“Fell for the same trick in the other direction, didn’t you?” Scias taunted. “You should’ve known it could do that, it’s just a construct.”

  Mikoko glared at him without a word.

  “I bet you all thought we’d be easy to take out,” Gilliam added. “That it would be easy to beat monster tamers without their monsters.”

  “Let her go!” Carmine pointed her axe at Scias.

  “I don’t think I will.”

  Scias commanded the two-headed snake to squeeze its body tighter. The bulge that was Plue became smaller.

  “Hey, stop that! I’ll kill…” Carmine trailed off. Rasa had raised his hand in front of her. He shook his head.

  “We surrender,” Mikoko finally said.

  “Should’ve saved us the time and energy,” Scias said.

  “But! It’s not over yet. Leona’s fight isn’t finished,” Mikoko pointed out.

  “She’ll win,” Gilliam stated. “She’s the strongest one out of us three.”

  “Why don’t we wait then?” Mikoko asked. “If she wins, then you’ve won anyway. If Machua and Toolbox win, then it’s a mutual hostage situation.”

  “Don’t try that with me,” Scias scowled. “We’re the ones short on time. We can end their fight by showing off our hostage.”

  Scias patted the snake. “Hrm?”

  The snake was no longer attached to him, so he was not aware of what was going on inside. All he could do was send it commands on what to do. It wouldn’t provide him any feedback.

  But when he patted it, he realised something. The snake was thicker than before.

  “Gill…” Scias called. Loudly.

  Everyone’s attention was on the burgeoning snake’s body. The body had grown wider and wider. The bulge had disappeared. Sounds of ripping could even begun to be heard.

  Gilliam slowly approached the area where the bulge was. He raised his hoof to stomp down on it.

  Suddenly, he noticed that one of the snake’s head was looking at him.

  “Scias…”

  “I didn’t do that.”

  All at once, the snake’s body burst. Rows of sharp legs shredded it from the inside and the metallic head of a giant centipede snapped the snake’s head clean off from the inside.

  “K-Kafki! Wait, don’t go too far! Please don’t hurt my friends!”

  Plue shouted warnings, advice, anything to help. Her scythe was broken when Kafki burst out. His legs closed down around her. Now, she was trapped in a different sort of prison.

  Kafki struck hard and fast. His mandibles snapped at Gilliam, slicing clean through his flesh. A chunk of his flesh was ripped out.

  “Gill! No!” Scias yelled.

  Scias felt everything come to a crawl. Gilliam was injured and that monstrous centipede raised its tail end to stab him. Neither of them was in good enough shape to block it. If he had enough mana, he could’ve used Extreme Growth: One-Third of a Chimaera and blocked it with his tail, but he was out. He was out and he was going to watch the love of his life die.

  *Shik!*

  A blood splatter.

  “You…”

  “What the hell are you doing!? Get the hell up you woolly mess!” Carmine barked.

  Kafki’s tail was lodged into the ground next to Gilliam. Carmine had knocked it off-course. At the cost of her arm.

  Her arm dissolved into blood but swiftly transformed into a blood crystal rooting Kafki’s tail to the ground.

  “Urgh…” Gilliam mumbled as he got back up. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

  “I suggest a temporary alliance while we deal with this berserk summon,” Mikoko proposed.

  She and Rasa were now gathered with the group. Luckily for them, Kafki was not strong enough to yank its tail out of the blood crystal in one go. But it was cracking.

  “Got no choice, I suppose. But that doesn’t mean we’re in your debt. That summon’s your fault,” Scias responded.

  “What kind of idiot gives a girl a summon like that anyway? She can’t control it worth a damn,” Gilliam asked, still holding his wound.

  “Likely Sienna Sharula,” Mikoko answered.

  The two Chimaera heads froze. That thing was something Sienna Sharula made herself? That monstrous centipede glaring at them?

  Scias grew pale. “The Annihilation Specialist? That thing’s one of her creations?”

