When the first regulators' soldiers appeared on the cliffs, the defensive weapons opened fire on the enemies. The enemies charged forward, confident in the protection provided by their power armor. And yet their bravery soon left them, as defenders started mowing them down by the dozens. Not even power armor could withstand the constant intensity of the fire from hundreds of weapons.

Tiny gestured to her team. Normally, scouts only have command over a force of five other wolfkins. But with massive losses in Aranea’s team, she was forced to give Tiny command over the bigger numbers. Sonya still had command of five veterans, while Leila got command of five recruits, and the newly promoted scout got six green recruits under her command. Tiny trained her team for strictly long-ranged combat. The wolf hag was unsure about this at first, the Wolf Tribe members always preferred close-range combat. Tiny and her pack were hiding behind the wall, preparing to assist the defenders with their heavy weapons.

The wolf hag felt her doubts disappear when she saw how the six mortars added their voices to the defensive weapons. Aranea nodded as she saw how the enemy forms started falling apart. It was a weird feeling. She saw the Resistance right now, not as humans, but as numbers that her pack needed to thin in order to survive.

Enough with this. Aranea commanded herself. It was kill or be killed today, she will worry about losing her humanity later. 

Beams of crimson color sliced through the air as Leila’s team joined the battle, appearing on the walls. The half-wyrm had taught the soldiers of her pack how to use energy weapons. Spirits only know what Leila had to do to persuade the command to arm wolfkin warriors with such expensive weapons, but for the time being, they were wreaking havoc on the enemy forces. While Tiny commanded her forces, constantly adjusting their arc of fire, Leila used an oversized energy rifle, adding her own personal contribution, fully trusting that her soldiers would carry out their responsibilities without her supervision. Her own weapon was a custom-made monstrosity that she brought from home. She explained that when the "old demon" used her on various missions, he granted her this weapon. The back of the weapon fit like a glove on her right hand, while the half-wyrm used her left hand to help aim the weapon. The trigger was located deep within the "glove" part of the weapon. Anything that this gun hit, it melted through, leaving wide wounds in the chests of enemy warriors. Aranea noticed that Leila was avoiding targeting injured enemies or those who tried to escape. It was good. They were no longer prey, and they actually aided state forces by instilling fear among enemy ranks. Each wounded enemy who escapes from the field of battle will put a strain on the enemy's medical supply.

Aranea noticed something else. The wolfkins in Leila’s team were missing from time to time. It was to be expected that, when compared to shardguns, laser weapons offered almost no recoil. Add to that a lack of time to properly train with such weapons and the Wolf Tribe's general distrust of such weapons, and this was the end result.

No matter. Aranea nodded to herself, standing tall on the wall of the shield station. They had an abundance of ammunition, might as well go all out for a change. Later, Aranea will ask snipers from the ranks of the normies to give pointers to Leila's pack. But for now, they had a battle to win.

The intensity of the fire forced the attackers to slow down, almost forcing them back. One by one, they were dying, their forms ended up being broken. The wounded screamed, trying to get out of the line of fire, but the entire cliffs were a dead zone. Try as they might, they were in the open. Aranea was unsure how to feel about it. On the one paw, she felt nothing as enemies died in front of her. On the other paw, she knew that killing wounded and prisoners was something that only monsters would do.

But do we really have any choice right now? She wondered, giving a signal to Sonya as the enemy soldiers advanced even further. Sonya and her pack raised heavy missile launchers, unleashing their own hell. These oversized weapons held up to three special anti-infantry missiles. When fired, upon closing on the enemy ranks, the main missile would split apart, unleashing a dozen smaller missiles stored inside. The smaller missiles would then end up raining down on a wide area. These weapons, unlike Tiny and her pack's mortars, were designed to be used at medium range. 

Run already or surrender, you fools. What good will you do to anyone by dying here? Don't you have cubs back at home? Aranea angrily thought as the enemy soldiers still charged forward, almost oblivious to death. All too few tried to retreat.

The buzzing of the radar made her look up. From the cloud of smoke above them, new forms descended on the battlefield. Aranea looked up and saw who they were. These new enemies were strange, parts of their bodies were covered by power armor, while other parts of their bodies were made of gleaming steel. Some had half of their heads protected by armor, while another part of their heads was made of silvery steel. Bento tribe members. They were flying thanks to massive jetpacks installed into their backs. Like rockets, they crashed onto the ground before advancing soldiers of the regulators, lifting their hands before themselves. The bubbles of the shield came to life, protecting their allies behind them, and the advance of the enemy force continued. For a moment, a series of shield bubbles were visible to the defenders, but then they merged into one huge, elongated bubble of a single shield that covered the front-line troops of the enemies.

"Annoying." Ursico said, upon seeing how the shield was blocking the fire of the defenders. He quickly gave the order for the forward troops to step back.

"They can protect only the troops in the front. Weapon teams, armed with equipment that can shoot in an arc, just keep on firing at the enemies behind cyborgs," Tiny gave the order over the command channel as her team continued fire, "Don’t we have something to punch through these shields? If just one fails…"

Two defensive towers at the shield station fired their shells. Each of these cannons had a barrel with an internal bore of 180 mm, they were considered to be part of heavy artillery. But even their shells failed to penetrate the shield, the shells ended up being smashed against the shield.

"Clearly we don’t," Tiny answered herself in a sour voice, "Lieutenant! Please give the order for cannons to shoot over enemies."

"No! Wait, I have an idea," Leila quickly joined in, "Lieutenant, please give the order for cannons to aim at cyborgs to the left and right from the one in the middle. We have something that can crack the shield. And since their shields work in unison as a single shield, once cracked, it will briefly overload the rest of the shields."

"But what…" Tiny gasped in realization, "You are correct, it should have enough power to break through! Wolf hag Aranea, please fire your rail gun at the central enemy!"

