Milli let out a raucous laugh as she swung an earthen club to-and-fro, batting away what seemed like an endless stream of bi-pedal fish wielding tridents rushing out of the nearby woods next to the ocean. “When did this town become so exciting!” She hollered with glee as she barked some orders to the nearby militia who were desperately holding the line to prevent the unique fishmen from reaching Woodvale.

  Although the militia had their own captain, none dared defied the giantess. They had heard rumors of Milli’s prowess, none of the soldiers had ever really seen her in actual combat. They were glad that the seemingly ridiculous rumors about her strength were real.

  Even though it was well into the night and accompanied with a severe storm, a blazing beam of bright light clearly illuminated the entire area as Elrin unleashed a mighty laser literally disintegrating the aquatic fiends in its area of effect. However, something about this unusual and sudden assault on his hometown caused him to think that they were missing a key detail. “Where are they coming from? And why now?” He pondered as he shielded a member of the militia in a powerful but brief protective field of light saving the man from being impaled by the monsters that had swarmed him.

  Casually blasting another fish with a burst of light from an outstretched hand, he went to inspect the carcass of the creatures already slain. Water constantly dripping from his hair. No matter how he looked at it. It was an actual living creature and not an illusion. Its blood, stench, and viscera all attested to the fact that it was the real deal. “How?” he muttered. Elrin hadn’t been keeping count, but he was sure they had already slain well over fifty of the things. He decided to check out the area they were coming from. Cloaking himself with a reactive barrier of light, Elrin disappeared from view as he made his way to the woods invisibly.

  Once he found himself within the wood line, he travelled a bit further. A palpable aura of darkness greeted him in the dark forest. He created a little light so he could see. An abrupt smack to his protective barrier caught him off guard as Elrin was launched through the trees breaking one of them as he came to a stop. Standing before him was a massive black and blue abyssal humanoid covered in scales and also wielding a trident. It hefted a massive shield in the other arm. Its four ruby-like eyes gleamed with malice as it let out a guttural roar. Elrin had no idea what the thing was, but he knew that trouble had found his home.

  Milli created a large wall of earth bolstering one side of the town forcing the remaining enemies towards the militia. She had personally swatted twenty or so of the annpying guppies. An incredibly powerful roar split through the night as the militia managed to take down the last creature. She could tell that the men were already exhausted after having felled 10 on their own. She was pleasantly impressed how well the small squad performed. She commanded all the men to get back in town and fortify the gates.

  Milli turned to face the woods. She could feel the subtle vibrations of a fight through the earth. Shortly after sensing what was happening. She watched Elrin whizz through the air past her, his barrier maintaining his safety as it gouged the ground until he came to a halt. “It seems you have a guest to entertain.” Elrin replied with a huff. He hadn’t used so much energy so quickly for a long time.

  Stepping out of the wood line and into the moonlight, Milli smiled when she saw the tall figure. “Company?” She half joked walking towards the creature. She hadn’t faced against something so powerful in a long while. How many years had it been? She wondered if she would be able to measure up against it.

  Elrin knew better than to get between Milli and a fight. The woman thrived off chaos that followed during combat. Her body was literally built for the sole purpose of crushing anyone that stood against her. Backing away towards Woodvale, Elrin prepared to protect the village from any collateral damage that may occur. Milli wasn’t the best at holding back. Her absolute command over the earth was unmatched, giving her the namesake, “The Walking Quake”.

  Milli locked gazes with the menacing beast, both were keenly aware of each other's strength. Lightning flashed about followed by thunder as the rain continued to patter the field. Without any form of provocation, the combatants rushed forward. Milli had dealt with many powerful foes and unique creatures during her life. However, this was the first time she had fought what was to be assumed as an ocean creature. She only knew that it was a powerful foe and that she wanted to fight it.

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  Shield met gauntlet as the towering behemoth swiped its trident.

  Bolstering herself with the ground beneath, Milli maintained her footing, blocking the powerful sweep. Although she was pushed back by the force, the monster was surprised. Noticing that the creature had some form of intelligence from its reaction to being blocked, Milli made note to take extra care. In her experience, those types of monsters tended to develop their own strategies as battles progressed. Milli dove forward to avoid another swipe. She hadn’t had the time to don her armor. As the assault happened at night. She needed to be careful not to get caught.

