A cloud of black smoke quickly trailed through the sky following the rushing constructs of metal that was rarely seen in these parts of the Infidome, it looked like a big cylinder of spiked metal stuck on wheels moving by some sort of energy as it ploughed its way through the trees
On some of these aesthetic lacking vehicles were mounted ballistas and even machinegun like weapons, and if that wasn't enough to scare any would-be attacker there was even one vehicle that had a tank muzzle
"...That's our target?"
Viewing the speeding convey from atop a giant tree Ellis couldn't help but ask, dumbfounded that she would have to go head to head with live firearms
"What are you scared for? The tank and ballistas are there for the big beasts, they can't even turn fast enough to shoot at you, at least these guys technology wouldn't allow it"
"What about that machinegun?"
"I don't think they have enough ammunition to cause a problem, they look like they are back from a hunt judging by the bloody parts hanging off the spikes, just in case though Anput will disable them"
"..."
Even with superhuman strength and speed Ellis was a little hesitant to go against firearms, it was instilled in her that cold weapons could never content against them
"Awu!"
Anput didn't have the same fears and confidently puffed up her chest, though she probably didn't even know what these things were
"We'll attack once they reach that patch of yellow grass, it should hamper them enough to slow down"
He motioned at the normal looking grass in the middle of the trees
"Anput will take care of their vehicles, you go in and take out anyone who exists them, care for the direction of the muzzles lest you get a hole in your body"
"Got it"
"Wu!"
Laying in ambush they awaited the convey
The noisy trampling caused by crushing treed left and right got closer and closer until the head vehicle came in touch with the yellow grass
Shikhik
Being crushed under the merciless machine nature decided to fight back as the normal looking grass spiked up in an attempt to puncture the cold enemy
Sadly the wheels were merely dented, it seemed they weren't made out of rubber but an alloy of some sort, thus they continued trampling over the land but at a much slower speed
"That's our cue" "Awuuuu!"
Howling to the sky Anput called for sand to rise up from under the convoy and upturn as many as it could
Most of the machine gun holders were flipped over but some of the heavier ones remained on their wheels, the ballista carries barely shook and the tank looking ones didn't even bother showing any signs of being effected
The hound was already panting for breaths but her job wasn't finished, so the sand she called once more, this time to clog up the muzzles
Once everything but the ballista and tanks were disabled Ellis charged out her hiding spot
Puff puff!
The machine guns shot at her but only sand came out, then there was a short moment of silence from the enemy before the hatch opened up and the riders came out
The creatures were of human stature but had wider more muscular physic, with had hard features and large noses as well as goat-like ears they made quite the ugly sight
All this didn't matter to Ellis as much as the ridiculous amount of armour they were wearing, barely any gaps were left for her to strike
"Bloody vampires"
One of the giant dwarfs commented, he didn't care for any introductions and wielded his halberd in a swinging motion at her
She didn't retreat or avoid the incoming heavy weapon, instead she released her aura in full force
The sudden pressure caused the dwarf to flinch back and withdraw his attack momentarily, a deadly mistake
"Gah!"
His exposed forearm received a deep cut, it was not fatal normally but with Ellis's poison the guy was as good as dead, something he came to know after mere minutes of fighting
"Damn it! The enemy is strong, call out the chief"
The dwarfs recognized her danger just by feeling her aura, usually anyone who has it was a powerful foe to contend against, coupled with the end their comrade received after being slashed just once it was more than obvious they couldn't handle her alone
"No need to yell, I'm already here"
A buffer than usual dwarf came from behind the bunch, holding a giant axe in each hand
"Surround her and try to hamper her movement those of you who get wounded should give your life up to try and kill her, there's no hope for your survival"
He mercilessly commanded
"Hghraa"
"I'll squash you!"
His men didn't argue at all, plunging toward the slippery Ellis with the intent of forfeiting their lives
"!!?"
It was Ellis's turn to flinch at their unexpected suicidal attacks, thankfully she had trusty allies on her side who could react in time
"Hm? She got a friend"
Seeing the sand move to slow the brave dwarfs the chief knew someone was helping her from afar
"It must be the howl we heard earlier, twenty of you go search the vicinity for the sand manipulator"
He only had eighty men in total so he couldn't spare anymore to go look around for the hidden accomplice
Twenty dwarfs complied and started searching the area while the rest of them watched on as the seven already poisoned comrades of theirs tested out the strength of this swordswoman
A few more minutes quickly passed by, in that time neither side could really inflict fatal damage on the other, they couldn't catch up to her speed but she couldn't slash through their armour, only slicing the little exposed areas
That seemed to be enough though as the vigorous dwarfs started to turn sluggish, their movement was forced and took great effort, clearly they were on their last leg
"I think we've seen enough"
The chief finally concluded
"She's fast and her weapons have a fearsome but slow poison, her aura stings and burns a little at the same time but isn't combat effective other than it seemingly affecting her weapons which is useless against our armour, basically we just need to block off her escape route to guarantee victory"
Sounded easy but would need a good amount of effort and sacrifice to accomplish, nothing they weren't willing to invest
"Did they find the sand manipulator yet?"