Aranea quickly took her weapon and took aim. She was still afraid of this infernal thing. Even for her, a weapon like this was scary. Each time she trained with it, she was afraid that this weapon might end up maiming her allies by shooting… Through almost everything, really. Who knows, what the shockwave would do to soldiers in the trenches?

Enough with fear. Trust in your fellow soldiers. The wolf hag has pressed the trigger.

Just like before, she saw a hole in the enemy, before the noise came. The sound of hellish thunder assaulted her ears, the shockwave from her shot had thrown several soldiers off their feet. But in enemy ranks, it caused panic as the line of dead people was behind the ruined form of the cyborg. People fell like dolls, blood was spitting on the ground. Most of them died so fast that they probably failed to even notice the moment of their demise.

By the Spirits. I killed them. So easy and so casually. Is this how warlords feel about themselves? The wolf hag swallowed drool in horror. If this was what warlords were feeling when they were killing others, she never wanted to feel it ever again. No life should disappear from the world so easily, snuffed out like a candle. And yet she forced herself to take aim again. Kill or be killed… Dad, mom, forgive me, but I can’t let my allies die.

Electric discharges could be seen on the bodies of other cyborgs as some of them stumbled as the shield around enemy forces burst. The towers opened fire, tearing two other cyborgs apart, and Aranea fired again, feeling pain in her hands. Just two shots, and it was hard to even hold the weapon, even despite the aid of her armor, she felt as if someone had slammed a hammer across her palms, shoulders, and elbows several times. The wolf hag was half of a mind to fire another shot when a wall of fire rose up before advancing enemy forces. From the flames emerged the figure in the red cloak. The man wore a suit of archaic-looking power armor with no helmet. His face could be called handsome if not for his broken nose. His long black hair reached his shoulders. Already tall, his old-looking power armor made him look like a giant, his head without a helmet looked tiny on such a massive body. The person extended his hand toward the trenches.

"No, I do not think so, buddy," Leila calmly said, taking aim at his head and firing her rifle. The man's right eye was struck by the red beam. Instead of leaving behind melted-away meat and bones, the beam pierced right through the head of the man. A perfect black round hole was on the face of the smiling enemy, aside from the sudden empty space in the body of the enemy, there was no sign of damage. The person stood unconcerned, as if the missing eye and part of his brain were no bother to him. The man’s body suddenly shuddered, turning into flashes of fire. Fire flicked in the air before reforming himself back into the human figure of a man, but this time with no hole in his head. The enemy laughed and spread his hands wide. As if in response, the trenches ahead of him caught fire, and people inside were boiling to death within their armors.

"Burn, Reclaimers! Burn!" The man yelled, charging forward, a wall of fire closing in behind him. He was completely oblivious to the incoming fire from the rows of the defenders, fully devoid of any sense of self-preservation. And behind fire, enemy troops moved out. He stopped only once, when a pleading soldier in front of him begged for mercy. The man casually kicked the near-dead woman away from the fire, into the embrace of one of the cyborgs.

"Ideas?" Leila asked, firing again.

"Keep the enemy away from the wall." Aranea responded to her.

"Just kill whoever you can, we’ll figure something out later!" Tiny shouted from behind the wall while her team continued to fire.

The cyborgs tore through fire, using their jetpacks to rise in the air. Their hands changed during the flight. Their left hands were transformed into hooked blades, while their right hands were turned into automatic rifles. Some cyborgs were shot down by the defensive fire, yet most of them pushed through the fire of the defenders, descending upon people on the wall and upon defensive towers. Aranea switched her rail gun for a regular shardgun and evaded the slash of a cyborg that fell upon her. At such a close distance, she could not use her rail gun, the risk of hitting her own allies by accident was far too great. The fighter from the Bento tribe crashed at the stone where the wolf hag stood just a moment ago, leaving a cracked stone underneath his legs. His upper body turned unnaturally, turning one hundred and eighty degrees in order to face Aranea. She dodged the slash, and the enemy threw up his gun, taking aim. But before he could fire, she fired her own weapon, leaving holes in his skull. The foe's body took a single step forward, as if in disbelief of its own death, before collapsing on the ground.

Two cyborgs crashed to the ground near the defensive tower, something was coming from their chests. It took Aranea a second to understand that these were sticky bombs. The enemies planned to blow up the defensive structure. Two crimson beams hit each at the back of their heads, when sergeant Alek and his sniper team, who were hidden on a nearby hill, opened fire, eliminating the obstacles.

"Damn it!" Alek shouted on the radio channel as three more cyborgs crashed into the second tower, one of the enemies creating a shield to protect her comrades while they were busy setting up explosives. "We can’t hit through…"

"Excuses," The calm voice of Scarred One joined the radio channel. Her massive form appeared near the attacked tower. She had moved deceptively slowly in order to bypass the shield, but once inside, she caused carnage. Shamans rarely use any ranged weapons, preferring to follow traditions instead. And yet, when compared to shamans, wolf hags were children. While not as fast or fierce as warlords, shamans were still an elite force even among the Wolf Tribe. Their claws could cut through steel. Their speed could allow them to react to bullets. When the Scarred One fell on them, slashing them apart, the enemies saw firsthand the ferocity of this melee fighter. It was not a fight but a murder, none of them stood a chance. If they had been smarter or more desperate, they would have detonated explosives, but the bentos were the proud people who believed in their own superiority. This belief saw their mission fail as their broken forms fell from the roof of the shield station. "Shoot more, complain less."

"As you command, honey!" The sergeant laughed as he fired at advancing enemies, and the shaman growled at this familiarity. She held a half-broken cyborg in her embrace, the man had lost all his limbs, natural or otherwise. Aranea was preparing to give the order to spare him when the shaman threw him aside, leaving him to be picked up by the medics later.

More cyborgs flew over the wall, landing near Tiny and her team. Aranea wanted to jump down and help them, but she could not abandon her post. Her task right now is to protect the packs of Sonya and Leila while they are busy firing at the enemy, thinning the advancing numbers of the Resistance.

