The Bloodforged Kin

Chapter 224 - 218: Safehold - The Unmitigated Power of the Crimson Scythe

Luna launched herself straight upwards into the air, spiraling up and leaving a twisting crimson comet trail in her wake. She reached into Living Armory and pulled out two Cyber-Pulse Handguns. She shot forward, flying at chest height to the beast and firing a stream of laser shots that tore holes in its hide and burned fur away. The barrage was ceaseless but she closed the gap too quickly for them to penetrate the tough hide. She banked around it, lighting it up as she did. She made two quick passes, flying nimbly between its swinging arms as she did. By the time she finished her second circuit she realized that the handguns weren't strong enough to penetrate so she switched tactics.

Her current unlimited-use weapons were Stormlash and Scorched Judgment, the first being an ice-based weapon that harnessed the power of cold to cut through pretty much anything. The second was flame-based and was particularly useful against shadow creatures, but should be pretty effective against this one as well. The Scythe hadn't ever fought one of these things in her reality - hers hadn't had anything so quaint as Cryptid Challenges or creatures that appeared on a timer. No, her System had dropped everything it had on them the very first day and the monsters had eradicated humanity in a tsunami of teeth and claws. Very few survived, but the ones that did grew incredibly strong, incredibly fast.

She knew her weapons to their core, though, and felt that Stormlash would have limited effectiveness against a cold-based creature like this. Scorched Judgement would, she hoped, be more effective than usual. The thin blade appeared in her hand and Flames of Wrath crawled down its length and stretched beyond the tip, hungrily seeking out the monster. Luna smiled and dove.

She was a tempest of red light and destruction as she dove and weaved around it. Scorched Judgment wasn't strong enough to cut through its limbs in single blows but it was proving the perfect weapon to slice deep trenches in its skin. She wasn't doing fatal damage, but it was building up.

Without warning this one did something none of the others had. Its eyes flashed blue and beams of light shot out from them, freezing the air behind them as it chased her with its eyes. The Scythe was on the retreat now, twisting and dodging in the air to avoid the beams that were chasing her as fast as it could look. One of the beams clipped a wing and the red membrane disappeared in a haze of red smoke. She tumbled out of the air, falling hard and rolling along the ground.

She pulled her wings in fast to control her roll, coming to a sliding stop. She didn't have access to Luna's dimensional space so couldn't reach for her healing pills. No matter - The Scythe had never needed healing pills before.

She was back on her feet and sprinting at the monster, dismissing her sword and calling out Dawnbringer. She launched the golden six-foot spear and tucked into a roll, listening for the sound of it hitting flesh as she dodged under the swing of a mighty hand. It hit and sunk deep, half of its shaft buried inside of the giant's chest. She could recall it, but she left it. Dawnbringer wasn't indestructible, but it was immortal. If the creature destroyed it it would just reappear in her inventory and be ready for use in a week's time.

A hammer of the purest black appeared in her hand, the shaft longer than she was tall, and the head as big as her body. Just looking at the head gave a feeling of deep heaviness and weight, which befitted its name. She had taken this as her prize from clearing out a cave system filled with things that looked like the dwarves of legends blended roughly with stone. The hammer itself, Crusher, was made of System-empowered obsidian and was unbreakable unless struck with a weapon made of the same material. The important part was that she could shift the density of it to extreme degrees, limited only by her ability to lift it. Her Strength and Agility were both in the low-30's, though, so Crusher was going to live up to its name.

She activated Wrathful Assault to increase her strength further and begin the buildup of power that made her strikes stronger the longer she fought. Rapid uses of Wraithstep made her an impossible target to hit as she did - every time the snowman struck for her or launched its eye beams at her she was gone. Within seconds one knee was blown out from the side, then the other followed a moment later. A descending hand was flung skyward, fingers flying into the distance as Crusher took on the cutting power of Wrathful Assault. She jumped back out of range and readied herself, giving Crusher a few more precious seconds of time to build power before she rushed in again, Crusher swinging in a wide, overhead swing to bury itself in the snowman's skull.

