Out in the wilds, Andrew found his vision returning as he found himself being half-dragged half-carried through the woods. "Wha?" Was all he got out at first. "What happened?"

"Welcome back to the land of the living." He glanced to the side, barely recognizing the face thanks to how blurry his vision was, but he recognized that voice anywhere.

"Anya?"

"The one and only." The huntress muttered as she continued carrying her party leader off. "How you feeling?"

"Like I got my head slammed into a wall."

"Tree actually." The Huntress muttered. You got slammed through a tree."

"Ah~" For a moment the two just wander on in silence. "Where's George and Luka?"

"Pretty sure you already got an idea." Was all Anya said as another short silence passed between the two.

"What happened?"

"The World Eater got the drop on us." Anya grumbled. "Thing just came out of nowhere and…" She trailed off for a moment as she took a breather. "How the hell did it do that?"

"Do what?"

"The bastard could camouflage into his surroundings." She told him. "It shouldn't have been able to do that."

"You're right." The pair stopped as they heard a new voice. "It shouldn't be able to camouflage." Looking at a pair of red clad Hunters, Anya's eyes widened.

"What are they doing out here?" The Huntress muttered.

"What's Guild Knights doing out here?" Another asked

"Official Guild Business." One of the two figures stated as he walked forward. "Now, mind telling me about this World Eater?"


Mellow was out again.

So without as much as a word Gales stepped out, closed the door to the room in the clinic as he leaned against the door and took a much needed breath. "Well… fuck." He looked at Garm who looked up at him and was rewarded with a headpat. "This is going to be bad." Gales whispered as Garm made a noise.

"What is?" The pair turned their heads to see that a couple of vaguely familiar faces were walking up to them.

"Oh, your back." Shell muttered, looking at Nox and his party as he got to his feet. Gales made a gesture with his head towards the door. "Unfortunately, Mellow's out again; she woke up for a bit but she clocked out not that long ago."

"Right." Karma put his hands on his hips as he seemed to think. "Were you able to talk to her before she went back to sleep?"

"Yeah." Gales muttered as he seemed to drift away. "Nothing good came of it though."

"Well, what can you tell us?" Glade asked as Gales rubbed the back of his head and seemed to think before jabbing a thumb backwards.

"We should talk back at the guild." He stated as the others looked to see a few other locals. "Not unless you want them to hear and possibly spread panic." He admitted as he lowered his hand and seemed to sigh in annoyance. "Besides I feel like you're probably gonna want to sit down for what I gotta tell you guys." He muttered as he started walking off towards the Guild. "Also we might need a round of drinks."

"That bad?"


"It can do what!?" The rest of the guild turned to look at the five Hunters as Gales took a drink from his mug.

"Our World Eater can camouflage withs its surroundings." He muttered as he scratched his head. "Least, that's what Mellow told me." Glade's eye twitched as he sat back down and grabbed his mug before chugging it. "Gotta say, I'm surprised my reaction wasn't the same as yours when I found out."

"How - why the hell can that thing camouflage?" Glade asked, lowering his cup. "That thing's a dangerous combination of raw power and hunger, it can compete with any and everything that it sets it's sights on.." He muttered as he made a gesture to one of the local palico's to ask for another drink. "It wipes out ecosystems with nothing but pure physical might and a hunger that's never sated." He looked back at Gales. "And now you're telling me that it can disappear into its surroundings?"

"Fraid so." Gales grumbled as he took another drink. "Doesn't even remotely sound fair, does it?"

"No, it doesn't." Holland muttered as he and the others joined in on drinking. "Why can that thing camouflage?" He asked after a moment.

"Mutation if I had to guess." The five hunters looked to the side as the saw a hooded woman settling down next to them.

"Calista?" They all said together as the hooded woman took a calm sip from her own drink.

"What are you doing here?"

"We haven't seen you in weeks." Nox admitted.

"Apologies." The black-clad woman stated. "I found myself occupied until now." She tells them as she lowers her cup. "As for the World Eater, the Deviljho wandering about. "No don't that it acquired it's strange ability through a form of mutation."

"What kind of mutation?" Karma asked.

"It's hard to say." Calista muttered as she reached into her sleeve and pulled out deck of cards. "It could just be a random mutation that comes from an irregularity in the beast's genetic code." She admitted before cycling through her cards. "Most of these mutations result in something rather simple like a change in color and an increase in size." Pulling one out she set it on the table.

A Card depicting a Green Nargacuga was on the table.

"In other cases, the mutation could be caused by a number of things, but it would mostly come down to a creature's ability to adapt and evolve depending on their environmental factors." Calista set a new card on the table.

A Glacial Agnaktor joined the Green Nargacuga.

"A form of symbiosis." She put a new card on the table.

Stygian Zinogre joined the pair.

"Living their life in isolation." She set another card on the table.

Midogaron joined the trio.

"Acquiring Elemental Genes, or even a change in Elemental alignment." Another card.

Iceblast Brachydios joined the four.

"And of course, there's the chance of a beast's Elemental power having been built up to unprecedented levels, or in worse case scenario gone out of control."

A Deviljho - a World Eater - found its way to the table.

I don't believe I need to tell you what might happen should a World Eater lose control of the Dragon power that dwells within it."

She didn't.

They all knew the stories, those terrifying fables concerning a World Eater that had lost itself to both its power and its hunger.

Gesturing to the cards she had set out, Calista continued talking. "As you can see, there are a number of ways that a creature can undergo mutations. It simply depends on if they live long enough to learn how to use any new abilities that come with it."

"Yeah but…" Karma muttered. "What could cause a Deviljho to develop camouflage abilities?" He asked. "Last I checked it's a prey thing; creatures develop it to hide from predators."

"Or for predators to sneak up on prey." Calista added as she collected her cards and returned them to her decks before shoving them into her sleeve. "I admit that's a trait one don't just pick up at random, so if I had to guess…" She trailed off for a moment before her head turned at the sound of chatter suddenly filling the Guild Hall.

"What's up?" Gales asked as he and the others turned their heads to look at the others, though their attention was more focused on the two new red-clad figures that were making themselves known. "Those Uniforms…"

"Guild Knights?" Karma asked, getting to his feet. "What are they doing here?"

"Are these the only Hunters in Harribels?" One asked as they looked around. "I'm only counting 9." The Guild Knight muttered as the other headed towards the receptionist desk and showed them something.

"We have a situation." The female Hunter stated. "And by Order of the Guild, we'll be in charge of operations here in Harribel until the situation has been dealt with."

"Y-yes." One of the receptionists, Layla muttered before nodding her head. "All of our services are at your disposal."