Zara, Arachne, Isa and Irontusk were all running towards the castle. More accurately, Zara rode on Arachne's back while the rest ran.
Through some stroke of luck, they hadn't encountered any more poachers during their journey so far. With nothing happening, Isa's mind wandered.
"Y'know, I am a bit curious about something."
"Is it relevant to our current situation?" Zara asked in response.
"Yeah, I'd say it is. That Minerva person. The uh… guild knight guy, the leader one, what was his name?"
"Gunbert."
"Yeah. What a weird name. I don't think that someone can live a decent life with a name like that."
"I don't even remotely care about things like that and I have no reason to believe you do either. Can you stay on point?"
"Calm down, I was just going on a tangent. I'm stuck on that thing he said about her killing a hundred people. I feel like I could only take on three or four people by myself. I get that she's meant to be strong or whatever, but isn't a hundred people at once too ridiculous? He's gotta be making that part up, right?"
"What you're saying there isn't true, I don't think he ever said that. Maybe he just implied it through not saying enough. She didn't kill all one hundred of them. But it is true that everyone that's ever fought her has died."
"What? You're saying that just to be confusing, right?"
"I might be."
"Then be more straightforward with your explanation."
"After she killed her first guild knight, the rest of the guild knights in the area and several hunters attempted to apprehend her. In total that would've been about… eleven guild knights and a hundred hunters, I think. Of that number, only about sixty percent were actually killed by her battle."
"Then how did-"
"I'm getting to that. Twenty percent or so were injured by her but managed to survive."
"...Then, that leaves another twenty?"
"Seriously, stop interrupting. Good maths though, it's impressive by your standards. And yes, twenty percent of them were completely unharmed. They willingly retreated without even attempting anything. Understand why?"
"No, I really can't."
"Well, your guess is as good as any. It's not like any of them can tell us. Of those forty percent remaining, half killed themselves."
"Huh!?"
"Another fifteen percent died in hunting-related incidents within the following weeks. That left just six hunters… who disappeared completely."
"I still don't get it, though. Why did the ones she didn't even hurt die?"
"I told you that your guess is as good as any. They can't tell us anything, now can they?"
"But I can't even begin to guess. I can't understand why people do stuff like that normally."
"Fine, then I'll give you my guess to save you from the fate of having to think. It was the gulf between them."
Isa didn't say anything this time. Perhaps that meant she was finally starting to understand a little. Even so, Zara continued. Perhaps she wasn't talking to explain anymore, but for herself.
"Hunters, guild knights, it's all about strength. Maybe you could say that all life is like that in its most basic state, and humans are the conceited ones for not always recognising that. But I digress. What destroyed them wasn't any kind of attack. It was simply the fact that she existed. A being so far above them that it made them wonder if they were really the same species. They probably started calling her a Goddess afterwards just to escape from questioning that. When they were faced with the apex of all hunters, I suppose all those hunters could think was that their life up until this point had been meaningless. No matter how they struggled, they could never even measure up to her. Something like that, I guess."
Isa was completely silent.
"What'd you think of that? I've been trying to brush up on my storytelling lately."
"Hey, you really had me going there. Don't drop that on me afterwards, that's mean."
"What other choice is there? I can't speak for the dead. That was embellishment after embellishment, a layered pile of plausible fabrications. Really, I'm surprised that it seemed to work on you of all people."
"Yeah, that is weird. Now I'm all shaken up. Why didn't you mention any of this before, anyway?"
"You never asked, we were busy. Plus those GUNS guys said they were gonna handle her and they seem like enough, so we shouldn't have to worry too hard about it."
"Hm. I think I asked the wrong question. Why do you know so much about her anyway?"
"I-"
Zara was interrupted once more. But she didn't feel any irritation this time. Instead, just confusion.
A death cry resounded.
That by itself wasn't unusual in a situation such as this one, but the cause for her confusion was that it was all that was heard. There were no preceding sounds of battle. No other yells to be heard, no clashing of weapons, not a single sound. Simply the end.
As though the person being killed didn't even realise they were in danger until they were already dead.
All of those who heard it instinctively understood that something was wrong. That they had to do something to prepare themselves for what may follow. But before they could even make a move, a question interrupted them.
"So you have monsters just like us. But I don't think you're on our side."
Someone had gotten in front of them before they had the chance to notice her. Someone standing there with a spear.
Even without the need for stating her name, Zara could instinctively tell that she was Minerva. What tipped her off wasn't the choice of weapon or any traits matching what she'd heard before, but simply the presence of the woman.
To put it as simply as possible, there was something different about her.
Her spear was held limply, the blood of her previous victim still covering it. That should've been obvious, it had only been a few seconds since it was last used. The oddity was her having arrived here in that space of time.
The truth behind how she had gotten there without their noticing wasn't anything as unfathomable as her being able to teleport or having moved faster than a speed such as light, but a simple trick that hadn't even intended to be one.
While they were distracted by the death scream of Minerva's previous victim, she heard her next target and ran towards them. She hadn't intended to go unnoticed, but with their focus elsewhere they didn't notice the shape sprinting towards them until it had ceased to move.
Though, maybe the ability to pick out targets only from the distant sounds of their footsteps and voices and slip between them that quickly was so strange that a mundane explanation such as that wouldn't have sufficed.
Minerva wouldn't have chosen such a term. She never thought of hearing or speed as particular strong points of hers. The things called extraordinary should be best reserved for a person's specialities. All that she did was hear well and move well. For her, it was as simple as that. Only the ones on the other end saw it as exceptional.
That she could see it as exceptional was what puzzled Zara. Logically, she shouldn't have been able to think anymore by this point. Why would Minerva have taken the opportunity to ask such a pointless question instead of using the advantage she'd gained? Was she toying with them? Or did she…
"You certainly stare a lot. I think a normal person would've done something by now, right?"
Minerva's observation cut her thoughts off.
There was no time for thinking. The longer she went without talking, the further this chance slipped away from her.
"I could say the same about you. You're the one who just stopped there."
"Ah. I guess that's a good point."
Minerva tilted her head backwards as she realised this. The complete lack of any apparent tension from her unnerved Zara.
"So why did you stop?"
"Because of your monsters. You're not with us, but you've still got them. The King told me that if I meet anyone who already has a monster, then I should try and get them to join us."
She paused.
"So, do you want to join? I can take you the king."
Zara's mind felt like it was going to freeze over completely.
"Are you seriously asking that? What kind of question even is that?"
She didn't let herself vocalise those thoughts, instead glancing over to Isa. It didn't seem as though she would act up, she almost seemed slightly afraid. Was it safe to assume that the offer was true from that expression? Not being sure of the answer, Zara decided to push their luck slightly.
"Well, you got us there. To be honest, we've been considering jumping ship for a while now, they've always treated us weirdly for fighting alongside monsters, so how could we turn down a chance like this? But is it really okay to go and see the king right now? With all of these intruders around, surely it'd be better to focus on defending the place."
"See how she responds. The ideal scenario is to send her off to keep fighting while we say we're going to meet the king alone. I doubt that'll work. But I'd even accept going to fight with her then backstabbing her once an opportunity shows up. Maybe if we run into some other hunters that'd be a good chance. Though there's one thorn in the side of that plan standing next to me, so I'm going to pray that she's at least smart enough to not say anything unnecessary."
