Chapter 40: Chapter 39: Strong Genes

 

The horses chaotically swung their forelimbs into the air, scared of the elongated carnivorous reptiles swarming everywhere around them. Their highly-pitched squeals warned of the imminent doom.

“Every man for himself! Run into the forest! SAVE YOURSELVES!” Goro’s scream was loud enough for all to hear despite the commotion.

As the temperature was dropping more and more and the panic was reaching new standards, the snakes were showing no mercy, constantly attacking every living thing in sight as if they hadn't eaten in several months.

Hundreds of meters away from the camp, deep inside the woods, Saori was clashing with Debite.

So far from the camp, the attacker had no control over the snakes anymore, which made them weaker. He tried to stay in proximity but was forced away by the girl that appeared out of nowhere.

Debite couldn’t even feel Saori’s aura until she showed up, which frightened him even more. One needed perfect control over magic to suppress their presence. Not to even mention that in less than a minute they were shockingly far into the heart of the forest, despite him doing his best to stay close to his limbless friends.

“Unbelievable! I can’t go on the offensive. Why is she fighting like this? How crazy can one be? I could kill her any moment with all these openings, but there’s a high chance I would also die in the process. THIS IS MADNESS!”

Using the reflection of the moon into her sword to distract her opponent for a fraction of a second, Saori spun in place while lowering her body and doing a perfect side split.

“Hmm?”

This was not the first time Debite fought a strong warrior, so this kind of trick was nothing new to him. By using his reshaping ability, he transformed his arm into a solid blade and attacked with a downward swing, aiming to cut the girl in two.

His expression changed when he saw his own arm floating in the air, cut by a sword spinning in place.

The beast girl used that moment to disappear. Her speed made several leaves flutter into the air around the confused snake man.

“Huuuuuuuuuuh?!” Outmatched, Debite knew that losing sight of her would considerably hinder his chances of winning.

Before he had time to turn his head and see the girl behind him, Saori slapped his face with a strength that reminded him of Dragnya’s beatings, only that this time it was worse. The girl used her claws to cut through his eyeballs in the process, which made him lose his sight.

He meant to scream, but he lost his balance as the hit to the face was quickly followed by a strong kick to his shins, making him fall forward toward his death. The tip of the sword was only half a meter away from his face.

“Holy…”

 

*

 

Awestruck by her skill, the man remembered the eight year old white-haired girl he used to lose to every time they clashed during a summer fighting course. While she was an inspiration to him, he also hated her for stealing the title of the strongest kid in the camp.

His father was their master, Garen, a man who admired the girl more than his own son.

“Listen, son. It’s a rare opportunity to learn from someone stronger. This level of skill and speed at such a young age is unprecedented. Make sure you take notes. One day you might take my place as a fighting instructor.”

While it was normal for a parent to encourage his son to improve by watching others, he only felt discouraged as he began to get less and less popular among the kids. Everyone was admiring this annoying new girl, and so was his father.

Multiple times the girl offered a helping hand to him. Whether she was there to clean and serve the food, to help him back up when falling, or to give him tips on how to improve as a fighter.

He hated all of it, childishly thinking that she was only doing that to be the center of attention.

One day, early in the morning, way before the wake-up call, he went out to train and saw little Saori by the lake, practicing.

With contradictory feelings, Debite hid behind a tree to admire her. While also impressed by her determination to get stronger, he was more captivated by her wonderful, long, and shiny white hair. It was a purely natural color he’d never seen before on other kids.

There was something strange about her shadow, though. While most of it was normal, the shadow seemed to have an extra pair of ears that didn’t look like they belonged to a human, which only further added to the wonderful girl’s mystery.

 

*

 

“SAORIIIIIIIIII!” Debite’s fighting spirit could be felt in his voice as he fully transformed his body into a snake, avoiding the sword and falling between the blades of grass.

Taken by surprise, the beast stretched her hand to try and grab her sword and keep the momentum going, but her opponent was closer.

The blood spread on Saori’s palm as the snake-man retook his human form and cut the girl with the tip of her own sword.

“We meet again, scapegrace!” he said, showing his fangs at her.

“Have you grown any yet, you jealous brat?” The girl greeted him back, licking blood off her palm.

Despite the clear disadvantage he had by not being able to see anything, Debite managed to put up a decent fight. Constantly switching from one form to another and transforming his limbs into blades to parry whenever he was caught off guard, the snake man was on par with Saori. Or at least, that’s what it looked like.

It was hard to understand how the girl managed to keep the upper hand the whole time, even though he was fighting the best he could. Several times Debite tried to go for a deadly bite but he always failed.

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A moment later, the ground underneath Debite suddenly changed its shape, making him completely lose his balance in the most unexpected moment.

“What?” He thought.

