Chapter 19: Chap. 16 : Divide and Conquer

Welanjie snarled as she guarded her head with her gauntlets, the... attack colliding with her arms, the maid-shaped abomination swapping its arm back to a fist. It had taken her by surprise, her reflexes having saved her from a nasty blow to the head.

This is bad. She was locked in one-on-one mortal combat against an enemy that was powerful, resilient, and resourceful, she was in an unfamiliar location, which meant escape routes were unknown, and worst of all, she had been separated.

Getting separated was very bad for adventurers – because they tended to operate in small groups, any member taken out of a fight stung much more than in a thousand-strong army, and they tended to rely on other members to cover their weaknesses.

If Qareva had still been with the blonde brawler, she could have distracted the abomination with her arrows, or attempted to disable it by shooting its eyes and mouth, or with arrows coated in paralytic poison. If Varnec was combat-capable and not so heavily injured, they could've helped, deflecting its blows and allowing Welanjie to focus on offense.

Considering of course she and the others had decided to stand their ground. If she wasn't alone, she could've organized a distract-and-escape gambit against the thing, or simply scatter it and its Warden and regroup for two three-vs-ones. And that was disregarding potential "win in one second" magical items.

She had landed a few punches on her foe, but they didn't seem to do any damage, the thick, stiff maid outfit blunting the majority of her blows' power. Just what is this thing made of ? Was it comissioned from freaking Bleeding-Hands ? Welanjie snorted internally. Making a maid outfit into armor was absolutely up that bastard's alley. Not that the lazy fuck would've helped us here either way.

Xajymzia considered, tanking the human's blow and countering with a rapid slice that slid off. Her opponent was strong, but not strong enough to heavily damage her. The outfit helped, but her quote-unquote "skin" was far tougher than an human's as well. However, this also went the other way, the human was tough and hard to damage.

Xajymzia lashed out with a cross slash from her shoulders, the human blocking and attempting to counter in turn. One thing that Xajymzia did have over her foe was the fact that the maid didn't lower her guard when attacking, but the maid wasn't sure how to turn this into a killing blow.

She withdrew her thighs and levitated above a leg blow, trying to stab the blonde human in the back of her neck in turn, but the adventurer managed a dodge and a roll. Human's physical are abilities high, but her stamina limited.

The human went with an aggressive punch targeting the throat. Xajymzia tanked, and attempted to stab with her back blades into the human's shoulders. Damage to self minimal, damage to enemy low but still greater. Xajymzia focused. Optimal approach : victory by endurance.

Agressive offense is not the strategy. Xajymzia considered. Waiting for a window when the human tried to attack and use it to injure or eliminate her by attacking vitals was likely to be more effective than simply bashing her head against the human's defenses, and so Xajymzia decided to go on and stay on the defensive.

---

Qareva considered. This is really bad. Being separated from their allies is the worst thing that could happen to an adventurer. Adventurers depended on each other. If Qareva was alone, that meant she didn't have Varnec to distract or damage her enemies, or Welanjie to soften up or disable them outright.

Welanjie's blows would've quickly turned the Warden's joints into jelly, breaking her defenses and making it easy for Qareva to use her trump card and proceed from here. Hoping Welanjie wasn't too rough with the subjugated Warden, of course... not that it'd matter that much in that case since the Warden would simply resurrect.

Varnec could've deflected or tanked the blows in melee while Qareva sneaked up from behind and attempted to shoot the Warden's slim neck, or they could've even gone on the offensive and crushed the Warden's mask with their warhammer.

It would've been easier to organize escape as well, using numbers to reduce the chance of their escape route being cut, or even attempt to force through the dungeon's teleport warding with their combined might.

The Warden was far away from her, but she was slowly inching closer, dodging her arrows by warping to the side. There seemed to be no side or distance preference either, so she couldn't attempt to lead her shots.

One of her earrings informed her that Welanjie was in battle. Qareva swore under her breath. The girl was a Warden, of course she had pet monstrosities she kept under wraps. She nocked an arrow, with an enchantment this time to make it undetectable.

