Maids VS Apocalypse

"Uwah, I might’ve done it this time..."

Taking a flashbang to the face had left it covered in tears and snot, which forced the woman with the red cloak to remove her mask and hood.

Hiding her identity was pointless from the beginning, but for some reason, her partner insisted that she do it. She brushed her long red hair back while taking in the aftermath of her rampage, pursing her lips as she understood what kind of trouble she was in.

"Clyde is gonna be really pissed..."

Several mistakes led her to this situation, the first among them being underestimating the young man she was told to play with. Her partner had already stressed the fact that the boy was someone special, and even though she knew the Peace Keepers had many Awakened who could produce items from games and fiction, she still let her guard down after seeing the test tubes.

Her second mistake was thinking the flash bang was a normal grenade. She was so relieved that the cylinder wasn’t the boy’s meat sausage that it didn’t even occur to her that he might have added another layer to his trick.

Despite being impenetrable barriers, Force Fields work in a way that lets some things pass through. Air, sound, and light were the main examples, and without cranking up the Force Field’s output to the maximum they could still reach the user.

Since she was only bracing for the physical damage of a mere grenade, the red hood saw no need to go all out. That decision led to her taking the sudden burst of light directly, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, the loud explosion caused her eardrums to pop.

That was only the start of her bad luck, however.

Just as she was about to summon her Halo to hopefully do something about her miserable state, something smashed the back of her head, rattling her brain to the point that she fell face-first to the ground.

Back then, if she hadn’t felt the sudden urge to raise the output of her Force Field, the blow would surely have smashed her head in and ended her life.

The boy was a week old Awakened at best while she was an experienced Apprentice on her way to reaching the Rank of a Soldier. Being defeated in such a manner was a kind of humiliation she had never experienced before. Such humiliation gave birth to unimaginable rage that manifested in an uncontrolled rampage.

The result was the destruction of several city blocks. She only noticed the results after calming down and could already see the trouble she got herself into.

Miraculously, the boy who almost killed her survived. He was buried under piles of rubble, sure, but his still breathing was what was important.

Her anger gave way to a sense of amazement and she was once again convinced that they hit the jackpot.

"Well, he won’t be going anywhere..." She muttered to herself. "I should take care of..."

With the boy going nowhere she decided to go handle the girl with silver hair. It was then that she noticed the absence of a certain presence.

Her eyes went wide as she turned in the direction she last saw him. At that moment her entire body came under such unbelievable pressure, leaving her completely petrified.

~[ ]~

The sudden burst of light felt familiar to Lara and she quickly remembered the plan they used against Malarak.

Due to the distance and Mark’s body blocking the way, the light didn’t have much of an effect on her or the monster she was fighting. That’s why, as much as she wanted to rush to her master’s aid, the Fallen refused to let her go.

’If only I...’

Gritting her teeth, Lara glanced in her master’s direction just in time to see him smash a brick on his assailant’s head. The sight took her by surprise.

Her master, the same person who struggled to defeat a single mutated animal, had just landed a devastating blow to a much more powerful enemy. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes she would never have believed that he was capable of such a feat.

Seeing him run away brought her some much-needed relief. Sadly, even though the pull of the contract had weakened, the relief that was brought only lasted for a few seconds.

The red hood started blasting the area with beams of light. Though it appeared like she was shooting at random, the beams always seemed to converge around the same area, alerting Lara to the high likelihood of the enemy being able to perceive her master’s location without having to rely on sight.

Understanding she didn’t have any more leeway, Lara was about to summon her Halo. Just then, her clothes suddenly changed and she found herself back in a maid’s uniform.

Her daze only lasted for a single instant before understanding the situation and going on the offense.

Lara had long since concluded that the giant lizard keeping her occupied was a thrall belonging to one of their attackers, most likely the hooded woman.

Though the Force Runes required to gain control of a Madness-infested abomination weren’t rare, using them with such proficiency required a great amount of talent. That was a sign of the woman’s capabilities, and being aware of that, Lara knew she would have to act fast.

The enthralled lizard sensed the sudden change and tensed up. Sadly, it could do nothing except follow its master’s command and continue attacking the girl with silver hair.

It swiped its claws and whipped with its tail but was never able to land a blow. The girl’s speed seemed to have increased a great deal allowing her to dodge the strike she would have had to block before.

Focusing her mind, Lara summoned her Halo and enveloped the head of her spear in a mystical white energy. Retreating a few steps, she spun the long weapon and took a fighting stance.