A flurry of arrows and even some bolts of magic zipped towards us, igniting my instincts far faster than my mind could realize as I threw myself back behind a wall and hid from the storm of projectiles.
For her part Dama just seemed content to create her own wall where she stood, raising a chunk of the earth and leaning against it as she looked around for me; when she saw where I was another chunk of earth rose from the ground, and she beckoned for me to come out and join her.
"Oh, so you can do magic huh~? Do you think it'll save you~?"
The bemused voice of the Leopardkin overwhelmed the zipping of the bolts or the clattering of the arrows, making me frown as I tried to decipher what she meant; while Dama further entrenched us and began to come up with a plan, I focused on our surroundings and just kept watch.
It was a good thing that I had decided that since a blur of green and pale flesh rushed on towards me, with a more dangerous glittering silver beam flashing straight towards my throat; raising my spear and blocking the swing with the haft, I caught the blade of my hopeful killer and pushed back even as I took in her appearance.
That scantily clad mercenary was grinning at me as she pressed her weight against the haft of my spear, her jagged dagger screeching against the metal as she tried to leverage this position and ram her blade into my sternum.
"Well well well~! You're a handsome one too~! Deerkin... Northern blood, so that means your virile~! Haven't had me a good buck in a long time~!"
Even as I pushed her back and swept out my spear to try and catch her as she was forced away she still found the time to say that, grinning at me and licking her lips like she was staring at some delicious meal waiting to be devoured.
"Say, I think we could forgive the two of you for killing all our gals if you just promised to lay down these spears and come on over to our camp~! A warrior like you... I imagine you have quite the cock, don't ya~?"
Despite asking if I would lay down my weapon and surrender, she still lunged forwards and tried to stab that dagger into my throat, both of her hands on its hilt as she hoped to break through my defenses with just speed.
Sadly for her a quick jolt of mana throughout my entire system had me seeing the world in slow motion, and I could move far faster than I normally would; swaying to the side and avoiding the stab, I tried to slam the haft of my spear into her uncovered belly only to growl in annoyance as I 'hit' air.
Clicking her tongue and jumping away from me, the scantily clad woman was still grinning as she spun her dagger around in her hand, fiddling with it and making me all the more wary as I tried to guess what was next.
That grin faded a little as a spire of rock shot up from beneath her feet, causing her to jump even further away before she dashed back into the cave, leaving the open area with an annoyed growl.
"Don't be playing around now, Aethisia. These women are fucking crazy, and they very much will kill us."
"I know. I just didn't expect her to be that fast..."
Turning back to Dama, I felt a conflicted rush of amusement and irritation when I saw her smirking at me with a raised brow, the older Deerkin seemingly ignoring the projectiles still flying our way as she asked "You didn't think the woman wearing leather strips to cover her nipples and pussy was fast?"
I just gave her a look before focusing on the matter at hand, which she thankfully followed suit on as she said "Alright, I'm just going to push this forwards and get us into the cave. Watch my back and keep the speedster off of me."
Widening the wall and curling it around herself, Dama protected her sides and above her with the thick rock before beginning to walk forwards, pushing the wall towards the cave and covering the ground between us rather quickly.
Falling in line behind her, I held my spear at the ready and strained my senses, listening for the sound of footsteps or the whooshing of wind; whenever I thought I heard it I tensed a little, but I didn't react too much otherwise.
When she did make an appearance again I was ready, my spear swinging out to meet her dagger once more before I planted my feet and shoved, creating space between us that gave me the opportunity to retaliate.
Channeling my mana into my arms and then onto my spear, I felt an exhilarating rush of adrenaline running through my body as electricity crackled around my weapon, only for it to lunge forwards and arc through the air towards her.
A bolt of purplish blue connected us, and with a sharp cry she was flung backwards as the lightning bolt slammed against her torso, charring her flesh and entering her body; even still she just rolled right onto her feet and dashed away, not any slower despite having been just struck by lightning.
The moment I had channeled the lightning over to her some of the mercenaries rushed out of the cave and swarmed us, bringing my attention back to my immediate surroundings as I swung my spear again.
Despite treating it like a cutting tool rather than a piercing one, the weapon did far better than I had ever expected as it sliced through the neck of one of the mercenaries with ease, carving a thick gash that poured out enough blood to thoroughly soak the gravel below.
The second mercenary was barely any better off as the tip of my spear sliced through her plate and cut into her chest, opening a wound that sent her reeling backwards as she tried desperately to stop the bleeding.
And then the third was struck by the neck of my spear, the small cross guard punching into the poor woman's temple and killing her instantly as I cracked her skull like a watermelon; this was the second time I was killing someone through close combat, and just like before it was... shockingly easy.
I had no time to think about it though because we were at the entrance of the cave, and therefore we were no longer going to be facing off against just weak mercenaries; we were going to be face to face with the two big bads, and if that one hadn't been taken down by a bolt of lightning to the chest, well...
This was going to be 'fun', wasn't it?