As much as I hate it, don't think I can help Welanjie from here. With a short prayer to the heavens above, Qareva pulled back her bow, and shot, before dropping it for a short while and resting her arms a bit.

Zoemie was surprised when the arrow slammed against her mask, having almost landed between her eyes despite the distance and trees in the way. However, it simply slid off her mask. She grabbed the arrow, analyzed the enchantment. Hmm... She smiled. I can curse the cunts, now, so...

She had refrained from doing so before, trying to lure them deep enough she could take them out before they could run. But now that they were deep enough in her dungeon, she could curse them to her heart's content. Zoemie focused, and threw a very powerful curse on the archer, which denied her the opportunity to reuse the enchantment.

Taking a break, huh ? Zoemie didn't mind. Means I can focus on Xaj. Zoemie's Warden abilities allowed her to more or less keep an eye on how the maid was doing, and she ignored her fight for a short while, letting the feeling inside her head guide her to the archer.

---

Welanjie let out a huff as she channeled more magic within her fist and went for a jab that would have shattered a boulder. It landed on the abomination, Welanjie feeling the impact, but it didn't react one bit.

This thing's limbs should be jelly by now ! It wasn't that her blow weren't landing, is that whatever she was fighting didn't care one whit. She had punched steel harder than this thing. She had done more damage to an Apocalypse with her blows, enough to make the world-ending horror consider her a threat. And that was with less mana !

Urgh, this isn't working. Welanjie thought while annoyed. Mana overuse risked her running dry, which would be very bad in a life-or-death battle. If this had been the Warden it would've been easy ! Those frail limbs of hers wouldn't have stood a chance.

Welanjie shook her head, and activated her special shoes, a rapid backward leap putting distance between her and the abomination. She focused, and started to drag the ambient mana inside of her by force, draining it through her bare midriff, legs and neck, a taxing, painful operation to recover quickly.

The enchantment on her equipment starting functioning in full swing, reducing her fatigue and suppressing the pain to a tolerable degree. Okay. Welanjie decided on a strategy. Maybe it wouldn't be a winning strategy, but it was the best she had. Wail on the thing, withdraw, regenerate, rinse and repeat. Don't overcommit.

She cast a quick glance at Varnec, who was still lying there. Dammit. The longer this last, the harder healing them is gonna be. She focused at her enemy, and gritted her teeth. Alright. Let's do this, you inhuman beast.

Xajymzia considered her opponent. That mana absorbing trick angered her, the human forcing the sacred, terrible air under her skin. Xajymzia felt it, like the human was grabbing at her skin with her soiled hands, using this haven's might for her own selfish ends.

If she had known how to, Xajymzia would've used her mana-absorption technique to corrupt her, turning her into one of the abominations the human so detested. But while she may not be able to do such an advanced trick, she still could use the human's mana absorption against her. Xajymzia smiled evilly. She may not have her Warden's ability with curses... but she could still use them anyway.

Xajymzia stared at the human, who had focused her eyesight on her and leaped in for an extremely powerful blow. Xajymzia deflected it to the side, feeling the impact within her. Clear attempt at limb disable. It was a futile effort, however, and in fact doomed from the start, as Xajymzia didn't have joints to break or organs to smash. Matchup advantage in favor of self.

Hate, dread and anger filled Xajymzia to the core as she started to imagine what the human would have done to Zoemie if she had successfully disabled her. No longer powerless. Has resilient body with great combat ability. She wouldn't fail to protect her charge from those who willed her ill.

---

Where did that bint learn to cast such powerful curses anyway ? Qareva snarled. Not only had her arrow done nothing to the Warden, she had been cursed with something that prevented her from hiding.

And she had no magical items to expel or purify it, either. And while it wasn't something that affected her combat performance, Qareva was offended that the Warden dared resist her. Just you wait, girl. Just you wait...

Magical items in her dress soothed her shoulders and rebuilt her stamina, Qareva smiling in small relief. She nocked her bow again, casting this time a homing enchantment, and locked on the target. She steadied her feet, drew back her shoulders, and let loose her arrow, enough power in the arrow to pierce through a Shredder and put it down for good.

