Chapter 315: Lupina’s Trauma
Immediately behind Vala, the rest of the Blessed Land’s Vanguard arrived.
The heavy Shieldmaidens, led by Brida and Gunnhild, slammed their iron tower shields into the enemy line, while Rowenna and the mages unleashed elemental volleys from behind as the two armies collided in a full-blown chaotic melee battle.
CRUNCH! KABAM!
"Haaaaah!"
Gunnhild... the muscular Shieldmaiden sprinted straight into a clump of three heavy armored guards
She reached out with her bare leather-gloved right hand, grabbing one six-foot male soldier by his ankle.
"Hehe~ Hold on tight!"
With a roar of pure physical power, Gunnhild effortlessly lifted the entire 250-pound armored man up into the air with one hand, swinging his body like a heavy iron club and slamming him directly into his two comrades.
"AGH!"
BAM!
All three men crashed hard into the mud with their armor denting violently as they groaned in agony.
SWISH!
From Gunnhild’s right side, an enemy infantryman swung a heavy halberd toward her ribs.
’I’m grateful to my Lord for upgrading me... or else I wouldn’t be able to have such fun.’
Gunnhild didn’t even draw her weapon... she simply executed a nimble backward leap, dodging the blade by an inch.
As her boots touched down, she spun her body around, landing a devastating, lightning-fast reverse side-kick directly into the back of a female guard’s head.
THWACK!
The female guard’s helmet flew off with her body tumbling across the grass before coming to a halt.
Gunnhild rolled her neck, calling out over the roaring sounds of clashing steel to the surrounding Vanguard women.
"Remember the order, girls! We don’t need to kill the women! They’re going to be our sisters in the future once our Lord takes this land!"
SWISH!
At that exact second, another female guard from The Unmovable Wall charged straight at Gunnhild, screaming a battle cry with her shortsword raised.
Gunnhild didn’t draw a blade. She simply planted her back boot and delivered a powerful, forward push-kick into open air.
BOOM!
A concentrated projectile of compressed wind magic shot out from the sole of Gunnhild’s boot, striking the charging female guard squarely in her chest plate.
The wind pressure rattled the guard’s armor, blasting her fifteen feet backward into the mud, dazing her completely without crushing her ribs.
Gunnhild smirked, her red eyes gleaming as she added loudly.
"...Though, of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t beat them up a little!"
Gunnhild ducked under a flying spear, looking up toward the higher command decks of The Unmovable Wall.
’We need to deal with their Heroes...’ Gunnhild thought internally, evaluating the flow of the battle. ’...But I’ll leave those high-tier duels to the girls at the top.’
Far across the clearing, Lord Sky stood on his command deck, watching the Vanguard’s bizarre combat behavior through his helmet’s zoom lenses.
His black eyes narrowed in real-time tactical analysis.
’They’re holding back their lethal strikes against my female soldiers...’ Sky realized, his stomach twisting. ’They’re deliberately using non-lethal shoves, wind-pushes, and blunts... because they intend to recruit them into their territory after this war is over!’
The arrogant confidence of the Blessed Land was astounding. But Sky wasn’t going to let them treat his troops like future captives.
Sky turned around, looking down at his remaining female combatants with his audio transmitter projecting a stern urgent order.
"ALL FEMALE UNITS! DO NOT HOLD BACK! GO AS HARD AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN! THEY ARE NOT SPARING YOU OUT OF MERCY... THEY ARE TESTING YOUR RESOLVE! SHOW THEM THE MIGHT OF THE UNMOVABLE WALL!"
"YES, MY LORD!" the female guards roared back with their morale reigniting as they charged into the fray with renewed fury.
Sky turned his head toward the back of his command deck, locking his eyes onto the two female Heroes standing in reserve... Lupina, the silver-haired wolf-girl, and Morrighan, the tall horned demonic caster.
Sky’s voice softened slightly, carrying genuine respect as he addressed them.
"Lupina. Morrighan. As per our terms, both of you are slated to be transferred to the Blessed Land once this war concludes if they win but while you still stand under my banner today... take this opportunity to step onto that field and take down a few of Blessed Land’s women!"
Lupina and Morrighan looked at each other for a brief second.
Lupina’s wolf ears twitched against her silver hair, while Morrighan’s long spade tail swished slowly behind her mythril armor, her molten gold eyes glowing with quiet resolve.
Both women turned toward Sky, bowing their heads in unison.
"We will, Lord Sky," They replied.
BOOM!
