Rachel smoothly jumped over the wave Selvaria created, using the wall to delay enough to flip back to the floor; Anthony helped keep Zoe stable as many of the soldiers braced however they could. Scarlet remained on her blood disk, hovering a little above them while appraising the Leviathan Mythickin.
[Level Up - Level 5]
Everyone cursed while trying to recover as best they could as the turbulent—now decently drained—pool sloshed around, occasionally spilling over the edges again; Selvaria’s acrobatics had surprised them all, but it was impressive to Rachel that the woman could propel herself so quickly.
The sea dragon managed her completely dry black, turquoise-highlighted hair while glancing between them. “So… there are more toad people, right; they are the bad guys? Oh, I leveled, too. Level 3, baby. I skipped a whole level; that guy must have been strong.”
“They are,” Rachel said, confirming both of her statements and pulling the woman’s smile; however, her head shifted to the left as she heard the aliens slow their pace. “Let’s recover for a bit… The others know their friend is dead; they’re probably going to take a more cautious approach—shit.”
Zoe clasped onto Anthony’s wrist as he tried to pull away after supporting the girl, big eyes looking up at him—the legend’s makeup had come off. “What was your girlfriend’s name again?”
Rachel moved to pull the enthralled cat girl off of Anthony as she tried to flirt, the man snarling at how annoying the cursed beauty mark was.
Selvaria and Scarlet watched the exchange in bewilderment—the Leviathan apparently unaffected by the mark—as Anthony went to the green berets to get anything they might have to cover the mark below his eyes, which came in the form of smeared black face paint. On the plus side, the military stuff was water and insect-proof.
Now that they had a moment to rest, Rachel chuckled while drawing Zoe back, protesting that she was charmed. “Right, right, you just want to help him out of his shirt so he doesn’t get sick,” she snickered.
“Totally! No, you don’t get it—we don’t know how stuff affects Legendkin, and don’t tell me you don’t want to see him shirtless—I know you do!”
Rachel felt embarrassed for the magically-influenced girl, knowing she’d likely drop dead in the pool once she got her wits about her, and, sure enough, the moment the charm dissipated, the cat girl was crying into her chest.
“I didn’t say that—it’s not my fault! No-ho-ho… I just want to die in a hole!”
“There, there… we all understand,” Rachel soothed, knowing it must have been challenging to not be in control of your thoughts or emotions; it truly was a devilish curse upon women, and luckily on a man that would happily remove it if he could. “You’re fine.”
The soldiers swiftly branched out to cover every opening, including vents and pipes, as Mateo came over to get updates from her while she comforted the teenage girl.
“What are they doing?”
Rachel’s ears tilted to the left, eyes narrowing while Zoe collected herself and pulled away. “They are meeting on the third floor… near the library. Why?”
Mateo glanced at one of his men nearby, who was relaying critical information they talked about through the radio; it was a little hard considering the echo in the large space.
“They could be regrouping and studying the areas their comrade fought to better gauge what kind of threat we are. Their position also indicates they can track where their other members have been.”
“It certainly could be,” Rachel whispered, still listening to their movements, yet not one of them made a sound other than walking. “I think they can communicate in another way since they aren’t making any noises.”
Oliver—the special forces man that went to check Vincent’s condition—hovered nearby, nodding and offering his own thoughts. “I’ve heard of animals that could communicate through smell or odor; toads also secrete toxins through their skins… Learned it on a late-night channel,” he added at some of their looks.
“Keep reporting their movements,” Mateo ordered her before moving to further set up defensive positions and areas to protect themselves against the aliens’ weapons; it showed Rachel the officer was becoming more comfortable relying on her, which was her hope, considering her civilian status.
The various military squads, from the green berets to the coast guard, were organized in a way so their backs could be covered; with how fast and unusual the aliens’ attack patterns were, they had to cover all angles.
Rachel complied, but there wasn’t much she could report as the toads hovered between the hallway she’d faced the alien in and the classroom where it had fought Scarlet’s blood; she had to curb her internal displeasure at being so helpless in the situation.
Selvaria walked forward to talk to Scarlet and Zoe, getting further acquainted with them and asking them surprisingly odd questions, given their situation, such as if the vespertine reaper liked to cosplay; some of the men chuckled at the topic, reasoning it was a way for the Leviathan to break the ice, which could certainly be the case.
Rachel’s mind was a buzz of speculations and realizations that came with her level, which Anthony seemed to have noticed since he was already entering the meditative state; it was a luxury she couldn’t perform due to being the only one who could keep the aliens under surveillance.
Mateo is right… they’re gathering information on how their teammate died rather than rushing right at us like mindless animals. I can practically see them examining the damage done to the walls by the needles and seeing the blood of their friend.
One turned to sand, following the same path as the first alien they’d met to the first floor, where it stopped to examine the severed arm, while the others surprisingly walked further down the hall to the classroom where the dead cult woman still lay.
She could hear the coast guard soldiers wanting to storm the area in force to finish the task quickly, but the issue was they were too mobile to engage in close proximity without preparation—they had to wait for them to attack—unfortunately, a new piece of information changed the name of the game.
Ears and head darting to the left, she heard another rustle of sand from the dorm room she’d heard them appear from earlier; another had appeared.
“Mateo!” His hard eyes snapped to her with everyone else present besides Anthony. “Another one came from the dorm I told you about; the Crystal the soldier mentioned may only allow a certain number of them through, or there may be some kind of restriction—at least, I hope there is. We need to destroy them.”
