“Why isn’t he picking up!?” Machua grumbled as she ran. She typed down the location and sent it to her brother and also Kalina. As expected, she got nothing from her brother, but Kalina responded quickly.

  Just a few seconds ago, Plue had received a notification from Elize. The moment she did, she bolted out the window. Everyone else had no choice but to run after her. In fact, they had gotten out so quickly, they had forgotten about Tam. He managed to catch up though.

  “This way!” Plue pointed.

  A second later, paw seals were drawn on the ground and Toolbox rushed forward. The group followed the guiding paw seals.

  “”That’s-”” Both Machua and Tam exclaimed.

  The squad came across a massive gate that had a large sign that declared the area behind it as restricted. The actual word was half-covered by a paw seal though, as Toolbox had already gotten on top of it.

  “The big cargo ports? How’d they get-“

  “Skip the talk and get climbing!” Carmine yelled.

  Plue had already reached the top and laid down a rope. Carmine and Rasa followed vigorously. It was honestly really hard for Rasa as the rope kept shaking. Machua looked to the side to see Tam holding up his handcuffs.

  “You could’ve run by now you know,” she said.

  “… Consider it guilt,” Tam responded.

  “Sure then.” Machua unlocked the handcuff without a second thought. “Feel free to use magic now.”

  She rushed into a dimensional elevator and quickly arrived at the top. Tam did much the same by lifting a piece of the ground beneath him. When Machua reached the top, she found that Toolbox was looking into the distance. Following her gaze, Machua found that Toolbox was staring at a medium-sized cargo airship. People were loading in cages and cages of monsters, but they were too far away and it was too dark to see them properly. The port they were using was not the closest one to the restricted wall barrier, it was the 3rd closest, so the squad still had some distance to cover.

  “Looks like they’re taking their sweet time,” Carmine stated as she was helping Rasa up. Rasa was already breathing heavily.

  “Let’s go,” Toolbox said as she jumped off of the wall barrier.

  “Wait, Toolbox!” Machua yelled as she landed. Toolbox turned her head up and gestured for them to follow.

  Tam raised a piece of earth up for everyone to use and brought it back down to the ground. It wasn’t fast, but it was safe and silent.

  “Toolbox,” Plue called. “We have to be quiet for this one.”

  “I got it. Take out the sentries and then the leader. Which has to be dada. When he learns it’s me, everything’s gonna be good.”

  “…” Machua’s lips curled like she was unsure of something.

  “Either… way,” Rasa huffed. “If we are able to take out the leader, we would have a hostage. And we can stall for the Bureau.”

  “This is company property though, isn’t it?” Plue asked. “We’re trespassing, so there might be some issues.”

  “… The hostage would suffice in any sense. I hope Toolbox will be able to convince them to stand down.”

  Toolbox nodded before dashing forward. She was aware that her paw seals would reveal their position, so she didn’t place any down. Her movements were still clean even without the help. The group did their best to match her movements.

  It wasn’t long before they ran into their first guard. His mana was stretched out over the vicinity, waiting to detect anything abnormal.

  The group split into two. Rasa played a very soft melody, just enough for it to be noticeable for the guard. At first, the guard thought that he was hearing things, but after a bit, he recognised that that might be suspicious. Instead of walking over to check it himself though, he stretched his mana to check the area. But in the process, he moved his mana out of his blind spot, allowing for two people to sneak in.

  Machua and Toolbox slammed their weapon/fist into the back of his head. He was launched forward, but just before he hit the ground, Carmine had caught him.

  “Not dead,” she confirmed.

  The squad only had to repeat the process a single time. Chimaera only had 20 people after all, and not all of them were in Aramaya. With the lack of manpower, there wasn’t going to be many guards.

  “It’s going so easily,” Machua muttered.

  “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch,” Rasa advised. “The hardest part is now.”

