Power for a Price [ Solo | Job ]

Upon entering the mansion, Diana was met with the sight of Brutus and Vita surrounded by mercenaries. "Well, well, well... What do we have here?" A voice and the sound of high heels clacking on stone echoed from the top of the staircase. It was Iulia. "It seems you've all fallen into my trap... again! Hahaha!" She broke out into a sickening laughter. Diana couldn't help but chuckle at her statement. If this was a trap, it was a rather poor one. "Hm..? What's so funny?!" Iulia was less than pleased with Diana's sudden outburst of laughter. She placed her hands on her hips, waiting on her response. "This must be a joke." Diana picked up a shard of the wooden door she broke down and threw it, slicing through the heads of two of the mercenaries in it's path. It ended it's gruesome travel by creating a crater in the wall. "Kill them! Don't let that bitch breathe another breath!" Iulia gritted her teeth and escaped to the upper floor.

"Is she stupid?" Brutus rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. There was no doubt that Iulia was going to be a fierce opponent. However, the mercenaries around them were like insects. Some of the mercenaries decided it was smarter to run but some charged towards them. Diana let one of them slice her arm so she could grab him by the neck. "Get out of our way, please." She slammed him into the floor, knocking him out cold. More came after her, trying to stab and slice at her. There were two behind her which she just lifted up her legs and kicked them both square in the face before flipping over onto her feet.

With five down, she wasn't finished quite yet. A group of five came at her at once. Diana took a deep breath and unsheathed her sword. She kept the blade horizontally in front of her body and pushed back her foot. As they all closed in on her, all she needed to do was spin around, slicing them all clean in half. After their display of strength, the rest of the mercenaries fled the scene. Diana shook the blood off of her sword before sheathing it. "Are you two alright?" Diana asked out of courtesy but by looking at the pair, they seemed to be just fine. "Never mind. We should get moving." Brutus nodded and began running up the stairs. Diana and Vita followed close behind him. "Check all of the rooms. Don't hesitate to engage in combat upon discovery." Diana smiled at Brutus and nodded. If she were to be the one to fall upon their enemy. She would only kill their target. There was no sense in breaking her promise even if the woman escaped.

Diana ran down the halls, opening up all of the doors she found and breaking down all of them which were locked. "Damn it!" She cursed underneath her breath out of frustration. The mansion was huge. Just as she thought she was on the right track, as she was running, Brutus and Vita slammed right into her. They all fell to the ground. Diana winced from the wound on her thigh. "No luck, huh?" Brutus laughed at their fall and misfortune. "Not at all..." Vita sighed, defeated. "This place must have a third floor, right?" Diana shrugged, picking herself up off the floor and walking a few paces away. "Watch your heads." She bent her legs down and put up her fists. It looked quite ridiculous. Diana jumped up with all of her strength and crashed up through the ceiling. "Found them!" She called out to Brutus and Vita after finding their shocked culprits.

"W-Who is this monster?! Iulia! Get her away from me!" There was a small, panicked man in front of Diana who she gazed down upon. A chorus of whimpers and cries were heard from all around her. A quick gaze allowed her to see what was really going on. There were chained, malnourished children in the room. She couldn't count the amount but they were all either writhing on the floor or scared in the corners. Diana's face grew dark as she walked slowly towards the slaver. There were no words to express her anger. Her blood boiled under her skin like a wild flame. "I-I am Jianhong the Third! I-If you kill me... you'll regret it! I-I'll kill you myself!" The pig groveled behind Iulia who was annoyed with the sight of Diana and her employers incompetence. "Stand back, old man. I'll make quick work of her." Iulia pushed the man back and began spinning around her sickle. "In your dreams." Diana placed her hand carefully on her sword.

Brutus and Vita had finally managed to climb their way up through the hole in the floor. "There you are, you little..! I'll kill you with my own hands!" He was furious. Iulia threw her sickle towards Diana to hook onto her. The speed was shockingly fast. Before Diana could react, a sharp pain pulsated through her shoulder. She gasped and placed her hands onto it. "Drop it." Iulia smirked, tugging on the chain and sending Diana flying forward. She removed the sickle and attempted to sink it into her while she was down. Brutus had been there in time, blocking the blow with his hammer. Diana tried to lift herself up but her arm wouldn't work like she wanted it to. She took one of her hands and grabbed Iulia's ankle but she got a swift kick in the face in response. Diana's head pulsated with an aching pain as a result.

"Shit..." When Diana opened her eyes, she discovered that she'd been knocked back into the wall. She held her head for a moment before surveying the scene. Brutus and Iulia were still locked into combat as Vita tried to tend to all the children. The slaver was still in the back of the room, trying to escape through one of the windows. Diana groaned and pried herself from the debris. "You won't escape." She dashed forward past Iulia with her fist drawn back. As she reached the man, Diana impaled her hand straight into his chest, ripping out whatever organs she could get her hands on. "Filth." He fell to the floor. There was no life left in him except for the electric pulses that made his body twitch. "Behind you!" Just as a voice rang out to her, a chain was wrapped tight around her neck. "Ah..." She couldn't breathe and she could feel agonizing pressure of the oxygen stopping at the neck. Diana felt weak. She tried to grip at the chain behind her but to no avail.

Her vision began to darken. She didn't want to die. There was too much she had to do. She promised she would come back alive. A loud ringing sound echoed in her ears as she felt an instant sense of relief. Air stormed straight into her lungs as she desperately gasped for air. It felt good. Diana stumbled forwards and whipped herself around. She drew her sword and slashed a deep wound into Iulia's back. The assassin screamed in pain, using her strength to overpower Brutus and push him to the side. He crashed into the wall, out cold from the impact. "Brutus!" Vita shouted in shock, rushing over to him. "You don't know when to die, do you?" Iulia growled, tossing her sickle to the side.

"Apparently not." Diana picked herself off of the ground and charged towards Iulia. They traded a few punches before knocking each other back. This woman was strong. But not fitting to share the same lineage as her. Diana was disgusted. To use the strength of her race to commit crimes was the worst. "You won't be getting away this time." She lunged towards Iulia, drawing her sword from it's sheath. The woman attempted to grab Diana's sword as she slashed her but it was no use. Her blade was much too sharp and sliced clean through her flesh. With barely any hands, she stood there in shock. Diana made a final slash with her blade, cutting the woman clean in half. Vita whimpered at the gruesome sight but seemed to be relieved it was all over. Diana shook the blood from her blade and returned it to it's sheath. "Is he alright?" she asked, warmly gazing over to Vita. "Y-Yeah... I'm glad." The young girl rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Me too. Let's go get some rest."

They both helped Brutus regain consciousness and left the mansion. After handing in the bounty to the local authorities and claiming their rewards, they headed off to an inn. Diana was exhausted and in lots of pain. "I need a nice, warm bath tonight." She chuckled, wincing at the pain of the stitches going into her arm. Vita was very handy and had a lot of medical knowledge. After she had patched up Brutus, she began to take care of Diana. "We started off on a bad foot. But I hope we can work together again. You aren't as strong as Mars thinks you are but you're alright." Brutus had a smug look on his face as he laughed and took a sip of his ale. "Perhaps I will be as strong as the mighty Brutus one day." Diana softly chuckled and leaned back in her chair. Vita giggled and finished wrapping up Diana's wound. "All done! Just be careful, okay?" Diana smiled. "I will."

Diana soaked in the hot springs before taking a nice long rest in the warmth of a bed. The group said their goodbyes in the morning before splitting off on their separate paths. There were new adventures ahead of Diana. The civil war of this split country was looming over her head. A duty was soon to befall her and she wasn't sure if she would be able to fulfill it.