The Lieutenant relayed the information, and, luckily, through the military radios and people finding them to call for help, the coast guard was quickly discovering the small satellite Crystals across the campus and surrounding neighborhoods; they’d discovered four so far and were mobilizing to take them out. A fifth was soon discovered in another pond by the glow.
The green berets vehicle unit outside was already jumping in their hummer to reach the furthest one in the dorm, armed with C4 and, if necessary, an RPG to take out the room; Lt. Thompson ordered them to, in his words, blow the damn building up after Rachel confirmed she couldn’t hear anyone else hiding inside the place.
However, while everyone was mobilizing, Rachel’s attention was snatched by the toads upstairs as the fifth joined them, stealthily bypassing the mobilizing soldiers outside to join his comrades; they were now all congregating in the room with the strange symbols, written in blood and a sudden thought crossed her mind.
What if the woman wasn’t leaving a message to us; could she know their language? If those symbols were actually meant for them… It could be a warning about me; I’m the anomaly to the cult’s plan.
The military was already setting up focused explosives by the vents that could be remotely detonated, but Rachel was now thinking of a new plan.
“Mateo… What if I told you I had a way to kill these aliens without anyone else dying?”
“Hmm.” Eyes narrowing, the man glared in her direction. “By your tone, it’s not without its risks. What crazy plan are you thinking about?”
Taking a deep breath, Rachel hoisted herself up, wincing at the screams her muscles sent her; she was not in any shape to fight these creatures. She frowned while rotating her shoulders and approaching the group again, staring at Selvaria; the woman was hiding something.
“Selvaria, turn around.”
“Huh? Why… Is there a secret code or something?” she asked with a forced grin. “I can go to the wall and look away…” Rachel spun her fingers around, making the girl sigh and comply. “It isn’t even bad; I’m totally invincible, I said!”
Moving aside the girl’s long, ink-black hair with its shimmering streaks of light blue, Rachel revealed a patch of plated scales along the spine on the back of her natural bra; a small patch was unprotected that revealed a light cut with sticky, azure-colored blood. She did notice damage to the makeshift bra on Selvaria’s back the woman was trying to hide. Rachel had noticed the plates falling with her back to the pool.
“Luckily, it wasn’t the needles but its daggers,” Rachel warned, letting the woman groan and pull away, rubbing her neck and glaring at the ground. “They flared for half a second, and it wasn’t a coincidence where it struck; the toad was trying to paralyze you.”
Zoe ducked to the Leviathan’s back again, staying clear of her agitated and deadly tail to examine the area again. “Ouch! Yeah, let’s get that covered.”
“I’m fine,” Selvaria groaned, arms crossing under her bust. “I have really good resistances and defenses—it’s my specialty—I even took bullets from that thing,” she huffed, pointing at the fifty-caliber turret.
Rachel snickered. “Stop the cap, Selvaria, I get you want to be a heroine, and you’ve done a great job taking out one of the aliens. We need to fight smarter, though, not cooler.”
“Can’t we do both?” Selvaria grumbled, shoulders sinking as a coast guard medic cautiously approached to dress the wound.
“Sure,” she returned. “You can protect everyone here in case I’m wrong.”
“About what?” Scarlet hesitantly asked, hopping down to glare at the blood entering her body. “There’s no way you can fight these things.”
Rachel flashed her teeth while bringing everyone’s focus to the suddenly self-conscious vespertine reaper.
“What? No… Me? I’m so unstable and, heh, dangerous that I don’t want to let my blood do anything at all.” She jabbed her finger at the crimson liquid entering her skin with disdain. “It may have looked like I was just sitting pretty up there, but I was a freaking hostage; it wouldn’t let me go until just now!”
Mateo worked around his jaw. “Scarlet’s not wrong; her abilities are very unstable, much of which appears to be out of her control.”
“I get that,” Rachel sighed; she hadn’t realized the girl was stuck on the disk, but it didn’t change her plan. “The aliens seem to be reading a message the cultist left behind.”
Scarlet sucked in her bottom lip, grasping her head and walking away while hissing, “No way! Mrs. Peck was talking to aliens, too?! No! No-haha. No, this—this can’t be happening… Why is this happening to me?”
“Scarlet… Scarlet,” Rachel repeated, slowly moving forward to take her arm and keep her focus as her shoulders and bottom lip began to tremble. “I get that your entire life is crashing around you… I can’t know how hard it is, but I know it must feel so unfair.”
“What am I supposed to do?” she wept, bloody tears leaking from her eyes as everyone backed away; caution was even more advised given what they’d learned happened to the toad with his infected arm. “I’m trying—I’m trying so hard to keep it under control—to not listen to Scarlet! She’s evil! She’s so evil! All she keeps telling me to reap souls—drink blood… to kill! I don’t want to! I don’t!”
Nodding and tightening her grip around the girl’s quaking hands, Rachel’s heart went out to the teenager; Scarlet hadn’t asked for any of this power that most would probably jump at. Rachel knew she couldn’t understand the weight she carried in her soul or the trauma she felt.
“Remember, I told you I would help you with your powers… Do you trust me?”
“Haha! I just barely met you!” Scarlet laughed, blue eyes closing. “I don’t know… I’m so scared of myself… I don’t trust myself, so how can I trust you?!”
It was a fair point, Rachel had to admit; how to overcome it, though?
“Faith.”
“What?” Scarlet asked, vision opening and forehead furrowing.
