Chapter 24: Toad and the Reaper

Rachel’s frustration continued to mount as she scanned for the same strange noise that reminded her of the windy beach, and, to her alarm, she discovered more—worse, one was already in their building—it was practically a horror movie.

"The ventilation shafts—I don’t know how," Rachel hissed, eyes opening to see Scarlet already scanning the building. "They can...become sand, maybe? It just sounds like sand in the wind; that’s all I can describe it as."

Anthony rose to his feet, and Zoe followed soon after, looking frightened and trying to catch up as the legend listened. "Wait, what’s going on, Rachel?"

"It’s coming out...two hallways to our right!"

Mateo shifted his strapped weapon as he walked past her into the corridor, motioning for everyone to follow and speaking through his radio.

"Hostiles in the recreational building and another in the west residential area. Expect heavy casualties. They appear to be using ventilation shafts and, reportedly, can transform into sand. Alpha and Beta Squad en route to engage in the recreational building. Stand by."

Rachel felt a spur to get there first—if she let them go, there would be a tragedy, and [Bringer of Misfortune] said this creature was not to be underestimated.

Taking three steps, she shot through the doorway, pain flooding her overworked muscles, yet Rachel pushed past it, shocked at the sudden increase in her speed. The combination of having her [Lunar Pool] full with the increased Stats drove her to the same levels as she’d been under the double moons.

The soldiers shouted in surprise as she jumped over them, forcing the pain down like she did in many of her workout sessions. Her braided hair wove behind her as she made it to the hallway; the world moved slightly slower than she recalled, given her increased Feat tiers.

"Rachel!"

"Clear!" one of the men yelled upon passing the junction.

Her focus was already on a mass of sand that burst from the vents, swirling to reveal a toad-type alien with brownish-brick skin and dull yellow spots. It stood over two meters tall, looking down at her with narrowed eyes.

Rachel instinctively tilted right, a dull weight compressing her heart as a shimmering blue needle skated past her enhanced vision. The toad had reacted instantly—she hadn’t even seen the creature throw it; without a doubt, this was a creature to be feared, and it looked like it was relying on its own strength, unlike the hobgoblin. A pop of air sounded shortly after; it was somehow utilizing the sand to pressurize the needles woven into its vest to create projectiles.

It wore leather-like garments that left its spots open, with wrists enclosed in metal bracelets etched with strange designs, and several wooden spikes latched to its top. More ominously, two illuminated blue metal knives were held in its hands.

Instinctively, even with her enhanced Stats and Feats, she knew that if she fought it in the same way as her previous challenge, she would die.

Discarding all thought, eyes open and focused, she tried to map the trajectory of the following projectiles from the shifts in its body. Light on her feet, she danced around two more needles before the toad adjusted to her movements; the third carved a tiny hole through the flesh of her left arm.

It’s actually faster than me; there’s no way I can survive like this!

Jaw locked, she dove past the junction to barrel into a door, breaking through; the recoil made her wince as she tumbled into some chairs, sending them crashing around her and displacing the long desk.

Coughing as she recovered, Rachel looked up to see the toad already in the doorway; it had used the walls as jump pads. Somehow, the cobalt needles had returned to its vest, and it brandished its wicked, illuminated blue blades.

I’m dead...

Darkness came between them, a crimson wave reaching out to meet the creature; Rachel didn’t blink as Scarlet appeared out of the haze, yet the toad’s tongue shot out in an instant, latching onto the ceiling and carrying the creature away from the jagged blood spears that sought to impale it.

They entered a high-speed dance, Scarlet clearly not knowing where the toad was or what was happening as the panicking girl ducked down beside her; her blood writhed around them, defending and attacking the nimble alien.

"Ack—are you stupid?!" Scarlet choked, trying unsuccessfully to see the blurred toad’s ping-ponging assault as a whirlwind of blood, sand, and needles; the alien’s practically telekinetic daggers danced around them, looking for an opening. "Why did you run ahead of—you’re bleeding?! No, no, no!"

By the time the soldier reached the doorway, she heard the rush of sand as the alien retreated, entering the ventilation shaft again. Rachel was finding it hard to focus.

"W-Where is it?"

