DBA FG

by HyperBrachydios

A quarter of a century has passed since the conclusion of DBA G. The new generation of monster taming hunters set out into unknown lands, only to find a world beyond their control and blood that stains the ground deeper than they could possibly understand. This is nothing more than a story about finding something. Beyond the end, the expedition of the powerless begins.

35. End Of The Stars

This was the result of my weakness.

I had been no one. Even so, I was determined to change this twisted world that I lived in with my own hands.

I became convinced that God wished for me to fix this world. To do so, I would have to first topple the enemies of the world. Those responsible for ruining everything.

I fought. I gathered allies. I did everything I could to form a resistance.
Viewed through a human lens, we were powerless and hopelessly outmatched. But that was the limit of what humans could understand.

With God backing us, there was no possible way we could lose.

So we believed, until we lost. We were utterly defeated, with the survivors being captured.

Our power failed to overcome theirs. They too, claimed that God had sided with them.

God was all-powerful. If we had lost, then clearly God had sided with them and not us.

As the leader, I was branded a heretic and tied to a pillar to be burnt to death.

At that moment, I still couldn't believe that they were right. Even though I lost, I couldn't believe it. Could God really have sided with these people?

The masses around me looked empty.

Like they hadn't even realised that they were alive. From just a glance, I could tell that they'd never had a single thought. Their eyes were open, yet perpetually unseeing.
I was the same way. Before God was revealed to me, I was the same as them.

They didn't realise that they were being used by the enemies of the world. They'd live their lives being happily exploited by those enemies, never knowing true freedom.

But we had lost. Did that mean that God had sided with those enemies of the world, despite everything I had been told? Could God really have sided with people like this? We, the righteous, had been forsaken. Did that mean we were not righteous?
Faced with my own powerlessness, faced with endless ridicule, faced with imminent doom, that was what I asked myself.

Silently, I clasped my hands together and begged for an answer. The yelling of the crowd remained the same as it was, until something else took over.
I heard screaming. Various screams, spreading around rapidly.

The flames that were creeping up on me seemed to grow even more fierce.

I opened my eyes and came to realise that I was not the one that was burning. The entire world around me was now wrapped up in a blaze.

Until that moment, I had never truly understood the definition of an inferno. In an instant, the capital was turned into a hellish sight. The smell of burning flesh assaulted me.

The masses we had struggled so desperately to awaken were now disappearing forever. With nowhere to run, they drowned within the sea of flames. Selfishness or selflessness mattered little. All were burnt away, no matter whether they tried to save themselves or others.

Tied to a stake, I was forced to watch it all. Even the tears I shed for those lives lost evaporated in an instant. Any cries of despair were left trapped within my throat.

I caught a glimpse of it through the gaps in the overbearing smoke.

A creature far larger than any I had witnessed before. Four legged, with wings on its back. An imposing shape slowly moved through the smoke, appearing to bring the carnage along with it.

The smoke parted, allowing me to catch a glimpse of its proud mane. The beast itself appeared as though it was on fire, but it was completely unbothered by that fact. Blue, bountiful eyes looked down on the carnage before it.

Those eyes eventually focused on me.

"Ah. This must be where I die."

In retrospect, it was truly strange how that thought only crossed my mind at that specific moment. Until just a few moments earlier, I had been slated for execution. Even without this monster's involvement, I would have surely been killed here.

But at the time, I didn't process that as dying. It was just abandoning my flesh.

I hadn't even processed that I was going to be killed until that moment. I thought of this as only a ritual to burn away the flesh that seperated me from God. Even though I came to doubt my belief, I held no fear. But this was something entirely different.

I felt that this monster would leave nothing behind. My soul would be burnt away like the rest.

And yet.

I felt no fear at all. Rather, I was willing to accept it. I had no idea why.
Looking at that beast, I felt that I was okay with it reducing me to ash.

But that did not come to pass. I only held its attention for a mere second, before it took off. I heard the sounds of carnage in the distance.

By the time the fire died down, the sky had turned dark.

I lay there on the ground, unable to move. Almost every section of my burnt skin had been left raw, to the point where merely touching the air was enough to cause agonising pain to flood through my mind.
But feeling that pain, I knew that I was not dead.

The ropes holding me in place had burnt away before I had. But there was nowhere to seek safety. I simply continued to struggle through the blaze until it reached its end.

Looking around, I could not see any others who had possessed such luck. The city had been almost completely reduced to ash.

I could not move. I had already been almost starved, the flames and the smoke had robbed me of my last remaining strength.
But I could not simply close my eyes and cease to think. The constant, searing agony prevented me from finding any peace.

It would've been a lie to say that I was clinging onto life.
There was nothing left for me to grasp onto anything with. It was all out of my control.
Unable to do anything but think, I finely combed over my memories of the encounter at least several thousand times.

I could have put all of this down to a miracle. But I knew that wasn't the case. What I saw there was something stronger than God.

In just a single night, the enemies I had fought so hard to overthrow were burnt away with ease.

The hatred I had felt. The belief that they were absolute evil and that I was absolute good.
All of it had gone up in smoke.

I came to realise just how ridiculously trivial our struggle had been. All our arguing about who God had sided did not matter. Not caring for our justifications, they had all been burnt away like nothing.

If God had sided with them, then this must have been a creature stronger than even God.

That magnificent power enraptured my very soul. I felt proud of the burns that covered my body. The proof of this encounter.

As I experienced this revelation, the pain started to fade away. As it did, I could stand once more.

There, in those flames, I had been reborn. That which misled me had been burnt away, leaving behind only the truth.

I felt no more hatred towards any of those I had once opposed. It was all futile.

I knew what I had to follow now. But no matter where I searched the country afterwards, it was nowhere to be found.

Eventually, I decided that there was no point in searching for that monster there. I set off to the sea, heading towards a world that I had only heard about in passing.

It was so much vaster than I could've imagined. It made the world that I had lived in before look like a small island by comparison.

There were more monsters there. Creatures that so greatly surpassed anything I could have imagined.
The world reshaped itself around them.

And yet.

The people did not live in awe of them. They claimed to be responsible for helping manage nature.

In this place, people were bold enough to hunt monsters. To delude themselves into thinking they could possess dominion over nature. They could not be allowed to defile things any further.

I then realised that I must have been spared for a purpose like this.

Looking at the sun directly can be blinding. Living so close to the monsters, these people couldn't truly understand their magnificence. They were just as tangled up in falsehood as I once was.

They were not to be fought. Humans should not be able to control them. We should be living alongside them, in awe of their magnificence.

For humans to act as though they have any say in the world of monsters is unforgivable. The audacity of such lowly beings as us deciding to hunt elder dragons to preserve "balance" is unfathomable.

It is not right for lowly beings to cling to preserving the world as it is. Leave the world to those born with the power to reshape it.

If it is to be saved, then let that come to pass. If it is all to burn away, then let that come to pass.

I would never dare object to the results, save for any brought about going against the natural flow.

If they cannot understand the beauty of this, then I will personally stop them.

