Shadow Slave

The Wolves were pushing the abominations back. A team of specialists already gained access to the reserve control station of the city's automated defense systems, working on bringing them those that had not been destroyed, at least — online. Makeshift barricades were being constructed, and there was even a trickle of civilians being guided to the shelter, already.

Effie had assisted her soldiers as best she could.

She had personally eliminated the most threatening abominations in the vicinity of the Wolf Army and made sure that her soldiers were not overwhelmed by the tide of abominations. But now, to make sure that they were not annihilated, she had to sortie into the city and face the enemy on her own.

Fighting a titan was not a problem. Effie was plenty titanic herself… however, this time, there were two walking calamities approaching her soldiers.

One was a towering giant, not much smaller than she was, his body carved from obsidian stone. The giant had six hands, each holding an archaic weapon. His head had four bestial faces, one on each side, waterfalls of blood spilling from four terrible maws.

The bastard had swallowed countless humans, and was hungering for more.

The other titan was grotesque and disgusting. It was vaguely insect-like in appearance, with a bulging, fleshy hump rising dozens of meters into the sky from its back. The chitinous body was almost invisible under that mountain of flesh, and there was a noxious miasma drifting around the revolting creature like a vile haze.

What troubled Effie the most was that there were two of the gargantuan abominations. Even worse, they were approaching the Wolf Army from different directions.

If she rushed to face one, the other would trample her soldiers, leaving none alive.

«Those fu… those wretched things!»

Usually, she would not have been miserly on the swear words, but ever since becoming a mother, Effie had been trying to clean up her speech.

With varying degrees of success.

Letting out a chilling growl, she threw a burning gaze at the obsidian giant, then turned away decisively and pushed her colossal body into an earth-shattering run.

The crawling horror was closer, and so, she had decided to deal with it first.

She had decided to do something else, as well… it was a bold new strategic solution that would not lose to the glorious genius of her patented slingshot maneuver. Of course, Effie would have to try her damnedest to make sure the thing actually worked…

Leaping over a sprawling park with one tremendous jump, she caused the ponds located on its premises to spill out of their shores with her thunderous landing, and barreled toward the titan.

The creature was enormous, but the top of its bulging hump barely reached her abdomen. Its flesh also seemed strangely porous… of course, Effie already knew why.

As she was closing in on the monstrosity, it crawled forward and straightened its segmented legs.

At the same time, a strange ripple spread over the gargantuan hump of its back. Effie scowled and held her breath — which wasn't easy because of her Flaw.

Nevertheless, it was necessary.

In the next moment, countless holes opened in the mountain of flesh, expelling long plumes of the noxious miasma. It shrouded the titan like a cloud, spreading outward to cover a vast stretch of the city.

Effie's face darkened.

There had still been survivors in that district.

…Not anymore.

«Curse you!»

But that was not all.

Following the miasma, numerous black rods were expelled from the holes in the creature's fleshy body. As they shot into the sky, the rods spread translucent wings, and unfolded segmented legs, turning into a vast swarm of monstrous dragonflies.

They seem like tiny vermin to Effie, but of course, each creature was at least a meter long, easily capable of ripping an adult man to shreds.

The undulating wall of the dragonfly swarm swirled around the crawling titan, whose hump had deflated somewhat.

«Ah, damnation…»

Effie allowed her Supreme armor to envelop her face, turning into a beautiful mask of polished steel that perfectly copied the contours of her face. A tall white plume fluttered in the wind like a river of silk threads.

«Here we go!»

She extended both her hands to the sides, lingered for a moment, and then forcefully brought them together, making her palms collide.

A thunderous clap resounded above the city, shaking the heavens.

Her clap was so forceful that it produced an actual shockwave, causing several buildings inside the cloud of miasma to explode with dust and crumble. The cloud itself was torn apart and pushed away from the city by the hurricane wind.

Even the monstrous dragonflies were dazed, a breach appearing in the defensive wall of abominations surrounding the titan.

Leaning down, Effie plunged into that breach and enveloped the Crawling Horror's gargantuan body with her arms.

Its fleshy hump pressed tightly against her torso, smearing disgusting fluid all across the polished breastplate. Struggling against the desire to retch, she dug her fingers into the abomination's soft belly.

Effie could feel the fetid liquid trying to corrode her armor. She could also feel the creature's sharp claws scratching against her shins and leaving deep grooves in the polished metal.

It didn't matter. She could withstand the attacks of the titan for a few seconds, especially before it regained its bearings and got serious about breaching her armor.

«If there are two hostile forces attacking from different directions… the strategic move would be…»

Gritting her teeth, Effie strained every muscle in her colossal body. She rarely had a chance to push against the limits of her strength, but today was one of those days.

No, actually, she had never done something that crazy before — at least not after becoming a Saint.

Killing the titan would take too long and compromise her soldiers. She felt confident that she could kill the Crawling Horror, but not that she would slay it fast enough to prevent the Obsidian Giant from reaching the position of the Wolf Army.

So…

«Aargh!»

A muffled growl escaped from beneath her polished mask.

It felt as though her muscles would burst, and her spine would snap.

But instead, her feet plunged into the ground. At the same time, the titan's segmented legs… rose above it.

Growling, Effie pulled upward… And lifted the gargantuan body of the Crawling Horror into the air.

«S-so heavy…»

She didn't stop at that, though.

As her growl turned into a roar, she exhaled, and tossed the titanic being into the air.

«…The strategic move would be to move the hostile forces to the same location!»

Effie had not just tossed the revolting abomination away.

She had thrown it directly at the second titan, whose lumbering figure was towering above the ruins in the distance.

Looking at the Crawling Horror fly, Its comically tiny body finally revealed from under the glant Fleshy hump, Its segmented legs moving in what seemed like panie… she couldn't help but frown.

«How come all my strategie solutions always end up as me tossing someone at someone else, though?»

The sight of the massive titan flying across the sky was so stunning that even the Nightmare Creatures on the ground stopped in confusion.

The human soldiers, who had developed a habit of glancing at Effie's towering figure frequently, did not miss the bizarre and baffling sight, either.

Perhaps both the abominations and the humans had a similar thought…

«I am seeing things, right?»

They weren't.

The only creature who wasn't confused was the Obsidian Giant. Because the Crawling Horror was flying directly at him.

Even though the four-faced titan was as tall as Effie, he would still be buried under the mountain of flesh if she managed to hit her target.

And she had immaculate aim.

The giant moved, bringing one of his six weapons up.

Then, it ruthlessly fell down. The stone mace struck the Crawling Horror in the air, damaging its body and slamming it into the ground. A lake of fetid blood flowed out of the wounds of the revolting abominations, drowning several streets.

The Obsidian Giant had avoided being struck by the titanic projectile.

…However, no sooner than the Crawling Horror hit the ground, the visage of a beautiful steel colossus was revealed from behind its enormous body, barreling toward the two titans at terrifying speed.

Her exquisite mask was emotionless and eerily calm.

Behind it, though, Effie's lips were twisted into a bestial snarl, and her eyes burned with murderous fury.

«Die!!!»