“Faith isn’t just belief,” Rachel said, squeezing her fingers and smiling as she repeated a line from a workout motivational video; although, in the actual video, there was a lot of screaming and cursing to push you past your normal reps. “Faith is an action—a garden doesn’t just grow because you believe it will…
“You have to prepare the field, plant the seeds of faith, and do the work…” Rachel lifted the emotional girl’s hands to keep her attention. Really, she was just BSing her way through it in the first way that popped into her head; it kind of fit. “I have faith in you, so will you help me plant the seeds so you can see why I have that trust?”
Scarlet gradually returned to a more rational state. “You… want me to save everyone… but what if I make everything worse? I always make everything worse.”
“Prove me wrong,” she beamed, making Scarlet laugh at her insane take.
“You want me, hehe… to prove you wrong when I think I’ll kill everyone? You really are crazy, Rachel!”
“Haha. Recently, I think I may be a bit crazy, too! A mad hatter, huh?” she snickered, bringing the girl’s mind to a place that would probably make her laugh more, which succeeded.
“I really hope you’re right… Let’s hope this isn’t Alice: Overwhelming Madness, right?”
Rachel’s mind blanked. “Uh… I don’t know what that is.”
“Booo!” Zoe called out from behind Selvaria. “It’s a super spooky take on Alice in Wonderland game—a classic.”
The lighter mood and added comments from the cat girl and Selvaria—who was apparently somewhat versed in games, as well, although more the ‘wholesome’ kind, as she called them—Rachel managed to help Scarlet past another hurdle; she was making progress, and it appeared that the toads were being far more cautious after one of the aliens returned with the infected arm.
Mateo sighed as the environment calmed down, pondering Rachel’s approach; the coast guard fidgetted at Scarlet’s emotional outburst, unsure if they should take any sort of action.
“I admit, you do have courage, girl, and with more than a few screws loose, but you haven’t told us your plan or why the aliens haven’t gotten to us yet… Are you saying the toads are reading that cultist’s ramblings on killing you, telling them how to take you out, and your plan is to lure them in so Scarlet’s blood will do the work?”
Rachel shrugged, Zoe’s eyes going big at the reveal as Anthony got up and listened in. “Not entirely, but the general gist of the idea. I don’t think Scarlet can kill them without me dying.”
Scarlet tensed up. “Wait, really?”
“Hehe. No. A single one, who, might I add, was caught off-guard, managed to almost get to us through your blood field, despite the dangers, much less five who have warning and are cautious. However… what if we were able to help you have more control over your powers and strengthen them?”
Zoe’s ears flicked up, eyes shimmering with excitement. “Training montage? Wait, eh… no, that’d take too long… Really! Like… really?!”
Anthony joined them, wearing a grin with black cat whiskers for face paint that made Zoe glare at him. “Hehe. I couldn’t help it. So, Rachel’s planning to teach Scarlet about upgrading her Feats—let me tell you, Level 5 is no joke—really interesting stuff.”
Rachel brushed away any follow-ups. “We’re running out of time. While they’re debating amongst themselves regarding the message and Scarlet’s blood rose infection, we’ll get Selvaria and you up to speed on upgrading your System. This is all you, Scarlet, and I trust you to handle this—no problem.”
“Yeah, you’re OP, girl!” Zoe chimed.
Selvaria gave an impressed thumbs up to Scarlet. “Blood rose infection? Nice.”
Anthony followed the Leviathan’s gesture to not butt in.
“Hehe.” Scarlet rubbed her already clear cheeks, tears soaked back into her body. “You’re all insane… but if—if I can help… I’ll do my best!”
Rachel shot a look at the calculating military man, who seemed to be weighing the odds; nearly a hundred students and citizens had already been killed by the aliens while hundreds more were injured, either by other humans or self-inflicted. The question was, did he trust her after everything she’d demonstrated thus far?
“Huu-haaa… Ugh. If you can pull this off, I’m sure you’ll get your private meeting with Lt. Thompson… If anything, to identify how mad you are. You’ll take a radio that’s toggled on so we can listen.”
“Just in case we fail. Haha.” Rachel’s teeth flashed in an innocent smile, ears bowing a tad. “I’ll take that as a yes; the operation is on, girl,” she said, making Scarlet groan and rub her face.
Rachel guided a nervous Scarlet to a sitting position as Selvaria joined them, likely wanting to be a part of the club, and they walked them through the process as the military listened; it wasn’t the time to hold such secrets, besides, it gave her further validity.
It was a little surprising when the blood dome encircled the vamp-girl as she entered the trance-like state, protecting her and making Rachel a little jealous, but it had been a success. Settling beside the rippling liquid, she debated going under to check out her own Feats and changes after what Anthony said, yet, begrudgingly, decided she couldn’t take the chance of the aliens moving in while she was in the unprotected state—it would have to wait.
The operation to destroy the smaller Crystals was mostly being handled by the coast guard, and they prepared to time each one to be detonated at once in case those on the other side decided to rush through with an army.
Rachel’s head tilted to the side while listening to the aliens point or slide their fingers across the whiteboard on specific places, likely for emphasis, their soft actions giving her the impression they were puzzling through something. It wasn’t long until they were on the hunt again, alarming her; their target wasn’t the pool.
“I think they’re returning to the Crystals—they’re leaving the building?!”
Mateo swiftly called it in as Scarlet’s blood field fell, snatching all of their attention; Scarlet wore a small smile as the liquid flowed around her.
“I understand,” she giggled, rising to her feet and holding out her hand for a sphere of crimson liquid to gather in her palm. “I get it… I’m the markings of the terrified’s fears… Life’s twilight that eclipses champions slain.”