  Landing almost underneath the creature, she threw her arms upward while laying on her back. Massive stalagmites the size of trees erupted from the ground threatening to impale monster. To her surprise, the creature had impressive reflexes and demonstrated great agility when it jumped back in time to avoid the fatal blow. Its mouth opened and a high-powered blast of water launched from it.

  Throwing up a wall of earth to block the monster’s sight, Milli dove to the side as the liquid bullet pierced it leaving a small crater dotted by several smaller ones attesting to the power behind the attack. She needed to get the creature to face away from the town. She was sure that Elrin could guard against such an attack, but why make life difficult for him when she wanted to hog all the fun.

  Quickly circling the beast wearing only a loose tunic, boots, and a pair of trousers. The rocks scattered across the ground rose up as she ran by and started to form an armor around her body. By the time she had gotten behind the creature, she had created a makeshift full suit of rocky armor.

  Readying herself for an attack, Milli began charging towards the beast again, this time a hail of massive boulders leading the charge.

  With incredible precision, the fishy humanoid easily broke through each boulder with their trident. Milli couldn’t believe the sheer power it had with each swing. It wasn’t hard to blast a boulder, but being able to blast an array of them was impressive. By the time she had closed the distance, the creature had taken care of the last projectile and was waiting to meet her.

  Every time she tried to crush, impale, or imprison the monster, it managed to stay one step ahead and avoid each and every clever attack. The battle seemed to be at a stalemate as the aquatic attacker and Milli continued their magical exchange.

  Watching from a distance, Elrin marveled at the monster’s tenacity. Seeing it dodge every attack and manage to keep Milli at bay was something he didn’t see very often. Fissures, spiking stalactites, pit falls. It dodged them all. He could feel the tension from the townsfolk as half the village was watching from the wall. Elrin hoped that this fight would calm Milli down for a few years. The woman had been going stir-crazy settling in one place for so long. He was starting to worry that she would go and create her own chaos.

  Summoning a cloud of dirt, Milli used the cover and her keen seismic sense to beeline towards the creature. She couldn’t help but scowl in annoyance as the monster once again dodged her attack. The torrential rain fall quickly removing any dust in the area. “This isn’t getting anywhere.” Milli muttered as she charged forward again determined to make contact. The deadly dance continued as the fighters tried to best the other. Milli jumped back and to side as geysers of great force erupted from the ground.

  As frustrating as it was to fight such a tenacious monster, she couldn’t help but laugh from the exhilaration of the fight as she stopped the trident with her hand gripping it tightly, refusing to let go. The two began wrestling for the weapon with Milli closing the distance and grappling with the monster. To her surprise, the scales of the enemy were wet and slick, making it extremely difficult to get a good hold.

  The monster eventually slipped free and with terrifying strength managed to get Milli in a choke hold. Despite the slickness of its scales, Milli was unable to get free. Struggling against the grip, she tried elbowing, biting, anything. But the scales were far more protective than she thought.

  She could feel the effects of oxygen deprivation start to sink in. Keeping calm, she had the earth suddenly drop from under her captor as she also commanded a pillar to launch her up as another chunk of ground collided with the back of its legs as it fell. The complex movement managed to free her from the choke hold and knock the enemy to its knees.

  Not giving it a chance to recover, Milli imprisoned the monster in stone leaving the head free as she began whaling on its face, her hands covered in spiky earth gauntlets. The monster grunted and groaned as it struggled to free itself from its rocky tomb.

  Milli couldn’t believe how tough the fishman’s head was. She was unleashing blow after blow at full strength. She continued her relentless rush hoping to end the fight. The ground beneath her began to rumble and she jumped back only to be blasted further away as the earth erupted and a powerful wave of darkness engulfed her.

  The sheer force of the attack launched her far from the monster, giving it time to recover as it stood. It started releasing blast after concentrated blast at the downed woman.

  Milli grunted in pain as part of her armor was blasted off. Throwing up a wall of dirt, she started rolling and crawling on the ground doing anything she could to avoid the dangerous darkness.

  She hadn’t been battered like this since the last time she fought against Genesis. Thoughts of that final fight began to filter into her mind as she instinctively focused on survival.