.: I went into this chapter thinking that it was the second of three. It still is, but I did not want a super long chapter again, and I did not want something as complicated. Guess what I did. I proceeded to write an even longer outline than the last and an almost equally as long chapter to go with it. Why did I torture myself like this? No clue. Did I have fun? A lot more than I thought I would. One of my favorite battles in all of anime is Ichigo vs. Ulquiorra purely from how fast it went by and how it was revealed that they were foil characters, so I wanted to use it. Also shoutout to Naruto Shippuden, Boruto, One Piece, Castlevania, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure for helping me fill in the gaps as I rearranged things and bounced between the two versions. I basically wanted Cherokee to be an absolute menace in this chapter because she has gone off the deep end. Mission successful. :.
The Girl with A Half-Soul
Chapter 58:
The Wolf Woman: Supremacy
Considering they had started fleeing an hour ago, it was amazing that the remaining evacuees had nearly made it to the other side of the mountains until further notice. Their planned exit led into the same desert that the haunted canyon shared. If they had to truly flee, it would be preferable to happen during the night since the temperatures would be cool. There was no running with that nervous thought in their heads. The intermingled tribes just helped each other without discrimination. All the children were accounted for, and the elderly, sick, or injured maintained a safe speed so they did not slow down the rest.
Some children felt as if they were travelling alone, though. The cases for why varied between both parents fighting in the battle or they had no parents at all. Adults were aware of this and kept tabs on those children during the journey. So, when one of those lone children began to show signs of fatigue, one expectant mother went to check on him. Being a Lun'aecho woman did not stop her from offering her kindness to the young brown rat mink named Roderic. She rested a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, and when she knelt beside him, he stared at her noticeable bump before shifting his gaze to her face.
"Would you like me to carry you?" she asked gently, knowing she was a stranger to him.
The safe aura she presented reminded him of his mother Rodencia. Despite being a formidable warrior for the Mink Tribe, she still had a soft side for her little boy. It was rare that she had to raise her voice at him. Because of that and the closeness they shared, they had a close bond. These last few months were hard for him, and sadly, coming to the island where she was sent to did not make it easier for him to be with her.
Roderic nodded in consent to her offer. Rodencia and Thalor had told him that the people travelling with him were to be trusted. If he needed anything, he should not be afraid to speak up.
The woman smiled and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. Then she pulled him against her back, tied the blanket around her torso, and carried him beneath his knees. He was very light to her; the rest of the trip would not be a problem for her this way.
As Roderic got comfy, he yawned. It was way past his bedtime. The body heat and opportunity to rest his chin on her shoulder reminded him of when Rodencia would snuggle him. Usually, he sat in her lap with the side of his face against her chest. The feeling of her hands gently stroking his back as she hugged him lulled him to sleep. Although this experience was similar, it was still not the exact same. He really wanted Thalor and Rodencia to come back soon. And thinking about the woman's baby in her belly, he wondered if he would ever see Rodencia like that, too.
Without warning, the evacuees all paused at the same time. This was the second time, the first being when the eclipse started and turned everything red. Not only did the distant sounds of war abruptly silence, but they also felt a residual wave of air pressure pass by. Many did not know what it was, but some of the minks did. It had to be Rodencia's Conqueror's Haki. There was no other explanation.
They glanced back toward the place they left behind. There was no telling what was going on to cause Rodencia to resort to such a tactic. Whatever it was, it made them nervous finally. The pace was increased to leave the mountains.
What they felt, though, did not compare to what was felt on the battlefield. Rodencia mustered all her strength, focusing greatly, as she hovered high above to reach every corner of the battle. From the center to the outskirts, the red Sulong fluttered out of existence with the ripples of her Haki. Quintus had to shield his eyes since they were watering. Luckily, he was able to withstand the effects from his own willpower.
But down below, even the ones prepared stood no chance. Kiyaya collapsed from exhaustion as her Sulong extinguished. She was covered in small bite marks that were deep enough to draw blood, and her gut felt raw from today's double whammies. Feeling that shockwave wash over her made her sleepy immediately. Her brain wanted to shut down from how overwhelming it was.
Lakota slipped from her shoulder as he fell unconscious. As soon as she felt it, her hand reached to catch him. His eyelids were open with no pupils or irises in sight, and his mouth was slacked open. Seeing it gave her a flashback to when she first had the privilege of holding him for the first time all those months ago. He was so pitiful back then as his life hung in the balance, and she remembered the intense grief and guilt that perforated her heart. Looking at him now, she knew his physical injuries were limited, but protectiveness still drove her to tuck him underneath her chin. It would end soon. She tried to fight the effects that the Haki had on her, but it was too much. Together, they succumbed just like the rest.
The only active fighters to resist were the giants, both authentic and cursed. Their trembling fights fumbled with the little bit of dizziness they got from it, but that was all.
While bodies fell against their will, two crashed through it thanks to a very ireful moon goddess. Her feet did not touch the ground the whole time as the cursed miasma propelled her movements. It was all according to her plan. First on that list was making them get a taste of their own medicine. If she had to be torn to shreds against a mountainside, then this sufficed as payback. She wanted them to at least get a little wounded to feed her ego.
