78 Battle in the Hotel

Eden and the others convinced me not to charge out immediately while they take a moment to prepare. Licking my fangs with excitement, I glance at Aponi and Jimmy, who are checking their rifles, suppressors, and extra magazines. They both nod, and I turn my sight back toward the brawl, which has lost energy. The original Brute lays on the ground breathing heavily, trying to force itself from the ground until it finally collapses unconscious. Of the seven Crawlers that were once swarming him, five have broken away to attack the other two Brutes. Overwhelmed, a second brute collapses to its knee before roaring and seemingly finding a surge of energy, it starts ripping Crawlers from its flesh.

"Now," I shout.

Aponi and Jimmy raise their rifles and step from cover first. The fiery sound of gunfire echoes loudly throughout the hotel as bullets begin to rip through drywall and crawler flesh. The Crawlers turn and begin to screech only for one of their jaws to be blown off instantly. The rifle's fire in what seems to be bursts of three rounds as there is a slight pause between each three-round burst.

**PopPopPop.**

The rifles beat down upon the creatures as spent casings clatter against the floor.

The Brutes howl, but I am unsure how deep the bullets are actually penetrating their hide as they don't seem to have slowed very much under the rifle's fire. The Crawlers seem torn on what to do and are unsure if they should abandon the Brutes to counter-attack. However, I don't give them the time to consider their options.

Once the two's initial magazines run dry, I motion to Eden and Kardama, and the three of us leave cover. Seemingly coming to a decision, the Crawlers screech as three abandon the two Brutes while the last two Crawlers left on the original Brute also joins them. Being out front, they initially charge me, and I raise the scythe bringing it down upon the closest, jawless Crawler. It gurgles and raises its arms, but the scythe slices through them and wedges itself into the top of its skull.

[50% Contribution - 9 Essence Acquired]

Seeing this, the Crawlers screech and jump to the sides. A slight lull occurs where the Crawlers continue screeching loudly and continuously.

'I forgot about Essence splitting since I've been alone in the system. Must have been one of the level 2 Crawlers to give so much essence.'

To break the lull, I look back at Aponi and Jimmy, who have already reloaded and have their rifles ready. Seeing me, they raise the rifles at the Crawlers and begin firing once again. The Crawlers seeing this start to go around us to attack Aponi and Jimmy. Kardama moves to intercept them, but the four remaining Crawlers have split.

I charge forward, 'I'm interested in seeing Kardama in action but don't have time.'

Eden and I charge toward the two standing Brutes still fighting two Crawler's each. As Eden and I arrive the Crawlers jump away from the Brutes and join together. The two Brutes run to the side of the downed original Brute and howl at the two of us and the Crawlers. Just as I'm considering attacking the Crawlers, bullets start pelting them.

I glance back to see Kardama slamming a push-dagger into the base of a Crawler's skull and Aponi slipping her rifle behind her on a strap and pulling out her tomahawk. The four Crawlers near Eden and I screech and reluctantly leave to join the remaining Crawlers.

"Alright, one on one, you ready Eden?"

"Y-Yeah, but which one of these Brutes is female?"

"The one to the left… wait no... The one to the right."

The two Brutes don't wait any longer; they begin charging us.

"Which one!?" Eden yells.

'I don't have time to \u003cAnalyze\u003e again just for gender.'

"Just attack the one to the left!"

Apparently not listening, Eden crosses in front of me and runs toward the one to the right. Sighing and shaking my head, I charge at the one to the left.

The Brute brings down a heavy fist, and I dodge to the right. It hits the ground causing the tile beneath its strike to shatter. I step forward and bring the scythe downward at the area near its armpit in hopes of crippling its arm. Unfortunately, the Brute also jabs its fist at me, forcing me to stop my attack and raise the scythe to block. The scythe cracks under the force spewing blood onto the Brutes hand to its surprise.

I sneer, "Gotcha."

The blood begins hardening and squeezing at the Brute's fist, and it roars loudly, before slapping at me with the back of its other hand. I lean back as the backhand flies just a few inches past my nose. Leaning back farther than intended, I lose balance and fall onto my back. The Brute, noticing this, slam its fist that is stiff with blood downwards like a hammer, and I roll to the side. A cold sweat runs down my neck as the fist just misses, causing some of the hardened blood to fragment under the force.