  Machua nodded. She and the group observed the scene. Scias was standing out in the open, directing his men. There were a few men hauling their ‘cargo,’ and according to Plue there would be two more guards on the opposite side. The airship would also need a pilot and a navigator, already preparing it for take-off. There could be more inside, but Plue was not confident in getting her bugs in there without getting caught. On the other hand, Scias and some of the men out there might have had the training to work an airship, so the numbers could be lower than expected.

  ‘An all-out brawl’s bound to go bad for us. They’re all adults so they probably already have Hunter experience. We haven’t even gone on one mission with our captain.’

  Machua called Machia again. And again, he didn’t pick up. She clicked her tongue at that but decided to shelf her complaints for later.

  She looked to her squad to gauge their reactions. Toolbox was fidgeting like crazy, it took all she had to rein herself in. Carmine was also itching to get into the fight, but she was also keeping tabs on the other members. Plue was steadily observing each Chimaera man and muttered things under her breath. Rasa’s gaze was steady. As for Tam, he had a despondent look in his eyes.

  ‘Six people on our side. About 10 on theirs? That’s a lowball though. And three of us are rookie Hunters. Carmine could probably fight at their level, but if they take one of us hostage, we’re done for,’ Machua furiously thought. ‘Ugh, if only Machi was here. Add in Kalina and then we have 8 to 10. I’d take our chances like that.’

  ‘Maybe we can disable their airship? But how the hell would anyone get in there? If they’re good about it, then even Plu’s bugs can’t do anything. This can’t be the play.’

  Machia grimaced and looked at the scene again, hoping she’d figure something out. The scene did not change, other than that more cargo had been loaded.

  ‘Argh! What would Machi do!?’ Machua mentally screamed.

  After trying in vain at guessing his thought process, Machua came to the realisation that despite them being siblings, she really had not spent enough time with him in combat situations. She had no idea of what he would think, only assuming that he would know what to do.

  It was at that point a light step disturbed her thoughts. The group turned to see who it was, and luckily it was a familiar face.

  “I’m not late, am I?” Kalina asked.

  “Just in time. Thanks for coming,” Machua answered.

  Kalina nodded. She joined them in observing the scene. At this point, almost all of the cargo had been loaded onto the airship. It would take only a few more minutes for them to be ready for lift-off.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  ‘Seven to ten now. I think we should be able to do it.’

  Kalina tapped Machua’s shoulder. “For your information, my Aspect is Barrier. I can protect the weaker ones in our group or isolate enemies. Can’t guarantee their strength if I’m not left alone though.”

  “She’s also hella fast,” Carmine added.

  “That too.”

  “It doesn’t look like we’ll have much time for a concrete plan. They’ll be leaving anytime now,” Rasa observed.

  “Okay. We’ll just run in and sow chaos. Kalina, can you put a barrier around Toolbox and the leader? She can handle him by herself.”

  “Sure.”

  The group all readied themselves to charge in at any time. Machua did her best to slow her breathing and focus, that was all she could do. In this entire group, perhaps the person who was least ready was herself.

  ‘My second mission ever. And it’s a group fight with people stronger than me. With so many people I don’t have any hope at commanding. Hopefully I can get into the airship and fiddle with it. Breaking some stuff should work to keep them grounded.’

  “Okay. Let’s go!”

  At the order, a path of paw seals lit up the ground, its end point set at right before Scias. Toolbox dashed through them all in a flash and her claws skidded on the ground as she stopped herself at its end. Before Scias could even react, an arrow shot to the space between their feet, and a big dome formed around them.

  “Stop them!” One of Scias’ men shouted.

  The squad rushed into the scene. As the men casted their spells or shot their weapons, Rasa played a song to interfere with them, allowing for the melee fighters to rush in. Machua and the squad clashed with the Chimaera men on the ground. As expected, the battlefield quickly got chaotic.

  Rocks were flung in the air, bodies were tossed around, blood spewed across the ground. Each and every person’s individual abilities resulted in a battlefield with no uniformity.

  Meanwhile, inside of the closed dome, Scias was staring at the woman in front of him, his hands in his pockets. It was certainly a surprise that his group was attacked, but his men were holding this amateur group of Hunters back.