Chunks of the ground erupted and caught air as they bowled through it. Once she had taken them far enough away from the battlefield, she lifted them and threw them apart from each other, one after the other. Sosuke crashed into the slope without trying to catch himself while Adrian tumbled and rolled until his cape had tangled him up. It took them a moment to register what just happened. Not only had it disoriented them, but it also came with embarrassment. Sosuke touched where indentions of fingers were leftover. Never in his life had a person hustled him like a helpless child until now.
Adrian was stuck trying to find his way out of his cape when he felt the wave of Conqueror's Haki cascade all his senses. He stopped struggling. So, the reports were true. The rat mink was the only known enemy with such a gift. He knew it was her that he was feeling. Unchaining his cape from around his neck, he finally slipped it off from around his shoulders and released his now disheveled locks. As he expected, the battlefield had been doused and became a preview of a graveyard. But that was not the only thing he noticed right away. The being standing between himself and Sosuke stood with more of the ground growing black with wilting grass underneath her. Purplish globs seeped upwards like molten wax, but it respired from her body as a noxious vapor.
Cherokee panned her gaze until she differentiated the Admirals. She had no recollection of who they were, so this had to be their first encounter. All she knew was that they rode to battle on chariots helmed by slaves. The little badges and medallions on their coats meant nothing to her. What made her curious was how they were similar to her in regard to not being affected by Rodencia's Haki. If that was possible, then she knew they were at a different level than the rest.
As for their thoughts on her, they knew they had heard about Cherokee before. Her devil fruit awakening may have been unexpected, but it was nothing they could not handle. Isolating herself from outside help was going to be one of her biggest regrets because anyone who fought an Admiral was out of their mind. To fight two at the same time was suicide. Sosuke and Adrian's youthfulness was not going to be their downfall; inexperience was not a flaw of theirs.
Sizing her up, the Admirals stood up to see stature and muscle tone was not her specialism. The only aspect making them slightly uneasy was how young and old she appeared simultaneously. Not a wrinkle was in sight, but her black hair was wiry and tatty like an old woman's. The raggedy garments clothing her body did not accentuate her figure at all. And the fanged deer skull overhanging her face gave an ominous message that she was supposed to be unnatural. She was not of this world.
Being awakened meant she was purely a devil.
Without uttering a word, Cherokee opened her hand. A staff twisted with thorns flew from where she dropped it to return to her grasp. After she snatched it, she swung it around and behind her like it was heavy. The Admirals stifled sharp inhalations as the ground tore upward along her stroke because of a powerful crescent of raw Armament Haki. Deracinated earth towered over them all like a miniature mountain. That was her indication that she was ready for whatever they would throw at her.
To accept her challenge, Adrian removed his glove, bit into his own palm, and tore his flesh open. He was unsure if he had enough blood supply to do it, but he felt as if he had no choice either. Before his blood could even drizzle out of him, he pressed his palms together just to pull them apart. The blood followed and levitated in the air. It kept draining from his self-inflicted wound until he was satisfied with the volume. Subtle movements of his fingers caused it to form a specific shape of a sword with a long thin blade and double guard on the hilt. Not visible to the naked eye, he was manipulating the cells until the particles were tightly packed. Then, he unsheathed a brand-new sword from the warm liquid. The iron was immaculate with no brittle flaw or misplaced atom at all.
Sosuke met his eye from across the plain. As soon as Adrian gripped his new weapon, they sprang into action. They blurred past Cherokee on either side of her, forcing her stance to swivel to keep up. Both focused their Haki right when they went for that first contact. The ground around them buckled and slightly crumbled. A hard breeze blew past Sosuke as his fist was caught in her palm. Sparks sizzled as Adrian's blade was countered by the thorn staff. Cherokee braced herself between them with her arms crossed. Stopping their hits did not mean she could not feel their power. It was staggering but manageable.
Then Cherokee was blasted backwards by their next synchronized attack that leveled the ground she effortlessly tore apart. Maintaining her balance, she deflected them again and again as they took turns trying to override her reflexes. One. Two. Three hits. A backflip helped her dodge one of them, but Sosuke came from the side with a kick and a punch that she was forced to redirect away from herself. Behind her, Adrian appeared, but she sensed him in time to roundhouse kick in his direction. After ducking, he rotated and stopped her fist from the other direction since he was continuing thanks to the momentum. It helped him float higher and deliver his own roundhouse kick that succeeded in contrast to hers.
Cherokee shielded herself before getting kicked. She flipped again while the Admirals vanished out of sight. When she landed on her bare feet, the ground broke again. All it took was for her to look up to see that they had spawned wings to get overtop her. Fighting against devil fruit users like herself motivated her further. After a raspy howl, they soared down so fast that Sosuke's strike hurt a little bit. Following him was another slash from Adrian that required her to adjust how she defended with her staff. From there, they tag teamed her. Sosuke would try to hit her from behind again to shift her focus to him, and then Adrian would follow up with more swordplay.
Repeatedly, she hit, turned, hit, turned, kicked one away, turned, deflected a sword, and never got dizzy from how quickly things were moving. The Admirals were dynamic in their movements, never standing still or flat-footed against her. When Adrian got slammed away, he let go of his sword and directed it to fly straight back to her. Cherokee blocked it with her staff to be rid of the threat. But Sosuke picked up the mantle by battering her with punches that she effortlessly dodged and pushed away, while adding some of her own into the mix. Aiming for the face or neck, and then trying to sneak a sly kick, was shared between them.
