Abyssal Awakening

'Isn't that just it's ass???' Alice's smile twitched as she couldn't believe Selen had just suggested that they hit the ass of all locations.

"Something wrong?" Selen tilted her head in confusion seeing Alice's hesitance.

"Wouldn't… hitting the ass only piss it off more?" Alice asked while keeping an eye on the Necrothrax. Right now, it was being distracted by both Einar and Brynja so they could have this conversation.

"It's a bit of a gamble. But a lot of energy passes through that location, especially when it fires the tail spikes. If I land a good strike against it, I should be able to cut off its tail." Selen shook her head.

Forcing a smile, Alice realised that Selen didn't understand that she was hinting at the fact they should aim elsewhere.

But seeing as how Selen was determined, Alice couldn't help but sigh as her smile twitched furiously.

"But does it really have to be the ass???" Alice asked, hoping to bargain.

"Are you seriously still stuck on this???"

"Well of course I am! It's the ass for gods sake! The ass!" Alice emphasised. Even if she was shameless, she wasn't this shameless as to target the ass of her enemy mid fight! If she doesn't die from their attacks she'll die from shame!

"Look! It's a life or death situation so just help me target the ass already!" Selen shouted as their hesitation may lead to this opportunity disappearing.

Blushing from embarrassment, Alice let out an exasperated sigh and reluctantly nodded her head.

"I'll make a pathway for you then. Just focus on aiming for it and dodging when you can. Don't worry about missing a foothold, I got you pretty much all figured out." Alice reassured as she flicked her wrist and created several footholds leading towards the beast.

Seeing this, Selen crouched down activating her acceleration and dashed towards the beast.

Noticing Selen's approach, spikes shot out from the forest around them but Selen could see them approaching with ease. Twirling her staff, the space around her started to distort. The spikes that entered this boundary slowed down as she used them as footholds to dash into the air.

The space around the Necrothrax became her playground while both Einar and Brynja were confused as to how Selen was able to move like this.

Meanwhile, Alice hid in the forest of spikes.

With the beast being focused on both Selen and Einar, this was the perfect environment for her to thrive in her current state.

While shards created footholds for Selen, Alice adjusted the terrain around both Einar and Brynja's feet, helping them navigate the beast while they were also distracted.

The sudden shift of the ground beneath them caused their balance to change, helping them narrowly dodge what would be considered a dangerous strike.

However, instead of feeling grateful, both Einar and Brynja threw curses towards Alice, blaming her for making them lose their footing.

'F*ck it, they can die for all I care.' Alice concluded. Even though she would prefer to knock some senses into them herself, she didn't have a chance for that.

*BANG!!!

A claw slammed into Brynja's shield while spikes fired from its shoulders. Piercing into Brynja's torso, she stumbled back.

"What are you doing?! Aren't you a shielder?! F*cking useles b*tch!"

*PUCHI!

She was definitely getting punched after this battle.

Ignoring the useless shouts from Einar and Brynja, Alice created two launch pads for Selen.

Dashing in an arch over the Necrothrax, Selen positioned herself for the final strike as Alice activated the springboard beneath her.

*BANG!!!

Stacking as many acceleration buffs onto herself as she could, Selen's blade hummed with a vibrant blue. Her figure disappeared with a burst of energy.

*ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A gut wrenching scream erupted from the beast, blasting away the snow within the vicinity as Alice flinched and turned her eyes away.

Even without staring at the battle, she knew what had happened. That last fraction of a moment where Selen appeared right beneath the beast's rear.

*BANG!!!

The sound of heavy bones slamming against the ground could be heard as Alice glanced up and saw the Necrothrax missing its tail.

Blood poured out from the wound as Selen wasn't done. Adjusting her posture, she unleashed a flurry of slashes and stabs, cleaving a path into the innards of the beast.

Seeing this method of attack, Alice paled, clutching her rear out of instinct. A phantom pain assaulted her mind.

Most would avoid this kind of method since they would be soaked in the blood of an Abyss Beast. However, for Selen who was experimented on by the byproduct of Alice's blood, this was nothing!