"Only two scouts returned, the rest were buried but there are footsteps that indicate it being a beast of some sort"
"Since it's not actively fighting it must have exhausted itself in that huge sand attack, what about our machine guns?"
"The beast keeps filling them with sand over and over, some of them broke down because we shot with sand still there"
"Nevermind them then, let's swarm the vampire first, if you get slashed cut your limb off, should save your life at least"
Once he conveys his orders his body crouched low, then shot towards the quick redhead
Bam!
His axe almost slammed into her if not for the timely dodge she did by twisting her flexible body midair
"What kind of flexibility is that, are you a snake or a vampire"
Seeing her back almost twisted around without any damage the chief asked in bewilder, but no answer came from the silent woman
Whoosh whoosh Bam! Whoosh ting!
All of his slashes were avoided while her own was blocked by his armour, she might be fast but he was quick enough to protect the only few spots that were exposed
This wasn't the end to her troubles as the other dwarfs started to slowly encircle her, throwing attacks every now and then in coordination with their chief
'That's it!'
During one of those coordinated attacks the chief found the opportunity to finally land an attack the redhead couldn't dodge
Ting! Bam
"Haa!"
His axe was just about to chop off her leg when three knives appeared out of nowhere, they redirected the attack very slightly to the side but enough to cause only a gash on her smooth skin, she herself didn't miss this chance to manoeuvre out their deadly circle, poisoning as many as she could on her way
"Haah haah"
She took laboured breaths after making some distance between her and the grave-looking dwarfs, they didn't need this break as much as she did but that sudden interference needed an assessment
"Did any of you see that attack?"
The chief asked but everyone shook their head, there was not a sign of the knives until they finally hit his axe
"No sound or sight, the enemy is either too quick, very stealthy, or has space abilities, whatever it is though it's way out of our league"
"Then do we try to spread and run?"
"Hmm, it's not impossible but that sand manipulating beast could cause a problem, it would be great if only a few of us made it out alive by then"
It was really a dilemma
"It is not all hopeless though"
The chief said, shedding light on a speculation he quickly came up with
"Whoever it is that intervened hasn't made a move to attack us yet, that means this is probably a training journey that the vampires do for their youngins, but there also exists another possibility.... that being may not be able to actually interfere"
The latter explanation sounded far fetched but wasn't too uncommon, at least it held more hope than fighting to the death or running with only a single-digit surviving if any at all
"Our only choice if that is true is to kill that swordswoman before she eventually kills us"
"Sounds good to me chief"
"Short work of her we'll make"
With a fearless grin his men cracked their knuckles in preparation for a bloody and hopefully short enough battle
"Alright vampire, let's see what you got!"
With a challenging tone the chief lifted his axes up and jumped at Ellis, his men following suit in a bid to circle her once again
"Haaa!"
Ellis responded with a war shout of her own and started another round of arduous fighting
....
Seeing the group once again entangled with Ellis as they moved further and further away from the overturned vehicles YuJu smiled
"That was much easier than expected, guess I don't have to risk it"
It was never his plan to kill all the giant dwarfs all along, he merely wanted them to get as far away from their rides as possible so they wouldn't mess up the next part
"Anput"
"Wuu?"
"See the vehicles that have no machine guns?"
"Wuu?"
"The ones without the metal pipes on them"
"Wu!"
"Good, I want you to fill them up with sand, fill them up till no air can get in"
"Awuuuu!"
The sand moved according to her will once again to attack the vehicles, this time only three of them which it poured into like water
"Chief!! The beast is attacking the spoils!"
"What?!"
Almost losing his cool the big dwarf looked back to witness the horrible sight of their greatest spoils yet being attacked, and everyone knew the saying, never give your back to the enemy
Slice! "Kgh"
Receiving a slice on the wrist the chief could only turn to face his enemy once again and try to make as much space between them as possible
This didn't sit well with the swordswoman who followed him while slashing away, showing no mercy to the enemy
"Damnit, they must be trying to distract us else why attack the shipment, it must mean they really can't intervene, we can win!"
Coming up with an explanation of his own he boosted the morale of his men who gave an agreeing shout and continued pressing their assault, forgoing the shipment they so dearly wanted, after all, you needed to be alive to enjoy the spoils
Meanwhile, YuJu was watching his notifications popping up one after the other, they kept going off until he reached his required goal
As soon as it did a black miasma surrounded his body, hiding his already stealthy figure within
"? Whatever, I'll check it out later, Ellis! Come back"
He shouted and made his presence known, calling the swordswoman back to his side
The dwarfs who heard his shout also stopped, looking at him warily while the redhead escaped their encirclement to join his side
pαпᵈα-noνɐ1·сoМ "Master?"
"Take a break, it's my turn"
Finally able to join the fray he rolled his shoulder as a smile crept on his face, then with his knife sets in hand took a step toward the ugly bunch
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