Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 254: Arc 4, Act II, - 99: The Psyching Dread
The wolf-girl’s glance rounded the tent, "Go on, do enough damage, get them to the brink of death; healers exist," Dread’s voice filled her ears.
One by one all the ’Trailonian soldiers’ she could count were surrounded by pinkish energy and took the forms of the Psyching Dread she had seen before.
Which one was Dread? Which one did she HAVE to kill!? The brilliant blue pools darted everywhere, "Aegis-Aura!" she coated herself in a bluish aura and bared her fangs.
Fumeko glanced to Jotou, "Uh, what’s the plan here?"
Jotou, with blood lingering across her face, faced the brunette, then Hotaru, then Arabella beginning to go rogue as well... "I don’t know!" she turned to the magician, "Asobi, do Blinding Mask on both her and Arabella!"
As if the usage of her manifestation affinity and all her invisibility spells had not taken a toll already. She nodded and aimed her wand, "Okay, but I’m really running low."
Arabella, seeing her attack deflected by the large man and his greatsword took several steps back. In pinkish light, Arabella noticed her sister covered in a bluish aura.
The Ashen Whisper sprinted to her side. Hotaru turned and readied her claws to the Psyching Dread sprinting towards her before she fluttered her lashes and- Wait, that was no Psyching Dread, it was, "Jotou!"
Arabella ran in front of Hotaru and guarded her, pointing her sabre to everyone.
Hotaru’s blue eyes widened, the blonde guarding her with the armite blade, "Jotou, where’s everyone!?"
The real Jotou squinted from the other side of the tent, "Right here!"
"I don’t think she’s talking to you!" Fumeko yelled back.
Arabella curved her head just enough to peer to her sister behind her, much shorter. "Bella, what’s happening!?" she heard instead.
Tears formed in Arabella’s eyes, showing a hand up to signal she would protect her before the glare swivelled back around the tent. What sand, dust and ash was around, drifted up into the air and formed a veil in front of them.
"I’ll keep you safe firefly, hold on," though ’Jotou’s’ lips did not move, the voice was enough to reassure Hotaru. The wolf-girl scowled towards the rest.
Jotou’s and Fumeko’s words might as well be thin air to the two.
"The hell do we do!?" Daiyu stuck her greatsword into the earth. "We can’t attack them!"
"We’re gonna at least have to knock them out; Asobi?" Jotou checked.
Her arms stiff and elbows sore, she held the wand out with both hands, "I think I can do at least one; I need to see them please," one eye winced.
"Whish!" Arabella whipped the sand forth. Fumeko blinked out of the way.
Lightning arced across her blade, "Zap!" "Tf!" Jotou crystalized the sand before even a fraction of it could reach the elf behind.
"Whish!" "WHIsh!" "wHISH!" An unrelenting barrage of sand and dust slashed forth.
"Zap!" Jotou spun around, blocking the first, then the second, then the third. Saying the words in her mind as each slash of dust either crystallized or was zapped into insignificant particles. With each hit, the wall depleted.
Daiyu huffed up her greatsword and dashed to the back of that wall, "Quake!" she stomped. "Grr...BRRRR!!!" The ground shook, causing everyone to widen their footing.
Arabella’s eyes darted to the side and the sand swirled into a dense orb- "BASH!" "TF!" Daiyu held it back with her sword.
Daiyu glanced up and then down... There was no way she could use any of her major spells without screwing up everyone in the vicinity.
"Just a little more, I can kinda see them!" white lights were forming at the tip of Asobi’s wand. Jotou closed the distance and slashed forth her blade.
A shadow formed behind Hotaru and fell from above! Fumeko caught herself by wrapping her legs around the redhead’s neck, pulling Hotaru down with her.
"NGAH!" Hotaru quailed and writhed, falling onto her back, "Hh!"
"Zap!" The sounds of sparks flew and spread across from her blade, crystallizing all the sand particles that fell like glassy rain; though much of the dust and dirt remained in Arabella’s control.
"Never were good with balance were you wolfy!" Fumeko tightened the grip of her legs around Hotaru’s neck and raised the pommel of her dagger.
Arabella turned to see her sister grappled by a short man holding a dagger.
