A Broken Huntress

Back at the Branwen Tribe's camp, there was an absence of the sound of fighting. Blood was splattered across the ground, however, there were no corpses in sight. It was only when you looked towards the centre of the camp, that you saw them. A pile of bodies towered up over two meters high.

Every last person in that pile was dead, half of them looked as if they had been chilled while dying. Their face's still carried looks of shock and terror. A voice that sounded as if it was cutting in and out. It had come from Vernal, one of Raven's closest in the tribe. Her entire lower body up to her neck was frozen solid.

She was like a sculpture, the only thing allowing her to speak was her Aura, keeping the cold from freezing her vital organs. Despite her state, her eyes were focused purely on Taella who was standing a few feet away. Her eye's had a mix of pure rage and confusion. Turning to look at her, Taella smiled.

"What? Did you think you could actually win just because an illusion of me was killed so easily?" Her words were full of mockery and dismissal. They only made Vernal's emotions turn even more violent. However, in her state, she couldn't do anything. Her Aura wouldn't last and then she would die.

"Hmph, I can't blame you. I asked Neo to make me seem a bit crazy to put you off guard." Taella slowly walked up to Vernal's frozen body placing one of her hands on her chin raising her head. In an instant, Vernal felt her Aura drain even faster, to the point she didn't realize it had broken.

"I guess it's hard to see any of us working for 'Him' as sane huh?" In Vernal's eyes, all she saw was a blur as a cruel look flashed across Taella's face. The next second, the sound of shattering ice echoed through the air. Frozen chunks of Vernal's body landed and slid across the ground, as her head fell and embedded itself into the ground at Taella's feet.

With all of that wrapped up, they were officially done here. Taella turned to look over at Neo who was standing behind her. She was giving her a head piercing stare as if she was expecting her to say something.

"What we both know is true." Serving under Shen, would be seen as madness for anyone looking in from the outside. Both Neo and Taella stared at one another for a moment until something caught their eyes.

Looking off into the distance in the direction Raven had flown they saw a massive dark cloud had appeared. It looked like it was covering the entire portions of the sky miles away from them. It crackled and roared with lightning travelling along with its dark form. Yet at the same time, a cold wind was coming from that direction as well.

'He's still not back. I didn't think there was anyone strong enough to fight him…' Neo continued to stare in that direction, hardly blinking. Taella did the same for a moment before turning and issuing an order.

"Burn the bodies and prepare the ships to head back to Mistral. Where done here." Far away from where they were, the battle between Shen and Raven had begun to escalate. Two figure's were like shadow's flashing across the lightning-filled sky, just under the clouds.

Being knocked back in mid-air Raven was sent flying downwards over twenty meters before stopping herself. Looking up she saw Shen, standing in the air above her, with Gae Bolg pointed straight at her with one hand.

"Karmic Lightning: El Thor…" Purple Lightning ran down Gae Bolg's shaft before gathering at its tip. Looking up at such a spectacle it seemed as if a purple star from the night sky had appeared in the sky.

'Oh no…' Raven's eyes widened as the lightning that had built up was discharged all at once. A violent purple beam shot directly toward Raven. It was fast, even faster than Shen's movement speed. Raising her sword, ice engulfed the blade and a chill developed her body. Slashing down as a shield made of ice appeared in front of her just as the beam made contact.

Except for the space she was in, everything around Raven turned purple as the El Thor continued to travel towards the ground. The large hill their battle had taken place of was the one thing in its path. The second it touched the earth it triggered a ground-shaking explosion. The sound was like hundreds of thunders sounding out at once.

Shen's face remained stoic despite the exhaustion that kind of attack put him through. In a flash of light nearly half of the hill had been vaporized due to the sheer heat, only leaving the lower half remaining and a giant crater. As the attack ended, it was clear it had been effective.

"Huff…" Heavy breathing and panting could be heard coming from Raven. She was still in the air, and the ice shield she had created had all but been destroyed and was now crumbling apart.

'What was that… My Aura felt like it was being strained…' She had felt it before when Shen attacked her. But it was even worse than before. Her entire body felt cold and weak and she was having a hard time calming down. And worst of all, her mind was in a state of panic.

She was a trained fighter, yet all kinds of memories and thoughts she would rather never think of again were forcing their way to the surface. She couldn't control them or contain them.

"Having a hard time thinking straight?" Raven's expression didn't even have the opportunity to switch gears as a heavy kick landed directly on her stomach. Her face writhed with pain as all of the air in her lung's escaped in a gasp. The force launched her out of the sky falling like a rock in water.

Soon she impacted the desolated hill that Shen's El Thor had impacted. Her body created a crater in the ground as debris was sent flying in the air. Lying on her back Raven's entire body was aching in pain.

'What's happening to my body… What did he do to me?' Even her inner thoughts were becoming hard to put together coherently. Sitting up roughly Raven felt something warm dripping down her face. Touching her head she realized what it was. It was blood, her own blood. Her right eye's vision was beginning to turn red due to it.

But that should be impossible. Unless they are hit by an attack that's too powerful, or too sudden to react properly to, anyone with their Aura activated can't be injured badly let alone bleed to this extent until it breaks.

