Arknights: Three-Headed Terror

by Tall-Gothic-Guy

Chimera never wanted things to be this way when he chose to be part of Reunion, now it must be destroyed, from the inside if he has to. Damn the losses, damn his loyalty, and damn Talulah. Capture Chernobog, easy. Kill the Military Police, lovely. Punish any misconduct, done. Infect the civilians, why not? Encounter Rhodes Island? Theresa's murderer is among them? How is he alive?

5. Nimrod's Play

"I will say this one last time, Rhodes Island. One casualty is already too many. Even if she isn't part of Rhodes Island, the fact that you let an important asset to the Operation get killed under your supervision tells me much of your performance. Let the L.G.D. take over from now on. You are all dismissed. This is the mercy I can give you, Rhodes Island. Thank you for finding this man for us. We will benefit from your efforts to the best of our abilities. In return, you all will not have to suffer anymore casualties for our sakes. That is all."

Nimrod growled hatefully, fussily shifting his wrists zip-tied together above his lap. Didn't even listen for one bit…..then again, this was all too predictable. This dumb Superintendent is so easy to manipulate.

The L.G.D. guard on his left nudged him with an elbow, and not too gently either, "Stop moving, you."

"Go fuck yourself." He nudged back with a shoulder, none too subtly scratching the side of the guard's helmet with his side-pointing horns. He ignored the indignant curse that was thrown his way, "I wanted Rhodes Island's protection. Why the hell did they leave me to the L.G.D.'s instead….!?"

"That's not for you to decide." The second guard on his other side answered dispassionately.

Nimrod shot an icy sideway glare at the man through the greyed visor of his helmet. "You better watch your goddamn mouth, boy. I'm the one with the information here."

"And we will be very grateful if you can share them with us once we bring you to the HQ."

"I might as well shut myself up for all I care. You morons are not even close to prepared for what Reunion has….ah…a….a…..ACHOO!"

Nimrod sneezed, his head slightly shooting forwards. The L.G.D. personnel seated on either side of him easily leaned away before the side of their helmets got scraped by his horns again. They're learning, and he's surprised that they've managed to hold on to their patience despite being a complete piece of work as well as being extremely insufferable company in this supremely cramped car. If only he wasn't cuffed inside this cramped vehicle, he could make it hell for these people….

"That's the 9th time."

The WhisperTail leered at Ch'en's comment, looking back at a pair of eyes staring at the road through the rearview mirror. "What are you counting, Superintendent?"

"I'm counting the number of times I can stand another one of your mutterings before I lose my patience."

"At least I'm not going on a rant about your poor police conduct." Nimrod cautioned her, subtly eyeing every building they passed by while ignoring the hostile glare coming from the mirror, expecting to find either W or a WhisperTail trailing his capture, "And do not blame me. Blame your vehicle. I spent much of my time walking the wilderness and breathing the earthy air of the world. The air of this machine's interior is too clean for my tastes."

"What are you even talking about? You're not making make sense."

"If you wanted sense, someone like you should have listened to the little rabbit when she asked you to be on high alert before you cuffed me and dragged me into this machine. Their informant friend just got torn in half by a monster, then you just dismiss them from this Operation for that. And now you're expecting that a vehicle that's not even built to withstand bombs like this could stop them from doing the same to you?"

"I already considered that." Ch'en calmly replied, turning the vehicle on the corner of the road, "An armored vehicle would have taken time to get there and would have drawn a lot of attention. That's why I had the convoy enter a tunnel and go to the HQ in different directions. Reunion wouldn't know which one has you in it."

"And you think someone like yourself and a pair of fighters like these boys with me here are enough to stop even one of those monsters?"

He heard a harrumph from the Lung woman, and he felt infuriation blow up inside of him from the sheer haughtiness of her tone, "You look down on the Lungmen's forces' ability to protect its city. Besides, what can a bunch of unruly thugs and beasts do against me and the L.G.D.?"

"Oh, I don't know? Plan and strategize? Ever thought of that? Hm?" His every word dripped with venomous sarcasm, fighting every urge in his body to break out of his cuffs and instead feed his innate lust for dominance. "Their presence here in Lungmen is not randomized if you don't realize that yet. You want me to give you information against them? How about some helpful advice for a start? I got millions to offer that could actually give you a chance against them. Oh! Here's a good one that you could use right now, I think it is called—hm, something like—oh, I don't know—not underestimating them? I hope you're remembering that I said they have monsters. They are intelligent beasts, let me remind you. They are much worse than the majority of Reunion. I don't want to see you failing in keeping me away from them, especially when THEY TOOK OVER CHERNOBOG IN A SINGLE NIGHT!"

"HEY!"
"STAY THE FUCK DOWN!"

His shoulders are instantly grabbed the moment he threw his face straight forward towards the space between the driver seat and the passenger side, the 2 guards roughly throwing him back into his seat.

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!"

The sensation of their hands sent a revolting feeling, igniting a fury he never knew existed before, and he failed to control the beast inside, his fury equaling the might of an angry beast suddenly loose of its chains.

He swung an elbow to the left guard on his ribs, cracking his bones and sending the man curling on himself. He sent another elbow to the right guard, cracking the glass of his helmet before pulling him straight to his raised knee, breaking it open.

The car suddenly braked, throwing his body forward and only prevented from flying into the wind shield thanks to his horns hitting both front headrests. Managing to land back to his seat from the recoil, he shook off the blood-tasting headache and moved—

He froze.

Ch'en's blade is aimed directly at his throat.

Holding her weapon in a reverse grip, her other hand staying on the wheel, the Superintendent aimed a sharp and deadly grimace at him over her shoulder, holding very still without the slightest inch of movement.

If she had that blade ready before she pulled the brakes, he would have run himself through it.

This was a mercy.

"You have only one warning to behave yourself. The only reason I'm not executing you out of self-defense is because Amiya trusted me to extract information out of you and that you didn't kill my men in front of me."

Nimrod narrowed his eyes, sneering maliciously, irritation spiking at catastrophic levels—

Without hesitation, he impaled his neck with a lunge straight through the blade, slashing his windpipe but missing his spine, merely brushing against the side of it as he pushed himself forward. His reddened eyes threatened to pop out of his sockets, teeth grit so tightly they managed to block out the flow of blood coming out of his gullet before seeping out from the sides.

Ch'en's wide eyes looked on unblinkingly, her arm almost stone-like in movement even as Nimrod's neck reached the border between the blade and the hilt.

The WhisperTail's lips moved, spilling out even more blood on the car floor as well as Ch'en's fingers, but no voice spoke for its vocal cords were torn apart. The Lung woman, however, could see what words would come out.

Reunion is looking for me. If I'm captured by them, it will all be your fault.

With a kick against the driver seat, Nimrod pushed himself away from the blade and slammed himself back to his seat, jolting Ch'en's seated form as the sword is finally extracted from his neck, leaving the entire metal stained with red. He kept his chin pointing up, showing the closing hole on his neck, steadily regaining the ability to growl and vocalize before falling silent, slumping over like a puppet without strings.

The WhisperTail remained unmoving for the rest of the trip, even as the still-conscious guard on his left checked his pulse and Ch'en wisely devised a new strategy, taking a new route to their headquarters while calling someone to pick up the 2 casualties with a broken helmet and smashed ribs inside the vehicle.

---

Even as the numbness on her lower half gave way to a relieving sensation of wholeness, Hiss couldn't stop hissing through gritted teeth. The aftershocks of pain still pounded in her head, more so when this moron is not leaving the room.

Amidst the delirium, Aaron's scent never left her tongue exposed to the air. Not even for a second. This bastard stayed with her the whole time.

As soon as she finally managed to regain visual focus and concentrated her attention from her own recovery to the physical world, Aaron had to be the first person she sees out of all people. And the man noticed her turned gaze very quickly, his reverberating voice inside his helmet spilling so much concern in every word, "Hey, are you alright?"

She expected to be disgusted by his display of humanity, especially when it's aimed at her….she felt nothing.

She rationalized it as being too hurt or too tired to care right now.

To save face, she quickly expressed her usual annoyance with her iconic hiss, followed with an answer that even she herself is surprised for saying instead of ignoring him entirely, "Don't need your concern."

Looking down on herself, the poncho she wore is now moved down to her waist to cover her privates now that her lower half wearing her pants parted from her. Her chest is completely scaled, without the slightest trace of mammaries or human skin.

She rolled to her side until her front met the ground before placing both her palms down, pushing up until she had feet underneath her. With a grunt of effort, she pushed herself up—she instantly fell back to the ground as one foot slipped and the shape of the other felt too unfamiliar, managing to avoid faceplanting herself on the floor with her elbows, hissing in annoyance.

"Hey, hey." She felt his reprehensible presence get close to her side, kneeling down and placing a hand on her shoulder. She felt no revulsion whatsoever. The slightest trace of acid going through her veins through this unwanted touch were nonexistent, "Slow down, you need to rest. You just got split in half—"

This man…..!

Hiss growled and pushed his chest hard, easily throwing him back and his head hit the leg of a nearby table, which knocked a bowl on the surface off into the edge and it shattered to sharp pieces on the ground.

"I said I don't need your concern, murderer!" She snarled, both her cheeks now beginning to split apart from the mouth in her rising irritation, revealing a new set of sharp teeth, "Kindness and care from a lying killer like you…! I am neither frail nor weak in mind! Spare me from a place among you humans! You enable the pathetic and the dying in my flesh with your coddling!"

"You….! The hell are you….!? Why are you saying those things? How could I not be concerned!?" He asked in indignation and a new kind of heat in his tone began to show, rubbing his helmet under his hood as he stood up, grabbing the edge of the table. "Do you even remember what just happened!? Is your pride more important than your own well-being!? Do you even know how devastated Mousse is!? Amiya's been blaming herself nonstop—"

A spiky whip of an appendage left a deep fissure on the cement floor, shaking everything that isn't nailed down in the room and puffing up a large cloud of smoke behind the WhisperTail, "I SAID TO SPARE ME FROM A PLACE AMONG YOU HUMANS! You dare assume me a weak mind who cannot fathom the taste of death!? I STAND BEFORE YOU WHOLE AND COMPLETE, DO I NOT!?"

"Why are you not blaming me….? Why aren't you throwing your spite at me like you always do? I JUST GOT YOU KILLED!"

Hiss' face twisted to an emotionless look at his questions, a monstrous fire suddenly igniting in her head. However, she felt no urge to vent it out, her voice dripping an accusing venom in her racial whispers, "….I'm not deemed fit to assume the blame of my own fall, you arrogant man?"

"Are you telling me to blame you for getting yourself torn in half?"

"Yes."

Aaron is visibly taken aback by such an immediate answer, especially with how quickly it came out and without any sort of irony accompanying her words either.

And Hiss visibly smirked at his reaction, made more unsettling by her split cheeks showing even more of her sharp teeth, "What of the consequences of my choice, Aaron? Does the sight of my torn flesh spark a need to care for me? Does my formerly-ruined presence invoke your need to put my being above all others? Does it bring pause to the task at hand? Were you so shaken that you could not bear to put the blame atop my own demise?"

"What….what are you asking?" The disbelief in his voice brought Hiss a newly-discovered brand of pleasure, "Don't you care? Don't you care what happens to you? I—I brought this on you—"

"You? You brought this on me?" His egotistical claim infuriated her immediately, her now-short tail swinging wildly behind her as she attempted to stand up, "You dare claim the fault of my choice…!? You dare not assume the fault came from my choice to bring my presence before the enemy when I am told by you not to….!?"

"I should have reacted faster and stayed calm—or I could have given you a better position. PRTS had already notified the presence of that WhisperTail but I….I….It was all too sudden and the thing moved too quickly…."

"Silence!" Hiss snapped, orange slits threatening to burn a hole in Aaron's mask, her upper body slouched forward in her attempt to stay standing, freshly-regenerated legs shaking under the strain while her arms hung like loose cloth. "This blunder belongs to me alone for the failure to hold back as ordered. Spare me your arrogance to assume all blame."

"If you had held back, some of us would have been blown to bits by SkullShatterer's weapons. I should have given you a proper position instead of—"

The table behind him got split in half, courtesy of the tail covered in hardened scales slamming down on its middle, its length practically brushing against Aaron's shoulder and shredding much of the cloth.

During the retreat that was only possible due to Liskarm recovering her composure quickly to pull up her shield and flash a blinding and electrifying light in the WhisperTail's face and eyes, sending the creature into a screaming and flailing fit that ended with half of the surviving Reunion forces close to it either crushed or gutted in the same manner as Hiss, Nimrod met Rhodes Island hallway and led them to a secure location to rest up before they rendezvous to Ch'en.

And he explicitly told them to never attempt any kind of medical attention on Hiss.

Naturally, Mousse and Amiya were more than vocally opposed compared to the medics' ethical objection.

The floor opening up to a small fissure just by Nimrod's sword being firmly pressed against the ground granted the tall WhisperTail a much-needed silence. One that he used to explain why his words must come first before their concerns.

The Chimera is functionally immortal and his spawns are made to last the same way, built to survive literally anything by adapting to the kind of damage their body suffers. Hiss' body received severe traumatic damage, now it can adapt into a stronger form or shape to never let that happen again. She should be left alone, lying on the floor inside a secure room to heal on her own and gather her mind together by herself.

Treating her like a frail and soft human by using first aid or healing Arts is the same as 'coddling', enabling weakness and allowing the same thing to happen again. They will only create a weaker version of herself.

They are already guilty of it by coddling her inside the Rhodes Island Landship. Why else would her tail and mouth not grow back fast enough until he came around to do that for her?

The Chimera's power thrived on unforgiving conditions, not on soft hands and cotton. Rhodes Island houses a WhisperTail, they are expected to treat her as such if they expect to have access to all of her strengths and capabilities.

If no one is willing to listen to him, then Nimrod personally holds Rhodes Island primarily responsible for whatever happens to Hiss the next time she gets torn in half again or worse due to weakness.

Aaron gritted his teeth at the thought of being encouraged to be heartless, even if it had practical worth, but he can't deny that he had proof of Nimrod's cold demands being true.

During Chernobog, he saw it.