If they are worthy, let the flames enlighten them as they once did for me.
If they are not, let them burn.

That too, is the natural flow.

---

I was always behind him.
The other me, always standing ahead of me.

We were the mirror images of each other.

The ever-existing proof of my weakness.

Everything that I could do, he could do. Everything that I could not do, he could do.

Greatness was expected from both of us, but only one could live up to it. No matter what I tried, no matter how I struggled, he was always ahead of me.

As time passed, the rift between our skills only grew. We were mirrored.

A child that could not excel was not needed to lead a family as prestigious as ours. Therefore-

Every single one of them completely gave up on me.

I was left behind, condemned to spending my days idly. While he continued to get all of the focus, he continued to grow.

I was the image reflected in the mirror. No matter what happened, I wasn't allowed to complain.

What lies in the mirror must follow the example of the real world.

Since he was better than me, he was the real one. If he went left, I would have to go right. If he went right, I would have to go left. No matter what I did, I couldn't do anything to change that.

There was only one exception to my treatment. All the others gave up on me completely, except for him. The person that I acted as the reflection of always treated me in the same way.

No matter what happened, he would always smile in response. I remember that well.

We were born in identical circumstances, yet we turned out so differently.

What that meant was that his accomplishments were not down to chance, but something else entirely. I wasn't meant for anything but to highlight the greatness of that.

My memories of that day are hazy.

For some reason, we were walking together. Just us two. We were near the river by our home.

Had it been raining just before? The water was murky and fast. But that didn't matter to us, who had no intent of going any closer to it than yesterday.

We were talking about innocent, ordinary things. A conversation with no meaning. It shouldn't have mattered. As proof, I can't recall any of it.

I don't even remember what it was that set me off. There was something in a completely innocent set of words that flipped a switch long hidden in my soul.

And in response, I completely exploded.

Everything poured out at once. I didn't have any clue it was in there, ready to go.

All the hatred that I had buried within me. Jealousy so heavy that I wondered how I even lived under its weight.
Every single neuron of my brain dug up memories I had long since forgotten, for use as ammunition. Grudges I didn't know I could hold bubbled to the surface.
My lungs became cannons to bombard him with the artillery of my resentment.

I never knew that such venom existed within me. I could have never known. I shouldn't have ever known. My soul itself burned like the sun, fuelling my outburst.

And in response to all of that, all he did was give me the same smile as always.

Looking at the opaque water, for the very first time, I could no longer see my reflection.

---

Lotus stood atop two unconscious bodies. Bort, of the Golden Hammer, and the Duramboros that he fought alongside.

Before him were six poachers. All part of some kind of cult that he couldn't comprehend. All with monsters by their sides.

Their leader, an intimidating woman who couldn't have been any less than two meters tall. By her side, a monster that Lotus had never seen before.

Even though it was his first time seeing one, from the stories he'd heard and from the drawings he'd seen, he felt he could recognise it. He'd heard about that fiery mane in the past.

The monster's eyes were now dull, seemingly looking at nothing at all, but he could sense embers behind them.

"Doctor Professor Scientific Genius, I have a question. What's the monster standing by her?"

"Yes, it's a Teostra. I just said it."

"...No you didn't."

"I just said 'That's… not good. Definitely terrible. A critical situation. How did she get her hands on a Teostra?'. I mean, I ended the sentence with the monster's name. You shouldn't need to ask after that."

"If you really did say it, you must've said it too quietly. I didn't even hear any incomprehensible mumbling, that's how quiet you were. You've got to speak up."

"I didn't say it for you to hear."

"Then who was it for? The enemies? If I couldn't hear it, how would they hear it?"

"No, it wasn't for them either."

"Then who?"

"...Myself."

"We've been over this before, stop talking to yourself. It's a waste of time."

"You don't understand anything about dramatic effect."

"You're right, I don't. I won't ever get it. Just stay focused on the fight."

"It's fine when there's nothing happening. Back then we were all standing around. Isn't arguing about this more of a waste of time than if you'd just left it?"

"...I guess."

Lotus turned back to refocus on the fight. The preacher and her followers were still standing idly. He decided to take this chance to form some kind of a plan.

"Six of them left. So from left to right, we've got-"

"You." The leader finally spoke. "What is your name?"

"Stay quiet until I'm done thinking." Lotus thought, while silently working out how to stall for some time. He arrived at an idea and opened his mouth.

"Don't you have any manners? You should introduce yourself first before asking others their names."

"I see."

"Yeah, you should." Lotus thought. "Now then-"

"Your display of strength piqued my interest, but I suppose that I shouldn't have gotten ahead of myself. Alright. Then, it's time for everyone's introductions.

"Huh?"

"Gleton, you go first."

Sacred looked to her left. The woman that she looked to was of a completely average size, making her seem tiny in comparison to Sacred. The poacher standing there with a variety of tools strapped to her back and an orange-coated Bishaten on standby next to her, seemed surprised. That much was clear from how she absently pointed to herself.

"Me?"

"What an honour to be picked first… alright! I'm Gleton. I used to go around causing terror and destruction, but when I met Mistress Sacred I realised that I'd been wasting my time. Now I'm only interested in destroying for the sake of her dream."

"Acceptable."

The poacher twinged with excitement in response to her leader's approval.

"Next, Aja."

Another poacher nodded. The shortest of the group, contrasted by the Monoblos which towered over her.

"Aja. I dig tunnels."

The poacher next to her made a tutting noise to express his disapproval.

"That's not dramatic at all."

Aja looked confused.

"It doesn't have to be, it's just an introduction."

"No! Completely wrong! Utterly foolish!"

"You show me how it's done then, if you're so smart."

"I-" The poacher threw his cloak aside as he took a dramatic pause. His face should have been revealed, but it was half covered by a mask. His outfit was light, seeming to be more for fashion than for practical purposes. Finally, his dramatic pause came to an end. "-AM!"

He dramatically spun around.

"The former gentleman thief, Mailwulf! That is my name! I lived a life pursuing my aesthetics by stealing precious treasures. For all that time, my heart was shrouded in darkness. It was only once I was given the gift of flame that my path forward to a better world was at last revealed to me. Now my various skills and interesting tricks can only be used for the good of the world!"

His spinning came to an end at around the same time as his rushed speech, leaving him facing Aja.

"See? Like that."

"I'm not doing all that."

"It's for dramatic effect. You have to."

"Excuse me, Sacred?" the largest man left standing interrupted. "I'm meant to introduce myself at the same time as Bort, but…"

The large man glared towards Lotus, who was still standing on top of the unconscious Bort of the golden hammer.

"What else did you want me to do? He's the one who attacked me first."

His arguments seemed to suffice, the large man turned back to looking at Sacred.

"Should I skip over mine?"

"No. Why don't you try only acting out your parts?"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Well, alright then."

The large man waited around for a second.

"...I'll have to object to that. A true warrior should train both their body and mind. Hence, I am the greatest, for I possess both intelligence and brawn."