With Einar and Brynja staring in disbelief while Bjorn had just finished healing himself, Selen reached the neck and released a crescent slash!

Tearing off the head with one spiral motion, she stood on the stump of a neck and panted heavily.

Blood coated her entire body as the beast slumped against the ground. Blood pooled beneath it while the malevolent energy of the flesh began to fade.

However, before they could bask in the feeling of joy, Alice's pupils shrank.

"SELEN! DUCK!" She roared, gathering all of her shards into one spot as Selen instinctively ducked as Alice had ordered.

*BANG!!!

An extra large bone shard shot out from the forest as Alice's defences were blown apart in an instant.

But she managed to succeed in diverting the attack slightly, knocking it off course and making it so that only some of Selen's hair was shredded by that attack instead of her upper torso.

*CRACK!!!

Watching the shard dig deep into a tree, cold sweat filled Selen's spine as she hadn't expected a second one to appear so fast.

All of them were exhausted right now. Selen didn't think she could attack with the same vigour she had done just now, even if she was to use her Resonance. Einar looked battered and bruised while Brynja wasn't much better.

Even though Bjorn managed to heal his wound, his scouting ability diminished greatly as he wasn't able to detect the second beast.

And finally, for Alice, one fight was her current limit. She could see the exhaustion on Alice's face as recovering her shards drained a great deal of stamina from her.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like they needed to fight a second round.

*BANG!!!

The sound of collision could be heard as the ground trembled from the impact.

Flashes of light flickered in the distance while a familiar burst of energy erupted from the second being.

Recognising it to be Bo, Alice sighed in relief and slumped onto the ground.

After a brief moment, Bo returned covered in the Nercrothrax's blood and held its head in his hand.

Just as Alice was about to greet him, she saw a hint of anger in his eyes and decided to not say anything for now.

"Back to the cart and tend to your wounds!" He shouted.

Everyone could tell that he wasn't happy and followed the order without saying anything back.

Once they were on the carriage, Bo had Bjorn drive them back.

Sitting on the back, the silence was deafening as Bo continuously tapped his heel against the floorboard.

"Care to tell me what that was during the fight? No one giving orders and people throwing blame around. Not caring about the wound sustained by people you don't like, not properly grabbing attention, not notifying your allies of your intentions. A Mortis Necrothrax should be something you can deal with easily, that's why I picked it as our first outing.

"But what happened? Two of you almost died and you were to exhausted to even notice the second one. You didn't even had enough stamina to kill it yourself!" Bo lectured as veins bulged on his neck.

"Reflect on everything that happened today. I want a report once we get back. As group captain, I can't let this go on otherwise you'll die the moment you step onto the battlefield." He spat out in annoyance.

Crossing her leg, Alice rested her chin on her hand while glancing at the passing surroundings.

He wasn't wrong but it's not exactly easy to work with someone who hates you for no reason. Not only that, but no matter what she did, blame was thrown her way.

She tries to help them, she was being a bother.

She doesn't try to help them, she was being useless.

No matter what she did, they weren't satisfied so naturally, Alice wouldn't care if they got hit or not. Might as well focus her attention on Selen who's actually doing something for the team.

Of course, it didn't mean she should leave them to die but saving them left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Seeing the reaction of the group to his order, Bo sighed inwardly. With things as they are, it's going to be impossible for them to cooperate well enough for their deployment in two days.

Unfortunately, the frontline needed reinforcements and the new recruits were the only ones nearby.

'I guess a silver lining is that Alice is very adaptive. As long as her teammates were cooperative to some degree.

He had to admit that if it wasn't for the strange hostility from Brynja, the fight might've gone a bit better since Alice was already covering for them.

If he could solve the issues between them, the power of this group would increase by two fold.

Then there was the case of Selen.

There wasn't much to say about her except that last attack. Just thinking about it cause him to shiver as he shuffled in his seat. From now, just in case he was to meet someone like Selen in the future, he'll reinforce his rear with a bit of energy as a precaution.

After all, surely there wasn't someone with such a sadistic hobby as to target the rear mid fight. Right?