In spite of the chaos at the time when they were cornered by Talulah and caught in the rain of burning Originium rocks, he held a calm mind even he himself is surprised for having as he observed the maddened WhisperTails openly lash out against Talulah when her flames carelessly caught the Chimera in its range. Burnt flesh and missing limbs were immediately restored and replaced with darker and more durable replacements. The implications were clear, and Nimrod's explanations gave light to it.

It took much convincing but Nimrod's demands were agreed upon with full reluctance. The WhisperTail additionally justifies it as Amiya and Mousse needing to process everything that happened. They are extremely rattled from the incident. They aren't thinking right and in need of calming down and catching their breath.

Amidst Hiss' delirium and unresponsiveness, she exhibited the same phenomena as well. Her entire lower half that had been separated from her is restored to a complex mixture of keratin and chitin meshed together, almost looking like scales made of black rock and more akin to a beast than her former human one.

Instead of remaining static, her upper half morphed to match her lower as well, becoming more and more beastlike in appearance, her human skin in ebony shade faded entirely to give way to more overlapping scales that have petrified into natural armor in places that are more likely to be hit by weapons, especially her formerly bisected midsection and everywhere below.

The only part of her that didn't change is her face but even most of it has altered as well, her entire bald head completely lined with black scales.

Aaron took in her new shape as more of a dragon than a serpent, reflected by the texture of her tail, which is just a spiky length of hardened overlapping scales that seemed to have lost its will to spare lives.

As that scaly length drew away from the table it destroyed, Hiss finally managed to stand upright and released a malignant hiss, staring Aaron down with her new height supported by digitigrade legs that ended in 4-toed feet.

"Spare me from speeches of your self-perceived failure. It vexes me. Grating my ears. I will not hear another word of it. I dare you to disobey as I did." Her words no longer carried that petulant spite. Instead, it came off lowly and dispassionately. Aaron took note of her patience finally reaching its limit. Provoking her any further would not end lightly, "The Master's will intended my fall. It granted me strength, do not reject it. My fall served the Master's interest and Rhodes Island's. Make use of it and with haste! Because—"

"Because he's going to use Nimrod and Ch'en as bait to draw a majority of the Reunion forces out into the open in the guise of an ambush?"

This time, its Hiss' turn to lose her edge and mentally slipped from the oil he spilled on her feet, leaving her dumbstruck and frozen before the hooded man in front of her.

That assumption was just a shot in the dark, a conclusion Aaron formulated according to the information he gathered about the WhisperTails and he expected to be wrong, considering the discovered complication regarding their 'Hive Mind'.

Her confirming reaction surprised him more than hers did.

Earlier after the lecture over Hiss' method of recovery, Nimrod offered himself as an informant Amiya's team found in the slums to be handed over to the L.G.D. for questioning. They must act as if they never knew each other and simply acquired him when he willingly surrendered to them in the slums in the hopes of stopping the Organization he thought to be righteous from causing any more damage.

Despite Hiss' provided information against Reunion, their use of it is highly-limited due to how delicately it has to be shared between parties without exposing Rhodes Island as withholding crucial information, especially with a WhisperTail defector in their hands. Not that Rhodes Island wanted to in the first place but Ch'en is just too much of a hardass and she's not even sharing everything either.

Having practically the same information Hiss shared to Amiya and Aaron, Nimrod will serve as a practical green light for them to make full use of it without any complications, manipulating matters in a way that both the L.G.D. and Rhodes Island can make use of it.

However, due to the sudden circumstances of Rhodes Island being dismissed from the Operation, the Doctor is wondering whether Nimrod could even fulfill that role anymore or whether he's willing to go that far for the L.G.D.

However, Aaron felt that something was off about something. Though he does genuinely feel guilty for what happened to Hiss, he saw her standing still the moment the enemy WhisperTail showed up, not even performing slick and unorthodox acrobatics she used against Reunion to dodge the strike. She just froze.

Far too uncharacteristic for someone who displayed a monstrous reaction time to save an Operator from falling to his death or escaping an incoming grenade launcher shell a second before impact while carrying 3 teammates.

The entire thing felt like it was supposed to happen.

And Nimrod is pretending to be on Reunion's side as a saboteur, feeding them information that ultimately ends in their defeat?

Aaron had a suspicion, especially when Nimrod expressly intended to lure Reunion towards Rhodes Island when they rejected the massacre solution earlier.

What did Nimrod tell to the enemy that he didn't share to Amiya and company?

A powerful WhisperTail easily held captive with cuffs? Unthinkable. No one will ever buy it. Reunion will start questioning his intentions to help Reunion's interests and potentially expose the Chimera.

…..Unless he told Reunion to set up an ambush that's fully built to kill Ch'en and disrupt the L.G.D. forces as he's being transported to their HQ, using himself as a biological tracking device for other WhisperTails to pinpoint the Superintendent's precise location.

But if the Chimera's interests were to kill Reunion entirely, he won't give the latter the easy way out. He'll make the grunts do all the work while the WhisperTails' simply heal the fighting forces instead of doing everything themselves without any effort.

And if Rhodes Island were to 'intervene' in the ambush, a majority of Reunion's forces will be wiped out in one swoop as they save Ch'en.

It's practically a staged rescue, but much less in anybody's favor. Rhodes Island is being led around and the L.G.D. is suffering the full brunt of the damages.

And Hiss' gory demise was done to basically set that up? Heartless, but nonetheless effective. Aaron felt his nerves grow cold just thinking about it.

Aaron wondered how Hiss knew about that plan when she showed no indication of even knowing about it, much less told anyone about it ahead of time, especially Amiya or Mousse. She's been forthcoming with intel as well.

…..Their 'Hive Mind' in play, most likely.

So abstract and unknown. He'll need to look into it in a better time.

"How?" Hiss' voice quivered, the measure of shock she received from this man now overpowering the times before. "How have you known? I implied nothing to you….!"

The Doctor looked down, fists crumpling inside his coat pocket before looking back up to her, "I wish I could explain it to you now, but like you said, with haste. We need to get to Ch'en before she gets overwhelmed."

Very quickly, the WhisperTail's dumbstruck face dropped into a sharp grimace, the mission taking priority as she nodded to him in begrudging agreement, "With haste."

"Well," As if on cue, a feminine voice started, drawing both their attention towards the door, revealing Franka who had been standing there silently the entire time, "I guess you two finally got over your lover's quarrel?"

Hiss released a brief but ear-bleedingly loud hiss, forcing Aaron to futilely cover his ears while he's wearing a helmet. Taking delight in his pained reaction, the WhisperTail promptly turned into a Glitching form and disappeared from sight.

Gathering himself together, Aaron walked over to the door and stood before the Vulpo girl, "Franka, how much did you get from that?"

"The most of it, particularly the part about the ambush awaiting our Monster Inspector. What do you wanna do about it?"

"We have to hurry. Intercept or intervene, otherwise Ch'en won't make it. I don't think Reunion and the WhisperTails will make it easy for her reinforcements to make it in time."

"Even though she just dismissed us from the Operation?"

Aaron pursed his lips inside his helmet, "…Amiya would have gone through with it anyway. And I think the WhisperTails want us to do this. They need us as much as we need them in stopping Reunion."

Franka placed her hands on her hips, shifting her stance and beholding the Doctor in a strange light. "I'm surprised that you're willing to think that way even though our girl Hiss made it clear that she and her kind hate you completely."

"I know, but the fact that she's willing to cooperate with me in spite of that tells me—"

A guttural hiss erupted in the room and an equally guttural voice followed, "It tells you nothing! Get out of this room and mobilize your soldiers now! Time is limited!"

Franka giggled, "Yeah. I agree with her on this one, and I assume she's ready to get back into the fight?" Franka gestured to the empty air behind him.

Hiss' hushed voice pierced the air cleanly, her exact location now seeming to come from all corners of the room, "I am not frail like you now hurry up!"

Gritting his teeth, he nodded reluctantly, "Let's put our trust in her and Nimrod. If she can recover that quickly, then let's hope it does, now come on." Jogging past her, the Doctor headed out into the hallway and towards the door.

Franka turned to the seemingly-empty room with a smile, "I'll tell the li'l kitty and the li'l bunny, okay? They've been worried sick about you. Oh, and you should see how much your sweet Mousse's been cryin' over you—"

"You speak to air." The Vulpo let out a rather unceremonious yelp as the WhisperTail's snarling voice came from behind her, having already exited the room the sooner the Doctor did, "Enough of that. You shame yourself."

"You…! You…!" Red-faced, Franka looked at somewhere to identify Hiss' presence, then noticed the footprints trailing on the dusty floor and leading to the door, each one having 4 toes spread out at the front with a single long claw extended at the back, "You really just let that happen to me, didn't ya!?"

"I told you to hurry up, stupid girl!"

"You're stupid!"

Upon reaching the exit and about to take the first step outside, Hiss is suddenly knocked back inside when a black and brown blur practically moving at the speed of sound collided against her invisible self at the door, disabling her now-perfect camouflage and slamming the WhisperTail to her back from the smaller girl's weight.

Getting the crying Feline off her chest after hearing straight from the Doctor that her brutalized friend has just got back to her feet is as easily done as killing the Chimera.

---

"Hoshiguma! What was that crash just now!? Where are you!?" Ch'en screamed into the radio, sharply turning to avoid a head-on collision with another vehicle. "Hoshiguma! HOSHIGUMA! ANSWER ME! HEY!"

Instinct overtook her body as she threw the radio to the passenger seat and quickly swerved the vehicle to take a right turn, rightly avoiding the fate of getting it crushed under the weight of a quadruped monster that suddenly landed on where she would have been if she kept going straight.

Even with the closed windows, she could hear the rumble of its roar that vibrated the car.

"The hell was that thing!?" The replacement guard at the backseat that was only available screamed in panic, craning his head to look through the back window. "Was that what's attacking the others!?"

"It doesn't matter! But I know they're here to silence the package! They're making sure he doesn't say anything! Is he alright!?" Ch'en asked, eyes not leaving the road and rolling the window down just slightly to hear the noises outside more clearly.

"Yes, Ma'am!" The guard answered, reaching forward to Nimrod who's seated at the far side of the seat and strapped in his seatbelt, bare fingers touching his neck. "He's still unconscious. Still breathing, I think, but he's secure!"

"We need to get him to HQ! We must not let him fall into enemy HANDS!"

The car nearly tipped over from its sudden swerve to the left, jostling the guard and Nimrod in the backseat as she avoided another crushing death, preceded by a deafening slam of so much metal. She would have been crushed by another car that was thrown there if she kept going straight.

"Were there any civilians in that car!?" Ch'en roared.

"Uh…uh, no!" The guard assured, looking through the back window, with the mangled vehicle standing on its 3 remaining wheels. "Or at least I hope not! I don't see anyone in the se—WHA!"

As his body was thrown sideways from the inertia, his seatbelt firmly keeping him secured to his seat, an earsplitting scratching sound brought the guard's attention to every window on the right side of the vehicle, seeing long trailing lines on the glass that reached all the way to the back of the vehicle….

…and outside of it was a humanoid with a mountain of Originium growing on its back that failed to latch on, not getting a firmer handhold of the car.

"Hold tight! We are almost there—" A crossbow bolt suddenly nailed the hood of the car, the windshield and the roof suffering the same fate a second after, bringing her attention to a large number of Reunion shooters waiting for her seated on every rooftop ahead and forcing her to take another turn, "They were waiting for me!? What are the checkpoints and patrols doing!?"

"Ch'en, behind us!" The guard's panic is palpable, seeing the MountainBack humanoid sprinting after them with baffling ease. The car's already moving at dangerous speeds, making every turn of the corner a delicate and practically-surgical maneuver, yet the top-heavy creature is somehow managing to gain up to them in every long-reaching step. "How the fuck is he catching up to us with that thing on his back!?"

"I'll give him something to chase!" The guard noticed Ch'en's grip on the wheel switching, thumbs no longer curled around the ring. He instantly knew what she's planning to do. A quick glance at the back showed the humanoid literally at arms' length of reach, "Lean fully back now!"

The instant he did, his body practically went flying forward as the car screeched to a full stop. MountainBack inevitably smashed his face into the rear window in a deafening slam, bending the tempered glass inwards and pushing the vehicle forward thanks to the brakes being released milliseconds before impact.

However, Ch'en underestimated the endurance of WhisperTails. Even with the facial bones mangled, eyes completely ruptured red, jaw misaligned and puking out blood, MountainBack is still conscious and moving a second after crashing, rearing back a fist and punching the glass even further.

"Sir Ch'en! He's breaking into the glass!"

"WHAT!?" She instantly accelerated the vehicle, swinging the car around in zigzagging turns and intentionally slamming the sides against other parked cars to fling off the creature. Despite multiple impacts, MountainBack somehow got a firm hold of the rear and continued punching away at the glass, the top of the frame already revealing a small opening it slipped its fingers into and started pulling off the only layer separating it and Nimrod, "Get off, you bastard!"

"Hang on! I have an idea!" The sound of a seatbelt unbuckling alarmed Ch'en, seeing the guard positioning himself in the middle of the floor and facing the rear, unsheathing his service blade before pointing it at the very center of the window with both hands holding it firmly. "Once it comes off, you know what to do, Miss Ch'en!"

Ch'en had no choice but to nod and trust her subordinate, "Make it work!"

However, she didn't account to the fact that MountainBack can hear them. She's treating him like an unintelligent animal.

Even if the WhisperTail didn't understand a single word of Lungmenese, he knew exactly what they were planning by looking through the small opening and hearing the inflexion in their voices. Once he rips off the tempered glass window, the car would suddenly brake, flinging him inside and impaling himself on the L.G.D. guard's sword.

If the objective was to kill Ch'en, he would have allowed them the satisfaction of accomplishing that strategy but not the objective. In such a crammed space, even with the mountain of Originium on his back, no one can contest him in a scrap, not even someone who's absolutely deadly with a sword like her. All he needs to do is grab the woman at any part of her body. It'll be over for her in an instant.

A missing throat usually kills anyone.

However, he's here to capture the Rogue. The Master demands it. The Superintendent is a complete fool, but she is a righteous one. She doesn't deserve death. She's instrumental to Reunion's defeat.

He pulled his fingers away from the opening and reared back a fist. Once he launched it forward, it easily breached through this time, his knuckles inches away from the wide-eyed guard's visor. Quick as a snake bite, he grabbed the man's protective vest and pulled, effortlessly throwing the L.G.D. personnel and the mangled glass window out into the asphalt as if both were made of paper.

