16 Clues (2)

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The first thing that went in their minds was that the intruder was a monster.

'It' has a large, vaguely, human-shaped form with a muscular built, and has an imposing height of 7'5 feet that can tower over a grown man easily.

It was hairless, and has a seemingly-rough corpse-like gray skin. The mouth was large and lipless, which takes up most of its otherwise featureless face, and is filled with needle-like teeth that forces the creature to grin eerily.

The sclera of its eyes were jet-black, and its irises were glowing a blood-red color.

It has no nose, ears or sexual characteristics. Its arms were muscled and long, dangling on its sides, and has claw-like hands.

What makes the creature more disturbing was its glowing bloodshot eyes, its raspy, breathing and severely disturbing gait.

But, to the two women, the only thing that disturbed them was that the creature was naked.

It was a good thing for them that it has no sexual organs. Otherwise, their morning would have been ruined beyond repair.

On a different note, Rider found herself glad that Ryu was not with her.

Ryu has a tendency to wander in areas that piques his interest, which she found it adorable since it reminded of her Master when he is curious about something.

Therefore, she does not find it suitable for the little white puff of sunshine to be roaming around in this miserable of an old building where a strange creature was lurking about.

(Ryu was currently with her Master, who had hidden the little white puff inside his satchel after they left the penthouse.)

Upon entering the room, the large creature began to make its way towards them, its bloodshot eyes trained on them like a predator finding its next prey.

Scáthach merely stared upon the creature with a calm and stoic expression, almost looking bored as she watched its movements.

Rider wore a similar expression, but her eyes held a hint of some emotion as she stared at the creature with her fellow retainer.

"You want to take on this one?" Scáthach asked in a casual tone.

Blinking once, Rider gave the crimson eyed woman a side-ways look.

"It's fine with me if you want to." Rider answered.

"Don't mind if I do then." Scáthach smirked.

However, just as she turned, the creature suddenly moved at a speed that nearly caught the two women by surprise.

Said creature had manage to lessen the distance between them in the span of two seconds.

Scáthach and Rider used their respective speed to move away as it got between them, causing the two to separate on either sides of the room.

If not for their honed instincts, they would have been caught in its deadly embrace and one of them would have been a delectable breakfast for the creature.

Snarling in rage, it immediately went on the move, wasting no time in giving its preys a reprieve as it continued to attack by pointing its arms at their directions.

Once again, the two women were surprised when the arms of the creature extended at impossible lengths, its large hands open wide to capture them.

"Tsk!" Scáthach clicked her tongue, looking displeased.

Rider, for her part, merely remained silent and stoic.

The two dodge the attack again smoothly, but not before using their respective weapons to cut off the appendages that rudely intruded on their personal space before they distanced themselves.

Not one to let a chance get away, Scáthach made a quick eye contact with Rider, who understood her motive and nodded.

In less than a second, they used their extraordinary speed to kill the creature a few seconds after they had cut off its arms.

Rider went after the legs of the creature, quickly using the dark purple chains to lock its legs together, and then using the scythe to cut off its lower body in one clean swipe after closing in.

Also coming near, Scáthach went into her stance and thrust the crimson spear in a single powerful burst of movement, piercing its skull deeply by five inches.

Satisfied with their kill, the two pulled their weapons off of the creature and threw its body away from them.

Scáthach sighed, flicking the blood off of her spear's tip to clean it before turning to Rider, who was also doing the same.

"Well, that was short." The crimson eyed woman commented, looking bored.

Rider was about to scoff when a loud hiss-like breathing interrupted her.

Brows raised in surprise, the two female retainers turned to look in the direction where they heard the sound…

… which was where the body of the creature was thrown across.

Silently, they watched as it wiggled slightly on the floor, face down, but that was not what surprised them.

No, it was the fact that the creature was regenerating its lost limbs at an astonishing rate.

Then, it stood up slowly, slouching as it leaned backwards before turning its head towards them.

The two watched as the large hole that the crimson spear made sealed up in mere seconds, leaving its forehead absent of injury.

They were surprised, but none more so than Scáthach, who had always been confident of Gáe Bolg's cursed ability to never let any wounds heal.