The arguments from the invisible partner continued on, Lotus and DPSG having not a clue what they were missing out on. After a few more minor points of one-sided bickering, the large man finally turned back to face Lotus.

"Yes." He answered a question that hadn't been asked. There's no point in arguing amongst ourselves. As a genius I know that."

He then stopped again, silently counting the seconds until his next line. After enough time had passed, he posed dramatically with his weapon drawn.

"...And Mason, of the Silver Axe!"

The speech and the Rusted Duramboros that towered over the man tipped Lotus off that Mason may have had some relation to the enemy he was standing on top of at that moment.
Not that he cared.

The poacher standing to Sacred's right finally spoke up.

"And now I shall go second to last. Though, can I really say it all? I've lived a life so storied that many would not believe it. Indeed, I have an anecdote for any situation. It would be impossible to write it all down. But! Once I was enlightened by our master, I realised that all of it had been pointless. All those endless days of debauchery were completely wasted. Now I understand where people and monsters should be. With this rock, I shall help spread that truth."

Lotus took note of the giant rock that he held between his arms, as well as the Kula Ya-ku standing behind him.

"So…" He glanced around the group. "Mostly idiots. The one with the Duramboros and the one with the Monoblos are probably the biggest threats, apart from her."

He raised his voice to ask a question.

"Are you all finally done with this diversion?"

"Not yet."

"Come on now."

"I am the one called Sacred. It seems that your people refer to me as the Preacher of the Inferno, while here I am called the Bishop of Flame. Titles matter little to me. There is only one matter that does."

She paused before continuing.

"This country's guild does not understand anything. They work in the name of preserving nature. But this is nothing but hypocrisy. The world does not need humans to help balance it, their interference only desecrates its beauty. The course of this world should be left to the truly powerful, those monsters born capable of reshaping everything around them. To borrow this power for ourselves is a necessary sacrifice for overturning their hegemony."

As Lotus took in the speech, he heard something behind. He quickly spun his head around.

"What in the world are you clapping for?"

Doctor Professor Scientific Genius stopped moving his hands.

"Well, it was just so dramatic that before I even realised it, I was-"

"Don't. Dumb introductions aren't anything praiseworthy. Besides…" He turned back around to look at Sacred.

"You already introduced yourself earlier. Wasn't that whole last part completely redundant?"

"No. It's important that you properly understand. When I saw that attack of yours I had a premonition."

"Of your imminent demise?"

"No. Maybe it would be easier to understand if I called it a revelation? When I watched you attack Bort, I could feel something."

She smiled.

"There is potential within you. But you're still lost within the dark."

"What?" Lotus glanced back at the group he'd just marked down as mostly a bunch of idiots. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Your attacks are strong, but they are only strong. There's something being held back, something missing from them. Like a puzzle with a piece missing in its center."

She paused.

"We were all lost within the darkness, once. I was lost until the Teostra lit the way for me. My disciples were all lost until I lit the way for them. Had the flames not come for us, we would have all been lost forever. It's the ame for you, I can tell. Your mind is idly wandering, spinning its wheels until they can be spun no more. Something is weighing you down, holding you back. Is that your sin? Or is it an unneeded attachment? Perhaps both?"

She smiled.

"Speculating on the reason doesn't matter, you can tell me soon. I'm going about this properly. All people are lost. But not all of them will survive the flames. But I have premonition that you're the type that will. So, I shall advise you. Accept the flames onto your body, and your path shall forever be illuminated."

"I see. That's all just…"

He trailed off for a few seconds before looking back up.

"So revolting."

Sacred's followers all reacted with shock, while only she kept the same expression.

"Is that how you recruited these fools? Meaningless, fancy words like that don't do anything for me. Empty questions to pry at insecurities, then offering useless advice? You're just grasping at straws. Unfortunately, it just won't work here. Would it be easier to understand if I simplified it to the fact that I'm simply above you rabble?"

"I wasn't expecting you to agree instantly. If it was that easy, you wouldn't be here. We'll take our time. Slowly, your sins can be whittled down, until one day you can seek your true path."

"There it is again. That annoying line." Lotus sighed. "You're still going on about that."

"Are you opposed-"

"No. I've seen the real thing first hand. It's not for me."

"The real thing?"

"Yeah, the real thing. Judah and his followers, they all fight with monsters for real. Cooperation and all that. That's the real thing. Compared to that, what's with you? Your monsters are weird, they barely move. They do whatever they're commanded to, to a fault. It's all just unnatural. Your entire group is weird like that."

"Ah. So you did notice. It is true that there's something a bit special about our method for controlling the monsters, but our intentions are pure. The guild unjustly wields its power to change the world, we need power to match that. As I said, a necessary sacrifice."

"And how does it work?"

"That's a secret."

"Figures. To me it just sounds like you're too scared to really try, but it's not like I'd know about anything as stupid as that anyway. I'm not that weak. Going off the daggers they're glaring at me, your followers look about ready to kill. I really do think that we've talked enough."

He readied his weapon.

"Oh, before I forget. The introduction, that the reason for all this wasted time. I'm Lotus. There, now we're finally done with this."

"And my name is Doctor Professor Scien-!

As Doctor Professfor Scientific Genius was in the middle of his speech, Lotus blasted off with a wyvern's fire, hurtling straight towards the center of the enemy pack.

As the roaring flames died down, he spun his gunlance around. While he descended, a successive wyvern's fire began to charge up.

The moment of first impact. The explosion tore the ground below it asunder, fragmenting the group of poachers. They all went in different directions, being split up. The destabilised ground beneath left them struggling to retain their balance.
Lotus' focus did not waver. He did not even have so much as a glance to offer to the pawns. Only one was worthy of his focus. Reaching his top speed once again, he moved to take Sacred's head.

She seemed perfectly calm.

It was as she had been until that moment. The entire time, her visage had remained the same. As if fixed in place.

A smile that seemed warm. A look of pity. She had said that she would forgive him, and it seemed as though as she believed her own words.

The others in her group had reacted so dramatically to his provocations, she alone was unmoved.
Lotus did not trust it in the slightest.

Just about anyone can act composed in times of peace. It was only once the chaos began that their true faces would be revealed. That was what he believed. He'd expected her facade to drop the second things went in his favour.

His assumption had been incorrect. Even at that moment, she was as clam as ever. His attack had been acknowledged. Her eyes were tracing his movement.
Seeing that was enough to instil doubt in Lotus' heart.

The doubt weakened his focus. His vision de-tunneled itself.

As his field of view widened, he became aware of something important. A giant threat, that until that moment he had been able to see.

And it was at that very moment that the cannon fired.

It tore through the air, detonating upon the slightest contact with the nearest ground. A large explosion of flame covered the surrounding area.

At the very last moment, Lotus had managed to avert his course. Even though he had avoided being at its epicenter, the intense heat still threatened to scorch him.

Feeling that heat through his armour, he came to realise that even being skimmed by that shot could have been fatal.

"That's no ordinary bowgun. What is that?"