"Hmm. It should be fine."
"A-are you sure?"
"While I was going around I must have killed…. at least twenty hunters. There can't be many more than that. Everyone's here to defend this place anyway, so it should be fine. Sharing is good, you know?"
Zara felt like her heart was going to stop.
It was an absurd statement to make. Though when she really thought about it, it should've been normal with the stories she'd heard before.
At the same time, Isa felt her blood run cold.
For once, she wasn't unnerved because someone had lied. It was very much the opposite. It was because every word that came from Minerva's mouth was so overwhelmingly and blindingly honest that she was uncomfortable.
"So?" Minerva asked once more, seemingly oblivious to the mental states of those before her. "Are you going to join or not?"
Fera Gladius arc part 5: The Flaring Ensemble
Mary, Kasa, Jean, Tama, Fen and Fang.
Those were the members of group B of the DBA. At this moment in time, they were progressing towards the castle unimpeded.
One poacher had gotten in their way so far, being quickly overwhelmed by the difference in numbers between them. With that obstacle out of the way, they continued on.
As the leader of that group, it was only that Mary would lead the way. Boldly, she pressed forward. A thought passed through her mind causing her to turn around.
Even though nothing much had gone wrong so far, she still felt the responsibility to check up on those she led. She turned her head to the right first, where Fen should've been.
"Huh? Fen? Where'd you go?"
At that moment in time, Fen stood on a rooftop several hundred meters away.
"All right, that should be far enough." He looked over at Fang. "What do you think?"
Fang didn't grace him with even so much as a noise to show he was listening.
"Hey. Are you mad because we left them behind? You're mad, aren't you? So mad you don't want to let me know. I'm telling you not to worry. There's no real enemies that way, they should be fine with just the four of then. Working out what excuse we'll give later, the top priority for now is…"
He pointed his axe towards the castle.
"Right there."
"Where? You didn't actually say."
"It's obviously meant to be where I was pointing, I didn't need to say-"
Fen turned around as his eye widened.
"The hell are you doing here!?"
Jean made a peace sign.
"I followed you."
"Why!?"
"Cause you were leaving."
"No, no, I mean you came all this way without me noticing only to show yourself now- that's not important. Why did you leave Mary behind?"
"I could ask the same thing to you."
"That doesn't get you out of being asked. I figured you'd be fine with the four of you, it's different if the numbers change."
"Hey, from my perspective I was going after my group member who got lost. Haven't you ever heard of the airship problem? I had to make a choice. So the question comes back to this. If you've still got your sense of direction about you, then why did you run off like that?"
"If you were really going after me out of concern I was lost, then why didn't you let Mary know anything?"
With them having reached a verbal stalemate, they both went silent. A tension filled the air that resembled the feeling of two enemies about to draw their weapons during a life or death duel.
A scream tore through that atmosphere.
This wasn't a death cry or anything that expressed fear, but the opposite. A yell of reckless courage.
An axe-wielder jumped onto the roof and stared at them.
"Are you enemies? You've got monsters, though."
Instinctively, Jean decided to lie.
"Of course we're not enemies. Don't you remember us?"
"Hmm." The man holding the axe seemed to contemplate this for a moment.
The sound of metal crashing into metal resounded a moment later.
The man with the axe had suddenly lurched towards them, Fen blocked him with his axe.
"Didn't you hear me?" Jean asked again. "We're on the same side here!"
"You're definitely not one of our group, though. The boss said that anyone's free game when it's like this."
Fen swung, pushing the axe wielding man back.
"You're getting things mixed up there." A glasses-wearing man clambered up to the roof. "It's not that anyone is free game. That's now what we were told. It was that anyone that you think you can kill is free game. We can't have them snitching on us to the king, so we've got to make sure that if we turn on them we kill them."
"Oh, yeah. That was it."
"Not that any of this matters. They're hunters."
"Huh? For real?"
"Can't you work out that much on your own? You really are a simpleton?"
"You're calling me an idiot, but I still attacked them, so it's fine. If anything, I'm the smart one here."
"That was by complete coincidence."
As the two continued to bicker, Fen took the chance to think to himself.
"Can't exactly run away when Jean's here. Maybe she'll follow? Not sure. It doesn't matter, this is more than manageable. We should be completely even in terms of numbers. Though I'm a bit concerned as to where their monsters are hiding."
"Besides, you forgot one vital thing." The glasses wearing man continued. "When you find some prey, you're supposed to let everyone know."
"Oh, that's right. You're totally right. So in that case…"
The man with the axe took in a deep breath before screaming at the top of his lungs.
Fang and Tama both winced at the sound. Jean covered her ears.
Movement was heard from nearby. More poachers with monsters started to draw in, surrounding them.
"Oh, hey." Jean looked around "There's more now. Guess these are their buddies?"
"It's like a whole circus at this point."
One stepped forward from the pack, clearly the leader. Red butterflies hovered around him.
Behind him was an elder dragon that could've only been described as regal. White scales, with wings tinted a pink crimson. The embodiment of darkness, a Malzeno, trailed behind that poacher.
"How fortunate. What great fortune this is! To think that of all the hunters who wandered in, we'd end up finding ones that use monsters just like we do. What a good test this will prove to be!"
"The hell are all of you supposed to be?" Fen asked.
One of the pawns stepped slightly forward from the pack.
"We're the most feared group within Fera Gladius! We're-"
"I can introduce myself." Ripper cut him off. That's only the polite thing to do, as the leader. Now then…"
Ripper spread his arms wide.
"Welcome. You've had the great fortune of being selected as our prey for today. My name is Ripper, the Rook of Slaughter."
The man was elegantly dressed, matching his monster's appearance. In contrast with that was the weapon he lugged around. Fen recognised it as a chainsaw, but far larger than the ones that he was familiar with. It resembled a longsword, but the man's stance resembled nothing of the sort. He dragged the hulk of a weapon across the floor with just a single arm.
"This is the blood guy, right?" Jean asked, seeming to already know the answer. "I think I can tell how he got the name. Just look at all the blood into that thing."
"Well spotted. I didn't even notice that until you pointed it out."
"I suppose I should compliment you on one thing. A lot of opponents give their names in response to me introducing myself, but I feel that it is completely superfluous. After all, you are prey. Prey does not introduce itself, because it has no need for any name besides 'the hunted' or "the quarry". Your hearts are definitely already in the right place. So struggle all you like, in any way you so desire. And take pride that the one to kill you will be the strongest."
"Hey, you sure about that?" Jean asked. "I heard the queen lady was supposed to be the strongest."
"Well, some people may say such a thing, but…" Ripper seemed to laugh her words off. "Come now. She's a woman."
Fen and Jean went completely silent at his response, with several seconds passing before Jean could even manage to mumble out a shocked "Wow…"
Fen took charge of the conversation.
"Listen here, old man. I'm an ally to all the ladies in the world. I'm such a supporter of women that I don't celebrate women's day. Because for me it's women's day three hundred and sixty five days a year."
