned the video feed from the cameras of her allies. Impossible, but the blasted troll was on her, pushing her face down and trying to tear away the rail gun from her arms. The horrible wound in his chest was already covered by pristine skin.

"She is mine, Five!" Eight jumped between the old man and Annie, slashing at the place where the wolf hag was just a moment ago. Annie no longer roared or growled, the helmet was still on her head, allowing everyone to see the concentrated face of the wolf hag. She was met with a wall of thrusts from the enraged Eight and dodged almost all of them, moving with her paws to meet the last thrust. Her fingers moved beneath the blade arm of her foe, sending the blade back with an almost gentle motion, and Eight cursed when his own arm left another slash on his face, denting his steel nose.

"Break her back." Five said off-handedly to the troll, walking toward the syringe, ignoring both shots from the enemies and the pleading gasps of Twelve. With the hostages behind them, the wolfkins closed ranks, aiming to keep them safe from the wall of fire of the remaining numbers. The opponents in black armor charged forward, unconcerned about their own lives, attempting to buy even a second for their leaders. The bullets from their weapons splashed helplessly against the wolfkins’ armors, but there were a lot of enemies, and the packs could not advance, not without exposing their allies and hostages to the fire. Leila fired her laser rifle into Five’s face, but the old man ignored the heat that was spreading harmlessly against his flesh. His suit caught fire, but not even his beard was damaged.

The troll grumbled something, and Aranea felt how his knee was pressed against her back. He grabbed her head with both arms, pushing her head back, causing the armor to scream warning after warning, slowly giving up to his impressive physical force. Aranea tried to reach for the rail gun when someone connected to the video feed of the packs.

"Wait! If you do this, the injured…" She heard Lucendra screaming and the building shook. At first, Aranea thought that one of the warring sides had shelled the hospital by accident. But then she saw a new set of images. Someone was breaking from the roof, crashing floor after floor in a single charge while attempting to reach the basement, "Oh, wait, the new path appeared." Lucendra said in confusion.

"Everything was calculated. Carry on your mission," Said an all too familiar voice, and the ceiling above the wolf hag exploded, allowing a massive steel form to break down. A massive steel leg landed near Aranea’s face, and the wolf hag blinked, feeling the pressure on her back disappear. The troll fell from her back, sliced in two, the horrible wounds on his body were cauterized. The body parts of the fallen foe jerked weakly, but this time the troll could not heal the damage. Aranea looked up and saw the figure clad in the silver power armor standing guard above her. The green visor of Olesya hid her entire face, but the voice was unmistakably her, "Stop sleeping on the job, Ari. Stand up and let’s dust these bitches." Aranea could have sworn that Olesya was smirking behind her helmet right now. The claws made of flame were coming from her fingers, while the wolf hag eagerly looked at the remaining foes.

"You are right, Oles," Aranea responded, reaching for the rail gun and standing up, "Time to end the local plague." Aranea smirked, aiming the rail gun at Five, who hid the syringe behind his back.

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