Suddenly, from the nondominant side, Cherokee received a well-delivered jab to the jugular that caught her for the briefest moment. Then, Sosuke followed through with a punch that clocked her straight across her face. The deer skull rattled from just how hard he hit her. Right after, Adrian reappeared with a sideways kick that finally separated her from them.
Instead of falling, she spun in the air to make a graceful landing. The staff splintered from how tight her Haki-coated grip was. Sosuke and Adrian charged her head-on to hit her at the same time. Sosuke bounced off while Adrian slashed her staff. As soon as his weight was off, she gripped it with both hands just to club him with it, but he deflected her again. Swinging it the other way, she spun around and forced Sosuke to lean backwards just to keep from suffering a blow. The next swing was met with a kick. Sosuke tried to sneak in, but Cherokee kicked him back.
Pushing off him allowed her to spin in the air again. She adjusted her grip and stance to keep the action rolling because, frankly, she was having a little fun with this. The window of victory was large for her at this rate. Because of that, she flattered them by making them think they had the same odds. She saw no, heard no, feared no equal.
Up in the sky, Rodencia's feet began to slow in kicks that kept her airborne. Her Haki was exhausted from the continuous emission. As it subsided, she felt gravity start to take her. Quintus was right there to catch her before she got too far. Cradling her in the crook of one arm, he used a slower pace to descend. "Excellent work," he praised, letting go of his own Sulong. The crimson flames dissipated from his body by the elongated fur shortening back up. It was obvious again that he was a platypus mink instead of some alien creature. "You-gara will truly make a just as excellent duke."
Rodencia huffed with tiredness as she relaxed for once. But the comment caught her attention. "Duke?"
He smiled and closed his beady eyes. "I believe you-gara have more than proven yourself as a valiant leader."
His compliment surprised her. Never was her intention to prove herself worthy of such a position of power. She simply followed orders and did what was best for the Mink Tribe. It was never for popularity or attention. But now it was sounding like Quintus was planning his retirement once this war was behind them.
The sudden thunder beneath them jerked their attentions over toward the mountains. Dirt had exploded from some kind of blast, and through the resulting debris flew out a body. They appeared to be laying flat on their back and either unconscious or just unbothered. In addition, the Admirals came running out just to sprout their wings and pursue their target.
Cherokee stopped playing dead once she sensed them. She gracefully pulled her feet over her head to flip. Then, she landed and slid flat on her feet.
Adrian squeezed his hand to draw more blood and quickly formed miniature razorblades. He commanded everything made from his iron go forth. Cherokee moved backwards and around to avoid what was meant to skewer her. All the sharp edges impaled into the soil. Last to arrive was the floating sword. When she deflected it away, she suddenly felt her arms get pressed against her sides thanks to a sticky silk. Sosuke came from underneath to kick her farther up. When she blinked, she saw Adrian soaring down toward her. His ready fist slammed into her left cheek, and with all the strength he had, he slugged her back into the ground. A visible streak manifested from her body's path through the atmosphere. And finally, an even bigger explosion disgruntled the earth.
Seeing it made Rodencia jump from Quintus's arms. They had no idea how the Chieftain ended up in that form, but they knew it was her. And they knew fighting two Admirals at once was too much for one person. The rat mink reacted faster than her Duke. She slipped his oversized club from the harness on his back and hastily skywalked to where the epicenter was. Unable to see for herself, she knew one Admiral was standing next to an unmoving body while the other continued to fly down. The fear of them executing her while her guard was down caused her to want to rudely interrupt.
To save Cherokee was to remove one of the threats on her life. The flying Admiral did not take notice of her presence yet, but he would quickly. She decided to go for the one with his back turned and closest to Cherokee. Every step of her downward skywalk had her moving faster and faster. She raised the club over her head, coating its entirety in Armament Haki to turn it black. And even though she was tired, she decided to take a risk by summoning more Conqueror's Haki. Maybe if she could disorient him even the tiniest bit, it could tip this attack in her favor. She was going all in for this.
Just when Conqueror's Haki leaked from her frontal lobe, both Admirals knew it was her. Adrian saw the split second of her. "Sosuke!" he warned.
He turned around and looked up. Right at that second, his Observation Haki kicked in. The method of her attack was pictured in his mind. Adrian pinged his fingertips to direct his sword. Sosuke grabbed it without a second thought. He, too, coated the blade with Armament Haki. Rodencia would shatter it if he did not. She may have thought that alone would be enough to take him down, but she was terribly misinformed. Becoming an Admiral required special skills that outmatched everyone else's. So, when his blackened blade began to spark, she realized she had picked the wrong one.
Her concentration suddenly switched to her club. This was a point of no return. The Conqueror's Haki shifted to her extremities without her realizing it. Right before she swung, red sparks discharged. Following the path was a pink ray of raw Haki that reinforced her movements.
Sosuke barely flinched as he also swung the sword with the exact same effect. If anything, it annoyed him that a mink had the same trick up her sleeve. The harmonizing of their Conqueror's Haki caused the point of collision between their weapons to be nonexistent. It repelled each other like a pair of alike magnetic poles. The sheer force emitted a powerful shudder through the air. The red sparks morphed into actual lightning bolts that originated from a bright orb. Their arms quivered with effort. No matter how hard they pushed, they could not touch. Sosuke felt the ground buckle under his feet. Rodencia remained suspended in the air. They had no clue how long the stalemate would last, but they refused to be the first to budge.
