Chapter 55: Chapter 55
Summoning her magical ice swords, Rima swung them at the small monsters that charged at her, not having a second to waste as the creatures jumped from under the water with their maws agape, their sharp teeth bare and threatening, ready to tear up any and everything that fell between their jaws.
Standing at the front of the boat wither icy blades, Rima moves them in agile but strong and precise swings, decapitating one creature after the other, trying to take as many as she could herself for she knew the others were not even half her strength, it was up to her to protect everyone in her group, but the task was not an easy one for there were thousands of the creatures attacking from each side
Their numbers and ferocity wasn’t the only thing she had to worry about, Rima thought with worried while kicking the remains of the creatures out of the boat to getting rid of the excessive weight, there was also the fact that the creatures didn’t bleed, their corps leaked with a heavy transparent substance which resembled trees’ gum, making her movement slower and her swords and limbs heavier, her blades were even less sharp after being coated in the substance making them less effective. The creatures were trouble both dead and alive, she concluded while twisting her wrist with unmatchable precision, throwing one sword at the creature who tried to attack the human general from behind.
The sword didn’t miss its target and sent it flying off the poor human, Rima sighed, relieved for the fact that she wasn’t late in saving the man who was supposed to protect her, her relief was short-lived though as the boats started to tremble even more than before as the creatures started deliberately hitting them from under the water, causing everyone to lose the little balance they had.
It would be their end if the boats flipped, Rima thought, using her free hand, she tried to freeze the water around the boats to give herself and her group the necessary stability to fight the creatures, and maybe freeze the creatures as well and form a barrier that would gain them some time to catch a breath as they were not to have any since the battle started a couple of minutes ago, her plan however didn’t work, for her magic dissolved in the seawater like salt.
Cursing under her breath, Rima summoned another sword and resumed fighting, slicing, stabbing, and kicking the creatures that kept on coming on them like locusts, not giving her a second to breathe nor to think, just fight and fight with all of her instincts wide awake, for she knew that one wrong move would cost her dearly, her life and everyone’s with her.
It was an impossible situation, they were completely trapped, the boats were trembling under their feet and they barely kept their balance while the creatures kept on coming at them, munching on everything, flesh, bone, wood, metal, and even her ice.
Her icy blades, just like her magic, were being broken down once touched by the sea water, and maybe that was what made the creatures that strong despite being significantly small, seawater!
It wasn’t just the monstrous creatures that fed on anything, it was also the sea, the water she thought she could use as an infinite source to regenerate her ice was now another obstacle.
“Help, HELP…” Rima turned to the source of the voice and her eyes widened in horror, one of the creatures managed to munch on the human’s arm, removing it in a single bite, but once she was about to rush and jump from her boat to the other one where the poor man was being devoured, the creatures outran, as most of the herd stopped attacking the rest of the boats only to focus on that one boat.
No, on that one man! Rima thought as she watched the creatures ignore the demons who were on the same boat and focus on the unfortunate human.
The demons were attacked, killed, but not eaten, unlike the humans whose bones were not spared.
Were the creatures attracted to humans? Rima asked herself as she watched the gory scene of the man being munched on and devoured like prey in the scariest way she had witnessed, the theory made sense, however, with the curse keeping the demons in the edge of the world, the only unwanted intruders the Gods had to worry about were the humans, so maybe these creatures were the Gods’ way to get rid of the curious humans, just in case the loyal worshipers decided to go against the divine order one day.
That might be their only way out, Rima thought while exchanging a look with a few demons, knowing they have already reached the same conclusion, which was a scary matter, for it meant that they had to do something so horrible to survive, Rima didn’t want to, but she knew, just like anyone else, that they would be dead if the next seconds if they didn’t leave the circle, and then the entire army won’t be warned about these creatures and would suffer the same fate.
Their war would be lost before starting, Rima thought as she resumed the fight, for the short second of distraction had ended with the entire boat being drowned in the sea due to the weight of all the creatures jumping at the human all at once, the creatures were even more ferocious after smelling the human blood, and in matter of minutes, only two boats were left undevoured.
“We must do it! Your grace, now or never!” the shadow demoness cried out, and Rima looked at her with helplessness, knowing the demoness was right, she had no time to waste!
“Did you try to tell Eren,” Rima asked even though she already knew the hopeless answer, she knew the shadows demons couldn’t reach each other’s mind from such distance, nevertheless, she wanted to make sure that she was indeed out of options, which was confirmed when the demoness shook her head!
“Do it!” Rima bit out the order with so much anger and bitterness, all directed to herself, every bit of her conscious cursed her at that moment for what she was about to do, she felt as if she was shedding off the values she had built for herself at that moment, the ones of justice and righteousness, she was but a weak selfish woman in that second unable to save the ones under her protection without making such a sanguineous sacrifice, but she had no other choice, it was the only way to save the rest of the group, the army, and the future.
The demons were quick to move, jumping from the one boat they were into the one where Rima was after slicing the two humans’ throats, including the very general who was there to protect her, the sea monsters were attracted to the smell of fresh blood instantly and as hoped of them, jumped at the second boat with the dead humans.
Not wasting the golden chance, Rima, as well as the remaining seven demons paddled away from the other boat with all their speed, the shadows demon spreading their magician the air to hide their traces while the ice demons busied themselves in fighting off whatever creature that noticed them, and there were quite a few as the shadows didn’t resist the water either.
The demons didn’t stop though, they fought and paddled with urgency, knowing that they barely had few seconds to leave the circle’s perimeter, they had already paid the price that would weight down on their conscience for the rest of their life, it was about putting that sacrifice into good use in that second, so they sailed forward, towards what looked like a far shore…