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The arrow went ethereal, neither trees nor air resistance slowing it down. And as the Warden dodged to the side again, the arrow followed her, doing a curve and rushing from behind... before hitting a wall and falling to the ground. Dammit ! How dare she...

Another arrow flew by Zoemie, who dodged to the side, gritting her teeth at the feeling surging again. Urgh. This was starting to really get on her nerves. It was just a bit too hot out, she was thirsty, she was sweaty, her legs hurt, and worst of all she felt like her skull was going to burst open.

Zoemie decided to conjure a water bottle and drank straight from it while an arrow clinked against the back part of her projected shield, before she kept walking, keeping an eye on the archer who almost fumbled nocking her arrow.

She walked forward, before deciding to levitate instead. Faster, hurt legs less, better. Zoemie was starting to get tired of the hunt, however. Why do they enjoy it in games to play with their enemies ? This... isn't fun or interesting. She just wanted the mess to be over so she could go back to gaming or failing that take a nap.

Zoemie snarled as she teleported again, the feeling surging, before Zoemie cursed the arrow to make it stop. She can't hurt me at all, but damn if these surges aren't annoying. It took Zoemie heroic willpower to not smash her head on one of the trees. Probably won't help, but dammit it sounds tempting.

She instead turned back to the archer and decided to return to the favor with interest, conjuring an enormous boulder from the ground and throwing it, using teleportation to send it hurling into the archer's face. The woman dodged, however, causing Zoemie to snarl.

There was something about the emotion on the woman's face that soothed her slightly, however, the feeling in her head filling her mind with glee at her terror, mixed with annoyance at the archer's dodge.

---

Welanjie huffed. She unleashed a barrage on her enemy, trying to overwhelm it with strength and speed. Her opponent dodged, blocked, deflected, but hadn't tried to counter that much. She spun on her legs for a brutal haymaker, the thing blocking with its arm.

Welanjie aimed a series of jabs at the thing's face, punches coming out with inhuman speed and power, trying to break its face apart. She winced internally as she felt damage on her gloves. Shit. If these break, I'm toast.

Each of her punches could have toppled a slab of bedrock over, and her speed was explosive, but it wasn't enough. Just gotta keep going then. Everything dies if you hit it hard enough and for long enough. Welanjie went for a fast kick to the temple next, forcing it out of her tired leg, keeping up the pressure while trying to not leave herself open too much.

Meanwhile, enchantments on her gloves started to repair them. Might have to swap for the backup pair... problem is these might not stand up to the mana amounts I need to injure that guardian, the lack of visible damage or even discomfort on her inhuman foe getting Welanjie antsy.

Animals bleed, golems break, everything shows damage after long enough. The thing in front of her, however, showed no external sign of having been injured. All of its limbs functioned perfectly still, despite Welanjie's brutal offense, the woman leaping backwards to pump more mana in.

Xajymzia felt glee rise within her as the human started the mana-pumping trick, huffing with exhaustion and sucking in air like a pump. Her enemy's offense was actually a problem now. She couldn't facetank those punches the way she could've when the fight started now that the human had a better idea of her defensive prowess.

But the human's offense didn't truly matter. Even if she did manage to break Xajymzia's limbs, or even destroy her, she could simply recreate herself a new body., or failing that Zoemie would bring her back.

That said, there was no reason to treat herself as disposable either. Xajymzia focused as she channeled a weak, disparate curse in the ambient mana around the human. Magic filtered by Warden's power, channeled through self. A trick her charges had used in the past, although not for combat uses.

It was weak compared to what her charge could output. But it was strong enough, the human not even noticing, pumping the defense-weakening curse inside of her own body. No longer indestructible. Within killing range. The maid luxuriated internally in the glee of her enemy's foolishness, but she couldn't get overconfident either.

