B7C11

The movement was sudden. Yang got out a cry of warning, but it was meaningless. Raven covered the distance in a second and drove her fist into Yang's stomach. Air, spittle and blood splashed from between her lips and she slumped to the floor. The entire world zoomed in to the point in front of her eyes. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't even draw breath.

With an agonised croak, she toppled onto her side, eyes wide.

Nora and Pyrrha attacked from behind, determined to save her.

Raven batted Pyrrha's sword away with the back of her hand and caught Nora's hammer in the other. Her fingers dug in and she wrenched it down, slamming the but of the weapon into Nora's knee, breaking it with a wet snap.

Ren was on her before she could finish off the Barbarian. The Monk was a whirlwind of blades supported by lances of ice and frost that cooled the very air and sought to freeze Raven's muscles. Faster than Nora, he forced Raven to take a step back.

A sudden cry pierced the melee.

Raven had Ren by the throat, one of his own daggers buried in his left arm, and his right grasped in Raven's other. "An interesting effort," she said, squeezing once.

Ren's legs kicked once and went still. His head slumped to the side.

"REN!" Nora wailed.

"He's not dead." Raven tossed his body towards Nora, knocking her down. "If he is the same level as Yang, then killing you all serves no purpose. You're too weak for the Exp to make a difference. Grow stronger, train harder, fight more enemies. At least then, you might have a purpose when I slay you."

Another lance of purest ice shot for Raven's face.

It shattered as she negligently waved a hand, slapping it out the air. Shards flicked against her face but did no damage.