  “It’s…” Toolbox stammered. “It’s me.”

  “It’s you, alright,” Scias responded with a raised eyebrow. “And you are?”

  “I-Don’t you-“

  Before Toolbox could finish her words, Scias had drawn his kukri. Toolbox’s eyes widened as she saw her dada charge her with a weapon. She could barely react as he pushed her to the side of the dome wall, her arm barely able to stop him from slitting her throat.

  “I’m…” Toolbox struggled against her dada’s strength.

  “I’m Toolbox!” She finally yelled, shoving him away.

  Toolbox’s eyes glossed over as she took off her hood and held out her hand, showing off her Toolbox bracelet.

  Scias did not say a word as he stumbled backwards and caught himself. Still not speaking, his tail shot out and wrestled the bracelet from Toolbox, who let it happen.

  Toolbox looked on with hope as her dada inspected the bracelet. The sounds of fighting echoed throughout the port, and from time to time projectiles would hit and shake the dome, but Scias was unfazed.

  His hands gently held the worn bracelet and his eyes slowly looked over each and every detail. The shade of brown that was used, the buckle, the various stitches that had come apart.

  His fingers pressed onto the hand-stitched name. Each crease of the seven-letter word was familiar to him. With each second he spent, Scias’ heart had begun racing faster and faster. It was almost as if he was searching for a reason why this had to be fake. But no matter what he did, he couldn’t find it.

  Finally, he looked on the inside of the bracelet. There was a small, faded inscription that read: ‘If lost, please return to Leona, Gilliam, and Scias.’ Each of their names were written down by person who owned them, and a little claw mark was added to the end.

  Scias took a deep breath and his eyes uneasily shifted back to Toolbox. The same Toolbox that the bracelet was referring to. Toolbox gave a nervous smile back.

  “S-See. I’m back. I’m-“

  “I don’t know where you found this, stranger.” Scias put as much ire into the word as he could.

  Toolbox’s heart skipped a beat. Stranger? She of all people, his child, was being called a stranger?

  “But you need to do your research if you want to swindle me,” Scias thrusted out the bracelet. “This isn’t a bracelet.”

  “It’s a fucking collar.”

  “Toolbox is our cat. And if you didn’t even know that, she must be dead. She wouldn’t let anyone take off her collar.”

  “I-I know it’s a collar! It just stopped fitting after everything…” Toolbox stumbled over her words.

  “No! You can’t convince me-“

  “I still remember the day you adopted me!” Toolbox suddenly yelled. “I snuck in through the garage and mama found me on her motorcycle! And then-“

  “Shut…” Scias muttered under his breath.

  “I wouldn’t leave! I always liked sleeping in her toolbox while she worked on her motorcycle, even though my white fur would get all dirty! And then it was papa who named me! You were the one who bathed me! And then-“

  “UP! SHUT UP! TOOLBOX IS DEAD AND GONE! STOP TARNISHING HER MEMORY OR I’LL KILL YOU!”

  All at once, the sound of combat stopped. Everyone glanced at the furious Scias. In this momentary silence, he was afforded the time to calm his breathing down, but the incensed look on his face would not go away. Toolbox shuffled backwards in shock.

  “I’m done. I don’t care. Release the monsters!” Scias ordered. “I don’t care if Dwyn’s gonna punish us all! I don’t want to deal with these guys anymore.”

  “Yes, boss!” A few of Scias’ men rushed into the airship and got to work.

  “Stop them!” Machua yelled out. But it was already too late.

  There were already men inside the airship, still preparing it for take-off. Upon hearing the order, the men outside blockaded the squad from entering, allowing those already inside to unleash the monsters.

  Frenzied wolves with two heads, giant bat monsters, and a menagerie of other monsters rushed out of the airship. Faced with this supplementary force, Machua and the squad had to retreat.

  “Damn it! I can break through!” Carmine shouted.