"NO!"

Very quickly, MountainBack is already reaching inside to pull the Rogue out. Grabbing a handful of the leather collar, he pulled once more—

He suddenly lost weight of his left hand, quickly knowing that Ch'en had just lopped it off with her blade.

The WhisperTail is admittedly impressed that she could do that while driving a car at full speed without crashing into anything.

But MountainBack didn't underestimate Ch'en the slightest. That's why he had highly-active Originium running through the veins of his entire arms. The only reason why his body hasn't exploded yet is only due to his own control over it. His severed hand inside, however, is no longer connected to that control.

Growling in sly victory, the WhisperTail unlatched himself from the vehicle and skidded across the asphalt with his legs and one hand, hardened scales on his soles and palm heating up from the friction until he slowed to a stop, watching Ch'en continue speeding forward…

…..until the backseat door opened, the Superintendent jumping out of it while cradling the Rogue in her arms and rolling on the road upon landing.

As the car continued moving forward through its own momentum, it suddenly exploded in a cloud of red dust and sudden yellow flames, blowing all the doors outwards and launching its roof at a baffling hundred meters into the sky.

A hundred meters around that area is now contaminated with Originium,

This L.G.D. Superintendent has fantastic instinct and reaction time. MountainBack could only feel disappointed that such qualities are in the hands of a complete fool that doesn't know anything.

Not to mention the sheer corruption of an L.G.D. official being Infected and hiding it through her connection to her uncle. They freely express their dislike of the Infected but they have her as someone at the top position?

Does she even know what it'll look like to the other Infected despite her good intentions and ambition to integrate them into Lungmen's society? Humans are irrational morons, constantly seeking someone to hate and blame. They will only feel betrayal and their image of her whether good or bad will be ruined or worsen completely once they find out, no matter the amount of good she did for them.

One sin is all it takes.

Indeed, she is a complete and ignorant fool. She will never have her way.

It seems this Rogue has collected a fine bounty of information into the Hive Mind as per his duties here demands in spite of his presence being forgotten by the Master until now.

Strangely, MountainBack can't exchange memory and sensation with the Rogue right now. An anomaly, it seems. Must be studied. Must pry him from the Superintendent's hands.

Ch'en herself is already up to her feet, marred with dirt and sporting a few bruises on the bare skin of her legs, placing the Rogue's still-unconscious body beneath her and drawing her black blade as she glared at him. Strangely enough, she's not trying to escape. Does she realize that she'll be outran if she did just like her car? Or maybe she intends to kill him beforehand.

He growled, smirking. How cute.

He threw his chin upwards and barked, the brief but definitely deafening sound echoing out into the sky, reaching far distances and into the ears of nearby WhisperTails. Instinct overtaking their minds instantaneously, they responded with uncannily-similar frequencies and led the Reunion forces to his location.

MountainBack's job is to keep Ch'en cornered until they arrive. That's what the Master has in mind.

In other words, 'play around'. Make Ch'en work for her survival, force her to fight the entire forces of Reunion while they are kept undying if need be. A highly immature practice.

But it will give Rhodes Island time to get here and intervene, wipe out the gathered numbers in one swoop….if they do it smartly and tactically. The WhisperTails still need to act like the enemy. They need to make it convincing for Talulah, otherwise this charade will never work.

MountainBack stomped forward, swinging his blood-red and venomous tail behind him as the giant Originium on his back pulsated light like a heartbeat. His missing left hand regenerated completely before he fell forward into a quadrupedal stance, giving Ch'en a clear view of the red mountain.

Through lips riddled with Originium, he snarled out, giving away his ability of intelligence and speech, "Give….him…"

The Superintendent only narrowed her eyes upon hearing the beast speak, tightening her stance, "Make me."

MountainBack's tail snapped forward, almost snapping the sound barrier. Ch'en swung her sword at invisible speeds, cleanly cutting the wind.

Both weapons didn't meet contact, only displaced air colliding together.

However, Ch'en saw the tiny strands of red hair flick out from the whipping snap of the creature's tail, forcing her to jump away before any of it hit any part of her skin while holding the Rogue's body with the other hand.

She doesn't know what they can do but she's not taking any chances.

MountainBack breached after her, launching a fist riddled with Originium towards her gut. The flat of a black blade parried it midway, followed with a hard slap on the creature's mug that sent him reeling backwards. She reflexively jumped back again as the tail sneakily snapped forward upon eating the strike to flick out red fur.

Like before, the WhisperTail is quick to breach after her movements to get away from the fur like a viper, stretching his head forward and making a grab for the Rogue's limp body.

His fingers were bent by the blunt side of the blade striking them, his target suddenly thrown far away from his reach, and the wrist of his other hand is shattered right after, sending his face skidding against the ground. His tail quickly swooped from the side once again in retaliation, needle-thin spikes stiffening in proximity of the enemy.

Before the collision, his fingers and wrist have already regenerated, and he pounced with shocking speed that defied the implied weight on his back, surprising Ch'en, but her ability to react baffled MountainBack even more. Her blade moved faster in deflecting his claws and his barbed tail as she's backing away, not letting a single inch of any of it breach the imaginary dome in front of her.

After a half minute of this rather restraint form of combat coming from a lone human against a beast, the WhisperTail rising upright on his legs while the Superintendent maintained her combative stance a few steps away from him, the former is certain that Ch'en is purposefully trying not to cut every blatantly-exposed part of him that she could cut in dozens of ways in a second, maintaining the use of either the flat or the blunt side of her sword.

She'd end up releasing so much Infectious dust and liquid in the air if she did. And she's doing it so skillfully and effectively that MountainBack can't even grab the Rogue or land a single hit on her.

The L.G.D. certainly have their best warrior at the top.

Can she keep that up, however? That's what he wants to know.

"Hey, MountainBack! We got ya some breakfast!" A raucous yell resounded behind him, his horns indicating the numerous clumps of heat sources converging on his location from all directions, including the alleys. "We cut up his tendons so he don't end up running nowhere!"

A holler of agreement erupted right after, laughing and jeering maliciously at the prospect. The eponymous numbers of Reunion infiltrators finally revealed themselves, converging in this one single area, asking to be wiped out at once…..

Ch'en's face ignited in fury, staring at the cruelty behind her, "You evil bastards!"

"Who's evil here, bitch!?" A Reunion grunt growled back from the side, a large number of his allies following behind him.

"We're gonna give ya a fucking taste of suffering, woman!"

"We Infected have suffered for so long! NOW IT'S YOUR TURN! INCLUDING EVERYONE ELSE AROUND YOU!"

They gathered around the WhisperTail and Ch'en in a wide circle. A second after, the substitute personnel guard he threw out the car window is hurled before MountainBack's feet, one arm bent due to his landing on the asphalt from a speeding car while his ankles visibly bled profusely and with visible visceral damage, butchered by a machete. His helmet is removed, showing his face covered in bruises. One eye looked like it cannot open anymore.

"You get yerself a free lunch while we have some fun with this bitch here, MountainBack Sir! Once we're done with her, ya can eat her as well!"

"TOUCH HIM AND THESE STREETS WILL BE STREWN WITH ALL YOUR LIMBS!"

MountainBack dared her, stabbing the sharp end of his red tail into the guard's intact hand, the venom seeping in petrifying his entire arm muscles along with an acidic pain. "GAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!"

"DAMN YOU!" Ch'en's went through with her threat, becoming a blur as she charged the WhisperTail and the Reunion grunts that tried to intercept her suddenly had their heads parting from the shoulders.

With movements literally escaping the eyes, MountainBack snipped off a few barbs on his tail in-between his fingers and flicked them like red poisonous darts towards her face. She easily deflected them with the flat of her blade, including the tip of his tail that pierced after them.

The impact between the venomous appendage and her vengeful black metal had a wide difference n impact strength, sending the Lung woman sliding backwards on her feet back to the Rogue's unconscious body.

Ch'en's face showed no sign of shock, only a firm and cold grimace. When a large wave of Reunion grunts charged at her from all directions, she easily cut them down in a single stroke, every single one sporting long gashes on their torsos and toppling backwards in perfect unison. The sword slash itself was almost invisible.

Behind their masks, however, the sight of their comrades being felled from such powerful swordsmanship only made them snicker in secret, especially when their fallen suddenly rose up to their feet in equally perfect unison a few seconds after, as if waking up from a brief nap, baffling the Superintendent.

In the presence of the Chimera and his spawn, death is not permitted. MountainBack's waving and glowing red tail is proof of that.

"Somebody pull that guy out of there while you're at it!" A Reunion squad leader commanded, pointing at the Rogue's body next to Ch'en's feet, "She can't focus on 2 things at once!"

"Mob her!" Another roared out, and everyone shouted in unison, the number of hundreds raising their machete's high and pouring in like a swarm of ants.

MountainBack watched the carnage with morbid fascination all the while as he took modest bites of the arm he poisoned and ripped off, only wondering how many Reunion bodies would get cut up, revived, and then cut up again till Rhodes Island gets here for just a moment before returning his attention to the fight, smiling.

To say that Ch'en is a monster with a sword in her hand would be insulting. She deserves a seat among gods, rather.

For every single swipe, she cuts down 7. For every 2 strikes, everyone from a two-meter radius around her suddenly got a broad slash on their bodies. For every kick, she earns a 10-meter wide amount of breathing room. For every vengeful roar, more than a dozen got beheaded. Her hands are very quick, her physical strength saved her from being overwhelmed more than enough times, and the most amazing fact of all, nobody has managed to grab the Rogue out from under her feet yet.

It's obvious. She could win wars single-handedly. This crowd of more than 600 Reunion fighters could not hope to even touch her while that sword is in her hands.

But once again, can she keep the performance up for as long as possible?

Every single Reunion fighter she cut down could not remain on the ground for more than 5 seconds, no matter how many pieces she makes of them or how many times they die. They always get put back together or regrew lost limbs, stand back up and start charging at her again, sometimes with more energy than before. Even the ones that were beheaded had their heads reattached to their necks by their fellows and started exhibiting movement that nearly came off as animalistic.

The copious amounts of blood that was spilt everywhere literally flooded the asphalt. Yet, not a single one of Reunion's fighters showed signs of slowing down.

Eventually, all this flailing and increase in wild movements would eventually achieve something against Ch'en. The woman's either getting exhausted or failing to catch up to the rising intensity of the combat. She's only one person against many, after all. There's not much she can do in a cramped area of influence her sword cannot control, especially when she has priorities other than keeping herself alive.

"I got him!"

"Pull him out! Quick!"

"Don't let her stop ya!"

"FUCKIN' KILL HER ALREADY!"

MountainBack smirked bloodily at the sight of two Reunion Casters pulling the Rogue's body out of the mosh pit of blades, blood and body parts through their Arts. The pair knew the objective and hauled the tailless WhisperTail on their shoulder before rushing over to him as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, a Reunion grunt's body collided on the both of them, courtesy of Ch'en who practically bulldozed through the crowd, sending more than a dozen of her enemies flying above and behind her, and bolted towards the one person she realized was keeping all of them alive through absurdly powerful Healing Arts.

She's willing to risk an Originium explosion just to kill him? With his teammate literally under his foot?

Maybe eating the arm of her ally in front of her while she was being mobbed on wasn't the brightest of ideas but he just couldn't resist agitating this naïve woman.

Not to mention that Rhodes Island's nearing….

MountainBack threw her barely-alive teammate towards her with his prehensile foot, forcing her to change priorities by catching him—

He struck.

The vibration rolled deliciously from his tail to his entire body upon impact, and the glow of the Originium on his back brightened in victory.

He felt immense satisfaction as he easily achieved the impossible.

Both the guard and the Superintendent were impaled right through the gut, his tail shrunk down to a thin rope and easily escaping Ch'en's eyesight in her peripheral vision, especially with her mind whiplashing from killing him to saving her subordinate as the primary objective.

But he was careful. He knew the plan, and killing her is not part of it.

He made sure the toxins on his tail are less than lethal, built to incapacitate than to kill. While she will suffer excruciating agony as the venom solidifies the blood in her veins, paralyzes her muscles and bloats her tongue, her death isn't guaranteed. Never in the presence of a Chimera's spawn.

Her only hope of recovery without being comatose for half a year or so is another WhisperTail.

Once Reunion had a look of what he had done, the roars of victory that followed were loud enough to shake the ground and any glass windows, stomping feet and victorious chanting mixing into a chorus that rivaled the intensity of war drums.

As MountainBack is showered by the praise and hollers of glory from Reunion, he aimed his focus primarily on the still-standing Ch'en and her teammate, his tail still impaled through both their bellies as their bodies began to lock up, and wisely so. He's assuming the Superintendent to be capable of forcing it off through sheer force of will so he's ready to pump more of the venom into her if she tries anything funny.

Instantly getting paranoid after realizing that he's not being careful enough with that line of thinking, he extended the tip of his tail that protruded out of Ch'en's back a few more inches and it curled inwards to puncture her spine and pump the venom there.

With that, he completely rendered the L.G.D. Superintendent quadriplegic, to be followed by neural complications in a later time.

Completely at my mercy.

Smirking cruelly, he withdrew his red tail from their bodies and knuckle-walked towards them, watching the pair topple stiffly, his poisonous appendage regaining its original size of mass as he moved the half-dead guard off Ch'en's vulnerable form lying face-up on the asphalt, hovering over her like a predator over its prey.

Paralyzed, weakened, in silent agony, and defeated, yet Ch'en Hui-Chieh is still fighting back, that furious fire still burning inside her maroon orbs and fully intending to blast a new hole on his face by sheer willpower alone.

With the hand she once severed with her sword flourished next to his head so she could see it, he let the particles in his bloodstream pierce out of his fingertips, solidifying into vaguely-shaped talons of active Originium with very sharp ends.

And he aimed them directly on the left side of her cheek, where she will be forced to never show her face again.

The sheer shock and outrage that filled her eyes that moment she realized what he plans to do had MountainBack realize that there is actual pleasure to be found in other people's suffering, especially when it concerns their pride and image.

That's right….he intends to ruin her image as the clean and healthy Superintendent of the Lungmen Guard Department that fights back against the despicable criminals and the disgusting Infected of her homeland.

