The three heads of Chimaera glared at Machua’s squad. All of them were there, brandishing their weapons and ready for a brawl. Toolbox stood at the forefront with a determined look on her face.

  “You’re the children I hired Dalan to kill,” Gilliam muttered.

  “Wait, you did that!?” Machua exclaimed.

  “Piece of shit!” Carmine yelled.

  Toolbox yelled, “Wait wait wait! I want to talk first!”

  “… Fine then. Go ahead.” Leona rose. “Frankly, that guy’s a fucking monster and we don’t feel like getting caught.”

  Toolbox stared at Leona for a good long while. She awkwardly stared back, unsure of what she was doing.

  “Da-Scias. You still have my collar, right? You wouldn’t throw away something that important. Even if you don’t believe it.”

  Toolbox’s pointed statement made Gilliam and Leona turn to Scias. He awkwardly shuffled to his feet and coughed.

  “Scias. Explain,” Leona growled.

  “It’s just some stupid little thi-“

  “I don’t want to hear it.”

  Scias silently tossed Toolbox’s collar into her hands. Seeing Leona’s eyes widen, Gilliam rushed to look over the collar too. The two looked at every nook and cranny on it and then their gazes shifted to Toolbox. On their faces were the same expression Scias had that day. Incredulous, in total disbelief. But whereas Scias chose to lash out, these two put their emotions on full display.

  “Dada. Papa. Mama. I’m still… the same cat you found in that toolbox. I look different, but I’m still me,” Toolbox pleaded.

  “… God, she talks like you, Scias,” Gilliam muttered.

  “I don’t-I’ve never spoken like that,” he claimed.

  “You used to. Before she disappeared,” Leona chimed in.

  “Don’t-that thing is not our cat! It’s an Egotist! Are you going to believe every Egotist that happens to be a white cat!?”

  “She had her collar, Scias,” Gilliam stated.

  “Toolbox… can’t be an Egotist. Please, believe me,” Scias pleaded. “I hid the collar from you because it can’t be true. If it was…”

  “If we were to become a family again, we’d have to start feeding her humans. It would be an eternal life on the run,” Leona finished.

  “We’d have to become murderers! More than we already are! Is that the life you want! Huh!?” Scias shouted.

  Toolbox suddenly screamed, “But you don’t have to!”

  “I haven’t eaten human meat ever since Dwyn fed me it! That was a month ago! And I haven’t felt that hunger this entire time!” Toolbox proclaimed. “I don’t know what’s different between me and the others, but I know that every day, when I eat my meals, I stop feeling hungry.”

  The trio stared at her in silence, conflicted.

  “Please trust me this once! I’ll prove it! We’ll capture Dwyn and then you’ll know how it happened. And then we can live our life together.”

  “… How?” Leona slowly asked.

  “How? We’ll just live together right?” Toolbox’s expression got worried.

  “That’s right, isn’t it? Erelier’ll take us in and we’ll all be one big happy family,” Gilliam said.

  “If you want that kind of future, there’s only one thing to do, isn’t there?” Scias almost lamented. “It’s the same as always.“

  “We run.”

  At the word, all three of them rushed at the squad. Flesh grew around their bodies as they ran, adorning them with their respective animals. Machua, Carmine, and Toolbox rushed as well.

  [Indigo Bolt!]

  Mikoko shot a purple lightning bolt from a cloud she had prepared earlier. Gilliam grew more wool and shielded the other two. The static of the lightning caused the wool to puff up.

  “Sorry, but Toolbox isn’t going with you! You’ll be going with her!” Machua shouted.

  Suddenly, two large mandibles shot up from under the ground. The head of a massive stag beetle had burst through the floor. It grasped ahold of Gilliam and dragged him into a lower floor.

  “Gill!”

  Before they could follow him, Carmine jumped into the hole herself. As she fell, she turned around and sprayed a bunch of blood. Just as they got to the hole, the blood crystallised. The last thing they saw through there was her smirk.

  “You-!” Scias began to shout. He was interrupted by a paw seal forming under his feet.

  Scias jumped back and Toolbox took his place. But he wasn’t her target.

  “Rrgh!” Leona grunted as Toolbox kicked her aside.

  “Sorry!”