He could not identify what Sacred held as a bowgun. He was just barely familiar enough to understand the basic differences between the types of bowguns. This weapon should have been a heavy one, but calling it that did not feel right.
To his mind, it couldn't have been a bowgun. The more that he analysed it, the more reasons flew into his mind.

It was far too large. Far too destructive. The proof of that lay in the smouldering wreck behind him. In every aspect he could quantify, it soared above any bowgun he had ever seen before.

Even if it wasn't what he was used to, he still recognised it from somewhere. But it was definitely not in this form before.

The gears of his brain whirred in that moment, until he finally reached his answer and immediately spoke up

"Isn't that just a cannon?

"Yes. The Ultrablast Hallowed Cannon. This is my tool for changing the world."

Lotus continued to think.

"So it is. I thought that the Teostra was the biggest concern here, but the destructive potential of that cannon's probably on par with it. So she has two weapons of mass destruction. How absurd."

He posed another question.

"Weren't you just talking about trying to brainwash me into joining you? How are you gonna recruit anyone with overkill like this?"

"The flames are a trial! We can't risk letting just anyone in. Forgiveness is only those that have repented."

The voice came from behind Lotus. Mailwulf descended through the sky, going for an attack as he continued to yell.

"The fire burns away all impurities. If you can overcome it, then you can reach forgiveness. Those not worthy… will just end up burnt away. Only those of us meant to follow the righteous path can bear these scars!"

He descended through the sky, lashing out to slash Lotus. The small knife he held failed to make any significant dent in Lotus' shield. As Mailwulf attacked him, Lotus finally came to notice the burn scars that covered the former thief's body.

Something else moved, accompanied by the sound of something clicking. He just barely caught it in his range of perception.

An overwhelming flash of bright light came from the Gypceros' horn, covering the area. Lotus covered his face with his shield.

This had been Mailwulf's plan from the start. To draw Lotus' attention with a useless first attack, leading into him being stunned by the flash of light. Now that he believed the first phase to be complete, he advanced into the second.

Having planned on this from the start, Mailwulf took advantage of the opening to sneak around Lotus and aim for an unguarded spot.

He circled around, moving past the shield. His aim was to stab near Lotus' spine.

As he went around the side, Lotus swivelled his head around to look directly at his attacker. Mailwulf paused, briefly considering whether his target was just thrashing around wildly. To dispel those doubts, Lotus immediately struck out.

At the last second, he had managed to cover up his eyes. Mailwulf's attempts at deception had only pulled him into being deceived. He only realised this as the blade of the gunlance caught his left shoulder, tearing through it. Thanks to a quick change in angle, he managed to avoid having it completely torn off.

His focus had only been on avoiding fatal damage, leaving no room for any other considerations. To avoid the attack, his feet had left the ground far behind. Mailwulf briefly entered freefall, before crashing to the ground.

The thief began to scramble back up. Lotus closed in, aiming to knock him out before he could escape. His focus was solely on his target, leaving him unable to see everything else.

A blunt object smashed into the back of his head, snapping him out of his focus. He turned. There stood Griffin, holding onto the weapon which he had just attacked with, which looked like a rock.

He could not identify what Griffin held as a rock. He was just barely familiar enough to understand the basic differences of rocks. That was a large rock, but calling it that did not feel right.

It was far too large, and far too heavy to be called a rock. But it wasn't exactly a boulder either, that would've been too large.

Too large to be a rock, too small to be a boulder. It was an enigma. All that he could ascertain was that it was very effective at administering headaches to its victims.

The gears of his brain whirred, trying to find an answer.

"I don't have time for this drivel."

That was the answer he'd decided upon.

He did not have the time or energy to question why Griffin was using a rock as his only weapon. Instead, he reasoned that he would be better off eliminating him as quickly as possible, so that he never had to even consider questioning him again.

The weapons of hunters were designed to ear through the hides of monsters. Which meant that a rock small enough to be held by a person should have been no problem.

As he set forth, ready to destroy the rock in a single strike, he heard a familiar voice.

"Captain! 87 degrees!"

The voice of DPSG.

He'd heard similar warnings countless times before. Every time, to call out something that would have proven fatal if left unchecked.
Having heard it so many times, Lotus had built up absolute trust in DPSG's warnings.

So, in spite of the enemies in front of him and behind him, without even a single cell in his body hesitating, he turned to look in the indicated direction.

"You must b-"

That was all that he managed to utter before the Teostra shot a ball of flame towards him. The flames soared directly towards him, creating a far greater explosion than the previous attack upon contact with the ground.

Lotus had launched himself out of harm's way with a wyvern's fire. He landed nearby, a thick cloud of smoke separating him from his enemies

"Thank you for that."

"Observations are my job."

"So I take that to imply that you've noticed what's up with the leader's gun as well? That's practically a cannon."

"There's no way that it's an actual cannon, though."

"That's why I said it's practically one."

"A mini-cannon?"

"Is that a real weapon?"

"I don't know. It is now that I've named it."

"The point is that she's dangerous. The cannon and the Teostra would both be bad enough threats by themselves. Plus, there's just something… off about her."

DPSG looked at him in silence for a few seconds , before continuing the conversation in an overly relaxed tone of voice.

"Well, what is there to worry about?"

Lotus turned backwards slightly.

"They can't destroy you if you destroy them first. I've seen you when you're serious, captain. Something as paltry as a cannon or a Teostra wouldn't be able to hold a candle to what you can do."

"You're right. Though I would expect you to come up with something a tiny bit smarter than just rephrasing 'Hit them and don't get hit'. Isn't that a bit… too basic? It's something that every hunter gets told."

"Without foundations, we'd have nothing to build on. That's why it's fine. My analogy is a lot cooler than that, don't you think?"

"Still, it's a bit obvious."

"I'll point anything out, no matter how obvious. Observations are my job."

"She's overwhelmingly, clearly the worst threat here."

"Hey, answer my question. Don't ignore it. I'll get sad."

"I want to deal with the leader as quickly as possible. So, can I ask you to keep the followers off me while I attempt to take her down?"

Upon hearing Lotus' request, DPSG's demeanour shifted.

"Captain… just who do you think I am?"

He smirked and pushed up his glasses.

"I'll die. No doubt about it. They'll kill me if you make me do that, captain. There's no outcome where I could survive that, I've run the calculations already and every possible outcome involves my doom."

"Don't go on and on about your own weakness like it's something to brag about."

"I'm going on and on about my sense of realism. And since I'm being realistic here, I do have to add something. Do you really think that we have any chance of tearing those followers away from her? They're fanatics. You were the only surprised to see the Teostra launching an attack back then, you know? The others almost seemed excited. I doubt anything less than losing the ability to move will keep them from protecting her."

"...I guess that makes sense. I didn't really want to go with this approach, but I guess there's no other choice."

They spent a few more moments discussing strategy as the smoke separating the two sides began to clear away, leaving them facing each other once more.

The poachers were all lined up, ready to attack. On the other side, so were the two Starward Diamonds.

"Four, five, six…" Lotus muttered to himself, before speaking up after reaching the end. "Okay, you're all still accounted for."

"What are you talking about?"