"What about leap years?" Asked Jean.
"I deserve a break sometimes. But since there isn't going to be another one of those for three years, I'm still on the clock for a while longer. So I guess there's no choice but to kill you."
He pointed his accelaxe towards Ripper's head.
Jean followed suit, pointing her hunting horn. The weapon's lack of sharpness gave it slightly less impact when aimed in such a way, but it still added onto Fen's pose.
"We've gotta kill anyone who spouts things like that."
Ripper seemed unfazed, his face breaking out into a grin.
"Then let the game begin."
"Ah, just where are they? Seriously, how could they possibly disappear like that? I don't get it. Were they attacked or what? Fen! Jean! Where are you two!?"
In her distress, Mary was unable to stop her thoughts from spilling out of her mouth as she frantically ran around, searching for any signs of her missing group members.
These words didn't go unheard, but the recipients weren't anyone that Mary wanted to appear.
"Heheh. Looks like these two will be easy targets. What do you think, brothers?"
"Indeed, brother."
"Let's get them, brother."
Three poachers dropped down from above, blocking Mary's path. Behind them were three monsters.
A Velocidrome, a Gendrome and an Iodrome.
The one standing near the Velocidrome made a dramatic pose.
"We three great Drome brothers will-"
"Move out of the way please! I'm in a hurry!"
Mary sprinted towards them.
The fight didn't even last so much as three seconds.
A sword slash and a claw swipe defeated one. A shield bash and another claw swipe sent the next flying. The last remaining was knocked out by being hit by Kasa's beak.
As Velocibrother (the brother with a Velocidrome) hit the ground, he managed to let out one final line.
"Curse… you! Our oldest brother will avenge us!"
Mary didn't hear a single one of his words, still focused solely on finding her missing teammates.
10:03
3/4 of the Drome brothers.
Defeated with a single attack each by Mary Gilmore and Kasa.
At another part of the battlefield, slightly closer to the castle, team C of the Starward Diamonds now found themselves outnumbered.
Michael, the group's cook and its newest addition, gripped onto his insect glaive.
Vicke, the group's blacksmith, scanned the enemies while holding onto her switch axe, currently in its axe form.
Stanley, the group's executor, stared at them with the same explanation as always. His charge blade was ready to go at any time.
Standing around them were seven poachers and seven monsters.
"Hey, can we get on with this?" Vicke was the first to ask. "Just standing around like that is awfully boring. If you're going to try to kill us, get on with it."
"I can't feel any bloodlust from them."
"What? How do you sense things like that?"
"Stop asking dumb questions just because you don't want to be left out of the conversation."
"But I don't know how you'd sense that. What does that feel like?"
"Like bloodlust."
"I took you for the most average here, but perhaps you're the most abnormal instead." The one who seemed to be the group's leader, a man covered in spikes was the one to address them. "Your feeling is correct."
"If you don't feel like fighting then hurry up and surrender." Vicke told them. "None of us are ruthless enough to attack someone who isn't willing to fight… at least, I'm not."
"No, no. We have no intention of not engaging with you."
"Huh?"
"I am called Craftwork. The Bishop of Pain. My group… we're not interested in fighting for fighting's sake. This isn't a battle to win or lose. It's a battle to find something out. An experiment, if you will."
"And that means what?" Michael asked.
"I told you to stop with the dumb questions."
"I'm still asking just to spite you."
"Well, having things end too quickly would be bad, so we'll drag things out a little. That means we're giving ourselves a handicap, rather than crushing you with our full force at once."
"Hmm. Got it. So basically… you're taking us too lightly?"
"Yes, that's the spirit. That's what I like to hear. Now then, Jobe, it's your turn."
At his command, one of the followers dropped.
A hulking man with a right arm made entirely of metal towered over them, a Jyuratodus dropped behind him.
As he moved his right arm around, a blade where the hand should have been was visible. With his left, he reached over and grabbed onto a cord stick out of the front side of his shoulder.
With one single motion he yanked it to the limit, causing a motor to whir to life. As the arm rumbled, the blade at the end started to rapidly spin.
While watching the fight begin, Craftwork spoke to his pawns.
"Now then. Let's see how today's brave hunters do when pushed to their very limits."
It was a strange thing to see people calmly gathered in the middle of a battlefield. Yet, even so, there they gathered. Seven of them in total.
There was a clear leader within the group. The large woman who was covered in bandages.
"There." One of those disciples spoke from her perch. "Two of them with monsters."
"Groen reported to me that he saw three with monsters before going off on his to engage them.
"I see. So they're just like us, but they choose to stand against us. How interesting. We'll go and ask them if they have
"Hunters who have joined hands with monsters, coming to fight poachers that have done the very same. Don't you think that's interesting? Not only that, but there's multiple groups of them. What we should do is clear. We'll go to them and ask them to join us."
"And if they refuse?" The man with glasses asked.
"It should go without saying, shouldn't it?"
A blast rang out from above. The rooftop where the lookout had been standing was blown away, leaving her to tumble below.
"Something that goes without saying… that only applies to those who are familiar with you already. A stranger won't get something that's supposed to go without saying. So, wouldn't you be so kind as to enlighten us to just what you're planning here?"
Doctor Professor Science Genius walked towards the gathering while rambling away.
"You're clearly not the one who did that. Please reveal yourself, whoever did that."
"Hey, that doesn't answer my question at all."
Lotus descended from above.
"So it was you."
"Of course it was. Now hurry up and answer his question."
The woman seemed to smile.
"Sacred. The Bishop of Flame. These are my followers. We have been instructed to give our names and titles. As for what went without saying, I shall enlighten you. Those monster taming hunters over there, are they allies of yours?"
"We know them. That's all."
DPSG was about to interject, but sensed that he might lose his head if he raised his voice in response to that.
"Since they're so similar to us, they've piqued our interest. Allow me to make an important distinction. We are in no way like the other savages from the other divisions of our group. What we believe in, what we strive towards, is an ideal word for all living beings. The only way to reach that is for humans and monsters to work with each other. We do not believe in hunting monsters."
"I see. But they're hunters, you know? They're not going to agree with you so easily. What are you going to do when they disagree?"
"Then we'll kill them."
"Come on, weren't you just talking about peace?"
"The fastest way to reach peace is to kill all those who would oppose it. We don't have the luxury of caring about whether that's hypocritical or not. The world is already hypocritical, so it would be naive to believe that it can be changed without indulging in at least some hypocrisy. You must've noticed it yourself, no? The guild which claims to be responsible for keeping nature in balance does anything but. If they were only interested in what they claim to be, then they would have had no reason to expand into this area like they have. The very fact that you're standing here against us is proof of that."
Lotus looked at her strangely.
"There is no need for us to fight. If you have any desire for a world without fighting, any desire for a better life, just any hope of salvation, then why not join us?"
Lotus
"Hm. Well, I can't deny that not fighting you does sound somewhat appealing."
"Huh? Captain?" DPSG interjected.
"I have a major distaste for fighting other people."
"This is the first I'm hearing of this."
"Because we almost only ever fight monsters, so it's never mattered. Doesn't what I'm saying seem reasonable to you? For one thing, monsters don't waste your time with drivel like this."