Rider was the same, but unlike Scáthach, she regained her composure quickly in favor of searching for another way to kill the creature, permanently.

When Scáthach followed her suit, the two were about to circle around the creature, but they found themselves interrupted once more.

Nearly at the same time, all of the ritual circles around the room began to light up, signifying their activation, before vaguely human-shaped forms came out of them.

* Thud *

The sounds were loud, causing the two to glance around while keeping an eye on the creature, who was still a bit far from them.

One, two, three… eleven.

Immediately, Rider and Scáthach counted and realized that the bodies were similar to the creature, and they all seemed quite intent on having them as their next meal.

Idly, they both took noted that the ritual circles was no longer emitting magical energy after the creatures came out of them.

'Those ritual circles…' Scáthach mused, crimson eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Feeling a bit wary of their numbers and the abilities the creatures' have yet to show, Rider turned her head a little and asked Scáthach of her opinion on their situation.

"What are we going to do now? I don't think these things have any intention of letting us leave this place safely."

Scáthach scoffed a little, crimson eyes still narrowed.

"We do what Master told us to do." Scáthach faced Rider, smirking. "We kill them all."

While Rider agreed with her words, she has another concern that she has to address.

"Don't you think we should leave one alive? For our Master's investigation, that is." She reminded.

"I don't think that is necessary." Scáthach shook her head slightly. "I'm sure our memories will be enough information for him to look into. Besides, I don't feel comfortable of leaving these things here roaming around, and I'm sure Master would agree with our decisions in burning this place down after we clear this building of these things."

Realizing the truth in her words, Rider silenced her arguments and readied herself into a stance.

"Then, let's get to work in how to kill them first." Rider stated, pale lavender eyes cold.

"Hmph, noted." Scáthach smirked, twirling the crimson spear with her right hand once.

Within a second, they vanished from their respective spots and two streaks of different shades of purple dashed around the room in unbelievable speeds that can't be captured with the naked eye.

One by one, they left afterimages of themselves as they go around the room, sudden bursts of the creatures' blood staining the walls and floors of the room as they go.

Scáthach's method was versatile.

Sometimes, she would attack by using the basic movements (a thrust to the forehead, a sweep of the legs, and etc.), or she would go all-out into a flurry of piercing attacks that overwhelm the creatures until they are pushed back to the end of the room by the strong force of her strength.

Whereas Rider stuck to the simple method of hit and dash.

Using her impressive speed, she cut off the limbs of any creatures that came in her way one at a time, sometimes even two if she was feeling lucky.

Whenever the two's gazes met, Rider and Scáthach would combined their attacks and trade enemies before switching back again.

They don't know how long it had went on, but they both figured that several minutes had already passed and not one of the creatures had yet to truly die.

They tried beheading, cutting off their limbs, decapitating their bodies in half, and yet the creatures continued to regenerate still.

What was more annoying to them was that the creatures did not lost their ferocity and brutality in their attacks.

Should their legs were cut off, they would lunge up and use their arms and sharp teeth to attack. If their arms or head were gone, they would still continue to come after them without rest.

Rider and Scáthach had to give the creatures their credit, for the latter group were not letting anything stop them in attacking.

Without stopping to breathe and lose her momentum, Rider chained the legs of two creatures together and used her speed to slice off the heads, arms and legs in three swings before calling out to Scáthach, who was on the other side of the room fighting her own battle.

"This is useless if we keep letting them regenerate. We need to find a way to stop them from doing it!" Rider shouted, dodging two sets of arms that extended to attack her by doing a back-flip.

"I'm aware of that!" Scáthach responded loudly.

After having said that, Scáthach stepped forward in front of one and thrust Gáe Bolg forward, uncaring of the small bit of blood that landed on her left cheek as the sharp tip of the spear pierced through its forehead in one clean movement.

But, she did not stopped her attack from there.

Knowing what to expect, Scáthach let go of the spear, willing it to vanish, before she pulled back right hand, as if readying herself to swing a weapon.

In a split second, she summoned an elegant-looking sabre with a dark red blade and a black handle, which she also imbued with the Gae Bolg's cursed effect.

