The Island of Wonder

The fight didn't take long to spark. Narakai against the rest of the villagers, the two groups ran at each other with loud shouts and weapons raised high in the air. As the first wave of warriors clashed, the air was pierced by grunts, shrieks of agony, and the clanking of steel.

At first, Nicole stayed behind, unsure if she should join in. She wasn't here to kill Zanokai, but to save Annie. Yet she couldn't force herself to leave now—the strange Pig man seemed too big of a threat to turn away from.

Soi wasn't thinking about those matters for long, sending arrows flying one after another. Meanwhile, Iloe tried throwing her potions, but she was too far to effectively hit anyone, and getting closer would be too much of a risk.

Nicole changed into her bone form and, with her spear in hand, confidently stepped forward. By the new bursts of flames and cries of pain, she didn't have an issue finding Jerar—she wasn't naive enough to go fight the village elder alone.

The Narakai general seemed to have no issues dealing with the regular enemies—the fire breath and sharp sword proved to be enough. He was exchanging hits with one of them as the tip of Nicole's spear went through the Zanokai's knee, pinning him for a second before Jerar's sword ended the villager's life.

Nicole sighed. "How the hell do you cut them so easily? I can't get through their thick skin."

"Hm… I don't know, it's not much harder than usual." The man glanced at his sword and her spear. "Well, just do what you can for now."

"Yeah, sure." As if I could do anything more right now. "Wanna search for the big guy with me?"

With a nod, Nicole and Jerar focused less on fighting and more on scanning the battlefield. After a few minutes, they spotted their target, surrounded by three Narakai. As the two ran closer, they didn't make it in time to help their soldiers. Before Nicole's eyes, a giant meat cleaver slashed one of them, splitting the body in two in one motion. The bloody halves fell on the ground with a thud. It all took just a second before the other two were brutally killed.

As she ran, Nicole dragged her spear against the earth, blue sparks growing bigger. Getting in range, when the man was standing with his side to her, Nicole raised the spear and struck, aiming to hit between the armor pieces. The lightning blinded her, and a sudden explosion sent her flying backward.

Boom!

"Fuck!"

When she looked up, the elder was untouched. Turning to her, he raised one eyebrow.

"What's that? A lightning mosquito?" He chuckled. "Poor you, didn't know that lightning can't hurt me."

"What about fire, then?" she grinned, as Jerar stood behind the man. She saw the general drinking from his bottle and covered her ears again.

The loud roar shook the air again as Nicole watched the tall silhouette being engulfed in bright orange fire. But before she could celebrate, her grin disappeared when the flames died and the Zanokai stood almost unscathed.

"Jerar!"

The girl shouted as the Zanokai turned around and slashed with his cleaver, using the momentum to increase the power. Straining all his muscles, the Narakai man blocked the hit with his sword and stepped out of the cleaver's range. Nicole stood up with a groan, glancing at her spear.

What now? Neither of us can harm the bastard.

A light tap on the shoulder almost made her jump from the coiled tension. Iloe stood behind her.

"Shit, can you not sneak up like that? What if I instinctively attacked you?!"

Iloe held one of her flasks in hand.

"Take this. If you get close enough and throw it at him, it should be enough to get rid of him. But this is the last one. You have one chance."

Iloe, I fucking love you! This shouldn't be too hard now.

With a nod, Nicole snatched the small bottle, holding it tight in her hand.

As they were speaking, Jerar and the Zanokai elder were playing cat and mouse. The tall Pig man was chasing and slashing, while Jerar barely managed to parry or escape. Approaching from the back, Nicole tried to move as quietly as possible. But before she could get in range for a guaranteed hit, the elder noticed her.

"Trying to backstab me, little rat?"

He landed a kick on Jerar, who didn't have a chance to block it with just his sword and was pushed away. Turning around, the Pig man rushed at the girl.

Right! Come here!

The flask with the flesh-corroding liquid flew through the air. Nicole aimed at the head, but a gust of wind changed the trajectory, and the clay broke against the chestplate, spilling everything onto the armor. Nicole stood there, waiting for the effect, and she was lucky it didn't take long, as she was already almost within the elder's cleaver range.

With a sound of metal screeching, she saw the iron plate quickly growing brown with rust and falling apart. Some drops touched the elder's body, and the man roared, tearing the stained and now useless armor off his torso.

"What's this, bitch?!" He took his weapon in two hands. "I was thinking of taking you to my harem later, but it seems you deserve nothing but pain. You know how much that armor cost me?"

"As if I care, dumbass." It worked, yes! Now Jerar should destroy him!

