"Uk"

Slammed into the earth by a fanged lizard's tackle Zero tried to rip the damn thing into two but another lizard interrupted the tearing hands with a bite, granting its kin enough time to escape with it from her reach

"Ksshhh"

Just as she was about to give chase two more somewhat different lizards shot poison at her then dug into the earth, burying themselves so she couldn't pursue

'What is this mockery'

Being played with like some sort of animal made the blue eyes glow dangerously red, a berserk state almost taking over her boiling blood

There was no time to throw a fit however as another pair of lizards were already approaching with their long slim bodies

Not wanting to be on the receiving end she put strength into her legs, sore as they were from all the exertion, and shot at the two with clawing hands

"Ksss!"

With a wiggle the lizards evaded and wrapped themselves around her barreling figure, tightening themselves around the arms and legs like snakes

'Finally!'

Perhaps they mistook her as an easy target after playing around all this time, forgetting how abysmal her strength was

Riiiip! Riip! "Kssasaa!"

With a small tug the two lizards were torn in half giving Zero great satisfaction, one that was quickly lost as three poison spitters were ready to shower her face with those nasty poisons of theirs

Their mouths were open and ready while she was in the momentum of her tug, yet she finished and dogged but they have yet to shoot, that's when she noticed their bodies fall to the ground with a thud, no longer moving

'Ika must have acted'

The silent assist was what she hoped for, giving her a breather to survey the battle for a second

Looking around her first she noticed over three dozen lizards who've been torturing her with their teamwork now lurking in close distance, careful looking around for their kin's assassin

Further from this small battlefield was a pothole filled area, reeking with stinky blood that seeped into everyone's nose, even vampires like themselves hated this smell for the toxic blood made her want to throw up

These were not natural potholes however, it was the blood of the poison spitting lizards filling up the underground tunnels they had dug up, the handiwork of Mia spending her time ripping the poor fellows in their own dens

'Mother might take a while to finish but my Lord'

Glancing much further off she noticed seventeen shadows dashing about in speed her mind has yet to keep up with, each leaving trenches in their chase of the unseen figure that killed over two thirds of their population already, their only clue being the direction which daggers came from

"Ksaaa!"

Right when her mind wandered the sneaky lizards launched their attacks forcing her to focus

"Huu! Haaa!"

Taking a breath she activities one of her vanguard skills, covering her body with a white glow before charging forward without care for injury

"Ks-" Pa!

Like a bug slapped by a palm the first lizard before her was flattened into meat paste, covering the rest of its kin who were now getting enraged, just before getting slammed themselves

"Pu!"

The reckless charge didn't go without punishment for sure, to begin with it was a Shield Slam, meant to be used by a shield, yet she found a way to apply the skill to her entire body proving how much of a battle genius she was

Genius or not, they all bleed, that's exactly the state of her punctured stomach now

Pulling out the tail tip one of them managed to sneak in at the end of her skills usage she tried to take a deep breath to endure the pain but ended up huffing about as the remaining lizards chased her down

'Damn thing won't give me a breather'

Still she was satisfied, them attacking without strategy was what she wanted to happen from the beginning

Since her speed wasn't good enough to land attacks when they were being sneaky it naturally wasn't enough to escape their pursuit, that's how she ended up being surrounded by the remaining two dozen enraged lizards

"Ksasa!" "Ksaaa!"

Without the need to exchange pleasantries or death stares they just pounced on her with open maws and swiping claws

The first to meet her head on was naturally slapped to the death at once, the one pouncing n her back managed to dig its claws into her shoulders before it got grabbed and slammed into the one at the side, both turning to mush from excessive force

Riiip! Slice

The confident fighter did not continue in her glory kills however as the surrounding beasts gave no reprieve, much unlike what she imagined, they didn't come one at a time nor two at a time, they came all at once, if they could fit their bloody claws they sure as hell damn will, even to get the tiniest scratch on this maniac that's been slaughtering their own

"Ugh"

Withholding a scream by grunting she tried to rip off as many as she could but they just kept swarming her, her back was being scratched into a bloody mess, her abdomen gnawed on, head almost getting clamped if not for the vice grip she held over the aggressor's maw, even her legs were being whipped at by their tails causing red lash marks to dot the once pale skin

'Where is Ika damnit'

She cursed in her mind as her body quickly tired under the incessant assault, regretting her decision to meet them head on

'Am I going to…'

That thought she couldn't bear to imagine, she'd already been in the same situation once, beaten to death after being ganged up on by those weaker than her, she bet this time a vampire's bite wouldn't save her though….

Suksuksuksuksuk

A familiar sound interrupted her depressing train of thoughts, before she knew it all grips around her loosened, falling to the ground without another breath, leaving her to breathe as if her earlier certain death was a lie

"Pummel it"

Her Lords's voice came ordering from the distance promoting her to look toward his direction, there she spotted his no longer hidden figure being chased about by the biggest of the giant lizards he fought, a crazed expression in its eyes

Though hurt and battered she knew what to do, running to meet him and the big fellow

Her speed was slow however forcing him to slow down just before they clouded, giving enough time for the beast to lung at him, and her to launch herself at the top of its head

The lizard cared not for this punny creature who barely fought its children, all it wanted was to finally swallow the monster who invaded its land and killed everyone it once loved and knew, chewing his bones and flesh in its loath

BAM!

Those were its last thoughts, right before its skull caved in on its brain from the heavy punch of the punny Zero whose strength far exceeded her Lord's

"Haa…"

That was it for this battle, same as well for Zero's mind which has been alert and fighting through three nests already, finally giving in allowing the wound filled body to slide off the dead beast, falling into cold hands just before she lost all her senses to the darkness

"And that's why you never state focus"

"My deepest apologies Master, it was wrong of me to allow such actions"

With Zero in hand Mia bowed in apology, he'd explained in the blood message how stats worked yet she allowed Zero's reckless stat allocation to continue causing this scenario where she had the strength, but not the vitality not the agility to put it to use without hurting herself

"My Lord, its my fault, I couldn't protect her"

"Your skills aren't meant for crowds to begin with Ika"

In fact she wasn't all that useful for anything with him around, he didn't say that though, no need to undermine one's efforts and destroy their confidence, she would be of use once class advancement was achieved, the sidelines were the place for the newbie assassin for now though

"Master, shall we wait for her to recover or continue forward? I don't believe I am capable of protecting her fully as I fight, either that or my efficiency may suffer"

"Even if you can fight Ika cannot, still we shall proceed, the next area is going to be handled solely by me after all"

Recalling the next nest being marked blue the two began to wonder what adversary lay that they couldn't be involved

"Stay at the edge of the place and wait until I'm done"

Their imagination had yet to blossom when the right to watch was rejected, still it was much better than having to fight, at least their bodies were screaming so to them

"We shall await your unharmed returned Master"

"Be safe My Lord"

They wished him who shimmered out of sight once more