Chapter 25: Aerial Showdown

With Sophie in her arms, Bea walks along the walls of Hillcrest's fortress. As she walks, she complains about her problems as if the unconscious elf were her therapist, "And then he was like: 'Hey Bea! Make sure the plan B and C are ready! Oh, and don't forget to do the plan B of the plan B before the plan C—', Urgh! So annoying! I love my bro, but sometimes, he can really be a pain in the ass. You get me, right?"

Sophie remains unconscious.

"Oh right. Talking to myself again…," she climbs to the top of the wall and waits for her companion to arrive. "Now I just have to wait for him. Easy peasy." After 5 seconds, she's already tired of waiting, "WHY IS HE TAKING SO LONG?! Goddammit, I miss my cellphone…"

Suddenly, THUD!, something falls behind her. But surprisingly, whatever fell landed with such force that it made the entire wall tremble. Bea nearly loses her balance, "WOAH! WOAAAAHH!"

And then, a heavy growl is heard, "Bad… Human…"

It was Big Foot—who managed to track the elf's scent to the fortress—and seeing Sophie unconscious in the vampire's hands, his blood boils. "Bad elf… STILL ELF!", he charges on all fours, unleashing a flurry of claw strikes at Bea.

She retreats with backward leaps, but the beast follows her at high speed, "W-WAIT! UH…", thinking she was dealing with a stupid creature, she tries speaking in his 'language': "Me no human. Me vampire!"

Big Foot grabs the vampire by the leg—causing her to drop Sophie—and slams her repeatedly against the ground, "BAD VAMPIRE!", after several impacts, Bea's body is completely broken. Still enraged, he throws her into the center of the kingdom, destroying 5 houses upon impact.

"ROAAAAAARRRR!!!"

His roar awakens Sophie, "Big… Foot…?"

…

Bea emerges from the rubble, her body cracking loudly as it regenerates, "Cough! What the heck was that thing… Oh shit, the elf! He's going to kill me!"

Her body morphs, causing a pair of bat wings to emerge from her back—a useful but very painful ability as the user feels EVERYTHING—she flies back to the top of the wall.

[Limit Extender: Strength + Defense]

Like a spear, she positions both arms in front and collides with Big Foot. He is dragged into the air by the vampire, "Hope you're not afraid of heights!", she taunts as she lifts them both high.

Without any damage to his body, he clasps his hands and slams them on Bea's head, applying so much force that it drives her downward instantly—destroying half of her head.

She slaps the remaining side to regenerate the rest, only to contemplate Big Foot falling with a kick, the impact like a missile on her back.

BOOM!

They land in the field, creating a crater in the ground. "Bad Vampire. Hurt elf no more!", already tired of dealing with the girl, he unleashes a flurry of punches and kicks to destroy her body once and for all.

"S-" BAM! "Sto-" BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! "I SAID STOP!!!"

[Sonic Boom]

Bea's supersonic scream disorients Big Foot—due to his acute hearing—he retreats, screaming in pain. Seeing this, she smiles maliciously.

"DIE, YOU STUPID FURRY! GO BACK INTO BEING A FREAKING CREEPYPASTA FOR NERDS!"

"AAAARGH! EARS… BAD…!", he screams, futilely covering his ears. It was like a dog in a storm of fireworks.

<…>

Meanwhile, Alice's battle against Whisper and Jayden continues. The vampire is limited to physical attacks, making his strikes predictable, but Whisper possesses all of Solol's abilities, plus the abilities of the Repentance.

Every time Alice manages to injure one of them, Whisper simply activates ["I Will Fix It!"], to reverse time. The player's mind grows increasingly fatigued due to the extended fight and the need to adapt each time time is rewound.

"At least that fool had a useful weapon.," says Whisper while pointing the Death Gun at Alice, who counterattacks all of Jayden's blows. The bullet is imbued with [Corrosive Repentance].

BANG!

He misses the shot, not even coming close to his target.

"Can't you be useful for once?!", criticizes Jayden.

Alice dislocates the vampire's knee with a kick and strategically retreats to catch her breath. He looks at Whisper and shouts, "HEY! Regret it and turn back time now! She's escaping!"

He crosses his arms and looks away, saying in a sarcastic tone, "Oh, sorry. It seems nothing happened that I regret right now. But it's not like it would be useful to you now, right?"

"You…," he stands up, realigning his knee, and runs after the player. Scenting her trail through the streets, he arrives at a two-story house.

Kicking down the door, he closely examines the dark environment, "Come on… If you had just been a good girl, none of this would happen…"

"Why is it my fault that you can't be a decent human being?"

He turns to the source of the sound, shouting "BECAUSE YES! YOU APPEARED IN MY HOME AND MADE ME KILL MY FRIENDS!"