Lotus' words elicited a response from one of the pawns standing there. He heard something snapping.
"Disrespecting her teachings!? Bort, of the golden hammer, shall pass judgement on you! Let us go, my hammer!"
The tallest man in the group carried a warhammer the same size as himself. Behind him lumbered a Duramboros, clearly the hammer being referred to in his last sentence.
The giant man and monster closed in on Lotus and DPSG. Despite not having said anything, just being in proximity of the offender was enough to warrant the same punishment.
DPSG quickly got as far away as possible, but not out of any fear of Bort of the Golden Hammer.
Lotus remained perfectly still. The Duramboros stopped and swung its tail around, while Bort slid to a halt while swinging his hammer upwards. The two synchronised their movements for the sole purpose of launching Lotus into the stratosphere.
He blocked, but that proved fruitless when faced with such overwhelming force.
Instead of trying to fight back or brace himself, Lotus turned his gunlance away from them. The weapon's end ignited, bursting into a brilliant flame.
For a second, the two forces struggled. But only for a second. Going against the absurd disparity in their sizes, Lotus was propelled by his gunlance towards the ground.
It only took an instant for a dust cloud to cover everything. With so little time to observe, none of the onlookers were entirely sure what happened.
It only became clear when the wind had blown the dust away.
Lotus stood at the bottom of a crater, looking up at the rest. Below him were Bort and the Duramboros, unmoving.
"Putting aside the faulty logic of making someone choose between joining you and dying, my only talent is destruction. That's why peace like the one you're talking about just won't work for me. To put it more simply, let's cut the chatter and get to killing each other."
"Very well then. Tomatted, go to the other three. The rest of us will fight here."
One of the disciples ran off, while the rest assumed battle positions, awaiting Lotus' next move.
Watching from above, DPSG spotted Sacred's monster emerge from where it was hiding.
"That's… not good. Definitely terrible. A critical situation. How did she get her hands on a Teostra?"
At that very moment, Judah Harrison was beginning to regret the decisions he had made to lead him here.
Not becoming a hunter or anything that far back, he could never regret that. What he did regret was something more recent, a scheme that he had concocted less than a week ago.
The plan that the group was going with was simple. Since they had identified that the king likely held the secret behind how the group of poachers was able to make monsters listen to their orders, it made sense to deal with him as soon as possible. If they could find out the secret, then the rest of the poachers shouldn't be nearly as much of a threat.
At the same time, they had an objective that they valued more than defeating Fera Gladius quickly. To reach Davi before any of the other groups did and convince him to come with them.
Since they wanted both, the only logical decision was to split the group up. Teams B and C would take different sides of the city, looking for Davi. Meanwhile, team A's job would be to storm the castle and try to figure out the secret as quickly as possible.
For that end, he took a combination of group members that he would normally never think of. Laura and Spencer. The two that he thought of as loose cannons.
Laura didn't listen to anything he said at all. She didn't seem to consider him her captain. While Spencer theoretically should've been easier to handle since he looked up to Judah, he was just as troublesome. If told to do something, he was likely to lose focus after a few seconds and switch to do whatever first came to mind.
Normally, having the two together would be chaos. In a vacuum having both in a team would be chaotic enough, but their tendency to clash with each other made things worse.
That was why the DBA had silently agreed to never put them into a group together. For hunting a single target, there was no hope. But when the job was blazing a path towards somewhere, he saw a ray of hope.
The method he chose was to make them compete.
Each poacher defeated would award them points, relative to the target's strength. Attacking each other was forbidden and would result in a forfeit.
He had thought this was a good idea and not put much more thought into before executing the plan. This proved to be wishful thinking.
There was no problem with how motivated the two were. If anything, that was the problem. They got too into the competition. The idea had been to pave their way to the castle, but the result was them getting distracted and slowing their progress to a halt.
As of a few moments ago, they had been tied. A poacher approached them trying to say something, but before he could even get through his first sentence Spencer and Laura beset upon him.
The two hunters and one monster disappeared from Judah's view in a matter of seconds, leaving just him and Titan behind.
"I think there's a lesson in this. No matter how you aim them, loose cannons are still loose cannons. No, is that a lesson? I should've known that loose cannons will always be loose cannons. That's why they're called that. Oh well. At least I can take some solace in knowing that things should be going according to plan for the other groups."
He looked around.
"The entrance to the castle is right there. What would be the best move here? To be honest, I wasn't counting on those to help me solve the secret. It might save time if Titan and I enter without them. But if there's too many and I get overwhelmed, then it'll all be for nothing."
He hesitated for a few seconds before stepping forward.
"I've got no idea when they'll return. But this is a race against time, the sooner I find out the secret the sooner the tables will turn. So in that case, waiting around for them isn't an option. I'll go for it."
He only got a few steps before two guards appeared.
What he identified first was their monsters. To his left was a Gammoth that towered over him. Its tusks seemed even longer than he heard.
The woman on its back seemed to be talking to herself.
"So someone finally arrives. I was starting to think that perhaps that fox idiot might've had the right idea by running off on his own, but my patience paid off."
To his right, an Astalos. Already fully charged.
The one standing atop the Astalos, in a suit of armour that looked similar to the monster, spoke to him.
"My name is Nitro. I am one of the queen's pawns, and the one who will defeat you."
"Glaze. Also one of the queen's pawns."
"Judah Harrison. A hunter."
"Huh? Who needs your name?"
"I thought we were introducing ourselves."
"Yeah, because we have to. King's orders. I don't care who you are."
"Oh… sorry."
"Don't apologise with words."
"Hm? How else am I meant to-"
"Apologise by dying quickly."
She pointed her blade towards him, causing the Gammoth to start to advance. At the same time, Nitro ordered her Astalos into action.
Mary continued running through the streets at top speed.
A new enemy fell from the rooftops, a Giadrome falling behind him.
"You… you are the one who hurt my younger brothers, are you not?"
"Who are you?"
"The greatest of all the Drome brothers, I am Gia-"
"Sorry, I really don't have time for this!"
Mary and Kasa attacked together. Unfortunately, Giadromes are weakest to fire. It only took a single attack before he and his monster fell to the ground.
10:13
Giabrother.
Defeated in a single attack by Mary Gilmore and Kasa.
The onslaught of attacks continued. Three poachers rushed towards Jean from different directions.
"We're short on time, so all of you summarise your deals at once!"
"I can see everything!"
"I can hear everything!"
"I can smell everything!"
"I see, I see."
Jean reached her into her pouch with her right hand, emerging with three small objects between the gaps in her fingers. A flash bomb, a sonic bomb and a dung bomb.
All three were chucked at once, defeating their respective opponent instantly.
A fourth opponent appeared. He was extremely formally dressed. Behind him was an Aptonoth. Jean recognised him as the one with the glasses she'd met earlier, but decided to ignore that.
"We meet at least, tasteman… or maybe touch? Both of those seem kinda gross, I don't have any bombs to deal with those. No, maybe dung bombs would still work?"
"No, I'm afraid the warriors of taste and touch both perished quite some time ago. My gimmick is my secret technique which has been honed for generations, now perfected with the assistance of this monster."