I can’t save everyone. Aranea said to herself, firing at the cyborg who tried to slash a member of Leila’s pack. The wolfkin nodded to Aranea and turned around, firing her energy weapon and killing the cyborg below the wall just in time to save the wolfkin of Tiny’s pack. My weapon is best suited for close range. All I can do is trust my pack. And in those who fight by our side.

The cyborg almost closed in on Tiny while the scout was busy reloading her mortar. The scout did not even bother to reach for the shardgun behind her back, all too concerned with giving orders to her pack. Even as the blade of the enemy moved toward her neck, she ignored the seemingly imminent danger. The slash never came, for the enemy body turned into dust when the mechanical suit of lieutenant Marveni landed nearby, opening fire with his disruptors. Marveni spent entire days sitting and sleeping in this suit, even going as far as eating and drinking within the suit. By now, he wielded it as easily as one could use one's own body. Tiny briefly thanked him, but Ursico had already turned his suit away, jumping on the wall and aiding the defenders. The shaman jumped from the wall, landing in front of Tiny.

"I must admit something. When I saw you as a cub, I was sure that you would be a burden to the Tribe due to the fact that you are a defective being. Therefore, I advocated for your death. Now, however, I can see that they were right about you. You can be of use to Tribe." The shaman told Tiny, standing still while another cyborg landed behind her.

"They? You know who my parents are…" Tiny briefly stopped firing, but then collected herself and continued reloading her weapon. She said to the shaman in a calm voice, preparing to fire, "I need to know. Please… And behind you!" She shouted, seeing how the cyborg raised the blade to spear the shaman.

"We will speak later." The shaman turned around and walked past the cyborg. A split second later, his body fell to the ground, slashed in three.

"Idiocy," Ursico’s voice boomed from speakers installed in his suit, standing over the ruined form of another cyborg, the poor fellow had been partially turned to dust by the disruptors, "They are losing too many people. This whole attack is nothing short of lunacy."

"I agree, but…" Leila said, lifting up the cyborg that was being held by her tail. Instead of killing the thrashing woman, she simply tore off her metal hands and broke her legs before throwing her away, saying, "It’s not like we can stop them from continuing to fight, right?" The injured cyborg was dragged away to safety by the medics.

"True, but we need all the help we can get. Ursico, it’s time to unleash the remaining drones, our people are getting slaughtered in the open." Aranea sent a message to the lieutenant as she saw one of the bunkers exploding in flames. The man in red armor simply melted through the wall of the bunker, stepped inside, and exploded a ball of fire within, burning everything inside, including people. The lieutenant's suit made a visible nod.

The command was sent, but no help came. The mechanical suit of the lieutenant turned around in confusion, and then two loud explosions boomed in the square before the main buildings. The vehicles that held drones inside of them exploded at the same time. Ursico demanded a report immediately, but Aranea could see that the life signs of guards on a square were suddenly disappearing one by one, one of the mechanical suits stationed there was also downed by an unknown enemy.

"Idiots!" A familiar voice laughed, and Yasen broke through the fire wall. Almost everyone took aim at him, but before shots could be fired, he made a throwing gesture with his hand, sending a trembling kinetic blast. It crashed into the defensive wall with a force greater than even an artillery shell, breaking stone and throwing people off the wall. Yasen laughed again and fired another blast, aiming for the shield station this time. Under the pressure of Yasen's power, reinforced stone walls designed to withstand rockets, artillery shells, and missiles cracked. Another blast hit it, and a hole was made in the shield station. Defensive towers fired, yet both shells were stopped by the wall of kinetic force around the leader of the regulators. Yasen's laughter came to a halt when Leila fired a laser beam at his knee. Not even the wall of force surrounding him could stop this attack. The metal melted, but withstood assault, protecting the flesh inside. Before flying back into flames, Yasen looked at the half-wyrm, no longer boasting or laughing.

"Alek! Why hasn’t your team downed him?!" Ursico shouted, landing on two mechanical legs and catching several soldiers before they could fall on the stone ground.

"My apologies, sir! We are also under attack, it's the greenies." The sergeant responded in a strained voice, sounds of energy weapons firing could be heard over the radio.

When three figures charged from behind it, fire almost licked the cracked defensive wall. The figure in a green cloak appeared on top of the wall. A wolfkin nearby pointed a shardgun at the figure and fired, but bullets only hit the cloak while the man in silver-colored power armor jumped up, landing behind the wolfkin. His armor was crafted to look exactly like a human body, replicating even the abs and ribs. The helmet was fashioned after an image of a smiling man with glasses and curly hair. The figure touched the back of the wolfkin and the shoulder of a nearby soldier. The poor man's shoulder had shrunk, causing him to scream in agony when the blood vessels and bones within this part of his body were brutally separated, his hand was no longer connected to his body and fell on the ground. Not even the armor protected the soldier against this deadly touch. The wolfkin never even had the chance to scream. His chest became the size of a rock, and his head, legs, and arms simply fell on the stone floor of the wall.

The figure in a blue cloak appeared next to a group of soldiers, and Aranea deduced that this one was most likely a female based on her slender build and smaller frame. Underneath her cloak, she was dressed in a lighter version of power armor, almost all metal plates were stripped from her to allow maximum freedom of movement. The exposed frame of her exoskeleton was visible on her slender body, the round helmet looked really thin. At the mere touch of her gauntlets, people fell to the ground. Aranea could see no visible injuries on the data feed that her helmet showed her, yet the screams of poor people indicated that they were in pain. The strange woman stepped on the throat of one of the soldiers, cocking her head as if wondering if she should kill him, then she simply walked forward, leaving the man alive and screaming behind her.

