"S-Shields! Sister Ama! We need shields!" a girl yelled as all men around her crumbled to the ground.

"Who are you yelling for!? Ama was the first one to go!" another woman rebuked.

"Shit!"

Joan couldn’t believe it. One after another, her chosen few were being taken out. It was as if Aiden’s soldiers knew exactly who to take out to deal the heaviest blows.

"Enough!" a woman in her fifties yelled.

The next second, her body began to expand and didn’t stop until she looked like a bowling ball standing on two stubs. The transformation tore away her clothes, but honestly, no one was looking at her for that reason.

"Greta!"

"Don’t worry, Joan... I got this!"

As soon as Greta said those words, a bullet struck her right in the middle. However, instead of exploding through her, the bullet simply bounced off her skin, falling harmlessly to the ground.

The girls with rifles saw it and opened fire at her. The result remained unchanged. Her rubbery skin was protecting her from all kinds of bullets.

"Push me!" Greta yelled between laughter. "Everyone push me toward those damn towers!"

Everyone understood what Greta wanted, and dozens of hands slammed into her massive back and sides, shoving with all their strength. Greta leaned forward and began to roll on the ground.

As she rolled, people kept pushing her even more. Soon, the giant bowling ball of flesh barreled forward like a living siege engine.

Greta crashed straight into the nearest watchtower. The building had no chance of standing and crashed to release a cloud full of dust and debris.

As for the snipers inside the tower, they most likely got crushed by Greta. With the closest snipes gone, Joan let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and immediately pushed Mila aside.

"Hide somewhere safe," Joan said, cupping Mila’s face. "I’ll be right back."

Before Mila could say anything, Joan was already charging ahead.

"Charge!" Joan screamed. "Rush them! Kill every last one!"

The women and the few surviving men charged right behind her. Greta continued rolling at the front, smashing through debris and broken road like a wrecking ball, clearing a path for everyone behind her.

Things seemed to be going in Joan’s favor, but only for a moment.

As Greta approached the second closest tower, the ground below her disappeared, and a spike trap shot out of it with tremendous force.

Despite that, they didn’t manage to impale the massive woman, but the sudden impact threw her completely off balance. Her huge body tilted wildly and went tumbling sideways, rolling past the second watchtower with an uncontrollable momentum that landed her up in a trench.

"You bitch!" someone from Aiden’s side roared, charging at Greta.

The woman took something out of her pocket and threw it at Greta. The enforcers and tenants saw their chance and did the same.

Countless corrosion bombs rained on Greta. Whenever the bomb exploded, acid got poured over her. No matter how thick her hide was, she had to feel pain as the acid melted it away.

"AAAAAAGHHHH!" Greta howled in agony as a sizzling sound filled the trench.

The acid was burning her flesh. Greta tried to roll away to safety, but it was too late.

As the acid melted away her rubbery skin, the melee fighters rushed in. Women swarmed her with makeshift spears, kukris, gauntlets, basically anything they could get from the system shop.

They stabbed and hacked relentlessly into the softened flesh, driving their weapons deep into her body. Greta thrashed around trying to get them off her back, but failed.

Joan was hesitating to fight since the enemies were all women, but she could no longer see Greta being hacked to death.

They are clearly under that tyrant’s influence. If that’s the case, then there’s no point letting them live.

Joan’s thinking when it came to women was simple. Either they were with her, or against her. And as long as they stood against her, they were no better than a man.

With that thought, Joan unsheathed her blade, lifting it over her head. Blood of her fallen allies pooled underneath her as if feeding her their power.

"Blood... sever—"

Joan brought the blade down in a wide arc, aiming to kill everyone ahead of her. However, before she could completely swing her blade, there was a loud clang, and her blade stopped in place.

She looked down to see that Karina was squatting down on one knee, stopping the blade with her gauntlet. Joan wasn’t surprised that it was a woman, but the fact that she effortlessly stopped her swing.

Even in the Otherworld, there were only a handful of people who could stop her [Blood Severance] mid swing. To find someone like her during her current battle wasn’t good for her.

Joan frowned, putting more force into her blade. It wasn’t to sever Karina’s arm, but a test of strength. Which Joan seemed to be winning as Karina’s knees sank into the cracked ground.

"Give Aiden up," Joan snarled, looking over to see Greta’s lifeless form hit the ground. "And I might make you my second-in-command... given my current one just died."

However, the next second, Karina’s free hand shot towards Joan’s calf, her fingers grabbing it with a lot of force.

"Oh, honey, I no longer let people look down at me," Karina smirked and yanked her leg with brutish strength. "Not unless we’re talking about a certain guy."

Joan was taken aback by the sudden burst of strength, but she wasn’t an amateur either. She slammed her sword sheath into the ground for support and used the momentum to perform a backflip, landing on her knee.

"Not bad," Joan muttered. "But it’s not nearly enough to defeat me!"

She swung her blade in a wide, powerful arc from her kneeling position. Once again, Karina blocked it with her gauntlet as sparks flew outward.

Joan kept swinging at Karina’s torso and neck, only for her to block every move like she could read Joan’s mind.

Frustrated, Joan stabbed the sword towards Karina. However, instead of backing up, Karina stepped towards the blade, turning at the last second to dodge it.

At the same time, she threw a punch at Joan’s face. Joan leaned back just in time, the punch whistling past her nose, then countered with an upward slash that forced Karina to leap back.

Now back on their feet, the two kept staring at each other.

"You fight well for one of his dogs," Joan spat, looking at Karina with disgust. "Tell me, why is someone of your stature supporting that evil bastard?"

"You’ll know if you spend some time with him," Karina smirked, flexing her gauntlet. "Not like I’ll let you. He already has enough female attention on him."

"You...!"