145 Winged Warriors

Through the gate, another force marched—or rather flew forward ready to obliterate everything in sight.

These creatures were similar and yet vastly different from the Awakened Monsters that already filled the air. 

Two long pairs of angular wings whizzed against the air creating a blur of white. These abominations had five limbs instead of four, each stripped with dark brown and mustard just like their rippling bodies. 

Four of the limbs ended in massive scythes, ready to cut through flesh and bone without prejudice. But the fifth was arguably the most dangerous. Already another sinister black spike was growing out of its human-like palm. 

And something about it told Noble that it was more than just a simple javelin. The creature was far too powerful. 

'Fallen! That thing is definitely Fallen.' 

While she was still processing what she was seeing, two more waspish creatures joined the swarm of bees. The blood drained from Noble's face. 

There was no way to fight all three at once. 

A missile exploded to her left, hitting one of the wasps in the stomach. The blast wasn't enough to wound the striped menace, but it distracted the creature long enough for Noble to attack.

She dove from above hoping to catch the creature in its blind spot.

It turned out the wasp did not have one.

Sensing the human bullet, the monster rolled over onto its back. Four deadly scythes shot through the air toward the floating Awakened.

Noble twisted her body to one side. One of the curved blades raked against her armor, scratching the design of the polished metal.

The deadly javelin shot past her through the air, missing her body by only a centimeter. She pressed the edge of her estoc forward, aiming for a seam in the creature's oversized carapace. 

The [Unlikely End] hit with the full force of her speed... and glanced aside without doing any damage. Noble went crashing into the abomination. The creature was so much larger than her that her entire body hit its furry chest. 

Thinking quickly, she sent a wave of confusion to the Fallen wasp. The action bought her just enough time to slip away before the four scythes could catch her in a crippling hug. 

Noble moved to the left and jabbed at the closest of the four large wings. To her relief, it seemed as delicate in the center as the Apis's. A small tear formed in the gossamer skin. 

But Noble had no time to celebrate. The center membrane of the wing might have been weak, but the edge was not. The plated tip beat down on the professor in a powerful wingbeat. 

The Awakened went plummeting to the ground. Landing on a Harvester, Bee sliced through its skull and took back to the air. 

'I'd never thought I would be glad to land on a Nightmare Creature.' 

More rockets were bursting against the Fallen wasps. In response, the creatures threw their javelins at the ground. So far, the humans had managed to avoid taking too much damage, but that wouldn't last long. And once the losses started, the humans would have an even harder time stopping them. 

'We cannot let them get that advantage.'

In her ascent, Noble cut off the wings of two more Apis. One of them crashed to the ground and broke its neck while the other was trampled by the Harvesters.

[You have slain...]

An explosion just above her drowned out the voice of the Spell. Noble squinted against the smoke, trying to discern if the action had done any good. 

'There!' 

The Fallen abomination had barely felt the first blast, but repeated hits had been more successful. A single crack showed where the uppermost leg met its striped abdomen. 

'Good enough.' 

Noble pulled the [Rolling Thunder] from her belt and held it in one hand with the estoc in the other. 

If her plan didn't work, the professor would put herself back in the path of the deadly scythes, and she doubted that her armor would be the only thing to suffer.

'It has to work.'

Hiding among the dissipating smoke, Noble took the [Rolling Thunder] and smashed it against the leg joint.

Thankfully the force of the blow was equated with how long the Memory had been summoned and the time between blows. Just now, even the slightest tap from her would bring the full force of the hammer into the target.

A shockwave of sound reverberated through the abomination's body, rattling the creature. A mundane human would have been instantly killed by the force, but this was a Fallen behemoth.

It withstood the blow with an angry growl. Lifting the uppermost leg, the creature aimed to cut off the pretty brunette's head. 

'You don't want to do that.' 

The creature hissed as the crack in the joint widened.

Spinning, Bee hit the wasp a second time with the hammer. While not as mighty as the first strike, the blow did not need to be. It merely needed to finish the process that had already begun.

Under the sonic shockwave, the carapace gave way, sheering off the leg from the striped abdomen. 

Noble was ready. Having already dismissed the hammer, she gripped the estoc and sent essence flooding into the [Unlikely End]. 

The sword sank into the open wound and dug deep into the creature's chest cavity.

The monster convulsed as the red light faded from its eyes.

[You have slain a Fallen Monster, Winged Warrior.]

From the outside, the movement had been purposeful and effortless, but inside Noble's heart was pounding. Taking down the Warrior had required an enormous amount of luck and skill.

'And that was just one of them!'

There were at least two others; possibly more in the time it had taken her to wrestle down the single foe.

Using the combination of her abilities, she stretched out her senses to find the next one.

Her eyes opened wide.

"Watch out!"

Noble had no idea who had screamed or if they were even screaming at her, but the warning for her was a moment too late. Hardly had she identified the javelin barreling towards her than it was already upon her. 

She had just enough time to turn such that the javelin hit her side and slid off instead of piercing her square in the back.

That is not to say it didn't hurt.

'Argh! I think I broke a few ribs.' Noble could immediately feel her breathing become labored.

And the attack was only beginning. In addition to the Warrior, dozens of the Apis began swarming around her, warming the air. She fended them off as best she could, stabbing and de-winging as many as she was able.

But the temperature continued to rise.

Noble avoided another of the stinger-like javelins, kicking it just enough to skewer three of the Apis and give her a moment of fresh air.

But the respite was too brief. Noble lost all sense of direction. If not for her hair falling across her face or shoulders, she wasn't even sure if she would be able to know which way was down.

All that mattered at the moment was staying alive and taking out as many of the Nightmare Creatures as she could.

Both tasks were becoming increasingly more difficult.

'...Can't… breathe.'

The combination of the heat and her aching ribs was making her feel dizzy.

'Get back!'

She used as much of her Ability as she could to push away all of the creatures around her as she gasped for breath.

The swarm pulsed outward with a feverish buzz, ready to resume their suffocating attack.

Only they didn't.

All at once they flew as fast as they could away from Noble and toward the gate.

A moment later the professor realized why.

Her blood ran cold.

The Gate Guardian had arrived.