  Kafki finally tugged his tail out of the blood crystal. Making a sort of hissing noise, he spun around, crushing everything in his way. The length of his body easily swept the entire ground floor. The group hopped over it together.

  With everything at their level destroyed, the tower fell. It came crashing down. But not fully. It fell down a storey but it did not fall over.

  Kafki looked up at the rest of the tower in confusion.

  “Lemuel’s barrier is holding the building steady,” Rasa observed. “It can’t fall over.”

  Kafki clambered onto a wall of the crumbling tower. He began to ascend.

  “Machua’s up there!” Mikoko realised.

  “But that means Leona is too,” Gilliam pointed out. “If she gets back to us, then we three heads can take that thing down.”

  “Are you sure you’ll be able to, Gill?” Scias worried.

  “A chimaera needs 3 heads,” he grunted. “We just need to get her here.”

  “Are you two certain you can take it down?” Mikoko asked, just to confirm.

  Scias paused. “Hey, is the barrier around the tower closed all the way?”

  “The top is open,” Rasa informed.

  “If you guys can close that, then we’ve got a shot.”

  Mikoko raised an eyebrow. “I see. I didn’t think you three were capable of it. If you could’ve used it earlier, then we would have lost for certain.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Yeah, yeah, can you do it or not?” Gilliam asked with irritation.

  “Carmine. I need you to help me make blood clouds. You’ll need to make it so that when I make the clouds congeal, they turn into a blood crystal ceiling.”

  Carmine wordlessly sent out her blood into the air. She raised her arm as Mikoko wove her mana into it. She spun her staff, weaving the blood and air to form bloody clouds.

  “The barrier isn’t fully enclosed around the tower. I’ll send the clouds from the outside and close it as fast as I can.”

  A red streak suddenly stuck itself onto Kafki’s tail end. It was a crimson axe with a blood line attached to it. At the other end, Carmine was holding the line with a sort of daredevil grin.

  “I’m heading up! Someone’s gotta do it.”

  “Carmine.” Rasa had a serious look on his face. “Reach for Plue. I know you can do it.”

  “No sweat,” Carmine assured. She gestured with her head, but all it did was swish hair into her eyes.

  Confused, she looked to her arm. It was missing.

  “Ah, right.”

  Blood began to fly into the air towards Carmine. However, she soon flew away herself, pulled by Kafki’s body.

  The group looked to her with various degrees of encouragement. She hung on tight and right before Kafki left the ground floor entirely, she had already regrown her arm and clambered onto his tail. It was all on her now.

  ———————————————————————

  A few minutes before…

  “Hah… hah,” Lemuel huffed. Dozens of bodies laid around him. Some with holes punched through, others crushed.

  “Does it hurt you to end those lives, Lemuel Salas?” Dwyn asked with a rasp. He wasn’t looking too good himself.

  He was situated on the side of Folia Sky Tower. His talons dug into the barrier around it. His flame breaths didn’t work against Lemuel, so all he could do was get him by surprise. But with his size, it was almost impossible to get the jump on him. Even when he was distracted by a horde of Egotists. Even when most of them were curated to take him on specifically.

  “Where do Egotists lay on your moral spectrum? Are they monsters with no sense of right or wrong? Or are they merely intelligent beasts?”

  “I think I’ve made my stance clear on that. And I wouldn’t dare think you’d sit down and actually listen to me,” Lemuel answered.

  “Oh no, of course not. I’ve been studying this thing for decades. And you…”

  Dwyn pointed a talon to the end of his snout, in mock thought.

  “All you have is… what? A singular friend from Idealich?”

  “That’s right. But I wouldn’t underestimate him if I were you.”

  “Oh, believe me. I am not underestimating his combat ability. But he cannot claim to have as much understanding of Ego-“

  Out of the corner of his eye, Dwyn spotted something rocketing towards him with unprecedented speed. His eyes widened as he realised what it was.