“Scarlet?” Rachel asked; naturally, that kind of awakening would cause a few people to give her misgiving looks. “What did you learn; did you upgrade your Feats?’
She blinked, blue eyes defocusing before looking up at her. “I did! Yeah, you helped me so much, Rachel. It’s so… different from what I thought. Thank you!”
Okay, could this sound less villain-like? Rachel internally groaned, seeing how everyone was fidgeting at her words.
“Hu-huh?” Her gut tightened as the girl’s blood drew her into a hug. “What’s up?”
When she pulled away, her irises glowed with ruby light. “I am the Blood Red Rose! Scarlet isn’t here to make me kill good people, and I shouldn’t hold down what’s inside of me… I just need to direct it… Like when you felt like everyone would die and ran ahead!”
“I’m not follow—”
Without warning, she was enveloped in shadows, leaving everyone speechless and Rachel wondering if she’d made a horrible mistake; yet, the threads of misfortune were now entirely in her favor as they wrapped around the toad’s throats—the vespertine reaper had found her prey.
One by one, Rachel heard the rushing sands meet the laughing raven-haired girl as cutting air sounded; it all happened in less than thirty seconds as she transported herself through shadows to intercept and eviscerate the aliens, seemingly unable to hide from her fiendish eyes.
Mateo’s mouth was slack, looking to her for answers, yet Rachel didn’t know what else to tell him—he’d seen it for himself—she was going full-on reaper, talking about Blood Red Roses and being life’s twilight or something along those lines. Perhaps this was what the cult was afraid she’d do in helping the girl.
“Scarlet’s… killing them all.”
Radio rising to his mouth, Mateo yelled, “Execute operation—I repeat—execute operation!”
Lt. Thompson repeated the order, and Rachel’s ears drooped back as explosions sounded all around them; all five Crystals had been destroyed, reports flying in from the soldiers outside.
“Target neutralized!”
“Targets sending light into the sky!”
“Main Crystal shattered—the dome’s down—we’re back, boys!”
“Let’s go!”
“A tale to tell the kids, Boyd!”
“That’s what I’m sayin’!”
“Damn straight! Alien toads?”
“You didn’t even see one, Tony!”
“Shut the hell up and let me enjoy this!”
Cheers sounded all around campus, but Mateo’s focus was still on her with the tense green berets, wondering if Scarlet would become their next calamity.
“Well?”
Rachel shook her head. “Four down—she’s on the last inside a building, but all the noise is making it hard to follow,” she groaned, rubbing her head as a migraine formed; her body was already shot and didn’t want to move. “I think… Scarlet! Hehe. Hey… Y-You okay?”
[Level Up - Level 6]
Utterly stunned by the sudden jump in EXP, Rachel blinked as dark mist collected to reveal the grinning girl holding a scythe of crystal-like blood; gashes and cuts marred her skin and clothes that were littered with the signs of a battle for such a short interval.
“Oh, yeah! I’ve never felt… better…”
Her sky-blue eyes returned, before suddenly rolling back; Rachel winced while jumping forward to catch her, yet her legs gave out, and she found herself on the ground, head spinning. The past hours seemed to take their toll all at once, as she suddenly felt so much weaker, and it was getting worse.
Anthony appeared to have swept the girl off her feet, blood melting to crawl back into her body as he turned her away.
“Whoops! Hehe. Faceplant much?”
“Ugh… thanks for the support,” Rachel grumbled, trying to collect herself.
“Anytime! Looks like our cute and creepy assassin is out for the count,” he strained a laugh while examining the shimmering red light that shone through her wounds; they weren’t healing. “Uh… Is she going to be okay?”
“Probably?” Rachel theorized, shifting to her back with a groan. “Maybe she needs blood to restore herself?”
Selvaria leaned to the side to peer around the soldiers, tail swaying back and forth. “Spooky. I like her. We should all team—eh, you guys get those levels?”
Zoe cheered, jumping up and down with squeals of excitement. “Scarlet was on our side, or we wouldn’t be sharing her EXP! Confirmation!”
Rachel hadn’t even made that connection yet—she was fairly exhausted—but it did make sense. “Hehe. I guess so. I think I’m done for now. I hurt… everywhere.”
Mateo streamed out his stress and chuckled. “Well… I guess we made it through the night,” he said, pointing at the windows that showed faint orange light and the reason why she was feeling weaker as she traced a beam to her belly. “I’ll call the OIC and see what he wants us to do… Shit. What a night it was…”
Rachel dragged herself against the wall and out of the sunshine, mind winding down; she needed sleep and a lot of rest. One problem was the sun since she didn’t know the full effect it would have on her, and after a quick reflection test, she learned it only drained her Lunar Pool.
Unfortunately, Scarlet’s skin started to blacken and burn under even the faintest light, prompting them to carry her further into the building. Rachel groaned like an old woman the entire way, much to Zoe and Selvaria’s concern, shooting worried glances at her, but she refused help out of principle; to which, Zoe mumbled, ‘She had no problems with Anthony carrying her in the woods,’ that Rachel ignored.
The vespertine reaper remained unconscious, though, making Rachel uneasy, and after several minutes, Mateo’s men informed them that Lt. Thompson wanted a word; finally, Rachel had her moment with someone in authority.
Two levels, and apparently, Level 5 is a big one… Although, can I make all my work bear fruit with this meeting? I have to if I’m going to survive this cult that is bound to come after me… and my family.
Countenance darkening, she proceeded to the room the military officer was using.
