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[ANGELS] chapter 54. fight fear with fire
🕑 Added 2023-08-24 04:48:35 +0000 UTCMoaning and whining swirled around Jenny as she struggled with the webbing. The strands weren't thick, but with several layers stacked, they might as well have been steel nets. She didn't have enough space to use her full strength. They pinned her firmly down, the side of her face stuck against soggy bread and a foam tray. It crinkled uncomfortably with her every attempt to escape.
The Desecrated Angel lumbered forward, hunched over, its lips curled back in a snarl. It beat its wings furiously, and the winds battered Jenny, but it also knocked away the undead angels. They toppled over one another as another flash of blue light illuminated the cafeteria. This flash was so bright that Jenny felt her bones recoil.
Fear shot straight through her, an uncontrollable surge, and she struggled to catch her breath. Her lungs emptied and refused to refill. Her heart couldn't stop hammering against her chest, and Jenny let out a frustrated cry, trying to tear through the webbing with her exoskeleton-covered fingers.
The Desecrated Angel's power was getting stronger and stronger, and she was surrounded by the undead Angels with their melted, twisted forms. On top of that, her potion was running out. She didn't stand a chance; she kept picturing the worst. The angels were going to tear her apart. They were going to eat her. And there was nothing she could do.
Fright and panic twisted like knives in her stomach. Wave after wave of panic made her head hurt; her eyes ached like they'd pop out. A scream suffocated in her throat.
She strained every muscle, trying to tear and kick and cut through with her tentacles. But even as she managed to peel off one section, another web slammed into her, catching her in a new uncomfortable position. All she managed to do was get more and more tangled, like a moth stuck in a spider's web. Everything was closing in, and she was the prey.
She felt Eve trying to communicate. She felt her stats and her skills within reach, but the thoughts kept getting lost in her frantic need to escape. She'd never been good in cramped spaces. All she wanted to do was get up and breathe; every thought was laced with a new flash of blue light. This time, her scream turned into a whimper. She remembered the time she'd hurt her back. She had to have an MRI done, and that machine had freaked her out so much.
But she'd managed to stay still. The technician had warned her if she moved, she'd have to do it all over again. So, she remained as motionless as she could, staring at the white panels enclosed around her, feeling like she was in a coffin as the sounds of machinery grew louder and louder. She found it funny that she'd hurt the angel in pretty much the same spot, hitting its spine with her hatchet. And picturing the angel in an MRI machine snapped her out of the fight or flight response.
She didn't have to lie there and take it. This fear wasn't hers. It was a response to the angel's ability. And she had abilities of her own. Ignite!
Flames flickered down her entire body as the first of the undead creatures reached for her. It was the green one, its melted covering had hardened over its eyes and nose, leaving only a gaping hole for a mouth visible. And it couldn't turn its head any which way.
When it grabbed her arm, its fingers caught fire. The creature screamed as the webbing melted away and Jenny twisted toward it, pressing her burning hand against its face. The green metallic covering turned gooey and slimy, melting further over its mouth and clogging its throat so that its scream choked out. It felt like squeezing jelly, but Jenny focused her fire into her palm and blasted through the creature's skull. The body fell away, smoke rising from its scorched neck.
With a cry of rage, Jenny whirled around. A flash of light returned her hatchet mid-swing, and she sliced through partially melted torsos and arms.
+16 Energy
+16 Energy
+16 Energy
They screamed as they fell, and Jenny noticed undead humans and angels scrambling from around the cafeteria, rushing toward her. An undead Imperfect Angel reached for her, and Jenny cut through its ribs. Something dense struck her shoulder, and as she toppled over a cafeteria table, several creatures piled on top of her, snarling and moaning, their fingers tearing at her exoskeleton.
She swore loudly and pushed off the floor. For a second, she marveled at her ability to not just do a pushup but to lift several bodies as well. Her tentacles shot out, grabbing two of the angels and hurling them away, giving her just enough space to squeeze out of the tangle of rotting limbs.
