Chapter 31

The late afternoon sun illuminated Naomi's face as she leaned against the wall of a building hidden in an alley. She, along with the group of Ravens who had come with Vann, was waiting for the signal.

Naomi knew, just like everyone else with her, that if everything went as planned, the signal wouldn't be given, at least not the one for them to attack. Vann's plan had been revealed to no one except Kasca. The Nido leader, along with Gabriel and Cecília, had gone to the city's Pit, and if he didn't return before the day ended, Naomi's group would be responsible for buying some time.

The signals would be made with fireworks; the black smoke would signal the attack, while the white smoke meant retreat. Everyone was waiting for the white smoke.

After the events of the meeting, the group returned to Kasca's Nido, and it wasn't long before they were surrounded by Lorenço's Ravens and modified people. The enemy group settled in the inhabited houses. Naomi had to sneak her way to join the others.

The young woman stared at the orange sky of the late afternoon, feeling her heart race as sweat ran down her back. No one spoke; the tension was palpable as they watched a squad of Lorenço's men. Naomi held the Berserker in her right hand. Not knowing what Kasca and Vann were planning was frustrating, but she had to trust them; the desperate situation they were in left them no other option.

Turning her gaze from the sky to the others in front of her, Naomi only saw Ravens from Vann's Nido. Some of Kasca's had tried to join but were not allowed. There was something about these men and women that caught Naomi's attention: their eyes held a desire for revenge, and this feeling was extremely beneficial in the current situation.

Then, the sharp sound of a whistle-like noise broke the silence, making everyone turn almost in unison to see a red line rise—it was one of the fireworks. Naomi kept her gaze fixed on it, and after what seemed like an eternity, they had their answer. The smoke was black.

A girl had to lean against the wall to keep from collapsing as her face turned extremely pale. Beside her, a man in his forties ran to a trash can and vomited into it, while several others burst into laughter.

"Let's buy some time, then," said the man who had vomited, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Immediately, the group moved toward the wall at the end of the alley. The rival squad was close. The man who had spoken before turned to Naomi.

"Naomi, right?" he said, receiving a nod from the young woman. He continued, "We were told not to approach you."

"I understand," Naomi replied, already expecting it.

"Very well, let's show these traitors terror."

Naomi watched as her companions drew their knives and guns, and in an instant, the entire area was filled with sounds—gunshots mixed with screams of death and pain. Quickly, Naomi put on her hood, and with trembling hands, she raised the Berserker.

She dropped a drop into each eye, tossing the bottle aside. She felt nothing for a few seconds, then the pain came. Her eyes burned as though dozens of needles were being driven into every inch of her eyeballs. Her heart raced, and her hands tingled. Along with the excruciating pain, a new feeling grew—something akin to sexual pleasure, as certain parts of her body warmed.

Tears of blood streamed thickly from her eyes, and suddenly, her pain disappeared, and her senses returned, amplified many times. She could hear the sounds of the battle beside her, and an uncontrollable urge to laugh overtook her.

Naomi sank into the madness of the drug, pleasure consuming her as she drew her katana and ran toward the battle. She entered the narrow street, seeing Ravens fighting, the scent of blood flooding her with pleasure.

She charged at two men who hadn't noticed her approaching because they were exchanging gunfire. Naomi ran along their flanks and leaped forward, making a semicircle with her weapon. The first Raven realized her approach when it was too late, saw the blade tearing through his flesh, opening a large wound in his belly, then came the pain, followed by the sight of his entrails spilling out.

Landing on the ground after her jump, Naomi turned to the second man and, with both hands on the hilt, thrust the blade into his chest, making it pierce below the sternum and emerge from his back.

With a kick to the Raven's stomach, Naomi freed her blade from the man's body. She scanned the street for new enemies and advanced toward them. But this time, they saw her coming and attacked together.

Deflecting one of the blades with her weapon, Naomi found herself surrounded by Ravens attacking from all sides. Many of the attacks were blocked by her armor, others by her parries. The young woman moved frantically, defending attacks aimed at her legs and relying on her armor to defend her torso.

Seeing her attackers frustrated and unable to understand why their blows weren't killing her filled Naomi with an intense pleasure, akin to an orgasm. She only laughed as she continued to deflect knives and short swords. Then, she allowed a blow aimed at her stomach to strike, feeling the pressure of the blade pressing against her armor. With a swift movement, Naomi slashed her katana down the length of her assailant's forearm.

Generally, Naomi didn't like attacking bones because of the difficulty in cutting them, so she focused on softer parts of the body, but this time, she severed the other's limb without difficulty.