Rachel smoothly jumped over the wave Selvaria created, using the wall to delay enough to flip back to the floor; Anthony helped keep Zoe stable as many of the soldiers braced however they could. Scarlet remained on her blood disk, hovering a little above them while appraising the Leviathan Mythickin.
[Level Up - Level 5]
Everyone cursed while trying to recover as best they could as the turbulent—now decently drained—pool sloshed around, occasionally spilling over the edges again; Selvaria’s acrobatics had surprised them all, but it was impressive to Rachel that the woman could propel herself so quickly.
The sea dragon managed her completely dry black, turquoise-highlighted hair while glancing between them. “So… there are more toad people, right; they are the bad guys? Oh, I leveled, too. Level 3, baby. I skipped a whole level; that guy must have been strong.”
“They are,” Rachel said, confirming both of her statements and pulling the woman’s smile; however, her head shifted to the left as she heard the aliens slow their pace. “Let’s recover for a bit… The others know their friend is dead; they’re probably going to take a more cautious approach—shit.”
Zoe clasped onto Anthony’s wrist as he tried to pull away after supporting the girl, big eyes looking up at him—the legend’s makeup had come off. “What was your girlfriend’s name again?”
Rachel moved to pull the enthralled cat girl off of Anthony as she tried to flirt, the man snarling at how annoying the cursed beauty mark was.
Selvaria and Scarlet watched the exchange in bewilderment—the Leviathan apparently unaffected by the mark—as Anthony went to the green berets to get anything they might have to cover the mark below his eyes, which came in the form of smeared black face paint. On the plus side, the military stuff was water and insect-proof.
Now that they had a moment to rest, Rachel chuckled while drawing Zoe back, protesting that she was charmed. “Right, right, you just want to help him out of his shirt so he doesn’t get sick,” she snickered.
“Totally! No, you don’t get it—we don’t know how stuff affects Legendkin, and don’t tell me you don’t want to see him shirtless—I know you do!”
Rachel felt embarrassed for the magically-influenced girl, knowing she’d likely drop dead in the pool once she got her wits about her, and, sure enough, the moment the charm dissipated, the cat girl was crying into her chest.
“I didn’t say that—it’s not my fault! No-ho-ho… I just want to die in a hole!”
“There, there… we all understand,” Rachel soothed, knowing it must have been challenging to not be in control of your thoughts or emotions; it truly was a devilish curse upon women, and luckily on a man that would happily remove it if he could. “You’re fine.”
The soldiers swiftly branched out to cover every opening, including vents and pipes, as Mateo came over to get updates from her while she comforted the teenage girl.
“What are they doing?”
Rachel’s ears tilted to the left, eyes narrowing while Zoe collected herself and pulled away. “They are meeting on the third floor… near the library. Why?”
Mateo glanced at one of his men nearby, who was relaying critical information they talked about through the radio; it was a little hard considering the echo in the large space.
“They could be regrouping and studying the areas their comrade fought to better gauge what kind of threat we are. Their position also indicates they can track where their other members have been.”
“It certainly could be,” Rachel whispered, still listening to their movements, yet not one of them made a sound other than walking. “I think they can communicate in another way since they aren’t making any noises.”
Oliver—the special forces man that went to check Vincent’s condition—hovered nearby, nodding and offering his own thoughts. “I’ve heard of animals that could communicate through smell or odor; toads also secrete toxins through their skins… Learned it on a late-night channel,” he added at some of their looks.
“Keep reporting their movements,” Mateo ordered her before moving to further set up defensive positions and areas to protect themselves against the aliens’ weapons; it showed Rachel the officer was becoming more comfortable relying on her, which was her hope, considering her civilian status.
The various military squads, from the green berets to the coast guard, were organized in a way so their backs could be covered; with how fast and unusual the aliens’ attack patterns were, they had to cover all angles.
Rachel complied, but there wasn’t much she could report as the toads hovered between the hallway she’d faced the alien in and the classroom where it had fought Scarlet’s blood; she had to curb her internal displeasure at being so helpless in the situation.
Selvaria walked forward to talk to Scarlet and Zoe, getting further acquainted with them and asking them surprisingly odd questions, given their situation, such as if the vespertine reaper liked to cosplay; some of the men chuckled at the topic, reasoning it was a way for the Leviathan to break the ice, which could certainly be the case.
Rachel’s mind was a buzz of speculations and realizations that came with her level, which Anthony seemed to have noticed since he was already entering the meditative state; it was a luxury she couldn’t perform due to being the only one who could keep the aliens under surveillance.
Mateo is right… they’re gathering information on how their teammate died rather than rushing right at us like mindless animals. I can practically see them examining the damage done to the walls by the needles and seeing the blood of their friend.
One turned to sand, following the same path as the first alien they’d met to the first floor, where it stopped to examine the severed arm, while the others surprisingly walked further down the hall to the classroom where the dead cult woman still lay.
She could hear the coast guard soldiers wanting to storm the area in force to finish the task quickly, but the issue was they were too mobile to engage in close proximity without preparation—they had to wait for them to attack—unfortunately, a new piece of information changed the name of the game.
Ears and head darting to the left, she heard another rustle of sand from the dorm room she’d heard them appear from earlier; another had appeared.
“Mateo!” His hard eyes snapped to her with everyone else present besides Anthony. “Another one came from the dorm I told you about; the Crystal the soldier mentioned may only allow a certain number of them through, or there may be some kind of restriction—at least, I hope there is. We need to destroy them.”