  “Heya! Heard you were talking shit about me.”

  Dwyn shoved off of Folia Sky Tower just in time to dodge a Rollo in-flight. His greatsword clanged off of the side of Folia Sky Tower’s barrier.

  “Well… isn’t that just rude.”

  A bloody aura emanated off of him. The suddenness of it along with the intensity froze Dwyn in place for a moment. But that moment was enough.

  [Bloody Smear: Great Vertical!]

  Rollo leapt off of the side of the Folia Sky Tower. The red trail that his greatsword drew gave clear indication of how it was moving. It was aimed towards the neck. And it struck true.

  The dragon’s head was cut clean-off. Both Rollo and the corpse fell.

  “Whew! Now I know how it feels! Haha…”

  Rollo’s red aura turned off as quickly as it came on. He holstered his greatsword and quietly laughed to himself as he fell.

  Two loud crashes hit the ground soon after. Dwyn’s body created a crater on impact.

  “Rollo!” Lemuel took off running to his friend who similarly created a crater.

  “Hey, go clean this up, Lemue. Anhe’s squad’s on the way. I’ll be fine. Think I just broke a few bones.”

  Rollo sat up and laid a hand on his knee. He had crash-landed from a height several storeys up, but he was relatively fine. He had a few scrapes and bruises, but without him claiming it, one wouldn’t even have thought he had broken a bone.

  “… Right. I’ll have to ask you how you did that later though.”

  Lemuel placed a barrier over his friend. It would keep him safe from any Egotists who wanted to sneak a bite out of him. He could take care of himself though, so it mostly served to let him rest.

  That was three barriers he was maintaining now. Three barriers was a lot for one person to maintain. His focus now had to be divided four-ways. Which made this the perfect time to strike.

  A red flaming laser shot at his backside. Lemuel’s eyes widened as he caught it at the corner of his vision. He crossed his tonfas behind him and formed a last-second barrier.

  “Lemue!”

  Lemuel was shot. The laser penetrated his haphazard barrier and shot through his chest. Smoke wafted from the hole.

  The barrier around Rollo dropped. But no other barrier did. It was his turn to check up on his friend.

  “Nothing vital. But seems like… Dwyn still has a few tricks up his sleeves,” Lemuel grunted as he looked at the dragon corpse.

  Flaming claws tore the dragon’s body apart. Dwyn stepped out of it, already transformed.

  Dwyn’s body was covered in scales but wasn’t much bigger than how he usually was. He was adorned with two wings and sharp claws at the end of his arms. Most noticeably, his snout was shaped differently. The end of it was long and thin, shaped like the barrel of a gun. A sniper rifle to be precise.

  [Scale Snout: Sniper Form]

  “I’ve always hated using this. A remnant of my childhood imagination that has continued to burden me ever since. But it will suffice.”

  ———————————————————————

  Yang Anhe’s squad rushed in the moment that dragon dropped from the sky. The horde was now thinning. But they still had a ways to go before they reached Lemuel.

  “It really is absurd that he acquired these many Egotists,” Yang Anhe muttered.

  “I can hazard a few guesses,” Machia said.

  “Oh, you can, can’t you?”

  A crumbling noise drew their attention away from their bickering. The Folia Sky Tower was collapsing. And on closer inspection. Something black was… wriggling. Something huge. Something incredibly destructive.

  “… I’m going in.”

  “We’ll cover you.”

  ———————————————————————

  ‘Didn’t manage to perfect it, but I can do it,’ Carmine thought.

  Her newly formed arm was functioning well. She was able to climb segment by segment. Kafki didn’t even seem to notice her. It was just that his movements were erratic. He was tumbling around the tower, trying to collapse it.

  “My heart belongs to me,” Carmine muttered, almost a declaration. “So I can do whatever I want with it.”

