We all stared at each other as if locked in some kind of dead lock.
My gaze stuck on the creature. From the mana I sensed from the serpents, they were much weaker than me.
The only one here who was worth something was this creature.
'Hey system.' I thought. I didn't know if this would work as I've never tried communicating with my thoughts before but–
[Yes host.]
What do you know. It works. Anyway...
'System, what is that?' I asked, referring to the creature ahead.
[That is a mimic sir.] The system responded in its usual robotic feminine tone.
'A mimic? What's a mimic?'
[Right. You wouldn't know. A mimic is a new type of monster that was born during this past thousand years. It came around six or seven hundred years ago.]
'Seven hundred years ago huh.' Wait wasn't–
[Yes sir. The Demon Cult was formed around seven hundred years ago. It is believed by the populace that the mimic was created by the pope of the demonic Cult.]
'Ysvera huh.' Damn. 'What are the mimics abilities?'
[Like their name suggests, they are able to mimic the voice of anyone they hear, eat or touch.]
'Wait. That's it. Kinda disappointing. Now it doesn't look so menacing anymore.'
[It also has above average mana for a mana beast and it is physically domineering than the average mana beast anyway.]
'Huh.' But then again, thinking about it, it'd have to be that average to be captured and tamed by low level thugs like the serpents.
'Hm. If it only has to hear the voice of a target to mimic it's voice, does that mean–'
[Yes. It is possible that Miss Evelyn is still lives.]
'Guess we'll just leave one of them ali–' I paused in my thoughts as I stared at Alice and Beatrice.
They had taken a stance and were looking at me for approval or something.
Looking around, the serpent's numbers weren't that high. There were only about ten of them here.
"Haaa." I sighed as I augmented my feet with mana. In an instant the world blurred around me as I arrived in front of the mimic.
It slashed at me with it's long arms and jagged claws. I bent low to dodge the swing as I unsheathed my sword in a quick–
Slash!
Black blood sprayed everywhere as its arms slid off from its shoulders.
"Eek–"
WHAP!
Before it could shriek any further, I grabbed its face with my mana augmented fists.
"Shut up, freak." I muttered in a cold tone before I squeezed it's face.
CRRRRCK-KSHHHHH!!
And it's face, in an instant popped like a melon spraying black blood everywhere.
"Leave only one alive. Kill the rest." I said to Alice and Beatrice in a cold tone.
FWOOSH!
Alice shot off like an arrow from a bow, her feet leaving small craters behind as the mana-enhanced burst pushed her forward.
Beatrice followed right after, flames gathering around her palms in twisting orange spirals.
The serpents moved too, snarling and grinning with twisted mouths.
Their grotesque forms crackled with unstable mana.
BOOM!
Alice was the first to engage, conjuring a lance of light that shimmered with radiant power. With a shout, she hurled it at one of the serpents.
ZWWWUUUUM—BOOM!
It struck one square in the chest, blasting him off his feet and sending his warped body into the nearby wall with a meaty crunch.
But he wasn't dead. He groaned and tried to get up.
Alice flinched, hesitating.
Beatrice meanwhile conjured a fireball and hurled it toward another two charging her way.
FWOOOM–KAAABOOM!
The explosion sent them tumbling. One's entire left arm was charred black and twitching.
The other's face melted into a red ruin, but he still lived.
They screamed, thrashed and rolled about in agony.
And instead of finishing them off, the girls just stood there.
It's like they were frozen or something.
"Kill them." I said from behind them, my voice turning cold from annoyance as I wiped the mimic's blood from my face with a rag.
Alice turned to me, her expression tight. "But they're... they're people aren't they?"
"No. They're monsters in human figures. Now kill them."
"But... but still." Beatrice interjected. "To just kill them is..."
"Oh for the love of god. Have you forgotten the sight we saw on our way here? Do you not notice how grotesque their forms are.
They have scales! Literal scales on their skin!"
"Still..."
Haa. Even with all that, they still hesitated. They were still hesitating. It was clear as day when you looked at them.
Their trembling fingers, the way Alice's light magic dimmed slightly, the flicker of doubt in Beatrice's eyes.
And just then, like I knew they would, one of the injured serpents surged forward with a roar, mouth foaming as he raised his claws.
SWWWSSH!
A thin line of silver light passed him.
SLNK!
He split apart diagonally, collapsing to the floor in two twitching halves.
I stood beside them now, my sword still humming with residual wind mana.
"See that. They don't deserve mercy. Show any hesitation again, and I'll handle this myself. And we can forget about saving anyone."
They flinched but didn't argue. Their fists clenched as their mana flared.
And finally–finally–they stopped hesitating.
FWOOOOOM!
Beatrice grit her teeth then dashed forward, fire coating her leg. She slid beneath a charging serpent and twisted, fire erupting from her hand in a searing whip.
SSSSHHHH–CRACK!!
The whip wrapped around his neck and Beatrice pulled.
SNAP!
The head flew off, trailing smoke.
Alice conjured a beam of light, sharp and focused like a razor.
"Don't look away," she whispered to herself like a child calming themselves in darkness.
ZWWWWW!
The beam sliced through a serpent's chest in a single line.
THUMP!
He dropped, eyes wide and lifeless.
From that moment on, it was execution.
They moved together–not perfectly, but better than before. One would distract while the other finished. When one failed to kill, the other swooped in.
A serpent lunged at Beatrice with jagged claws. She ducked low, her body lit with fire mana focused in her legs for a brief second burst of speed.
She twisted mid-roll and shot a flame at his back.
BOOM!
He staggered–and then Alice, already waiting, launched a spear of light through his skull.
Another two came together, coordinated. One tried to catch Beatrice from behind while the other swung wide at Alice.
Alice raised a barrier of light–thin and shimmering–and it caught the blade just enough to slow it.
CRRACK!
Beatrice turned and blasted a cone of flame behind Alice.
WRAAAAGH!
The one attacking her screamed as his entire back caught fire, flailing as he stumbled toward the other one.
Alice immediately dropped the barrier and formed a blade of light.
SWICK!
She stabbed him through the heart as he screamed.
They were moving better now. Their timing, spacing, even individual mana flow. Though their coordination wasn't perfect, it was there for now and it was working.
I simply crossed my arms as I watched.
And then there were three.
Beatrice tackled one, pinning him with a blast of fire through his chest.
Alice decapitated the other with a slice of radiant energy that curved like a scythe.
The last one, finally grasping the situation, turned to run.
Fat chance.
I blurred. Or rather the world around me blurred.
WHAM!
My fist cracked into his gut, sending him flying backward before he hit the dirt hard, unconscious but alive.
"Leave that one," I said, my voice low. "I have some questions for him."
Alice and Beatrice stood over the ruined battlefield, bodies shaking slightly from the adrenaline.
Their eyes then shifted to the corpses.
Not all of them had died cleanly. Some had burned. Some bled from their eyes and mouths. And some were still twitching.
But at least they had done it.
I looked at them.
Sweat stuck their hair to their foreheads. Their mana was slightly unstable, surging in bursts instead of flowing evenly.
Their augments were messy, still too stiff. They also missed quite a bit of openings. They were inefficient.
But inspite of this...
They were better than before.
I gave a small nod. "Not bad. Tho your coordination is still sloppy and way too slow, it's a start regardless."
They didn't smile, but I did see something in their eyes.
Resolve.
And maybe something deeper. Acceptance.
"Come," I said, already turning away, dragging the unconscious serpent behind me. "We've got questions that need answers."