Lupina didn’t wait a single second.
"I’m going first!" Lupina barked out, her wild wolf instincts taking total control.
She dropped down onto all fours, her hands and boots striking the iron ramp as she sprinted across the battlefield like a feral beast with her long silver hair trailing wildly in the wind behind her and her throat venting a low aggressive wolf growl.
GRRRRRRRR!
Lupina closed the distance to the frontline in a flash of grey speed.
As she charged, memories of her previous humiliation flashed through her mind... she could still vividly feel the phantom ache in her jaw from the brutal reverse heel-kick Tasmin had delivered to her face not too ago.
’I’m not weak!’ Lupina growled in her thoughts, her three-inch steel claw gauntlets extending with sharp clicks. ’I am a Hero of The Unmovable Wall! I’ll prove my worth on this field!’
Lupina locked her eyes onto the very first Blessed Land Shieldmaiden in her path... a tall heavily armored Vanguard woman holding an adamantine broadsword.
"You will do nicely..."
Lupina launched herself off all fours, tackling the Vanguard woman mid-stride!
The Vanguard Shieldmaiden reacted with terrifyingly fast instincts.
She twisted her body sideways, letting Lupina’s tackle graze past her shoulder, and immediately counter-attacked with a swift, powerful front kick aimed straight for Lupina’s stomach.
"Not so fast."
CLANG!
Lupina whipped her right arm down, using her steel claw gauntlet to parry the boot away.
Lupina’s wolf ears flattened against her skull as sheer disbelief shocked her mind.
’What the hell are these people made of?!’ Lupina thought frantically. ’She reacted to my mid-air tackle without even blinking!’
It was almost as if she was used to this kind of thing and wait, wasn’t she just a regular Troop? Who was the person that said a Troop and a Hero wasn’t the same thing?
Refusing to back down, Lupina spun her body mid-air, driving a heavy full-force kick straight into the Vanguard woman’s face.
THWACK!
Lupina’s boot connected flush against the shieldmaiden’s cheek.
"Ghk-!"
...However, the Vanguard woman didn’t fall.
She literally ate the kick with her neck flexing as she absorbed the impact, and immediately swung her broad left fist flat into Lupina’s ribs.
BAM!
"UGHHH!" Lupina gasped with the physical blow knocking the wind clean out of her lungs!
At that exact second, a male guard from The Unmovable Wall rushed in from the side, swinging his broadsword to attack the woman.
"Heh... what amazing timing."
The shieldmaiden didn’t flinch.
She reached out with her bare hands, grabbing the male guard by his hair with her right hand and grabbing Lupina by the back of her neck with her left hand.
’N–no, don’t you da—’
KABAM!
The Vanguard woman forcefully smashed their heads together with terrifying physical power.
CRACK!
"EEEE!" Lupina let out a sharp painful wolf cry as her forehead slammed violently against the male guard’s iron helmet.
The male guard dropped instantly into the mud, completely knocked cold with blood streaming from his nose.
Lupina staggered backward, her vision spinning with bright stars, clutching her bruised forehead as her wolf ears twitched in agony.
The Shieldmaiden looked down at the unconscious male guard, then turned her eyes to Lupina, offering a calm reassuring smile.
"Don’t worry, little wolf... you’ll soon be our sister once the war is over—"
"SHUT UP!" Lupina shrieked in a frenzy.
Driven by panicked survival instinct, Lupina crossed her arms and raked her three-inch steel claws straight across the Vanguard woman’s chest plate at blinding speed.
CRUNCH!
The lethal steel claws caved in the adamantine armor, tearing through the fabric beneath and slicing deep lacerations across the woman’s stomach.
"Ugh!"
A thick spray of crimson blood splashed across the grass as the Vanguard woman gasped, staggering backward and falling over onto her knees.
’I shouldn’t have left my guard down at all...’
Lupina panicked with her wolf ears flat, as she executed three rapid backward leaps to create distance while panting heavily.
"Hah... Hah... I didn’t mean that..."
Running up from behind, Morrighan stopped beside the fallen woman.
’I see so she’s part of Blessed Land, isn’t she?’
This was a human, it was a shame that Blessed Land didn’t have any demon which she could check out.
Morrighan’s molten gold eyes looked down at the spreading puddle of crimson blood around the woman’s stomach.
Morrighan felt a sudden pang of guilt... this was one of Lord Vespera’s people.
’I...’
...However, before Morrighan could cast a dark stabilization spell...
