Tony The Tiger Saves My Life

I immediately activated transcendence.

That decision extended my life span.

Everything slowed around me at a snail's pace. The snow, the movements of the Deathwalkers, and the turning of the turrets on the walls of the valley.

Well, except for that spear-sized arrow hurtling toward my head at the speed at which a normal person would throw a spear.

Terribly slow for a daemon but fast for a normal human from my old world.

With a yelp, I ducked low and the massive arrow soared over my head.

The sound of a sharp high-speed projectile passing through bone and flesh made me wince as the arrow killed the Deathwalkers behind me, skewering their heads like kebabs.

"Now cue the screaming.", I muttered.

Chaos and panic spread across the newbies as the daemons descended upon them like ghosts, flickering into existence and moving too fast for the eye to see.

Screams, blood flowing and flesh tearing surrounded me as I quickly weaved between the newbie Deathwalkers.

They attacked as soon as their feet touched the red snow. Those daemons sure don't waste time.

I saw the captain fighting a twelve-foot-tall giant of a daemon wielding a greatsword with her twin axes enveloped in lightning.

I made my way toward her. Staying by her side will be the safest option in my current situation.

Suddenly I felt a chill on my back and my battle-hardened instincts screamed at me. I activated transcendence and quickly leaned back as a serrated sword passed the air where my face was a second ago.

Oh Incarni! That was close! 

I bent my knees and skidded on the snow before quickly turning around and facing a lean daemon over six feet tall.

Darkness billowed like smoke out of its body as it turned its head at me.

No expression was on the faceless visage but I'm sure it was surprised.

I stopped blood acceleration and streamed more ardor over my body. I've boosted my performance for the time being and focused on strengthening my body with ardor.

Plus it also helps to extend transcendence.

But even with my enhanced perception and focus, the daemon was still quick as it dashed at me and slashed at me with its serrated sword.

I raised my daggers and coated them with ardor. Sparks flew as the serrated teeth of the black sword quickly ground against the green edges of the white daggers.

The force was enough to blow me away but I held my ground and gritted my teeth as my arms threatened to break from the force despite the ardor enhancement.

This fucker is too strong!

Fortunately, I was able to block the deadly slash from killing me.

Unfortunately, the serrated tip of the blade made contact with my wrist and a deep burning gash appeared on my forearm.

I winced in pain but before I could do anything, a searing hot pain exploded from my right side as the daemon stabbed me right in the liver.

A scream of pain escaped my mouth as the daemon slowly pulled the blade out of my body. The pain was so horrible that I almost blacked out.

I can feel the malice from the faceless creature as it sadistically pulled out the thin serrated blade, causing further damage.

Oh no you don't.

Amidst the extreme pain, I gritted my teeth and plunged the dagger that I held in my right hand into the sword hand of the daemon, momentarily stopping it from pulling back the sword.

I then flipped the left dagger into a reverse grip and streamed ardor into the blade. The green edge glowed and the dagger hissed like a snake as more ardor entered it.

Activating Haema, I used blood acceleration for a quick boost and transferred the ardor covering the rest of my body into my left arm. 

All of this happened within a minute. I swung the dagger at the daemon's wrist with a defiant yell. The blade made contact with the swirling darkness and sliced the hand off like butter.

The daemon quickly jumped back away from me. It turned its head at the severed part, where what appeared to be liquid darkness oozed to the ground like tar.

The severed hand holding the sword dissipated into darkness along with the serrated sword.

The daemon turned its head toward me, specifically to my daggers. 

Despite the crippling pain ravaging my right side and the bleeding, my lips curled into a smile.

I finally got a strike. These Moonsilver daggers pack quite a punch.

Unfortunately, my small victory was very short-lived. 

I felt another chill behind me and my eyes widened. I forgot the daemon I was facing was not the only one.

This is a battlefield, not an arena.

Before I could even react, I felt something cold and sharp touch my arm and pierce my skin.

I turned my head around and in my transcendence state, I saw a long sword, making its way into my right forearm.

I won't be able to respond in time fully. There is no avoiding it and even if I do something, the damage will be more severe than a sliced-off hand.

So I clenched my teeth, moved my arm a bit, and braced for the pain.

I just hope the healers in Althea are good at their job.

The seven-foot-tall daemon that appeared behind me sliced off my arm right below the elbow. Seeing that happen in slow motion was the worst part of the experience.

Not that the pain was any better. It burned like hell and was pure agony. I'm pretty sure I cried out in pain.

Oh. And I was still using blood acceleration.

Blood was gushing out of the stump like a high-pressure water hose. I streamed ardor into my legs and quickly jumped to the side, a short distance away from the two daemons.

I stopped accelerating my blood and focused Haema on my side and severed my arm, stopping the bleeding and barely closing my wounds.

It's no good. I already lost a lot of blood and I could feel my body getting weaker. My vision is getting blurry and my ardor enhancement is wearing off.

The screaming and sounds of battle didn't help either.

I can feel the chill as the daemons approach me, ready to send me to the afterlife.

I stabilized my breathing and redirected my strand as the black longsword appeared in my vision.

