Victoria was surrounded by the corpses of her enemies; the rest on her side were being held back by Orcium's berserker orcs. In the middle of her brief rest in battle, she checked the wooden figurine of Eithne, and when she looked at it, she felt herself filled with strength by the most powerful spell of all: love, the desire to see her beloved once more.
She turned her gaze toward the left side of the battle. Orcium was fighting against the giant beetle, and she intended to go help her comrade when she sensed within her perception range a blood more pure and concentrated, similar to that of the monsters she had been slaying.
When Victoria turned her attention to the right side of the battlefield, she saw a serpent-man emerge, massively larger than the rest of his kind.
"Another legendary."
"Fine, it doesn't matter. Legendary or not, no one and nothing will stop me from seeing Eithne again."
Victoria rushed toward the combat.
The berserker orcs threw themselves furiously against their new opponent. The serpent-man used his numerous massive limbs; each of his seven arms was a deadly weapon.
The orcs tried to surround him, but it was a useless effort: their enemy surpassed them by far in strength, endurance, and speed. Their weapons could not even scratch the flesh of the monster.
However, with each comrade who fell, the rage of the orcs only grew, making them more daring in their attacks. After most of them had perished, they no longer cared about strategies and simply focused on dealing as much damage as possible.
But it was in vain. Now, with their numbers reduced, the serpent-man moved through the battlefield, severing the limbs of his enemies, swinging his curved swords like a meat grinder.
And then, at one moment—
Fshhh
A multitude of blood spears surged forth from the bodies of the orcs he had slain, forcing his ferocious assault to halt momentarily as he defended himself from the surprise attack.
With his seven limbs he managed to block many strikes, but some still struck his tail, causing it to bleed faintly.
Victoria had finally reached the orcs, and the sight of her comrades, torn and mutilated, their parts scattered across the ground, filled her with rage and sorrow.
"Vile, filthy beast, I'll make you regret this."
Victoria locked eyes with her enemy, and the remaining orcs, barely fifty, rose once more, ready for battle. Yet alongside the massive serpent-man came beetle warriors and more serpent-men, intending to aid their lord in the fight.
The orcs waited for their provisional leader to be the first to advance in the new battle placed before them.
And Victoria did not disappoint: she stepped forward to fight the serpent-man.
The serpent-man raised his weapons and hissed in provocation against his foe.
Victoria was a blood mage, but like Hernán, she had created her own style to fight in close combat.
At the end of the world, having a weakness like being poor at melee combat was fatal.
Victoria swung her monstrous greatsword, which, before the height of the ferocious serpent-man, looked like little more than a toy.
But it was no toy; it was the deadly weapon of the chosen of the God of Death. And the serpent-man seemed to know well how dangerous his foe was, for he immediately channeled energy into his sight, causing Victoria's movements to slow drastically.
"Not only am I slower, he's also spread venom into my body."
The orc warriors were locked in brutal combat against the enemy soldiers, giving space for the two fighters to duel one another.
The serpent-man seized the moment of weakness and swiftly approached Victoria, moving his sabers gracefully as he struck at her armor. However, the armor withstood the blows aimed at her torso and legs.
Victoria could not have been more grateful for always preferring the protection of heavy armor, unlike her former sisters who chose to fight wearing cumbersome and utterly defenseless dresses.
The serpent-man's attack was meant to torture his prey.
Yet, he quickly realized it would not work and instead struck at the only unprotected part—her head.
But having wasted the chance, Victoria had the opportunity to escape, and she did not waste it. She swiftly turned into a pool of blood, freeing herself from both the venom and the curse.
"Lucky for me this one enjoys severing the limbs of his opponents."
The pool of blood surged quickly, distancing itself from the serpent-man, who swung his blades but could not harm the moving liquid.
However, Victoria needed to end the transformation or else risk running out of blood power for the rest of the fight. She dissolved the transformation, prepared to strike her enemy, who was caught off guard by her initiative.
Victoria swung her greatsword masterfully to sever one of the serpent-man's limbs, but just before impact, the serpent-man deftly dodged and then channeled ether into his sight once more. This time, he created a fierce shockwave that hurled Victoria backward—or at least, that was the intent. But before her enemy could gather enough energy…
She already had her trap prepared, a simple yet effective trick against those who had never fought her before.
She had concealed the blood orb with illusion magic, keeping it near her so its aura blended with that of her body. But she had placed it close to the serpent-man at the very moment she tried to slash him with her sword. She had been waiting for him to channel ether at this precise moment to launch her attack—and it worked.
The orb exploded in a small burst of blood at one of the serpent-man's seven arms, turning the limb into a stump.
At that moment he lost his concentration from the pain of losing a limb. Victoria seized the opportunity to approach once more, striking from his stomach upward, aiming to open his belly. But the serpent-man, twisting desperately to avoid a mortal wound, redirected the blow into another limb, severing it.
The orcs, who had already slain the reinforcements and were watching the fight, began chanting as they cried out to the God of War. Rarely did one have the chance to witness a fight between legendaries.
The serpent-man, now on the defensive, tried to put distance between himself and his fierce opponent.
"Not so fun when you're the one losing limbs, is it? Beast."
The serpent-man's gaze was pure rage, and he tried to attack once more, but without the advantage of seven limbs—five of them were perfectly manageable for the chosen of the God of Death.
"Pathetic. Even if you don't understand me, you fall before me with the simplest provocations."
Victoria raised her hand and took control of the blood dripping from her enemy, forcing it back inside, causing massive wounds within the serpent-man's body. He lost his balance from the pain and fell right in front of Victoria.
Victoria formed a giant hand with the blood scattered around and brought it to her enemy's limbs, tearing one off, then another, and another, doing it slowly so her foe could feel his flesh ripping and muscle tearing from his body.
The serpent-man screamed in agony at being mutilated, his insides turned into a bloody broth.
But at that moment, a song in a language Victoria did not know began to resound, and her enemy's body vanished before she could finish him.
"What is this?" Then, from the distance, a humanoid figure flew toward them, with four glowing blue eyes, dragonfly-like wings, and bluish skin.
Victoria's eyes widened.
"IT'S A SEMI-TRANSCENDENT, RETREAT!"
But the orcs did not retreat. Instead, they leapt bravely to fight their foe and give their commander more time to run. They understood well what it meant for a semi-transcendent to appear in battle: all would die if they did not flee.
One of the orcs shouted at that moment:
"COMMANDER, THANK YOU FOR SHOWING US A GOOD FIGHT AND THANK YOU FOR BEING OUR FRIEND!"
The blue semi-transcendent raised its voice once more, and the bodies of the orcs who had dared approach disintegrated into dust.
"DAMN IT, DAMN IT ALL!"
Victoria ran with all her strength toward where Orcium was, to give the warning and escape.