Alice tries to futilely block the sound wave, but her [Perfect Block] doesn't work—leaving her stunned and then grabbed by the waist. Jayden lifts her and starts running against the wall, using Alice as a human shield.

CRASH!

[HP: 161/195]

His grip was too strong, reminding her of when she faced the Undead Berserker, her arms were also pinned, preventing her from attacking him. She realizes he isn't blindly following orders: he's trying to take her to the center of Hillcrest, AKA the location of the big hole.

[Limit Extender: Strength]

[Strength: 40 (+10)]

[Stamina: 110/190]

With the extra strength, she easily frees herself. Without hesitation, she makes a horizontal slash at his neck—from right to left. His sharp reflexes allow him to defend just in time… But suddenly her sword disappears.

"Unequip! Equip!", the sword reappears in her left hand, which she raises with a vertical slash at his arm, cutting the limb like butter.

"You fool…," with his remaining hand, he takes advantage of the distance to pierce her again with his claws, "HAHAHAHAHA! No matter how much you hurt me, I can always come back!"

[Cursed Nails]

[HP: 156/195]

However, the player doesn't seem surprised or worried. She swings the sword at Jayden's neck, disregarding the poison in her body. Coldly, she questions, "But what if someone cut your head off?"

That question burns all of Jayden's confidence, who believed himself to be immortal, but is it really true? Vampires can regenerate as long as they consume blood, but if he's just a head, where would the blood go?

"AH! FUCK! FUCK!", he tries to remove her arm and retreat, but Alice grips his hand so tightly he would have to sever the limb to escape. His other arm hadn't even begun to regenerate, and panic obliterates all logic in his mind.

"You threw away your humanity for this? To avenge your friends that you killed? Well, guess what? IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING!"

["I Will Fix It!"]

"You couldn't be more right."

She returns to the beginning of the fight, Jayden intact but with a terrified expression—touching his trembling hands to his neck, still feeling like he'd been cut.

"No…!" murmurs the frustrated player.

He looks sarcastically at his own hand, "Looks like they haven't nerfed my skill yet. Victory is ours."

Still trembling in terror, Jayden tries to calm down and maintain his superiority, "… It was just luck. It won't happen again."

Her mind is already dangerously exhausted; she's been fighting nonstop for almost an hour, and even though her body is restored by the skill, she's still overwhelmed by the extended combat. If only she could defeat some NPCs and level up, she could recover.

The only way for her to escape this conflict would be to take down Whisper, but she needs to be careful not to severely injure Solol. And there's another problem…

Jayden attacks with a flurry of punches, preventing the player from shifting focus without taking damage. At the same time, if she focuses too much on the vampire, Whisper can intercept her with shots.

"Fedora! Can you slow him?"

The slime jumps with a determined look, "Gloob!", clinging to his foot and using all his strength to stop him—but it's futile; he walks over Fedora's efforts as if he were just gum on his shoe. He kicks Fedora away and keeps running.

The swordswoman takes a defensive stance, but an arrow hits Jayden's leg, freezing it instantly. He falls and tries to continue advancing, but the ice spreads to his other leg, then his stomach, until he's forced to crawl to move.

"An arrow?!" She smiles instinctively, seizing this one-in-a-million chance to defeat the possessed player as quickly as possible.

Seeing his pathetic ally defeated again, he even considers letting him turn into an ice statue—but he remembers that his boss wouldn't be happy if he wasted allies. So, against his will, he says, "What a shame, I shouldn't have—"

Alice runs and throws a wind slash at Whisper before he finishes his sentence, throwing him backward and leaving a large scar on his body. "ARGH… Why did I stand still?!" His eyes widen as he realizes the mistake he made. "NO, WAIT—"

["I Will Fix It!"]

He returns to the moment before the [Wind Scrapper] hits him, barely dodging by jumping to the side. But his ally is still partially frozen, and he desperately tries to shout, "No, that's not what I—"

Alice dropkicks him in the head. After knocking him down, she repeatedly punches his head until he is unconscious. "Sorry, Solol," she says, taking and storing his Death Gun in her inventory.

"This isn't over… Brrrr I'm still standing!" Jayden growls, dragging himself.

Sophie passes by Alice, "Glacial Arrow: Icy Touch!" hitting the vampire's head and freezing the rest of his body. "Looks like I wasn't the only one dealing with vampires."

"What do you mean? And more importantly, what happened to Solol?!"

"Later," she grabs Alice by the shoulders and stares at her seriously. "We need to leave. NOW."

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!"

Solol's body contorts, his torso rising while his arms and legs remain on the ground. He emits grunts as if he's about to vomit.

"Are you serious?!" Alice yells, irritated and frustrated.