The warrior in red appeared at the wall, and at the shout of Tiny, almost everyone backed away from him. Even Sonya and her team obeyed, jumping away as fire appeared around him. While Aranea was jumping back, she noticed that Leila's figure was still standing on the wall, and her laser rifle was tossed carelessly to a member of her pack. Armor completely covered her form as fire reached her.

"Leila, jump away or…" Aranea shouted in fear, but the half-wyrm only shrugged.

"Don’t worry, wolf hag. We wyrms just build differently," The woman responded calmly when the fire covered her entire body.

The flame that boiled people in full power armor barely caused Leila to let out a chuckle. Her fist crashed into the head of the man, exploding him into a ball of fire. The body of a man disappeared, flames ran across the body of the half-wyrm. The man reappeared behind Leila and struck with his right hand. Leila dodged this punch, grabbing him by his arm. She threw him over herself, slamming him into the stone. Her wings struck at his chest like blades, intending to pierce his body and pin him down. The sharp metal has pierced his chest, and the lenses of Leila’s armor have slid back, revealing the light that was coming from her eyes. She intended to use her power to bind the enemy to her will, but once again he turned into flame that licked the armor of the half-wyrm, reappearing to the left of Leila and kicking her in the jaw with his leg, sending her massive body into the wall of the shield station. The half-wyrm gasped as she slid down across the wall, the shoulderpads of her armor beginning to slightly melt. She landed on two legs and accepted her laser rifle back from a member of her team.

Checking the weapon, she said: "I confess. I have no idea how to do him in or how to contain him. He seems to be able to regenerate from the flames around him and is able to create more flames at will. An annoying combination."

"Flames, huh?" Aranea said, trying to figure out something. The few remaining cyborgs and three strange new breeds all charged toward the breach in the wall.

"Shaman, take care of the man in silver armor, take notice that if he touches you, it’s all over. Leila, Tiny, deal with the woman, avoid her touch. I will take care of the fireboy. Ursico, Sonya, you hold the line here." Aranea commanded, jumping off the wall.

"Take care? How?" Leila demanded to know.

She just has to figure something out. This strange man can easily kill them all unless he is stopped. Aranea and the others charged into the breach as enemies were running ahead in the corridor, aiming to arrive at the generator room. The Shaman jumped to the ceiling, grabbed the stone with both hands, and leaped forward, landing in front of the man in silver armor, narrowly avoiding his grasp. A claw slashed forward, shredding the floor where the man had just stood up.

"Abyss take it all! She is so fast!" The man in silver armor said in fear, backing down to allow two cyborgs to step in front of him. He reached into his belt pocket and took out some small object. When he threw it, the object grew up to be a full-sized grenade and Scarred One jumped back, avoiding the explosion that collapsed the corridor before her. The path that led to the generator was sealed for the time being.

"Idiot," The woman yelled angrily, turning to face the pursuers, "We don't have time for this shit. Lalo! Make a new hole."

"Sure thing," The man surrounded by the flames replied eagerly. He pointed his hand at the wall of the corridor, only for his head to disappear when Aranea fired her shardgun. His body fell to the ground, turning to embers and reassembling itself in the nearby flames. He looked at Aranea and smiled, "Wolf hag. I've never killed one before. Nice of you to offer yourself for me."

"Let us speak with our actions, shall we?" Aranea smugly said, firing again and crashing into a nearby room. She hoped that this would be enough to provoke him, and she was right, the wall of the dining room was melted, and a ray of energy fired inside, melting several plastic tables. Lalo stepped inside, shrouded in flames, abandoning his comrades to face off against the rest of the defenders in the corridor behind him.

"To be honest, I kind of feel bad about killing your kind," Lalo chuckled. "It feels wrong to kill doggies. Animals are cute after all."

"We are humans, you bastard!" Aranea fired at him, and his form turned to flame as his neck disappeared. In a flash of fire, he reappeared near the wolf hag, raising his right hand over his head and slamming it down. Aranea barely had time to dodge as his punch crushed the stone floor where she stood just a moment ago.

"Good to know, then I can kill you with a clear conscience." The Regulator said cheerfully, raising his hands, and torrents of flame willed themselves into being, forcing Aranea to retreat even further.

Why is the firefighting system not working? Aranea thought during her retreat toward the kitchen that the floor was erupting in flames around her at the mere gesture of her enemy. They were supposed to… Wait! No one warned us about an attack on a square… Could this new enemy also have taken out our firefighting system?

When she reached the doors that led to the kitchen, the floor underneath her exploded, and she crashed inside in a torrent of fire and molten stone. Laughing, Lalo melted the wall before him, stepping inside after Aranea. She tried to reach for one of the fire extinguishers in the room, but at a single gesture from Lalo, they exploded and threw Aranea into the center of the room, sending her crushing into a table with frying pans on it. She felt how they began to melt, under the assault of the fire that shot into the room, even her own armor began to scream in warning, advising her to leave the area. What could she possibly do to…

And then she saw. On the ceiling were black dots, like the ones that Ursico showed her. Each of them supposedly contained powder that could be used to put out flames… She jumped back on her feet, quickly remembering all that she had seen about Lalo. It was not much, but one thing she was certain of. He loved going into melee after he reformed himself.

Aranea jumped back on her feet and stood under one such dot, taking aim at Lalo and firing. He smiled upon seeing how the holes appeared in his chest and disappeared. Her crimson eye caught the sight of the small dancing embers in the air as they charged past her, reforming to her left... The wolf hag has jumped forward at the last moment, evading the kick, and turned around, firing at the dark spot on the ceiling. A strange black powder fell from it, covering the man from head to toe. He did not vanish this time. He grabbed his throat and tried to gasp. Even Aranea was taken aback for a moment by how terrible this wheezing sound he was making every few seconds. Pure panic was in the man's eyes as he stumbled back, crashing into a wall, desperately making wheezing sounds, trying to inhale the oxygen into his lungs, but air just no longer went into his throat as something obstructed it. He clawed at his throat in desperation, leaving bloody scratches. A new breed like him could endure quite some time without air, but the sheer panic was doing him in, making him make foolish and wasteful movements. Aranea raised her shardgun and took aim at him, intending to put him out of his misery. Had she known how to save him, she would have offered help in exchange for his surrender, but as of right now... In her opinion, a quick death was preferable to slow suffocation. Lalo noticed her movement and gestured with his left hand. This simple gesture created a ball of fire near her shardgun, causing the ammunition in her shardgun to explode, ruining her weapon for good.