Adrian touched the grass in front of Cherokee as she remained motionless in an artificial trench. Not only was he in awe at the event, but he was also perplexed by the display of power. Sosuke was the most gifted person he had ever met. The mere thought of finding someone else with the same gifts was something he never considered. Now they were caught in a struggle of who was destined for greatness.
The problem with that was Rodencia had no idea what was happening or why it was happening. She saw Sosuke's face contort with more annoyance as he strained to push her back. She did not relate. Instead, she was nervous. This was something she was having to figure out on the spot, by herself. If there was one thing that helped her be a leader, it was having the help of reliable comrades. She never sought to do something alone if it warranted assistance. Now that she was struggling, she wished she had Quintus with her.
But suddenly, she felt that familiar webbed hand press into her back to give her more strength. Just for a second, the tip of the club tilted for a touch. The orb compressed until it disappeared. The intense air pressure that shot out caused the ground to detonate beneath them. Doming around them, the invisible wall of Conqueror's Haki dispersed so violently that the red lightning went haywire in all directions. A current blasted upwards into the night sky, making the eclipsed moon hobble.
Adrian shielded his face as he nearly teetered. If they were in a forest, it would have been ripped apart just like when a hurricane tore through. To think this came from living beings was dumbfounding.
He was not the only one amazed by it. Cherokee had gotten up after getting shaken. She appeared distracted, so Adrian held up his hand and pulled his index back with his thumb. He focused Haki into the digits, planning on flicking her with enough air pressure to destabilize her. But she turned to him so fast. At the same time, the miasma at her feet swirled up into her twisted antlers until a rotating purplish orb concentrated in the center. It grew bigger and bigger until he realized she was going to blast him.
Shit, he muttered with a little bit of surprise.
Right when a violet beam jetted at him, Adrian flicked his fingers to counter it with the air pressure. The beam turned out to be a pressurized laser that burst from the opposition. They clashed and tried to overcome each other by climbing higher and higher into the atmosphere. But the ferocity of the laser was too much for the dissipating air pressure to withhold. A giant pillar of fire erupted with an illusion of being eternal.
Adrian emerged from the pillar unscathed. He flapped his wings and evaluated what he just witnessed. Her devil fruit power was something other worldly and insanely lethal. As to what it could be that generated such a phenomenon, he had no clue. All he did know was that this was a much bigger problem than they originally thought.
Cherokee stayed at the ground level as she, too, admired what she created. The destruction was beautiful to her leaking gaze. A malicious grin formed on her face. She looked out toward the battlefield with an idea in mind. Although most of it was inactive now, the giants were still clashing with the ones she artificially created. They had fallen but were not counted out just yet. Well, Cherokee wanted to change that.
In the middle of the clubs striking swords, axes striking shields, and stomps reminding everyone that Rodencia was not powerful enough to affect them, the Lun'aecho warriors and minks suddenly shrunk. They evaded the next strikes without planning on it. A couple of the giants were in the middle of swinging, and not having a force stop their momentum caused them to look clumsy with some loss of balance. The warriors and minks heard Cherokee's raspy snarl in their ears as they found themselves back to their original sizes at the giants' feet. What they did not know was that the Chieftain was swirling more of her miasma into her antlers until an even bigger orb was formed.
The heat building up from it felt like a miniature sun. It was full of cursed energy that was more than ready to decimate anything it touched. Cherokee simply expelled it from the pressurized state to create a laser. The breadth of this laser she formed was so deadly that expelling it almost knocked her backward. Its purple hue brightly juxtaposed the eclipse's redness in her vicinity. In a panoramic motion, she waved the massive laser beam across the entirety of the battlefield. All eight giants were hit in a straight line. Their chests and abdomens were ripped open like a spoon through butter. And before they could even react to the pain, gargantuan fireballs exploded from the leftover embers. The giants were swallowed by the flames, the ground quaked once more, and there was a momentary, eerie silence.
Many miles away at the coast, a Marine surveillanced what they could not see at all with a pair of binoculars. They were still waiting for a signal from the Admirals or even a sign that the army was returning. The Fleet Admiral had gotten off the transponder snail with them a few minutes ago, but it was unclear how things were progressing.
When orange fireballs peeked into view, the Marine immediately went to the Fleet Admiral about it. There was never a visual until now. The fact that he could see something from that distance required a message to be passed.
"Sir," the Marine addressed the Fleet Admiral.
He uncrossed his arms and looked at him, only to be met with the binoculars being offered to him.
"I spotted a visual. It looked like–"
The earsplitting sonic booms suddenly rocked their anchored ships with such unforgiving soundwaves that even soldiers tucked deep inside the ships heard it. Those unaware thought they were under attack. Trembling from alarm, everyone came out to see what had happened. The Fleet Admiral snatched the binoculars and looked out toward the island. The billowing fireballs were multiplying and rising higher into the night sky since heat expanded and rose. Seeing it on a small scale told him that it was incredibly massive in person. For the first time, he was nervous. Not even the World Government had such weapons that could cause an explosion like that. How in the world could these savages have advanced technology all of a sudden?