He twists his neck toward Alice, but with a worried look, with great effort, he manages to grunt something understandable: "L…Leave…!"

Hearing her companion's voice, Sophie says relieved, "Solol?! I knew you were still there—"

"Shut up… And leave… Big Foot… Fell…" The two are speechless with what they just heard. "…They are near…"

CRUSH!

A large explosion occurs on the wall, raising a huge cloud of smoke… something is seen quickly emerging from it. Sophie watches in horror, instinctively grabbing Alice's arm and dragging her in the opposite direction.

"Wait! What about Solol?!"

Even though it breaks her heart, she doesn't hesitate, "If they have taken down Big Foot…"

Until she hears a scream that makes her tremble with fear as if it were a haunting, "FOUND YA CUTIEPIE!" Beatrix flies in, grabbing Sophie by the waist. The vampire grabs the arm with the bow, "Sorry, sweetie. You've been naughty, so no toys for you!" She crushes Sophie's wrist, forcing her to drop her weapon.

[Limit Extender: Speed]

[Stamina: 100/190]

[Web Swing]

[Mana: 30/50]

Alice—and Fedora, who jumps on her head—increase their agility, acquiring enough reflexes to throw a web precisely at the vampire's leg. She then tries to pull her back, but instead, the swordswoman ends up being dragged through the streets.

Bea glances quickly, enchanted by her boldness, "Oh, wanna play too?" and activates [Limit Breaker: Strength], pulling Alice as if she's wakeboarding.

She deliberately moves to make Alice crash into the houses and debris in the way, but thanks to her enhanced agility, she manages to dodge to the sides without much trouble.

[Stamina: 90/190]

After seeing her dodge multiple times, Bea loses patience and starts to take flight. She did it so quickly that the swordswoman didn't have time to react, and when she processed the situation, she was several meters off the ground, holding onto the web.

Gripping the silk thread firmly, she tries to climb up to reach the two. However, predicting this, Bea heads towards the part of the ruins where she would have a 100% advantage: the hole.

"Leave us alone!" the elf tries to stick her fingers into the vampire's eye, but she holds her arms with one hand. Tired of the whole show, she lifts Sophie by the hands to alert both the elf and the player to be careful with their next move.

When they are above the crater, Bea extends the nail of her index finger and starts to saw through Alice's web—who was still halfway up. "Sorry for this, I love you both, but we still need to get out of here. No hard feelings, okay?"

"GLOOB!" Fedora, who had stealthily climbed the web to Bea's shoulder, jumps furiously onto her face.

In muffled screams, "MHHH! WUT IX DIS?!" she accidentally releases the elf to remove the slime from her face. "Disgusting… Oh, you are kinda cute though… Wait—"

Sophie falls, Alice lets go of the web and descends to her friend. Grabbing her arm tightly, she uses another [Web Swing] to try to attach a web to one of the houses on the edge of the hole.

[Mana: 20/50]

She misses.

"Oh, you want to go down?! Here, let me help!" Bea—after throwing Fedora against the wall—dives on top of the two, pushing Alice to hit the ground faster. When they reach 20 meters from the bottom of the crater, Bea throws the swordswoman to her inevitable end and flies back up to the elf.

Seeing the ground approaching, fear almost consumes Alice, until she remembers that Sophie is still in danger. So in a risky maneuver, she assumes a defensive stance.

[Perfect Block]

[Stamina: 80/190]

Repelling the impact of the fall to the ground, creating a small crater. Still incredulous at what she just did, she looks at her sword and murmurs, "God, I hope they never nerf this."

…

Bea grabs Sophie by the arm, "Miss me, darling?"

The elf looks desperately at the vampire, but her expression soon changes to one of happiness. Bea doesn't understand this, has she finally given in?

STAB!

Thrown by Alice, one of the iron swords pierces Bea's wing. Sophie, in turn, takes advantage of the distraction to pull the blade down, worsening the cut even more.

With her wing damaged, she can't maintain flight and the two fall. Seeing this, Alice positions herself and, with a precise jump, grabs Sophie in the air.

"Still better than spiders, right?" Sophie laughs a little.

"Hah, way better."

Bea crashes completely to the ground, "Ouch…" Shortly after her ugly fall, several cracking sounds echo through her twisted body. In a few seconds, the vampire re-stands without a single scratch remaining.

"Of course it wasn't going to be that easy…" Alice grumbles. "By the way, take this." She hands over the 'Nostalgic Bow' she found earlier.

Sophie takes the bow and tests its string, seeing that it was of superior quality to her previous one, "Not bad. Hey, I bet I can take her down with only three shots."

Feeling challenged, she responds, "Three? How insecure. I can solo her with two and a half slashes!"

"Well, there's only one way to find out who is better…"