Before she could stand up, he turned toward the wall and pointed with his hand, releasing a beam of energy and melting it. Still making wheezing sounds, Lalo charged away from the building. The wolf hag wanted to charge after him but forced herself to stand down. They had to protect the shield generator. If it went down, the Resistance would annihilate the rest of their forces here with ease.

She took a detour, running toward the shield generator room. Fire was still raging in the kitchen, but this station was made of stone, even with the firefighting system off, this place should endure a small fire. Aranea charged all the way to the shield generator room, arriving just in time to see that the battle within was nearly over.

Six soldiers and three wolfkins from Leila's pack stood near the entrance, at their feet lay the broken forms of two cyborgs and three greenies. The north wall of the inside room was broken, and a man in silver armor was backing away to breach it while one of his hands dangled like a rope. His shoulder was sliced apart, while the shaman was advancing on him. Wolfkins from Tiny's pack pushed the woman in light power armor back to the breach. While the enemy dodged every single shot, she was forced to back off, her attempts to reach any of her foes were blocked by the coordinated teamwork of the soldiers. Six greenies charged at the shaman from the breach, and the man in silver armor saw his chance, turning and running away, leaving the cyborgs and woman behind. Out of the sixty cyborgs that came to help regulators, merely five remained.

Greenies? Here? Aranea thought in confusion, allowing Tiny and Gin to gun down two of the creatures. Tiny’s pack abandoned their heavy weaponry, returning to trusted shardguns.

"Coward!" The woman shouted to the man in silver armor, "The hell are you…"

"Run, you idiot! We can’t beat them! Let him take care of them!" The man angrily shouted back, and the woman paused for a moment, almost getting shot by Gin, before finally jumping and running away, throwing a glance back to see how the shaman tore through greenies. Leila swooped from the ceiling, landing between two cyborgs. Her tail has smashed the hands of one enemy into pieces, while she has used her free hand to disable the hands of the second foe. Moving just as fast as a shaman, she left two broken forms behind herself, but as Aranea noticed, the foes that were beaten by her were still very much alive, just rendered helpless.

We won. Aranea decided, coming to the center of the room. She contacted Ursico, asking what the situation outside looked like.

"We can’t hold them back for long. Yasen is com…" Words from the lieutenant were cut off. The building began to shake, a few stones fell from the ceiling, while some force was slammed into the reinforced stone. The light blinked briefly before the violent tremors stopped and everything returned to normal. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was the slight trembling of the floor.

"Another enemy attack is incoming! Finish off the enemy's resistance!" Aranea commanded over the secure channel, before turning to the remaining cyborgs and saying out loud, "One chance. Give up, and we will only restrain you. You will be treated with respect, and your wounds will be treated. Resist, and we will destroy you…"

"Your victory was just snatched away, girl." A calm and awfully familiar voice behind her said. Aranea began to turn back when someone crashed into her, throwing her off her feet.

A wolfkin warrior from Leila's team was sent flying into her by the human form that appeared right behind her. The wolf hag blinked in surprise, understanding just who was before her. Chort, dressed in a black armored jacket, black pants, and expensive-looking shoes. His hands and head were free of any armor. Green eyes looked at Aranea mockingly. He moved his old-looking body with casual fluidity and slammed his palm into the back of the warrior who was on Aranea. This looked like a simple slap, and yet a weird, shocking sensation ran from the trembling body of the wolfkin to Aranea’s body. Sudden vibrations all around her body caused her teeth to tremble. The wolf hag lost her footing once more and nearly fell.

"It goes much harder through full armor," Chort said thoughtfully, and slammed his hand into Aranea's head, sending her flying into the wall. She crashed into the wall at the speed of an arrow, leaving cracked stone behind her while she was sliding down, "Without armor, you would have lost your conscience, like this girl here." He lightly kicked the still-trembling form of the wolfkin at his feet. He stepped on the right shoulder of the wolfkin, breaking it, and kicked the still-unconscious soldier away.

Wolfkins and soldiers at the entrance lay dead on the floor. So fast. Just a moment ago, they were alive, and now the threads of their lives have been cut off. Their armor was pierced through with clean cuts, indicating the work of the sharpest blade, wielded by skillful hands. However, Chort's hands were devoid of all weapons.

"You will pay for…" Aranea growled, trying to stand up. Her body was mostly unharmed, new armor protected her from damage, yet strange vibrations from before rendered her immobile. The very organs within her trembled, her heartbeat was reaching new heights, the world was spinning before her very eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, heard this one before. You just lay here, Yasen wants to play with you himself," Chort said dismissively as he walked toward Leila. The skin on his palms flowed onto the floor, falling like a torrent of water. He walked unbothered by this, leaving behind the small lake of flesh that squirmed around the floor, splitting into four pools. Four forms of greenies rise from the floor, hissing at the empty air. Aranea finally understood just what the source of these strange creatures was. Chort smiled at Leila, seemingly glad to be finally noticed by her. The half-wyrm turned toward him along with the shaman. "I could have killed you several times by now. But no. You, wyrm girl, deserve to be killed fair and square by me, or I will never have my inner peace."

"Do I know you?" Leila asked carefully, aiming her weapon.

