"No!" Rin exclaimed, grabbing onto the doorframe as horror gripped her features. Her wizened features contorted in agony and she doubled over like she'd taken a physical blow to the gut. "May!"
Flames crackled and popped around the ground where the girl had stood moments before. Their intensity rapidly faded and shrank away, pulling back across the now-scorched dirt.
Aaron's hands trembled as he stared at the spot where May had stood. His mouth worked in disbelief, trying and failing to form words. Abby stood a few paces behind him, her features several shades paler than normal in stark shock.
The Nagaga let out a pair of hissing laughs. It drove the butt of its staff into the ground with a thud. A high-pitched whine built as it started to call on its magic once more. It took aim at Aaron, who didn't even try to budge.
All he could do was stare at the fading fire and the blackened earth where May had been moments before.
"Bastards," Rin breathed. Her eyes fluttered, pupils going pitch black as her fingers flexed into claws. "They dare kill my Brood? I'll—"
"Relax, grandma," Alex said, a small smile pulling across his lips. While everyone else stared in horror, he could feel one thing that none of them could. A faint, constant drain on his energy. "Don't waste your energy. From what Claire has told me about your kind, you don't have the magic to spare."
"You dare mock the death of a child?" Rin asked, fury burning in her features.
In response, Alex just pointed at the blackened ground as the last of the flames sputtered out.
There was a large lump of pitch black tar in the center of the explosion. The lump bubbled as a white ceramic mask pushed out from within it. Tendrils shot from the lump and slammed into the ground lifting it into the air.
Sludge bubbled out as Princess's body reformed. She bloomed like a sodden flower, unwrapping herself to reveal a small, curled form within her protection.
The Nagaga let out a hiss of fury as it realized that its prey had been stolen. It lowered its staff to take aim once more.
A black blur slammed into it with a loud crunch. Spark had chosen his time to make an entrance. The few brief seconds that May had bought by hitting the Nagaga with her magic hadn't been enough to kill the monster, but they'd bought Alex's monsters enough time to get into position.
Glint emerged from where he stood behind a house. His shimmering blade-wing snapped out like a whip, slicing across the Nagaga's chest and clean through the scales with a loud shearing noise. The monster screamed in pain and staggered back, all four of its eyes flicking to the new threat.
It didn't get a chance to counterattack.
A shadow blurred behind the Nagaga and Spark swapped positions with it. His black gauntlet clamped down on the monster's arm and ripped it free with a single, sharp motion. Green blood sprayed across the ground. Spark discarded the limb over his shoulder like it was a crumbled up ball of trash.
His shadow darted around to stand behind the snakelike monster.
The Nagaga screamed and dropped its staff. It swung its remaining hand at Spark.
The Knight Wraith vanished, swapping spots with his shadow once more and allowing the other monster's attack to pass through his clone harmlessly. Spark balled his armored hands and brought them down on the Nagaga's back, bringing it crashing down to its knees.
Princess set May down on the ground while Spark kept the other monster distracted. She then took several lurching steps forward, accelerating with each one. Sludge raced down her body and gathered around her hand as she reared back. Purple veins pulsed deep within her.
The Nagaga looked up. It reached for its staff.
A deep, echoing crunch echoed through the clearing. A spray of green blood arced out and splattered across the ground. The Nagaga's body pitched back and crashed to the ground where it lay, unmoving.
Energy trickled into Alex from the kill. He didn't wait to savor it. There were still too many monsters around the clearing to relax. He immediately sent new commands to his team.
Glint broke away, blurring for the thickest parts of the fight, while Spark trailed after him in search of any stragglers. Princess remained behind May to ensure nothing could finish the Nagaga's job in its place.
"What are those monsters?" Rin asked, staring in disbelief. Her eyes fluttered as they returned to their normal color. "They're… wretched."
"They're saving your ass," Alex corrected. He made sure to keep himself from breathing a sigh of relief. He didn't need Rin — or Orchid — to realize just how close that had been. If May hadn't managed to delay the Nagaga… she would have been dead.
Pretty badass, kid. I don't know if I would have been able to act if I were her age and in the same spot.
More energy entered Alex. It seemed that Glint had arrived at his next monster and claimed another victim. The smile on his features grew as the tides of the sudden battle turned as rapidly as it had started.
Claire emerged from where she'd entered the forest, green blood dripping from her fingertips. A snake leapt at her in a blur of scale. Her hand snapped out and she caught it by the throat — or the tail, depending on where one defined the start of one and the end of the other.
The monster's eyes bulged as her hand tightened. It thrashed in desperation for an instant. Then there was a loud crack. The monster went limp and Claire dropped it, the spot where she'd held it wrung like a wet towel.
Glint danced through the smoldering village, blurring past the campers and ripping bloody swathes through every enemy in his way. Monsters in his wake crumpled like flowers in a winter storm.
Aaron ran past Princess, grabbing May and pulling her into a hug.
"Celebrate later! Never waste an opportunity to get stronger! If you do, you'll just get killed in the next fight!" Alex yelled, striding toward them.
A bird shot for him. He raised a hand to activate Funhouse, but Orchid lifted her staff before he could react. A wave of frost drove into the monster. It froze solid mid-flap, ice turning it swings brittle. It plummeted from the sky and landed on the ground with a thunk. One of its wings snapped and spun to the side.