Only a handful of people in Lungmen don't realize she's never a healthy woman to begin with. The lack of visible Oripathy lesions on her body help with that assumption. She is so diligent in her display as someone that abhors the Infected like normal Lungmenese citizens, it helps the healthy ones relate to and cheer her image.

With the signature volume frequency of his kind, MountainBack told what he will do with those assumptions, "….Never again…."

Now it's either she'll be forced to resign, or Lungmen will have to change their attitudes. It's a win-win. Everybody suffers for it.

His claws poked at her skin—

He immediately caught an arrow that would have lodged itself to his temple with the same clawed hand.

Instead of turning his eyes to the trajectory it came from or shield himself from the incoming punishment of the flashbang inches away from hitting his head, he only scoffed in disappointment as he watched Ch'en immediately and very tightly close her eyes in preparation.

Took them long enough.

---

"All Operators, disorient the Reunion fighters surrounding Ch'en and around her. Cover L.G.D.'s flanks and support their charge from both sides."

Aaron held perfectly still as he knelt on the edge of the roof overlooking the entire road that became the battlefield, his hand close to the communicator in his ear, watching as the L.G.D. roared in, spearheading towards the gathered hundreds of Reunion members, the Defender and Vanguard Operators lightening their load by dividing the enemies' attention.

He saw his next cue as the enemy casters, who looked to be armored and more-skilled in their movement compared to the ones they faced before, began charging their Arts.

"Sniper Operators, strike down the Casters closest to the charge. Volley."

A satisfying chorus of both bows and crossbows firing at once filled the air, sending both arrows and bolts descending on their respective targets and denying every Reunion enemy their chance to turn the tides.

"Casters, strike the ones further away."

Amiya and her respective team of Casters shot high-powered Arts into their selected targets, the point of impact causing an explosion and sending any enemy close to the enemy Casters as well as the latter flying.

"Artillery Snipers, fire discombobulation rounds on the gaps between the cluster of enemies away from the spearhead."

Catapult grinned, mentally imaged the trajectory, and pulled the trigger in unison with the other snipers holding their respective high-ordinance equipment. "Have some, buckos!"

A chorus of pressurized cannons and tense crossbow strings releasing their sense-destroying package resounded in the air and the multiple explosions of ear-breaking soundwaves sent every clustered group of Reunion grunts close to them toppling over like toothpicks from a blow of breath, screaming and groaning in deafened agony.

"Next, clog the alleyways with rubble and shoot incendiary rounds on the road."

"Right-O!" Catapult makes do with the first half of the orders, switching ammunitions to shoot explosive rounds on every building's edge adjacent to alleyways in rhythmic succession, turning property damage into suitable makeshift barricades that prevented Reunion from seeping out of them continuously, forcing them to come from one direction and relieve the pressure on the Operators and the L.G.D. personnel below.

The second half is done with 3 Operators, 2 incendiary shells and 1 grenade setting a large patch on the two-way road on fire instantaneously, the Arts component keeping them ablaze and preventing the large wave of Reunion enemies composing of their stronger and tougher units on the other side from overwhelming all of Rhodes Island and the L.G.D.

Aaron turned his attention to the WhisperTail with a recognizable mountain of Originium growing on his back that was a red blur in his peripheral vision, and he was very lucky to see a glimpse of the creature before it disappeared from sight completely.

Camouflage Arts, most likely.

"Your cue, Hiss."

If the shrill roar that exploded right next to him lasted for more than a second, he might as well request a hearing aid for a blown left eardrum. But it was only brief, and the source of the sound flew like an invisible screaming missile towards the similarly-unseen enemy WhisperTail.

The invisible collision was brutal enough to create a shockwave upon impact, knocking over anyone nearby, and after a few seconds of unseen brutality that was only indicated by copious amounts of blood spurting out of thin air, the asphalt suddenly caving downwards or cracking in half, unfortunate Reunion soldiers sent flying away from their proximity, the enemy WhisperTail is forced out of his cloaking Arts and out into the open, far away from Nimrod's unconscious body that strangely nobody from the opposing side had the mind to carry away or simply kill before they get the information out of him.

For that, he's thankful for Hiss' presence. It would have taken a much more complex tactic without her to extract Nimrod.

Additionally, he's also thankful for a certain Operator's specialty in rescues under fire, "Estelle, grab Nimrod."

The horned Archosaurian on his other side jumped off the roof without hesitation, and her landing was more than a crack on the ground. She sent rubble flying everywhere. As she charged towards her target, she was practically a juggernaut, bulldozing through the crowd of Reunion fighters as if they were flowers under her furious stomps, her gigantic tail, big horns and small fists achieving equal results of sending anything in her way flying to the side. Any wounds she sustained from any sharp object that nailed her body seemed to close rather rapidly, and her large tail is observed to be the most powerful part of her, the graceful swing that slammed into any enemy that were close to Nimrod's body sent flying towards concrete walls and through them.

As Estelle moved to pick up Nimrod into a princess-carry, though quick and urgent, her movements were jarringly ginger, as if she's handling a kitten.

As she turned around and face the safety zone behind a row of Defenders, ginger and gentle Estelle is no more, the fierce and unstoppable Archosaurian warrior took her place once more and her gigantic horns cemented themselves as a new nightmare for every enemy she gored from the line she rammed herself through in a crowd of enemies.

Back into safety, Ch'en and the casualty carried out of the danger zone as well thanks to the L.G.D., Swire's booming voice from her drone exploded like a town siren, advising all personnel to get out of the streets and for ground units to form up defensive positions while sharpshooters on rooftops prepare heavy-duty bolts meant to blow up buildings or cleared out the remaining rabble of Reunion soldiers below with their crossbows.

Aaron turned his eyes to the one-sided brutalization between 2 WhisperTails. If MountainBack had not been blinded, disoriented and rendered deaf, the uncloaked Hiss would have suffered more than ripped scales that exposed the bleeding and tender flesh underneath or severe lacerations on her unprotected face.

Still, she achieved her objective. She rendered a complete massacre on her kin's neck to the point that he's practically beheaded, large sections of flesh torn out, the head barely hanging on its connection to the body by the bent spine and remaining strings of flesh.

Split mouth stained bloody, claws and fingers caked in iron-thick red, she turned her hungry red eyes towards new prey, and they looked at the masked faces of every Reunion that turned their attention to the only enemy within their range of influence.

And they collectively saw pieces of the MountainBack's neck still hanging from her teeth.

She disappeared like an eye-blink.

A second after, a cluster of Reunion fighters close to Hiss' last location were crushed, twisted or slammed to the side by an invisible force, preceded by a sickening cacophony of crushed bones, bent limbs, and agonized screams.

The closest to the unfortunate casualties were the next to suffer, one's ankle snagged by an invisible tail and pulled in before screaming an ear-splitting frequency as his arm was suddenly torn off. A group of 10 had all their ribs completely crushed by the force of a log thrown at their chests. 18 separate individuals had their skulls either split open or rent apart by a pair of claws in rhythmic succession, spilling the blood and brain matter everywhere.

The sight of a towering Logger lifted up from the ground, held horizontally by the neck and ankle and literally torn in half, his screams of agony suddenly stopping, spilling a red torrent of blood and entrails to fall and paint red on an invisible form beneath the giant and exposing the monster responsible for his demise, showing Hiss' overgrown and hulking body, gripping both halves of the enemy on separate hands on either side of her, causing every single onlooker's eyes and jaws to nearly pop out or drop, along with enemy morale and bravery.

There is no fire of revenge in any Infected heart anymore. There was only a cold and unforgiving terror, clouding the willingness to fight or even the willingness to throw their lives away for the cause of Reunion. The only thing that mattered more is running away, now.

The fear of the same painful fate befalling them negated the clear advantage of seeing an invisible enemy.

So, they started running, some even running towards the shield wall stationed at the entrance of an alleyway held up by the L.G.D. and Rhodes Island, begging to be saved.

The choice between saving another life in spite of them being enemies or saving their own reeled the shieldbearers' minds, suddenly forced to this decision in the midst of a massacre that may or may not affect them as well.

However, to their conflicted fortune, they didn't get to make a choice.

A tail impaled a begging Reunion soldier on the back of his head, the white mask failing to stop the gore from splattering the Rhodes Island defender's face, the latter's eyes completely wide and unblinking.

The other Reunion soldiers next to the dead victim were subsequently given the same fate, their skulls completely speared through by Hiss' tail in quick and ruthless succession, splattering the faces of the defenders they sought safety from.

One of those defenders from the L.G.D. inevitably panicked and screamed in terror, unable to stomach such a brutal sight literally right in front of his face and dreading the same fate befalling him, and the formation he was holding up together with Rhodes Island crumbled inevitably due to his moment of weakness.

Thanks to the new opening, the terrified Reunion soldiers breached right through the opening, stampeding and shoving aside skilled and hardened Operators just to get away from the monster dead-set on eating them. Both Rhodes Island and L.G.D. could not muster themselves back together, the chaos and mounting panic forcing them to start backing away hastily, now thinking about getting away from the invisible horror as well.

The Doctor immediately ordered their retreat before they get caught in the WhisperTails rampage, Swire's drone screamed out to do the same for her men.

The creature is getting near the quickly-vacated alleyway. A Reunion soldier that would have entered through had his head crushed to the floor under an invisible hand. Another had her head bitten clean off. The proximity of sudden death now indicating where the monster is, Reunion immediately started running in other directions, bolting to the open street not immolated by flames. The ones that slipped past the barrier were either apprehended by reserve Operators who aren't aware of what's going on or made a successful getaway.

Hiss materialized to existence at the entrance of the alley, her foot crushing a fallen Reunion soldier's head like a watermelon, her entire form caked in red and gore and casting a haunting image of her already-monstrous person. Operators who were at the other end of the alleyway stared at her warily, backing away and training their weapons at her. The ones at the rooftops, including Rhodes Island, trained their bows and crossbows at her.

Mousse was among those, pushing the weapons of her teammates down before screaming for Hiss to come back to her senses. She's spilled too much blood in front of her and now she can't stand it.

Unfortunately, Mousse's voice went like a muffled rumble into Hiss' ears. Imperceptible and nonexistent.

Seeing no enemy in front of her, the crazed WhisperTail turned her eyes to the ones running away in a mad panic on the street. They are no longer combatants. There's no reason to apprehend them. They can be used to track down their base of operations.

But Hiss didn't know that. Not anymore. The Chimera's will overcame her mind completely. This interception was part of the plan. She accomplished it. Reunion is being wiped out as intended. The Master's intentions is coursing through both her body and mind, her flesh elating at the thought of accomplishing his command that she completely forgot who she was. The mind and heart given to her by a friend, a child and an enemy vanished, now she's just another Hand.

The moment she tore into the flesh of her kin, her identity completely vanished. She didn't know anything or anyone anymore. All she knew is the lust of flesh and the taste of blood. Nothing else mattered anymore.

Her recent death was already too much. Now the blood of her kin filling her insides shattered all that's left of restraints. She cannot care anymore. Her promises, her swears to Amiya and Mousse—nothing else mattered anymore.

She is so hungry.

With an animalistic roar, she bounded after the retreating Reunion enemies, trailing the blood of her victims in her wake behind her and about to spill more.

"HISS, WAIT! STOP!" Amiya called out, futilely reaching for the WhisperTail on the rooftop's edge. "THEY'RE NOT COMBATANTS ANYMORE! LET THEM GO!"

Aaron's wide, horrorstruck eyes snapped downwards to PRTS upon hearing an ominous warning.

"WARNING: MULTIPLE HEAT SIGNATURES DETECTED!"

"D-DOCTOR! PLEASE GET HISS OUT OF THERE! YOU HAVE TO STOP HER!" Mousse's panicked voice was barely heard over the screams of the massacred Reunion.

[WhisperTail incoming! Southeast! 530 meters and closing!] Liskarm's voice from the earpiece is barely holding together under the sudden-increase of the situation's precariousness.

[ALL PERSONNEL! PREPARE! REUNION'S MONSTERS ARE COMING! FIRE ON MY MARK AND AVOID HITTING THE RED ONE!] Swire's shrill voice brimmed with authority and command, calming down the waning hearts amongst both Rhodes Island and L.G.D.

3 prominent red dots on the EYESOFPRIESTESS were rapidly closing in. The ones closest to Rhodes Island and beelining straight towards them are noticeably steering away from a possible collision, circling around in a quarter angle before suddenly speeding towards the female WhisperTail's location.

"Oh no." He practically plunged the earpiece deep inside his head as he pressed down on it, "HISS, GET OUT OF THERE! THE WHISPERTAILS ARE COMING!"

The roar that came a millisecond after is much, much louder than before that it was surprising her vocal cords weren't completely ripped apart from it. If anyone had been anywhere near her, they would no longer enjoy a life with a sense of hearing.

Aaron stared at the bulky figure in the middle of the road that suddenly gave up pursuing the escaping Reunion, screaming her entire head off while she curled her body backwards in her howling, as if she was announcing her presence for all who could hear like a beast marking territory….

She's drawing them to herself.

"She lost her mind..." Aaron gritted his teeth, mustering up the will to put his trust in the woman that hated him. "All Operators, hold your fire and prepare flashbangs or discombobulation ordinance. We're going to cover Hiss. I doubt she could hear me anymore. She's lost control over herself." He switched channels to Swire's, "Swire, does your men have explosive ordinance ready?"

[Already did before you asked, Doctor.]

"Good, thank you. Three WhisperTails are incoming. I want you to handle the biggest one that comes out."

[What about the other two?]

"Leave one to Hiss. Rhodes Island will handle the other one."

[Good thinking. Anything to know just in case?]

"Flashbangs work best and avoid head-on confrontations unless you're confident. We keep two pinned down until Hiss is done with the other one."

[So, leave it to your monster girl to do all the hard work?]

"We're doing the hard work here. We're making sure she doesn't cause anymore damage than she already had." 2 red dots conspicuously halted while one charged on ahead, coming from the direction of the road where the barrier of fire continued to blaze. "One incoming. From the fire. Everyone get ready and wait for my mark. Hiss has lost her mind."

As Swire commanded her unit to hold fire and keep steady, the sound of crossbows getting nocked and ready to fire, Hiss had already bolted towards the direction of the fiery wall on all fours, intent on getting the fight against her kin on the other side over with.