"Not personally, no. We never met. And yet you managed to steal from me," The usually cool demeanor of Chort cracked, revealing cold fury underneath, "Each living being wants to leave some sort of mark on the world. My mark was my reputation. For years, I worked hard to gain recognition through Ravaged Lands. Normies, abnormals, wolfkins, abominations… You can name almost any species, and I can describe how I kill it. None could escape me. People refer to me as a "one-man army" and a "perfect mercenary", the one who never fails or betrays his employes. And yet, here you are, you who were so insignificant, in just five years of killing some worthless cannibals here... And yet people started to talk about you, comparing you to me. A silent winged killer, she appears out of nowhere, kills her target, and flees into the night without saying anything...", Chort spat on the ground, "Stupid people elevated you to the same level as me, and people began to look after you in order to hire you instead of me. Today this... affront to my legacy will come to an end. I will end you. I will kill the "Silent death" and, by doing so, I will also kill a wyrm. I will mount your head on a wall in a tavern for everyone to see who the greatest killer in these lands is. Two precious goals in one day. I must say, King made me feel this one-of-a-kind present."

"You are pissed on me because of something as shallow as this?" Leila asked in disbelief. A hint of true anger appeared in her voice. "You killed members of my team because of this?!"

"This and the money are my primary reasons to join the war, yes," Chort pleasantly smiled at Leila, "Originally it was the money, but because of you..."

"People are curious about new things, so beat it, grandpa. Take your pills, piss off somewhere, and keep your first place…" The half-wyrm took aim at his face, "… is what I would want to say. But you just had to make it personal between us."

"Grandpa?" Chort raised his brow, cracking his fists, "Just for that one, I will tear off your wings, one after another."

"Don’t lose your focus, wyrm spawn. This one is dangerous." The shaman warned Leila, circling around Chort.

"Run along, doggie. I killed plenty of your kind in my youth. Find some other prey, and I'll leave you alive…" Chort became aware of Leila's movement and dove. He dodged just before she could press the trigger, and yet the red beam still scorched his shoulder, removing skin and part of the bone. To the surprise of Aranea, Chort’s hand didn't hang up like a useless piece of meat. Instead, he closed his hand into a fist and smiled, "Yes. Yes, this is how it is supposed to be. It would not be as fun if I never tasted pain from you…"

He disappeared. Try as she might, Aranea failed to see his initial movements. One moment he was standing still, the next he left footprints in stone, charging like a projectile from a cannon toward Leila. The greenies created by him charged at Tiny’s and Leila’s packs, while Chort himself only cared for the half-wyrm. Leila took aim again, but this time, Chort read her aim perfectly, dodging the beam. A red knife slid from his sleeve into his hand, and he sliced the barrel of Leila’s weapon in one smooth motion. The half-wyrm backed down to gain distance to throw her now-useless weapon away. Chort made a step to advance after her but was forced to retreat back, evading the blow of the shaman, who jumped to the ceiling and then onto him. He dodged, leaving a deep cut on the shaman’s left arm, damaging the armor but failing to reach the body. The stone floor cracked because of the shaman’s landing, and two stone plates rose in the air, hiding her from Chort's view for the moment. He sliced the first stone in two and dodged the punch of the Scarred One. Before he could counterattack, Leila appeared to his left, kicking him in the left knee. Chort's leg gave way, and he fell to one knee, striking forward with his knife. Scarred One retaliated with her right paw, her claws slipping beneath his blade.

This attack would've shred Chort's arm. It should have shredded his arm. Chort let go of the handle of his knife, moved his arm back, and the flesh around his hand flowed once more, circling around his bones like water around a cube of ice in a cup. His palm elongated, the very bones changing their structure, turning into a solid bone blade. The blade that shot toward the shaman like a piston. Leila tried to slam her claws into Chort's neck to stop his attack, but the mercenary stood up and her claws ended up stuck in his shoulder. His attack was not stopped. The bone blade hit in the space between the claws of the shaman and tore through her hand, slicing her paw in two. Chort smiled and hit Leila with his elbow, sending her into the wall. The shaman made an attempt to drop him with a low kick, but the mercenary jumped up and slammed both of his legs into the shaman’s knee, cracking it. Scarred One did not allow a single growl of pain to leave her lips, but she failed to dodge the next attack. Chort's hands transformed into bone blades, which he thrust into the Scarred One's chest, piercing her armor, piercing her skin, penetrating her lungs, and finally twisting his hands to expand the damaged area even more. The shaman grabbed him by the wrists just in time for Leila to charge again. Her wings, covered in steel, pierced the left side of Chort’s body while her claws were closing in on his head.

Chort smiled as he tore his hands free from the chest of the shaman, the bone blades reforming back into human hands. He grabbed Leila by her wrists, stopping her claws inches away from his head. Leila tried to hit him with a knee, but Chort blocked the attack with his own knee. The tail of the half-wyrm moved forward, and Chort simply threw Leila over himself, slamming her into the wall once again.

The shaman tried to stand up with blood on her lips. Chort smiled and lifted his leg to finish her off. His facial expression changed the moment he heard the shot of the shardgun. He managed to lift his right hand before himself as armor-piercing shards hit him, leaving injuries on his shoulders, belly, and hand. Tiny was standing against him in the open, taking aim for another shot at him.

"Impossible…" Chort whispered in a surprised tone, ignoring his injuries, "I saw you as I came here. I knew that you were here. So how… how could I forget about you? Who are you, girl?"

Tiny prepared to fire again. The wounds on Chort’s body slowly started closing up, the torn flesh spitting out the sharp shards, the edges of the wounds moved toward each other like clay, closing the damaged area, not leaving even a scar behind.

"Miracles do not happen twice!" Chort roared, charging forward. As Tiny’s finger pressed the trigger, his form disappeared, appearing to her left. He dodged just before shards were unleashed, and Tiny's shot penetrated the empty wall, leaving the mercenary unharmed. The right hand of Chort changed back to blade form once again. Gin threw himself before Tiny, and the blade pierced his right shoulder, almost cleaving off his hand, piercing through both bones and muscle alike. Tiny fired from underneath the left hand of Gin, causing Chort to roar in anger at this humiliation. The impact of the shock sent his body backwards, pulling the blade out of Gin's arm. His light armor did little to protect his body, the armor-pierced shard came all the way through his body, tearing the cloth and armor on his back. Chort spit out blood, his flesh already moving, closing the wounds, while the mercenary circled around Tiny, evading her aim, taking no more chances.