"Ooh. A secret technique?"
"Indeed, a secret technique. A secret technique which is sure to win any battle. After all, it was forged by my ancestors over the course of hundreds of years."
"Then hurry up and show it. There's no point in a secret technique that's never used."
"Perhaps there's some wisdom to that. But it pales in comparison to the collective wisdom stored within-"
"Just use it already."
"Okay fine. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-"
At that moment, Fen jumped in to kick the man in the head. Completely defenceless, he fell to the ground.
"The secret technique!" Jean yelled.
"Why would you just stand there and let him use it? The guy was just yelling."
"I wanted to see the technique."
"But wouldn't that be bad for you?"
"Maybe. But compared to the pain of knowing of a secret technique but never seeing it, actually getting hit by it is nothing."
"I doubt that."
"Anyway, attacking during attack start-up is against the rules of a fight."
"Rules? There's no rules in a fight."
"You just don't get it. You might think that lines like that are cool but really they just make you sound desperate and-"
Fen grabbed Jean, pulling her out of the way of a hail of bullets. One of the poachers was riding a Paolumu.
"You can't hit me in the air!"
Fen released a bombardment of aerial barrel bombs. Unable to dodge in time, the Paolumu's rider was engulfed by the blasts.
"Hey, your guys are dropping like flies. What happened to hunting us down?"
"Don't get so full of yourselves. Our boss still hasn't made his move. He's just making a game out of this, don't delude yourselves into thinking you can escape."
The one that spoke wasn't Ripper himself, but one of the poachers following under him.
"Hey. Did I ask you to speak for me?"
"S-sorry."
Ripper had now completely lost focus on Fen and Jean.
"This isn't your first time doing this, new guy. I just have to ask why you feel the need."
"To let them know."
"And why is that?"
"...Are you asking why people tell other people things?"
"No, I'm asking why you think they need to be told. Do I seem weak to you?"
"Of course not! I'm just letting them know."
"They're not stupid. They've proven that much by defeating this many of us already."
"O-of course."
"So you're agreeing with me? They're not stupid, so they shouldn't need to be told how they should perceive the strength of others. If there's nothing wrong with them, then that must mean that I seem weak."
Ripper towered over him.
"I am the one who hunts. My strength should speak for itself. I don't need anyone else to speak of it for me. You should know how these things go, shouldn't you? Someone that has their strength praised by weaklings only ends up losing spectacularly. So I won't stand for you to speak so carelessly."
The pawn kept on stammering out his words, evidently in a state of complete panic.
"I-I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I swear that I'll never, ever, do such a careless thing again!"
Ripper turned his head upwards, seemingly in thought. From the pawn's perspective an endless amount of time passed by.
The Rook of Slaughter was smiling.
"That's great. As long as you're sorry about it, then everything's fine. Isn't it?"
The pawn looked back at him with clear unease, but tried to force himself to smile in response.
The chainsaw swung down as fast as it revved. It was over in just a moment.
Ripper continued to repeatedly slam his weapon into his subordinate, rendering him more unrecognisable with each attack. The sickening sound of meat and bone being cut was all that could be heard.
"This is a group for the strong. Not for bootlickers. Guys like you are only good at talking. I know that you would've done it you can't fight, then at least become food."
Crimson butterflies hovered around Ripper, the same red which his armour was now stained.
"Drink up."
At his command, they descended upon the pile of meat and started taking away a strange energy. Ripper just turned his head upwards in time to hear the rapid approach of one of the hunters. Fen boosted himself forwards and swung the axe around.
Ripper revved his chainsaw up once more and swung in turn. The two clashed.
Fen quickly pulled his axe backwards, noticing that part of it was chipped.
"Hitting his sword's a seriously bad idea, the teeth on that will rip anything they touch up. Well, if he's got even a bit of sense about him then his main objective will be to clash as much as possible to break my weapon, so I've got my work cut out for me."
"Attacking when I'm distracted? How impolite."
"If you have a problem with it then don't get distracted. Like I was saying earlier, there's no rules in a fight."
"No, I don't mean to complain. I think that it's good. Very good. That's exactly how desperate prey should be."
"Still going on about that? Then let's see if you still think we're prey af-"
Before Fen could finish his sentence, Fang leapt over him, aiming for Ripper.
"Monster, defend me."
At his command the Malzeno shielded him from Fang's attack using its body. Ripper twisted around it, swinging his chainsaw for Fang's head. Recognising the threat, the fanged wyvern backed off.
"Hm." Ripper looked over to the Malzeno with a slightly troubled expression. "I'd meant for you to shield me by attacking you. I forgot just how little initiative you're capable of. Oh well. If it has to be that way, then I'll be as simple as possible. The monster, and all of the rest of you, swarm the boy and the wolf."
Fen and Fang were driven back by the overwhelming numbers of attackers. Jean attempted to attack the group of poachers from the outside, but barely managed to make a dent.
With their available space running out, Fen jumped onto Fang's back. He slammed his front legs into the ground before jumping forwards, attempting to tear through the wall of enemies.
Just as they broke free, Ripper appeared once more.
"I'm the type that prefers to save my favourite part for last. So get out of here, I'll come back for you later."
"What are you-?"
The Malzeno, having been instructed on what it should do once those two emerged, took action. It grabbed onto Fang with its tail, lifting him with an absurd strength.
As quickly as they were lifted, both hunter and monster were flung at full force away from the fight.
"Bat, you go to keep them occupied. We'll catch up when we're done here."
The Paolumu rider, somehow still able to move, gave a thumbs up before flying after him.
Ripper turned to Jean and Tama, now on their own, beginning to rev his chainsaw once more.
"We shouldn't be long."
In a manner resembling stones skimming across the water's surface, the boy and the wolf crashed through the city. Albeit, far less gracefully. On one landing, Fen hit the ground with his head, causing his helmet to come loose.
They finally came to a halt several hundred meters away from their original destination.
"Damnit, think my helmet dropped somewhere. How are you doing?"
Fang barked while lying on the ground.
"Sounds like you'll be fine. Now let's…"
Fen attempted to stand back up, but stumbled back over. He intended to try once more, but something caught his eye.
The Paolumu drifted towards them.
"Hey."
"Didn't you die?"
"Close, but no."
"I see. Well, don't worry. I'll finish what I started, so get down here."
"It's good to see that getting tossed around didn't knock the boldness out of you. The boss will like that. I… maybe I don't like that so much. I'm here to keep you from getting back there while they deal with the girl and the leviathan. It's not like you'll stay if I just ask you so… he can't complain about a little bit of damage."
As the Paolumu drifted behind them, the poacher sneered and pointed his gun.
"Which foot do you need less!?"
Still unable to move his body properly, Fen instead opted to reach for his axe. He desperately moved his fingers around the ignition, trying to move himself from danger before the gun could be fired.
And then, at the last moment, a giant unidentified shape knocked the Paolumu from the air.
Its rider rolled across the ground, quickly recovering to aim his gun at his attacker. His surprise was the only thing that stopped him from firing instantly.
"What!? Why would you-"
"Your voice is so grating it could give my ears hives, be quiet."