  [Pathway Paw: 5-Claw Smash!]

  A giant paw shot Leona through the tower to another floor. Toolbox followed her swiftly.

  “Leona!” Scias yelled as he ran after them.

  “Nope!” Machua exclaimed. She had blocked his path.

  Scias swung his kukri but the barrier from her tonfas protected her. She swung with her other tonfa and forced him back. She then backed away into the hole.

  “Seeya!” Machua waved goodbye and rushed off.

  “You annoying little brat!” Scias fumed. He dashed to the hole but just as he reached it another barrier formed over it.

  Scias stopped in his tracks. He turned to see the remaining members of Machua’s squad still standing there. Plue had disappeared, but Rasa and Mikoko were both in the same barrier. And behind them was the barrier’s anchor. A small cylindrical device with a domed bottom.

  Scias slashed at the barrier. It didn’t leave much of a mark.

  “I don’t believe you’ll be able to break through the barrier. This device was created by Lemuel Salas,” Rasa stated.

  “I see, I see. But the man himself didn’t set that up. So if I break that device, this barrier’ll go bye-bye.”

  “If you can make it past us, of course,” Mikoko said.

  Around Mikoko and Rasa were already clouds and strings of various types.

  Meanwhile, Gilliam was being dragged down floor by floor. With a roar, he wrested the mandibles away from him and kicked the stag beetle with a hoof. But that wasn’t the end of the threat.

  A madwoman was crashing down on him, twin axes in hand. The axes slammed down onto his body and tore through his flesh.

  Gilliam and Carmine crashed onto the ground floor of the building, his wool softening the landing. He pushed her away with a sudden kick and sent her flying into a wall.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Hah… hah… What a dirty little trick,” Gilliam spoke as he spat blood out of his mouth.

  The blood landed on the wool he had shed. The wool turned crimson.

  ‘That’s gonna be a problem if I don’t take her down fast,’ Gilliam noted.

  It was at that point a barrier formed around the room they were in. A step alerted him to the presence of a new person, who swung a scythe at his head. He dodged it and swiftly countered. The scythe-wielding girl jumped back to dodge the blow and summoned several more insects.

  ‘Must be an anchor device somewhere. The scythe girl arrived late to place it down, I bet.’

  “Good to have you stuck here, sheep. In here it’s just you and us. And we’re gonna absolutely tenderise you.”

  Lastly, Leona had regained her footing. She met Toolbox in the air and the two exchanged a flurry of blows. Claw met claw, paw met paw. The two linked claws and glared at each other. Leona’s strength was greater than Toolbox’s, so she slowly gained ground.

  “Mama! Give up!” Toolbox reared her head back and smashed it into her mother.

  Leona reeled back but did not let go. She forced her strength onto her and pushed Toolbox lower.

  “Mothers should listen to their daughters, you know!” Machua shouted as she swung at Leona.

  Leona released her claws, but this time Toolbox was the one not to let go. Machua’s tonfa met Leona’s side with a powerful mana burst and sent her rocketing to the other side of the room.

  Leona spun in mid-air and landed on the wall. The claws from her feet stabbed into the wall, trying to find purchase, but by then it had already been covered with a barrier.

  “Did you trap each of us with a barrier?” Leona asked, sliding to the ground.

  “You think we’re gonna answer that?”

  “You separated us because we’re too strong together. Unless one of you’s a barrier user, these all have anchor devices. So, we either defeat you or destroy those devices to reunite,” Leona explained.

  Machua and Toolbox did not say a thing, but it was evident to see she was right.

  “Two of us would have to destroy the devices to reunite. However, if one of us defeats you, then that’s a hostage. The same goes your way too.”

  Leona’s claws seemed to glisten as she entered a stance. Toolbox copied her and entered the same stance.

  “There’s a lot of outcomes. But most of the time…”

  Machua stood in front of Toolbox, ready to protect her.

  “This entire fight will be determined by who wins a battle first.”

  ———————————————————————

  [Twin Flitting Blades]

  Yang Anhe’s blades ravaged an Egotist. This Egotist looked human but had several extra appendages. Without proper training, it couldn’t defend itself appropriately against her strikes, so it was simply shredded.

  “Forward!” She yelled.