The Lieutenant relayed the information, and, luckily, through the military radios and people finding them to call for help, the coast guard was quickly discovering the small satellite Crystals across the campus and surrounding neighborhoods; they’d discovered four so far and were mobilizing to take them out. A fifth was soon discovered in another pond by the glow.
The green berets vehicle unit outside was already jumping in their hummer to reach the furthest one in the dorm, armed with C4 and, if necessary, an RPG to take out the room; Lt. Thompson ordered them to, in his words, blow the damn building up after Rachel confirmed she couldn’t hear anyone else hiding inside the place.
However, while everyone was mobilizing, Rachel’s attention was snatched by the toads upstairs as the fifth joined them, stealthily bypassing the mobilizing soldiers outside to join his comrades; they were now all congregating in the room with the strange symbols, written in blood and a sudden thought crossed her mind.
What if the woman wasn’t leaving a message to us; could she know their language? If those symbols were actually meant for them… It could be a warning about me; I’m the anomaly to the cult’s plan.
The military was already setting up focused explosives by the vents that could be remotely detonated, but Rachel was now thinking of a new plan.
“Mateo… What if I told you I had a way to kill these aliens without anyone else dying?”
“Hmm.” Eyes narrowing, the man glared in her direction. “By your tone, it’s not without its risks. What crazy plan are you thinking about?”
Taking a deep breath, Rachel hoisted herself up, wincing at the screams her muscles sent her; she was not in any shape to fight these creatures. She frowned while rotating her shoulders and approaching the group again, staring at Selvaria; the woman was hiding something.
“Selvaria, turn around.”
“Huh? Why… Is there a secret code or something?” she asked with a forced grin. “I can go to the wall and look away…” Rachel spun her fingers around, making the girl sigh and comply. “It isn’t even bad; I’m totally invincible, I said!”
Moving aside the girl’s long, ink-black hair with its shimmering streaks of light blue, Rachel revealed a patch of plated scales along the spine on the back of her natural bra; a small patch was unprotected that revealed a light cut with sticky, azure-colored blood. She did notice damage to the makeshift bra on Selvaria’s back the woman was trying to hide. Rachel had noticed the plates falling with her back to the pool.
“Luckily, it wasn’t the needles but its daggers,” Rachel warned, letting the woman groan and pull away, rubbing her neck and glaring at the ground. “They flared for half a second, and it wasn’t a coincidence where it struck; the toad was trying to paralyze you.”
Zoe ducked to the Leviathan’s back again, staying clear of her agitated and deadly tail to examine the area again. “Ouch! Yeah, let’s get that covered.”
“I’m fine,” Selvaria groaned, arms crossing under her bust. “I have really good resistances and defenses—it’s my specialty—I even took bullets from that thing,” she huffed, pointing at the fifty-caliber turret.
Rachel snickered. “Stop the cap, Selvaria, I get you want to be a heroine, and you’ve done a great job taking out one of the aliens. We need to fight smarter, though, not cooler.”
“Can’t we do both?” Selvaria grumbled, shoulders sinking as a coast guard medic cautiously approached to dress the wound.
“Sure,” she returned. “You can protect everyone here in case I’m wrong.”
“About what?” Scarlet hesitantly asked, hopping down to glare at the blood entering her body. “There’s no way you can fight these things.”
Rachel flashed her teeth while bringing everyone’s focus to the suddenly self-conscious vespertine reaper.
“What? No… Me? I’m so unstable and, heh, dangerous that I don’t want to let my blood do anything at all.” She jabbed her finger at the crimson liquid entering her skin with disdain. “It may have looked like I was just sitting pretty up there, but I was a freaking hostage; it wouldn’t let me go until just now!”
Mateo worked around his jaw. “Scarlet’s not wrong; her abilities are very unstable, much of which appears to be out of her control.”
“I get that,” Rachel sighed; she hadn’t realized the girl was stuck on the disk, but it didn’t change her plan. “The aliens seem to be reading a message the cultist left behind.”
Scarlet sucked in her bottom lip, grasping her head and walking away while hissing, “No way! Mrs. Peck was talking to aliens, too?! No! No-haha. No, this—this can’t be happening… Why is this happening to me?”
“Scarlet… Scarlet,” Rachel repeated, slowly moving forward to take her arm and keep her focus as her shoulders and bottom lip began to tremble. “I get that your entire life is crashing around you… I can’t know how hard it is, but I know it must feel so unfair.”
“What am I supposed to do?” she wept, bloody tears leaking from her eyes as everyone backed away; caution was even more advised given what they’d learned happened to the toad with his infected arm. “I’m trying—I’m trying so hard to keep it under control—to not listen to Scarlet! She’s evil! She’s so evil! All she keeps telling me to reap souls—drink blood… to kill! I don’t want to! I don’t!”
Nodding and tightening her grip around the girl’s quaking hands, Rachel’s heart went out to the teenager; Scarlet hadn’t asked for any of this power that most would probably jump at. Rachel knew she couldn’t understand the weight she carried in her soul or the trauma she felt.
“Remember, I told you I would help you with your powers… Do you trust me?”
“Haha! I just barely met you!” Scarlet laughed, blue eyes closing. “I don’t know… I’m so scared of myself… I don’t trust myself, so how can I trust you?!”
It was a fair point, Rachel had to admit; how to overcome it, though?
“Faith.”
“What?” Scarlet asked, vision opening and forehead furrowing.