She then used the new weapon in her hand and swung it across the creature's neck, cutting off its head cleanly in one motion.

On the other side, Rider dodged the dangerous arms that extended freakishly towards her from three directions with a smooth and swift turn of her heel.

Her glossy lavender hair flowing through the air was a magnificent sight to see, moving with her as she returned the favor by picking the three creatures off one by one starting from the left.

When she got to the third and made quick work of her target, Rider noticed something strange.

She was about to do a roundhouse kick to move the creature away from her before it can start to regenerate again, but then she saw a large part of its upper left torso fluctuating wildly, much like a balloon shrinking and inflating on repeat at a very high speed.

The reaction was not even normal, considering as it had started from the upper part of its left breast before it spread up to its left shoulder.

Immediately, she remembered that the area of where the skin reacted wildly was the one that she stabbed the sharp tip of her scythe before.

Also, it might just be her imagination, but Rider thought she heard something pop right after she stabbed that particular spot of its upper body.

The creature seemed to be stunned, groaning as if in pain, staggering back for a moment before it regained its composure and walked towards her again.

As the fight continued, Rider gradually became curious, and soon, an idea started to form in her head.

She began to focus her enhanced hearing, multitasking as she avoids the creature's attacks while being mindful of the others that finished regenerating.

Sure enough, numerous heartbeat-like sounds entered her ears and she found that they were all coming from the creatures in the room.

Rider had missed it earlier because of the first creature that came in the room, but it was how she discovered its location before it arrived.

Based on her findings earlier, she had discovered that they (the creatures) were cold in temperature.

She didn't made skin contact with any of them, but whenever she gets close in range to attack before kicking them away from her, she found that they seemed to emit no warmth, which caused her to conclude that they are really dead.

This discovery led her to believe that there is something that allows them to function, probably a parasite of some sort, which would explain the brief noise and the creature's reaction earlier.

'I must have destroyed one earlier, and there is definitely more than one if it still moves like that. That's probably why they can keep on regenerating too. I'll just have to find out if my theory works. If not, then destroying their bodies entirely will have to be the last option.' Rider mused.

After noting where she heard the pulsing noises, Rider began testing her theory by targeting one of the creatures nearby.

Pulling her right arm back, Rider threw the spear-like metal (that was attached to the chains) towards the creature, which landed perfectly on its right lower body near its hip.

'So, I was right...' Rider smiled in her success, watching it stagger and groaned in pain.

Not letting an opportunity go to waste, she used her unnatural speed to get closer up front and lodge her scythe deep into right shoulder.

Then, she immediately went behind it and stabbed the creature on its lower back, all of which she accomplished within five seconds.

With quiet anticipation, Rider quickly moved away as she watched the creature's entire upper body start to fluctuate wildly.

The creature groaned loudly in obvious pain, nearly bending over before…

* Pop *

Its upper body exploded, spilling blood and bits of internal organs everywhere, leaving its lower part behind as it fell down on the ground.

Confident in her theory, Rider went in and began her counterattack.

She used the same method as she had done before and then moved far away once she was finished, watching as the four creatures die in a similar manner as the first one.

Breathing in deeply, Rider mentally thanked her Master's seemingly infinite magical energy as she felt the few nonfatal wounds she gained healed quickly.

Rider turned and was about to lend her fellow retainer a hand when she heard a commotion in Scáthach's direction.

The first thing that she noticed was that Scáthach looked mighty irritated, which rarely ever occurs.

The closest thing that can get under the woman's skin were dirty insects (cockroaches, a few certain male Heroic Spirits, etc.), lack of attention from their Master (this, she knew by instinct), and things that reminded her of the place that she once called home and prison.

Curious and amused, Rider stood by the sidelines and watched as the crimson eyed woman clicked her tongue for what seems to be the second time of the day.

Just by looking at her body language, she can tell that Scáthach's patience had reached its limit and things usually get destroyed whenever that happens.

As she expected, Scáthach's actions were predictable as she seems to finally decide not to hold back anymore.

With her arms crossed beneath her bosom, Rider silently observed the incoming carnage before her.

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"Ugh..." Scáthach muttered in disgust, crimson eyes narrowed in irritation.

