Bunny girl evolution 2 a.., p.40
Bunny Girl Evolution 2: A Monster Evolution LitRPG, page 40
He raised his knife and swung it down at her, but this time, paused partway through. At the same moment, he was hit with another wave of pain, but as soon as it vanished, he continued his swing, using {Swift Strike} to accelerate it toward its target. {Swift Strike} was a skill he had learned early in his fighting career, and while it was a simple skill, it was largely because of it that he managed to get as strong as he was. It scaled with Agility, and with his Agility being higher than most 8th tiers’, that meant that his attacks using the skills nearly broke the sound barrier, making them almost impossible to dodge or block. Daisy found this out the hard way as she erected a mana barrier above herself after the blade had already cut a long gash across her body from shoulder to hip.
His vision went white, and he stumbled, but no attack came while he was incapacitated. When his vision cleared, Daisy was standing a few feet back, blood pouring from her torso as she panted. She still wore a confident smile, but after that attack, Hans knew she was putting on a front. Her wounds were temporary, and if given time, she would be able to fully recover without issue, but the prior battle had clearly taken a heavy toll on her. She could not go on forever.
Infused with new hope, Hans rushed forward again. Swinging his knife at her in an upward swing. The wave of pain came again, but Hans expected it. Right before it hit, he let go of his blade, using {Swift Throw} at the same time. His body convulsed, but the knife was undeterred, flying straight forward. She had been smart enough to erect a mana barrier at the same time, but the knife punched through it and into her body, its momentum only slightly reduced.
With another skill, Hans summoned the blade back, making it twist slightly as it emerged from her body. The pain this caused him was immense, and his vision once again went white, but it was well worth it. The pain he felt made Daisy stronger, but with only one opponent, it was not enough to offset the damage he dealt.
In addition, as he fought, Penelope and Jag were on the other side of the room, searching the possessions of the dead guards for the keys to the cells. When his vision cleared again, he saw Daisy looking toward them, clearly wanting to stop them, but Hans never gave her a chance. He attacked again and again, using every trick he knew to catch her off guard. His stats were boosted by a passive skill since he was in a one-on-one battle, making him impossible for her to avoid. She tried her best to use her own tricks to stop him, but as a torturer first, fighter second, she was always one step behind.
The amount of pain Hans was in increased with every strike, but he not only bore with it, but started integrating it into his attacks. He was facing the woman who had tortured him for years, and while she was causing him more pain now, he knew that every bit of pain he felt brought him one step closer to being rid of her for good.
After a minute more of fighting, her body was riddled with wounds, her right arm now also gone below the elbow, and her organs spilling out of her body. Her confident facade was gone, her face pale and haggard. She was on her last legs, and Hans knew it. He rushed forward, hoping to deliver the finishing blow, but she transformed into a mist of blood and drifted past him toward Jag and Penelope, who had now found the keys and were unlocking the first cage.
“Look out!” said Hans as he moved to intercept the vampire.
He tried to blow the blood mist away with his wings, but it kept going forward unimpeded. It flew over a few corpses, absorbing their blood as it went. Jag and Penelope scrambled out of the way, and after a second, the vampire reappeared. Her wounds had healed somewhat from the blood she absorbed, but her face was paler than ever, and there were dark circles under her eyes. While she was a vampire, as far as Hans knew, she had only become one after reaching 8th tier, meaning she only had the most basic of vampiric skills, and she had just pushed them to their limit.
“Come on, darling,” she rasped. “No need to get so fussy.”
She tried smiling at him, but the effect was ruined by the dark circles under her eyes and her obvious lack of energy. Another wave of pain hit Hans, but he was used to it at that point, and soldiered through it, preparing another {Swift Strike} to end her, but his attack merely swished through empty air as his surroundings suddenly shifted.
