Okay, she definitely had no idea where she was, but that wasn't going to matter in a moment.
"RAAAAAAAAAGH!" Nareena reared back her right fist and threw the hardest punch she'd ever thrown. She was under no illusion that her opponent was soft or weak, however. That said, given its humanoid form, despite lacking genitals, it did possess weak points and spots, places that'd hurt more than others. So, she targeted those, instead. As she weaved underneath the demonic creature's wild haymaker – a blow that probably would've cracked her skull open if she got hit - Nareena threw her counter.
Her knuckles connected with the entity's ribcage, aiming for where its liver should have been. The impact was like striking a wall of stone, but the demon grunted, its fiery eyes flaring with surprise and anger. Not wasting a second, Nareena followed up with a rapid series of punches to its midsection, each hit met with a resistance that sent jolts of pain up her arms. Still, she persisted, aiming for joints and softer tissue.
The creature retaliated with a backhanded swing; Nareena's eyes widened as she raised both forearms to defend her head. The blow rattled her bones, sending her sprawling across the bloody ground. She rolled with the impact, quickly regaining her footing despite the sting of the blow. Blood from the ground smeared her body, but she ignored it, focusing entirely on the battle at hand. She hissed, her forearms pulsating with pain. If the blow had been any stronger, then her bones would've just cracked entirely.
"You've got some fight in you, mortal," the demon growled, its voice a low rumble that resonated in the pit of her stomach. It flexed its claws, each digit ending in a wickedly sharp talon. Getting hit by those would surely end their little fight, but Nareena had a feeling that the demon wouldn't, simply because Nareena herself didn't possess any talons of her own. It seemed to actually respect the concept of a fair fight. All she had were her fists and her legs to fight with and the demon responded in kind."But it won't be enough."
Nareena smirked, wiping a trickle of blood from her lip. Tch, even with her defense, the force from the blow cut open her lips. Still, this was fun. She'd never had this much fun before. Most of the things she'd killed were mindless beasts or raging monsters. But this demon actually knew martial arts. It knew how to fight. It had control and discipline. If nothing else, it was a worthy foe. If it killed her, she'd be fine with it, though dying sounded like it would actively suck. "I've faced worse."
"You're amusing," The demon chuckled. "And, for that, I grant you my name. I am Gorthal, Exalted Bloodletter of Khorne, and I shall be your doom."
"I am Nareena – Scrapper extraordinaire and I'm about to fuck yo shit up with these hands." She grinned, raising her hands and forming fists once more. This was shaping up to be a terribly difficult battle, probably even moreso than the Scrapyard Dragon. But it'd be fun. "Or you kill me. Either way, I have fun."
They both grinned and charged each other. The Demon, Gorthal, threw a barrage of punches and kicks, each one possessing enough power to crush bones and rip flesh apart. Nareena gritted her teeth as she ducked and bobbed and weaved underneath or over each one, pushing her martial skill to the very brink of their capacity. She'd never been tested like this before. Her blood simmered within her veins, her muscles burning, and her skin turning crimson. She ignored all of it, however, keeping her mind fixed on the battle at hand. Fire blazed from her eyes. She wasn't sure how or why, but Gorthal almost seemed to be slowing down with every passing moment, until the demon now moved with about the same speed as an excellently-trained human being – still freakishly fast, but no longer blindingly so.
She wasn't sure what happened or what was happening, but Nareena didn't care. Grinning, she stepped forward, passing right under a straight haymaker, before throwing an overhand right. Her fist crashed right into Gorthal's face and Nareena felt flesh and bone give way, just before the demon's head snapped back, blood and fire pouring from its mouth and nose, its eyes wide in shock. Nareena surged forward, taking the initiative; this should've been impossible, but she had no time to ask questions in a life or death battle. So, she bobbed and weaved, left and right, throwing hooks into Gorthal's torso. This time, when her knuckles made contact, it no longer felt as though she was punching concrete. The demon buckled, Nareena's barrage of punches damaging its ribs and muscles.
"RAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Gorthal roared and surged forward, ignoring the withering blows it'd received, flaming blood flowing from its maws. Nareena's eyes widened as a knee was delivered straight into her abdomen, drawing blood from her lips right before it sent her flying away. Nareena spun mid-air and landed on her feet. That did not hurt nearly as much as she thought. Her stomach burned, muscles pulsating underneath her skin and she was pretty sure that it was going to hurt real bad in a few hours. She glanced down, briefly, noting the angry-red tone that'd overtaken much of her skin, likely from all the blood on the ground, and the blackened imprint of a fist right on the center of her stomach.
Gorthal charged forward. Nareena gritted her teeth and charged right back. Their roars melded together as a hundred punches and kicks were exchanged in a matter of moments, their crimson forms blurring as they clashed all over and across the Bloody Garden of Khorne, leaving scorching and burning marks wherever they landed. At some point during the exchange, Nareena realized that she should've died about eighty or so punches ago. Gorthal's attacks were, each, powerful enough to crush rocks and splinter trees and yet, she still lived; in fact, their exchange of blows was equalizing, when the demon should've been far stronger than her. A single punch should've cracked her skull apart. And yet, she'd taken close to a hundred knuckles to the face now and her head was still intact. Additionally, her attacks were doing damage to Gorthal – not a lot of it, or as much as she'd prefer, but enough that the demon was now visibly injured, just like herself.
