Chapter 268 - Fight To Death

"Come here, ugly!"

Suzuki Ara, the Fox Avenger goaded the obviously incensed monster as she continued to transfer from one pole to another towards the abandoned construction site. She had long since stopped using Perun's seal as the sky had already darkened, and the light would attract the unwanted attention of the clueless mortals. Instead, she used the small normal ones enough to propel her forward.

It was a good exercise too, she thought as the evolved Koharu had blade-like things on her feet and she slashed those towards her at great speed as they moved.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Okada Koharu attacked with pure murderous instinct, not caring what she'd hit or if she'd hit as long as she did it simultaneously. Normally, Ara would be scared of her form – a spider, and a giant one at that, but knowing who this monster was made her feel unafraid.

In fact, she was unexpectedly… thrilled.

She had no idea why or that she even noticed that her blood seemed to sing as the monster kept attacking her. It had started earlier when she had the urge to paint the world red. Instead of ending the matter with the kidnapping fast and painless as she normally would, she had opted to get rough.

This time, as she was attacked by something much bigger, much sinister, much faster, and definitely much stronger than any of the mobs she had roughened up on the streets during her night strolls, she felt… happy.

Bloodlust started to take over, and she was looking forward to unleashing her wrath on the burikko.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

Koharu's mouth which had split into pincers opened and closed as she produced a sound akin to a chorus of screaming that was probably her own voice mixed with the plethora of shadow lurkers within her as her eight beady eyes glared at her target. Her whole beastly body exuded bloody murder and it was directed at her which Ara thought was great.

"You must satisfy my thirst for blood," the demigod quipped, though she knew Koharu probably no longer had blood running within her.  

As soon as they reached the abandoned construction site, Okada Koharu lunged at her with her blades, stabbing the space where Ara stood before she jumped back. The beast caught nothing but air. As it stood on small beams, it wobbled as it lost balance, and Ara took this chance to jump back at her to give her a dropkick. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

The chorus of otherworldly cries resounded again as several heads made of shadow with hollow faces tried to scramble out of Koharu's spider body each time Ara landed a kick or a punch. Due to her frenzy, Ara had totally forgotten the dangers of randomly attacking a shadow lurker's host. It was totally risky what she was doing. If she did not destroy Koharu all at once, the parasites would definitely transfer to the nearest available body.

"Take this!"

Ara pivoted with her leg up, landing another roundhouse kick on the spider, making Koharu fly away and crash against a pillar, the dust and debris flying everywhere, momentarily blocking her vision like a screen.

Then, she felt them.

Huh?

Several dots appeared in front of her out of nowhere and the aura they emanated was in the defensive, making Ara pause. Normally she'd have followed up with her attacks but she waited for the surroundings to be cleared to assess the situation properly.

What the….

Around a dozen masked figures stood before her, surrounding Koharu's battered beastly body like a cage. As to whether it was a cage for defense or offense, Ara had no idea… yet.

Whoosh!

A small tornado suddenly came out of nowhere and headed straight towards her that she jumped back, several feet away from them as another masked figure came before her.

Ara's eyes narrowed. The newcomer floated in the air in between her and Koharu as if protecting the monster, keeping her away from it.

A wind caster.

"I'm so sorry to rain on your parade, but we will be taking this spider with us," the figure said, and Ara's anger surged, not noticing the familiar albeit muffled voice under the mask.

What registered in her mind was that these people were trying to take Koharu away, and it made her unhappy.

For what? To save her? Were they the ones who put the shadow lurker in her?

All the possibilities raced in her head, and the black energy surrounding her inflamed. She continued to analyze whether they're here as enemies, but she couldn't be certain. Except for that wind the figure in front sent her way, they were not attacking either her or Koharu. For now...

"Piss off. That monster's mine," Ara announced, and she noticed the tensing of everyone as if they were preparing for a fight.

Oh? So they're enemies?

Ara's eyes widened in realization before they turned to slits again as blood rushed in her head. The miasma exploding out of her body without her notice, making the people more and more tensed.

And she couldn't care about anything else anymore. These people would have to deal with her wrath.

"Take care of the spider," the figure in front ordered as wind enveloped his body.

Ara watched as the men behind vanished with Okada Koharu. She was about to step forward to chase them, but the leader, as she perceived the figure with the strong wind was released a murderous intent. His body oozed with malice that made even Ara stop and alert.

This energy…

Ara jumped farther backwards, her arms crossed in front of her, protecting herself from the harsh wind. The energy coming out of the man was a familiar one – a much stronger version of the one she had detected and dealt with at the Devil's cavern before dying.

A harpy.

She was right.

Soon, a huge wind elemental much bigger than the one she had fought before with blood-red skin appeared. Its sharp kohl eyes intent on her, and even before Ara could land on her feet on the beam, it sprung forward with its claws up ready to strike.

Great. Just great.

Ara was not confident she could deal with this one without being scathed. It's been a long time since she had fought with all her might, but she's welcoming this challenge. After all, this was for the sake of the people in this world. Who'd have thought she'd encounter a crazy harpy caster here? Known as crazed berserkers, they're a bane to mankind. If this guy went out of control, it would be bad, bad news.

Ara released electricity and wrapped her body with it. She couldn't use her seals yet as she had to be wise and deal with harpy first. These elementals were fast. It would be a waste of her energy to use her seals when they're still strong enough to evade them.

Also…

Also, the master was bad news. If he could control a harpy this huge and strong, it meant he was someone with tremendous powers as well.

A demigod.

Ara raised her fist and used the pole like a spring to catapult herself towards the charging harpy.

SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!

The harpy opened its claws, ready to grab her, but Ara moved quicker. She used the claws to push herself and deviate towards its stomach. She placed most of her force in her fist and punched it there.

With a huge blow, the harpy fell towards the ground with a deafening crash, landing on its back. It looked totally startled; a good chance for Ara to summon her seal and end it, but a small tornado headed her way again that she had to back off.

TSK

The master was, of course, protecting his familiar just as the elemental was protecting him.

Her chest heaving with her exercise, Ara bit her lip as she realized something.

This would be a fight to the death.