Chapter 17: Worst of the Worst (3)

I look over our forces. I managed to get my clones to devote their entire cat reservoir to one type each, while I summoned a single defense cat to act as a kind of guard for Himiko. Not that she needs it, what with the fighting experience she’s been getting. Not to mention the personal training we both get from that guy…

A shiver goes down my spine, and I just know that if we don’t kill this thing, Coach will put us through the ringer. Maybe literally.

Anyways, we have six brawler cats and six magic cats ready to attack at a moment's notice. Too bad they have the same energy level I have at the moment. But apparently they’re copies of my latest interaction with Twice, so it can’t be helped. I take a moment to admire the magic cats. It’s rare for me to need them, after all.

They have the same appearance as the brawler cats, just slightly humanoid cats two feet high. Though their fur is less wild than the brawler cats, instead being smoothed down the length of their bodies. They’re also wearing little wizard hats and capes, and it’s adorable!

I take a moment more to admire them before turning my attention to our preparations. Himiko is hidden, presumably with her knives at the ready. She said that she got her hands on some useful blood, so hopefully she won’t be too badly hurt. The healer Giran told us about charges a lot for his services. And that’s saying a lot when we’re rich! But that’s the price for him to heal villains.

Anyways, Twice is crouched on a balcony overlooking the building the monster is hiding in, while one of my clones is next to me. We’re standing behind the line of magic cats, which is guarded by a line of brawler cats. Ahead of us all is the second clone, slowly creeping towards the empty door frame.

I gave her one of the bundles of catnip, but hopefully she won’t need it. Since it hasn’t moved since I got here, I’m hoping that the monster is asleep. If so, we can kill it easily.

But nothing is ever simple, is it?

Blades shoot out of the darkness, trying to skewer my clone. She dodges with a yelp, backing up as quickly as she can. From the darkness the monster walks, slowly emerging as the blades retract back into its mouth.

It turns its head, presumably taking in the sight of us, behind its covered eyes. “Meat… So much meat… A feast, just for me.”

We shudder as it’s already stretched mouth squirms, presumably trying to smile.

“The hell is wrong with this guy? There’s nothing to eat here!”

I glance over at Twice,who’s peeking over the railing of his hiding place. I made sure that Himiko gave him a knife just in case, but his main role will be to reclone myself if either of them get destroyed.

“He’s a cannibal. Earlier, I found him eating a child.”

He says nothing, just looks at me for a moment. Then he looks at the monster. “That’s fucked up.” It’s the first time he’s spoken without saying something else in a different pitch, and he sounds much more serious than he did before.

But it seems like we won’t have any more time to talk. With a screech, the monster’s teeth stretch out of its mouth, jerking in my clone’s direction. She’d put a good bit of distance between them, but the bladed teeth close it quickly.

She curses as she dodges. “Dammit! I told you we should have summoned some defense cats! And what are you waiting for!? Mage cats, fire!”

I feel my ear twitch. Why is the clone in charge of the mage cats the one fighting close! Feeling my glare, the other clone shrugs.

“Don’t look at me. We played rock-paper-scissors for who would be the guinea pig, and she lost.”

I roll my eyes in exasperation, but they’re me, so I can’t really get upset about it. Right?

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While we have our little side conversation, the mage cats have finished charging up their attacks. They face their hands together, like a little ball of energy between them. It’s usually a quick process, though they can take longer to fire off stronger shots, as they’re doing now. Though there is a limit.

They fire off their little mage balls, sending them flying at the monster. Finally paying attention to something other than skewering the clone, it sends some of its blades to intercept them. I smirk seeing that the balls are strong enough that they aren’t destroyed, but frown when they are redirected, missing the monster. Except for one that managed to slip past.

It hits the monster’s shoulder, and it flares with light before exploding! It’s a small explosion though, and when the light clears I can see that it’s missing a chunk of its shoulder.

It howls in pain, the sound coming out distorted, echoing due to the metal blades coming from its mouth. Next to me, the second clone orders the brawler cats forward now that they won’t get in the way of the charged shots. Meanwhile, the mage cats fire off faster weaker attacks, though the quantity makes up for it.

With the brawler cats joining the fray, the monster starts to get overwhelmed. Their claws can do damage to his teeth, after all. So as they progress towards him, they work together to cut them, often taking two or three slashes each. It’s slow going, but when they manage to cut through a tooth, it retract to his mouth, reducing the amount they have to deal with.

They aren’t without losses of course. I watch as two brawlers are pierced through by attacks from behind, dissipating in flashes of light from the massive damage. But the other four manage to use their sacrifice to cut through those teeth, clearing the way even more.

Coupled with its wariness of the mage cats after losing a chunk of its shoulder, they’ve nearly reached it. Then disaster strikes.

The clone next to me turns to sludge, a surprised expression on her face. I watch in shock as it flows down and around one of the bladed teeth rising from the ground, and I can’t help but curse as I jump away.

“Clever bastard. Watch the ground!” I yell a warning to my other clone, who glances over at me. But that was a mistake as two of the blades make sudden jerks, coming at her from both sides. She’s pierced through and I pale, realizing that with them gone, so are the cats.

A quick count shows that there are still fifteen teeth active. Above me, I hear Twice shout. “Hold on Cat-aclysm! Reinforcements on their way! You can do it! She’s going to die!”

I watch as Himiko jumps out of her hiding place, dashing at the monster at a fast pace. It notices her, but with most of its teeth being in my direction, it can only send a couple at her. She deflects them with her knife, a bloodthirsty smile on her face.

“Ah~. Why are you paying so little attention to me~? We both like blood, don’t we? Let’s see how much you’d like your own~.” She reaches it and stabs for its heart, but it dodges, only getting a wound that stretches across its chest. With another howl of pain and rage its teeth start to retract, swiping at Himiko as she twirls around them and away from it.

It starts muttering as its teeth swirl around it, making a barrier of blades. “It hurts. Why? My food isn’t supposed to hurt me this much. But their meat. Their meat… will be… DELICIOUS!!”

With a screech, blades shoot out in all directions, far faster than before. I see Himiko’s arm cut by two of them as she rolls out of the way, but I can’t pay too much attention to her since I have to dodge the ones coming at me!

I roll, I jump, I bend over backwards to dodge them. But they're fast. Two of them manage to graze the side of my head, causing the mask covering me to fall. The teeth retract again and I take stock of the situation. 

Himiko is clutching her arm where she got hit. Looks like one of them pierced it head on rather than just cut it. I got off easier, just some moderate bleeding from the top and side of my head. A glance over at the balcony where Twice hid has me cursing.

There are holes in the stone, and it's covered in a mud-like substance. Looks like those reinforcements won’t be coming after all.

Seeing the blades swirl around it again, I pull out a bundle of catnip and pop it in my mouth. I start chewing, and as the world around me takes on a more vibrant tint, I smile.

This is going to be fun~.

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