She had a mixed image of Godan. At the same time, she feared him and admired him, or at least his combat abilities. A precise technique and strength that let him pull off such stunts. Navia didn’t have time to refine her technique with different weapons and fighting styles; she mostly used the one she knew, sword and dagger. That style won’t work on those guards. She had strength much greater than theirs, and to change the dynamics of this fight, she had to add something more.
“Relentless…” Navia jumped back and knelt so low she had to use one hand to support herself. The other hand moved back to her hip and gathered the blood. First, a long handle was made out of blood, and at the end of it a sharp blade, a spear. The lioness was ready to bare her fangs at her prey. The guard at the front didn’t have time to react as Navia leaped forward and thrust the spear at the man’s chest. The spear didn’t pierce the armor, but it made a dent. This time, the guard definitely felt the attack as blood came through the gaps in the helmet. He was still standing, but at least she was able to damage him.
All those investments in the armor and weapons seemed pointless as a person capable of passing through them appeared. The couple of times they had to fight, they didn’t waver as they knew they would win. This time, it was much different; they weren’t thinking of stopping her, they were thinking of surviving this fight.
Navia was about to continue attacking the same guard until he was down with her gauntlets, but as she threw a wide hook, the next guard jumped forward. The attack from above seemed impossible to avoid, yet that wasn’t Navia’s intention. Mimicking Godan’s style, she twisted her body and switched her hook into an uppercut aimed. She felt how much the muscles were strained by this sudden change in movement, but it was worth it as she hit the man’s hand, the mace flew into the ceiling. The explosion happened after it got stuck in the stone, making only dust fall onto the fighters. She then grabbed the man’s wrist and pulled him toward her, her other fist striking the man straight in the face. The helmet remained strong, but how many punches could it withstand from a beast like Navia the Lioness?
After two punches, the helmet showed a sign of bending inside, but before she could continue, the guard with blood on his helmet jumped in with a mace mid-swing. Naiva didn’t let go of the man; instead, she turned her back to him and pulled him closer, using him as a shield. The mace exploded, leaving a mark on the armor while Navia was unscathed on the other side. The rest of the guards looked for an opportunity to attack and waited.
Navia didn’t waste any time and threw the man over her shoulder onto the ground. Not giving him any time to rest, she turned her blood gauntlets into a hammer and brought it down onto the man’s face. The helmet caved in and blood painted the walls red. There was no time for mercy; to not waste it, Navia had to be relentless.
One down, three guards left. Navia only spared time for one deep breath before jumping forward, quickly turning the hammer into a spear. She bounced off the wall, then the ceiling, flying like an arrow toward the injured guard. The man raised both of his arms to protect his chest, but Navia wasn’t aiming for that. The spear went right through his foot, painting the black spear red. As the man screamed in pain, she changed her blood into gauntlets once again and threw a flurry of blows at the guard. Each time the man took a step back, she followed with a step forward, the shape of her fists visible in the dents in armor. Before she could even stop, the man fell down to his knees with his head down, blood flowing from each small gap in the armor where only liquid could pass through.
The third guard woke up as he screamed in anger. Navia couldn’t react in time to defend herself. The mace hit her right in the jaw, and she tried to move away, but she couldn’t avoid an explosion. The man tried to kill her, yet he watched in horror as the woman in front of him stood strong with missing parts of her lips and burned skin on the lower side of her face.
“That’s not human.” That was the thought of the man who was about to die next as the hammer struck his chin, pushing him back at the other remaining guard. Both of them were pressed against the steel door. His vision was blurry, and his head was shaking violently after being hit. He could barely make sense of what was happening. In Navia’s hand was a javelin, her front leg slightly up as she took a wide swing and threw the blood weapon at the guards. Putting all her strength into that one throw made the weapon pass through the first guard and stab the other deep in the stomach. The last guard was pinned to the door and attached to his dead companion by a single javelin.
The man was too scared to speak, and his eyes followed as Navia approached the steel vault doors and threw him and the corpse to the ground. She already counted him as another corpse, which wasn’t far off, as he was heavily bleeding.
The last wall remaining between her and Markiz was this specially designed vault door. She changed her blood into gauntlets and reinforced them even harder than usual. She bashed against the doors, but all she did was scratch the surface. Her strength was destructive, but not enough to break those doors. Her wounded face was slowly healing, the skin slowly growing on her flesh and lips covering the teeth.
“No wall will stand in my way…” Navia gathered all four maces and, with her blood, she tied them all together. She stood halfway through the tunnel and, from a safe distance, she threw the maces at the vault door. The explosion from one mace could be called small, but all four of them combined were enough to break the vault doors. The mechanism holding it all together shook as the explosion vibrated through the walls. The mechanism holding the doors failed and let the gate slide to the side, making a way for Navia to enter the vault.
Sitting by a round table were two people, the first Navia easily recognized on the spot. He had the same expression as the time she jumped his guards and was ready to kill him back then, and she was ready to see it through this time. The man was shaking in fear, probably hearing the sound of fighting and explosions this whole time. He was covered in sweat, biting his nails. His eyes almost bulged out of his head once he saw Navia in the same room as him.
The second person didn’t seem bothered or surprised by Navia’s appearance. The woman had her arm crossed and her eyes closed. From under her military cap, her one eye looked toward Navia. “So they were no match for you? What a shame. I thought they were impossible to beat… Looks like I’ll have to make some adjustments later…” The woman slowly rose from the chair and placed a hand on the saber right by her hip. “Looks like I’ll have to get rid of you myself.” The woman turned her head toward Navia; it wasn’t a threat but a statement.