Chapter 261: Lending Power

Even though the creature was motionless, Naybeah, or to be more precise, Klemeia who, using the mysterious connection she seemed to share with the blonde amazon, was currently controlling her body, did not relax her guard. Slowly she approached the body buried beneath a pile of rubble and destroyed tree trunks, focusing on the tiniest of its movements.

Stopping only a few steps away from the body, without turning around she yelled at the tired girls.

"Hey, you, redhead! Throw me your dagger, let me finish this oversized pig!" As she spoke she reached out with her left hand waving with her fingers to the girl to acquiesce to her request.

"Huh? Me?" Surprised by the sudden request and how she was referred to as simply "redhead", Scarlet was stunned for a second, before she processed the amazon's words. "Uhm… Sure…" She nodded before she gently grabbed the blade of his weapon, throwing the dagger with its hilt facing towards the blonde amazon.

Without even bothering to look at the thrown object, Klemeia grabbed it mid-air as it came into range, surprising both the heaving, extremely tired Sarah who was basically lying on the ground, and Scarlet as well.

"Thanks, kid!" Klemeia spoke, swapping the blade to her much more agile right hand. Focusing on the still, motionless creature ahead of her, her face contorted, forming a cruel, vicious grin. 

"Now, it's time to end this. I can't stay for too long after all." She muttered under her breath as she stepped forward.

The creature was either unconscious or most likely, already dead, as even when the dagger slowly was thrust forward, penetrating into his head through his left eye, he did not even flinch. Using only the borrowed blonde amazon's strength, Klemeia pushed the blade into the orc's skull all the way to the hilt, before it slowly began to move it in a circular motion in the socket, making sure she caused as much damage to its brain as she could.

Just for added measure, she freed the creature's buried torso and struck down at it at around the middle of its torso. This time, there was much higher resistance; the creature's skin proved to be much thicker than even the strongest leather chest plates, almost akin to the armors made of iron…

Still, it couldn't possibly withstand the pressure exerted by the queen of the amazons, could it? After adding a bit of her own spiritual force into the power, the combined power managed to pierce through the thick natural barrier and slowly sink into the body. Thick, gooey dark red, almost black viscous substance appeared and slowly began to flow down the body. Just by being close by, Klemeia could feel her skin react to the strange heat that was radiating from the blood of the creature.

'Huh, strange…' She muttered inwardly, ignoring it and returning her attention to the task at hand.

"What are you doing?" Scarlet, not understanding what she was doing with the already dead creature, asked out with confusion. 

Klemeia only smirked, not responding to the question, and kept plunging his blade into the body, slowly widening the hole.

"She is looking for its core. An evolved creature such as this will have a powerful one. I'm guessing at least Tier 3…" Instead of the amazon, Sarah responded to the princess's question with a weak, tired tone.

"Core? What is it good for?" Scarlet inquired again, turning around to face the purple-haired girl. Having spent most of her life in underground cells and arena's she wasn't that knowledgeable about worldly matters.

"Oh, it has many uses! Creating strong weapons, armor, potions, enchants… It can even be used to directly increase your own power!" Klemeia yelled out with an excited, expectant tone in her voice as she struck down with the dagger in her hand again, widening the hole she formed even further.

"Getting stronger? How?" Noticing the excitement in the amazon queen's voice, Scarlet turned to look at her. From her tone, it was clear that this aspect was the only thing that interested Klemeia.

Curious about how such a core looked like, she slowly approached her.

As the hole now seemed to be just wide enough to plunge her own hand in, Klemeia threw the dagger aside, and without hesitation, she plunged her right hand inside the hole she just created. She was searching for the strange, out-of-place, crystalline surface that should be situated close to the heart. 

Not long after, as her fingers touched the cold, clear surface, a happy smile appeared on her face. She pushed her arm further inside, as she answered the girl's question.

"Let's just keep that a trade secret for now. It's not something a greenhorn such as yourself should be bothering with anyway. Just know that it's possible but it's dangerous."

As she spoke, her fingers wrapped around the crystal's surface. With a decisive pull, she ripped the object out of its skeletal socket. Her arm leaving the creature's body, a crystal, as dark as the night itself appeared along with the now the peaceful, dead organ.

What puzzled Scarlet the most when she saw the item was the fact that it was clean. Despite being pulled out from the evolved orc's body and from the looks of it somewhere close to its heart, there were absolutely no traces of its gooey, thick blood on its surface. It was clean. Too clean.

Already understanding what she was puzzled about, the hand that held the crystal suddenly began to shine with a faint, barely perceivable light. Averting her eyes from the treasured loot she had just received for a moment, Klemeia looked at Scarlet. Finding great delight in her stunned expression, she merely winked, before putting the Creature's Core into a small leather satchel placed on her hip.

Scarlet did not understand what the amazon meant or what was it that she wanted to convey. Still, she did not ask any more questions, despite being very much interested in learning more. She turned towards the resting Sarah for a moment, before she finally shifted her attention to the large crowd of slaves they were meant to escort out from the depths of the forest.

Taking a large gasp of air, she slowly exhaled, calming herself in the process. She gazed up to the clear, night sky. It was still dark, the moon still held its domain as the ruler of the sky, surrounded by countless stars.

"Get ready, we will resume shortly." She addressed the crowd, walking towards the spent purple-haired girl sprawled on the ground. Her chest was still heaving as she was trying to regain her spent stamina as quickly as she could.

"How do you feel? Do you need more time?" Arriving next to her, Scarlet asked with concern, plopping down on the ground.

"Yes. I will be, don't worry." Sarah answered slowly as she huffed another slowly. "However, I will not be able to use my skills for some time, I would need to properly rest for that."

"That's fine. I am guessing we should be close to the edge of their territory by now? Hopefully, we won't encounter more 'surprises' after leaving this place…" Scarlet continued, frowning at the thought of any additional ambushes or surprises that could be lying in wait for them. She wasn't sure if they could handle it anymore, this was already way above their limits.

In fact, if Klemeia wouldn't have come to their rescue she was fairly sure they would all have died to that unbeatable monster.

Thinking back on it, she looked at the amazon who, with her objectives completed, was approaching them. 

As she arrived closer, Scarlet spoke with a curious look in her eyes.

"How did you know we were in danger?"

Hearing the question of what she was also greatly interested in finding answers for, Sarah opened her eyes and slowly sat up from the ground. Just like the red-haired princess next to her, she also focused her full attention on the blonde amazon in front of her.

In response, Klemeia sighed. With a wry smile on her face, she spoke. 

"This… I can't talk about it in much detail… What I can say is that it's an ability shared between certain members of our people. They are connected to the queen who in their times of need can lend them her power."

"But… you are doing way more than just simply lending Naybeah your 'power'. You are possessing her, controlling her body. Is she even conscious?" Sarah asked with a suspicious gaze. The explanation did not explain what she was doing at all!

"Well…" Unsure how to answer the question, Klemeia averted her gaze and turned to silence. A few moments later, just before the girls could speak up, she continued, ignoring the first half of Sarah's question completely. "Naybeah is alive but currently unconscious. Once I leave her body, she wouldn't be able to move."

Seeing the shocked gazes they were giving her, Klemeia smiled warmly at them. 

"Don't worry, I will stay until you guys get to safety."  She spoke with a smile on her face. 'Even if it will cost me much more than just a bit of my power, I will not let her die…' She added inwardly.