But, just like herself, Gorthal was healing – slowly, at first, but the rate of healing seemed to increase as their battle grew more and more violent. Something very unnatural was going on. And it didn't help that, even now, as they exchanged punches and kicks like there was no tomorrow, Nareena noted the glaringly obvious changes that were happening to her body, like the new pigment of her skin, for instance, because the crimson definitely wasn't just coming from blood anymore. Or the fact that her feet had turned to hissing, blackened hooves. Or that her fingernails had lengthened into outright claws and were now as black as the gap between the stars themselves. She was changing. Something here was changing her.
And she'd been wrong, earlier. Gorthal wasn't getting weaker or slower; she was simply becoming stronger and faster, until they both became somewhat equal.
Eh, whatever. She wasn't about to complain. Hooves were more efficient than actual feet and having claws would just make her kill things better; and who was dumb enough to say no more strength and speed? Well, definitely not her. Infinite stamina? Thragg better watch out when she got back.
Nareena just hoped she wouldn't end up ugly, like Gorthal. She liked her face. Thragg also liked her face. She was proud of her face. But, at the rate that she was eating punches, she might not have a face when this was over.
Lightning and thunder raged from the sky, flashing and bathing the land around her in an angry crimson color. She was going to end this. She had to end this. She'd wasted enough time having fun just wailing on the demon. Nareena's eyes narrowed as she ducked and weaved underneath a punch, forcing Gorthal to overextend. She then pivoted and tackled the blazing demon from behind, wrapping her forearms around the entity's throat, and locking its neck in a tight grip, choking Gorthal. She then wrapped her legs around the demon's arms and torso.
Her grip tightened as the demon raged and ran through trees and boulders, injuring the both of them in the process. Nareena held on tightly. It was now, more than anything, a battle of attrition. Gorthal's biggest mistake was thinking she'd just continue exchanging kicks and punches openly; sure, it was fun, but it also wasn't going to end with either of them winning. And, despite everything, Nareena wanted to win. She needed to win and go back home to her family – to her son, her daughter, and her husband.
And so, Nareena roared and squeezed and squeezed until her shoulders burned and all the world turned quiet. It took an hour for Gorthal to cease moving, but she kept on squeezing until the demon's head popped right from its neck, at which point Nareena grabbed its horns and ripped its bloody head right off its shoulders. Steam and smoke arose from her body. Her eyes blazed with infernal flames. "Heh, I win."
Gorthal's body disappeared in a flash of fire and ashes, the demonic creature fading into the wind, save for the head that she still held by a horn.
And then, the world around her shifted, and great and towering mountains of skulls and bones, and rushing rivers of flaming blood appeared around her. And a great citadel of brass appeared in a burst of fire, followed by legions and legions of... more of the same creatures as Gorthal, but also other things – massive misshapen hounds, and gigantic winged creatures with red skin. There were... well... far more than just thousands. There were millions of them – a rough estimate off the top of her head, but Nareena was pretty sure she wasn't far off with that estimate.
Nareena breathed in, dropped Gorthal's head to the bloody ground, and raised her fists, idly noting how her knuckles now had little black spikes on them – very cool. Dark gray and black scales encased her fists, all the way up to her elbows, which now also had spikes sticking out of them.
Yeah, she was most definitely going to die here, however. Gorthal was hard enough to kill and now there were more – far more than she could deal with on her own. She didn't even have a weapon. But, all things considered, she wasn't about to die without a fight, even if she wouldn't be able to give much of it. She was a Scrapper, after all, and she'd be damned if she didn't scrap a few of them before they killed her. "Come on! I don't have all day!"
Her eyes narrowed as she snarled, steam and smoke rising from her lips. Nareena felt something unfurling from her back, but she ignored it. She kept her eyes on the enemies, which was honestly an impossibility, given their numbers; so, instead, she kept her eyes on the ones who were closest to her. The closest, by her estimation, was a whip-wielding giant with wings and horns, wreathed in fire and covered in brass armor. Tsk, killing that thing would take a lot of effort.
None of them were moving, however. Instead, they all just stood and loomed over her, watching and waiting in silence.
"I was right," Nareena's eyes widened as she glanced down. Upon the ground, Gorthal's severed head spoke. Now, that was definitely unnatural. But also not the strangest thing she'd ever seen if she was being honest. The demon smiled at her and, oddly, the smile held no malice. Instead, there was something akin to respect and acceptance. How or why, Nareena did not know. "You were chosen... Nareena... first of the Valkyrie..."
"Man, shut up," She said, right before kicking the demon's head into the air.
AN: Chapter 41 is out on (Pat)reon!