Hotaru dug the watery claws into the pale peach skin of Fumeko’s legs, "AHH!" Fumeko flinched the dagger away. She gritted her teeth, "Time!" "Bash!" "To!" "Bash!" "Sleep!" Fumeko repeatedly slammed the pommel of her dagger onto Hotaru’s head.
Her legs were giving out, like a leech had attached itself. Her strength, her energy, her mana was rapidly being drained out. Hotaru took every blow, healing and numbing the pain the more she siphoned from the brunette.
"What’s it gonna take to-!?" Fumeko used her other hand to grip and yank Hotaru’s left ear.
"AHHH!! OWWW!!" Hotaru’s head squirmed to be released, her hands retracting from Fumeko’s legs to grab her. Arabella slashed the sand across Fumeko’s-! Nothing.
Merely a trace of a shadow remained as Fumeko blinked away. Arabella turned to the pushed back Daiyu and the incoming Jotou. "Blinding Mask!"
Arabella saw an incoming white light and raised the dust and ash to protect herself. It had no affect as the spell went through the wall and light seeped into her vision.
Fumeko stood aside next to Feyan, crimson going down her legs with five puncture wounds in each.
She held her knees and panted, eventually falling to sit down; the room was spinning—the sensation of needing to vomit washing over her. "Ugghhhh..." Fumeko placed her hands on the floor.
Feyan crouched down, "I am not sure how much I should heal you, I might hinder myself in what I am about to do." He placed his hands on Fumeko’s legs and shadows wrapped around like a bandage.
Feyan winced, feeling the pain on his own legs lightly. "What plan do you have?" Fumeko could not even exclaim.
"A Restore Inhibition spell might help somewhat to weaken whatever enchantment or hold Dread has on them."
"Can it work or not?"
"It restores inhibition, I doubt that is the extent of what Dread is affecting them with."
Fumeko calculated; she stared to her legs, "We’re gonna have to weaken them before you try that. It’ll be easier for that spell to get through to them and if not, at least knock them out."
"Understood," Feyan shaped the shadows into claws to fit his fingers and glanced in their direction. Fumeko took a moment to catch her breath.
All Arabella could see now was bright light. "Jotou!" Hotaru got up from the floor and saw ’Jotou’ be affected by a spell while one of the many Psyching Dreads rushed towards the redhead. "Get away from me-!"
"Not me!" the actual Jotou rushed forward and embraced Hotaru, hooking her arms under Hotaru’s.
Hotaru growled and grunted, "LET ME GO!" her claws sunk into the back of Jotou’s adventuring gear.
"Hotaru!" Jotou looked her in the eyes and cried out. ’Ow, is she actually piercing into my back!? Forget it, you need to snap her out of it Jotou!’ "Aru, firefly, listen," the songbird of a voice went as gentle as it could.
Hotaru attempted to sink her claws in, till she thrashed and scratched against Jotou’s back. Bits of the yellow coat began ripping, the spell of her claws piercing progressively into her armour; it was only a matter of time...
"Ara!" Daiyu swung her greatsword. "BASH!" She knocked it into the side of the Ashen Whisper. Arabella gasped before she was flung to the side and onto the dirt and dust; her wall completely gone.
Asobi murmured something and shut her eyes for just a second... She let out a big yawn and took a seat, her back falling against the side of the pink illusion and the tent.
Jotou eyed her in the hug, "I don’t want to hurt you, please, listen. It’s me, Jotou. Can you hear me?" enduring her thrashing, she caressed the back of Hotaru’s hair.
’Please work.’ Her fingers sifted up through the red strands from behind and scratched the back of her ears.
Hotaru stared; why in the world was Dread doing this!? Some sort of taunt...!? Her head leaned slightly to where Jotou would scratch, "Get your hands off of me!" her claws diminished in size as she attempted to scrape more.
"Hotaru!"
Hotaru’s crimson ears flickered, she blinked a few times. The pinkish illusion of Dread flickered and when she disappeared she could catch a glimpse of, "Jotou?"
Jotou’s eyes widened, "Yeah! It’s me, come on! Snap out of it! It’s working!" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
The redhead could hear an echo of the blonde’s voice, trickling through bit by bit. "What’s..." she merely held the position of where her claws tried to scratch, a massive headache forming around her mind...
’And bring it home.’ Jotou leaned forward and placed a kiss upon her lips. Hotaru’s eyes widened, unsure of what was going on... Her shoulders and tail relaxed, her ears bristled.
