Chapter 446: Keeping Promises

A roar shook the platform. Alex raised a hand as black sludge splattered across him and Claire. The massive manticore squaring off against Amelia let out another roar. It had reared back onto its hind legs to try and rend Princess from top to bottom.

Unfortunately for the large monster, its claws had only made it about halfway through her body before she’d re-solidified around it, leaving its forelimbs buried up to the joints and completely unable to free themselves.

Alex hadn’t known that Princess could control her body’s viscosity. But, given the manticore was now thrashing around desperately, biting at Princess as its barbed tail drove into her repeatedly in a futile attempt to free itself — it seemed quite likely that she’d trapped it very thoroughly.

“Here we go!” Amelia called, grabbing onto the lion with both hands, her long ceramic claws digging into its tough hide. She arched her back and let out a roar of her own. The manticore’s thunderous snarling quickly transformed to a terrified yowl as it hurtled through the air.

And, as Alex and Claire watched in disbelief, Amelia suplexed the manticore straight into the platform behind her, driving it head-first into the edge of a protruding chunk of metal with a loud crack. The monster’s skull crunched. Blood splattered across the ground as it thrashed desperately, ripping huge chunks of Amelia’s body apart.

She didn’t even seem to notice. She squelched closer to the monster, moving straight through its legs until she was practically enveloping its midsection. All three of her heads spun around as she reversed her arms and grabbed it by the skull, lifting it into the air and smashing its head back into the ground.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Alex winced with each crunch. He’d long since gotten the magical energy from the kill. It hadn’t been an insignificant amount.

The manticore had stopped its screaming at some point, but Amelia didn’t stop. She just kept driving its head into the chunk of metal, each blow shaking the platform beneath them slightly. The entire time, a continuous stream of something between a cackle, a battle cry, and a scream continued to tear out from her heads.

Claire slowly reached up to her face and wiped the sludge away from her features. She flicked it to the side. Then she shot a sidelong glance at Alex.

Another loud crunch split the air. The monster’s head was nothing more than a pulverized mess. A clatter rang out as a Cracked Coin dropped down on the ground at her side. Amelia didn’t even glance at it. She showed no signs of stopping. Still roar-laugh-screaming, she just kept smashing the manticore’s coprse into the floor.

Even Glint stood in stunned silence. The three of them just stared as she mercilessly beat the corpse into a bloodier pulp.

“There is something seriously wrong with that woman,” Glint said. He turned to look up at Alex. “I love it.”

Alex just sighed. He raised a hand and wiped his own face clean. He shook it off at his side, then looked back to Amelia. “I mean… she technically protected us. Nobody got hurt.”

“Whatever makes you feel better about this,” Glint said between crunches. He tilted his head to the side. “But, if you ask me, I think you’re going to need a new guard. There’s a lot of pent up rage in that lady. A whole lot of it. And it doesn’t look like she’s had an outlet to spend that rage on. Ten years of festering in your own room with no escape at her age… I can hardly blame her. Especially now that her anger has somewhere to vent itself. ”

Alex couldn’t argue with that. He couldn’t even imagine how insane he would have gone if he’d been in Amelia’s situation. He’d practically lost his mind just going to school for programming, and that was a completely normal life.

If someone had locked him in a room for 10 years…

I’d have completely lost my shit. The fact that she’s even coherent at this point is genuinely impressive… and maybe a little bit terrifying as well. I — Jesus. Is that the manticore’s spine?

Unlawfully taken from NovelPhoenix, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“She certainly seems to be having a good time now,” Claire observed.

Amelia finally dropped the manticore’s corpse. The beast barely had a head at this point. It was nothing more than a mangled mess. She turned toward them, all three heads swaying as one, as her breath came in ragged gasps.

“Did I do it?” Amelia asked. Blood and viscera dripped from her porcelain white claws to splatter onto the ground at her feet. “Did I win?”

“That’s… one way to put it,” Alex said. He squinted at the corpse at her feet. As mangled as it was… it would probably still be useful. It was also much smaller now that she’d torn it to bits. He strode over to it, walking around the large pool of blood to put a hand on its hide and draw it into his Spatial Ring. Then he scooped up the Soul Flame that it had left behind and slid it into one of his Spatial Mirrors. He cleared his throat. “You certainly didn’t lose.”