Once the human realized she had been cursed, she would probably attempt to expel it, and wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. The blow Xajymzia inflicted on the human's body needed to be lethal. And as she looked at her foe, she knew just how to finish this. Remaining task : wait for target to lower guard.

---

Qareva looked at the boulder, trying to calm herself. If this thing had even brushed against her it would've been her whole left side gone, with a quick and painful death following. Alright. Time to leave. Qareva couldn't risk it anymore. Screw the dungeon, and screw the Warden.

Qareva considered, and activated a magical item. Where are the mountain and Welanjie... ha-ah ! She had remembered there was a hole in the mountain where she and the Warden talked, and that Welanjie seemingly hadn't been teleported from there, the magical item confirmed her the mountain's position. All she needed to do was to get as far away from it as she could.

Qareva's plan was reposing on a number of assumptions here, such as "the mountain is the main part of the dungeon" and "the dungeon was expanded outwards from the mountain". Although, unbeknownst to her, she happened to be right on the money.

Not that she would have cared, with how terrorized she was. She had never brushed so close with death, not even versus that Apocalypse. She had been afraid when the horror had focused from Bleeding-Hands to Welanjie for a minute, but the maid-obsessed weirdo had promptly caught the fortress-sized, heavily mutated Shining-Ice Shredder's attention again.

But she had been far away with her bow, while the Warden was inching ever closer with every step. No enemy had ever gotten so close to ending her. And while she would've loved to make the girl pay... unless she could somehow use her trump card against the Warden, she was unlikely to win.

She would regroup with Welanjie and Varnec later, or depending on her speed might be able to have some adventurer mages extract them from the dungeon. She didn't like leaving her friends behind, but it was unlikely they'd win even if they regrouped.

She activated her special shoes and started running away, the magical footwear amplifying each step into a leap and making her speed devour the ground. The Warden teleported in the way, so Qareva started going left instead, trying to use her speed to confound the Warden. She did have a magical item to diffuse her position, but the curse was likely to make it ineffective.

Zoemie snarled. Oh no you don't ! She quickly considered, and decided on the best course of action. She was getting tired of dodging. Every time she did it felt like her skull was going to split apart. So she chose the most straightforward approach.

"No more games !" she screamed into the void as she overwhelmed the feeling within her mind with sheer frustration and force of will, and teleported very close to the woman, before throwing a slowing curse on her.

Zoemie started running towards her, pulling out her sword and attempting to slam the archer with a vertical strike, the woman dodging at the last second a blow that would've divided her in two. She tried to nock an arrow, but dodged again despite the slowing curse, as Zoemie stomped her foot and an enormous blade of rock surged from the ground.

"You are not getting the fuck out of this place." Zoemie growled, a strange echo she didn't notice within her voice, the feeling surfacing again. It was annoyed at having been suppressed, but most importantly it was angry at the purple-haired woman.

It spoke of powerlessness, of victimhood, in words Zoemie didn't hear but in a language she spoke. A language she had learned from her time in the Before, from the feeling of defiant rage she knew all too well against the willfully ignorant and two-faced, manipulative jackasses that had defined her whole damn life but before and here.

The purple-haired woman stared at Zoemie, emotions the black-haired teenage girl couldn't make out, her eyes blinded by dull orange light she didn't know the source of. The archer smiled, a smug, unpleasant thing showing her unmasqued self, but Zoemie didn't recognize it.

"I've got something special in store for you." the archer said, her sickly-sweet, if slightly tired voice having gained an undercurrent of something nasty that reminded Zoemie a little of that bastard Rickard somehow. "Catch this !" she screamed before she pulled out a black item out of her storage and threw it towards Zoemie, the thing rushing at her neck.

What happened next, Zoemie wasn't sure. She felt the thing hit against her shield, the feeling taking over her mind completely for a split-second, screaming in refusal to let it happen, let it happen again, let it happen to her, Zoemie casting a curse she didn't know at the item.

And in turn, the item started flying again... but backwards. There was a look of horror on the archer's face, who started to leap away, but the slowing curse did its duty, and the heavy collar latched tightly around the woman's neck.

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