"I was just making sure you're all still there. Avoiding that attack wasn't a real problem for me, but your subordinates were standing so close by. Wouldn't it have been comedic if they were burnt to ashes by their own leader's mistake?"

"You… seem to not be understanding. There was no mistake."

"Huh?"

Griffin pushed his glasses up.

"Pay more attention. We've been saying from the start the flames will burn away everything impure, they're a blessing. We wouldn't ever be audacious enough to refuse a blessing."

"Is that the case, now? And all of you see it the same way as him?"

The other pawns gave varying forms of agreement.

"See," DPSG chimed in. "I told you that they're fanatics."

Lotus sighed.

"I know. I guess there's really nothing else we can do."

He took a few steps forward.

"Fire, flames, burning. You keep blabbing on and on about that. I thought we'd just knock you out and move on, but that's clearly not going to work. Not with a bunch of lunatics like you. Normal logic, like saying that you shouldn't fight us if you don't want to die, that won't work here. If fire's the only thing that you can understand, then let's just have a battle of firepower."

One of the pawns ran forwards. Gleton, the girl with the fireworks, had immediately shifted into attacking.

"Are you stupid!? The fight started long ago!"

She ran forwards, lighting up a firework, while her Bishaten ran behind her.

"What happened before was clearly a sucker punch in exchange for a sucker punch."

Saying that, DPSG began a mad dash towards her.

"The real fight is starting right here. Just about anyone with a brain would be able to solve that much."

Gleton changed targets, setting the firework free to fly in the general direction of the rapidly approaching scientist.

DPSG dove under the firework, which hit the ground and burst into flame just a few meters behind him. He hurriedly stood back up to dust himself off before continuing the same course of action as before.

The same approach was met with the same response, multiple fireworks were shot towards him. DPSG struggled through the onslaught of attacks, throwing himself around wildly resulting in a surprising amount of success.

He drew closer. As the distance between them decreased, so did the amount of effort that Gleton needed to put into aiming her attacks. With the distance between her and her target now being able to be described as minimal, she felt that she was almost guaranteed to hit.

A firework shot forwards, tearing through the sky.

"That fuse… it's shorter than normal. From just a glance, I can tell that much. If it's that short, and it's burning at that speed… correct, that can only be it. It'll detonate at the exact moment it reaches where I'm standing now!"

DPSG claims of having a mental processing speed a million times faster than the average man were put to a test as he went through that internal monologue in less than a moment.

"Then, in that case, I'll have no choice but to-"

Instead of trying to get away, he rolled towards it. The firework detonated roughly where he'd anticipated it would. The blast rippled through the air, catching him up in it.

"-use that fact to my advantage!"

The blast launched him forwards, swiftly delivering him to his opponent.

DPSG immediately pulled out a gun. Gleton's brain was barely able to keep up with this turn of events, but recognising the sight caused her to flinch.

He did not shoot her, but instead at the Bishaten next to her.

"Okay, now we can properly begin."

While this struggle had been slowly playing out, Lotus' attack had already begun once more. Small blasts from his gunlance propelled him through the air.

Several of the poachers close in, trying to block his advance. From every direction, attacks closed in.

His answer to all of these was destruction.

He wouldn't even so much as consider backing off. All he could do was press forwards. To get through what was before him, he had to demolish his obstacles.

Cleaving, blasting, forcing his way through the crowd before him at top speed, it was only a matter of seconds before he found himself hurtling towards his main target, now completely unobstructed.

There was nothing more than air between the two leaders. Lotus swung his gunlance forwards, flicking several switches to charge it up further.

The restraints on its power loosened, the gunlance began to charge up its next wyvern's fire.

The gunlance flared up, ready to burn down all that stood in its path.

Sacred too, advanced. She had already given the command to fire.

Flames had begun to gather around the Teostra's mouth.

Sacred did not seek to back down. She stepped in closer. At her command, flames began to gather around the Teostra's mouth. At the press of a button, the barrel of her cannon began to heat up.

At this point, backing down would only result in being burnt away. Both of them knowing that, they continued on, until finally arriving at the moment of contact.

Fire crashed into fire. They were the same, and yet incompatible. Unable to accept one another, unable to part, they were forced to try to rise over the over. All they could do was try to climb higher than each other, so as to not be dragged down.

The resulting column of flame grew high enough to be seen from miles away. But at the base of that infernal tower, the scientist's battle continued without even the slightest amount of consideration for his surroundings.

With the proper setup out of the way, DPSG had shifted entirely. He moved at blistering speed. That once hulking, mysterious weapon now pulled him around the battlefield wildly.

In a single move, he had gone from a comedic fool to a credible threat.

All the while, he laughed rather obnoxiously. The frequent loud bursts of noise from the fireworks were not enough to deter him from doing so.

He was an expert at dodging attacks. He was an expert at attacking and then swiftly fleeing. If it was like this, she would never win. Gleton could easily recognise that much.

What was more difficult to answer was what she should do to fix the problem.

Nothing seemed to work. Had she continued unprompted, she may very well have lost without ever being able to attempt a proper retaliation.
However. The obnoxious laughter of her target drilled its way into her mind, preventing her from letting go of her hope of victory. It was that obnoxious laughter that caused an idea of how to win spring to her mind. An overly simple idea, but still one that she believed might just lead to victory. Because her opponent appeared fittingly simple.

"That dodging sure is impressive."

"Indeed, it is! You're quite late to notice and that's a completely obvious comment that only a fool would feel necessary to speak, but I'll still compliment you for picking up on that fact by yourself!"

She bit her lip to prevent herself from retorting.

"But I wonder why you seem to be dodging around like that, always keeping your distance."

"That's-"

"It's strange! I'm sure that someone of your skill level could dodge any attack. Even if I were to attack you at point blank range, head-on, I'm sure you'd still be able to find a way to get out of the way. I mean, if you couldn't do that much, then would that really be speed worth bragging about? It's a bit weird that you seem reluctant to do something that basic."

"I-"

"I mean, I'm speaking with nothing but the utmost respect here, so please don't get me wrong and think that I'm trying to insult you or anything of the sort, but it seems to me like you might just be scared."

"Very well. How about I show you?"

"Really? What an honour!"

Her acting skills were limited. As she spoke those words, she readied herself. Silently, she looked up and thought.

"Yup, this guy's full of himself. That's how guys that think they're guaranteed to win always are. I only got this chance of
I'll give it everything, just to blow you away in one shot!"

DPSG approached from the front.

At the very last second, she threw out as many fireworks as she feasibly could. Piling attack upon attack spontaneously and explosively, Gleton sought to utterly annihilate any last trace of her target.

All was engulfed in flame, almost comparable to the rising conflagration that had broken out just moments prior.

She had no chance of escaping herself. The blast launched her backwards, into a wall. She had not been spared from such a dangerous attack. Her only saving grace was the high blast resistance of her armour. It had just barely held up.

She breathed out a sigh of relief.

Then she saw him. DPSG stood over her, completely unharmed. Not even a speck of ash had touched him.

