There was more movement in the shrubs to my left. I first suspected there to be more soldiers but that thought was quickly rebuked when a woman with large antlers charged out of the forest.
She screamed at the top of her lungs, her eyes locked on to the small antler girl that looked just like her. But she was unarmed, the only weapon at her disposal was her voice.
The soldier nearest to her didn't even hesitate as he struck her. He didn't kill her. Instead, the soldier struck her temple with the pommel of his steel sword. She collapsed to the ground and was dragged to the others by her hair.
"Mom!" The child screamed in terror. She tried to rush up to her mother, who regained her consciousness slowly, but was pushed back.
Then the soldiers looked at each other in a way that made my blood run cold.
"It's been quite a while since I had someone like her." One of the older soldiers cackled, his lips curling into a lustful smile.
He reached for the woman's dress and ripped it apart, ignoring the soldiers' complains. But they did not try to stop her. If anything, they wanted to get a taste of her first. That was what they complained about – nothing else.
I couldn't watch this nonsense any longer and shot into the air as a Kerink. The girl's scream rang in my ears, which were followed by the woman as she regained her senses. Tears welled in her eyes as she thrashed around but it was to no avail. The soldiers held her down as the older soldier got to work.
His hands were on the woman, ripping her dress apart. He was so focused on his task that the noises around him were swallowed. Even the chortle of the soldier standing to the side remained unnoticed.
I transformed into a Hnoll right beside the man standing to the side. A low, angry snarl escaped my maw before I knew, but it was already too late. One set of claws covered the soldier's mouth while the other held the crystallized blade slicing across the target's neck.
Human has been defeated. Shift has been updated.
It really does work. I shuddered, a wave of terror flooding my very being.
Then I heard the woman scream and looked up to see the older soldier's pants down to his knees. Terror was replaced by anger, and I transformed back into a human. Not into Xavier but into the soldier I just killed.
The shift was complete in a moment. It was not much of a change, in the first place, yet that was exactly what bothered me so much. The soldier had been a little shorter than I was, his shoulder pained from something constantly, and there was something about his right leg that didn't feel quite as balanced, but his Core was more progressed than mine. Not that it mattered.
I reached for the soldier's steel sword, my eyes drifting to the four men working on the woman and the sixth soldier who kicked the antler girl for the second time. He enjoyed hurting the girl way too much. Alas, I couldn't split myself. I–
Forget that shit.
Even as I used Shift to transform into another humanoid being, my belt and both pouches and crystallized weapons attached to it remained with me. So I retrieved a needle from the Bloodleer Bush and rushed up to the lone man.
"Hey dude, do you need some help with her?" I asked, my stomach churning as the girl looked up at me in fear.
The soldier's head yanked in my direction and the glee in his eyes dimmed ever so slightly."Fuck off, Cedric. I don't need you fucking–"
I didn't let him finish and rammed the Bloodleer thorn into his neck.
"Shupt up, will you?" My voice rang out void of emotions. It would have surprised me if I had not been this angry with the earl's soldiers. After all they had done to me and the other Chosen, they continued to torture other people. I didn't even want to know how many atrocities they committed before that.
They had it coming.
The soldier collapsed to his knees as a fountain of blood spurted from his neck. His eyes were wide in terror and disbelief, but I couldn't care less about him.
"Can you stay out of trouble, little one?" I asked the antler girl as gently as I could but she only screamed and pulled back.
It was only when I transformed into a Blue Slime and then back into human Xavier that she stopped screaming – more out of shock than anything.
"Please stay out of trouble. That way, I can help your mommy."
She didn't scream, but the fear in her eyes intensified. Alas, the little girl nodded. That had to count for something. It certainly was enough for me.
I spun around and burst into action, transforming into the strongest shift at my disposal – A Hnoll.
The soldiers must have noticed something because they called out to each other, yet the oldest shouted at them. He forced their attention back to the resisting woman, making sure they held her down as he enjoyed himself.
That turned out to be a grave mistake on his part. Only one of the soldiers saw me coming.
"Hnoll!" He shouted but the steel sword in my hand was already working its wonders, beheading the older soldier before he could insert himself in places he did not belong.
The other crystallized blade appeared in my other clawed hand, but I failed to take full advantage of the surprise effect. My target released the woman and pulled back quickly enough to evade the crystallized blade. Trying to make up for my failure, I shifted to the Arok Serpent and leaped at the same man an instance later. The steel sword and crystallized blade clattered to the ground as my serpent form struck through
A fire coalesced out of thin air as he shouted something in a language I never heard before, but my fangs connected with the target even as flames consumed me.
The pain was real, but the satisfaction of killing a man who wasn't even worth the mud in a pig's den was much greater.
Alas, the fight was not yet over. The flames were still around me, and all I saw were kill notifications and a hand reaching through the flames.
A little bit more. Just a bit! I chidded myself and used Shift once again.