Aranea tried to stand, but it was in vain.

"Release it." The voice chuckled inside her head. Ravager. A low growl filled her head. "Come on, do it, you coward. If not now, then when? They are going to die…"

Aranea wanted to follow this advice, but then remembered what happened the last time she accepted her power. She maimed Kate. She nearly killed Sonya.

Screw you. I don’t need your help. The wolf hag replied to the beast within and forced her suit to inject her with adrenaline, standing up on trembling legs.

When Chort was almost on Tiny, he punched with his left hand, shattering Tiny's helmet. The upper half of her head was revealed, but aside from a few cuts, she received no damage, saved by the sturdy armor. Yet the bone blade was coming next. Leila jumped between two opponents, and Chort pierced her belly, the tip of the blade came from her back. Not even armor protected her.

"Tch. Missed the vitals," Chort grinned, as Leila grabbed his wrist with both hands, attempting to pull his arm off. The muscles of his arm bulged, the bone blade was turning steadily inside the body of the half-wyrm, widening the wound. "Let’s fix it all right…"

The steel wings crashed into his shoulders, piercing them. Chort has ignored the pain and kept twisting his blade in the half-wyrm's belly. Leila's helmet moved forward, moving closer to the mercenary's face, eyelids of the helmet slid away, revealing the light of the half-wyrm's power. The mercenary hit with his left leg, kicking Leila’s left leg off the ground, and grabbed her by the shoulder with his left hand, throwing her over himself. The half-wyrm collapsed to the ground, leaving a blood trail in the air. Chort ducked low, evading the shot of Tiny, who circled him to the right, waiting for a safe opportunity to fire at him without putting Leila's life in danger. The leg of the mercenary hit Tiny's knee, breaking the bone like a straw.

"A word of advice, girlie," Chort said smugly to the screaming from pain Tiny as she fell, "Give no shit about your allies' safety. Shoot when you can…"

The building shook again, and the tremor threw Aranea to the floor just short before she could reach for her rail gun. The breach exploded, and the broken form of the mechanical suit was thrown inside. Sonya jumped inside, her armor covered in cracks and blood dripping from breaches in her armor. Her left arm was hanging uselessly, clearly broken or twisted. The metal suit was missing his weapons, the left arm and the right leg were torn, it was so badly damaged that Ursico could not even open it from within. Laughter filled the room, announcing the coming of Yasen before he even stepped inside. His armor was covered in cuts, his cloak was in tatters, but aside from the melted armor on his leg, he had no damage on him. He spread his hands wide, welcoming everyone.

"I do like it when things end up well," He happily said, his lenses had found Aranea, she could almost see his smiling lips behind the faceplate. "It seems each time we meet, you let someone down. Your people follow your lead and what can you offer them? Misery and death! Hahahah!"

"You are the one to lose hundreds on this day." Aranea snapped at him, reaching for the weapon. Yasen smirked and snapped his fingers, sending a ball of kinetic force that splattered her against the floor.

"Ah, but ya see, hon," He pointed to the form of the shaman. Her body was no longer moving, a large pool of blood was under her. Then he pointed at the dead wolfkins near the entrance, "You are the only one who gives two shits about extras. And I do adore your efforts, but alas, your encore took a day too many." His finger rose, a ball of force began forming on the tip of his finger.

"Kill whoever you want, but keep in mind. The half-wyrm is mine. If anything happens to her…" Chort started talking but then stopped. Yasen looked at him in confusion, while the mercenary jerked in place. Chort slapped himself across the head. "A miracle has almost happened twice. But I am not a kind deity."

The mercenary laughed like a maniac, walking toward the shield generator. He walked all the way up the metal stairs.

The doors that led into the shield generator room exploded into a torrent of steel shards, allowing a bright red line to charge forward. The line crashed into cyborgs who were busy finishing off the last normies soldiers in the room. It tore through cyborgs, leaving behind dead bodies and surprised allies. The greenies who were attacking wolfkins were turned into paste the moment the red line charged past them. The sheer movement of the red line created a wind strong enough that it threw dead bodies around the room like dolls.

"If not for this girl, I might have fallen for this," Chort said, coming to the generator, his hand turning to the bone blade. Yasen screamed, trying to warn him, but the mercenary seemed to be oblivious to the red line that charged direction to move at the mercenary, "But as a professional, I do not fall into the same trap twice!"

The red line ran across the stairs, stopping before the generator. It was at this moment that Chort struck. He was not aiming at the generator. His aim was at the newcomer.

A paw lightly touched his bone blade from below, and the deadly weapon went up. Chort’s face became a mask of shock and surprise, changing to a mask of pain upon seeing the dent on his own chest, when the second arm of the newcomer punched him, sending the mercenary cartwheeling toward the entrance. He landed on the ground and still moved backward, leaving traces on the stone with his feet. Finally, stopping near the entrance, he fell on his knees and finally on his face, wheezing and spitting blood from his mouth. An enormous trace of the hit was on his body, the entire left side of his body was pushed deep within his body. The white bones of the ribcage tore through his armor, blood was falling from the edges of the bones.

A small figure was on the metal platform that surrounded the generator, standing a bit shorter in height than Aranea. A black, torn cloak was flowing from her shoulders. A golden circle, broken in one place, was painted on the cloak. Armor of crimson, covered with dust and dirt, protected the figure from head to toe. While the figure was clearly that of a wolfkin, there were no open places in the armor for fangs or claws, so it protected the newcomer fully, like a capsule, looking elegant nonetheless. Instead, there were retractable metal claws on the wrists of the newcomer, similar metal claws were on her legs. The figure looked at her opponent through the lenses of a green color. The snout of the helmet looked small, even for such a slender figure.