"H-how?"

"Did you really think that I'd attack from the front just because you asked me to? Perhaps such a tactic would have worked on an ordinary man, but unfortunately for you I'm a genius! There's no way the same trick would work on me twice!"

"But that was the first time I'd tried it!?"

Away from them, the battle of Lotus continued.

The flames had roared higher and higher, until eventually completely breaking away. This was not before they had brought destruction to their surroundings, setting several buildings alight.

Standing in the midst of the smoke and the flames, he had lost sight of the enemy leader.

His surroundings were dyed in the smoke, obscuring his vision.

That was until he heard a single set of footsteps behind him. He turned. Instead of finding his target, he found a knife about to wedge itself into his neck.

He swung his gunlance upwards. The knife pierced his armour, but failed to get any further before it was deflected.

Mailwulf was there.

By the time that Lotus' finger squeezed the trigger, Mailwulf had already dashed away. He gracefully weaved away from the dense cluster of bullets, running off while still checking to see Lotus' reaction.

"I know he can run faster than that, I've seen him do it. So this is clearly a trap, he wants me to follow."

He considered this for only a moment.

"Fine. I was getting bored of wandering around. If you're going to lead me straight to your boss, then I'll gratefully accept the invitation."

He took off running. For the duration of the chase, he barely kept up with Mailwulf.

After turning what felt like several dozen corners, all looking identical, Mailwulf ended up at a dead end. Three rather tall buildings converged at a single point, leaving that spot of the alley wedged between them.

Without needing to waste any time, they immediately understood the situation.

The only way out was to run back past Lotus. But having expended this much energy to continue chasing his target, Lotus would not permit him to be released without first paying a price. With that in mind, he began to charge up a wyvern's fire.

Mailwulf too, recognised that he wouldn't be allowed to go past Lotus. Fire did not scare him, as much as the idea of losing without being of use to his leader did.

With that fear weighing on him, he found a new way out.

"What- are you-"

Lotus stammered, watching Mailwulf scramble up the walls nearby. There shouldn't have been enough there to grasp hold of, but by using the close proximity of the three buildings he was able to pull himself upwards.

This frantic attempt to defy gravity ended with him throwing himself through the lowest window.

"You little pest!"

Yelling that, Lotus swung his gunlance around and used it to blast himself upwards. With no time to waste, he blasted through the wall to continue pursuing Mailwulf.

He landed and began to chase once again, seeing his target right in front of him. At that moment, something interrupted him.

A blunt object crashed into him. A rock. A large rock being held by someone.

Griffin had taken him by surprise with a rock to the back of the head.

By conventional logic, there was no way that a rock should have been enough to leave any kind of dent in a hunter's armour, forged from the parts of monsters. But Lotus could not even think to apply that logic, as his mind had been left scrambled.

His balance tipped over. He felt as though he was destabilising.

Somehow, that rock was capable of doing such a thing to him. He didn't understand why or how. But this state would only last for a few moments longer.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku that followed Griffin attacked Lotus with a rock of its own. As Lotus staggered to the side, Griffin prepared yet another attack with his rock. He was interrupted at the last second by a magnet spike smashing into him.

"Finally caught up to you."

The familiar voice brought Lotus back to reality. DPSG had arrived to smack Griffin out of his attack.

"What's the matter with you? You look as though you've been trampled by a Diablos."

"No, just a rock."

"Huh? That thing really does damage?"

Lotus didn't bother with a response, simply taking a fighting stance once more.

Before the two of them were the thief and the one with a rock. In that enclosed space, with barely any room for them to manoeuvre around, a skirmish broke out.

In such close proximity, there was nothing to do but clash into each repeatedly. Sparks flew. Attacks were met with further attacks. Climbing over each other to find further chances.

Even in such a cramped environment, DPSG somehow found the room to swing his magnet spike around with grace. But for all of that grace, very little was accomplished.

The thief irritatingly weaved his way through every attack. The pursuit continued on, growing increasingly frantic but still only idly swinging through the air.

DPSG's focus tightened, honing in on his target. Trying to single out even the slightest sign of a thread that he could pull to cause the other's evasion to collapse in on itself. As the search continued, the outside world fell away.

The only movements that mattered were those that would keep him in range to attack. All other information was deemed far too irrelevant to maintain for even a parasecond.

They turned a corner, still repeating the process.

With his vision so caught on a single point of focus, he failed to take in anything about his surroundings.

Its descent began at that moment. The slight gleam of it reflecting the light was DPSG's only clue as to what was approaching. A silver axe, with a blade of the same length as its target. Being swung down with all the might the towering giant could muster, aimed for DPSG.

It cut through the air without remorse, tearing through until it reached its target.

And then, the moment arrived.

The axe never reached its target. Something interrupted it.

At top speed, Lotus arrived there between them. He swung his shield around, brilliantly deflecting Mason's axe swing. The large attacker was knocked off balance, stumbling backwards.

Without even an instance of hesitation, Lotus took advantage of that wavering posture to slam the blade of his gunlance into his target's chest.

A blast slammed into him, point-blank. His already shaky balance proved no match for the force. His armour managed to hold strong, barely stopping the bullets before they could pierce through him.

The resulting hit was like a massive punch taken to the chest. He fell backwards, hitting the wall. But the light in his eyes remained clear to see.

From Lotus' point of view, that meant his work was not yet done.

He lurched forwards, closing the gap even faster than before. Without leaving even the slightest opportunity for Mason to take any course of retaliation, he blasted him in the chest.

The armour creaked in response to the impact of the shells, he slammed back into the wall behind him, but the giant still did not fall.

That necessitated another round. Lotus fired again.

It was unacceptable for one who had threatened his teammate to remain standing. Determined to correct this mistake, he unleashed another helping of shells into Mason's torso.

Blood was drawn. Mason's legs finally gave out, causing him to slump back against the cracked wall.

Lotus hit his gunlance against the ground to open it up, causing the empty rounds to fall to the side.

Mason glanced upwards, trying to rise to his feet to tackle Lotus. Standing would have taken too much time. Wasting any time would have thrown away the advantage of surprise. From that sitting position, he threw himself upwards to catch his opponent off guard.

But that burst of energy failed to break through Lotus' guard.

The helmet that covered his face had not given away that Lotus had not lost focus on his opponent for even a second, even while reloading.

In spite of the overwhelming differences in their sizes, the hunter ruthlessly bashed the poacher back into the wall with his shield.

In the same motion, his spare hand reloaded the gun and closed in, swinging it around to face Mason once again.

He slammed it into his target, squeezing the trigger. The initial blast sent Mason back to before his attack had begun. Lotus closed in, blasting him once more.

Blast after blast. Each slammed into him, cracking the wall further.

Each hammered itself further into Mason, in turn further hammering him in. Until the moment that the wall broke away.

Mason flew towards the ground, quickly leaving Lotus' field of vision.

As he caught his breath, he slowly regained awareness of his surroundings.

"Sorry, captain."

Instead of replying to DPSG, Lotus glanced around.