Noticing that her attack had left the group surprised, Naomi feinted and pierced the throat of the assailant who had lost half his arm. As she took the life, she felt something running down her legs. She was feeling extreme pleasure. With her shirt completely torn and blood dripping from her katana, Naomi turned her face toward the Ravens.

The sight of the woman, her body covered in scales and smiling with delight, struck terror into the Ravens. Even though she wasn't a large opponent, her figure—her pupils dilated to the point of covering her irises, making her eyes appear completely black—was terrifying.

Naomi advanced again, unable to think, her body acting on its own. She approached the nearest Raven, who was somewhat distant from the rest of the group. Deflecting a downward strike, Naomi made the woman lose her balance for a moment, and holding her katana's hilt with both hands, the young woman spun her body, striking her opponent's ribs.

The sound of flesh tearing and bones crunching made Naomi feel even more pleasure. When the blade finally stopped after hitting her opponent's spine, Naomi could see from the corner of her eye a Raven holding a metal bat. She saw the enemy gritting his teeth as he swung in a semicircle from below, hitting her hard on the right shoulder.

Pushed violently by the brutality of the attack, Naomi let her katana slip from the body of the young woman. She saw scales fly off where she had been struck, some of them embedding into her flesh. Regaining her balance, she lowered her hand to her thigh where her knife was, pulling it out immediately as she advanced toward the new attacker.

Seeing the woman covered in scales approach, the Crow swung his bat aiming for the skull of the other, but he saw his attack miss by inches as Naomi twisted her slender body.

With a stab to the stomach, Naomi brought her body a few centimeters away from the man, who was vomiting blood, and then she pulled her knife out, stabbing him again. She repeated this process frantically while laughing; the man was already dead, but she didn't care—she was enjoying herself. That's when the barrel of a revolver pressed against her right temple.

In her moment of pleasure, Naomi hadn't noticed the approach of the young man. With a swift move, she used her right hand to grab the gun by the barrel, pushing the danger away from her vital spot, just as the sound of the shot made her ears ring, and her right hand was thrown back from the impact. Using the push from the shot, Naomi detached the bloodied and fatty blade from the dead Crow's body, cutting through the air and striking her opponent's arm artery.

She felt the warm blood splash her face, watching the young man try unsuccessfully to stop the torrential bleeding. Naomi smiled, but something bothered her about her right hand. She raised it, noticing that her little finger had disappeared, and in its place, a fountain of blood spilled out. Her ring finger was dangling, only held onto her hand by a small piece of flesh.

Naomi looked at her mutilated hand while a new wave of laughter overtook her. The Berserker numbed her pain, and holding her dangling finger, she ripped it off, tossing the severed piece aside indifferently. The terror in those who watched her delighted her, and then the Berserker reached its peak.

Gripping the hilt with both hands, Naomi felt the warm liquid run down her arms as her mind was overwhelmed with pleasure while her body continued to kill. She only swung her weapon, feeling blows land on her body. Everywhere she passed, splashes of blood flew in all directions, along with severed limbs and lifeless Crows.

The drug-induced trance slowly faded, making her senses return gradually, like when waking up. What was funny was that her body was moving constantly, while her mind awoke groggily.

Naomi began to feel pain again, in small waves, bearable for now. She turned to face the Crow in front of her as she advanced. The woman stabbed her short sword, aiming for Naomi's eyes, but Naomi managed to lower her head. However, her movements were slow; her body was feeling the exhaustion that her mind had been suppressing.

The blade grazed Naomi's scalp, throwing her head covering back, but fortunately, the pain was muffled by the drug. With a move similar to her opponent's, Naomi pierced her throat.

A new wave of pain overtook Naomi, and this time it was extremely agonizing. The Crow doubled over, vomiting, while her entire body seemed to burn with exhaustion.

Blood dripped from the cut on her head, running down her face, forcing Naomi to close her right eye. Her mutilated hand seemed to burn with searing pain. She felt her throat burn with each breath from the extreme exhaustion she was feeling. With her open eye, she analyzed the battlefield. But what she saw was a scene straight out of a macabre story. Severed bodies or those with deep wounds made the ground slippery with blood and organs. Naomi looked at her own body, which was in a similar state to the asphalt. Her katana was dull and chipped in several places, cracks ran through the blade.

"Is that you?" a voice asked, full of dread.

Turning abruptly, the Crow saw two other members of the group had survived. Smiling tiredly, Naomi nodded, answering the young woman's question. An older man was a little farther away, his arm riddled with bullet holes.