  “No! Our frontline wouldn’t last!” Machua rejected.

  Tam had set up an earth wall, but the monsters easily broke through, forcing the squad to fight them off. Rasa’s strings hummed discordant tones, with each change sending out a new spells. In this frantic fight, the amount of spells the squad shot out had increased heavily.

  “We’re monster tamers, damn it. And god forbid I try to fight like it,” Scias muttered as he patted down his clothes and stowed the collar away in his pocket.

  “So, fine. Why don’t we all watch how an Egotist wreaks havoc?”

  ‘The Planar Key…’ Machua observed Scias bring it out.

  “Toolbox! Snatch it out of his hand!”

  Toolbox’s trembling body could not obey the command. Kalina, however, could. She dissipated the barrier and shot an arrow straight at the Planar Key, hoping to knock it out of his hand. Alas, he managed to activate it.

  The blue bandaged Egotist shimmered into reality. It was confused and still dazed, so it didn’t act immediately. But the sudden influx of its pure mana in close-range forced people to withdraw.

  Scias was the fastest of them all. As soon as the blue bandaged Egotist popped out, he had rushed back to his airship. Carmine attempted to stop him, but he was far too fast.

  “Get to flying boys,” he commanded, as he watched from its deck. All of his men had already retreated into the airship, and as for those left behind, they would simply have to let them go.

  “A-ah…” Toolbox stumbled onto the ground.

  ‘Dada wanted to… kill me?’ was the only thought that went through her mind.

  As for the blue-bandaged Egotist, it tried to get a grasp on its surroundings. It looked around just as a human would, shaking its head left and right. Despite the fact that no one could be sure that it had eyes, it still looked as if a human did. Its blue bandages floated behind it, prepared to defend itself.

  And defend itself it did. The various monsters in the vicinity were beings that it recognised. There was no reasoning with them, no leaving them alone. So it was better to kill and devour them. As the few monsters charged at it, the blue bandages shot out and tied them up.

  The squad watched as the monsters were strangled and… corroded? Some sort of liquid seeped through the blue bandages, acting almost like a poison or a stomach acid, corroding the monsters it had fully tied up. When the monster was fully ‘digested,’ the Egotist seemed to regain some semblance of energy.

  “Farewell, Hunters. I hope I never see you again,” Scias declared, as his airship began to float.

  “Kalina, I’ll get on your barrier and you fire me at it!” Carmine commanded.

  “No!” Kalina firmly rejected. “We have to kill the Egotist! We can’t let it run wild and hurt anyone!”

  “They’re getting away!”

  “Carmine!” Rasa shouted. “Toolbox is your charge!”

  Carmine gritted her teeth as she stared into Rasa’s eyes. Rasa was not afraid of her fierce gaze, he looked back into them with just as much emotion.

  “Fine. But you’re… Whatever. Let’s get to it.”

  At this point in time, the Egotist had finally ‘digested’ all of its food, every other monster in the area was gone. And now, it was looking for more.

  The blue-bandaged Egotist shot its bandages in all directions. Tam, who had been sending his mana into the ground in preparation, raised an earth wall that surrounded the Egotist. However, its powerful bandages tore through the wall, tossing rubble around everywhere. Everyone had to dodge the rubble and the blue bandages that were snaking through the air.

  “Woah!” Machua yelled, as she stepped in the air to dodge a bandage.

  The blue bandages shot her way over and over, and each time, she stepped into the air to escape. She rose up bit by bit until at a certain point, the blue bandages could no longer reach her. While in the air, Machua finally had full view of the scene. Toolbox was on the opposite side of the Egotist, so she had disappeared from their vision when the earth wall came up. And now, she had finally spotted that she was in a troublesome spot.

  “Someone save Toolbox! It’s got her by the arm!”

  Toolbox’s arm had a blue bandage wrapped around it. She was being pulled in by the Egotist and no matter how she clawed away at it, she couldn’t cut it. Paw seals lit on and off against the ground, but she couldn’t reach them. The claws on her feet etched the ground as she tried her best to escape.