A clang resounded in my ears. I opened my eyes and saw the dagger I dropped locking against the black longsword of the daemon. It was suspended in midair and its handle was covered in blood.

My blood.

A small smile crept up my lips as the fragile-looking dagger held off against the might of the daemon.

The daemon swung the sword again, only to be blocked by the white dagger again. My head became clearer as my strand healed my body.

I wiped the blood on my jacket onto the handle of my second dagger and threw it at the daemon. 

Using Haema, I willed one dagger to defend myself from the daemon's blows, and the other whizzed around us, attacking the daemon. 

Unfortunately, the current power of my strand was not enough to take on the daemon as the dagger barely cut the dark swirling body of the daemon and I coughed out blood every time the black sword struck my dagger.

The battle raged around me as I desperately fended off the daemon. In the corner of my eye, I saw a daemon grab hold of a Deathwalker and ripped his body into two pieces. His organs and vertebrae fell on the bloody snow in a waterfall of blood and guts.

Oh. I guess some of you were eating. Oops.

Anyway.

My instinct kicked in and I saw the daemon whose hand I cut off, coming at me from the side. Its clawed left hand stretched out to rip my head off.

I cursed. I won't be able to defend against that and I'm starting to lose control of my strand. I'm almost at my limit and the pain is just awful. I'm surprised I haven't backed out yet.

The six-foot daemon is almost at me. I can feel the darkness oozing out of it.

It all happened at the same time.

The daemon striking down with the longsword suddenly froze in place as the paralyzing effect of my dagger took effect and the daemon about to rip my head off was blown away by getting hit with something.

That something was a big blue mechanical tiger enveloped in lightning.

"Good job, kid!", I saw a flash of red hair and the captain of the newbie unit appeared beside me.

In a single fluid motion, she sliced off the hands of the paralyzed daemon with her twin axes and jumped high in the air.

Her amber eyes glowed as she activated her Fulgur strand and enveloped her axes with lightning. With a yell and crackling of lightning, she fell on the daemon.

The now handless seven-foot daemon was recovering from the paralysis effect but it was too late.

A thundering explosion blew me off my feet and I felt all tingly. I opened my eyes and saw the captain in front of the daemon, her twin axes buried in its chest.

The daemon's knees buckled and it fell in front of her. Suddenly it started convulsing.

The captain cursed and she jumped back to my position. Grabbing my collar she yelled, "We must get out of range!"

My hair rose and my skin tingled as she enhanced her body with lightning and jumped with me in tow. We landed a good distance from the fallen daemon and my eyes widened at what I saw next.

The daemon's body exploded into darkness and I saw a column of crimson smoke rising into the sky and swirling around the lingering darkness, letting out an unearthly scream.

After spinning around for a minute it dissipated with a final haunting wail.

"That was close! A few more seconds and I would've been barbeque!", the captain said between breaths.

Somehow we reached the back of the battlefield, right next to the massive wall of the Shield. I can feel the cold of the dracium plates seeping into me as I lay my back against the Shield.

"Just stay still, your Highness.", the captain said as she took out bandages from her bracelet and wrapped the stump of my severed arm.

"You know me?", I asked weakly as she gave me a vial of glowing azure liquid. 

"Of course. You are High Prince Mordred Pendragon. Commander Kay briefed me about you, saying you were a special case."

She smiled which looked out of place with the nasty cross scar under her eye and the vertical scar that stretched from her jaw to her neck.

"That's a recovery potion. Please drink it.", she said, pointing at the vial in my hand.

I opened the vial and drank its contents. Immediately the agonizing pain lessened to a mild one and I felt refreshed. My mind became clear and my healing quickened.

"Thank you, Captain. What about the other daemon?", I asked.

"Oh Tony will take care of it.", she assured me.

"Tony?", I was confused.

"My mechanima.", she turned around and smiled, "Oh there he comes."

The mechanima called Tony approached us. Its metal plates were dented and a few were even missing. There was even some damage to the face, even one of its eyes was out.

Despite the damage, it trotted toward us and snuggled its head under the captain's arm.

"Good boy. I'll fix you soon after this.", she said warmly, "Can you please guard us?"

The mechanima nodded and stood guard. I was quite surprised that it understood the captain.

This was a relatively undisturbed area and provided a good vantage point from which I could see the battle.

A scene literally from hell.

Deathwalkers died left and right as they fought viciously against the daemons with their weapons, strands, and mechanima.

The defeated daemons turned into exploding balls of darkness with screaming columns of crimson smoke spinning around and dissipating.

Sometimes the crimson smoke would rush into the bodies of Deathwalkers who were unable to jump back.

I observed a girl who stood still after the smoke entered her. The next moment her body convulsed and she let out an unearthly screech.

What I saw next was something out of a nightmare.

The girl's eyes turned completely red and all of her her teeth turned into pointed fangs. Black veins appeared on her skin which became pale as death.

Her nails grew into pointed black claws and she pounced on a Deathwalker who approached to help. The Deathwalker screamed as the girl tore him apart.

The sheer violence of the attack shook even me, a previous veteran who faced violent barbarians in my past life.

"What the hell?", I said in a shaking voice.

The captain followed my gaze and her face became grim.

"That is a Wraith. Your Highness."