He took out his transponder snail again to contact his Admirals. Marines gathered around him. But when he tried to connect a call, it rang with nobody answering.
In the middle of his shock, Adrian remained suspended in the air. His Observation Haki warned that someone was behind him. Cherokee. She saw just how powerful she was and decided to toy with him. Another laser beam was forming in her antlers. Despite not expecting the quick turnaround from her, he still managed to dispel it with another flick of air pressure. Doing so had a kick behind it, though. A smaller mushroom cloud resulted above their heads. He ended up higher up without meaning to.
In the middle of him trying to slow down, he abruptly felt her behind him again. How the Hell was she moving so fast? It was like she was teleporting!
It was clear now that Adrian knew how to stop her favorite attack. There was no point in trying a third time while he was fully aware. She had to try other things and be creative. But still, having the ability to shoot lasers was straight up awesome and she planned on spamming them. Her malice was unrestricted in this state. The hate in her heart for the Navy was too much to be passive about. Cherokee wanted revenge. She wanted to be rid of them forever. And if that required abandoning her humanity to rise above monsters, then so be it. She had absolutely nothing to lose.
She swung her staff around to pick up more miasma. Lifting it above her, the miasma acted agitated by turning into a flame-like substance all around her body. When she threw it in Adrian's direction, he summoned his sword back to him.
Sosuke felt it pull against his grasp and let go as he stood before Rodencia and Quintus. Now he was the one outnumbered, and he had no weapon to defend himself. No matter. He was still as confident in his abilities as he was before. Turning into his human-beast form, he watched them refrain from verbally expressing how gross his moth powers looked, but it was like subtitles had appeared over their heads from how theatrically their faces contorted. "I didn't think I was that ugly," he droned, his bulging eyes big black globes and fuzzy antennae growing longer.
"You-teia said it. Not me," Rodencia replied.
"You cheeky little rat."
They completely ignored how Adrian miraculously caught the sword in time to shield himself from the miasma. He was blasted backwards in the sky so far that he was now hovering over top the mountains. A few respirations came and went for him as he tried to make out what her next move was. If he wanted to fix this dynamic, he had to learn her as an opponent and figure out how to read her next moves.
When he looked down, he realized his new positioning. For many decades, the Navy tried to reach these mountains but failed every time. He was able to see the forest and everything from this height. If he had gotten this close, he knew Cherokee had made a grave mistake. Now he knew how to shift this lopsided dynamic between them.
He dove down toward the forest.
Cherokee interpreted his intentions immediately. He wanted to hold her home hostage. If he wanted to check out the place for himself, then she would maliciously comply. In fact, she would hold the door wide open for him. She intercepted the Admiral by body slamming him straight into the forest to make his trip shorter. After crashing through the leaf canopy, she did not relent. Instead, she gave him another dose of eating dirt by dragging him through the soil again.
Adrian was fed up with it by this point. Straining while fighting friction and force, he fought her back by rolling her. The resulting dust cloud had many perceptible streaks sparking, bouncing, and tangling as they dueled with sword against staff. When she had a chance, she went for a low blow. He got launched out of the forest from her kicking him in the nuts, but he caught himself with his bat wings in full sail. The grime plastered to his clothes and flesh bothered him more than the deliberate hit against his manhood. He brushed himself off for a moment. "Please. This isn't a bar fight. Have some class," he muttered as he refrained from going straight back for more.
Cherokee lost sight of him as she found herself on all fours still on the ground. Even his giblets had the power of Armament Haki when it counted the most. If he had a lover, she was certainly a lucky lady. But too bad he would not live to see her again. All he could hear was another snarl that scared off birds from the branches. Then she was on the move.
Sprinting through the trees, she kept her staff close and her miasma minimal. The Haki in her soles made grass slough off as if it were too waterlogged to stay anchored. This was the perfect time for him to flee. Instead, they were searching for each other. Simultaneously spotting the other caused them both to reunite in midair. They crossed each other with a single slash of their weapons. Sparks flew behind them as they passed.
The treetops acted as a platform for them as they landed on them. Haki allowed the leaves to feel solid for a foundation. But it was not for long – they faced each other again just to return to the sky. But Cherokee's attack was too direct. Adrian managed to block both of her arms, push her back, and then recoiled for a proper kick against her face.
Cherokee tumbled as she fell. Her head went over her feet repeatedly. She only stopped when she clipped the mountainside. Rather than ricocheting off, she hit so hard that boulders were dismounted.
First, it was Rodencia's Conqueror's Haki that they felt. Next, it was the sky-splitting air bomb from Rodencia clashing with Sosuke. Then they saw a pillar of fire that eventually died out enough to leave their field of vision. But once those fireballs outshined the mountaintops, and the insanely loud sonic booms happened, they refused to look away. Cherokee's impact into the mountain sounded like another explosion went off. The addition of the falling debris scared them even more because they could see it from where they were at.
The fleeing refugees stopped at the cusp of leaving the mountains to watch. Children were already upset from the noises that hurt their ears and startled them. Now the adults were getting worried and even panic. To them, it looked like the Marines had gotten inside.
Adrian's bat wings flapped as he waited to see what became of Cherokee. He did not think it was enough to finish their fight. As the boulders finished falling, he saw a new crevice chiseled out from the rest. She was hanging on with a single arm grasping the edge above her head and the bottoms of her feet pressed against the side. Not only was she okay, but she also caught herself. And she was ready to use her favorite attack again.
