Chapter 110: Erin’s Stand
When a dalki got injured, it was as if their blood would circulate through their body faster, powering every part of their muscles with more blood. Quinn had seen this before, but only in news reports, and the occasional history lesson, the likes of which Fex hadn’t paid much attention to.
The dalki charged at Quinn with explosive speed, faster than Fex could react. He barely managed to yank Quinn just enough so the dalki’s fist didn’t strike anything immediately vital, but Quinn still fell to the floor, his body pushed to its limits.
Then, the dalki lifted Quinn’s body, and threw it into Fex, the force slamming him into the sand.
"I’m not stupid, earthling, I knew it was you the entire time," the dalki muttered down to the vampire.
Fex was scrambling to get out from under Quinn, but the dalki pressed his foot against Quinn, pinning them both into the ground.
Quinn choked out air, struggling to breathe. Fex similarly was getting crushed, and with a free hand, threw a full handful of string at the dalki’s body, trying anything to get him to budge, to no avail.
That was when in the heat of the moment, Fex felt something within his ring. His eyes widened, and he threw out a bloodswipe. Any second he could buy was worth it.
The dalki easily swiped it away.
"Is that all you can do? Throw petty light tricks?" The dalki mocked.
However, that gave enough time for a forceful blast of blood to hit the dalki’s back.
[-5 HP]
[You’re no longer in direct sunlight]
The sun had set just enough to where it was no longer considered day, or more precisely, where the sunlight that did exist wouldn’t be direct. This is what Fex had detected earlier when he noticed his ring recharge.
Flash stepping around the dalki, Erin was slicing and cutting into him. The dalki tried to grab at her, but just when Erin would thrust her rapier for an attack, she would be gone in the flash of an eye immediately afterwards.
[+5 HP]
She knew that her best bet was to overwhelm the dalki, stay moving so it couldn’t hurt her. Every time she struck a hit, she would do so towards the wounds already present on him.
Jumping back, Erin flung her arm up, and shot out a blood spray.
[-5 HP]
It was actually perfect that the dalki had so much health. It meant she could use a blood spray for free right after using her paleneedle rapier. With this, Erin’s strategy was set.
Moving like a mosquito, Erin was constantly moving, constantly cutting, and shooting out a blood spray once 10 seconds passed. If she could get the dalki to stagger for just a moment after receiving a million cuts, then maybe— just maybe— she had a chance.
The dalki kept twisting, turning trying to detect a pattern in her speed, but thanks to Erin’s 30 in stamina, she could keep going without breaking a sweat.
Just a bit away, Fex was lifting Quinn’s body from the action. He was hoping not to garner the dalki’s attention, and to bring him to the other old building with only two walls standing.
Once they were out of view, Fex began to sow up some of Quinn’s wounds using his strings. Most of Quinn’s injuries were internal, meaning there wasn’t much he could do, but thanks to Quinn’s metal armor, some of the damage done was reduced.
"Sorry I can’t fix more of your injuries," Fex whispered.
Quinn grunted in pain, but he shifted up right, "So long as Erin is standing, we can make it through this."
—
Erin ducked under the dalki’s tail, then twisted under his arms like a dance. Sweat was beginning to form on her forehead, but not from over exerting herself, but from concentrating hard.
She slammed her open palm onto his chest, and shouted, "Blood spray!"
Immediately, the tips of her fingers glowed red, and shot a powerful force of blood into the dalki’s body.
[-5 HP]
He stumbled back, but his grin widened, and the bump on his back grew a little bigger.
"I might actually reach my second spike thanks to you," The dalki gloated.
Erin gulped. This was a major problem. If she was strong enough to take out a dalki in one fell swoop, she wouldn’t have to worry about it getting another spike. Once a dalki gains another spike, their power improves, and they become harder to kill later on. This was why they were so hard to defeat in the war.
Not only that, but what she was doing wasn’t maintainable. She did have 30 stamina, but by using too many consecutive flashsteps, it was draining her energy fast.
’I have to keep going— Who else would be strong enough to defeat him!’ Erin thought before grabbing a handful of sand.
She sprinted around him once more, and threw the sand into his eyes. She flashstepped once more, sliced, then again, but to gain some distance.
[+5 HP]
The dalki stepped back, wiping the sand from his eyes. Similarly, Erin took a step back herself. She was beginning to pant, her strategy was burning through her energy too fast.
’Just a little longer—’ Erin thought, ’One more good hit— Please.’
Layla, having been watching the fight so far with Erin and the dalki, knew she had to do something. While Erin was fighting hard against the dalki, she could tell that what Erin was doing wasn’t maintainable, she’d burn herself out before being able to deal a finishing blow.
It was obvious that Erin couldn’t keep going, not without more additional help.
"I have to do something," Layla said, determined, "She knew she couldn’t do this alone, she needed our help, but it’s not enough!"
"You can’t go out there, that’s suicide!" Peter harshly whispered next to Layla.
Layla looked to Peter, more focused than ever.
"I know it’s scary, but Erin is scared too, and she’s still fighting for us!" Then, Layla added, "and... She could’ve left us to die here if she didn’t care, she could’ve left me behind earlier when that dalki struck me."
Looking through her arrows, there was only one real option that she could use. Layla took out the red arrow, and quickly began removing the black cloth around its head.
"W—What does that arrow do?" Peter asked, gulping.
"Hopefully, it’ll badly hurt the dalki," Layla replied, not quite fully sure of herself.
Peter was surprised that Layla was so determined to do something, even when faced with a dalki, a species known for terrorizing planets, and being critically injured, she was still trying to fight.
Drawing back the bomb arrow, Layla focused as hard as she could to make sure it would aim true.
’If I miss, I could end up harming Erin in its blast radius, but if I don’t shoot, then Erin might not win,’ Layla contemplated.
Once more, Erin ran around the dalki, flashstepping again, being hard to hit. She sliced at his back, his chest, just barely ducking and dodging under the dalki’s punches. Once there was a sizable injury in his torso, Erin ran in front of the dalki, and thrusted her sword deep into his cut up chest.
[+5 HP]
For a moment, the dalki didn’t even move, his mouth agape in shock, and the world was still.
Erin had intentionally cut into old wounds not only to injure him more, but to also bypass the dalki’s hard scales.
Just when she thought she might’ve won, the dalki’s shocked face contorted into that treacherous sinister smile, green blood staining his teeth.
"I’d like to thank you, for pushing me to my limits," The dalki spoke, pleased with himself.
On his back, the bump had grown large enough for a large spike to pierce through his skin. The second spike had formed, and Erin’s blood ran ice cold, her face had fully dropped into absolute terror.
Erin yanked her sword away, and twisted her body around to run, midway through another usage of flashstep. Before she could finish it, the dalki grabbed her by the sword hand, and lifted her into the air.
"There’s nothing more for you to give me," The dalki whispered in her ear, "I’ll I need to do now is silence your friends."
He crushed her arm, and dropped her to the floor.
[- 13 HP]
[HP 57/70]
Erin gritted her teeth in pain, but as she was about to get up, her face was met with a dalki’s foot, and her head crashed onto the floor. The ground cracking around her body.
[- 38 HP]
[HP 19/70]
Shakily lifting herself out of the ground, she saw the dalki’s body twist, throwing her sword into the building.
The sword flew through the air, almost in slow motion in Erin’s point of view.
"NO!" Erin screamed.
Erin’s very own paleneedle rapier was perfectly aimed right where Layla was.