He was no longer in the room surrounded by prison cells. He was instead in what looked like a torture chamber. It was a dimly lit room lined with tables carrying all manner of disgusting-looking equipment, and a few different types of chairs and tables that he could only imagine the uses for. On the other side of the room, Daisy stood, and she seemed completely unharmed.
“I didn’t want to have to use this,” she said.
She was smiling, and her voice sounded cheerful, but Hans could sense immense rage teeming under the surface. He wanted to attack her immediately, but his instincts told him that she had gotten much more dangerous, and he decided to wait and observe for a bit instead.
“I really, really didn’t want to have to use this,” she continued. “I was saving this for something special. Even the Lady doesn’t know I have it yet. But you’ve forced my hand, darling.”
She spread her arms wide, and the room seemed to come to life. Blades lifted off the table and started spinning. Various belts and ropes and other restraints started writhing, and even the chairs turned toward him, their heavy legs scraping across the stone floor.
“Welcome to my Domain.”
◆◆◆
After Hans and the vampire vanished, Jag and Penelope were left dumbstruck. They had no idea what had happened. All they knew was that there was a flash of mana, and suddenly, their leader and foe were gone. They had thus far freed two prisoners: a hulking human man and a muzzled sphinx.
As the fey and the vampire dueled on the other side of the room, Penelope frantically moved to free as many prisoners as she could. Jag did the same with another ring of keys, but without hands, he had to resort to using {Telekinesis}, which could become a problem, as Penelope knew he didn’t have much mana. The two of them chose different cells and started fumbling through keys until they found the right one.
The first prisoner she freed was a large man rippling with muscles. He was suspended in midair in his cell by thick chains, and Penelope could sense how they drained him of mana. However, when she approached, there was a fire in his eyes as he saw freedom approaching. She noticed a pulley system in the corner that was holding the man aloft, and there was a padlock on it, keeping the chains taut, so she went over to it.
“Do you know someone named Nick?” she asked the man as she tried different keys to unlock his manacles.
“Nick?” asked the man. “The Berserker?”
“Yes,” said Penelope, grimacing at the nickname her friend had been given. “Where is he?”
“In the arena.”
“What?!” she asked.
“He’s the opening event,” the man explained. “I don’t know much else. You his lover or something?”
“Just a friend,” said Penelope.
She finally found the key and used it to undo the lock that kept the chains taut, causing the man to fall to the ground. The same key undid his manacles, and a few seconds later, he was free, rubbing his bruised and bloody wrists. Penelop moved toward the next cell over, but her attention was directed at the sounds of the arena above. She could hear the screams of the crowd as whatever chaos was going on aboveground continued, and at the same time, she worried about Nick. There were other teams in charge of handling the arena, and hopefully, they would save him. However, him being part of the opening act wasn’t in line with the information they had received. She had no idea what their actual orders were or if saving Nick would be a priority.
They had expected things not to go to plan, and they hadn’t, as evidenced by the vampire that Hans fought. Penelope wanted to charge out and help, but she also knew the importance of following orders, and she still had a mission to do. She had to keep the big picture in mind. She would ask Hans, but if he decided that it was a bigger priority to escort the prisoners to safety, she would have no choice but to go along with it.
The fight looked to be about over. It was fairly one-sided, but Penelope was still glad she wasn’t involved. She saw the way all the prisoners screamed in pain whenever the woman got near. Whatever was happening, she wanted no part in it, and since she was only a newly-ascended 6th tier, she didn’t have much chance of being useful. She spared a moment to look over at what she hoped would be the end of the fight, only to see Hans alone and shouting at her and Jag to get out of the way. She grabbed the prisoner and ran away from the approaching cloud of blood mist, and though she managed to get far enough away in time.
39 - Rose Dethorned
The journey to the VVIP booth wasn’t long, but to Elise, it felt like it took years. She had no way to sense how much divine aether she had left, but she knew that freeing Lily had been costly, and that freeing Maia’s sister wouldn’t be any cheaper. Every second of travel was a second the divine aether spent dispersing.
