The creatures of The Hive were not very strong, but their sheer numbers were the problem. Lenny and the young woman battled them a long while, but it was a still a drop in the ocean. No matter how many creatures they killed, more kept pouring out of the tunnels, until the hall was filled with Hive abominations.
They were surrounded from all sides. They were still strangers, but that did not stop them from working together. The young woman was surprisingly strong and agile – even though she was still at the level of a Commonality. She had a small azure dagger, which she used to wound the creatures.
They worked well together, and there was no need – or time for words. Lenny did not have a weapon, his weapons were his fists. He swinged his arm and felt a loud crack as his elbow connected with the face of a creature behind him. A moment later, he was upon another one.
He dogged a fist and landed his own, shattering a few ribs and internal organs – if the creatures even had one – and winced as hot crimson liquid spilled all over his face. He spared a moment to wipe his face, and look around the grand hall. Things were not looking good for the two Commonalities.
There were dozens of Hive creatures scattered around the hall, surrounding they prey from all sides. The young woman was not doing well either. She was not gravely injured – or injured at all, but by the looks of it, she was losing energy and essence. She did not look like a combatant either, Lenny could tell by the way she fought.
It was one of those mundane fighting moved from the self-protection classes the young awakened took, in order to be able to survive the second trial. She was currently making due, but it was not going to last very long. The individual creatures of The Hive were comparatively weak, but there were far too many of them. One mistake, and she was dead.
Lenny did not know why she cared so much about the young woman, but the thought of not being alone in the hellish island gave him a certain measure of solace. He also felt responsible for the lives of the surviving awakened trapped with him of the island. He did not know whether it was because he was obviously the oldest, or because he had personally dragged them into the portal.
But that was not his fault, he only did what Master Rossa told him to. His hands were tied as well. And now, he could not help but feel guilty now that they were currently surrounded by almost a hundred creatures.
He descended upon the enemy once more, this time fighting his way towards the young woman. He knew that these creatures were of a singular mind, and so they were logically one Chaos Creature, but he still felt it was weird not hearing the system announce a single kill, especially after dozens of abominations fell be his hand... literally.
He knew what had to be done though, and that was why he was fighting towards the young woman. As he got closer, he got a much clearer view of the young woman. She was extremely beautiful, even by the standards of a Commonality. It was pretty common knowledge that after awakening from the Nightmare, the features of a Commonality went through profound changes.
The Eplialtic Weave not only made humans much stronger, it also made them purer as well. The humans called this phenomenon Purification. When a human becomes a Commonality, the Weave system gets rid of all impurities on the body, leaving it flawless and pure. That is why every awakened was good-looking, but the young woman easily surpassed most of them.
Her beauty surpassed even a ton of Gentries, who were obviously more good-looking than Commonalities.
Lenny crushed the skull of one creature, reducing its head into a bloody pulp, and lunged towards another one. He made sure to maintain the view of the breathtaking young woman in front of her. Also, there was something else she noticed about the young woman in front of him.
She did use her Ability ever since the battle begun, which told Lenny a few things about the nature of her awakening. By the looks of it, she seemed to be one of those Commonalities with utility based abilities that were utterly useless in a battle like that.
But of course, he could also be wrong. There were times where awakened concealed the true nature of their abilities, for many different reasons. Many of them included them being too destructive and dangerous to society, while others simply did not like war oriented abilities.
But Lenny doubted that was the case. He still decided to let it go though, he would know one way or another in the future.
She seemed to have noticed that Lenny was moving towards him, so she cleared the way towards him as well. It was a foolish thing really – what they were attempting to do that is. There was really no place for communication and recuperation in the battlefield, and Lenny knew that very well.
But they had very little choice. If they wanted to survive the onslaught of The Hive, they had to stick together and carry out the plan Lenny had in mind. It was simple really, but also very dangerous because one would need to submerge himself into the heart, or rather the mind of The Hive in order to successfully destroy it.
After a short while of battle, they finally reached each other. They turned their backs and leaned against one another. Lenny kicked an abomination in the abdomen, while the young woman slit the throat of another. Its was a pretty clumsy move, but it was successful nonetheless.
"We have to do something!"
Lenny shouted through the chaos. The girl remained silent for a few long moments, looking around the messy hall as if searching for something. Then suddenly, Lenny felt something subtle but also commanding, akin to subtle presence of sorts. Actually, it felt exactly like the presence of a Commonality actually.
When the girl had found whatever she was looking for, she suddenly turned to face him. A chill ran down his spine. It was not fear, something else. The feeling of being stripped naked by some unkown force. As if the girl was staring directly into his soul.
He evaded an attack from a few nearby creatures, and turned them to a pile of bloody mush a moment later. Just like he did with all the others.
"I found it, the Mind!"
She shouted, her delicate voice barely audible in the noise. She pointed somewhere deep inside The Hive. Lenny followed her finger and frowned. He knew instantly that that point would barely be penetrable. Even if he did manage to get through, there was no guarantee he would be able to survive a second in that mess, let alone get to the Mind.
He had to try though.
He looked at the girl and nodded, there was nothing more he could say. They were in the middle of a battle after all.
"Defend my back."
He said as he sprinted towards the cluster of creatures where the girl had pointed before. She followed. He strained his muscles and poured almost everything he had into them, merging the innate strength of a Commonality, and his fearsome ability. He tyranny multiplied tenfold, even the girl seemed shook by the sensation.
He descended upon the abomination, rendering their fortress formation apart. The girl protected his back to make sure no creature attacked him from behind, but it was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed her.
So Lenny had to hurry.
He crushed the skull of one creature with one hand, and punched another abomination with the other. He moved through the creatures like an omen of dread. The Hive must have realized what he was attempting to do and tried to bring him down, only to fail miserably.
The creatures were so weak that a newly awakened would be more that capable to deal with them, the only problem was their sheer numbers.
They still endured though, but their ambitious endeavors shifted the battle against them. Then if felt like the whole world was fighting against them.
The creatures turned more vicious, alert and much faster. They seemed more intelligent as he got closer to the Mind. That would cause problems not only for the delicate beauty behind him, but also for him as well.
They were much stronger as he got dangerously close to his victory. One creature managed to land a punch on his abdomen, but he managed to shrugged it off. He was still a child of war, no matter how much he despised it. It was in situations like those where his Might rained supreme.
And so he devastated the The Hive, leaving only corpses and pools of blood in his wake.