A bright emerald-green light suddenly erupted from the woman’s chest armor.
The deep bloody lacerations across the woman’s stomach sealed up in a fraction of a second.
The severed muscle fibers reattached, the torn skin closed, and the bleeding stopped entirely.
The woman pushed herself up from the mud, wiping blood from her lips, as she muttered with a dry irritated scoff.
"Damn wolves... that claw hurt. It won’t be my first time though."
Morrighan stood frozen on the grass, her molten gold eyes wide in shock as she stared at the woman’s completely unblemished stomach.
’Is... is she truly blessed...?’ Morrighan thought, her heart trembling as Vespera’s iconic words echoed in her soul.
Meanwhile, Lupina continued her wild sprint across the chaotic battlefield.
She didn’t want to waste any more time dealing with frontline Shieldmaidens.
She wanted to prove her strength and to show that she wasn’t just a weakling who got knocked out in one kick.
SWISH!
Another female soldier sprinted toward her with a shortsword.
"Hey you!"
Lupina dropped low, driving an explosive front kick squarely into the soldier’s abdomen.
BOOM!
"Ugh!"
The shockwave generated by Lupina’s beast-kin mana was immense, blasting the soldier thirty feet straight into the air.
Before the soldier could land, another woman lunged from the left.
"Hmph! Why are all of you trying to grab me, perverts?!"
Lupina flipped mid-air, landing lightly on the woman’s shoulders, and executed a swift leg-sweep that crashed the woman face-first into the dirt.
’That’s the second, hopefully there aren’t mor—’
A third guard thrust a broadsword toward Lupina’s throat.
Lupina skipped backward, her claws ringing against the steel blade.
CLANG!
Sparks came to life but Lupina managed to gain the upper hand by pushing the sword aside, and delivering a swift side-kick that sent the guard tumbling away.
"Ugh! Fuck you!"
Lupina landed on all fours, panting heavily with her wolf ears twitching as she raised her head to scan the clearing...
...And her entire body went completely rigid.
Fifty yards away, standing amidst a swirling vortex of pitch-black void smoke... was Tasmin.
Tasmin was casually walking through a group of five heavy guards, her crimson eyes glowing with cold dominance as thick shadowy tendrils erupted from her back, impaling and tossing enemy soldiers like ragdolls.
THUMP-THUMP.
Lupina’s heart hammered violently against her ribs. Cold paralyzing terror seized her soul.
Her wolf tail tucked tightly between her legs, her jaw throbbing with phantom pain as memories of Tasmin’s brutal reverse heel-kick flooded her mind.
’I...’
The aura radiating off the S-Rank Shadow Commander was suffocating. It felt like she was going to die...
’No...’ Lupina thought, her teeth clenching as tears of frustration welled in the corners of her eyes. ’I can’t keep running! I can’t keep hiding like a scared puppy! Lord Vespera is watching this stream... I have to face my fears!’
Lupina swallowed her panic, her wolf ears pinning back as she forced her trembling legs forward, accelerating into a full sprint straight toward Tasmin.
SWISH!
Suddenly, out of nowhere—
A dark figure skidded smoothly into the grass directly blocking Lupina’s path.
Fenna lowered her composite longbow, her hazel eyes locking onto Lupina’s face behind her traveler’s hood.
"I cannot allow you to go any further," Fenna spoke calmly with her voice steady.
Lupina skidded to a halt with her wolf claws extended and her eyes darting suspiciously to the master sniper.
’A ploy...?’ Lupina thought frantically. ’Is she trying to protect her Commander?!’
...However, looking into Fenna’s eyes, Lupina realized Fenna was serious.
Fenna glanced over her shoulder for a brief microsecond, watching Tasmin mercilessly impale guards with shadow tendrils.
Fenna knew the internal territory roster... Lupina was one of the two Heroes pledged to join the Blessed Land after the war.
If Lupina recklessly charged into Tasmin’s dark kill-zone right now in her current state, Tasmin’s automated shadow tendrils might accidentally slay her before anyone could stop it.
And if Lupina died here, what was the point of moving forward with Lord Sky’s transfer agreement in her case? They had to ask for another person?
Fenna turned her gaze back to Lupina, letting out a soft, quiet sigh beneath her hood.
’Again...?’ Fenna thought inwardly with her mind feeling mildly exhausted by the endless series of unnecessary duels. ’I really didn’t want to engage in a full battle when it isn’t strictly needed.’
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Lupina roared, throwing away all caution.
BOOM!