A flap from his attacker's fans created a gust of wind, blowing forward bubbles floating in the air. The poacher stood there, confused. One popped against him, causing a chain reaction of explosions that engulfed him once more.
Backlit by the fire he had created, the attacker stepped towards Fen. What was clearly visible were his weapons, a pair of fans and his odd choice of outfit. A serpentine monster slithered in to follow him.
"Any words of gratitude for your saviour?"
"What do you want?"
"I see, you must be the stereotypical bimbo. Gratitude means being thankful. I'm asking you to thank me. For saving your life just now."
"I know what gratitude is, stupid! I'm asking why you saved me. We're enemies, aren't we?"
"Are we?"
"Aren't you one of them?"
"Don't lump me in with savages like that guy. I'm one of the Queen's pawns. Court, the death dance."
"What subgroup you are doesn't matter, we're here to beat everyone in Fera Gladius."
"What, you're a hunter? But you're using a monster like we do. Are you confused or something?"
"I've known Fang since long before your operation existed."
"Get out. Well, that's still fine. I have no intention of fighting you."
"Then what am I wasting my time chatting with you for? I've gotta get back to fighting those weirdos, there's too many for those two to handle."
"You're lucky you have the kind of looks to pull off that rudeness, otherwise you'd be on fire by now. You're going to fight Ripper and his cronies, no?"
"I forgot his name already, it's the guy with the chainsaw."
"Then we aren't enemies at all."
"What?"
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. You've at least heard of that, haven't you? I want to kill Ripper too, so why don't we get along?"
"...He's on your side, isn't he?"
"Infighting isn't forbidden. This is a place where the strongest survive. But I suppose that just because something is possible doesn't mean it will happen, that won't be enough to convince you. So I'll let you in on my personal reason."
Court paused, his expression seeming to grow more pained as though he was pulling something from the recesses of his mind.
"He's very ugly."
"Got it."
Fen searched around the area, finding his helmet at last. As he re-equipped it, Court walked up behind him to continue speaking.
"So, do we have an alliance?"
"Sounds good to me."
Silently, they both plotted.
"This guy seems like an idiot, but he's probably not weak, so…"
"It'd be a waste when he's this handsome, but I do have to eliminate any intruders, so…"
Their thoughts converged on a single point.
"I'll backstab him the second we're done."
Tama kept on running from the large group chasing her. One member of that group spoke up.
"Stop running! You're only making this take longer!"
"What a perfect goon line!" Jean exclaimed. "What kind of person would actually stop just because you said that? It's so completely unreasonable that I still know you're evil! Thanks for reminding me!"
"Stop saying stupid things all the time!" Yelled another one of the pursuers.
Ripper watched on, losing interest more rapidly by the moment.
It wasn't that the pawns were incompetent. Even with their overwhelming numbers, the Mizutsune was far too evasive to be caught. By coating the ground in bubbles, Tama was able to slip anywhere she wished. By coating her opponents, she was able to severely hinder any and all attempts at movement.
But, they were nothing if not persistent.
One of the poachers managed to lunge for them. With Tama unable to defend, Jean took action and slammed her hunting horn into his head, knocking him completely off course.
From the shadow of the first attacker came the one with the axe she had met first. Jean was already off balance due to twisting around to attack the first, leaving her unable to properly counterattack.
"Damn, can't leave you two on your own for a minute, can I?"
Fen launched himself between them, slashing at the poacher's chest and knocking him away.
"If you were going to hide and wait for your chance to make a dramatic entrance you could've at least picked a better line to go with it."
"W-what?"
"I said-"
"No, I heard you, I'm just confused. I wasn't waiting for anything, I rushed back here as fast as I could!"
"But that was way too convenient."
"That's just how things worked out. Instead of going on about that, wouldn't showing some gratitude be more fitting?"
"Gratitude? That's a really complex word for you."
"No, it isn't! Why are both of you treating me like this?"
"Both? Who's the other person here?"
"That guy, he's… where is he?"
At that time, Ripper was surveying the battle.
"So Bat failed. He must've tried to show off and had it blow up in his face. I hope that he's okay. I want to be the one to kill him later."
As he finished that thought, he felt something graze his back. It wasn't that something flew past him at a high speed, but that the object disappeared entirely at the moment of contact.
Flames burst from that spot a moment later. Ripper's reflexes were barely fast enough for him to respond in time, leaping away from the origin of the blast.
Had he been any slower, it could have been fatal.
"I didn't live this long just for something that simple to take me out." Ripper smirked at his attacker.
"Don't get yourself confused. That was just a warning shot. A greeting, if you will. I've had to look at you for quite a while now, so I believe that a quick death just wouldn't suit you at all."
"What do you know, I agree with that."
Court stood there. In his hands were two large fans of an equal size. Behind him was a Mizutsune with fur of violet, the source of all of his explosive attacks.
Ripper had already planned on attacking anyone he came across from outside his group, so he didn't even bother to question why someone would be doing the same.
Court continued speaking without paying any attention to Ripper's previous response.
"Fire is a good weapon. It's something that the enemy can't brute force their way through. A brute like you who only thinks of fighting can't deal with it in the same way you deal as everything else. Isn't that frustrating?"
"No, it's still the same. No matter what you use, no matter how you plot, no matter who you are… no, no matter what you are, as long as you bleed, it's all the same to me."
The hunters were only a short distance away now, that gap rapidly closing.
"The chase has left his guys scattered all around the place. The best chance to take his head is right now, with us and the fans guy teaming up on him."
Fen thought this before using his accelaxe to launch himself towards Ripper.
Hearing others coming, Ripper turned and wildly swung, forcing Fen to swerve to avoid the attack. He slid across the ground before coming to a stop. Both Fen and Court readied themselves to attack.
"You're on the same side? This might be interesting."
Jean finally arrived.
"Hey, I'm here too!"
Court looked over, having not noticed her until now. His eyes widened.
"You. Y-you-! You!"
"Wha? What? What's up?"
"How dare you!"
"Hey, she's on our side." Fen tried to remind him.
"No she is not! I could never side with someone like her!"
"That's kinda rude."
"Just look! Our monsters are almost the exact same!"
The fan in his right hand pointed towards the Violet Mizutsune behind him while his left pointed to Tama, the regular Mizutsune.
"Oh, that's right."
"Huh? That's just being unreasonable! What happened to the enemy of your enemy being your friend and all that? We still have to fight the chainsaw guy, he's still standing right in front of us!"
"That doesn't matter any more. You're more of an enemy now."
"What? How?"
"The queen's pawns were a perfectly balanced group of four. The others all had members of the fated four, so it was only logical for me to get a Mizutsune to balance things out. But the king couldn't find one, and I had to accept this violet Mizutsune. Then as if that wasn't bad enough, that idiot Rondo betrayed his monster and left us, so things all went completely out of balance! You can't come before me with a regular Mizutsune and expect me to not want to kill you."
"Is that even her fault? I think that a Mizutsune that can make fire is way cooler than a normal one anyway, so is it really that bad?"
"Hey." Jean tried to interrupt from the side, but Court continued on.