With what little she could recover, Fumeko noticed the two in an embrace and rolled her eyes with a sigh.
"Ugh..." Hotaru parted from the kiss, now seeing simply Jotou in her view. The pinkish energy faded from her sights as happier memories filled her mind; of her first kiss that went into her first time...
The hold that Dread had on her faded and faded till she faced the woman holding her, "Jotou..." she breathed. "Your face!"
Jotou sighed, "It’s okay, it’s okay, heal it later. How are you?"
"I feel... amazing, actually."
"You kinda took a lot out of Fumeko there..."
Hotaru searched around for Fumeko, "Sorry!"
"Oh don’t worry, I’ll get back at you for this..." Fumeko leered, gripping her dagger. Seemingly, the sound of tracks were not too distant.
"Stay down!" Daiyu’s scream got everyone’s attention. The princess had straddled the side of Arabella and pinned her to the ground. Arabella struggled and shifted, rivalling the princess’s strength.
Feyan rushed forward and struggled to find an opening to catch. "Just leap for it will ya!?" Fumeko yelled across. Before Feyan could do so. "FWOOSH!"
"OW! FUCK YOU!" Daiyu winced for a second as ash slashed across her right eye, causing half her view to be crimson. In that moment, the blinded Arabella shifted her leg to the left and kicked Daiyu in the side!
"Princess!"
"Daiyu!" Jotou cried out.
Daiyu rolled across the dirt, her greatsword clutched tight. Jotou spun her blade around. "You’re gonna have to explain later," water dripped down Hotaru’s nails and formed claws. "What’s the plan for now?"
"Hey wolfy! Why don’t you siphon her till she passes out!?"
Jotou tilted her head, "That’s the plan," and rushed forward.
Feyan leapt towards Arabella getting up. "Swish!" He caught the edge of her shoulder before she recoiled back. Blood leaked out of the claw marks on her jacket.
"BLAST!" A rifle shot right into Daiyu’s face while she got up. Her head took the recoil, but no damage was done beyond that. She glared with one functioning eye to the rifle sticking through the pink illusion, right above Asobi’s sleeping head.
"Ah shit..." Fumeko’s nose scrunched. "B-link!" shadows just about took her form and she disappeared to the side of Asobi. She grabbed Asobi’s arm and pulled.
"Ha, huh?" her jade-green eyes opened and felt the light tug on her arm. Her head peered up to see the barrel of a rifle to her right, "Oh no!" Asobi stumbled up and pointed her wand to herself and Fumeko.
Both of them disappeared from sight entirely. "Agh... ow..." Asobi whimpered. A sharp headache went over her, her eyes felt dry and shrunken.
The tank tracks sounded closer now. "CRASH!" "CRASH!" From the front and the back drove in two tanks with their barrels aimed.
The roof came falling down. "Get close to me!" Jotou exclaimed. More rifles poked through and backed out in an instant, the tanks reversing.
Feyan caught the blinded Arabella by the back of her neck and sunk his claws in, "I apologize admiral, just, a, second!" Arabella struggled and lifted up ash and twisted her sabre back-
"WHACK!" Daiyu socked Arabella smack in the middle of her nose. "Crack...!" "WHACK!" And another. It was lucky Arabella was already seeing white...
"Eugh," Daiyu flapped her hand, "We’ll call it even."
With a broken and bleeding nose, Feyan made no pause to siphon her. "Restore Inhibition," he casted alongside. The shadows seeped into her mind, clearing something from her mind. "The spell worked I think!"
Jotou closed the distance alongside Hotaru, "Meko, Sobi!?"
"Here..."
"Here."
The tent collapsed on top of the seven. Outside were a dozen plus soldiers, many already injured. They aimed their rifles in a large circle around the tent, the two tanks parked and ready. "CLANG, cling, cling... CRASH!"
"Rippp!" The armite blade covered in sparks tore through the roof, cutting through the metal poles as well. They all emerged from the centre.
"Upheaval!" "SHRUCK!" Daiyu stomped the floor and a platform shot out from right under them! Causing a shout from everyone except herself and the barely conscious Arabella.
The soldier aimed high and underneath the ground platform. Successfully, they escaped the fallen tent and gravity took them back down/ "CRASH!" The dust of dirt and rock burst into an orange cloud.
