194 CXCIV. The Harshness

Then he raised the weapon upwards and with it, also the body of Dag, who continued to hold the hammer for fear of being disarmed.

He was unable to get off there, due to the enemy's superhuman force, which as Dag squirmed, projected him violently down, causing him to end up back on the ground.

The blow was very violent and Dag lost his breath for a few seconds.

"After only 10 years away from Earth, have you forgotten what respect is? Never again dare to use that coarse language in our presence, mortal!" exclaimed the old woman, in a paradoxically calm and smooth voice, hitting Dag with a kick, which caused him to roll onto the ground, causing him much damage.

"You can't! I've seen the Captain killing enemies with a single hammer strike, but this time... his shots can't even scratch that woman! Is the power of the Xis that great? What's going to happen now?!" thought Reidar, who despite the cold, was sweating from his forehead, his hands shaking with nervousness, as he watched his companions, who looked at the woman, terrified.

"Respect? You've exterminated everything and everyone... not only human beings, even the Gods have been driven from the Earth, their home, our home. How could I have respect for such despicable beings!" said Dag, as he was still lying on the ground.

A slight expression of anger drew on the old woman's face, who lifted Dag by his neck, holding him up with his feet off the ground, in front of her.

"You're talking about things bigger than you. I don't know how you came about this information, but it's not up to you. Your words have just killed these other humans that you call 'comrades'" the woman said, looking Dag in the eye.

After those words, the man behind her began to walk toward Gridd and the others.

"No! Stop! They have nothing to do with it? Do you want me, right? All right! Take me with you!" shouted Dag, trying to stop the man's advance, squirming unnecessarily from the woman's grip, which despite her short stature kept him lifted from the ground.

With the hammer, Dag repeatedly hit her on the head, but the blows bounced as if the weapon was made of rubber.

"Your lower intellect doesn't let you understand that these weapons that make you so confident, are just toys" she continued, smiling slightly.

"Aaaagh!" Dag continued to hit her, this time also with the axe, whose blade crawled on the woman's neck, emitting sparks as if she was made of metal.

"Come on... show us what you are capable of, human" she continued, provoking Dag as he unleashed blind strikes.

Meanwhile, the man stopped in front of Gridd, who pointed her swords at him.

"I don't know what you want from my brother, but you are a threat and you will be eliminated!" she yelled, as Lara, her young pupil, stood between her Master and the enemy.

"You were wrong to attack us. I don't know where you came from, but you probably don't know the strength of the Sons Of Freya! You're going to pay for what you're doing to our new Warchief!" yelled Lara, who pulled two daggers from behind her back and charged at the man, trying to hit him.

"Lara! Where do you go, stop!" shouted Gridd, caught off guard, trying to stop the young Shieldmaiden.

The man, seeing the girl coming towards him, raised his arm, moving his hand to the side, as if he wanted to move the leaves of a bush in front of him.

As she ran, Lara was completely disintegrated: her blood and organs were reduced to small pieces, squirting in the direction the enemy's hand moved, smearing the trees, the trunks of which turned red.

"Aaaaaaagh!" shouted Gridd, in a desperate expression, after seeing her young pupil reduced to shreds.

Karl, weak in the stomach, after witnessing the scene, could not suppress a nervous vomit.

Meanwhile, Dag was still immobilized by the woman as he desperately tried to hit her.

After yet another needless axe blow, he dropped both of his weapons to the ground.

"Captain!" yelled Reidar in a panic, fearing that Dag had surrendered to his fate.

Soon after, he charged an arrow, activating the power of the Failnaught, who created two more magic ones.

He quickly shot them at the woman, hitting her with all three arrows behind the back, but she did not move an inch.

"Captain! Free yourself from there! Go away!" continued Reidar, continuing to fire arrows at the enemy, who within seconds was shot repeatedly in the back.

"You inferior beings can be really annoying" said the old woman, raising her hand to Reidar, who was struck by an invisible power and impacted into a tree behind him, falling to the ground, wounded.

In the meanwhile, Dag looked on the ground, focusing on the sounds around him.

Gridd, after recovering from the shock, got up and ran towards the man, who raised his hand towards her, who with a dash, dodged the shockwave that would kill her instantly.

"Aaagh! Die!" she yelled, piercing the enemy on his side.

The man turned to her as if nothing had happened and grabbed her by the neck, throwing her to the ground violently, causing her to end up near the tree where Reidar had just slammed on.

Agnes managed to move the horses, to prevent them from escaping, hiding behind some stale bushes near one of the thermal springs.

"Gridd! Get up! We must get away, otherwise, we're all going to die! These are not mere human beings, we have no chance!" yelled Karl, running to his companions on the ground, trying to help them.

"Gridd..." whispered Dag, devoid of strength.

"Is that the name of the young female human? Gridd... why does the thought of something bad happening to her scare you? Your lives have no value, you are just a race that is one step short of extinction" the woman said, trying to look Dag in the eye.