"The Berserker's effect is over," Naomi murmured, feeling her mouth was extremely dry, making her tongue uncomfortable.

The young Crow ran over to Naomi right away, pulling something from her medicine pouch. With her body trembling from fatigue and muscles aching after being pushed to the limit, Naomi accepted the young girl's medical care, as she applied an anticoagulant ointment to her hand, using up the entire jar.

Seeing that the jar was empty, the girl tossed it aside carelessly and ran to one of the fallen, taking another jar from the dying man's bag.

"Is it that bad?" Naomi asked, pointing to the cut on her head with her good hand.

"It's going to leave a big scar," the man said, finishing the final touches on his arm wounds.

"Well, just another for the collection," Naomi joked.

With skill, the young Corva tended to the cut, looking at it a few more times until she was satisfied, then collapsed onto the ground in front of Naomi, who was about to follow her caretaker's example when the young woman raised one hand to stop her.

— You need to go back to the Nest.

— What? — Naomi asked, making a grimace.

— The reinforcements will be here soon — the man spoke again, approaching his Nest partner. — At least one of us needs to return.

— I won't abandon anyone to die! — Naomi nearly shouted, but was stopped when the scales embedded in her flesh sent sharp pains through her.

— Do you want to be another corpse? — The girl said seriously. — After what I saw today, I'll only say this. The Crows can't lose you.

— Yes — the Crow agreed. — You'll do something big still, Naomi, so run with all the strength you have left. And no matter what happens, keep going.

Feeling a painful knot in her throat, Naomi nodded. She didn't want to die, and knew she would be useless in another fight, so with every part of her body at its limit, she set off toward the Nest.

Stumbling, the Corva distanced herself from the slaughter. Her body wanted to give up, but she refused to be defeated. Several parts of her armor had lost their scales, and she felt a chilling cold that made her teeth chatter. She held her weapon with her good hand, and the piece of metal felt incredibly heavy, but she refused to put it away or let go of it.

Curious eyes peered through the window at her movements, only to quickly hide again when they saw her condition. Naomi wasn't surprised; she was drenched in blood, flesh, and organs. Finally, the sound of gunfire came.

Forcing herself to keep running, the Corva only heard the battle of the two remaining survivors of the group. She regretted not asking the name of the girl who had helped her. The sounds didn't last long, and with the silence, she knew both were dead.

At her limit, Naomi managed to return to the sands of the beach, still fighting to stay awake as she moved toward the Nest. Some figures in black ran toward her, and for a moment, she thought it would be her end, but then she recognized the silhouettes of Cecília and Gabriel, who had returned from the Grave.

Smiling, Naomi collapsed onto her back in the sand. Her whole body ached, and breathing was still difficult, but she ignored it all while staring at the orange sky of the late afternoon. The sea water rose, submerging her left hand, which was still holding her katana. She took comfort in this small moment while listening to her two companions approach.

It had been a long day, Naomi reflected, enjoying the seawater. The number of things she had seen and gone through made her feel like she had just lived "a month in a day."

— Naomi! — Cecília shouted, panicked, as she placed her face on Naomi's.

— I'm alive — Naomi muttered, her view of the sky blocked.

— And the others? — Cecília asked, sitting beside her.

— There are no others — Naomi replied, feeling the knot in her throat again.

Gabriel stopped a few steps away, analyzing his partner's condition. The young man clenched his fists so tightly they tore his flesh, his lips a thin white line, and without saying a word, he approached Naomi, placing his hand over hers.

— What are you doing here? — Naomi asked again, sitting in the sand and making grimaces.

— We just got back — Cecília replied. — I have no idea what Vann wants in that place.

— Did Rafael agree to help the Crows?

— Not exactly, he was threatened with the death penalty for not sharing the information he had. In my opinion, that son of a bitch deserved to die anyway.

— And what else? — Naomi interrupted.

— Vann spoke with him privately for a few minutes, then we were sent back to signal that there wouldn't be a distraction. — Cecília turned her blue eyes to the sea, frustrated, and continued. — Unfortunately, we weren't fast enough.

— Naomi — Gabriel spoke for the first time. — You need medical attention, we'll talk more later — he turned to Cecília and said. — Help me?

— Of course!

With Gabriel on her right and Cecília on her left, Naomi was taken toward the Nest. She felt so tired, but she wasn't going to faint like she did in the S.L Incident; she wanted to see how things would unfold. Something inside her made her believe that the day would bring one last surprise.