"Where did the other two go?"

At that moment, everything around them shook. It took less than a moment for DPSG to work out the answer as to why, but far longer for him to explain that reason to Lotus. The building itself was destabilising.

Unbeknownst to them, Aja and her Monoblos had finally finished digging beneath the building. It rapidly sunk into the ground, nothing left below to support it.

But, the attack was not yet over.

"Fire!"

At that cry, the bombardment began.

From one side, a countless number of fireworks smashed into the side of the building. It was like dropping a body into a pool of carnivorous fish. Each blast tore into the building, as each were alive and desperate to prove the worth of their existences.

The other side's bombardment was far less in number, but was by no means less destructive. Fire breath blasted the side of the building. Slightly above it, a cannonball connected and tore through before exploding.

The sudden attacks tore through the building's structure, leaving it unable to continue standing. It was only a moment before its collapse began, falling away into the ground.

The call to fire had not come from Sacred herself.

Her Bishaten flapped its wings as instructed, keeping the one who had said those words in the air.

Gleton had not yelled it as an order, she would never dare do such a thing to her saviour, but as a way of psyching herself up.

Sacred did not react, only looking on at the destruction before her, she, the escaped poachers standing nearby, all stayed around to watch. Only Gleton was on the other side of the building.

What separated them was quickly falling, completely disappearing from existence. After just a few seconds there was nothing there that could've been considered a building, the only proof of its existence being rubble and a large cloud of dust.

That dust clouded the area, obscuring what remained from view. That opaque space instilled a sense of uncertainty in the heart of one of the observers.

She knew that she shouldn't ask. Somehow, without any logic behind it, she recognised that fact. Yet, before she even realised that her lips were moving, Gleton asked a simple question.

"Did we get them?"

Flying several meters above the ground, apart from her allies, with only a monster for company, Gleton should have not expected any kind of reply.

And yet, the words were delivered to her.

"If you have to ask… then you should already know that it didn't work, shouldn't you?"

The cloud parted, giving way to Doctor Professor Scientific Genius flying forwards while holding onto his weapon.

"My magnet spike's still locked onto your monster. What kind of idiot would forget an important detail like that?"

Gleton leaned forwards, gathering up all the fireworks she hadn't

"What kind of idiot throws away a surprise attack just to call others an idiot!?"

One single, concentrated blast. With her target being gracious enough to reveal himself, flying straight forwards, it only seemed polite to make sure to annihilate that pest in a single shot.

So, she reasoned. She brought forth as many fireworks as possible, setting them off.

Her opponent drew closer, reducing the distance from which she had to aim. Several dozen fireworks all pointed at a single spot.

It was only at just the last moment before setting her fireworks free, that she heard something.

"Not ours."

The sudden new voice broke her focus. It came from slightly above them both.

The shock caused her to refocus. Once more, she took in her full surroundings. Just above, something caught her eye. Lotus had blasted through the sky with his gunlance.

That gunlance was now ready to fire once more, something that she took notice of as it was pointed towards the fireworks she had lit up.

To those standing on the other side of the cloud, nothing could be seen. Until that moment, when an enormous explosion tore through the air. The idly floating dust was ripped from its place, revealing the two hunters that remained there.

Lotus and DPSG landed.

"Well, captain? What did you think of my escape plan?"

"It was far too slow.."

"S-slow?"

"Yes, slow. For all your bragging about that magnet spike of yours, it barely got us out of that building before it collapsed on us."

"T-that's not the magnet spike's fault. Of course it's going to be slowed down when I have to carry you out with me! Your armour and your gunlance, they're both too heavy!"

"It was still too slow, is my point."

"It would've been much faster if I'd just left you to die. Would you have preferred that?"

"I guess not. Alright, fine. It was a good escape. But I won't ever be relying on it again."

He looked ahead, to his enemies on the other side of the fallen building.

"Just five left to go."

---

Just a few seconds later, a short distance away, something was rapidly approaching the ground.

It resembled a comet, only the size of a person. Its course of flight had long since spiralled out of control, not that it had been in control since the start.

It crashed into the ground, tearing up chunks of it as it skimmed across it. Finally, the descent came to an end.

From that fallen shape, a strange sound began to emit. It was an arrhythmic, off-pitch sound. Any observer would have taken more than a few seconds to recognise that it was the sound of a woman laughing.

Finally proving that she was a human, the woman who had come from the sky managed to begin standing back up.

As Gleton rose to her feet.

"I'm a fireworks expert, there's no way that an explosion could kill me!"

Her armour was highly resistant to blasts. Even still, it had been heavily burnt and was crumbling away in places.

In spite of all that preparation, the explosion had still left her burnt, her landing had broken some bone though she had yet to determine which.

She stumbled back towards the battlefield Instead of taking any time to focus on that, she set back towards the battlefield.

She was alive. Regardless of the state of her body, she could still move. That was all she needed to continue onwards.
With that in mind, she set out to rejoin the fight.

"Impure bastards like you… I won't let you stand in the way of Sacred's world. You're just stepping stones, and then when I've finally taken you out she'll finally reward me with-!"

Something thumped into the back of her head. A moment later she was already on the ground, unconscious from the tranq shot.

"Sorry, but I can't let you go ahead. It'd be a real problem for us."

The attacker opened his heavy bowgun to replace the shot he'd just expended.

He turned his head, seeing another series of explosions set off.

"They're really getting fired up over there. I guess I better start playing my part, too."

---

"Still too tepid!"

Sacred yelled as her Teostra carried her out of the way of a wyvern's fire.

She and Lotus were face to face, fighting in the recently created ruins of a tower.

As it had been ordered to before, the Teostra surged towards Lotus. He failed to perfectly block its charge

He weaved through its attempt to bite him and swung his lance upwards.

"She can only fire one shot at a time. That's the trade off for that ridiculous firepower. One shot, and she has to reload. In theory, that should make the ideal time to strike when she's reloading, but that monster and those followers are there to prevent that. Even if I get past that…"

Sacred blocked the strike with the side of her cannon, before swinging it down at Lotus.

A gunner swinging around their weapon as though it were a melee weapon was, in the majority of cases, seen as a desperate last resort. Using the weapon as it was never intended to be used. An option only for those caught without bullets left.
It was the sign of inexperience, inadequate preparation, or any other kind of failure. The signature technique of those doomed to fail.

There was nothing of note about the melee abilities of Sacred's gun that would have warranted using it like a club. Even though it was far larger and far more destructive when fired, by all other means it could have been called an ordinary bowgun.

There was only one aspect with which it stood out.

Her extraordinary strength.

It should have been obvious. She was over two meters tall. No one could lug around a weapon like that if they weren't strong enough.

But since she was still using a bowgun, her personal strength had been overshadowed by her two followers of similar sizes that stuck to melee weapons.

The act of carrying a weapon alone was not enough to display strength to others. Only in retrospect could he come to understand the strength that would have been required to aim and fire that cannon.

It only became clear when she swung it around. The end of that bowgun was practically a club.

Lotus blocked, being pushed further into the ground.