Then Aaron noticed one of the 2 stationary red dots suddenly moving at shocking speeds from the side—

"INCOMING!"

—and the aftermath is heard when the face of a commercial building across the street is blown outwards, dust clouds and chunks of debris flying in their general direction.

The green beast that bisected Hiss in half came bursting out of the dust cloud, and Aaron had to be pulled away from the building edge by Amiya before a large chunk of a wall destroyed his last position into a hole leading inside.

As L.G.D. and Rhodes Island took cover from the hail of cement, glass, and so much lung-clogging dust along with a mysterious cloud of yellow and gold brown, Hiss did not allow what happened to her body to happen a second time.

The long claws came swinging in front of her, and she slickly leapt over it, jabbed her tail straight into both of the monster's eyes in a half-second.

The creature wasn't deterred. It spun in the same movement, moving faster than its size suggested, its own gigantic Archosaurian tail swinging in and slamming into her front. She couldn't jump or lie flat in time. She barely landed her fingers or toes back to the ground yet. She felt the entire front of her entire skeleton break apart from the impact and the momentum from her sprint pushed the damage even further, destroying her facial bones and her neck.

She expected to hit the asphalt and skid off a few scales from the bounce. However, she hit a wall instead, as if it just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the road, causing further internal damage to her body. It smelled and felt like sand.

A sudden realization reached her mind and quickly found out that this creature was given Lin Yuxia's Arts. Sloppy control but still destructive.

With her intact eye, the other one caved inside her skull from the tail slap as retaliation, she met the monster's own healed pair stare back at her, and she saw a knowing look within them.

Acknowledging his obscure message, Hiss 'failed' to put up her resistance in time before she was devoured by the sand, air, sound, smell, taste and sensation completely vanishing from reality as every part of her is reduced to a meat bag of crushed bones and raptured organs inside a coffin of gold dust.

Sensing a mental cue of the target objective as neutralized and captured with his kin carrying her away, the third WhisperTail that stayed as far away as possible by many blocks readied a barrage.

One tail split apart into 4, each one glowing in disturbing shades of blood red, and his 4 horns captured an accurate reading of where Rhodes Island and the L.G.D. forces are located. They are separately clumped in two buildings, a mix of their forces staying on the ground.

With a buck of his hind and a strong flick of his tails, 4 orbs of red Arts were launched off, the air resistance in their flight rapidly deforming them into the fitting shape of missiles. There was no whistling sound or the telltale explosion of a shell launched from a mortar cannon, only the increasing brightness of 4 red lights that came closer and closer.

The multihorned WhisperTail that grew to Patriot's height and forced a large number of Reunion grunts in Chernobog to cut and eat their own arm waited until his female kin was captured. And once that happened, he breached through the fire, leapt from the ground and slammed his tall frame unto the same roof Aaron was in.

The Vouivre with the light-emitting shield blinded him the sooner he landed his feet, throwing him into a complete disadvantage, leaving him open to so many Operators attacking him at once. For a WhisperTail, being ganged up by trained fighters are more of a challenge than the Chernobog police forces were.

Even so, WhisperTails are still WhisperTails. They are not that quick to fall.

Franka's thermite blade glanced off the middle of its tail as the tall creature nonchalantly parried it while it was still blinded, failing to land even the slightest graze on the creature compared to her vengeful Feline teammate.

Swire's flail failed to land its spiked head against the monster's back, the latter's tail literally grabbing it with a fully functional hand on the tip and burying it into the ground in one plunge. She methodically coiled the chains around her entire body before easily ripping it off the ground with a single stomp on the metal links.

Estelle's Archosaurian strength is equally matched by the WhisperTail, her left wrist threatening to be crushed under the monster's grip while her right hand paid back the courtesy by pulverizing its own left wrist, keeping the multi-horned being locked in place during the grapple.

Mousse went from standing on the ground to standing atop the monster's back in a single blur of movement, her clawed glove growing brightly under her Arts, her face twisted in furious vengeance of not only watching her friend get killed a second time but having failed to do anything to prevent the same event as well.

As Amiya swerved past Estelle's form and with a single leap, she is just an arm's reach away before her Arts breaches into the creature's mind, intending to pacify it above all else before its mouthful of teeth rips into the Archosaurian Operator's throat.

It was at the perfect time that Bleat's vision had returned, and the sight of the Cautus girl at literal touching distance made his movements literally freeze, the numerous glowing lacerations on his body briefly gone from his awareness, giving Mousse and Franka the opportunity to impale their individual weapons deep into the waist and the back, respectively. Estelle got the iron grip on her left arm shaken off and held down the creature's own with a shrill growl. Swire's flail twirled in the air and is now arcing straight to the back of his neck.

"AMIYA, RUN! GET TO COVER!"

Before the point of impact as Amiya turned to look at the sudden brightness of red light coming her way, she felt her entire body get incased in a tight wrapping of leathery scales, a gigantic hand covering her head, muffling her vision as the explosive ringing in her ears sent her a quick departure from the waking world.

---

He saw the slightest twitch in the eyelids. Anyone but a WhisperTail could have missed it, "This one is done! Get her out!"

"Okay!" Swire turned her eyes to the nearest personnel, "You, help me!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

A hand grabbed his shoulder, an L.G.D. guard pointing to his teammate that had been tormented by MountainBack before, missing his arm and eye. "Heal him next, please!"

"Just put him down and help the others while I do my work."

"Okay!"

It was only a single barrage of 4 Arts missiles.

But the damage was too catastrophic. Multiple buildings close to the impact zone have been leveled. One even got caught on fire from an exploded gas line. Both Rhodes Island and the L.G.D. suffered severe injuries and even casualties. They either died from the shockwave or from fragmentation and shrapnel piercing right through their organs. A few of the ones on ground level were unfortunately crushed by rubble. Once the ringing of ears stopped and the dust cleared away enough for anyone to assess the situation, they noted all enemy WhisperTails to have suddenly disappeared from the area along with MountainBack's body.

Worst of all, Amiya's missing. Everyone that personally fought the multihorned WhisperTail personally saw it whisking the Cautus off before the explosion.

The most of Rhodes Island that weren't knocked out by the barrage are pretty much set off into a frenzy, immediately willing to organize a search party for their leader, including the ones who have obvious and hampering injuries that made them pretty much deadweight.

The Doctor was torn between helping with the wounded or leading the search party with whoever was still able-bodied.

Nimrod, suddenly awake after the bombardment and easily snapping out of his cuffs, made the Doctor's decision for him by literally pushing the Doctor out of his way as he immediately sprinted over to every person that was either bleeding to death on the ground or buried in the rubble. As many as he could reach, the many who were dying were barred from death's door and their life-threatening conditions were stabilized in an instant after being briefly shined with a ray of white light coming from his hands or body.

Right afterwards, he went on to look over every deceased man or woman. Though the number count isn't many, one dead ally or teammate is already a personal failure for everybody.

Nimrod counted the bodies, consulted whoever was tallying either Rhodes Island's or L.G.D.'s for the number's confirmation before he casted an aura of white light over every single one, hands perpetually illuminated and held out over a deceased person in every minute. Serious damages such as amputations, severe fractures, eviscerations and even ruptured organs were cleanly healed back to the point where they haven't faced combat nor training.

All Medics present were more than baffled at such a miraculous feat.

When the Doctor asked what he had done just now, his response was terse and urgent, "A 'guarantee' of my race. Their bodies are put in a state of stasis. They will not wither or rot so long as I live. When this all ends, you'll see why I did it. Now bring Hui-Chieh and the officer with her to me! They're still alive!"

Swire was the very first to react, her shrill voice now threatening to destroy the nearest eardrums even without her drone speakers as she commanded a few L.G.D. personnel to come over and tenderly carried their Superintendent's stiff and heavily-poisoned body towards him.

The Doctor quickly took action right after, having organized a search-party and departed with a few select Operators, reinforcements and a vehicle from Rhodes Island to haul out their wounded and deceased already on the way.

With Operator Myrrh's help, he had her herbs and antivenins that would have no effect against Chimera venoms slightly heightened to accommodate his bequeathed powers of restoration. Without her, Nimrod would have used more visceral methods in extracting the toxins.

He can only thank his patience that has been tempered for nearly a century to talk while he performed what's almost a surgery in a very unsanitary environment. Even if she was soft and quiet about it instead of being pushy and annoying, Swire just wouldn't shut up whether Ch'en's really alive or okay, despite being answered the same answer for the 16th time.

"How did you do that?" A nearby L.G.D. guard asked in awe, having personally witnessed one of the many feats WhisperTails are capable of up close.

Nimrod briefly glanced at his patient's bare hand, completely baby-skinned and thin, before returning to the mangled face, "There were some traces of the venom in the stump. But it's nothing a strong immune system cannot battle. Myrrh's herbs are contributed to that. You owe her thanks."

"Huh?" Said person across him looked up to him in shock, surprised at being mentioned and especially being praised, "Oh…um, it's nothing, really. I was just doing my job."

Nimrod grouched, annoyed by her flawed humility, "Myrrh, fucking focus."

The timid Operator squeaked at his venomous tone, quickly returning to the task of cleaning up the blood on the patient's face. "I'm sorry!"

"I'd say the same thing but more gently. A simple 'thank you' is enough, Myrrh." Ansel commented, frowning at the hooded WhisperTail, "Look, I know we nearly got bombarded and it's definitely traumatizing to some people but there's no reason to make it hard for others, Nimrod."

"Ansel, get over here." Nimrod commanded, pointing at the ground next to him with one hand, his other hand maintaining the glow of white towards the damages.

"W-what?" The Cautus Medic was caught off guard, staring blankly.

"Ansel, I will not repeat myself. Do as I say. Now."

Once the swelling bruises faded, the deformities restructured back to their original shapes and the missing eye literally healed back to existence, as revealed when he peeled back the healed eyelids and shined a cone of light from his index finger in the iris to see a dilating response.

Too fresh and too sensitive. It will adjust in time.

He stood up, patting Myrrh's shoulder so she stands up as well. Once Ansel is stood next to him as ordered, he placed one hand on each of their heads, and his palms began emitting a strong white light from his palms through pale pink and light red tresses.

His face remained dispassionate as he watched their eyes nearly roll to the top of their heads until he let go, the surge of vigor and relief taking the fatigue and tension out of their entire bodies.

As the two attempted to shake off the high, he helped them get over it quickly with the shock of being pushed by the shoulders so hard they could have fallen over. Both managed to get their balance immediately, a rather particular footwork stabilizing them upright.

Though his face remained stoic, Nimrod is quite impressed. Hardy things, these Rhodes Island Medics.

He pointed to the now-healthy patient on the ground, "Go. You're done here. Bring this man to the other wounded and help the other Medics afterwards."

"Okay."
"Yes, Sir."

Nimrod turned his eyes to the gathered personnel of the patient's teammates that have been spectating the procedure. "You lot, help these two carry him. The man is still unconscious and his equipment's heavy."

"""Sau dou!"""

In uniform unison, they moved to a Hammock-Carry position, 3 men on one side and 2 on the other, complete with a command and response.

Once at a full position, the one at the head, Ansel, naturally took command, "Ready to lift?"

"""Ready!""" The guards responded uniformly.

Ansel followed up, "Move!"

Grunting in chorus as they lifted up the patient, they followed after Myrrh as she led the way to the wounded's tent, kicking aside any piece of rubble in the way so nobody slips or hurts their ankles on them.

Nimrod turned a questioning frown to a lone L.G.D. guard that stayed behind.

And he instantly recognized him as the same man whose ribs he elbowed in Ch'en's car, given the scratches on the specific side of his helmet.

Noting his caught attention, the former moved to unclasp his helmet. With a press of a button and a slight hissing, the headgear is removed to reveal a mess of brown shortcut hair and a rugged face that showed years of service and scars.

His Lung horns looked like they haven't been maintained for years, all worn and chipped heavily.

And they traced a curve as the man bowed at the waist, conveying a rather profound conveyance of respect that the WhisperTail never expected to receive from an L.G.D. officer.

"Sir, thank you for saving Sir Ch'en and one of my men. There's nothing I could do to show the gratitude of my unit."

If this had been multiple decades ago, he would have been taken in by such a display. Gratitude is such a sweet drug.

Now, Nimrod is all too willing to change the man's mind.

"Is it legal for an esteemed member of the Lungmen Guard Department to be bowing his head before an Infected scum?"

He saw no twitch or tension from the man's form. He remained bowed as he responded without losing the sincerity in his voice, "I understand your reservations against us but I swear that my thanks are not false. If it had not been for you, the L.G.D. would have lost everything and its Superintendent."

"Oh really?" Nimrod can already feel his temper rising, "How nice. I managed to save the life of an officer, now my status as an Infected on Lungmen soil is null compared to it? Does an Infected need to do that much to earn basic human treatment compared to a Healthy person, Officer?"

"I shall not fight nor argue with you, Sir. I could only afford so much with my humility to change your mind and accept the L.G.D.'s sincere and unbiased gratitude but please, accept at least my own. You deserve this and more for the things you've done."

The man's quite adamant to extend his sincerity, and Nimrod isn't blind to it. No way. WhisperTails do not question sentiments like that. The man speaks from the heart and it's obvious he isn't prejudiced against the Infected by choice. This man carries the air of tempered wisdom and his words made that impression very clear.

With these things in mind, there's no reason for the WhisperTail to take this any further. He can accept this.

"I…see." Nimrod approached the bowing officer and, with full willingness, held out a hand towards him for a handshake. He may have realized that he dislikes people touching him but that's no excuse to withhold expressions of sincerity. He never complained about that kind of touch before. "I accept your gratitude. You're welcome."

The man straightened himself and shook his hand with both of his own.

"I regret my behavior towards you in the car and I truly deserve that elbow. Your actions proved that you were worth protecting, Sir. I don't know what I would do if the Superintendent didn't make it."

"Hmph." Getting Ch'en nearly killed wasn't part of the plan in the first place. He expected Rhodes Island to arrive sooner so the WhisperTails could kidnap Hiss much quickly. If they had, Rhodes Island would have helped in driving off the MountainBack sooner with an alive and well Ch'en, which would have ended in an Originium Explosion the sooner they were unwittingly baited to cut off his red tail.