"Don't worry about the trash," Orchid said. "I'm nowhere near where I should be, but I can deal with scum monsters ."
Alex gave her a nod of appreciation and continued through the camp at a brisk pace until he stood before Aaron and May. He didn't miss that Rin was following alongside him. The old woman seemed considerably spryer than she had been a few minutes ago.
For a moment, Alex thought that Aaron was going to come up with some stupid explanation for what was happening for May. Or, even worse, he was going to try keep her from fighting because she was too young — which would have been a great theory if any monsters had even the slightest plan of not eating her because of her age.
"You're right," Aaron said. He swallowed. "I'm sorry, May. I've been lying to you. The world is over. There's no camping trip. There are monsters everywhere."
"Really?" May asked, her mouth dropping comically wide open and her eyes widening in the fakest look of shock that Alex had ever seen. It appeared that May was not a particularly good actor. "I couldn't tell!"
Aaron bought it without so much as blinking.
"It's true," he said. "I should have warned you, but we don't have any time to waste now. Alex is right. I'll tell you everything once this is over, but we have to kill these… bad guys before they hurt our friends."
"Let's kill the fuckers!" May exclaimed. "I'll help!"
"May!" Aaron snapped. "Where did you learn that word?"
"Daddy called a customer that when they said there was hair in the food, but the hair was blonde and all of us have black hair, but she had blonde hair, so he knew it was—"
"Maybe later?" Alex suggested. He gestured to the chaos unfolding around them. "There are still monsters. Princess will protect you as much as possible — that'll reduce the challenge, but this is an impossible fight for you without her. Now go kill something."
"Yes sir!" May said, giving Alex a sharp salute. "Agent Snake is going dark!"
She darted off for the nearest monster.
"May! This is not a game!" Aaron exclaimed as he raced after her. Princess lumbered alongside the two of them, each of her steps crossing twice as much distance as her smaller companions'.
If she survives, she's going to be quite the menace.
"Who are you, Alex?" Rin asked. "Why do you carry yourself with such ease on a battlefield? You are too young to have come to terms with it. It takes Dhampirs years to become this comfortable with death."
Alex watched May thrust her hands up at a bird flying overhead and send a crackle of lighting arcing out into it. The monster let out a scream of fury and dove down toward her. Aaron jumped between them, swinging his sword with a scream.
"If there's one thing that humans are really damn good at doing, it's adapting," Alex said. "I've just had a bit of special training."
Aaron's sword blurred. Hazy images of it swung through the air alongside the real strike. They each carved into the bird monster's side, and every one of them left a furrow in the monster's hide.
It screamed in fury, diving at May's neck.
Princess grabbed it from the air. She reared back and pelted it into the ground with a wet thunk. It splattered like an egg.
"What manner of training could have prepared you to this degree? Some secret Outworlder technique?" Rin asked.
"Something like that," Alex said. "You'll see soon enough. If this is how you guys fare against Initiate level monsters, I don't want to see what happens when—"
Three ear-piercing shrieks split through the air. Alex swore and clapped his hands over his ears as he, along with everyone else in the smoldering clearing, staggered. The beat of large wings pulled his attention away from the ground and to the top of the treeline.
Flying above the trees was an enormous lizard. It looked similar to the Nagagas but had huge leathery yellowed wings that protruded from its back — and an extra head sprouting from its shoulders. The monster was twice as large as a normal Nagaga and held a gnarled wooden staff in each of its hands.
[Field Boss] Nagagaga (Adept 1)
A loud whine filled the air as two balls of flame twisted to life above the Nagagaga's staves. Alex's blood ran cold. An Adept level monster was a significant threat for his own team, forget a bunch of weakened Outworlders and helpless Nativeworlders.
This is bad. It's not even the Region Boss and it's already this strong?
"Shit," Alex breathed. The last time they'd taken out an Adept Tier monster, they'd had Derek to draw the brunt of its attention. His hands clenched at his sides as his mind spun in search of a way to keep the fight from wiping out the entirety of the camp. He came up flat.
Rin stared up at the monster from beside him. "You honest about that training, boy?"
"It's not going to matter in a few moments," Alex replied, his chest constricting. He was more than happy to take the monster on — but the town wasn't going to survive this. "You need to get everyone out of here. Now."
"They won't make it," Rin said, and Alex knew she was right. The whine of the fireballs was reaching a crescendo, and these were considerably bigger than the Nagaga's spells. He wouldn't be surprised if they nuked the entire campsite off the map. Rin prodded Alex in the side. "Answer my question."
"I was honest. It's the best damn chance any of them will ever get offered, I can promise you that. It's the same chance I got… but I can't freeze time. I've got no way to deal with that monster myself, much less save everyone."
"Then you do that." Rin's eyes went jet black. Her skin tightened until the wrinkles covering her skin had completely vanished. Fangs sliced free from her mouth and loud cracks echoed out from her body. Two wings burst free from her back. They were easily four times the size of Claire's and glistened like obsidian in the morning sun. When Rin spoke again, her voice was the cool, sultry command of a queen. "You hold that promise, boy. Protect my Brood."
Then her wings snapped down. There was a crack like a gunshot had gone off an inch away from Alex's ears. He was sent stumbling back as Rin turned to a streak of black across the sky, hurtling straight for the Field Boss.