  Machia heeded her order. Kaleid Blades shot out from his daggers and he dashed around the legs of a particularly big Egotist. It looked like a giant metallic tortoise golem. Within seconds, it tumbled to the ground, at which point Yang Anhe sliced its head off.

  “Can any of you speak our language!?” Yang Anhe shouted. “If so, then surrender now!”

  None of them seemed to heed her words. Seeing that, she clicked her tongue. There wasn’t going to be an easy solution to this. And they were still so far away from Lemuel.

  “That dragon’s been destroying so much of the city while it fights Captain Lemuel,” an EPG member muttered.

  “”It’s not a dragon.””

  Yang Anhe and Machia looked at each other again. There was this strange sort of synchronicity whenever any of the EPG members brought up the very dragon-like creature attacking Lemuel.

  “Geez, dragon or not, that thing’s still making a mess of things, isn’t it?” A voice called out from past the horde.

  Suddenly, a wave of bloodlust shot through the entire area. It was on a completely different level than before, so much so, that everyone in the area froze.

  “Alrighty, Egotists. I’ll have you know your predator’s here. So if you don’t wanna get devoured you’ll go ahead and surrender. Or play dead if you want.”

  Most of the Egotists heeded his order. Conscious or unconsciously. The EPG easily cleaned the mess here. But there was still a ways to go before they reached Lemuel.

  “How are the other squads doing?” Yang Anhe asked Rollo.

  “El decided to tactically abandon some of the auxiliary barrier devices when she saw how many Egotists there were. She’ll be coming to support us after some reorganisation. But there’ll be less men than planned,” Rollo informed.

  “It’ll have to do. None of them individually match up to you or Lemuel anyway.”

  “Hey…” Machia jumped into the conversation. “Rollo, you think you could take down Dwyn up there?”

  Yang Anhe raised an eyebrow at that. Rollo let out a hearty laugh.

  “Sure, if you can find a way to launch me at him.”

  “You’re not seriously considering it,” Yang Anhe spoke, seeing Machia’s face.

  Machia closed his eyes in thought. What was the best thing to do here? In the previous timeline, the EPG had bested Chimaera without any casualties. But nothing like the events that happened today came up in the report.

  Still, they could probably handle it. But if Dwyn got away or if something went wrong and he could’ve done something then…

  ‘I’m not letting those types of things go anymore. I’ve already decided. I’m not going to hold back.’

  “I have an idea. But… I’m gonna have to ask you to keep it a secret,” Machia spoke.

  “You’re kidding me,” Yang Anhe said, exasperated.

  “Haha, shoot! Let’s do it then. Bet I could survive a fall that high if you miss.”

  “Okay then,” Machia said with a smirk on his face. “Rollo, come with me. We need to practise. As for the others, I’d appreciate if you didn’t tell anyone I came up with this.”

  ———————————————————————

  Scias only had one goal. The anchor device. He was clearly at a disadvantage. His goal was right there, it was out in the open, but that was precisely what they wanted him to rush for. If he rushed, he’d be struck by a bunch of traps and his side would lose.

  “Hah!”

  But first, he might as well try throwing a kukri at it to try and break it in one go. He had extras anyway. Mikoko easily sent it flying.

  “Well, too afraid to approach?” Mikoko asked as she spin her staff, making more and more clouds.

  “That isn’t necessary, anyhow,” Rasa stated.

  Rasa played his string gauntlet. At first, it didn’t seem like it was producing sound, but slowly, the strings he had set up behind the anchoring device trembled. A soft whooshing sound permeated the room and a soft wind accompanied it.

  ‘Oh shit.’

  The wind suddenly grew strong and pushed the clouds towards Scias. He bobbed and weaved through them. His tail, long and sturdy, helped him move through the room.

  Mikoko took a deep breath before she exhaled. A deep and dark stormcloud escaped her mouth. Dense lightning crackled through it.

  “Razing Cloudy Horizon.”

  The stormcloud expanded, blocking most of Scias’ vision. And then it expanded again, blocking out the other side of the room. Scias couldn’t see anything or even hear anything now. The crackling lightning the stormcloud made was too loud.

  ‘I’ll be sandwiched at this rate! Tch, no choice but to go for it!’