Sweating, covered in blood and slime, Jenny leaped to her feet and squared her shoulders. Fear from the blue light still tried to undo her, but she couldn’t pay it any attention. She had to focus and ignore everything else as best she could. She inhaled deeply, eyeing the injured Desecrated Angel towering over all the others. The crowd of undead swarmed toward her, and Jenny screamed, letting loose a large stream of Ignite.
Fire billowed forward, mushrooming, expanding as Jenny stomped closer and closer to the undead. Each one shrieked in turn as they caught flame. The cafeteria roared to life with a flickering orange and red glow, and warmth enveloped Jenny, clearing out every trace of fear from the blue flashes. The burning, screaming bodies stumbled through the flame, their dark silhouettes fading in and out as they reached blindly.
But before they burnt away completely, Jenny broke down into a coughing fit. A terrible hacking cough, like she might spit out her lungs; her throat felt like it had been scraped raw. She'd overdone it.
Her mouth tasted like ashes. Her eyes watered from the pain and from the stench of burnt flesh as the angels wriggled on the floor, still smoldering. But they weren't ashes like the creatures she'd attacked before. These still crawled, half melted, half scorched. Demented cries escaped their ruined forms.
Jenny snarled, slashing off their heads with a spin of her hatchet. She slew them as quickly as she could, making her way to her target.
+16 Energy
+10 Energy
+10 Energy
The numbers lit up her thoughts, one after another as she sidestepped, slashed, and stormed through.
You have 2 minutes remaining till your potion loses effect.
She slapped several undead away with her tentacles then threw herself forward, moving in close now that the giant creature's back was hurt so badly. It struggled to remain upright, its footing was unsure, and Jenny wanted to take as much advantage of that as she could.
The angel raised an enormous arm. Jenny's hatchet bounced off its wrist, and she spun, lashing out with her tentacles. Two struck the creature on the face, one of them splatting against an eye. The angel howled and stepped back, one of its legs nearly giving away. But it spread its wings wide, flapped them fiercely, and stabilized.
In the flicking firelight, the crack on its navel glistened, and Jenny zeroed in on it. It was the crack from when she'd tried to burst through it before, but just like the angel's back, all she had to do was attack it again and break the exoskeleton to get to the flesh.
When it swung again, trying to grab her, Jenny stepped closer instead of further away and drove her tentacles, all four of them, into the creature's chin. Its head snapped back, the gigantic creature stumbled, and Jenny swung her hatchet from the side.
She focused all her power into the attack, making use of every drop of her boosted stats. The edge struck right on the mark, exactly where the crack had formed; the metallic exoskeleton shattered like glass, exposing the pale belly. The creature roared so loudly, it sounded like a thunderstorm breaking over her head. It slapped its clawed hands over its stomach, beating its wings to remain upright, as it backed away, breathing loudly.
Kill kill kill... Jenny couldn't suppress the grin this time, sweat dribbling down the side of her face as she looked up into the angel's blue eyes.
Its face was twisted in pain. Its breathing labored. But Jenny wasn't about to let up. There was no need for mercy; this was the angel that had bitten off her fingers and eaten them. The angel that gathered Oliver and his friends for food. Her insides burned with want; she could smell the sweet blood drying on the angel's back. Desecrated Angel blood... strong and powerful and so sweet that it made her tentacles swish recklessly. Her heart pounded with anticipation.
That exposed pale belly... so pale and soft, much more appealing than the Tarnished Angels. She wanted to peel its skin off. Wanted to cut all the way through, till the angel was right on the verge of death, and then, only then, she wanted to eat. She wanted the creature to watch as she ripped it to bits and swallowed.
And maybe after that, she could be full. She wouldn't feel so hungry around Susan and the others. She wouldn’t accidentally hurt anyone. The scent was stuck in her head like a song she couldn't forget, and now she was humming too, mimicking how the angel had hummed before.
"What's wrong?" she asked, stepping closer. Her tentacles shuddered. Blue light flashed, and a fresh wave of fear swelled up, but she dismissed it right away. With victory so close, how could she be afraid?