It's a contagious maneuver but in the hands of a WhisperTail, it doesn't even matter. Additionally, no one would have died.

That bombardment of Arts was a failsafe maneuver. Nimrod didn't want it to be used for it could risk casualties and even hurt the baby girl.

He sighed. At least it'll give Ch'en an obligation to fulfill for Rhodes Island and maybe trust them a bit more.

The Superintendent is primarily responsible for this incident due to her lack of caution. Most importantly, she had been warned. Multiple times, Rhodes Island had given her the blatant warning to watch out for his kind—he even pushed the same idea inside her vehicle.

Now look what happened. People died. The Chimera did not want this.

Things didn't go according to plan but flexibility has been the Chimera's greatest strength. The WhisperTails can use the current circumstances to their advantage, and with Amiya in their hands, they have a large opportunity to exploit.

"That bastard thing….it's still out there." There was a grudge lining the man's voice, "A drone surveyed the bombarded area and that monster's just gone. We followed the blood trail it left behind but it just disappeared eventually. I just watched it's neck get ripped out by Rhodes Island's own monster and it just walked it off?"

Nimrod and the guard began walking over to an intact abandoned building where the lobby is used as a temporary clinic area for the wounded until transports arrive to take them to a proper treatment facility, crossing his arms with a scowl, "And that's why I kept telling your Ch'en while I was being transported to be more prepared than this flimsy force she gathered up that's meant to fight back against humans. You're not just fighting humans here. These monsters are born to kill other monsters and the L.G.D. need more than explosives to stop them."

"Well, what can you advise for us then?" The man asked eagerly. "This folly must be learned from."

"I can't say. Not yet. Not while Rhodes Island's leader is missing. I need her for it. For now, I can only offer temporary solutions, I want both Rhodes Island and L.G.D. to hear it from me, not just one of you."

"Understood."

Dismissing the man upon entering the lobby so he can report to a direct superior for more orders, his body began glowing very brightly like a humanoid light bulb, lighting up the unlit interior thanks to the electricity and generator being caught in the crossfire. Disregarding the numerous stares that were turning his way, he walked at the foot of a row of patients lying down on cots and passed through a passage between 2 rows of them.

The effects of his Healing Arts are already showing on both the wounded and the able-bodied, wounds and bruises of all kinds as well as fatigue easily repairing themselves or fading away at a rate faster than the Medic Operators' own Healing Arts.

While active, he moved across every row of patients until the last person, making sure that he didn't accidently merge foreign objects like cement or debris fragmentations into their bodies. He can sense their conditions just by being near them and their individual race's unique biology aren't even an obstacle either. One of the perks of being a Chimera's spawn.

Already, those of Rhodes Island are drawing parallels of Operator Shining and him. The L.G.D., however, are seeing a horned Angel giving off a heavenly light as they felt such delicious relief fill up their entire bodies, some even deliriously reaching out their hands towards him just to have a feel of this seemingly-divine being.

He avoided those touches with an air of irritation. His newly-discovered distaste for physical contact now full explaining why he never liked his past patients reaching out to him like that before. He thought his bedside manners are simply horrid compared to Shining.

After reaching the last patient, he took a whiff of the air and easily caught the scent of the Superintendent coming from a separate room. He followed after it while giving the impression of not wanting to talk to anyone as he walked with a purposeful gait. Those who got the hint shut their mouths and moved out of his way, the ones who didn't either get elbowed or shoved to the floor without losing speed.

Suddenly, he noticed the tall woman that actually matched his height standing in the direction of his path, long green hair fluttering from her movements as she got his attention and walked over to him, her gigantic triangular shield carefully held by her side to not hit anything or anyone near her almost causing the air around her to disperse wildly. Her single horn drew his attention more, however.

An Oni in Lungmen? Strange.

As the Oni finally reached him, he stopped moving and humored her presence. She smiled warmly, "So you're the package that's done more than just giving information for the ones that got him on cuffs?"

Nimrod is quick to point one thing out to her, "None of you deserve it. Remember that."

"Indeed. We might not be able to repay you if we tried." With great ceremony and sincerity, this mighty woman bowed at the waist towards him. He noticed almost all L.G.D. personnel around him doing the same thing, "My name is Hoshiguma of the Special Inspection Unit. For saving our Superintendent and healing all of us back to health, we are grateful with all of our hearts. You will be greatly rewarded when this is over."

Nimrod lightly huffed. He appreciates their sentiment. Gratitude never fails to feel good every single time, but they can't hope to give him anything that could ever outmatch the joy of being part of Shining's family.

"I accept your thanks but not your reward. In fact, you should be giving it to Rhodes Island instead. They found me first and handed me over to you. They saved your Superintendent before I did and she sure as fuck doesn't deserve it either!" Venomous and spiteful, he made sure to speak up on behalf of his baby girl's friends, "I expected better from you morons and all I see is you dismissing people like Rhodes Island—that I saw with my own eyes—had a fucking clue of what's happening to your stupid City! I trusted their decision to hand me over to you because they trust you to use my information effectively to make this Operation of yours a success together and look what you did…..."

Nimrod paused, clicking his tongue and irritably clawing at his eye.

Hoshiguma straightened herself alongside the rest of the L.G.D., calmly receiving his scathing gaze, "You're surprisingly defensive of Rhodes Island even though you've only met them today, Sir."

"I trust them more than the L.G.D. is capable of keeping the slums from becoming a cesspit that ended up being the perfect place for Reunion to hide themselves in despite multiple opportunities to fix it a long time ago." Nimrod saw the miniscular twitch in the tall woman's eyes. Ah yes, she's remembering the time Ch'en had tried to integrate the slums to Lungmen society and failed miserably. "The time I spent in Reunion waiting for somebody that I can trust to stop what they're doing, only to see a bunch of morons walking around Chernobog, barely coming out alive as they survived Talulah and now they're taking the initiative to fight them right after? Why else would I think a Pharmaceutical company is more trustworthy than a police force that couldn't be bothered to listen to their advice?"

"If that's the case then would you like to make your point to Sir Ch'en then?" Hoshiguma offered courteously with a hand, taking his words with a grace that wasn't typical of most Oni he met, "Come with me. She's already come to. Our Young Miss is already trying to keep her down and not overexert herself. Even with your miraculous powers of healing, I hear that she got the worst of it."

Nimrod ignored everything beyond the first sentence, instead eyeing the woman who matched his height pointedly as he followed her, "Tell me, did your Superintendent send proper caution to all her units regarding the creatures before she was attacked?"

"She did. She actually cautioned us before the start of this morning's Operation. We have gathered armaments specific for fighting monsters. Traps, nets, even harpoons. The L.G.D. has been trained on subjugating large targets like them actually. The only question is when are they useful compared to now." His eye widened, genuinely surprised to hear that. Ch'en actually took him or Amiya seriously? "Though, of no fault of her own, we failed to predict just how much of a trouble they were when we were ambushed by them. The creatures were far too intelligent, enduring, and equaled even my strength. They corralled me and the reinforcements from reaching Sir Ch'en when she called for assistance."

And did that surprise anybody?

He frowned irritably, "Have you heard of what happened to Chernobog?"

"Yes. The City fell to Reunion's control under a single day."

"Did your Information Network made any mention of the creatures? At all?"

"…..Yes." That long pause gave away the fact that she knew what he's implying.

"Rhodes Island had been to Chernobog during the Catastrophe that struck it down. I was there. I have witnessed them. That makes them having experienced fighting against those creatures first hand and survived. Therefore, they must have shared what they learned from that time to your people as well to help combat this crisis."

"Yes, they have."

Very suddenly, as if he just materialized there in existence, Nimrod appeared in front of her and pulled her close by the breastplate, getting into her face and barely suppressed his screaming, "Then surely your Superintendent should have known better! I even warned her that they were intelligent! I just watched her dismiss Rhodes Island as if they were nothing before I was even put in her vehicle! Now look what happened! Multiple casualties and Rhodes Island's leader kidnapped by them! And not only that, they just kidnapped Rhodes Island's own monster as well! Now Reunion will know everything! LUNGMEN AND RHODES ISLAND ARE IN COMPLETE JEOPARDY BECAUSE OF THIS CARELESSNESS!"

The silence that came after was more deafening than a flashbang to a WhisperTail's face. Both Rhodes Island and L.G.D. looked at the commotion in shock and confusion, wondering where did such vitriol come from when Nimrod was being a practical messiah minutes ago.

Hoshiguma, however, remained stoic, steeling against his glare. As Nimrod gently released his hold on her without looking away, allowing her to straighten her posture, her voice held a solemn and firm tone, "This will not happen again. She's always been a difficult partner to anyone she doesn't know, but I will not let Sir Ch'en make this mistake twice. Never again."

Nimrod stomped his foot. Everyone in the interior felt it from the small tremor across the ground, rattling anything that isn't heavy or nailed down. Satisfied with his appetite of dominance for the next few days, he lost all vitriol and is now willing to move on. "We must not allow another Chernobog. And right now, we need to find that little girl first."

"Then lead the way if you so insist." Hoshiguma gestured to the nearby double doors. Nimrod can already smell Ch'en from it.

Grabbing both handholds of the double doors, a gust of wind blew from the sheer force of his pull, and he's suddenly looking down at a surprised Beatrix Schwire with arms stretched out, about to push open the double doors until he did.

"Y-you!" The lady exclaimed after regaining her composure.

"Yourself." Nimrod dryly replied in kind, then proceeded past her upon entering in. "Where's your Superintendent?"

"Ah!" Swire caught up to his side, "I was just about to look for you! We got an emergency! Come on!"

She grabbed his arm and pulled him over to a nearby L-shaped sofa, which had an alive and conscious Ch'en lying atop it while she clutched a communicator close to her ear. Nimrod let himself be led by the Tiger towards the former quadriplegic.

Kneeling before the Lung woman's form upon reaching her, the latter's maroon eyes noted his presence and her fingers twisted the volume knob up, allowing him to hear Amiya's voice coming from it.

He froze on the spot and listened closely, shutting out all noises except for everything that comes out of the communicator.

{….right. I'm okay. No serious injuries.}

{Thank goodness. Amiya, where are you now? You're still connected to PRTS but I can't find you on the map.} Franka's voice carried a rather uncharacteristic tinge of seriousness. He felt the vibe of held panic in her voice, {Are you alone? Is there anyone with you?}

Nimrod felt a mental ping.

{….I can't answer that right now…..but the Doctor….is he alright? Please tell me he's alright….}

And then he heard Aaron's voice through the communicator, {Amiya.}

Upon hearing the Doctor's voice, Nimrod felt within his head ignite a very powerful and hateful rage. One that would have killed everyone else in the room if he gave into it, no matter how skilled or powerful they are.

It seems the WhisperTails are listening in to this call, and they did not like his voice whatsoever.

This unnatural surge of hate for the Doctor even though he personally hasn't been sinned by the man once is rather impressive and fascinating. Whether it's just one or every WhisperTail listening on this conversation, the collective hatred that rose upon just hearing the man is so potent it reached even Nimrod, who's still freshly reconnected to their mental link.

Goes to show how much Theresa meant to the Chimera. She was simply too precious. She could have been the one once his Master was through with the final decade of travel.

{Doctor….I'm so glad you're okay.} Amiya's voice held such overflowing relief it gave even Nimrod pause. {I was worried sick. I saw you reach out for me, then there was red, and then…..nothing. I didn't know what happened afterwards but when I came to, I…oh, Doctor….I'm so glad that you're okay….}

{It's alright. I got very lucky.}

Far too lucky in Nimrod's opinion.

The Chimera has been exercising a lot of restraint for someone that so hated the man responsible for the death of his beloved. That bombardment was the perfect opportunity to kill him or at least maim him. In spite of that, the man is completely unharmed in the aftermath. He didn't even need any healing at all.

{I'm glad you're okay too.} Aaron continued, {Where are you now? We're gonna come get you.}

{No. Don't. I'll be fine on my own. I'm not the one in the most danger right now…..Hiss….they took her. She….she's being forced to..to….they're…going to use her against us. They're making her our enemy. You need to rescue her first.}

Nimrod pursed his lips.

Hiss is getting degraded by the other WhisperTails until she devolves into a complete animal incapable of intelligent thought, indeed. It's for the sake of giving his sister every bit of credible access to her powers as a spawn of the Chimera in the eyes of the L.G.D. She needs her horns, and she needs to act her race.

But with the Chimera's charade in mind, Rhodes Island will have to kill her first, and that's before Nimrod will be getting first-hand confirmation of Amiya's legitimacy as the holder of Theresa's legacy for his Master.

If it came to that, this will only damage Mousse's emotional state further but it's a reality the poor Feline has to face. She has to learn and accept that WhisperTails are not soft and she needs to be stronger than just crying over her friend every time she's cut down. It's both immature and disrespectful in their eyes. This war is never going to be kind to weaklings like her, the Chimera will be much worse.

The Superintendent moved the communicator to her ear, holding down the button, "This is Ch'en. Amiya…"

{Miss Ch'en! You're alright!?}

"Yeah. Thank the informant you gave me. He's done more than what you said he'll do. But enough about that for now. Answer me one question."

{Yes?}

"Is someone in the room with you?"

A reply didn't come.

The silence already confirms it. The 3 women in the room shifted variably at their shared thoughts. Nimrod simply held still and awaited the next few words.

After a few seconds of tense silence, the communicator beeped again, and Amiya's voice held a degree of finality. {Miss Ch'en, so long as Reunion continues to be a threat to both Infected and non-Infected lives everywhere, your dismissal of Rhodes Island's cooperation is null and against the principles of Rhodes Island. As a partner of the L.G.D., I request that you prioritize the rescue of my colleague Hiss instead of looking for me. In the enemy's hands, she will risk spilling important information to Reunion and endangering both Rhodes Island and the L.G.D. She's holding information that she likely hasn't shared even with me yet. I already notified Penguin Logistics to start looking. Doctor will help you mobilize the forces.}

Another beep and Aaron's voice broke out, his concern now palpable enough to be seen as fatherly, {Amiya. What are you saying? Are you being coerced by somebody? We're coming to get you—}

{No, don't. Please. You'll only help Reunion if you did. Don't worry about me. I can handle myself.}

{Amiya…}

{Please trust me, just as I trust you, Doctor.}

Nimrod felt something throb in his chest upon hearing that.