Somehow sensing danger, the Zanokai turned around and stopped the wolf man's attack.

Does this guy have eyes on the back of his head or what?!

She threw a pair of her knives at the man's back, but they just fell with a clank as if they had hit a metal plate.

What now?!

"What are you doing, girl?" the Zanokai chuckled. "What made you think I am just on my second ascension, hm?"

Nicole bit her lip. He reached third?! That's why he is so much harder to kill than the regular ones. Fuck, if we just knew what exactly the Pig ascensions do.

As she tried to think of something, there was no time to waste. She had to help Jerar, at least by taking some of the enemy's attention. Getting closer, she tried poking the Pig man, but the edge of her spear was just unable to do anything.

Clank, clank, clank.

Clank.

Clank, clank.

While exchanging hits, the trio constantly moved around the area. At one point, the Zanokai was standing next to a torch burning brightly on a stick. Nicole noticed that the skin of the village elder was smooth and slightly reflective. When she got an opportunity, she got to Jerar's side.

"I need him to fall to the ground. I have an idea."

"Great, but he weighs more than both of us together. How exactly do you want me to make him fall?"

"I don't know! Just do something!"

Their talk was interrupted by an incoming hit, and they had to part ways to survive.

Think, Nicole, think!

"Aren't you tired yet? There is nothing you can do! Give up and die already!" the elder taunted.

In one jump, she found herself at the side of the Pig man. Just as he was in the middle of a step trying to reach Jerar, Nicole slid the shaft of her spear between the man's legs. With a loud crack, the spear broke in half but did the job—the Zanokai tripped and fell.

Yes!

Nicole picked up the half of the spear with the blade. In her other hand, she had already prepared Iloe's electric oil and poured it over the weapon. The lightning sparks immediately grew stronger, crackling with energy. Holding it in both hands, she raised it and struck the Pig in the back of the neck—where she hoped the skin was thinnest.

He wasn't fully unharmed by my first strike. I just need way more power, and I remember from physics classes that during a storm, if you have no cover, the most dangerous position is laying down!

BOOM!

It felt as if lightning came down from the sky and struck the elder. Nicole was blinded by the white light and all she could hear was ringing in her ears…

She suddenly gasped, sucking in air, already on the ground. Nicole still had a hard time seeing or hearing, her vision blurred. But nonetheless, as she looked at the smoldering body of her enemy, her mind fixated on one thought.

Please don't get up, please don't get up…

The figure nearby—who she guessed to be Jerar—approached and struck the body with a sword, but there was no reaction.

We did it!

Nicole tried to get up, but as she pushed herself up on her arms, they gave out under her weight.

"Aughh!"

A bolt of pain shot through her hands and arms into the rest of her body. Through the blur, she could see her hands were completely red, and any attempt to move even the tiniest muscle brought the pain back. Exhausted, she lay down on the ground. Looking up at the clear night sky and stars, the view was blocked by two heads.

"Nicole, you hear me?!" Iloe was shaking Nicole's shoulders.

"Don't do that, you may hurt her even more!" Jerar shouted at the terrified, sobbing catgirl.

Nicole couldn't hear almost any of it—the ringing was still too strong. Helped up by Iloe, she stood. With her shoulder motioning to her head, she hoped to signal that she couldn't hear them.

"Oh no, your hands!" Iloe clutched Nicole's wrists, below where they were wounded. "I am so sorry, I must have done something wrong with the oil and it turned out too strong!" The catgirl was trembling.

"The good thing is, we won." Jerar looked around at the survivors after the fight as they approached to see what was going on.

Only now did Nicole remember that she could still speak.

"Guys, my head is spinning and I can't hear most of what you're saying."

"Please, don't turn deaf!" Iloe continued to cry.

Wait, where is—

Looking around in panic, Nicole searched the faces to find Soi. When the other catgirl pushed through the gathered crowd toward her, Nicole could breathe again.

"You are in terrible shape, hm?" Soi sighed. "Again, same as with the Beast from the Chasm. Throwing yourself at the enemy…" She hugged Nicole tightly. "Don't risk it like that, please."

"We… we still have work to do." Nicole said, untouched by her friend's words, as she missed most of them.

"She is right," Jerar nodded. "Leave the fighting to us."

* * *

On the edge of the Zanokai village, a long, stable-like building was filled with people in different states—some still managing to breathe, others already dead and rotting. Lying curled on top of a pile of bodies, sleeping through the sounds of the ongoing raid, something stirred at the sudden thunder. The shadow looked up.

"Isn't the sky clear and beautiful tonight?"