“Faith isn’t just belief,” Rachel said, squeezing her fingers and smiling as she repeated a line from a workout motivational video; although, in the actual video, there was a lot of screaming and cursing to push you past your normal reps. “Faith is an action—a garden doesn’t just grow because you believe it will…
“You have to prepare the field, plant the seeds of faith, and do the work…” Rachel lifted the emotional girl’s hands to keep her attention. Really, she was just BSing her way through it in the first way that popped into her head; it kind of fit. “I have faith in you, so will you help me plant the seeds so you can see why I have that trust?”
Scarlet gradually returned to a more rational state. “You… want me to save everyone… but what if I make everything worse? I always make everything worse.”
“Prove me wrong,” she beamed, making Scarlet laugh at her insane take.
“You want me, hehe… to prove you wrong when I think I’ll kill everyone? You really are crazy, Rachel!”
“Haha. Recently, I think I may be a bit crazy, too! A mad hatter, huh?” she snickered, bringing the girl’s mind to a place that would probably make her laugh more, which succeeded.
“I really hope you’re right… Let’s hope this isn’t Alice: Overwhelming Madness, right?”
Rachel’s mind blanked. “Uh… I don’t know what that is.”
“Booo!” Zoe called out from behind Selvaria. “It’s a super spooky take on Alice in Wonderland game—a classic.”
The lighter mood and added comments from the cat girl and Selvaria—who was apparently somewhat versed in games, as well, although more the ‘wholesome’ kind, as she called them—Rachel managed to help Scarlet past another hurdle; she was making progress, and it appeared that the toads were being far more cautious after one of the aliens returned with the infected arm.
Mateo sighed as the environment calmed down, pondering Rachel’s approach; the coast guard fidgetted at Scarlet’s emotional outburst, unsure if they should take any sort of action.
“I admit, you do have courage, girl, and with more than a few screws loose, but you haven’t told us your plan or why the aliens haven’t gotten to us yet… Are you saying the toads are reading that cultist’s ramblings on killing you, telling them how to take you out, and your plan is to lure them in so Scarlet’s blood will do the work?”
Rachel shrugged, Zoe’s eyes going big at the reveal as Anthony got up and listened in. “Not entirely, but the general gist of the idea. I don’t think Scarlet can kill them without me dying.”
Scarlet tensed up. “Wait, really?”
“Hehe. No. A single one, who, might I add, was caught off-guard, managed to almost get to us through your blood field, despite the dangers, much less five who have warning and are cautious. However… what if we were able to help you have more control over your powers and strengthen them?”
Zoe’s ears flicked up, eyes shimmering with excitement. “Training montage? Wait, eh… no, that’d take too long… Really! Like… really?!”
Anthony joined them, wearing a grin with black cat whiskers for face paint that made Zoe glare at him. “Hehe. I couldn’t help it. So, Rachel’s planning to teach Scarlet about upgrading her Feats—let me tell you, Level 5 is no joke—really interesting stuff.”
Rachel brushed away any follow-ups. “We’re running out of time. While they’re debating amongst themselves regarding the message and Scarlet’s blood rose infection, we’ll get Selvaria and you up to speed on upgrading your System. This is all you, Scarlet, and I trust you to handle this—no problem.”
“Yeah, you’re OP, girl!” Zoe chimed.
Selvaria gave an impressed thumbs up to Scarlet. “Blood rose infection? Nice.”
Anthony followed the Leviathan’s gesture to not butt in.
“Hehe.” Scarlet rubbed her already clear cheeks, tears soaked back into her body. “You’re all insane… but if—if I can help… I’ll do my best!”
Rachel shot a look at the calculating military man, who seemed to be weighing the odds; nearly a hundred students and citizens had already been killed by the aliens while hundreds more were injured, either by other humans or self-inflicted. The question was, did he trust her after everything she’d demonstrated thus far?
“Huu-haaa… Ugh. If you can pull this off, I’m sure you’ll get your private meeting with Lt. Thompson… If anything, to identify how mad you are. You’ll take a radio that’s toggled on so we can listen.”
“Just in case we fail. Haha.” Rachel’s teeth flashed in an innocent smile, ears bowing a tad. “I’ll take that as a yes; the operation is on, girl,” she said, making Scarlet groan and rub her face.
Rachel guided a nervous Scarlet to a sitting position as Selvaria joined them, likely wanting to be a part of the club, and they walked them through the process as the military listened; it wasn’t the time to hold such secrets, besides, it gave her further validity.
It was a little surprising when the blood dome encircled the vamp-girl as she entered the trance-like state, protecting her and making Rachel a little jealous, but it had been a success. Settling beside the rippling liquid, she debated going under to check out her own Feats and changes after what Anthony said, yet, begrudgingly, decided she couldn’t take the chance of the aliens moving in while she was in the unprotected state—it would have to wait.
The operation to destroy the smaller Crystals was mostly being handled by the coast guard, and they prepared to time each one to be detonated at once in case those on the other side decided to rush through with an army.
Rachel’s head tilted to the side while listening to the aliens point or slide their fingers across the whiteboard on specific places, likely for emphasis, their soft actions giving her the impression they were puzzling through something. It wasn’t long until they were on the hunt again, alarming her; their target wasn’t the pool.
“I think they’re returning to the Crystals—they’re leaving the building?!”
Mateo swiftly called it in as Scarlet’s blood field fell, snatching all of their attention; Scarlet wore a small smile as the liquid flowed around her.
“I understand,” she giggled, rising to her feet and holding out her hand for a sphere of crimson liquid to gather in her palm. “I get it… I’m the markings of the terrified’s fears… Life’s twilight that eclipses champions slain.”