With its palm against the floor, I return the blood to a somewhat plastic state and harden it again against the concrete below the smashed tiles. It tries to jerk its hand from the floor, but the blood holds it against the concrete floor. With an opportunity, I kick my feet bringing myself back into a standing position and run to the back of the Brute. Thrusting the scythe, I aim for the Brute's achilles tendon. The scythe sinks a few inches into the Brute's heel, and it howls as it begins to struggle to break its palm from the floor. I draw the scythe from its heel making sure to slice further into the tendon. Once out, I raise it once again to cut at its heels, but abruptly its palm along with a chunk of concrete is ripped from the floor.

Seeing this, I pivot the scythe upward instead, making a long lateral gash in the back of its leg. It angrily swings back at me with its fist, and I jump backward, colliding into something with a familiar fruity scent.

"That you, Eira?" I hear Eden ask with her back to me.

"Yeah, how's it going with you?"

"Their skin is really thick, so it's frustrating, but at least they're sorta slow."

"Mhm, there's no point to shallow cuts, try aiming for vitals, eyes, tendons, or somewhere else crippling."

The two of us begin rotating around while the two Brutes pace around us anxiously. The Brute I've been battling is limping from the wounds to its leg. I glance at Eden's Brute, who is full of shallow scratches and holes with several lines of blood near its eyes. My gaze turns to Kardama and the others as I see two Crawlers spring at Aponi, she hits one with an uppercut from the tomahawk, the second Crawler bites at her shin, and rips into it. Jimmy steps forward and shoots the Crawler in the side of the head while it still has its teeth in Aponi.

The Brutes, seemingly tired of waiting, howl, and I glance at Eden, "Let's swap!"

"Okay," Eden responds.

We rotate, swapping Brutes, and I charge ahead immediately. The Brute holds up its boat oar and swats at me, and at the same time, I extend my nails. Jumping to the side, I strike with my nails slicing the end of the oar off. Unexpectedly the Brute doesn't seem surprised and instead simply stops and grins at the now sharpened stake-like pole.

I shake my head, "Don't you dare try to stake me!"

It raises the sharpened stake and starts stabbing at my chest with it. I start stepping back, but the Brute's long reach makes it feel like no matter how far I step back, it isn't enough. Tired of retreating, I stop and wait for the Brute to move closer. Once it gets close enough, I swing upward, and at the same time, the Brute stabs at my heart. Maintaining my motion I shift my body, and the stake forces itself into my shoulder; however, my scythe doesn't stop.

A wet thump sounds as two fingers hit the floor, spurting blood, and I leap back with the stake still embedded within my shoulder. Yanking the stake from my shoulder, I toss it to the side and raise my palm, "Blood Spike!"

Firing three blood spikes, the Brute raises its damaged hand to protect its face. One embeds itself into its hand, the second misses, and the third sinks into its chest, only going a few inches deep. The Brute stumbles, but I don't let up as I storm forward. Grabbing the scythe from the very end to get the maximum reach, I swing it in a wide arc, aiming for its carotid artery with all the force I can muster. Again it raises its hand, and the scythe digs into its wrist nearly severing it except for a patch of muscle and skin that it now hangs from. It howls in pain and then surprisingly yells something that resembles words.

"Eira!" Eden yells.

"What is it?" I respond.

Suddenly, I notice a shadow covering me, so I leap away, and a foot stomps the ground where I was just standing. Where I once stood now stands the once unconscious and heavily wounded Brute that we followed here.

"It got back up? I didn't think it could even stand."

However, it can be seen that it is barely able to stand. It roars at the other two Brutes, and they roar back before reluctantly turning away. Quickly, the large Brute moves between us and the two other Brutes and it starts slapping the ground threateningly. The concrete cracks and crumbles as it continues to put on an over the top display.

A realization strikes me, "It's just trying to distract us! The other two are about to run for it!" I shout.

As I start to try to run toward the fleeing Brutes, the huge Brute slaps at me and I roll to the side. Eden also starts to run, but the huge Brute picks up its discarded pipe and waves it recklessly at Eden. I turn to see if Jimmy can shoot at them, but they are barely managing against the crawlers. The Brute's feet slap against the ground as they limp toward the door they originally came from, leaving a trail of blood behind them.

"M-My essence is getting away!"

The pressure within the scythe has dropped significantly, but I decide to use a blood slice. The scythe cracks and I sling the blade of the scythe toward the two escaping Brutes. A blade of blood accelerates toward the Brutes, but unfortunately, something unexpected happens when the huge Brute sprints in front of the swipe opening a gash in its own chest.

"Stop, stopping me!" I yell.

The Brute sways weakly but keeps a strong facade as it continues to threaten action by putting on a display. Establishing some distance between us, I look at Eden, "Go help them finish the Crawlers. This thing will probably pass out from blood loss soon."

With the others distracted I summon the cage I made earlier, "Make sure you leave one alive."