Valerye Foulsnout, known as the perfect warlord, has finally arrived.

Aranea blinked in surprise as the metal platform crashed under the weight of Valerye. She landed below and tore metal stairs away to get free. At that moment, Aranea remembered what Kate told her about Valerye.

****

"She is unique, you see," Kate sipped coffee from her cup, frowning. Kaleb offered this new treat to her, and the scout was still unsure if she liked the stuff or not. But it kept her awake, so she consumed it in droves. Kate lifted the photo with her metal spider limb, showing the back of a wolfkin in a black cloak, her paw was raised in triumph, thanking the crowd of both wolfkins and normies around her who cheered for her. The face of the warlord was hidden, but Aranea noticed the unusual red fur of this wolfkin, "Valerye Red Streak, nicknamed so because of the trace that she leaves in the air as she moves around. The soldiers gave her this nickname after Valerye accidentally fell into a vat of crimson paint before charging back at the enemy forces. It was just a blur of her armor, but you know how soldiers and us are. Valerye liked the nickname enough to paint her entire armor crimson. She became a warlord at merely twenty years old, the youngest person to become a warlord. She was ranked eighteen, the last in power."

Aranea nodded, listening to Kate. Janine was ranked ninth in power among warlords. After Janine was injured by Kalaisa, she fell to eleventh place. Ranks were relative, and warlords themselves cared little about them.

"Her charisma and leadership skills were unrivaled. Almost everyone liked her, she tried to help both normies and wolfkin males. Even now, she forbids physical punishments in her forces. The shamans grumble about it, but when Valerye commands, they must obey. Then, at the age of twenty-two, she issued The Challenge of the Warlord."

"What?!" Aranea asked in confusion. The Challenge of the Warlord means that the warlord has to beat every single warlord that was above her in a series of one-on-one fights. It was only used when the warlord needed to make a change and the Gathering was too far away. During the entire existence of the Wolf Tribe, it was won only twice, both times by Alpha. For the first time, she banned the sacrifice of members of the Tribe to the Spirits. Next time, she allowed Tribe members to use power armor. Both times, warlord number one, the Zero, simply gave up without a fight. Lacerated One, the leader of the shamans, surrendered as well, unwilling to fight her sister. The rest of the warlords put up but a modicum of resistance, throwing the fight. "No way. Is she an idiot?"

"You wish," Kate smugly responded, enjoying knowing more than the wolf hag, "She cleared all the way to Alpha in a stomp. None could match her. Her blows broke bones, her punches sent other warlords across the arena, her speed was unrivaled…" Kate produced a medical record and showed it to Aranea, "It all because of her body. You see, without power armor, Janine weighs two hundred and ninety-five kilograms. Alpha weighs three hundred and fifty-two kilograms. How much do you think Valerye weights?"

"I dunno. She appears to be small, maybe a hundred kilos at best?" Aranea tried to guess, looking at the image of the warlord. She looked skinny.

"Ha! She weighs four hundred and seven kilograms," Kate laughed, leaning back on her pillows. She saw the confused face of Aranea and explained, "You see, scientists made a theory. You know about myostatin, right? It is a protein that inhibits the growth of muscles, it is produced by your body, and, thanks to it, you can sustain the growth of your muscles just fine. However, if you decreased the amount of this protein through training, you could wildly increase your muscle mass. Her body produced almost no myostatin."

"Bullshit!" Aranea almost jumped at these words, "You can see her photos, she barely has any mass in her! Where is she hiding all her muscles!"

"Inside of her. They are compressed like a..." Kate tried to show something in the air with her metal hands, but gave up. "A sheer mass of muscles that should be visible, but yet can’t be seen. Her muscles, tendons, sinews, and bones are so tightly compressed that it is insane to even try to imagine. Even before she started powering up through the gift of our blessed mother, her muscle fibers easily put her in the ranks of a warlord and yet still provided enough elasticity for her to move around at crazy superspeed. Red Streak Valerye. She was a warlord material before she was even born, destined for greatness."

"So, did she win?" Aranea asked, curious for the first time. Sonya always chastised her for not learning much about the Tribe's history. Clearly, the scout was right, it was foolish of Aranea to ignore the history.

"How do you think she got the nickname Foulsnout?" Kate became gloomy all of a sudden, "Alpha slept through the entire challenge, she was sparring with skinwalkers prior to the challenge and was still badly injured. The warlord number two was sitting on her throne, bleeding like a cusack, while Valerye was clearing her way through the ranks to her. The viewers later told the other wolfkins that there was a literal pool of blood underneath Alpha's seat. She finally opened her eyes when her turn came. This apparently freaked out Valerye enough that she missed the first hit of Alpha. It punched through the left side of her skull, leaving brain damage. After this, Alpha punched and punched her, Zero had to shout to stop the fight. Zero even threatened to step in if Alpha would not stop. According to the medical record, Valerye's arms were shattered, her right nostril was missing, her ribs were broken along with her legs, and her left ear was bitten off. Alpha declawed Valerye and devoured the claws and missing ear in front of Red Streak. Zero had to rush Valerye to the hospital in order to save her life, almost every single bone in her body was broken, organs were ruptured, and her lungs were pierced by the broken ribcage. Alpha, meanwhile, only had a couple of bones broken from the few times that Valerye dared to strike. Even the shamans were confused by how scared Valerye was during the fight. The woman is by no means a coward, but against Alpha, all her bravery was gone. Valerye's face was covered in ripped wounds, and Alpha forbade her from ever repairing it. Since then, Red Streak has changed her nickname to Foulsnout and always keeps her helmet on. Her personality was changed as well, she was no longer as charismatic as before. Now Valerye is ranked third in overall power and knows her place. As do we all. Alpha and Zero are far beyond us all."