Lily glanced around the room at the remaining people; they were all battered, bruised, and defeated. They were clearly on the losing end as most of their members were already on the ground, knocked out, or dead.
The ones that remained were barely standing; even the leader was running low on energy at this point and was injured from Lily's constant throwing of people and things at her.
They were planning to retreat, but how could Lily allow them to do that— she had to devour them to gain their abilities.
"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to do that. While this has been fun, I no longer need to waste time here."
Lily had been fighting them for as long as she had, purely because she wanted to train and experience physical fighting before she got involved in fights that required it— with stronger people.
Essentially, she was using these weaker people to experience physical fighting, and now that they wanted to retreat, she no longer cared to indulge them.
With a swift motion, Lily moved towards the remaining mutants who had begun their attempt to retreat. The battered mutants, already on the brink of defeat and riddled with exhaustion, tensed as they saw her approach.
The scar-faced leader, despite her injuries and exhaustion, attempted to summon forth another surge of electricity to attack Lily— unfortunately, she was far too burnt out, her body faltering as the electricity she called forth fizzled out in failure.
She knew they were no match for Lily in their current state, but she had nothing she could do.
As Lily closed the distance between them, the mutants prepared for a last stand, knowing that retreat was no longer an option. However, Lily wasn't going to give them any more chance to breathe; she planned to end this quickly.
Unleashing a flurry of precise strikes— Lily didn't hesitate for a second to end them. Her claws slashed through their bodies with ease, aiming for vital points to optimize her lethality.
The mutants, already weakened from the previous onslaught, could do little to defend themselves from her. One by one, they fell under Lily's relentless assault, and the leader could do nothing but watch as her people died.
In the end, in a matter of minutes, the scar-faced leader was the only one remaining. They stood defiantly at Lily as they knew their end was coming, but they refused to beg or cower in fear.
She knew her fate was sealed— but she would go down a warrior, not a coward.
"You have probably been one of the better mutants I've fought."
Lily said as she turned to the lady and spoke.
She knew the lady couldn't fight back— not anymore, at least. She didn't have the energy to keep going; even Lily could tell that the front she was putting up was just that, a front.
"Truly, you were impressive, and you allowed me to learn about places I lacked; for that, you have my thanks."
Lily was serious; she wasn't making fun of the girl or even taunting her— the girl's way of fighting and leadership had allowed Lily to learn how she was lacking and improve upon it.
Namely, she lacked good defensive or offensive means to deal with long-range attackers— at least any proper ones.
She had won this melee fight purely because she had the bodies of others to use as shields against the electricity. Otherwise, she would have had to rely on her other abilities.
But while thankful for that— that was all she was willing to do.
She would not spare the leader as she was very interested in the electric ability she had, and she wanted it for herself. Dashing forward, she slashed her claws against the leader's neck.
It was swift and unstoppable for the leader— ending their life in one quick motion.
The room soon fell into silence as the fighting came to an end— bodies and blood decorating the floor.
The battle was over, and she had won— she had achieved her objective, and she would claim her prize soon enough, but she took a moment to catch her breath.
Lily had to admit— she enjoyed that.
It was a situation she had rarely put herself into before, a fight that had stakes— one that caused the adrenaline in her body to course through her veins.
It made her feel alive— it awoke the instincts within her, and she felt good— she felt like a predator.
She surveyed the scene around her, the bodies that had covered the floor, the blood that had decorated herself and the walls, and the broken pieces of the building lying around.
It was a mess— but it was her mess.
It felt satisfying, but what was even more satisfying was what came next— devouring and gaining new abilities.
This time around, Lily didn't spare anyone— she had no reason to.
She already had a base in mind that she knew would hold important information— and her hive units had found more information she could use if that failed.
So, with that in mind, she had no reason to scry or allow them to live. Instead, she straight-up devoured them all.
It took a few minutes, but in the end, she had eaten all of them, gaining a total of 8 new abilities and improving some of her existing ones.
Pleased, she decided it was time to leave— starting a fire to cover her tracks once more, she slipped out into the darkness of the city to move on to the bigger hunt.
Sorry for the delay, I hope you enjoy it.
Comment any suggestions you have for abilities.
Leaving the underground base, Lily quickly and quietly vanished into the darkness of the night with the flames of the building burning behind her.