Stolen novel; please report.

Before it landed a burst of power pushed out of the creature and forced Crusher back, flinging The Scythe with it, its mass far heavier than hers. She backflipped and pulled the hammer into her arsenal to be rid of the uncontrolled mass. Her red eyes went wide when she felt the power screaming towards her from the creature. She only had a split second to notice the earth freezing by its passing, the cold so intense that the ground itself was exploding in bursts that sent rocks and dirt flinging into the air.

In a desperate rush she activated Wraithstep over and over, expending the last of its uses to push her beyond the limits of the skill - or so she thought. In an instant Bulwark was in her hands, the large silver kite shield covering her. She screamed as the power of the frost wave hit her. Bulwark's enchantments screamed back as it forced the hyper-cold air around her in an unrelenting wave.

The frost wall ebbed, then died out completely. The Scythe dismissed Bulwark and activated her armor's sharpness enchantment to slice through the layer of ice that had formed around her. She was chilled to the bone and her fingers felt frost-bitten, but she could only smile. This fight had been fun!

She straightened, flexing her neck and rolling her shoulders to get the blood flowing again. She heard the song reaching an end and wanted to make sure she finished the fight before it was over.

She let a little bit of Luna Prime creep into her and the girl blew the giant a kiss, its face registering the insult and roaring in impotent challenge. Executioner's Judgement formed, the massive red scythe appearing in the air between them. She flicked her fingers and it crossed the distance between them in an instant, disappearing into the woods behind the monster.

The sound of toppling trees and the upper half of a giant body hitting the ground reached them just as the song ended.

The Scythe made her way back to the wall, but Luna took over as they reached it. The Scythe wasn't a living person here, but Luna still felt like they were two people. She didn't need to request permission to come back to herself, she just had to make the decision. Now that the fight was over she didn't need The Scythe anymore, but she still wanted to revel in the power for a bit longer. She leapt to the top of the wall, still in Scythe form. Madison rushed her and Luna took care to deactivate the cutting enchantment on her armor.

"Oh my. Oh my. Uhm…" Madison said as she took Luna's hands and looked her up and down. "This may seem like an odd question, and tell me if it's crossing a line or anything, but is this you?"

Luna chuckled with a confidence she'd never had in her Prime form. "It's me. They're all me and I'm them."

"So if I kiss you right now, I'm kissing you - not her, correct?"

Luna smiled, mysterious and sensual, then leaned down to kiss Madison. The kiss ended with Madison gasping, eyes closed and swaying on her feet. "Does that feel like me?"

"It does and it doesn't, but mostly it does." She opened her eyes and looked nervously at Luna. "Tell me if this is crossing a line, but…" she couldn't complete the question but Luna guessed it anyway and answered with a laugh.

"Yes, I can stay in this form as long as I want."

"Not forever, but maybe for tonight?"

Luna ran a strong hand through the smaller girl's hair. "Definitely for tonight."

Announcer had to crank the volume of his skill up to be heard over the swells of cheering and shouts across Safehold. "Holy shit people, HOLY SHIT! I don't know what we just saw, but that was some seriously overpowered shit there! Tess, I don't know what you're feeding these kids but you've raised some serious bad asses! I think we all need to see more of that!"

More cheers called out and Luna was being slapped on the back and shoulders as she walked the walls. The Scythe knew the importance of praising victory and letting beleaguered, tired people pull strength and hope from true power. Defeating the monster was an important part of tonight, but it wasn't the most important part. Walking the walls, shaking hands, projecting overwhelming confidence and power - that was what fed people and made them grow. Show them the route to power, and give them the hope that they can reach it too, but mostly - and most importantly - show them that The System can be defeated.

She walked the walls and the courtyard, shaking every single hand, looking everyone in the eye, and offering words of thanks and encouragement to each as she went. Everywhere she went hope and a lust for power grew, and she knew that she was doing her part to make humanity stronger.

The celebration was cut off abruptly when Announcer's voice came over the screens.

"Uh, Tess - you need to get your ass up here."