  Scias focused mana towards his tail. Unlike the other members of Chimaera, he did not grow the flesh of his animal around his head or even around his limbs or body. It was only ever his tail. He always liked to keep it a certain length and a certain weight, otherwise it would be difficult to move. Still, the flesh and scale construct that served as an extended tail had nerves attached to it. So it was bound to hurt.

  Scias held his tail and aimed it carefully at a certain spot.

  ‘If I remember correctly… It’s right there!’

  [Extreme Growth: Rushing Serpent!]

  His tail shot forth into the Razing Cloudy Horizon. The tail grew in size and length, and though electrocuted, it did not cease. It kept growing and growing and growing.

  The tail’s tip finally penetrated the wall. Then, without slowing down, the tip of the tail split open. Flesh and scale grew and restructured itself to form a mouth, fangs, eyes, and a forked tongue.

  [Tail Head Modification!]

  The newly formed snake head locked onto the anchoring device and surged forward.

  “Rasa, cut it off!” Mikoko yelled as she shoved her staff in the snake’s way. “It’s just flesh and scales!”

  Scias heaved his tail up. As he now had vision and scent of the other side, he could tell what obstacles were in his way. The snake head dodged Mikoko’s staff.

  Rasa swiftly swung his sword at where the snake protruded from the wall. It cut through cleanly. The snake, now separated from its tail, lost momentum, however it did not stop. It began to slither to its objective.

  ‘Hah. That’s right. I grew a brain inside of it too. You know how hard it is to make even the most rudimentary brain?’

  “No, you don’t!” Mikoko swung her staff and shot a few lightning bolts at the slithering snake.

  Alas, it was too late. The snake chomped down onto the barrier device. Instantly, the barrier went down. The snake promptly turned into a charred piece of flesh and scales.

  Mikoko spun her staff in the air and separated her Razing Cloud Horizon. Scias was nowhere to be found.

  “It’s not over yet! He can’t reach the others or help break their barriers! We have to chase him down!”

  ———————————————————————

  At the same time, Gilliam was busy battling a bloody swarm of bees. Swat a few and more would take its place. And that incessant buzzing was assaulting his ears. It was a constant noise that was driving him crazy.

  “This is exactly why I hired a guy to kill you!” Gilliam raged.

  His wool coat had grown thick to stop the bees from hurting him. However, the bees were drenched in blood. Each time they made contact, his wool coat would get bloodier. Bloodier and heavier.

  “Ooh, couldn’t even kill us yourself,” Carmine said as she swung her axes.

  “Yeah! You’re a loser!” Plue added.

  Gilliam hurriedly shed his bloody wool coat and grew a new one. With the loss in weight, he could react to Carmine’s attack and even punch back. Of course, she disappeared back into the swarm of bees.

  ‘Urgh, I don’t have any area attacks. All I really have is the usual.’

  Gilliam grunted. He dug his hands underneath the floor and tossed a floor tile into the air.

  The bees deftly dodged the tile. Their buzzing sounded like laughter.

  “Haha!”

  “Haha!”

  ‘If only that damn summoner would come out of the shadows. Fuck it, I’ll just start destroying things. At some point, I’ll find her.’

  “Raaaargh!”

  With a sudden burst of speed, Gilliam charged. It didn’t matter where he was going, he was gonna charge horns-first into whatever blocked his way. He’d run everything over until he crashed into the barrier and then he’d just run again in the opposite direction.

  “Hey, you trying to break the tower down or is this a fight!?” Carmine yelled out as he rushed past her.

  He did not heed her. Cracks followed his direction. A lout thud followed him soon after. A thud that shook the barrier. The barrier didn’t break. But it shook.

  It shook.

  “…” Carmine stared at the direction of the cracks.

  No one dared to speak. One realisation was dawning on everyone here.

  Gilliam was strong enough to damage the barrier.

  “Plue! We gotta-“

  Gilliam rushed past her. Carmine clicked her tongue when she heard another thud. He was going to rush back this way. She gritted her teeth, ready to make her stand. With the force of the rush, all she’d have to do is keep stable and swing her axe. So long as she didn’t get gored, she should be able to make some damage.

