Winter Days - Garden Side II

Shadow glanced over the remains of what once was a large base, now surrounded by flames and debris, ruined almost beyond belief as a massive, 300 meter diameters crater had replaced the center of the former base.

The snow around them turned into water that flowed towards the crater in order to fill it up and later turn it into a large lake in years.

The sun was rising by the east, and soon many will discover it.

A smile crept up his face, satisfied of what had happened far earlier.

"Hoh? You have new friends or something?" He spoke, not taking a glance towards the Shadow Garden Members who were either sleeping or even staring at him with awe.

"Mmh, that guy didn't even stand much of a chance, but at least, the explosion from earlier split the skies, shattered the ground, and even showed what I am capable of, even if I can surpass myself."

And of course they were all injured, except the rescued girls.

So how did all of this happen?

It started out on early morning, three days after Shadow looted the hell out of the few carriages containing nice treasures.

The cloudy winter skies obstructed the moonlight and the stars above.

Several mercenaries acting like guards patrolled the settlement, and one man that wasn't one of them glanced at them.

"Argh. It's very early right now, but.... Here's my question: where's the goddamn treasures stolen from Rad!?" He yelled out, stomping the ground in annoyance.

"It's been a few days since we stole from them, what just happened!? Tsk, maybe they found out and took back out money, it's annoying you know!?"

The guards tried to calm him down, and the man sighed out, eventually regaining his cool.

"Still, we should increase our prices for hiring. Going to the north to fight the Dark Elves and serve as hired soldiers isn't even quite bad."

He wanted to go back to resting, until a massive explosion appeared somewhere in the camp.

"We're under attack!? At now?!" He yelled out, wondering what was happening on the east. Surprisingly, he knew those people from Rad would have difficulty traversing through winter, so why are they being attacked?!

Who was attacking them?!

The explosion was loud enough to wake up the remaining mercenaries that were fornerly sound asleep, and forced them to arm themselves with weapons.

And somewhere, Shadow and his crew of girls began fighting the mercenaries, not just to take away some good loot but also as part of the latter's training.

All of them had different weapons on them, Delta who had sharp claws formed from the slime, Gamma who had a slime sword, Beta who used a short bow and Alpha, who formed a heavy greatsword from her own slime.

The group was fierce and all, but eventually, they had to split apart from Shadow, who formed small balls of slime which he tossed or threw towards the mercenaries, killing them with explosions since he wanted to learn something new.

"Let's focus on our own tasks. Follow me!" Alpha spoke, thinking that she knew what to do.

Sprinting on the outer corners of the base, they assassinated a few mercenaries while they couldn't see them until encountering several mercenaries who looked completely pissed off.

A mage was present near that , and using a spell, he created a bright ball of light that lit up the surroundings, allowing the Shadow Garden's current few members to be discovered.

"They're just some little girls! This is... Unbelievable...." The largest of the group spoke, before snorting. "Be happy, I'm not one who's a huge pervert to girls like you unlike these guys beside me. After all, I have my own preferences!"

The man struck a pose, showing his muscles in full might, intimidating Gamma, who took a step back.

But Delta, who only smiled at him, stepped forward.

"I won't forget what I learned from boss! That's why, we'll hunt you by ourselves!" Delta yelled out, striking a pose that would allow her to lunge forward at faster speeds.

Her fellow Shadow Garden Members took a stance, deciding to fight the goons that were surrounding them.

Even the girls felt disgusted at how some of the mercenaries looked at them with expressions that looked like they wanted them for themselves.

It also creeped Beta and Gamma, who held their positions.

"Beat them and capture them! They'll soon know why they shouldn't mess with us mercenaries from Ansur!" One of the men yelled out as the moment this signal was heard, they all attacked.

In response, Beta and Alpha retaliated with their own attacks, having the endurance surpassing adults, and the skill and knowledge needed to fight against many of them.

"Don't hesitate and focus on the task...." Alpha chanted her mantra, swinging her sword down as a sword from a mercenary was split in half alongside him.

Beta aimed her bow towards a few mercenaries, forming arrows made of pure slime that were hardened and their tips sharpened, before releasing them towards the bandits.

Her training will begin to pay off at this battle, yet the current state of the girls would make them exhausted in two hours.

While they defended Gamma, who could barely fight, Alpha was took in surprise as an arrow grazed her side and a blade from a mercenary grazed her shoulder.

