The battlefield was lit almost like day with the broken moon rising in the sky.
Noble did not care. She didn't want to hide. If anything, she wanted the abominations to look up and see her. Then perhaps they would give the people on the ground a fighting chance.
While some of the humans were Awakened, many of them were servants who only fought when they had no choice. They had no choice now.
Noble had no choice either. It was kill or be killed. She tucked the hand mirror tightly into her belt with a determined nod.
Tinged with poison, the Zenith shimmered lightly in the moonlight. Noble gripped it tightly, her battle plan forming in her mind.
She dove, her entire being filled with killing intent. The Queen of the Dreamscape was not a murderer. She was a protector of people. And for that reason, all of the monsters before her would come to ruin.
Her suicidal plummet would have broken the neck of a mundane human, but Noble stayed her course. She pulled up at the last possible moment before colliding with the ground, her sword slipping from her side as she sped parallel to the hillside.
The closest spider lifted its mouth to intercept her, but that was a grave mistake. The arrow she had shot before might have bounced off their chitin, but this sword was no ordinary blade. It cut into the creature's skull with barely a whisper. The blade continued down the length of the spider's body as the creature unsuccessfully contorted to stop her. Fetid blood spilled on the ground, but Noble did not stop to see it.
Her blade was already taking aim at the next creature.
Unfortunately, the creature had seen her coming and dashed to the side just in time. It escaped with a single severed leg.
The voice of the Spell whispered in her head.
[You have slain a Fallen Monster, One of the Woven.]
'One of the Woven?' Noble let the thought creep into her head.
She had instinctively gone for one of the larger creatures, and now she realized that there were at least two types of spiders in the group. This one had been one of the more deadly, especially for the Awakened and mundane people of Syrce's army.
Noble decided to pick off the rest of the powerful ones first. Leaving the seven-legged spider to be trampled by its companions, Child of Promise angled to her left.
Two more of the Woven were at the front of the battle, one heading for the humans while the second was being beaten back by the Others. Noble was willing to let the Others fend for themselves.
Actually, with the arrival of the Spiders, the Others had limited their aggression against the people in favor of attacking the arachnids. While not a perfect alliance by any stretch of the imagination, it was a tentative one, and Noble was not about to rock the boat.
That didn't mean she was going to help the Others. The real army was her one and only priority. With that fleeting thought, Noble slammed into the spider who was about to reach the front lines of the humans. Its face was reflected in the eyes of the men when it was suddenly rocketed to one side.
The smaller spiders were pulled along in its wake, creating a pile of chitin that scraped against one another in a hideous cacophony. The Woven was thrown onto its back by the force of Noble's punch, but that did not stop it.
On top of the insect pile, the Monster's legs cracked and bent at unnatural angles until the sharp ends were below it once more. That is when Noble noticed a second set of eyes on the underside of the creature's skull... or what used to be the underside at least.
'I don't suppose it has an underside, only two top sides...' Noble got a look at the second side of the creature in the pale moonlight.
She frowned. Stitches of silver lined the torso, like strange embroidery. The image was moving too much for Noble to completely discern, but it resembled something she had seen before.
'A mask? Why would there be an emblem on a Monster?'
Had it once belonged to someone? Could Nightmare Creatures belong to anything but corruption?
It didn't matter. The Monster was about to make another pass at Noble, and she couldn't let it have its way. When it lunged at her from the pile, she leaned into the assault. Its front legs contorted to grab her, only to be sliced at the joint.
Hissing, the creature convulsed to attack her as she flew underneath, but the sharp tips only found its own abdomen instead.
Behind the spinneretes, Noble launched herself upward and stabbed the creature on top, hitting the Monster right above the empty eyes of the strange three-horned mask adorning its back. Looking at the stitched emblem made her shiver.
The incapacitated creature shivered too, fallingl to the ground in a lifeless heap. The Spell announced the kill a moment later. Noble had already moved on.
The smaller spiders swarmed, trying to reach her by climbing as they had at the edge of the mirror lake.
That suited Noble just fine. She flew straight up, hiding herself in the light of the broken moon before spiraling down with her sword in front of her. She had dealt with a column of creatures chasing after her before. This time, instead of toppling them, she would face them head-on.
The sword sliced through the spiders. Her helmet crashed into others, sending blood spraying into her visor. Noble shut her eyes. Thankfully, she had other ways to see.
The Spell's voice overlapped in quick succession as she pulled out of the barrel roll. Her instincts told her to get out of the way. She dodged narrowly escaping one of Helie's explosive arrows. The Speall droned on.
[You have slain an Awakened Monster, A Thread.]
[You have slain...]
[You have slain...]
[You have received a Memory.]
[You have slain an Awakened Monster, A Thread.]
'A Thread?'
Noble tucked away the information. She had noticed a strange golden string trailing from the creatures when they died, but she doubted that was the only reason for their name. The Spell was very particular about its titles.
Those golden strings now trailed across the battlefield, waving subtly among the chaos as they were torn apart by the fierce fighting.
Noble paid them little mind as she continued her assault on the alien arachnids. She had come far from her early days as a sleeper, where even the thought of having to fight for her life filled her with anxiety and fear. Sure, she was still afraid, but now it was for her family and those she loved. She let that terror fuel her, making her more determined than she had ever been.
The creatures crumbled beneath her ire, each of them getting their mention from the spell before being completely forgotten by the focused Master.
It was almost too easy…too automatic.
The thought no sooner came than Noble regretted it.
For at that moment, the center of the spiders scattered without one of Helie's arrows to threaten them.
Noble saw her newest enemy.