The Swordstorm's last battle

The four warriors walked over the plains. Only a few trees stood there. None of them said something. Everyone was focused and their bodies were tense. They could sense the monster's presence. Its Yoki was undeniable powerful. It was less than a mile ahead of them. Nila felt that it was in its true form. At least it didn't waste time. She took a deep breath. For the first time Nila was nervous. She had never felt such an enormous aura. "So that's the power of an awakened single digit. We better not lose!"

Then they could see it. First a shadow then a clear silhouette. It seemed to be expecting them. But that wasn't surprising. None of the party members tried to hide his Yoki.

Then its monstrous shape moved towards them. It looked like a gigantic spider with the torso of a human. Its skin was black with a shade of blue like the wings of a raven. Instead of arms there were at least fifty long and sharp metallic claws. They were not less than three meters long. "I see how his technique manifested in his new form" she thought. Now only twenty meters parted them form the creature. Its face looked human except that its eyes were golden. Curled dark brown hair fell into its face.

"So you are the unfortunate warriors who are sent to kill me?" it asked slightly smiling. Its voice was sweet and calm. It didn't look at the warriors as a threat that was obvious. The famous arrogance of the Awakened Beings.

Steve drew his sword. "Yes, we are. But the one who is unfortunate is you. Maxwell, former Number 8 of the organization, we have been sent to take your head." Like that had been a silent sign, the other three warriors drew their claymores too.

"And who are you? A single digit I suppose and the leader of this hunting party" the Awakened Being answered.

"My name is Steve of the Blood Eyes. I'm the "Eye" of the organization and the current Number 8" he replied.

Maxwell raised his eyebrows. "They sent the one who replaced me? I really would have expected a higher rank. I'm a bit disappointed. But looking at you makes me feel so nostalgic. How odd!"

Then his look caught Nila. "A woman? That is surprising! Since when does the organization create female warriors?"

Instead of Steve, Nila answered "Someone who is going to die doesn't have to know that."

"Oh! How confident! But I'm afraid that you are the ones who will die. But I will have my fun with you, don't worry. Especially with you." he pointed with his claws at Nila. "You look quite delicious. Torturing you before I will devour you, will surely wake my appetite. So let's begin our little game. I'm really looking forward to it!"

It jumped and landed between the warriors. In the last second they were able to evade from its striking claws. They were moving so fast that Nila couldn't see them. But…relieved she realized that she could sense its strikes. The amount of Yoki it used made it very easy to predict its movements. Its claws shot towards her. She dodged.

Although the creature was fighting four warriors at once, it was able to defend every one of their attacks. This monster was powerful! Again she felt claws coming towards her. Nila leaped to the side, and while jumping she cut the claws. Satisfied she saw the purple blood of the Awakened Being.

For a while the warriors were fighting like this. The three lower ranked warriors tried to distract it, while Steve was mostly attacking. He did hurt the creature, but he was also hurt during that. Scratches and cuts were on his hands and legs. Cleo and Niel had been also hurt, but their cuts were deeper and longer. Only Nila remained unhurt, due to her special skill.

The Awakened Being jumped again and landed in front of Nila and Steve. Niel was on its right side and Cleo behind it. Suddenly the Number 13 sensed what the monster was going to do. "Watch out, Cleo!" she screamed, but it was too late. Nila saw how the claws of the creature cut Cleo's legs with insane speed to shreds. Blood painted the grass crimson red. "Bastard!" she hissed. At least Number 18 was still alive. If he really was such a superb defensive warrior, he would be able to regenerate his legs. He couldn't be called the Indestructible without a reason. But there was no way he could fight now. He would need quite some time to regenerate his legs. And the other ones had to give him this time.

Now the remaining warriors attacked the Awakened Being. They were able to cut it, but its fast strikes were really quite a problem. Steve was able to land more strikes on the creature than before. The anger must have had increased his strength. Purple blood dripped from his sword. Nila and Niel were mostly covering him. But Number 13 felt that only Steve's attacks wouldn't be enough to cut the Awakened Being down.

After about twenty minutes Niel got kicked away by the monster. He hit the ground sixty meters away and a few seconds later the Awakened Being was next to him. "Gotcha!" the monster said smiling and the lighting fast claws moved to Niel.

"No! Niel!" Nila thought shocked "You bastard! I won't let you kill him! I WON'T LET YOU!" She wanted to save him. She had to save him, but she had to kill this monster to accomplish that. And a second later a strange numbness overcame her. Then suddenly bloodlust rushed through her and she felt how all her muscles tensed. And after that she felt how something else took over…

…

Steve wanted to save Niel, but he knew that his body wouldn't be fast enough. He saw the claws moving towards his fellow warrior. Niel would die. Cut to shreds within a second. Then suddenly there was the sound of metal clashing together. Shocked Steve realised that Nila stood in front of Niel parrying the strikes of the creature. Her arm was moving so fast that he nearly couldn't see it anymore. The face of the girl was nearly clear of emotion. Her eyes were still silver.

How was she able to be so fast without using her Yoki? Even if she was able to foresee the strikes, she shouldn't be able to keep up with the tremendous speed of the Awakened Being. Such insane speed within such a frail body. "How do you do that, bitch?" the angry and also surprised monster asked. "You do not need to know. But…I won't let you kill him! I won't let you win this battle! You will die here and now!" she answered calm.