Her side wasn't wounded, but she definitely felt the pain, yet due to her skin that was exposed, it was wounded instead.

It was a miscalculation on her part, yet to retaliate with that, she charged her sword with immense mana and slammed the tip of her sword to the ground, sending a wide ripple of energy that destroyed many of her enemies.

Delta, however fought the Massive Man, and in one kick he was pushed three feet back, surprised as he smiled the next moment.

"This one's mine, don't interrupt our fight and focus on them!" He yelled out while he weaved between two strikes and retaliated with a punch that Delta evaded herself before grabbing the arm of her opponent.

Then, she executed a Judo Throw at him, slamming him to the ground with his back impacting it first.

'She's damn good, I'll give her credit for that!' He thought, immediately getting up from the ground and sighing. 'But I suppose I'll have to get more serious.'

He extended his arms up, and within the next moment, took a stance that made him look like a bear standing to terrify his opponents.

An aura of incredible power burst out from his body, as he became a few times stronger than he once was.

Suddenly, he tackled Delta, his bare chest impacting with her face, launching her through a few buildings.

"Delta!" Beta yelled out, wanting to try to help her comrade, but with the increasing amount of enemies that were already outnumbering them, she was barely able to assist her.

Immediately thinking of a better way to kill many of these mercenaries, Alpha and Beta charged up their attacks and used "Ei-oh-wee (AOE)"  attacks learnt through Shadow in order to take care of several mercenaries at once.

But of course, they realized, even if they had an incredible endurance, they could still exhaust their mana and use up their stamina far quicker.

That's why, killing multiple enemies at once is going to be the best solution than killing one at a time.

Sooner enough, the whole area was cleared of mercenaries, which were only around 445 of them.

Meanwhile, Alpha and the Massive Man exchanged blows with smiles on their faces.

It's as if the two were equals, until you realize the fact that the latter is stronger than the former.

Delta was having difficulty even in fighting him, and her opponent has just gained the upper hand because of a simple gut punch that stunned her.

And then she choked on her own saliva.

"Fuhahaha~! Is that all?" The massive man yelled out, crossing his arms as he stared down at the Therianthrope that lied on the ground, struggling to even get up.

He walked towards her, and relaxed his body.

"Hmph, I was being a bit merciful this time. If you were a boy I would've killed you right here." With a grunt, he stretched his arms, and said arms made a cracking sound. "But I'm giving you a chance, girl."

"Why don't you become my pet? Like I said, I'm not interested in bedding children, but I'll take care of you better than your abusive, soon-to-be former master after you accept it!"

He was confident about this, not knowing that a mere sentence alone attracted the ire of those who had just entered the damaged building.

Delta felt quite angry at that guy, knowing that she only had one rightful master, and due to her anger, an immense amount if mana burst out of her, engulfing her very being.

"What did you just say to boss?" She spoke, glaring at the man. Her voice becoming a wild growl.

In the next second, he noticed a spike in mana activity from behind him, and he suddenly felt like he was the weaker one.

His technique that he used in order to become stronger than he was couldn't be used due to not having enough time to set it up.

And the three other girls behind him were definitely looking furious.

"..... Oh shit."

Shadow Garden Rule Number 1: You do not insult Shadow, or Cid, in front of the Shadow Garden Members. If you are an enemy, prepare to regret your decisions even more than when you encounter them.

Massive Man died topless.

Soon enough, the group of four found great treasure and three slaves that were sound asleep, and they took the most valuable of the treasure and rescued the three slaves.

In the meantime, they suddenly felt Shadow's mana overshadowing theirs, surrounding a huge chunk of the whole base while they collected more of the treasure using bags of slime.

"I suppose this is the cue." Alpha realized, nodding her head as they immediately left the area.

*BOOOOOOMMMMM~~~~~*

The moment they did leave, a massive burst of energy, sound, vibration and light erupted from a certain spot.

< ~ TO = BE = CONTINUED ~

Author's Commentary: I thought Shadow curbstomping wouldn't take much of a spotlight, so I decided to focus making a scene for the Shadow Garden Members this time.

Also.....

I AM THE OFF-SCREEN ATOMIC!

Fuhahahahahahahaha~!!!!

Next Chapter: He of the Fallen Falcon (Interlude)

Guess who I'm introducing? And no, he's no OC.