"Of course it is that bad. In a group of four, matching is important. It seems like no matter how much I explain you won't understand, so I'll reiterate. I have no intent to side with you. I simply can't stand to be aligned with you, so I've no choice but to win against both sides here."
"That's just being unreasonable."
"No, I kinda get what he's saying. I don't think I can work with him either."
"Don't agree with him!"
"Ah, don't worry. In my case it's for much deeper reasons. Definitely."
"Enough chatter. Burn it all up, monster."
The violet Mizutsune spun around, creating a countless number of bubbles. Court swung both his fans in unison, creating a gust of wind that pushed the bubbles forward while he jumped back.
Recognising their danger, Fen and Ripper both started to back off. Jean had yet to see what would happen, but her own understanding of Tama's abilities gave her the impression that they were not to be touched.
Their actions mattered little. After a second, each of the bubbles abruptly moved towards the hunter or monster closest to it, barring the Mizutsune itself.
Jean and Tama dived out of the way. Fang jumped away from the path of the bubbles, while Fen used his accelaxe
Ripper simply attacked in return, popping the bubbles before they reached him. The Malzeno didn't do a thing.
By the time the hunters regained their focus, the violet Mizutsune was a wall of fire between them and Court.
"So you're really going with this?" Fen asked. "You've gotta be out of your mind to think that you're going to come out on top. Aren't you just a pawn?"
"You really are as much of a bimbo as I thought. Next time, do some better research. I'm one of the queen's pawns. We're something of an exception to the norm. She has no interest in leading, and we have no interest in being led. The queen's pawns is simply the place where the king puts his candidates for the top positions."
Court paused for a second.
"I'll put it more simply for you. We're all just as strong as the generals are!"
Judah found himself blocking once more.
It was a kick.
What he was defending against was just a kick. To say that Judah had experience in guarding was an understatement. His entire life seemed as though it was spent guarding.
Countless hours had been spent standing firmly with that shield, ready to receive any number of attacks. A defender was all that he wished to be, and what he spent all of his time on becoming.
By the standards of humans, Judah was exceptionally large. But humans and monsters have different standards for size, which resulted in him regularly facing attacks from creatures several times larger than him. All of his training was to defend against those attacks, so that others may not have to be endangered by them.
It wasn't as though he always remained perfectly unharmed after blocking an attack. Sometimes the impact alone would make it feel like he had received a concussion.
But this was far more unusual than that. It was simply a kick from above. By something smaller than him, at that.
He hadn't dropped his shield. If that ever happened, then everything until now would have been for nothing. Judah believed he needed resolve at least that strong to be a defender. But he was just shocked that a kick from another person could push him back to this extent.
For the sake of clarification, he wasn't fighting a regular martial artist. Nitro wore a heavy and intricately designed suit of armour that Judah knew was somehow adding to the power of the kicks. More so than a regular suit of armour would.
If that was all that he had to face, it wouldn't have been such a problem. But following up all of her attacks was an Astalos.
Even then, he probably could have struggled his way through that encounter. But there was one more factor that led to him being unable to do anything.
The Gammoth continually attacked him. The attempts to crush him underfoot were what he could deal with, as previously mentioned he had more than enough experience in that area. What was really a problem was the snow that it commanded, forcing him to dodge or risk losing all ability to dodge. There was a poacher with this one, but she had yet to do anything.
Judah was unable to find an opening to attack, beyond the rhythmic poke after blocking an attack. Titan stayed firmly behind him, also unable to find any safe chance to move out and attack the enemies.
The barely-moving battle was interrupted by words from above.
"Hey, hey, hey. What the hell's with all of this? Just what am I seeing here?"
Judah looked up.
"Spencer!"
Spencer and Storm were both standing on the nearby roof, looking down on them. The hunter stood with his glaive drawn, resting it on his back as he leant over the edge of the roof.
"I don't remember seeing either of these two on the wanted list. Captain, you shouldn't be struggling against trash like this! Only weaklings try to overwhelm their opponents with numbers. Just leave them both to me."
"Where's Laura?"
"That doesn't really matter right now, does it? I lost track of her. If she's not here then that's just more for me. Now, which one should I start-"
Laura burst through the wall of the building that Spencer was standing on, charging straight towards the poachers. For some reason beyond everyone else's understanding, she chose to attack the Gammoth.
"Hey, no stealing!"
"You could've done that before her if you hadn't stood around talking."
As though she was completely ignorant of the vast disparity in sizes between her and her target, Laura charged into the Gammoth with the side of her greatsword.
It was knocked back.
The Gammoth was knocked into the wall of the castle, its immense weight causing it to crash through to the inside. The ancient floor was unable to hold up the combined weight of the Gammoth and the wall, crumbling away and causing it to drop. Without stopping, Laura chased after it and jumped into the abyss she had inadvertently created.
In the meantime, Spencer lunged for the remaining poacher and monster duo.
The two sides briefly exchanged some hits. Spence swung his glaive at the Astalos, but was caught out by the flying wyvern swinging its wings around. Caught in between its body and right wing, Spence was powerless to stop it as the Astalos leapt directly towards the castle wall.
Nitro had completely forgotten that her instructions were to guard the entrance as she destroyed part of the castle just to do some more damage. She ran after her enemy and her partner. Storm did the same.
That left just Judah and Titan, standing there slightly dumbfounded.
"What was the saying mother told me for situations like this? Chasing after two monsters at once leads to losing one?"
"This is it. The secret entrance. Once we go through here, we'll be at the main hall."
At the other side of the castle, Minerva was talking to two others.
"I see." Zara replied.
"This isn't how this was meant to go at all." Zara thought to herself. "What am I doing? Think. It's not like you to not think something out."
After Zara accepted Minerva's offer, they travelled the entire way in silence. Minerva wasn't one for small talk, it never even crossed her mind to start a conversation to break the ice. Isa was forbidden from saying anything, since she'd likely give them away. This just left Zara, who took the opportunity to try thinking of a way out of this situation.
"I meant to attack once an opening appeared, but I haven't seen a single glimmer of one this entire time. I doubt we'll get anything that convenient now. Are we just going to go all the way with her to the throne room and then try your luck at taking the king out? Even on the one in a million chance of getting past her, we'll still be as good as dead afterwards. We don't even know for sure if dealing with him will solve things, so that's too foolish even if I was feeling suicidal. Then what's left? Run? Even if she wasn't a problem we'll have to deal with eventually, our odds aren't good."
She had yet to find any answer that wasn't likely to result in her own death, which is how they had gotten this far with nothing happening.
"The only time we'll be left alone might be after we've already sworn allegiance to the king. Will they really be that trusting of two new recruits? The fact that she still hasn't taken away our weapons is a miracle, but I guess she's the type who doesn't have to worry about that. I doubt the king will be so trusting as to treat us the same way. Besides, even if he was… what if he tries to do the same weird stuff he's done to all these monsters to Arachne? We'll file that choice under 'Worse than death'. So what then? What choices do I have left to deal with her?"
Minerva abruptly stopped.
"Hm. Hmm."
She turned to stare at them. Moments passed by, feeling endless.
"This isn't going to work, is it?"