  “I just wanted…” Toolbox muttered as she struggled.

  “Get your head in the game, Toolbox!” Carmine shouted. “If you want to see them again, you have to live to see tomorrow! So smash that thing’s head in!”

  “Aaa-Aaaarghh!” Toolbox screamed as she stopped resisting.

  She allowed the Egotist to pull her closer, but she formed paw seals along the way. She hopped through them, and finally, drove her hand into a paw seal, forming huge white claws.

  At the same time, several people took that opportunity to strike. Carmine rushed in with her axes encased in her blood crystals. Machua dropped a car and shot downward with a tonfa. Plue had summoned a big stag beetle to pincer it.

  [Pathway Paw: 5-Claw Smash!]

  Toolbox’s hand shoved into the Egotist’s chest. The blue bandages rippled with all the force, but it still stood standing. Right afterwards, the car dropped on its head, which it batted away. Carmine arrived at the same time as the stag beetle, but her strike and the stag beetle’s pincers could barely manage a scratch.

  “Get away from it!” Kalina yelled.

  Machua had just enough time to comprehend the instruction to try to redirect herself.

  The Egotist raised its arms and arched its back, almost as if it was howling. Its mana shot back into it and compressed into as tight of a form as possible before it finally released it.

  ‘Convergence!’ Machua thought as she held her tonfas up to protect herself.

  The mana burst forth with an explosive blast, launching everyone near it away. The stag beetle dissolved near-instantly. Machua and Toolbox were sent crashing into the warehouses and machinery in the area. Carmine meanwhile was launched straight out of the City and Rasa had to shoot a thread to catch her.

  Machua crashed into a warehouse and crumpled to the floor. She could tell that several of her bones had been broken, but even worse, its pure mana had seeped into her.

  ‘Almost 70%. That’s enough to kill me. I just took a hefty dosage of it…’ Machua listlessly thought.

  She took breaths as deep as possible and shut her eyes, trying to ignore the pain. She couldn’t do anything but focus on filtering the pure mana out. If she failed, she would be dead. That would be it. It would be over.

  ‘Please… I want to see mami again… I just want her to know that I’ve achieved something. Please don’t die here…’ Machua begged her own body to stay working.

  It was at that point, she felt the touch of a familiar mana signature. Familiar in a bad way, but for some reason, it felt comforting this time around.

  “I’ve got you,” Tam had run up to her and assisted with her recovery. He weaved his mana into hers and dredged the pure mana out.

  Machua’s eyes slowly drew open. Crouched over her was a concerned Tam, his face wholly focused on helping her. Sweat dotted his forehead as he carefully controlled his mana. His mana was barely within the 10% threshold with Machua’s, but he still took extra care in dredging the pure mana out.

  “… Sorry,” Machua couldn’t help but say.

  “What for?”

  “Your brother. I realise I never said sorry.”

  “… He deserved it. That was the hardest part to accept.”

  As most of the pure mana had left her body, Machua could finally find the time to look back at the Egotist. She spotted a crumpled and bleeding Toolbox, with Plue tending to her. The Egotist, however, was not looking at either of them. It was looking at Kalina, and all of its blue bandages were prepared to strike her. Even from here, Machua could feel that Kalina’s aura had changed. She had been suppressing her mana this entire time.

  ‘She was holding back? Haha… Just like Machi.’

  “I’m feeling a bit better now, can you go and help…” Machua’s words trailed off when she spotted a stray blue bandage approach their location.

  Tam turned in the direction she was looking. The blue bandage had gotten dangerously near them, and at its speed he knew he couldn’t outrun it. There was no chance for him to escape with Machua. One of them would have to be caught.

  The blue bandage shot towards them. It moved to grab Machua’s foot, but at the last second, Tam slammed his hand on it.

  Almost in confusion, it stopped, giving Tam and Machua just enough time to look at each other in the eye.

  “Damn it.”

  The blue bandage wrapped around his arm and dragged him away.