The Admiral flapped harder once to hurdle the new laser beam that was aimed at him. What he did not expect was to be body-slammed from above again. For the last time, how did she move so quickly?! During their descent back toward the forest, she had her fingers around his neck. The tightening squeeze made him choke as he held her wrist to try disconnecting them. The lifelessness in her dark eyes made him not blink as he stared. Her inner thoughts were communicated through how penetrating they were: a mixture of sadness and scourge. Suddenly, he felt burning from her palm that scalded his flesh. She cast a curse upon him.
Pausing midflight, Cherokee let him feel the whiplash before throwing him across her body toward another mountain. The strength used was unstoppable. He crashed so hard into the rock that a crater was formed and cracked. He felt embedded, but it also could have just been his body needing a second to recover. Still, he knew he had no second to spare. He tried to free himself, only to look up at yet another laser coming straight for him.
The explosion was big enough to dismantle the loosened rock severely and cause an avalanche. Boulders at the impact area as well as above rumbled and gave way. That was a direct hit if she ever saw one. A satisfied grin came to her face. As long as she remained in this awakened state nothing could stand in her way. The floating sword behind her – that she failed to notice – begged to differ.
Roderic felt the woman carrying him start to tremble. This was her home. She knew there was a huge possibility that they would lose it today, but she did not think it would happen so fast. Her people truly did not stand a chance. The Marines were going to tear down the mountains completely. There was no turning back. She held Roderic tighter as she went to leave with the others. The Lun'aecho people had no idea what lied in their future. All they knew was that the Mink Tribe was ready to take them back to Zou if all else failed.
Down at the battlefield, Sosuke was doing everything he could to ignore the ringing transponder snail that had been dropped. It sat on the ground where Adrian was last seen. The Fleet Admiral was trying to contact them again, but there was literally no time to chat right now. He knew it still was not reasonable to call in the third wave because things were not in a dire situation yet.
That was his mindset until his Observation Haki detected the latest explosion and paused. For a split second, Adrian's life force faltered for the first time ever. In all their years working together, Sosuke had never experienced that sensation before. His friend truly was facing off with his greatest challenge if she was able to do that.
Rodencia was not one to skip a beat, though. As soon as Sosuke paused, she flipped past him to rip the Sea-Prism handcuffs from his belt and skidded to a halt. Quintus came from the other side to catch him in a constricting embrace that was meant to crush him. The Admiral felt his wings crumple and electro encapsulate him.
Away from them all, Lakota felt immense fatigue as he regained consciousness. He recognized Kiyaya's fur against his skin and knew he was laying in her palm. She was not moving, but her chest movements indicated slow breathing. No amount of prodding or saying her name could stir her. He crawled out from where she had tucked him and immediately noticed the blood that leaked from her ear canal, as well as the multiple bleeding bite marks on her body. She put up quite a fight against the Admiral targeting him.
He immediately got to work patching her up with first aid. The bleeding was not severe, but he wanted to prevent infection as much as possible. Even the welts and enflamed lumps he found were tended to. Once he was done, he crawled to her abdomen and pressed his ear against it. Besides subtle noises from her organs, he could not hear anything else like an extra heartbeat from their baby. He knew the chances were slim anyway, but he still hoped everything was alright. Yes, he would have preferred her to not take risks, except she was more aware of her condition than he was, so if she was not as concerned, then he should trust her. Still, he wished someone was around to check on things. All he could do now was hope their baby took after him in size, so it was safer.
When Sosuke broke free from the hold, Quintus winced. Lakota's attention switched to them like he suddenly remembered the battle. Maybe his dulled hearing from all explosions was playing a part in his lack of awareness, but he evaluated what the current situation was to get caught up mentally. Quintus and Rodencia were fighting one of the Admirals he encountered earlier. As for Cherokee, she was nowhere to be seen, as well as the second Admiral.
"Cherokee, come in," he spoke through the transpondance curse.
Rodencia looked over at the mound of reddish fur they had left behind. When only the sounds of an angry Cherokee came through, she decided to reply herself. "Cherokee disappeared."
"Then we need to find her and help her."
As Quintus continued to engage in hand-to-hand combat, he put in his own two berries. "He's right, Rodencia. Cherokee is not acting like herself. You-gara need to find her."
The rat mink heeded the Duke's advice. In a last ditch effort, she suddenly latched the handcuffs around one of Sosuke's wrists and went for a quick getaway. "We're counting on you-teia!" she told him.
Sosuke's moth-like appearance immediately retracted into his human form, which was not as hideous. He grabbed the handcuffs and broke them with Haki. It was not much of a distraction, but it still got him and Quintus alone. Until he defeated him, the transponder snail would have to keep ringing and ringing until the Fleet Admiral gave up.
Kiyaya barely woke up when she felt something underneath her pushing with all its might. She groaned from the flesh wounds and deep aches resonating.
"Kiyaya!" Lakota voiced upon hearing it.
She rolled off Rodencia because it was annoying, not knowing it was just her trying to lift her up.
Lakota threw himself onto her snout to help her mind figure out what was going on. "Babe! Sorry for waking you up, but I didn't wanna just leave you by yourself."