  One session wasn’t enough for her to master it, but Rollo’s teachings was enough for her to get a grasp on it. She directed mana to her heart and commanded it to beat faster. At the same time, she allowed her mana to flow along with the bloodstream and cling to each and every blood vessel, reinforcing them. She followed a specific spell to enhance the effects of her blood. Then, all at once, she forced her heart to pump blood at unprecedented speeds.

  “Heartbreak Riot.”

  A slight, red-tinted aura emanated from Carmine. An intense strength flowed from within her. She shot up Kafki’s segments at twice the pace as before.

  ‘Can’t draw from my blood anymore. Have to use blood outside of my body. Otherwise I could mess up the technique.’

  Carmine took what little blood was left in her clothes and formed them into small bloody claws at the ends of her hands. These would have to do.

  A tumbling vending machine dropped towards her. Carmine batted it away, her claws making a screeching noise as she tore it apart. She continued climbing.

  ‘I knew it’d burn mana but I didn’t think it’d be this much. Have to be careful with it.’ Carmine’s climbing speed got faster and faster.

  ‘After I shut it off, there’s a cooldown period where I still need to produce extra blood as my heart slows down. If I mess it up, I’m dead.’

  Still, this didn’t stop her from using it. In fact, something this intense was exactly what she needed.

  Kafki’s legs all scrabbled in a pattern, but there were two segments where that pattern wasn’t being upheld. Carmine felt, no, she knew that that was where Plue was. With renewed vigour, Carmine clawed her way up to it.

  ‘If I head down to the underside, I’d get squished by whatever it crawls on next,’ Carmine thought.

  She looked to how Kafki was structured. The segments and legs weren’t directly connected to each other. They floated in close distance to each other and acted like they were one body, but they weren’t actually connected. This gave them a degree of flexibility that allowed parts of the body to detach from one another.

  Carmine figured that was intentional to make use of Plue’s Swarm Aspect. Everything was disconnected, other than two segments that were touching that each had missing legs.

  ‘…’

  Carmine grabbed the segments and flipped them over. On the other side was a trapped Plue. She had lost her scythe and she had a surprised look on her face. Kafki’s legs were firmly clutching her close.

  “Get away from Kafki, Carmine, he’ll kill you! I’ve totally lost control!” Plue pleaded.

  “Can’t do tha-“ Carmine responded, before a sudden rumbling threatened her grip.

  “W-woaaaaahhh!”

  Kafki just broke through the last barrier. When Carmine looked, Toolbox had wrapped herself around Machua’s shoulders, while Leona grabbed her leg. Machua was struggling to stand in the air.

  Leona began, “What is…”

  “HEY CAT MAMA, YOUR HUBBIES ARE CALLING FOR YA! GROUND FLOOR! YOU TWO GET YOUR ASSES DOWN THERE TOO!” Carmine yelled.

  “Is that me?”

  That was the last thing Carmine heard before they crashed into another floor. She refocused herself and pulled on the legs that served as Plue’s chains as hard as she could.

  They trembled. But she couldn’t manage more than a few inches. That didn’t mean anything to her though, she was gonna wrench it open whatever it took.

  She placed her thumb where her heart was. She was gonna amp up the level of Heartbreak Riot. This was already the limit of what she could safely handle, so if she went any further it could cause her blood vessels to burst. That didn’t matter though. A little bit of internal bleeding was fine.

  “Weagh urph!”

  A paw seal shone right beside her. Carmine shifted to the side to make some space for Toolbox. She rushed up Kafki’s body with ease.

  “What do you have in your mouth? Spit it out.”

  Toolbox had arrived with a tonfa in her mouth. She was gripping the handle of it tightly, which caused the long end of it to smush the side of her cheek. She promptly released it and held it out to Carmine.

  “Machu told me to take it. She said it’ll help,” Toolbox informed.

  “Just use a big claw move like before.”

  “I’m out of claws. I used my last 10 defeating my mama,” Toolbox sullenly stated. “Here, take it.”