Then Nila disappeared. A second later she stood just two meters away from Steve. "Wha…" the Awakened Being said and its eyes widened, when it saw how all of his right claws fell to the ground. He wanted to reattach them but a split second later they broke into little pieces. "If I cut something off you, then I want that it stays like this" Nila said. "What the hell? What the hell are you? No one can be fast enough to parry my strikes!" the Awakened Being said unbelieving "What's your rank?" Slowly she turned around and said "My name is Nila and I'm the organizations Number 13."

"13? No! You must be lying! A 13 isn't able to do something like that!" the Awakened Being replied unbelieving. "I don't need to deceive you. So you can trust my words" Nila answered. The creature shot his remaining claws in her direction. She jumped into the air and cut several of his claws off.

Steve starred at her for a few seconds. Was this girl really this strong? Was she strong enough to take this monster on her own? Her aura…Her aura was so strange. On the outside it seemed to be normal. Fitting for her rank. Yet underneath the surface she hid something. A power he couldn't describe closer, but one thing was sure. This Nila couldn't be a normal warrior.

"Captain. I will cover you and then you will be able to take its head" Nila said seriously. He just nodded and gripped his sword a bit more tightly. Then both leaped forward.

Roaring the monster attacked them, but just like she had said, Nila blocked every attack of the creature. No matter how fast or powerful the strike was. "BITCH!" the Awakened Being screamed furious. Then Steve's eyes turned golden. He felt how the power of the Yoki spread through his body. He felt the rush of the strength, but resisted it, although it felt incredibly tempting. He raised his sword. And then with a powerful blow he beheaded the monster. Purple blood gushed from the neck. The reek of the monsters blood made Steve feel a bit sick. "This…is…not…happe…" Maxwell said faintly, before the former Number 8 died. Its head hit the ground. Then the rest of its body collapsed. It made quite a stir.

Nila looked at the cadaver. This feeling…This incredible feeling of power! She had never felt so alive before! This creature it had been…weak. It had been no threat to her! At first she hadn't been sure how to deal with the monster, but then after she had decided to protect Niel's life with her own, Nila had felt the difference in power. The Awakened Being, a former single digit, had been too slow and too weak for her! Her strength had by far surpassed its. Without even using her Yoki, she could have slain it! Nila looked at her hands. This realisation of power was unbelievable! She had been wrong. She wasn't the second strongest member of this party; no Nila was the strongest of them. "Incredible! I didn't know that my body possesses this kind of power!"

But then she remembered how she had felt a few moments before she had saved Niel. There had been something wrong with her for a second. Her head had felt so light and yet incredible focused on killing the monster. It had felt like a rush. After that she had moved without thinking about what she was doing. She looked at her right hand again. When she thought about it, it had felt like something else had been in control of her body. Then she shook this thought off. What a ridiculous idea!

Niel was standing again. He seemed to have recovered from the crash onto the ground. Although he was a bit limping. "You made it!" he said relieved. "Yes, we did" Steve replied. His eyes were silver again. Then the single digit walked to Cleo. His legs looked almost normal again, but he would still need a couple of minutes to complete the regeneration. "How are you, Cleo?" Steve asked. "Can't complain. I'm still alive and the monster is dead. Isn't the first time I lost a leg" he replied. "Good" the "Eye" said.

Then Niel looked at Nila. "Thanks…for saving me. I thought I would die" he said.

Nila closed her eyes. "You don't need to thank me. As a warrior it is only natural that I protected you."

"But being able to do that isn't" Steve replied calm.

"What do you mean by that, Captain?" she asked surprised. Steve had a strange expression on his face. Searching in a way, but there was something else…Nila couldn't describe it

"I just say it's odd that a 13 is powerful enough to take an awakened Number 8 all by herself."

"I didn't. You were the one, who killed it."

"Only because you cleared the way. A task which I wouldn't have been capable of" Steve said. He frowned. The Number 8 was looking for something. She wasn't sure for what.

Nila turned around. "I only did my duty as a warrior. That's all."

"13, would you be so kind to release 10 percent of your Yoki?" Steve asked serious. Niel and Cleo looked as surprised and confused as Nila.

"Why should I do that? The battle is over. There's no need for that!"

"I just want you to do it. It doesn't matter if you see a reason in it or not" the "Eye" answered. "What if I'm not able to resist the rush? You surely don't want me to awaken" Nila replied serious. What was this single digit planning? No matter what it was she didn't like it.

"I will risk it" he answered simply. Nila didn't say something. She didn't want to release her Yoki. Not when the circumstances were so strange.

"Are you disobeying my orders?" the Number 8 asked. The silver haired warrior looked at her. She looked everything but happy.

"Fine. I will do it, although it's completely pointless" Nila answered finally. She closed her eyes. Actually in the past she had released her Yoki only for fun, not because she had needed it. She felt strangely threatened. Why did he force her to release her Yoki? It was just…weird.

Nila slowly opened her eyes. Then from one moment to the other her silver eyes turned golden. She felt how the power spread in her body. A warm and pleasant feeling overcome her. Going further was a bit tempting, but not that much.

The three warriors just looked at her. Steve looked thoughtful and focused. Niel and Cleo didn't look at her at all. But Niel clenched one of his fists. Both of them looked tense. After some moments Nila blinked and her eyes returned to their original colour.

"Happy now?" she asked Steve.

He didn't answer her and said instead "The mission has been completed. You can now return to your territories."

Nila didn't bother to say any parting words and turned around. She walked away silently. And while she was walking she had the strange feeling that she had by releasing her Yoki given away vitally important information.