Zara panicked. She instinctively recognised that she had to respond quickly, so she went with the most thoughtless response possible.
"What do you mean?"
"You don't really want to join us, do you?"
In the first place, being offered that had caught Zara off-guard. Now here she was being caught off-guard for the second time. Lamenting that
"And what tells you that?"
"Because this entire time you've been staring at me like you're planning to attack me."
Zara looked at Isa.
"Damnit, I should've known that it'd end up like this. It's commendable that Isa went this long without saying anything, but of course the look in her eyes would give her away. Wait, when did Minerva turn around to check that? Did she just feel it? That's crazy."
"Why are you looking at her? It was you staring, wasn't it?"
Zara looked shocked by the revelation. Minerva continued on regardless.
"You, uh… I don't think I heard your name, that would make this a lot easier. The one on the left. Oh, wait, that's different for you, isn't it? Then I'll say that I'm talking about the shorter on-"
"Argh, to hell with this!" Isa yelled. "I'm tired of saying nothing! We're going to fight eventually, so let's just get to it."
"...No, you run ahead."
"What? Are you out of your mind?"
"Are you? Our objective is to get to the king. She's killed a bunch of hunters before now, what's the point if we die here?"
"Why are you asking me if I'm out of my mind? If she's as strong as you make her sound then we've got a better chance in a group."
"And we'll have an even better chance if their side doesn't have monsters."
"Me and Irontusk'll have better chances of survival than you two."
"Can't deny that you've got us completely outmatched. You've probably also got better chances of finding the king than we do, so let's focus on what's more important. Do we have time for this? She could attack any second, just get going. We'll cover you."
"Hey, don't try to pass over what she was saying about you glaring at her. You don't have a grudge to settle against her or anything like that?"
"Just who do you think I am? Holding grudges, seeking revenge, all that's for people who can actually pull it off. I'm too weak for anything like that. Besides, I just met her for the first time today."
Isa didn't answer.
"Hey, no time to waste. I know that you can tell I'm not lying."
"Yeah. Don't die."
"Seriously, who do you think I am? Sacrificing yourself is what heroes do. I'm nothing of the sort."
"Alright, I've decided the best way to say this. Short girl in the Jaggi armour, you were the one staring daggers at me. Oh, hey, time to fight."
Minerva readied her spear.
Both pairs were running forward in sync. At the last moment, Isa and Irontusk dashed to the side. Minerva tracked their movements, thrusting straight towards Isa.
At the last second, she found unexpected resistance. Instead of tearing through its target, the tip of her spear became stuck in a mass of webbing.
"Now pull!"
Zara ordered simply for the sake of it, Arachne was about to go through with that plan anyway. Minerva's strength was by no means that far above an average human's, so she had no way of winning out against the strength of a Nerscylla.
Arachne pulled her web back. Not even trying to resist, Minerva let go of it. The weapon clattered against the ground as it was dragged, eventually flying past Zara and Arachne.
"Wow, I've never had that happen before. I'll be more careful next time."
"Most people would admit defeat when facing a monster unarmed, you know?" Zara thought, but didn't want to waste the effort explaining that aloud.
"Just because you were asking earlier, I'll give you my name. Zara Lowe. This is Arachne."
"I didn't ask, I just didn't know. That's not useful to me anymore now that I'm done explaining. Oh, but the king did say to introduce ourselves before a fight. I'm Minerva, the Queen of Everything. I don't have a name for the Kirin."
Isa sprinted down the hallway at full force, intent not to waste the chance she had been given.
"The king's gotta be waiting in the throne room. I've never been in a castle before, but that's gotta be as far away from the entrance as possible. Probably high up too, right? I'm not sure why, I've just got a feeling that it'll be like that."
She then came to a stop in the middle of the hall, signalling Irontusk to do the same.
"Hey now… we're not alone here, are we?"
Irontusk didn't seem to know what she was talking about, but still didn't move.
"You're there, right? Whoever you are. If you're not gonna let me go this way, then that must mean this is the right way after all. So why don't you act like a good guard and show yourself so you can stop me."
To an onlooker, it would have appeared that she was talking to herself. But to those there it was clear that she was somewhat close to being accurate. The mist that lightly filled the room began to grow thicker as the guard prepared himself for battle.
The walls of the castle rumbled, barely able to support the burden of the fights taking place there.
"It certainly sounds like they're on their way here. By this point, all the weaklings should've been filtered out. The only ones left should be those with the potential to claw their way to the top."
The king sat atop his throne inside an almost empty throne. He turned his head to the room's only other occupant, currently standing behind where the king was sitting.
"Aren't you excited? This could finally be your chance to take the stage. So let's hope that they're strong enough to reach you. If not, then this will all have been a waste of time."
What was behind him did not move or answer.
Akem Okino, on standby. South-west of the castle.
Luke Gilmore & Panzer, in battle against David Gilmore and Goliath. West of the castle.
Fenris Eis, Fang, Jean Demonlord and Tama: In battle against Ripper and his followers, as well as Court. South-east of the castle.
Lotus, Bal and DPSG, in battle against Sacred and her followers. North of the castle.
Stanley, Vicke and Michael, in battle against Craft and his followers.
Mary Gilmore and Kasa, currently lost looking for the others.
Zara Lowe and Arachne, in battle against Minerva.
Judah, standing at the main entrance.
Spencer Gilmore and Storm, starting a fight against Nitro.
Laura Ford, starting a fight against Glaze.
Isabel Page and Irontusk, under attack.
The King, sitting atop his throne.
Hunter side: 16 hunters, 8 monsters.
Poacher side: 30 poachers, 31 monsters.
TO BE CONTINUED
Time is a real problem, right? More so than I realised previously.
From pretty much the first chapter this series has had more characters than it could possibly know what to do with and that number keeps growing larger for some reason, so I thought that now would be a good time to do an arc with multiple hunts happening simultaneously.
Not the first time I've done this, but for all of those I just kept cutting between all of them in order and it was probably really boring.
In the previous chapter I focused on everything on one side of the fighting, since I wanted to start things off more dramatically. That seemed fine to me at the time. Then this chapter was meant to be an in between one to get everything into its proper place.
One problem you might have noticed with that though, right? This chapter continued to focus on some of the characters who were in chapter 26 and 27, while also going back to the start of the fights for the characters who weren't featured previously. So now the timeline's a bit all over the place.
Just for reference, the list of everyone's positions at the end is ordered by how far away they are from the throne room. Also, the parts focused on team B of the DBA are from shortly after the start of the operation.
The two scenes for the SD were also pretty much at the same time, though slightly later than that.
Team A and (what's left of) C arrived at the castle at pretty much the same time.
But clearing that up creates a bigger problem. I decided from the start of the arc that I wanted to have a countdown of how many left on each side. But if it's counting down who's left at each point, then it should've also counted everyone who got knocked out in this chapter in the 11:01 tally.
The explanation that I'm going with so that I can have my cake and eat it is that it's only for counting those who've been shown being defeated / had some reference made to it by that point. I'm not including the time for this chapter though since it's been so all over the place, I swear that the timeline will start syncing up more from here on.
Then again, maybe no one would even care if I didn't bring this all up.