She moved to her knees, taking him with her for the ride, when Rodencia met her using skywalk. "We're dispatching to Cherokee's location. Can you-teia come?"
Kiyaya nodded, moving Lakota to her shoulder as she battled dizziness. Her body's muscle memory worked for her as she went skywalking, too. "She's inside the mountains," Lakota informed them.
"Oh, great," Rodencia replied.
They crossed the threshold to peer down into the green paradise. Their search for the Chieftain was cut short purely because of the visible disturbances racing through the forest. A line of trees falling and debris flying zigzagged and zoomed in all kinds of paths. Someone was getting chased.
Except "chasing" was a bit of a stretch. Adrian was being pursued, but he was participating on his own terms. He sensed the occupants of the forest and knew Cherokee was bound and determined to keep him away from them. That was why he was going to use them as leverage. He was smart enough to know she would not put them in danger, but not dumb enough to think she would go easy on him if he threatened their lives. The first piece of evidence was how he was not allowed to take a straight path to them.
He glided over the ground with miasma hot on his tail. If he did not vary his direction, it would touch his boot. So, he weaved through a multitude of trees, hopped over river stones, grabbed branches to flip and abruptly turn, and tried reaching the sky before the miasma blocked his way. Cherokee did everything she could to thwart his efforts. Unfortunately, it was also causing demolition to her home in the process. But, considering she had black blood drooling from where his sword skewered her completely through from behind, she had a little bit too much rage to care.
The refugees hurried as the debris cloud quickly approached them. Despite Cherokee's best efforts, Adrian made it to his destination. But she would be damned if he touched a single one of them.
They suddenly erupted from the forest heavily clashing. Cherokee was bearing down on the Admiral with her staff, trying to break his blade in half. When it was not working, she pulled it away from him just to send out a wave of Armament Haki. Just cut him. That was all she asked for. But Adrian dispelled the attack with his blackened blade. The lingering Haki hit inanimate objects to damage them instead. That was the first time the refugees realized the mountains had not been fully invaded yet. Their Chieftain was defending it to the death.
They called out a warning to her when she lost track of him. Just in time, she blocked the incoming blade as he went for an attack from behind. When he pulled back to strike her again, she did not give him the courtesy because she grabbed his wrist. That familiar sensation of scalding heat made his glove shrivel. Before it could reach his flesh, he dropped the sword and directed it to stab in the ground between them. The Haki that had yet to vanish caused chunks of the ground to unearth and separated them. Cherokee flipped backwards to stand between him and the refugees, who had stopped fleeing.
That was exactly where he wanted her. Putting too much on her plate would dampen her focus. But to be civil, he gave her a chance to reconsider. "We can compromise on things, you know," he offered. "Surrender and I'll allow those people to leave as if they never existed. I don't have to report it."
She stared at him as if she had no idea what he just said. In truth, the offer was really stupid. Why would she surrender when she was not losing? She just wanted to gut him, flay him, and turn him into shoes.
He watched her lift her index finger to point at him. Speaking for the first time since awakening, she answered with a straightforward and raspy "Eat shit and die." How blunt and vindictive it was made him pause for a moment. Pirates had a reputation of using dirty language like that, but for some reason, coming from a leader such as Cherokee was something he was not expecting. Perhaps his standards for leaders such as himself were too high.
"I'm concerned I have thrown my lot in with a demented infant," he mumbled, accepting her threat as a no thank you.
She wasted no time throwing more miasma in his direction, also riding a swell of it just to clash with him once more. She wanted to drive him back into the forest if at all possible. Anything to get him away from the ones most vulnerable. The contact between their weapons caused her miasma to spiral out of control as it tried touching him. Pushing her away did nothing useful since she just came straight back, but it allowed him to sneak behind her again. Clashing again caused the miasma to torrent past him. But when they diverged, they passed each other unscathed.
The hand tucking underneath his armpit flicked another gust of air pressure that caught her. She got hit as she was turning around, which pushed her weight onto her heels. But she refused to fall. To regain balance, she pressed her staff into the ground as she slid backwards, only to reconvene with him when he flew to her. She deflected him away and forced him farther above her.
As she swirled miasma around her staff once more, she wondered if the way he manipulated his sword could also be used with her miasma. There was only one way to find out. She launched it up in his direction.
Not intimidated in the slightest, Adrian nullified it with Haki. But he noticed how instead of it flowing past him, it started to curve toward him to surround him like a shell. Cherokee was below cupping her hands together to test her theory. It turned out she was indeed capable of it.
But she was not allowed to celebrate. Adrian suddenly shot from the darkness and blindsided her. The side of her head was grabbed, and she was thrust into the nearby mountain. It was like the entire side she hit gave way and collapsed. The refugees grew wary that staying was a mistake, but at the same time, it was hard to look away. Great powers were colliding before them, something they will probably never witness again.
Up in the sky, Lakota did not like what he was seeing. "We should help her," he advised.
"Not yet," Rodencia insisted, keeping them away.
Kiyaya kept her pace with the rat mink without an opinion to give. Lakota knew Cherokee better than anyone else, but Rodencia did not have sentimental feelings clouding her judgment about her like he did.
The vampire let his feet touch the ground as he watched the impacted mountain submit to gravity and physics by giving way to a newish shape. The peak crumbled and fell on her final resting place. Everything was shaking until it settled. Then, there was silence.
