Chapter 21: Well done.
"Are you insane southerner? Killing the reapers aside, how do you intend to fight a rank D undead without even a single Phantom?" The viking challenged.
Her voice was clear and heroic but it sounded feminine. This tall person is a woman? She is huge! Her leather armor and helmet covered almost all her skin so I can't see if she had breasts or not.
My partner responded to her just a fierce, "That brute is most likely the boss, meaning If we do not kill it before the sun rises everyone here will die. Do you intend leave your fate in the hands of another Northerner?"
Ha? We die if they fail? What the fuck! And what is a Northerner? Just then the ninja came forward with a Katana drawn. This person should be a dude as his chest is flat, although his build looks slim.
The ninja shifted to an offensive stance as he spoke. "How do you intend to accomplish your claims, the two from earlier used {soul breakers} so they would be dead now. You both are poorly armed and are Formless. Are you expecting a flower to bloom from stone?"
Okay, well fuck me. The ninja is also a woman and she sounds even sexier than Bella. She had her entire face covered except for her eyes. Kunai or throwing knives also were adorned on her thighs. How are these people all so well equipped. Is this my group being poor as fuck?
"We are, and you three are the same. Listen well bitch, we do not need you. It's just that we understand your situation. You must have tried so hard to fit in no? And yet you all got thrown out like trash despite all your efforts. Did you enjoy being treated like useless trash shinobi?" Bella asserted.
"It was my fault not Aki's you slagger! We might be Formless but we can still run circles around you and your wombat over there! What the hell would you wankers even do in front of a brute?"
The kid had white hair and androgynous face. I can't tell if his voice is just in puberty or if he is a woman instead. He didn't have any breasts but had tone muscles which indicated an active lifestyle. The ninja or Aki, placed her hand on the kid's head to calm her down.
"Robyn, you have done no wrong for standing up to yourself. Even if he didn't try to force himself on you, Liv and I would have left so stop blaming yourself."
Okay so the kid is definitely a woman, and it seems Red tried to rape her. The more I heard the more I wanted to murder the bastard. Should I tell them what he did to me to have a common enemy? Before I could ask Bella, she stepped forward towards the Viking, supposedly named Liv.
"See? Even the child is braver than you all. Northerner, since when did your kind cower in the face of rank? Are you not the shame of your house? Why not help us take the boss down to regain your honor?"
Northerner, damn I have no idea what the hell Bella is doing. At 5'6'' there was a full foot in their height difference but my partner wasn't scared and got up in the viking's face. There were so many types of people If she wasn't here I wouldn't know how to interact with them.
The towering Liv didn't answer immediately but then exhaled in defeat.
"For a southerner you seem surprisingly adept at our affairs. Indeed I have been exiled due to being Formless. But are you aware of how insane your plan is? Is that man your lover? Or is he your king? How can he command such faith from you," Liv remarked.
With a lovely smile my partner answered with conviction harder than steel. "Both, I am his right-hand and his woman. My honey will become the 8th Revenant, the leader of the Formless and in the future the strongest Revenant. You saw the conviction of my sisters, right?"
"They were descendants from Europe, correct? If such people are willing to die for him, then I can only surmise he must be an excellent master. I also want to get even. Very well then, for the remainder of the battle I pledge my sword to your banner. Aki Miroku, Shinobi, At your service."
"King of the Formless huh? Moreover, you wish to be the strongest of the Revenants as Formless. Show me then, A fight worthy of a Revenant. Liv Ivaldi, Shield-maiden, Let us welcome death together!"
"Strewth, Whatever! Robyn Lithgow, Combat Joey, sorry for calling you a wombat."
Aki kneeled like a ninja from the old school Asian flicks. Liv slammed her sword onto her shield before bowing slightly. Lastly Robyn did an Australian salute where her palm faced out.
Bella came beside me and whispered so only I could hear. "A shinobi is a warrior from Japan trained in reconnaissance and assassination, Northerners are the reapers from the Antarctica continent. Their culture is based on Norse mythology. Combat Joey is the term used for a child soldier from the Australian Syndicates."
Holy Shit, Hellsgate was a hodgepodge of cultures. I should read the books Bella studied. For now, it is a good thing that none of these women are civilians.
"You were amazing Mrs. Code. Thank you for your efforts."
"You are welcome honey, and I did it in under five minutes to boot, aren't I amazing?"
"Indeed," I praised.
Let's welcome them from now. If I wish to earn their recognition I should perform. Bella raised the bar and used the soul breakers to convince them of my majesty. Luckily it worked out. Bella had a talent for negotiation.
"Pleased to meet you Liv, Aki, Robyn. I am John Smith. I will kill the redhead and his entire assault group for his debt to me and you. Afterwards I will snatch the brute from the Gorilla. Let's have fun while we are together."
At this point, Jo and Jas finally arrived. Jo immediately ran towards me and hugged me.
"Did you see how awesome we were darling? Praise me! Praise me!" She boasted.
I gave her a quick embrace before pushing her away from me, I then sent a chop on her head.
"Ouchie!" Josephine yelped.
I rebuked her in a fierce voice. "I forbid you from using {soul breaker} ever again. What would you have done if you couldn't heal on time?"
Sad I got angry instead the blonde Italian had a teary expression like she found out Santa didn't exist. Amused I then patted her head and praised her in the gentlest voice I could muster.
"The dangers aside, you were amazing Jo. I was so relieved you are okay. Well done."
Josephine had deep scars yet tried to behave so carefree. The years of suffering must have starved her for affection. Maybe she saw me as a foster parent, now that she had died she must have felt lost. Following me might not give her the best life, but I will ensure she feels valued while she was here.
After my praise, Josephine's face beamed like she won the lottery. She then again threw herself into my chest and screamed in joy.
"I will do better I promise!"
I awkwardly gave her a hug and looked at the others. They all had wry expressions. Jasmine was pouting for some reason. After I got Josephine off I walked towards her and offered the brunette a handshake.
"Well done Jasmine. Naturally I am also happy you are safe. {Soul Breaker} is off the table from today on understood?"
Reluctantly Jasmine shook my hand and nodded. Bella then began to clap and announced to everyone.
"Okay, now that they got their reward, I will brief everyone on our next steps."
She then introduced the sisters to Liv's group. When they learned everyone was Formless a silent solidarity formed between the women. While they were discussing I observed the battlefield.
Luckily we cleared the enemies around here, about two miles from us at 10 o'clock the arrow formation or what was left of it was in shambles. Dead corpses littered the area belonging to both reapers and the undead.
Some were still fighting but with the large amounts of the zombies were swarming them it seemed pointless. They would all die in less than ten minutes. On the other side at 2 o'clock, Red formed a defensive circle around the brute.
However his reapers were not attacking the brute itself, Only Gori and the werewolves were the ones attacking it.
"This fucker, so the assault group is to ensure no one interfered. If you took it down quickly the rest of the people could have survived. Great. Now, I won't feel any guilt as I fuck you up."
Just then Bella tapped my shoulder.
"Honey, reaper vial time." She teased.
"What will I do?" I asked.
The last time we tried this I got accused of being a demon. Do we trust these three right off the bat?
"In order to survive the coming fight. Teach them {Rewind}. And drink everything they give you. We need all the help you can get. If my guess is correct. You can create more {Kismet} beside {Identify}."
"Understood." Time to end this.