Yet she was bleeding heavily from her head. The very Aura protecting her body was fluctuating rapidly. In this kind of state, the next strike Shen land's on her could be fatal. Of course, she was unaware Shen was going to capture her alive.

Looking up from the crater in the ground she was in her eyes narrowed into Shen's figure in the air.

"Dammit..." Biting her lip Raven clenched her fist tight. Aura was one thing, allowing people to use their semblance and weapons to an extent. Without it, they couldn't defend themselves from attacks properly and their capabilities would drop. However, magic which was all but gone in this world was different.

It could be used purely offensively and not even she knew what would happen if she used all of it. The consequences could be deadly yet in a situation like this, consequences could be damned. Looking down at Raven, Shen noticed her placing her sword back into its sheath.

The next moment she thrust her hand up towards the sky directly at Shen. The flames around her eyes were glowing even brighter than before as if they had been given access to endless fuel. The entire destroyed hill shook as hundreds of earth spikes began protruding from the ground.

"Agh!" Clenching her fist was the trigger. Like missile's ready to launch the spikes fired from the earth rushing into the sky. Each one was easily the size of two adult's yet were going as fast as a bullet.

"Getting desperate are we?" Bursting with speed Shen flew directly towards the flying projectiles. Gae Bolg was a red stream of light as he used it to cut through the rocks like butter. Somewhere sliced in half while others exploded due to the sheer force.

The sky was covered in debris and dust temporarily blocking Shen's vision as he rushed down towards the ground. However the instant the dust had cleared he saw Raven had not moved. Instead, she was looking directly at him with her hands and arms engulfed in flames. Bringing her arms together she trusted them towards Shen.

A massive inferno engulfing over fifty meters of space began twisting like a vortex.

'Time to move!' His body transformed into lightning as he shot up into the air, evading the inferno that just engulfed the air below him.

"Gotcha…" A crazed yet familiar voice entered Shen's ears. Things seemed to slow down as he saw Raven above him. She held a massive blade formed purely of ice and magic in her hand's. She slashed down without hesitation. Her reckless attacking was all for this moment. A chance to land a single blow.

'Huh…' Shen's mind went into a brief state of being frozen. The slash had cut through his body despite his durability. Raven had put everything she had into that attack. Shen's blood spurted onto Raven as she stared at him. His shoulder along with his arm and part of his torso had been cut clean from his body.

"Finally… I knew I could kill you. You can move as fast as lightning, but your reaction speed falls behind." The sword in her hand seemed to disintegrate into a cloud of icy dust. She watched as Shen along with his separated body fell from the sky. Gae Bolg fell out of its grasp, embedding itself into the ground.

After all of that, the flame's representing her Maiden abilities flickered. Slowly she flew down to the ground. Landing on the ground she stared at Shen's body for a moment. The amount of destruction their fighting had caused was immense.

The hill they originally stood on had been decimated. The surrounding forest had been burnt away and frozen. Slowly Raven felt something wet fall onto his face. It didn't take her long to realize it was rain falling from the dark clouds covering the entire sky.

'I should get back to the tribe. He was confident he could use them as a bargaining chip. They're probably in danger...' However as the rain came down even harder, a chill ran up Raven's spine. The rain had washed away the blood allowing her to see clearly again. The flashing of lightning and echoes of thunder made her heart dip.

"I wasn't expecting to die… After everything, even having my heart pierced and being shot more times than I could count. You actually managed to kill me. Congratulations." Raven slowly turned around with her eye's trembling in shock. A dark light had begun gathering around Shen's corpse.

The exposed bone and flesh from having an entire part of his body cut off began to emit a dark yellow glow. From that glow Life Fiber's escaped Shen's body like tendrils. Attaching themselves to his separated body part they pulled it closer. Watching this entire process Raven could only express one emotion.

Fear, overwhelming, bone penetrating fear. Her hands shook as she reached for her sword. She could hardly draw it as her entire body shook unconsciously. She watched as the darkness that had surrounded Shen's body began to fade. His 'Corpse' was gone and instead, she only saw a demon standing in his place.

'This shouldn't be possible… He should be dead… What's happening? Why am I here? I'm scared… Someone help me… I'm going to die… I'm going to… I'm... help…' The battle-hardened Huntress, Raven Branwen had completely broken down. Her tears mixed with the rain dribbling down her face.

She had no magic left, to fight or flee with due to Shen pushing her limits. She had no Aura to defend herself with, thanks to Shen breaking her will. Her Semblance couldn't save her now, and she was too weak to fight. Those were the reasons Shen didn't use his Devil Trigger right away.

If she had escaped or outlasted him, then he would have been done for especially after using El Thor. But none of that mattered anymore. Slowly Shen walked towards Raven. Her eyes looked unfocused as she watched a demon in human skin approach her.

"Ah… Get away from me… Getaway!" Raising her sword she swung wildly towards Shen. Yet all Shen did was reach out his hand.

He grabbed the blade of the weapon, clenching his entire hand around it. Using his thumb he pressed on the side of the blade. And as if it was a toothpick, a metallic sound rang out in the rain. The top half clattered to the ground. Seeing that Raven's knees gave way as she collapsed to the floor in a daze.

"I think we're done here? Don't you?"