“Oh, good,” Amelia said, still breathing heavily. Alex was pretty sure the heavy breath was coming entirely from her. Princess didn’t actually have lungs.

“How about my job?” Amelia asked. “Was I a good guard this time? I didn’t let the enemy get anywhere near you. Just as instructed.”

“You’re certainly a good berserker,” Glint said.

“Is that a type of guard?” Amelia asked.

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance. Alex suppressed a laugh. There probably wasn’t any other way to look at the situation. He was going to get a new defensive monster, because Amelia most certainly wasn’t one.

I don’t think I can bring myself to say anything negative at this point. She did a pretty good job absolutely slaughtering this thing. And she’s a serious menace. A near un-killable monster just charging somebody and doing everything in its power to rip them to shreds is a pretty damn effective weapon. It just isn’t the one I was expecting.

“Well, some people do say that a good offense is the best defense,” Alex said. “So… yeah. You did great.”

“And we’ve now got five Cracked Coins,” Claire said, scooping the coin off the ground and shaking the blood off it before sending it into her Spatial Ring. “Not to mention we’ve barely spent any magical energy. Alex, how are you doing?”

“Pretty good,”Alex replied. “I’ve lost some from Amelia regenerating, but she didn’t take nearly as much damage as I thought she would have. I’m in good shape. Really good shape, honestly.”

“Then we should continue,” Glint said. “Because I have still not had a proper chance to stretch my arms. Our… guard is a little bit too overzealous. I don’t think I could have gotten this body anywhere near her without getting smashed to pieces.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Amelia protested. She paused for a moment. Two of her heads tilted in opposite directions. “Probably.”

Lovely. A guard that’s got a constant rage-haze clouding her vision. I might have to start praying for whoever I send her after. And if Derek is here as well…

A shudder ran down Alex’s back. It was hard to say if it came from eagerness or fear. Deploying Derek and Amelia against anyone was definitely some degree of a war crime. He couldn’t wait to try it and see what happened.

“Shall we continue, then?” Claire asked. “Or should we head back?”

“We haven’t been here long at all,” Alex said after a moment of thought. “And a few more fights probably aren’t going to change anything in the grand scheme of things. The trip back will be what takes the longest. We might as well keep at it until we get a bit more challenged. Unless you think we should return now?”

Claire shook her head. “No. I think it should be fine. Who knows when we’ll have time to return here next. We might as well get the most out of it, and I get a pretty respectable amount of magical energy for these fights. Well, the ones I actually get to participate in.”

Amelia cleared her throat sheepishly. “Sorry. I’ll try not to attack you if you get close. But protecting is a very serious business. I don’t want to risk you getting hurt while I’m responsible for guarding you.”

That’s one way to phrase getting swallowed by complete and utter unrestrained bloodlust the moment you see something you want to kill.

And I’m sure Mirrorwane is fine. It’s been like… what, a day since we left? We’ve got a bunch of strong people there. If the town can’t survive without us and without anything major happening for a day or two, then does it even deserve to exist?

“I think we’re all agreed.” Alex nodded. “:et’s keep at it for at least a little longer. We all want a better fight. And to do that, I want to use one of the Cracked Coins. We’ll save most of them… but I’ve had enough random fights. I want something a bit more targeted.”

Claire shrugged. She summoned a coin from her ring and flicked it to Alex.

“What are you hoping for?” she asked. “A stronger enemy, I assume?”

“Something like that,” Alex said with a wry smile.

He held the coin up, a grin splitting his lips as he focused on exactly what he wanted. It crumbled to dust in his hand. And, a moment later, white roots sprouted from the edge of their platform. They wove out through the air in a thick mesh, stretching out into the storming Riftwarped Qi surrounding them.

“There we go,” Alex said, striding over to the edge of the platform and dropping down onto the roots. He cast a glance over his shoulder. “What are you all waiting for? We’ve got some enemies to hunt.”

Then he turned and strode down the path. The System had found them the ideal opponents pretty quickly. This next fight was definitely going to be a fun one. It was taking a lot of effort to keep himself from laughing.

It was just about time to get Claire those flowers he’d promised her.