With the help of Lily, they were able to bypass all the checkpoints and guards. Their haste drew some odd and suspicious glances, but with so much other chaos happening around, no one was decisive enough to try to stop them.
Elise pushed her movement speed to its absolute limit, using {Dash} as many times as she could the moment it came off cooldown, all the while cursing her own lack of Agility. It was the highest of her physical stats, but that wasn’t saying much at all. Maia and Lily both had to occasionally stop and wait for her so she didn’t get left behind.
In addition to the concerns about {Rune of Fate} fading out, she was also worried about whether Kaia was even alive. Lily was having memory issues that Elise didn’t doubt were related to being freed, but she still remembered that “Rose” was being used as a decoy. That, combined with the fact that she was up in the VVIP booth where the main targets of Operation Blood would be, did not bode well. There was a very decent chance that she had already been slain by members of Ostra who believed that she was the mastermind behind the Blood Syndicate.
She could tell Maia was having similar thoughts, considering how stressed and jittery she appeared. She was faster than either Elise or Lily and kept rushing ahead, only to be forced to wait for Lily as she encountered a barrier or set of guards. She never voiced her frustration, but Elise could see the desperation in her eyes whenever she turned around.
When they arrived at the booth, they were greeted by a scene of carnage that momentarily froze Elise in her tracks. She had known what the goal of Operation Blood was, and knew exactly what would have been happening in the room before they arrived, but she still failed to fully prepare herself.
There were nearly a hundred corpses strewn about the room in various states of disrepair. Stray limbs and bodies covered nearly every inch of the space, leaving hardly any room to stand. Even worse was the odd lack of blood. Much of the blood from the wounds seemed to have vanished, leaving the grisly details of the victims’ innards on display.
Most of the bodies on the ground were human, but she could see a few demons mixed in, and as she glanced around, she locked eyes with a changeling on the ground. His solid purple eyes lit up when he saw her, and his lips curled up in a light smile, then the strength left his body. He was impaled by the swords of three of the four remaining living people, who all looked in surprise and extreme confusion at Elise’s group.
No one, however, was more confused than the fourth survivor. A quick glance made it obvious that she was the reason the room was oddly lacking in blood, as it flowed into her like she was a vacuum, but Elise’s eyes were drawn to her face. Aside from the two long fangs barely visible in her slightly agape mouth, she looked identical to Maia.
“Kaia!” said Maia, running forward to meet her sister.
Kaia, however, did not respond in kind. Instead, she swung her sword forward, as though trying to behead her doppelganger.
“Stay back!” she said, taking a step back herself.
Even with her limited training in the sword from Penelope, she knew that the strike she had just thrown was beyond sloppy. It was wide and unsteady, and even Elise could see her arm trembling. Despite that, the power that the strike contained was very real, and Maia was not ready for it. Elise’s heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest as she watched Maia nearly get killed, only to be saved by a sudden jet of water summoned by Lily that redirected the sword.
Maia’s eyes widened, and she stopped moving forward. Then, she turned back.
“Elise!” she shouted.
Elise hesitated for a split second, then stepped forward, activating {Charm} and {Fey Bargaining}.
“Kaia!” she said. “I can free you. All you need to do is agree to help us.”
“It’s true!” said Lily. “She already helped me.”
Kaia frantically glanced around the room. She didn’t seem to fully understand what they were saying. She kept glancing at her twin, then toward the doorway behind Elise, as if searching for a way to escape. Elise started panicking as well until her mind settled on a new tactic. She put as much focus as she could into {Suggest}, and thought of the most calming memory she could.
Her time in this world had been anything but calm, and even the brief breaks that she had gotten between crises weren’t truly calm, as there had always been something to stress over. So, she went further back to the time before she was reincarnated. One night in particular came to mind almost immediately.