  It was then that a large shadow flew in front of her. A large shadow with two big mandibles.

  “Stagosaurus Tee can handle it!” Plue proclaimed as she hopped off of her beetle.

  “She has built-in spikes in her feet so she can anchor herself to the ground,” she explained. “So she’ll grab him with her big mandibles and then flip him over!”

  “Good thinking,” Carmine said as she hopped on Stagosaurus Tee.

  She readied herself for the impact. The moment he hit Stagosaurus Tee, she was going to jump down and absolutely smash him into the ground. All Stagosaurus Tee had to do was stand her ground.

  “Here he comes!” Plue yelled.

  Gilliam’s charge was just as ferocious as before, if not more so. His breath was harsh and his charge rumbled the ground with each step. He had built up such speed that the next thing Carmine knew, his horns had crashed into Stagosaurus Tee.

  “Woah!” Carmine fell off of the beetle.

  Gilliam’s momentum pushed Stagosaurus Tee back, but with her spikes, she stood her ground. Her mandibles gripped his waist tightly and with all her strength, she grappled with him.

  “Woooaargh!” Gilliam shouted.

  Suddenly, his horns grew. They grew out like roots and dug under Stagosaurus Tee’s body. His neck strained as he struggled. But it was clear. He was gaining ground.

  “N-no way! He’s doing something so cool!” Plue’s eyes almost began shining.

  “Focus!” Carmine yelled as she jumped into the air.

  “Hah!”

  A sudden flip. His head, and consequently his horns, and consequently, Stagosaurus Tee, shot up. Up into the air. Where Carmine was. And consequently, she was sent flying.

  “I’LL GET YOU, YOU BASTAAA-ARGH!”

  Shattered. The barrier shattered. Carmine had flown up with so much force, her body broke through the barrier. And she was still going. She was making holes floor after floor in the tower.

  Scias and Gilliam had both broken their barriers. The fight was over.

  “I win,” Plue proclaimed.

  She stood behind Gilliam with her scythe at his neck. The blade was an inch away from cutting his throat.

  “If you try to do anything, I can tear your throat out,” she threatened, though with such an innocent tone, if it weren’t for what she was saying, no one would think it was a threat.

  ‘I thought she was just a little kid playing summoner. The way she called me cool, she was trying to get me to lower my guard.’ Gilliam took slow breaths.

  Gilliam reflexively raised a hand, causing the scythe to near his jugular. ‘It’s hot. It’s way hotter than with just a full coat. Did I grow more wool than I should’ve?’

  Wondering why the hell that was, Gilliam looked down. To his surprise, his body was layered with way more wool than before. And worse, bloodied wool was attached to him too. Overheated and weighed down.

  ‘I can feel something wriggling on my back. No, there’s… a lot of things? Are they…?’

  It was slowly dawning on him that there was a swarm of bees shuffling up and down his back, all moving on a great wool coat.

  “How didn’t I hear them?” He muttered.

  Plue was happy to explain. “They’re not actual bees, silly. They’re summons. I use bugs as a model, but you shouldn’t have assumed they’re the same.”

  “They don’t make noise if I don’t want them to. I had a few collect the wool you were shedding while fighting Carmine, so then those guys snuck up on you and stuck your wool back onto your coat while you were fighting Stagosaurus Tee.”

  ‘What is with that name?’ Gilliam shook the thought out of his head. ‘Regardless, I need to find some way to escape.’

  It was then that he noticed that a bee had wriggled its way to his front. And then more. And more. The collection of bees and his fur coat was heating him up more and more.

  “You know, when bees have to fight against wasps, they swarm them and then they vibrate their little wings-“

  All the bees on Gilliam began buzzing. Loudly.

  “Which generates heat and hotboxes the wasp. Bees have a higher heat tolerance so they’re fine. I made these ones with that tactic in mind, so it’s even higher for them.“

  Plue went on without a care. She explained what was happening almost like she was watching from the outside of a vivarium. As if the scene before her was just a perfectly normal event that happened in nature.

  “I heard sheep also need to get their wool sheared or they overheat too. That’s a problem you have, right?”

  ‘My thoughts are getting… woozy.’

  “I’ll stop before you get heatstroke. So, please, just sit there and faint, okay?”