The angel bared its teeth, hunched over and protecting its navel with two hands. Its other two arms reached forward, but Jenny was quicker. She flung her hatchet with a Vital Throw.
She'd aimed for its neck, but the creature tried to duck. If its spine wasn't injured, it probably would've managed it, but the obsidian edge caught the creature on the nose. Jenny heard a crack, followed by enraged hissing, but it had raised its arms instinctively to grab its face.
Jenny was already racing toward it, all her focus on the exposed belly. Golden light flashed, and she slapped away an arm. Just as she reached it, just before she could bury her hatchet into the creature's flesh, the angel beat its wings.
Wind as powerful as a hurricane's slowed her down, pushing her back. A closed fist slammed down, and Jenny blocked it with both of her arms. The impact jolted through her shoulders and down her back, and she grimaced. Then another arm shot out before she could throw off the fist, and oversized claws wrapped around her chest and waist, plucking her right off the floor.
"No!" she gasped. The creature squeezed, hissing loudly.
Jeny struggled and squirmed. She heard a series of cracks; the sharp tip of the angel's claws dug into the grooves it left earlier, puncturing her skin. Screaming with rage, Jenny slashed and slashed, her feet kicking, her tentacles whipping the angel feebly, unable to get enough momentum with the claws wrapped around her torso.
Her hatchet bounced off its metallic forearm. Sparks shot up, and the angel ignored these attacks and grabbed Jenny's legs with another arm. It was breathing hard, its nose crooked and rattling, taking its time as it glared at her with those cruel blue eyes. They seemed so large up close, jaws large enough to swallow Jenny’s head whole. Then it opened its mouth to roar, revealing large, stained teeth, and the warm stench of decaying flesh and vomit hit Jenny in the face.
Suppressing a cry, Jenny took aim as best she could, mustering up enough for another Vital Throw. If she could just pierce through the inside of its throat, it would be over. She raised her arm and the angel twisted forward. Turning its head in the blink of an eye. Its teeth flashed. Its eyes glowed brightly. And Jenny's arm was in its mouth.
The angel's pupils dilated. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Its teeth connected with her exoskeleton. Jenny blinked, realization spreading through her like lightning as the creature's jaws closed shut with a crunch.
Her exoskeleton snapped. Her elbow popped, bursting between the creature's teeth, and the angel slurped. Its entire body lit up with blue light when it swallowed the first rush of her blood.
The hatchet dropped from Jenny's hand, but just as it clattered to the floor, she summoned it back to her left. Her new fingers. The ones Susan restored for her. They curled around the handle, and Jenny swung underhand as best she could, unable to see clearly through tears. It bounced off harmlessly the first time.
Sensing something, the angel hesitated before sucking out more blood. But Jenny knew the frenzy in its eyes. The bloodlust. Her blood gushing into its mouth was all it could focus on. The overwhelming thirst. On her second attempt, she heard a crack. On her third, the hatchet's edge slid deliciously into flesh.
+50 Energy
A choked cry escaped the angel, muffled by Jenny’s arm. It spat her out. Strands of blood and saliva connected her ruined arm to the creature's lips as Jenny fell away. The angel grabbed its navel where the hatchet was buried deep, and this time when it flapped its wings, it crashed back, stumbling through one of its own giant webs to crash against the wall. Blood spilled down its legs, running freely through its claws.
Jenny landed hard on the floor. Her head spun and she winced, trying to move her right arm. It was still attached at least, but she could barely raise it. Pain throbbed, but it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. She still had the potion's effect. She gritted her teeth, forced back a sob, and focused her anger on the angel. It had drunk her blood. But she’d cut it open. And now its blood was spilled too.
It kept crying out in agony; blue light flashed repeatedly. Strobing. Striking Jenny with fear every second, injecting fear right into her thoughts. But she kept her focus. She bit her tongue. She squeezed her injured arm repeatedly, pain making her salivate. She could barely stand looking at how her exoskeleton cracked and splintered. But she couldn’t stop here. She couldn’t rest. She couldn't let the creature rest. She had to kill it right now.