  Carmine hesitated, seeing the saliva-covered tonfa handle. She slowly reached out for the longer end of it, but Toolbox insisted she take it by the handle.

  Now, far be it from her to say anything when she was always bloody, but, ah…. she didn’t particularly want to take it.

  Carmine’s hand suddenly jerked for the handle, and before she could pull it back, Toolbox shoved it into her hand.

  ‘Fucking!… God, it’s so slimy. She drools a lot but damn.’

  “Machua said put it behind Plue, the handle pointing to you, and then click the trigger. You’re stronger than me, so you do it.”

  Carmine and Toolbox pushed aside a leg to make a small enough gap where she could wrest it in there. Plue moved her body as much as she could to help. After a bit of work, the tonfa was in.

  Carmine pressed the trigger. An orange barrier immediately emanated from the tonfa, forcing the legs open.

  “Alright, mission done. Let’s get down to the ground floor!” Carmine commanded as she grabbed Plue and put her on her shoulder.

  Toolbox grabbed the tonfa and the two jumped off. Plue was wriggling around, trying to get off, but Carmine didn’t let her. They’d be faster if she just jumped down.

  “W-wait, Kafki! Please don’t hurt my friends! Please! Don’t!”

  The rumbling of the building stopped. Carmine and Toolbox froze. They felt a stare penetrate their heads from behind. The two were facing away, but they knew what was behind them.

  “You saved my life already! Papa’s outside! He’ll destroy you!” Plue pleaded, the only one looking back.

  Carmine glanced at Toolbox. She looked to the ground. Toolbox nodded in return.

  Kafki hissed. His antennas dragged on the floor and his mandibles opened to strike. He wasn’t hearing it.

  “Please just go back on my skin! If you kill anyone, papa will kill you. You don’t want that, right? Right?” Plue raised her arm up to Kafki’s antenna.

  But right before she touched him, Carmine and Toolbox sprung. Toolbox designated paw seals for the fastest way down and Carmine followed. Kafki rushed after the three, wreaking havoc for the second time in the tower. But now, that destruction was directed down.

  “Your parents had better finish their prep soon!”

  ———————————————————————

  Meanwhile, a few red clouds had drifted their way to the top of Folia Sky Tower. They transformed into a crystal ceiling, closing the barrier. Of course, no one on the outside was aware this was happening.

  Which was why it was such a surprise to them when the entire barrier turned pure white.

  It was a pure white rectangular block.

  It stuck out like a sore thumb. Its pure blankness clashed with City Folia’s architecture to a horrendous degree. It was like nothing could touch it, bestow it with any colour. It was a canvas, untouched by the world. No, it was the world itself parting to become a canvas. A blank canvas upon which its creators could paint upon.

  Black etched itself unto the canvas. At first it was three small dots, but then they became lines, and lines became words, and words became sentences.

  Disparate sentences describing important things, mundane things, anything at all. Quotes belonging to the writers, to their beloved ones, to their hated enemies. All sorts of words formed into all sorts of sentences. They crashed against each other, attempting to cover as much white as possible.

  “We’re a family, all four of us.”

  No one could remember if the garage door was left open, so the lioness returned home.

  The snake was bereft of his family, of a home, all he ever wanted was but the simplest of things.

  “That goddamned ZOO deserves nothing but the worst!”

  A loud and brash goat would sometimes approach them, his wool hiding his caring heart.

  “We, and everyone laid off, will form a new organisation!”

  To her surprise, her little toolbox was making a noise, a very, very, soft purr.

  “Look at you, how’d you find your way in there?”

  “We’ll name it Chimaera, after us three!”

  They would give the little cat everything they hoped to attain themselves: a home and an eternal family.

  The sentences, once but specks, quickly grew to cover the entire canvas. It was now a black rectangular block. It stuck out just as much as before, perhaps even more so. No sentence was legible anymore, as if the words were not for anyone on the outside to read. This was a story only for those within.

  [Monstrous and Everlasting Union]