"SLASH!"
"IT DIDN’T WORK FEYAN!" all the soldiers only heard the slash of some metal and the scream of Daiyu.
As the dust settled. "BASH!" Daiyu punched Arabella across the jaw. Without another sound, Arabella fell and collapsed to the side, bruised and bloodied.
Arabella’s sabre had the blood of Daiyu’s left ear and some tufts of purple hair that turned black instantly. Asobi and Fumeko crawled on the ground, the invisibility faded.
"Apologies my lady," Feyan lied on his back, staring up to the Sun. Hotaru had hugged onto Jotou, the blonde standing steady as she pivoted her blade to the remaining army around them.
The tables and equipment either broken or poked through the fabric of the fallen tent. "Aegis-Aura!" Hotaru casted upon all of them. Water formed in her hands, into a large droplet, "Rejuvenate!" she shot out a fountain around them.
Fumeko’s and Asobi’s eyes widened, regaining something back. Everyone felt a rush of adrenaline. "Thwack!" Daiyu kicked Arabella in the side of the head. "Nice, get her up again will ya?" Daiyu glared. Arabella fell unconscious once more.
"Oh, I’m sorry," sarcasm oozed out of the redhead.
"Stand down!" Dread’s voice echoed around them—the pinkish illusion. The six remaining panted, glancing around their current predicament.
"Why the fuck would we do that!?" Daiyu shouted back whilst tapping her foot constantly.
"She must be running low, that many illusions and controlling these two, there’s no way," Fumeko hushed.
"My thoughts exactly, I think we’ve won," Jotou replied.
"Don’t jinx it," Hotaru exhaled. "Alleviate Migraine," she casted onto herself.
"We have you surrounded and there’re more forces incoming. You won’t last."
Daiyu pursed her lips, trying to locate.
"And even if you do; I will grant permission to kill all of you."
The princess’s lips curled up to one side... There’s the lie, "And there’s the liar," Daiyu glanced back around to the west and pointed her greatsword to a zipped up tent.
"Let me heal you first-"
"No time!" Daiyu sprinted away, all their rifles trailed her. "What’re you gonna do!? Shoot me!?"
"Plan’s a bust, attack everything!" Jotou rushed to one of the tanks, Fumeko blinked out of view, Asobi made the rest invisible.
While the fight continued behind her and the bullets barely made a dent to her back, the one-eyed princess locked onto her target.
The tent’s zip opened up and there she was. Fading chestnut hair, pink eyes, in attire of dark pinks and brownish-blacks. The Psyching Dread faced Daiyu and put her hands out.
Daiyu only saw the face of a panicked and scared enemy. She did not stop.
"BLASTT!!!" Thunder boomed through the sky, yellow lightning flashing in the day. One tank down, several soldiers fallen to daggers and claws.
Dread shot out light pink energy, that fizzled and scarcely left her fingers. Daiyu gave no care, getting hit by it; however, Dread had disappeared out of view...
"Oh no you don’t!" Daiyu stomped the ground, causing the earth to rumble. "Stone Surge!" another stomp and pillars of stone emerged from the ground, narrowly avoiding the tents all around.
She cancelled her spell before it did much harm, not getting a hit. "Upheaval!" "SHRUCK!" nothing. Daiyu closed the distance to where she was last, "Quake! Rockslide!" the ground rumbled.
And the earth crumbled, shifting the loose earth all towards her.
"EGH!"
Daiyu caught the sound of someone falling and there Dread appeared into view; being dragged across the ground by the princess’s spell.
With a chuckle, Daiyu reached down and grasped the fallen Dread by the neck. Dread gripped Daiyu’s left wrist, gritting her teeth and flailing her legs.
Daiyu sighed, poking her greatsword to the side of Dread, "See ya in hell bitch," she threw Dread’s head into the ground. "THUD!"
"No, it can’t, it can’t end like this," Dread, bleeding in the side of the head, gripped the rocks and dust, trying to crawl away. Tears left her eyes—a panicked breath.
"SHTRUCK!" Right through the back of her spine. Daiyu panted, sinking the blade deeper to make sure... Pinkish energy drifted off her body, from her eyes, from the blood, from the stab...
Daiyu’s eye bubbled, but before she could recoil, she was captured in pinkish light...