On Earth, her relationship with her adoptive parents had been anything but harmonious. They were neglectful and uncaring, focusing their attention all on their biological children. Elise had never gotten any recognition for her successes and was scolded greatly for her failures. Growing up, she had identified a lot with a certain bespectacled wizard due to their similar situation. Unfortunately, there was no acceptance letter to a magic school to save her from her childhood.
For years, she was forced to endure, working hard to not get punished while keeping her head down so as not to interfere with her cousins. Then, in her senior year of high school, salvation finally arrived. After countless hours of work to maintain her GPA, and even more spent on various extracurricular activities, she had earned a full-ride scholarship to a good university.
That day had been the happiest day of her life, but the calmest came a few months later when her first semester of college drew near. She moved into her dorm on the first day possible, bringing everything she owned, which wasn’t much. As soon as she was settled in, she promptly blocked her aunt and uncle on every device, locked the door, closed the blinds, lay down on her bed, and for the first time she could remember, she finally relaxed.
As soon as she recalled that night, she knew it was the perfect memory for the scenario. On top of the pure calm and relaxation she felt, there was also a hint of freedom. The freedom of no longer being under the control of people who didn’t have her best interests at heart. The freedom of finally being able to choose her own fate. The freedom that hopefully Kaia was about to experience.
When the {Suggest} hit, there was a visible change in Kaia’s demeanor. Her arms stopped trembling, and for a moment, the panic in her eyes was replaced with joyful serenity. That didn’t last long, and her mood soon turned more normal, but it was clear Elise’s {Suggest} had worked.
“Please,” said Elise. “Just agree to help, and you’ll be free.”
Kaia hesitated for just a moment, and everyone in the room held their breath. Then she nodded.
The second she nodded, Elise felt the cold grip on her heart, followed by the disappearance of the divine aether. She felt {Rune of Fate} deactivate, and the gold glow of her wings vanished, replaced by the usual soft silver.
At the same time, Kaia doubled over. She had opened her mouth to say something, probably voicing her affirmation, but all that came out was blood. At first, Elise was not concerned, since Lily had done the same thing. However, Kaia did not get back up. Instead, she fell to her knees, vomiting more blood as her face turned as white as a sheet.
◆◆◆
In Freddy’s office at the Ostra headquarters, three people sat. The first was the owner of the office himself, Freddy. He was sitting at his desk, leaning forward with his hands clasped and elbows on the table. His usual smile was gone, replaced by a serious expression.
The second was Rayna, lying down on one of the couches, swirling a wine glass in one hand while making mana doodles with her finger in the air above her. After a few seconds, she finished her artwork, a white rabbit with fiery red eyes. She looked at her handiwork and smiled, then tilted her head back until it was upside down, hanging off the edge of the couch, so she could look at Freddy.
“Worried about your pet?” she asked.
“This is no time for joking around, Rayna,” he said sternly.
“Why not?”
Freddy fixed her with an angry glare.
“Don’t test my patience,” he said. “You’ve already made this mission far harder than it needed to be.”
“And much more interesting,” she replied. “You just wanted a boring, regular old criminal organization to take out for publicity. Sure, it would have worked, but isn’t it better now? A ruthless slave trader group run by powerful vampires was vanquished by a group of benevolent and altruistic monsters, proving that not only do they care for the greater good, but they are also willing to go against their own kind if necessary. That’s way better, isn’t it, Fi?”
“Yes,” replied the room’s third occupant without looking up.
Firona was sitting on the couch opposite Rayna, poring over an array of papers covered in ever-changing words. Occasionally, she would summon a quill from thin air and write a quick response before returning to mere observation.
“See?” said Rayna.
“But it also made it incredibly difficult to get the narrative right,” continued Firona. “Even then, we’ve somewhat failed. At least a quarter of our members are suspicious of you right now. I’m sure a good portion of them are more or less spot-on with their guesses of what’s happening. The end results will be good, but we will need to run damage control for decades to keep your level of involvement under wraps.”