“Scarlet?” Rachel asked; naturally, that kind of awakening would cause a few people to give her misgiving looks. “What did you learn; did you upgrade your Feats?’
She blinked, blue eyes defocusing before looking up at her. “I did! Yeah, you helped me so much, Rachel. It’s so… different from what I thought. Thank you!”
Okay, could this sound less villain-like? Rachel internally groaned, seeing how everyone was fidgeting at her words.
“Hu-huh?” Her gut tightened as the girl’s blood drew her into a hug. “What’s up?”
When she pulled away, her irises glowed with ruby light. “I am the Blood Red Rose! Scarlet isn’t here to make me kill good people, and I shouldn’t hold down what’s inside of me… I just need to direct it… Like when you felt like everyone would die and ran ahead!”
“I’m not follow—”
Without warning, she was enveloped in shadows, leaving everyone speechless and Rachel wondering if she’d made a horrible mistake; yet, the threads of misfortune were now entirely in her favor as they wrapped around the toad’s throats—the vespertine reaper had found her prey.
One by one, Rachel heard the rushing sands meet the laughing raven-haired girl as cutting air sounded; it all happened in less than thirty seconds as she transported herself through shadows to intercept and eviscerate the aliens, seemingly unable to hide from her fiendish eyes.
Mateo’s mouth was slack, looking to her for answers, yet Rachel didn’t know what else to tell him—he’d seen it for himself—she was going full-on reaper, talking about Blood Red Roses and being life’s twilight or something along those lines. Perhaps this was what the cult was afraid she’d do in helping the girl.
“Scarlet’s… killing them all.”
Radio rising to his mouth, Mateo yelled, “Execute operation—I repeat—execute operation!”
Lt. Thompson repeated the order, and Rachel’s ears drooped back as explosions sounded all around them; all five Crystals had been destroyed, reports flying in from the soldiers outside.
“Target neutralized!”
“Targets sending light into the sky!”
“Main Crystal shattered—the dome’s down—we’re back, boys!”
“Let’s go!”
“A tale to tell the kids, Boyd!”
“That’s what I’m sayin’!”
“Damn straight! Alien toads?”
“You didn’t even see one, Tony!”
“Shut the hell up and let me enjoy this!”
Cheers sounded all around campus, but Mateo’s focus was still on her with the tense green berets, wondering if Scarlet would become their next calamity.
“Well?”
Rachel shook her head. “Four down—she’s on the last inside a building, but all the noise is making it hard to follow,” she groaned, rubbing her head as a migraine formed; her body was already shot and didn’t want to move. “I think… Scarlet! Hehe. Hey… Y-You okay?”
[Level Up - Level 6]
Utterly stunned by the sudden jump in EXP, Rachel blinked as dark mist collected to reveal the grinning girl holding a scythe of crystal-like blood; gashes and cuts marred her skin and clothes that were littered with the signs of a battle for such a short interval.
“Oh, yeah! I’ve never felt… better…”
Her sky-blue eyes returned, before suddenly rolling back; Rachel winced while jumping forward to catch her, yet her legs gave out, and she found herself on the ground, head spinning. The past hours seemed to take their toll all at once, as she suddenly felt so much weaker, and it was getting worse.
Anthony appeared to have swept the girl off her feet, blood melting to crawl back into her body as he turned her away.
“Whoops! Hehe. Faceplant much?”
“Ugh… thanks for the support,” Rachel grumbled, trying to collect herself.
“Anytime! Looks like our cute and creepy assassin is out for the count,” he strained a laugh while examining the shimmering red light that shone through her wounds; they weren’t healing. “Uh… Is she going to be okay?”
“Probably?” Rachel theorized, shifting to her back with a groan. “Maybe she needs blood to restore herself?”
Selvaria leaned to the side to peer around the soldiers, tail swaying back and forth. “Spooky. I like her. We should all team—eh, you guys get those levels?”
Zoe cheered, jumping up and down with squeals of excitement. “Scarlet was on our side, or we wouldn’t be sharing her EXP! Confirmation!”
Rachel hadn’t even made that connection yet—she was fairly exhausted—but it did make sense. “Hehe. I guess so. I think I’m done for now. I hurt… everywhere.”
Mateo streamed out his stress and chuckled. “Well… I guess we made it through the night,” he said, pointing at the windows that showed faint orange light and the reason why she was feeling weaker as she traced a beam to her belly. “I’ll call the OIC and see what he wants us to do… Shit. What a night it was…”
Rachel dragged herself against the wall and out of the sunshine, mind winding down; she needed sleep and a lot of rest. One problem was the sun since she didn’t know the full effect it would have on her, and after a quick reflection test, she learned it only drained her Lunar Pool.
Unfortunately, Scarlet’s skin started to blacken and burn under even the faintest light, prompting them to carry her further into the building. Rachel groaned like an old woman the entire way, much to Zoe and Selvaria’s concern, shooting worried glances at her, but she refused help out of principle; to which, Zoe mumbled, ‘She had no problems with Anthony carrying her in the woods,’ that Rachel ignored.
The vespertine reaper remained unconscious, though, making Rachel uneasy, and after several minutes, Mateo’s men informed them that Lt. Thompson wanted a word; finally, Rachel had her moment with someone in authority.
Two levels, and apparently, Level 5 is a big one… Although, can I make all my work bear fruit with this meeting? I have to if I’m going to survive this cult that is bound to come after me… and my family.
Countenance darkening, she proceeded to the room the military officer was using.