Rachel forced herself to breathe, mind a bit hazy as she coughed again; her body wasn’t doing well after pushing it to the limit while already strained. "It—ack, it went into the vents again... You can’t handle it—it’s way too fast... Scarlet?"

She lifted her arm, where a thin sliver of illuminated white blood was being pulled out to gather in front of the raven-haired girl.

"I’m not trying to! It just...does it," she snarled. "It’s one reason why I didn’t want to go into that room—why did you attack it?! It almost killed you!"

Rachel chuckled, shifting to her side as a sudden wave of white noise came and went. "Because...I felt like if I stayed back, most of these guys would be dead right now. Its needles almost penetrated your blood, and it could dodge those dozens of attacks you made against it."

"It’s not me," Scarlet vehemently protested, showing a haughty side and glare that Rachel hadn’t yet seen in the girl. "The blood does its own thing," she growled, gesturing at it as the pool collected inside her body again before Scarlet swatted the collecting white liquid away to splatter across the ground. "It just saw a threat and attacked—eh?!"

Reaching forward, she pulled Scarlet into a hug to calm her down before her deadly blood went out of control again. "Hehe. Thanks for coming to my rescue, Scarlet. Mateo," she shouted, hearing the men closing in, "it went to another room three doors down the hall... I think Scarlet wounded it—I’m having weird gaps in my hearing."

"I hurt it?" Scarlet mumbled, following her gaze to a small line of yellowish, sticky goo beside them. "Whoa... Is that—he got so close to us past my blood?"

Groaning as she lifted herself up, Rachel saw the thin blood tether snap, and her wound started to congeal. Anthony was the first one to react to her next location, racing to confront the creature as soldiers ran behind him to intercept, despite Rachel’s warning that they’d die, and Zoe came into the doorway.

"Rachel?! W-What was that? It just—it like—it was all woosh! How are you alive?!"

"Hehe. Lucky, I guess," she muttered with an innocent smile as she leaned against the desk, ears tilting to listen to Anthony’s confrontation, but the toad retreated into the vents instead of fighting as he threw open the door. "I think there are only five of them, but if they’re as skilled and fast as that last one...we’re in real trouble."

Mateo returned, receiving reports as his second lieutenant kept the Coast Guard updated on their progress. "Alright, Rachel, you’re the only one that’s seen these things up close; give us something."

Scarlet stood up and crossed her arms. "She’s hurt! She needs a bandage or something."

"I’m fine—eh, Scarlet...what are you doing now?"

The girl’s red eyes widened as she moved closer, and Rachel noticed her vampiric eyes actually did have pupils; they were just deep maroon, almost blending in as she stared at her arm in horror. "There’s poison! It’s in your blood!"

"What? My head feels a little foggy, but..." Rachel rubbed her wounded arm with a slight frown; the needle had passed clean through her arm, missing the bone due to her precise movements. "You can see it, right? Can you extract it?"

It made sense since she was a vampire, or had vampire characteristics.

Scarlet’s left fang poked out as she pressed it against her black bottom lip. "I-I don’t know... Maybe, but I’d have to bite you!"

"Okay," Rachel instantly complied, holding up her arm. "Being bitten or losing an arm? Hehe. I’ll take the bite. It won’t hurt you?"

"I wish it would... Eh...are you sure?"

Zoe groaned. "You don’t have time! This isn’t a movie—she’s poisoned!"

"I...mmgm." Scarlet hesitantly took her arm, looked at her one more time, and then bent down and sank her fangs into her flesh.

"Does it hurt?" the cat-girl asked as Mateo kept a close eye on the exchange.

"Haha. Not as much as pulling a muscle, getting a sword slash to the side, or, I don’t know, having someone chop my arm off. What about you, Scarlet—doing good? Scarlet?"

"Oh, no," Zoe cried, ears pulling back. "I think she’s gone full vamp!"

The vespertine reaper’s red eyes illuminated, and she bit down harder, making Rachel’s mouth tighten; just when Rachel started to worry, her irises mixed a milky white, and after a second, she blinked, pulling away and swallowing.

"Uh..."

"Whoa!" Zoe darted forward to support her as she stumbled and almost fell backward. "Did the poison get you?"