Such sincere words said towards a man that the Chimera hated so much….and it's coming from his godchild….

The feeling of conflict and even an undeserved betrayal stirred in Nimrod's heart.

Then Aaron's voice came back….

{…..Amiya….I swear….I will not let anything happen to you.}

Without even meaning to, Nimrod felt his lips sneer. The Chimera felt intent from the man's voice….and he felt threatened.

{…..Good luck, everyone.}

Suddenly, Amiya yelped.

The communicator started giving off distorted sounds of something breaking, and there was a recognizable growl that erupted before it suddenly fell silent.

{Amiya! Amiya! Can you hear me!? AMIYA!}

Hearing Aaron's genuine panic and desperation, Nimrod wondered whether this will affect how his Master perceives the man or not.

Amiya favors the Doctor as if he were the world, he's the one leading the Operation that benefits the agenda of killing Reunion, and most importantly, the man has amnesia.

Is it even fair to condemn a man for a sin he no longer has knowledge of?

Nimrod huffed silently.

He won't question the Chimera's aged maturity. The latter's ancient enough to know the moral answer to that, but does the answer even apply or even satisfy an immortal who no longer cared?

Ch'en pressed the button down again, "Rhodes Island. This is Ch'en. Here's a direc….here's a suggestion for you. Prioritize in getting your informant back. The L.G.D. will save your leader for you."

Nimrod huffed silently once again, rising up to his feet and crossing his arms.

{Can we even trust you on that? You've never been making our partnership any easier, and you've been dismissive of us every single time. Is our relationship simply in name, Ch'en? Should we even be here?} Aaron's voice is noticeably getting firmer and brimming with authority.

For once, Nimrod's agreeing with the man, and he's glad that somebody from Rhodes Island said the words he's been trying to convey since that disaster of an escort ride.

Ch'en closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she held down the button to respond, "My negligence led to these circumstances, Doctor of Rhodes Island, and I will take full responsibility. This is my blunder alone, therefore it's my mission to make things right. As your partner, I must act my part to the fullest. You have my word."

Though Nimrod wasn't surprised that Ch'en's demeanor is drastically different thanks to having experienced the feeling of her own mortality and helplessness almost an hour ago, it's still quite strange to hear such a leveled and mature response from her without any kind of haughty and stubborn undertone.

Rhodes Island must be surprised too, most likely.

Once Aaron's response came, his voice had returned to that smooth and reassuring inflexion inside his helmet, the slight hint of surprise hidden underneath, {I'm counting on you.}

"I won't fail you." And with that, Ch'en put the communicator down on the ground. Then she turned her head towards her colleagues, "Ready a squadron. We'll need everything if we're going to rescue her."

Hoshiguma only frowned, concern filling her strong features, "Sir….."

"Do you even realize what you just said!? You're thinking of joining the fight—are you even serious right now!?" Swire's voice rose in pitch out of incredulity, "Your spine was just cut in half and there was a hole in your gut! HOW THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN THINKING OF MOVING AROUND!? YOU SHOULD NOT BE MOVING AROUND AT ALL!"

"I appreciate your concern but if I lie here resting as Rhodes Island's leader is held hostage because of me, how can I even face my own men? I will not forsake an ally that spilled their blood for my sakes."

"I'm sure that's quite noble of you to start calling them that, Miss Superintendent, but in case you're forgetting, YOU'RE STILL RECOVERING!" Nimrod positively winced from Swire's shrill voice. She could cow a WhisperTail into submission with it if she tried hard enough. "Not only that, you can't even get up!"

"I cannot. My toes cannot even move themselves." Ch'en answered truthfully, which left even Nimrod shocked alongside Swire and Hoshiguma for her honesty. The Superintendent turned her eyes to the WhisperTail, "Swire told me that you were the one that saved the life of my subordinate as well as my own."

Nimrod huffed spitefully, knowing what she's trying to do, "By fuck, you don't even deserve it."

Hoshiguma chuckled to hear it again, "I'm pretty sure everyone in the L.G.D. doesn't deserve your kindness, good savior."

"Though if you know Lungmen, then you'd know that we'd never hear the end of it if we didn't repay you for everything you've done for us." Swire added firmly, arms placed on her hips as she looked up to his towering height, "Once this is over, just name it. I'll see it done if Mr. Wei's being cheap with you."

Nimrod huffed again but less petulantly. These women are being sincere with him and he appreciates it. Additionally, he has to remind himself that he's had his fill of dominance. Even he knows better than to deny anybody their chance of redeeming themselves and forsaking their personal growth, even if that 'anybody' is Ch'en.

"You will be whole again and I shall make it so." He uncrossed his arms and held up a glowing palm, frowning still, "But I only need to be betrayed once and only once. Forsake others….forsake my fellows….and I will forsake you in turn."

Ch'en was about to say something but he didn't let her, his hand suddenly blasting an intense burst of light that might as well be a flashbang, turning the entire room white. Swire screamed as she turned away and covered her eyes. Hoshiguma simply held up her shield but closed her eyes as well.

It took a full 3 seconds before the dim of the room came back, the only source of light coming from the nearby cracked windows.

Swire groaned as she rubbed her eyes and stared at a dark corner. She sighed in relief, "Phew. Thank goodness that kind of light don't leave white spots on my vision but could you warn us before you do that again next time!?"

Nimrod huffed dismissively.

"But it is such a healing light, as they said." Hoshiguma mentioned, taking deep breaths and rolling her shoulders, hopping in place to shake off the high. "The sensation is indeed heavenly. I feel like I could fight all day."

"Yeah. Whoo!" Swire herself was shivering like it's autumn, the high rippling across her entire body. "That actually worked wonders more than a whole day in the massage parlor."

"Then that explains why Reunion wants you in their hands before we could." Ch'en realized as she suddenly sat up and stood up from the sofa, now free from her legless affliction. She stretched and tested numerous parts of her body, from joints to flexibility as she continued, reaching for her 2 swords that are left lying on the floor next to her, "Aside from information, they're making sure we do not benefit from your powers as well."

Nimrod decided that it's time to act his part, though taking the last chance to snipe at Ch'en before quickly getting over it, "Then here's a first helping of those powers, one that I hope you heed properly compared to last time. One of the….ugh…" He still can't stand the name. He honestly can't. "One of the WhisperTails have now adapted to flashbangs. They've been hit by it so many times that it no longer works. Although, explosives can still stagger them. Overwhelm them if you got enough of it. Their front, face and horns are vulnerable areas to hit. Make sure each hit counts before they adapt to it as well."

"But there are still a number of those creatures that haven't adapted to flashbangs?" The Superintendent asked.

"Correct. However, I did say that these creatures are very intelligent. They can copy the other's adaptation and pretend to have the same weakness as before so they can surprise you."

"On top of avoiding traps and ambush spots even though they didn't even trigger or see them yet?" Swire added exasperatedly, then she shook her head with a bitter smile, "We're really made to work our minds against these monsters, huh?"

Nimrod's voice hardened, turning a pointed glare at Ch'en, "Hence my warning in the vehicle. Treat them as if they were humans capable of strategy and intelligence then you might have a chance."

"Noted." The Superintendent nodded, firmly staring back at his glare, "What else?"

"Their tails." His pronunciation of the word held a perfect mix of both pride and reverence. A Chimera's greatest blessing in exchange of a Soul. Nimrod had no regrets in sacrificing his past identity in exchange for it, even if he doesn't have it now or whether his former self would even approve of it or not. "It is their most powerful weapon. If they are deprived of it, then their power is halved. You can either sever it or pin it down."

"Easier said than done, however." Hoshiguma pointed out, rubbing the shoulder of her shield arm. "The lashes of their tail against Hannya felt as if I was being bashed by another Oni with their own great shield. I thought to pin down its tail with my shield if not cut it off and meet the creature barehanded, it simply started using its claws and jaws against me instead. It wasn't afraid of close-quarters combat and it had technique despite fighting like an animal, including the quadruped ones."

"I second that." Swire raised her hand up, "One of Rhodes Island's Vouivre's had it blinded with their light-emitter shields, its arms held down by one of their Archosaurians, and it was still giving us a hard time. And it's tail….ugh, that damned tail is just the worse. There were 6 of us ganging on it when it attacked us on the rooftop, not counting the ones shooting at it—we even had it pinned down and lacerated or stabbed in many places—including its knees and elbows—and it was still fighting back."

Nimrod handed out the simple solution, "Then employ only the highly-skilled to confront it, and not alone. That's the only tactic that you can afford for now."

Swire caught on to the implications of his words. "For now? Are you saying there's an actual solution to defeating them compared to what you're giving us?"

The WhisperTail turned to her, eyes half-lidded. "A solution to defeating them? Without suffering a battle of attrition in the process, something that they have never been beaten of? Yes. There is a way. But Lungmen does not have the means and they can never achieve it. This I know, just by looking."

"Well, don't just keep it to yourself. Tell us!" Swire insisted.

"Tell me what it is." Ch'en pressed.

"Diplomacy."

Such a simple and casual answer.

Naturally, he received a unanimous reaction of shock and surprise. Indeed, he's been regaling them with the worse things his kind could do that something as soft and pacifistic as diplomacy never even crossed their minds.

Did he fail to entail their intelligence and free will in the fullest context that completely explains their entire existence and being as a living person, perhaps?

Heh. Not that it matters.

The Chimera is not open to negotiations for the moment, much less towards Lungmen. The WhisperTails are here to kill Reunion, including Lyudmilla and Alex if they intend to be stubborn. If they refuse to see reason once he tells them the truth of Talulah's conquest, then it's their choice.

Neutrally, without any emotionally-charged undertones, he continued, "This solution is out of the question when it comes to you people, therefore I didn't mention it." To avoid any discussions about it and keep it out of their minds, he proceeded onwards to the final piece of information he can give, "Now this is the most important one of all, and I want especially Ch'en with her red sword to remember it." He lined his voice with steel just to make the point very clear to these women. "Never ever use Arts against them. That is the same as throwing your axe into their hands. They may not have technique but they can still cut the tree down in 2 swings. Keep them on a level ground with your mundane weapons and munitions."

Ch'en nodded, "Understood. Anything else?"

"At the moment? No. This is all I can give for now."

Ch'en nodded again in acceptance and turned to her teammate, "Hoshiguma."

The tall woman straightened, "Yes, Sir."

"Spread the word. Make sure Rhodes Island hears about it as well." As Hoshiguma saluted and headed out the door, Ch'en turned to the nearby Feline, "Swire, get our Informant somewhere safe."

"Suddenly feeling so incompetent after what happened that you're making me do it instead of doing it yourself?"

"Not really but I've already delayed my mission to rescue Amiya long enough. Rhodes Island is depending on me and I cannot let them down. Not this time. This much you could do on your own."

Before Swire could get a barb in, the Lung woman is already heading towards the door and pushed it open without any words.

As the pair watched her form disappear from sight, the door slowly closing back, Swire sighed heavily as she crossed her arms, "She sure changed, didn't she? Usually, she'd have something ready to spit back at me. I guess that's what happens when you get a taste of death. Or close to it, anyway." She turned her sharp eyes to him, "Thanks again for saving her. I really mean it."

Nimrod turned to face her, nodding in acknowledgement, "Your sincerity reaches me, Beatrix Schwire."

Her dark green eyes sparkled, her rich smile threatening to blind him, "Hey, you actually said my last name correctly. Nice, I like you already."

Nimrod can say likewise, "Matthew made a warm mention of you."

"Who?"

Ouch.

Matthew would be very saddened if he was here to hear that. "A horned and tailed gentleman who resides in the slums? Barefoot and speaking in ancient tones? He talked of a time when he pinned down a human trafficker in an alley close to the slums. He was intending to eat the moron—"

"Oh! That guy! You mean Matt!" Ah. Of course. The green WhisperTail actually earned the privilege of having a proper name and even had it butchered during his time here in Lungmen. "Yeah, I remember him. How can I? I one-upped the dumb Lung thanks to him."

"And you fed him a bountiful feast as a form of thanks."

"Fancy way of putting it but yes. He deserved it. Bastard was a human trafficker, one of our most wanted actually that she even gave Ch'en the slip one too many times. He was like a bar of soap because of his damn Arts."

Nimrod smiled lightly, "Literally passing through walls and sinking into the floor to escape the L.G.D.'s clutches?"

Swire nodded, face grouched heavily, "Can't even hit him with any of our weapons either. They just phase through him and the dumb bitch can't even use her Chi Xiao because the blade says he wasn't worthy for it? And that thing cuts through Arts? Goodness…."

According to Matthew's impressions, this lady is the most preferable person in all of the L.G.D. compared to the other 2 elites. She's kinder, practical, reasonable, just as good at her job like Ch'en and Hoshiguma and only outmatched by their ability for combat. She's as hotheaded as her shrill commands during Operations implies but her heart is much warmer compared to Ch'en or Hoshiguma…on a good day, at least.

Most notably, she managed to spoil a WhisperTail to food. She pretty much tagged herself as a 'do not harm' and 'protect this person' entity for her habitual generosity before Matthew even blew wind her way.

If anyone's survival is guaranteed besides Yuxia, Mister Grey and the people in the slums? It would be Beatrix. The Chimera swears to that.

He turned to the tiger, his voice suddenly becoming steely, "Beatrix Schwire."

"Huh?" Swire's tirade against Ch'en behind her back halted immediately upon hearing his tone, especially when the WhisperTail knelt before her.

He beckoned her closer with his fingers. Getting the hint, the L.G.D. Senior leaned her head closer.

Leaning closer as well, his forehead close to hers, Nimrod once again conformed to his kind's habits in speech, "I have a secret to tell."

---

"Gee, look at all these guys." Lemuel, Operator codename Exusiai, commented heartily. Lying down on the ridge of an abandoned mining pit, binoculars in hand as she looked down on the box-shaped concrete building below surrounded by a gigantic number of Reunion soldiers, she's having a good idea of how many people are actually in there. "I think there's more outside than there are inside. Did somebody pass a fat gas in there or something? And they've been here the whole time?"

"Makes sense though." Cellinia, Operator codename Texas, replied, flicking the ashes of her cigarette. "They mined Originium here once. Even if it's all used up, it's still an Originium quarry. You know how Lungmen is with that."