Slipping away was very easy— even without the distraction caused by the burning building, she would have been able to get away unbothered. The fire was mainly meant to cover her tracks.
As she moved through the city streets, taking empty alleyways and paths unused in the night, her mind was focused on something more important than the empty streets around her.
She had gained much from her latest stop— a total of eight new abilities, not even including the fact that some of her existing abilities were further enhanced by combining similar ones she had gained.
This was probably one of the bigger gains of mutant abilities she had— her body and mind were coursing with the changes that had been brought to it.
It was slight, but she could also feel her very being seemingly changing— her racial limits were beginning to awaken, and she could feel the powers of her race taking a new shape.
Evolving.
But it wasn't there yet— she needed more; something was still missing.
Despite her impressive haul of new abilities, rather than feeling satisfied, she only felt more hungry. She desired more in order to grow even further— her very being was urging her to grow at a quicker pace.
She couldn't shake the gnawing feeling at the edge of her consciousness that there was something incomplete with her— she wasn't whole, and she wouldn't be whole until she found the missing piece of the puzzle that eluded her grasp.
But she didn't know what it was— she didn't know if these feelings she felt were her own but if they came from the blood that flowed within her.
'Is this what my ancestors felt? This unyielding hunger and craved more and more.'
As she navigated the darkness of the city at night— making her way to her next stop— she couldn't help but think back to the memories she had gained when she awakened her racial capabilities.
The downfall of her species was brought about by their own greed— their unyielding hunger that led them to devour everything until they even devoured themselves.
Would she go down that same path if she couldn't control herself?
'No— I can't let myself be overtaken by this feeling. Power is good and necessary, but I can't allow myself to be devoured by the craving for power.'
Lily shook her head and reinforced the idea in her mind— she wanted power, but she didn't want power to the point that she would destroy everything and everyone to gain it.
What was the point of power if there was nothing?
She wanted power in order to be safe— to be happy— that's all.
She wouldn't allow these feelings— instincts— to control her will.
A sigh escaped her lips as she came to a stop and stared out before her. A large outstretch of land that was covered in stone and sand— a few buildings littered the area, but they were all abandoned and left to ruin.
Using her Scout Hive Units, she found the location of the largest mutant base in Bahrain— the fortress, as she called it— and scouted the area around it.
Even though she couldn't scout the inside of the building without her hive units suddenly being killed, it didn't stop her from searching around the building.
Thanks to this, she learned a few key information.
Firstly, the area around the fortress was empty of civilian life— no one lived here, and it had been left empty for miles in all directions. This made it perfect for her to operate without being spotted by normal people.
Secondly, the area had very little cover. Meaning if she tried to approach the fortress, she would instantly be spotted, and they would be alerted— putting her at a disadvantage.
To make up for this, she decided to use one of the nearby abandoned buildings as her temporary base of operation and proceed with her plan.
Her plan was simple— swarm them.
Lily never really used her swarm units for combat aside from minor assistance for a variety of reasons, but it couldn't be overlooked that Lily was a hivemind.
Her entire species was born and thrived in fighting as a hive— swarming enemies was how her species primarily fought.
Up until now, she had been fighting alone, but now, with the lack of information and the danger that this fortress might pose to her, it would be foolish to not use her capabilities fully.
The abandoned building she stayed in would serve as her staging ground— a place to prepare for the assault and control the hivemind from a safe distance.
Once she had deemed that the situation wasn't dangerous to her, she could move to the scene and take it into her own hands from there.
She quickly surveyed the interior of the building, noting any potential entry points, hiding spots, or defensive positions. It was in a decrepit state, but it would have to do for now.
She didn't plan to allow them to get this close to begin with.
Once she had secured the area and made a makeshift barricade using whatever debris she could find, fortifying the position while still maintaining a look of abandoned ruin, she decided to first look over the abilities she had gained.
She had yet to do so primarily because she was lost in thought and was on the move— she also wanted to get into a safe location before she explored the new abilities in case any of them proved to be unstable.
Now that she had secured a place— and she wasn't in a rush to begin the assault just yet— she would overlook them.
Sorry for the delay; I know this took a while to get out. I've been sick lately, and because of that, I haven't had the chance to get on my device to write.
I hope you enjoy and share some ideas for weak mutant abilities she could gain!
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