‘The stupider a creature is, the easier to kill. Or so I would think if the behavior of the monster tide hadn’t shown clear signs of intelligence. These creatures stopped their blind charge when they realized that numbers mean nothing to me and formed this ring for the mutated trolls.
‘The only question is what do they hope to gain from this and why are they stalling for-‘
The answers to Ilthin’s questions came in a disgusting cracking of bones and ripping of flesh. The munching had never stopped as the trolls advanced toward the Firstborn Banshee, taking several bites with each step they took.
Then, one of them emitted an agonizing scream from all of its mouths as its red skin tore apart in a fountain of blood. The heart beat so quickly and the veins were so many that a single scratch was enough to release a bloody mist that resembled an Awakened’s aura.
Ilthin wondered if one of her shockwaves might have caused an internal bleeding that was seemingly killing the creatures, but that didn’t make sense. Trolls were famous for healing quickly and the wound was external and expanding quickly.
Too quickly.
Before she could furrow her delicate brows, the mutated troll’s fingers and legs anchored themselves to the ground, pulling in opposite directions. The pale red body was torn asunder in a splash of blood but both halves kept standing.
The anchors kept munching and new flash grew to cover the exposed organs. In the blink of an eye, two identical trolls stood where just a few seconds ago there had been one.
“I see.” Ilthin nodded. “This mutation further accelerates your spawning rate. No breeding, no younglings. Just straight adults, each one a copy of the original. Do you even share the same memories?”
As she spoke, the rest of the mutated trolls started the pseudo-mitosis. Ilthin took a deep breath and opened her mouth as if she was about to scream.
The monsters comprising the living ring and all trolls lifted the corpses under their feet to use them as shields.
“Wow.” Ilthin’s voice came out as a sensual whisper. “Shared memories and a hive mind?”
Her words were met with growls and hisses, the monsters enraged in the same manner at her deduction.
“Please, it wasn’t that hard. You moved as one and none of you gave a single order that I could perceive.” She burst into a peal of silvery laughter. “Besides, you have more pressing matters to worry about.
“Do you really think I was wasting my time talking?” A series of explosions ravaged the area around her, scattering the monsters to the wind, while the ground turned into molten lava, incinerating the corpses.
Ilthin had silently cast tier five fire-based spells like Raging Sun and Volcano, spreading them in her surroundings as she fought. She knew that getting rid of the corpses was as important as killing when dealing with monsters.
The Firstborn Banshee had just waited for the moment when her spells would deal the most damage. The mutated trolls were debilitated from the mitosis or still in the process while the rest of the monsters were packed to gorge themselves upon their fallen comrades.
The tier fives spells were also meant to exploit the flammable nature of the trolls and the dry fur of other monster tribes to spread the fire. Ilthin didn’t breathe so the hot air spared her lungs.
The hail of sharp rocks bounced off her harder-than-steel skin and even stepping on the burning lava brought her little discomfort. Undead were naturally resistant to all elements but darkness and her body healed faster than the heat could damage her.
She exploited the ensuing chaos to pierce through the monster ranks and summon a strong wind that dragged the flames in her wake and spread them further.
Great was her surprise when a familiar crack came from behind her, forcing her to turn around. The mouths at the end of the long fingers of the trolls snapped empty air as she dodged them with a somersault.
“How are you still alive? Trolls are supposed to be flammable, you know?” Regular trolls were indeed flammable.
Their accelerated metabolism dried their skin and accumulated fats in the form of oils that were stored within their bodies, ready to be converted into energy.
The mutated trolls, however, were and looked different.
Not only did they seem unaffected by the fire but their skin had been covered by what looked like black scales. The moment the heat was about to reach the skin underneath, the scale was discarded and a new one grew.
Air bubbles formed between scales, dispersing the heat until the protection was restored. Ilthin crushed the fingers with Orphan Maker, and once they healed, the bones became denser while the flesh had turned elastic to better soften blows.
She then froze the air around her with the tier five spell, Perennial Winter. The black scales meant to keep the heat out now helped the cold to seep in, carried by the air bubbles underneath.
The trolls roared, shivering and shedding the scales. They raised their body temperature to the point that the oils they stored caught fire and countered the frost waves.
“Amazing! You can also evolve and adapt to any threat you face.” She said with a joyous tone that annoyed the monsters further. “This proves that your mutation is not random. Someone is pulling your strings.”
The living tide of monsters roared at her words but the Firstborn Banshee ignored them.
“Good for me they aren’t that bright.” Perennial Winter waned while Volcano and Raging Sun burned with renewed strength.
The flaming trolls were now defenseless against the fire element that reached the oil sacks and made them explode. Ilthin burned the trolls to the ground, making sure that nothing remained before resuming her onslaught.
‘I can’t risk those fragments spreading around and turning into a bunch of quick-adapting trolls. Not while we are here. After we are gone, I’m going to spread them like a disease through the Black Tide.
‘Those things eat non-stop and this can be used to cull the other monster tribes.’ A feral howl drew Ilthin’s attention to a black-furred Warg jumping toward her.
“Shit!” Life Vision showed her that the creature had a physical prowess superior to a Divine Beast.
Her flight spell was slow compared to the creature, forcing her to Blink away. The Warg landed fist-first, the impact generating a shockwave that put down the fires and opened a several-meters-deep crater.
The moment Ilthin came out of the Blink, the aura of the black-furred Warg faded as another one took the collective power of the pack and jumped at her.
“Again?” She used a spark of the Life Maelstrom Lith had given her to boost herself and her mace as she countered the Warg’s blow with one of her own.
She was the Firstborn Banshee and Orphan Maker was comprised of Davross whereas the wolf-like monster used his bare fist. Yet she was the one who was sent flying back.
“Shit!” Ilthin turned around just in time to see the collective power of the Warg jump into the closest member of the pack to her while her flight spell had yet to bring her to a halt.