Seeing the beast’s punch heading straight toward his abdomen, unable to dodge by sidestepping, he reshaped his arms into blades and crossed them in front.

Saori’s punch stopped short of reaching its target, but something else went all the way through. The impact shattered the blades into pieces, and what felt like an invisible punch, plunged deeply enough to destroy everything inside of him, ranging from his stomach all the way to his liver, kidneys, arteries, and veins.

Debite flew backward as if shot from a cannon until he hit the wall of a cave, falling to his knees and coughing up blood.

“That… was… magic. I didn’t see Saori doing an incantation, so it must have been the witch.” He struggled as he covered his stomach with his left arm, only to feel there was nothing there, “Damn you!”

He fell to the ground barely able to remain conscious. There was nothing else left for him to do. More than anything, the loss felt like a blessing. His duties as the servant of the witch finally reached an end.

Debite had been abducted by Dragnya nine years ago when he was still just a kid. Ever since then, his life had been a living hell. Cannibalism, merciless training, massacres, torture, and unwanted sex were all daily activities in the dark fortress.

“For a year, before all this happened, I tried to follow in your footsteps as I looked up to you and Salan, the perfect image of a living legend. I thought I finally surpassed you, but I never actually managed to reach you no matter how much I struggled. The strong genes you inherited from your father are a true gift and a great responsibility.”

Stretching his hand out in front as if trying to reach the girl one last time, he whispered in a dying tone, “Be careful, Dragnya is…”

The last couple of words were hidden behind the gusts of snowy winds. Their fight only lasted for fifteen minutes, yet the weather had drastically worsened since the assault on the camp.

“Not bad for an old woman like myself, ay?” Anta, helping herself with a cane, stepped beside her mightiest weapon, Saori.

“Just at the right time.” The girl answered with sparkling eyes while clenching and opening her fist, “That last punch felt really good. I know I said it before, but HOLY CRAP! Am I not the best? I would flex my muscles right now if I wasn’t too impressed with my deadly punch.”

“You never change, dear.”

The temperatures dropped to minus twenty degrees in less than thirty minutes and the winds intensified, whistling mercilessly. The blizzard reached a speed of sixty miles an hour, meanwhile, the visibility dropped to under six feet.

“Are you cold, Saori?” The woman asked, looking at the girl’s naked legs and arms.

“Just a tiny bit. I think Alma is keeping me warm. The cold doesn’t seem to be an issue for me, but look at you shaking, gran. You and the others should head back to the village. It’s only one day away.”

After taking a few moments to find the right words for praising the girl, the woman said:

“You’re changing. While keeping your childish spirit, you’re maturing and getting stronger each day. You’re following in your father’s footsteps.”

“You don’t know my father.”

“Correct, but I do know how legends are born.”

Impressed, the girl didn’t say anything. She lifted gran up and took her to the camp inside the forest, using her acute senses as guidance.

Being so close to the old woman made Saori realize something. Anta’s body was much more fragile than she thought and her heart was beating worryingly slow.

Paul had warned her that using advanced magic spells could prove fatal to someone of her age. Yet she didn’t listen and now she was dying.

“This is not normal snow, my child,” Anta added while gently touching Saori’s cheek. It’s in fact a curse, created by one of my sisters, Elya. The snow reduces the lifespan of those it touches.”

“Wow… It’s like she’s trying to help her sister, Dragnya.” Masaru intervened, seeing the two finally reunited with them, “I guess we all have to get inside the wagons now.”

Having reached the camp, Anta informed the survivors of the disguised curse falling from the sky. It was impossible to advance on enemy territory in this weather.

More than half of their forces were now dead or missing. Going against a witch was stupid and foolish. They had ignored their master’s warning and the repercussions were clear.

After a short discussion, they agreed to head back to the village while they were still alive, and let Saori get rid of the witch alone. The less time they spent out in this weather, exposed to the curse, the better.

Unlike Anta, the more important figures, Masaru and Goro, tried to convince Saori to give up on her revenge plans and return home with them, but she refused. The beast had a hunt to finish.

The wagons vanished into the snowstorm, leaving the young girl on her own in the forest. All she had left now was Ralan’s head, Masaru’s Shield, the mask from Ashura, and the sword that belonged to Sagurou.

Anta had given her an amulet in the form of a golden key that will supposedly help her find the cave of the devouring witch. She also got a small drink that will triple her physical strength for a solid minute when consumed, which had been invented by Anta after six hours of witchcraft.

Squeezing the amulet in her fist, Saori closed her eyes to calm down and try to get in touch with Alma, her inner beast. The girl’s heart was beating fast as she could already feel the excitement of battling one of the strongest beings on the planet.

She received everyone’s blessing. They were all rooting for her, expecting great results. Who was she to disappoint them?

 

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