Scáthach had been trying to kill the creatures for a while now, but so far, no progress was made.

The entire endeavor would have been more tolerable if not for the creatures' tendency to become grabby with their freakish hands, their random biting moments and their regeneration ability, which was somewhat tiring to see every time she mutilate one or two of them.

While not usually bothered with gore and their eerie appearance, Scáthach was getting irritated that her enemies today don't seemed to die at all.

She can only handle so much gore in one day, and getting some bits of their internal organs stain her favorite clothes was what annoyed her the most.

No, it didn't have anything to do with the fact that she was complimented by her Master in the past with the outfit.

Even Scáthach wouldn't be that dramatic.

Seeing more blood get on her clothes, Scáthach glared at the creatures venomously.

"You filth are going to pay for this…!"

Right after she said those words, Scáthach went on the attack, and attack she did.

Since there were only six creatures left, she went for the first that was nearby.

Creating a crimson spear beside her and charging it with her magical energy, causing it to be broken in the process given by the power she put in it, Scáthach threw the legendary weapon with enough force that it rendered the creature's body to be pinned to the floor by its waist.

Then, the spear exploded, which blew the creature's body into pieces.

Scáthach turned her attention to the others and three more creatures suffered the same fate like the first as she summoned more spears that is overcharged with prana as well.

"Begone." Scáthach growled.

With a slight wave of her left arm, she let the spears fall upon their targets like strong arrows from the heavens, denoting them once they hit.

Immediately after, Scáthach closed in on the fifth and did a spinning kick that landed on the creature's stomach, causing it to fly to the other side and bounced against the wall.

As soon as she finished turning, Scáthach made another spear, twirling around her right hand before throwing it towards her target.

Said spear landed on the creature's chest before it exploded as she desired it to be.

A moment later, Scáthach somersaulted backwards and avoided being tackled to the ground by the last sixth creature in the room.

Landing into a crouch, she looked up and pointed her right hand at the creature, who broke into a dash after she avoided its attack.

Beneath its feet, a two meter circle of primordial runes glowing with an ominous blue light appeared and the creature found itself unable to move.

With the target restrained, Scáthach skewered its body with a bunch of crimson spears that suddenly appeared from the ground within the circle.

Then, she willed for the Gae Bolgs to detonate like little grenades, and the creature's body exploded into bits and pieces of rotten flesh as a result.

With a huff, Scáthach glared at the bloody spot distastefully as she stood up from her kneeling form.

She turned to look at Rider, who had been observing the fight with a smile on her lips.

"What?" Scáthach asked, one brow raised in curiosity.

"I was going to tell you about how to kill them, but it seems that you can handle them without my help anyways." Rider answered, looking slightly amused.

Scáthach looked around the room, seeing the remains of the creatures she killed before turning Rider with a calm expression.

"I think I got it." Scáthach said nonchalantly with a nod.

"I can tell." Rider smirked, her tone a bit sarcastic.

Their brief moment of respite was abruptly came to an end as they felt a massive surge of a familiar dark magical energy flood the entire building.

"Ugh, don't tell me…" Scáthach groaned wearily.

"Yes, more of those things." Rider affirmed, her gaze focused towards the entrance doors. "And they are coming up here quickly."

Scáthach sighed but remained looking unaffected by the news she heard, which caught Rider's attention.

"Scáthach, I don't think that this is the time for us to be looking relaxed right now given the numbers of those things." Rider cautioned.

"I know that. In fact, I kind of expected something like this to happen. I have a solution that might fix this situation." Scáthach answered, turning on her heel to walk towards the window.

"How?" Rider asked curiously.

Looking over her shoulder, Scáthach gave her fellow retainer a mysterious yet alluring smile that can make most men grow weak in the knees.

"You'll see."

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Thirty minutes later, news of an infamous old asylum in the north made the headlines in the city's local channels.

There, the abandoned building was reported to have been destroyed as a group of locals (who were only passing by) had seen it to be on fire and most of its wall were in absolute ruins.

Police suspected that a great amount of explosives have been placed around the building to reduce it into such a severely damaged state, but they have yet to find the suspects and their motives behind the destruction.

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