"What does that make us, since we're here?"

The Lupo took a brief pull of nicotine, then exhaled, a small white cloud forming in front of her, "We got common sense. There's no Originium around here anymore….and Amiya asked us to."

"I guess, yeah." The Sankta zoomed her binoculars towards the location, particularly the small basement window. There was a conspicuous splatter of red on it, and it's freshly dripping. She internally winced at the implications, "To help her locate where they took their WhisperTail friend, right?"

"Yeah."

"And their new Doc called in saying that she got kidnapped while she was making that call, right?"

"Yeah."

"And she had us looking for her friend instead of trying to look for her?"

"You know how she is."

"Well, yeah but…" Exusiai smiled wimpily, feeling her sweat drop. "….even for her, don't you think she has her priorities mixed up? And how did she even make that call while she was kidnapped? Are they not even checking her pockets anymore? Are they even cautious?"

"She likely had an opportunity and took it. The call was quite quick, and she was being quiet while she talked." The Lupo also suspects that whoever captured her is being neglectful on purpose, considering the involvement of other WhisperTails.

"The Doc also said that they're likely taking her to the same location their WhisperTail is being taken to so…." She lowered the binoculars down and looked around briefly, including the place where they hid their van to get here. "….how long do we wait? We sure we're in the right place?"

"We have to be." Texas blankly reached up to her left human earlobe, brushing her fingers against the green circular earring there. "Matthew's making this easy for us. Let's make it count."

"How though?" Exusiai pouted, "You sure that earring works?"

Texas gruffly sighed, now getting annoyed, "It does. I hope you're not forgetting the bottles you broke last time. The Boss wasn't very happy that day. You got lucky to only have your pay docked."

The Angel winced, "Okay, okay! No need to bring that up! I was sorry! I just didn't think that an earring would actually let you know where he is."

"It does. It bites my earlobe every time I look in his general direction."

"Really?" Exusiai was dumbstruck as he heard that, "That's actually how it works the whole time? Is that why you only looked once at the building down there and just said 'he's there'?"

Texas looked at her with a weird frown, as if she's been asked if she's female, "Yeah? What else would it be? Are you still unconvinced?"

"Not really, hehe." The redhead smiled, rubbing her head awkwardly, "Um….won't that bother you every time?"

"Nah. It's more like a light pinch than a bite. Won't bother me in a fight." Texas moved up to peek over the ridge. Then she slid back down, "Yeah, won't bother me."

"Okay. Want me to call this in?"

"Might as well." Texas sucked in the last inch of white on the cigarette before flicking it off her hands, "The Doctor's hunch might be right, you never know."

"Okay….."

As Exusiai's phone made tapping sounds, Texas' Lupo ears flicked towards a particular sound. A sharp and thin frequency, one that she would have never thought to hear in her life ever again, and it sent her back to the days as a Mafioso. Only those of her family have only ever made this sound, versatile in many applications and difficult to be heard by anybody else. Only those of a specific conditioning during their childhood would ever hear this sound.

"How the hell…." Texas felt very tense as she looked over the ridge again.

At the bottom of a quarry, a monstrously tall creature with an absurdly long tail stood on the middle of the open with its elongated mouth wide open. Its most notable feature are the numerous horns on its head containing the antlers of every race possible. How it could hold up such a massive weight despite its spindly neck compared to the rest of its body is anyone's guess.

And cradled in its disproportionately long arms is a small body, unconscious and limp, but completely unharmed and even at peace, as if she's only sleeping. The way she's being held is far too fatherly to imply any form of kidnapping intention.

"It's Amiya." Texas warned, then took note of the ringing sound still emanating from the monster's gaping snout. "And I think one of Matthew's 'friends' is signaling me."

"Wait a minute! His friends!?" Excited, Exusiai looked over the ridge once again with the binoculars, her upper body now leaning over.

"Hey, you're too exposed. Back up."

"Whoa! Look at that guy! Geez, he's tall! Look at that mouth, and those horns! Boy, he needs a parlor for that!"

"And he's holding Amiya."

"Oh yeah, that too. Where's his shirt though? He a rib guy or something? His feet though. They really don't look human at all. One, two, three….." After counting the number of toes the creature had, her red brow arched in interest upon seeing the most iconic detail, "Ah, I see his tail. Too long and the tip is a hand. That's a WhisperTail, alright."

"Yeah."

"I guess we don't have to worry about Amiya's safety, right?" The Angel asked, turning to her friend, "Matt did say that all WhisperTails care about her like he does…."

"Let's hope he's right." Texas rubbed her red earlobe with the earring, "This could be his plan though. His kind needs the perfect opportunity to turn on them. Maybe he's using Amiya to make it look like she'll use her Arts to convert the WhisperTails to her side."

"Wait, Amiya can do that?"

"Just a suggestion. It's not like Reunion knows she can't so their ignorance can help."

"Still, it'd be awesome if Matt actually planned that. He's been preparing us for months after all."

"He could be, but who knows? Anything can happen." Texas rose up from the ridge, patting the dirt stuck on her shorts. "Did you call this in?"

"Yep!" Exusiai hopped up from her spot, showing the screen of her phone, "In apple pie order! Including Amiya."

"Good. Let's ready the gear." Texas walked over to the van and pushed the sliding door to the side. She reached in and threw out the duffel bags, "They'll be needing these."

The Sankta moved to open one of the bags, revealing a bundle of large severed fingers inside that looked like they once belonged to a beast the size of a house. She recognized it instantly. "Hey, it's the anti-Arts fingers. I was wondering where he put it. Did you actually get all of it?"

"Seemed like a good idea to." More bags are hauled out, joining the pile. "And don't turn that on near me on the field. My sword isn't steel."

"I know. My gun won't fire if I did." She zipped the bag close and went over to help, jumping inside the van to get the ones that Texas couldn't reach from the door. "Remind me again when did Matt gave us these things?"

"A year ago. Maybe less." Texas zipped open a bag passed to her just to check due to how lightweight the thing is compared to its bulging size, then closed it back when she recognized its particular contents. "I think he said he harvested 90 tails, 58 fingers, 10 arms and 3 horns to make up all this."

"Geez." A rare frown made its way to Exusiai's face, visible to Texas' eyes as the Angel knelt in front of the door inside the vehicle, pulling out a green sword from a bag that looked like it was cut from a reptilian creature's tail, petrified in the perfect shape and curve to resemble a blade, including its thin cutting edge. "All these things really came from his body?"

"My earring too, if you didn't notice." Texas took the blade from Exusiai's hand, surging some Arts into the organic weapon and watched as the scales on the base fluttered like tiny little wings and glowed orange, "I think this one shuts down Arts as well."

"Really? I thought it would get really sharp."

Texas sent Exusiai an exasperated look, "Rhodes Island and the L.G.D. already have swords. What's the point of giving them another one?"

The response was a helpless shrug, realizing that the Lupo girl had a point, "I don't know, like sidearms or extras….?"

Texas sighed, deactivating her Arts before putting the sword back in the bag and hauling it out. "Is this all of them?"

"Uh, yep! No more bags!" Exusiai confirmed after a brief glance behind her. "Shall we get them all set up for our buddies?"

"We should. We gotta figure out what they do before they get here. Matthew made their functions simple. Shouldn't be hard. And also, get the shields. They're on the ceiling."

"Wait, Matt made shields!?" The redhead's eyes threatened to pop out the sooner she turned her gaze upwards and saw the numerous organic plates strapped to the metal surface, all manner of green and black scales filling her vision. "What the!? How many are these things—13!? Where the hell he pull these things out of!? His ass!?"

"Definitely."

The Sankta failed to catch the sarcasm, instead turning green and ducking even lower than a kneel away from the ceiling, "Egh! I'm not touching that!"

The Lupo sighed once again, her lips nearly breaking into a smile.

---

Bleat glared icily at the tailless enigma that suddenly appeared from behind him while he was heading over to the temporary Reunion base, lips peeled back to reveal the red gums and numerous sharp teeth inside his deer-like snout. Contradicting typical responses in situations like this, he didn't growl, lash his tail or brandish his horns.

Nimrod knew the kind of thoughts that ran through his multi-horned kin's head by sight alone. His presence and collected impression according to his sister is surely shared amongst the WhisperTails the sooner they started torturing her in that quarry building.

The confusion that rose from the collective concept of their Hive Mind being wrong would have surely agitated the Chimera. The presence of a WhisperTail that he created before he even remembered doing it for the first time in Ursus standing right in front of him would have made it worse.

The fact that Nimrod's mind or knowledge and experience 'cannot' be read or collected aren't doing him any favors for his Master either. The hand at the tip of the latter's tail should have impaled the former's 'blaspheming' body to the ground at this point.

However, that won't be done in the presence of his godchild, not while she's sleeping.

The baby girl is resting in his arms, her cute little face shaded from the boiling glare of the sun with the bulk of his torso. Even if the Master intends to put her to the test and quash the weakness in her thoughts, not even he would dare disturb the final moments of her innocence.

No godfather would ever do that to their little one, but it has to be done for Amiya's own good. She chose to be Rhodes Island's leader, she deserves what comes next.

Suppressing an audacious smirk, Nimrod knelt down to one knee and spread his arms wide while lowering his head, pointing the forward points of his horns downwards.

With a genuinely revering and worshipping voice, he hailed his creator, "Though you are my kin, I know that my Master's spirit inhabits him and stands before me. It has been long, O Revered, but my heart is full of joy to serve you again."

What would have been a vicious and deep growl came out as a sharp and hollow exhale instead, minding the little girl in his hands. The reception was not amicable. His words of piety are seen as pretentious.

The Chimera's voice came out in whispers, slow and full of disdain, "What….are you….!?"

"One of your 'first' spawns, O Mighty. Born from nigh a-century—"

"Lies…..!" A long black tail lashed in the air, each aggravated lash disturbingly silent as the hand at the end gouged the empty space.

"I speak no lie, O Feared. I recall every year and every month and every day and every hour and every second spent in the cave on your behalf—"

"On my behalf….!?" Now the Chimera is close to snarling, his drool and spittle spilling out of his snout from his rising irritation. "I spent a century there starving….! What audacity does a slave have to put his foot in where I once stood….!?"

Nimrod lowered his head even further down, down to the point that his forehead touched the sandy rock. In that angle and with the help of his black hood, even the Chimera cannot see his smirk, "Because the one who hungered there…..never left."

The Chimera's tail froze in the air completely. Not a single twitch of movement visible, even if the wind blew against both their forms in a fury, pushing the scattered clouds above closer to each other and muffling the glare of the sun completely.

Even though the skies have just started to gain a shade of grey, a rumble is heard from it.

Now Nimrod is feeling the fear of God, his smirk turning into an uneasy one. Thankfully, it was still unseen, otherwise he'd cease to exist in a flash of white and pure heat, a pillar of glass erected on where he last knelt—nigh-immortality be damned.

Instead of sending his Master reeling with a revelation, he instead caused a snap on the Chimera's patience.

One particular quality that is highly known about the Chimera and universal amongst the WhisperTails besides loving Amiya to bits, Feranmut or not?

Revenge is a Virtue. Kindness is one of them, forgiveness is not.

Nimrod is sure that he's just one slip away from the biggest mistake of his life.

He held down the urge to swallow his saliva. The Chimera would hear it and expose his dying confidence, ending his chances completely.

"O, Revered. O, Long-lived. O, Feared. O, Cursed. O, Venerated. O, Worshipped. O, Benevolent. O, Generous. O, Cruel. O, Righteous. O, Beguiled. O, Bereaved.….."

Spilling every revering title that equaled the feats attained by the Chimera that spanned for centuries or possibly a millennium, never neglecting a single event, Nimrod made sure that he proves to be as subservient as the other WhisperTails and that he legitimately remembers every instance the immortal Chimera has ever witnessed just like the rest of them.

Even if he has no tail, he is still of him and part of them. Not once did he ever assume to be unlike the rest of them. No. He and they are all the same.

He's simply among the eldest.

And just like among the eldest, Nimrod's will is symbolic to the will of Jacob. His every action may not be directly of his Creator's will like what the young of his kind had assumed since birth, but they are, without question, a dedication to him.

"By virtue of you…I lived, as tribute…..blessedly…" With ceremonious movements, his hands spread to both sides gently reached over to zip open the holes in his hood where his horns could poke through. Once unlatched, his hood fell off his head completely and revealed the flowing white locks atop his fair face as he rose his head up to meet his Master's visage, showing what became of a WhisperTail who lived his life with a choice. "Behold the bounty I offer…..the life I lived without your command."

The Chimera glared at him still, the hand on his tail still itching to grab at his organs, but the furious aura of hate had dimmed. Nimrod celebrated in silence. His sincerity reached his Master and the show of submission had successfully offset every offence his audacity had done.

Even so, the tailless WhisperTail didn't celebrate long. Trepidation continues to crush his heart. He's still an enigma in the Master's eyes. There's still no legitimate response. So many uncertainties still exist. He's still seen as an Outsider that came out of nowhere. The most uncertain factor of them all….

Will my Master accept my offer?

…Nimrod just noticed that the sun has completely disappeared from view, sending the colors of the quarry into a gray shade. The winds have not stopped blowing and it's only getting stronger, sending his hair, cloak and sand flying everywhere that it is obstructing everything in view except each other.

Miniscule movements coming from the Chimera draw his attention back to the tall creature, and he watched its eyes gently close, his entire form becoming as frozen as a statue as he held his sleeping godchild, his tail laying flat on the ground.

The Chimera is willing to accept the offer.

All that's needed is for Nimrod to surrender, completely. Let everything be laid bare.

Their so-called 'Hive Mind'…

Even if the Chimera is completely oblivious to its true nature, the latter instinctually conforms to its intended purpose and that is all he needs to do.

Nimrod held out his hands towards the Chimera, as if to receive, and he slowly let the mental barriers crumble down. This baptism doesn't accept secrets, and he has none to keep.

"Look Upon My Works, And Weigh Their Worth."

Snap!

As if he was struck in the face, Nimrod's head is bent backwards from an invisible force.

As the bones on his neck reconnected and closed the cracks, the head properly upright, the first thing Jacob saw is himself knelt on the sandy rocks of the quarry, his sleeved arms stretched out towards a tall and multi-horned WhisperTail kneeling before him, holding his godchild.