Lakota held his breath. Any normal person would have gotten crushed. The thought of losing Cherokee in that manner haunted him. She could not let that be the end of her. She was too stubborn. If she was going to die, she would want it to be daring and bold.
To their amazement, one of the boulders shifted. A black arm gripping the staff emerged, pulling the lid off the miasma that was cursing all the rubble to be light as a feather. She came up for air, surprising Adrian just from how unaffected she seemed to be. He quickly caught her around the throat and dragged her all the way up the height of what remained of the mountain. Lakota audibly squawked. Not this again!
"Rodencia!" he angrily protested.
"Not yet!" she argued with more stress in her voice.
At the top, Adrian shoved her deeper into the rock until she busted through and flattened the peak. She finally, after all this time, yelped in pain and did not fight back. He finally got her.
When they were able to see them again, Adrian was holding her still with her feet dangling. The miasma was nowhere to be seen. Her head was slumped back, and her neck was exposed. The vampire was getting a much-needed drink. He would drain her completely and end this.
Haki coating his hands, he clutched her like a damsel and hovered his fangs over her pulsing carotid. He breathed in her rotten scent. Then he spoke almost lustfully into her ear. "This entire war has been nothing but history's longest suicide note."
Every conscious Lun'aecho warrior and mink with the transpondance curse gasped. Then, Adrian bit into Cherokee's flesh to suck her blood. His lips kissed her to create that pressure gradient. His tongue waited for the metallic taste he grew to enjoy.
But, suddenly, a disgusting liquid fluid filled his mouth. He immediately stopped and pulled away with the urge of spat out what his instincts told him was poison. Cherokee's lips twisted into a wicked smirk. Her miasma suddenly returned. Then, she laughed with a simple throaty "Heh" that made Adrian realize she planned this. She allowed him to believe that he had beaten her.
His state of denial was interrupted by her grabbing him by the back of his blonde hair and yanking him back. Her torso contorted, skin bulging and forming into a conjoined clone that had a left arm. All she did was hold him in place so it could mercilessly punch him right in the schnoz. Over and over and over and over and over again, the clone hit everything that was considered his attractive face. His nose, eye sockets, cheekbones, and teeth were smashed in. Blood spewed from his nostrils and mouth every time. It was fast and unforgiving, not to mention a little funny. His head went in all directions, but she gripped his strands tighter and did not let him slip away.
Although it was quite obvious why she was so brutal about it, all she thought about was how he could not suck people's blood if he did not have teeth for it. His losing the pretty boy look along the way was just a bonus.
"HOLY CRAP," Kiyaya exclaimed with a laugh, her dizziness ignorable now.
Cherokee finally let go once she was satisfied only to shove him sideways into the rock. He fell so limply and barely reacted to more of the mountain getting torn apart underneath them. When she whacked him with her staff just to drive the point home more, the top quarter shattered, breaking off completely.
"OH CRAP," Kiyaya exclaimed next. Her and Rodencia hurried down to the refugees to get them away from what was about to rain over them.
Adrian was free at last from Cherokee's hold in the middle of the chaos. His wings caught wind and he flew while disoriented and hurting. He just got his ass handed to him on the most pristine silver platter. And boy was she not finished with him yet. He spotted her standing up straight on one of the falling chunks of the mountain. She instantly kicked off of it to hurl herself at him.
Summoning his sword back to him, he caught her staff against it just to time to see a visible path of Haki sliced through the air. After that, it was a battle of self-awareness and grit. Adrian was holding on just barely at this point. When she kicked him in the back, he soared back into the mountainside and rolled violently until he hit the ground. He panted and tried to reorganize himself. But when he glanced up, all he saw was her levitating high above him with a huge boulder held over her head with only one hand.
Oh, fuck me! he internally cursed. How in the world was it possible for her to do that?!
Regardless of how, it did not stop her from throwing that son of a bitch at him.
Adrian quickly stood up to avert his death by smashing the boulder into many pieces by throwing his black blade into it. The possibility of getting crushed was eliminated. Unfortunately, he created a new opportunity for her to take him down. Cherokee swooped in from below with her staff ready to annihilate him. He watched the tip of it approach his face, and he barely moved to miss it. Jumping back, he twitched his fingers just to feel the sword had gotten buried after the stunt. He had no choice but to make something new. The blood from his facial wounds was pulled into his palm.
But suddenly, Cherokee was directly in front of him. She, too, palmed the floating blood to prevent him from trying a new trick on her. When she squeezed, it dispersed in all directions and blinded him. Adrian just stood in shock. What brought him back to reality was the staggering blow down his torso that completely ripped him open and tore him down. Her tear-stained, malevolent face was the last thing he saw.
He flopped backwards, barely breathing and unable to keep fighting. It was over. The moon goddess stared down at her victim. He was beaten to a bloody pulp and sentenced to death.
Sentenced to death.
Sentenced to death…
She turned away to kick away rocks and uncover the sword he had been using. Upon picking it up, she felt the heat from his hand disappearing fast. It did not make her sad or move her. She turned the blade to hover over his throat. One jab would end him. One jab, and part of their nightmare would be over.
While staring down blankly with no remorse for what she was about to do, a hand grabbed her wrist. "It's done," Rodencia told her.