"You're good… too good. That's exactly why I won't ever be able to get along with you."

He pulled down the trigger. Scorching flames surged forth from the mouth of his weapon. More flames blasted the area.

"Monster, retreat!"

"Don't run!"

Lotus used his gunlance to propel himself after her.

However.

Every survival instinct housed within Lotus' body simultaneously flared in, telling him that his end would surely arrive if he remained as he was.

The process of firing had already begun.

The cannon was flaring to life, ready to deliver destruction to the world before it.

With so little distance between them and so little time to adjust, this was beyond his current means. His only hope for survival was to go a level higher.

He quickly reached out to flip a switch surrounded by warning labels.

Far stronger flames launched Lotus out of the area just before it was pulverised.

As he flew away, the ground opened up where he was about to land.

Before he could do anything to save himself, Lotus fell into an underground network of tunnels.

He saw Aja's Monoblos dashing towards him.

"Now isn't the time!"

Flames burst out of the tunnel as Lotus wildly attacked with in it, until he flew back out into the open air.

That was when the second part of the attack began.

From the shadows, another attacker approached. Brandishing a silver axe, the towering intellectual swung it down at Lotus.

Lotus stepped back out of the way of the axe, looking up at Mason.

"You again? Didn't you learn last time?"

"A man of my prestige learns more every day."

"Doesn't seem like it to me."

Their skirmish began.

With no time to waste, Lotus went right for the victory.

Mason swung his axe, but before anything could reach him Lotus was already there, at point blank range.

He swung his gunlance overhead,

Once more, an intense wyvern's fire roared forth.

As he was caught up in the flames, Mason yelled out in pain.

"What's wrong!? I thought that you all loved the flames!?"

Lotus continued pushing forwards as Mason stumbled back, unable to escape.

"It's-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the axe was swung once more. Just catching its gleam from the corner of his eye, Lotus hurriedly stepped back.

It wasn't enough.

His backwards movement wasn't enough to get him clear of the attack. The axe cut through his chestplate, slicing into his stomach. Blood flew through the air.

The sharp pain caused Lotus to lose his balance, stumbling backwards onto the ground.

"Despite what you may claim, I have learnt something today. You rely on those flames for everything. So, I made a bet that you'd be helpless when that gunlance overheats."

Mason properly stood back up, covered in burns. Ignoring the pain he was in, he started to walk towards where Lotus was.

Lotus tried to move, but the pain prevented him from doing anything

"You shouldn't move when you're bleeding. Crouch down for a few seconds, or else your wounds will open up again."

Mason continued his walk, dragging the axe along the ground.

"And in the meantime… I'm not meant to kill you, but as long as I stop short of that then anything goes. It would certainly be a good idea to stop you from fighting. Let's see here… how about an arm?"

Lotus looked up with seething hatred, unable to move. Mason sneered as he raised that silver axe overhead, preparing to strike.

"Captain!"

Several dozen meters away, DPSG was occupied fighting against Griffin and Mailwulf.

But he just managed to notice Lotus' plight.

Without any kind of hesitation or consideration for anything else, he set forth to save him.

He set his magnet spike to repel him away from the Gypceros it was currently locked onto.

But-

An annoying laugh rang out from Griffin.

"I won't let you run away!"

The gunlance overheating had set off a chain of reactions.

Mason attacked Lotus.

DPSG tried to fly to stop Mason.

And now, Griffin was taking advantage of that opening to attack DPSG from behind.

If he succeeded, then DPSG would never reach his target in time.

Even though it was occurring at a blistering pace, every participant in the fight seemed to recognise that fact.

Which is what made it all the more shocking when something crashed into Griffin. He was knocked completely off-course, causing his chance at attacking to pass him by.

DPSG flew away uninterrupted, crashing into Mason to knock him off balance.

Griffin sat back up and started writhing with pain while clutching his left leg, making an uncomfortable noise, at which point a tranquilliser hit the side of his head and knocked him out completely.

The four poachers that were left turned their heads. They spent no time concerned for their comrade.

One fact had been made abundantly clear.

There was a third, yet unseen, enemy.

Lotus and DPSG too, turned their gazes towards that spot. Knowing that their mistake had finally forced him to reveal himself.

"Tear every building in the area down! Drive the sniper out!"

Sacred yelled that out, urging her side into motion.

She fired at the building the shot had come from, causing half of it to collapse.

"I won't let you!"

Lotus took off running, now finally able to move again.

As he dashed, he thought to himself.

"My gunlance is still overheated… just how many seconds has it been? I have to at least slow her down. He can probably escape the other three on his own, but she's the most capable of destruction out of all of them."

DPSG ran along from the side and posed a question.

"Captain, it'll be a minute before your gunlance cools off, won't it?"

"Yeah."

Without providing any further words, DPSG flew ahead of him.

"Wait!"

Lotus noticed a presence behind him and rolled out of the way, turning to see Mason's axe smash into the ground.

"One minute! Is that right!? One minute without any flames from you! No blasting away now!"

"Give up already! Just how are you still standing?"

"Did you think that your little outburst back there could take me down? Such a brutish attack could never defeat someone enlightened like me!"

"What?"

"If I just said that I'm tough, would that make it simple enough for you to understand? But still, it certainly did hurt. I still haven't paid you back for Bort, and now I owe you for that pain too. Don't worry, I'll include all the interest."

He took a breath.

"Monster, crush him!"

At his command, the Rusted Duramboros stepped in to attack Lotus.

It swung its tail around, forcing him to duck underneath.

"One minute. I only have to last one minute."

DPSG caught up to Sacred, catching the preacher's gaze as he flew towards her.

He tried swinging his magnet spike for her head. The attack was blocked with minimal effort.

"But lasting for an entire minute… certainly does seem intimidating right now."

"Oh, it's you… you aren't of any interest to me. There's no spark to you, you're nothing but firewood."

"I don't fully get what you're preaching about, but I think I can guess that you're referring to my fighting spirit. You'd be right. I'm a researcher by nature. I'm only fighting because that's the fastest way to get to the fifth zone."

"That humility alone is admirable. Then let me grant you mercy. Monster, relieve this unfortunate man of his life."

The Teostra began to charge towards DPSG, who rolled out of the way. As he did, Sacred continued speaking.

"Just to be clear, I wasn't referring to your ability to fight. What I mean is that, no matter whether we fight or not, someone like you won't ever rise to anything. If you're burnt, then you'll just burn away and leave nothing behind. You won't come to understand what I have to say. You're that sort of person. If you're only here to fuel the fire, then that makes you firewood."

"Is that so? You must have strong faith to say something like that. Personally speaking, I couldn't manage something like that. There's just no way I could assert something so confidently without first knowing everything there is to know.

At that time, Mailwulf and his Gypceros were dashing through the halls at top speed, looking for any sign of the sniper.

Something whizzed past his head, exploding just a few meters away.

A second later, he deduced that it must have been a bounce bomb launched in his general direction.

"So you're over there! Unfortunately for you, you failed to catch me! Now let's settle this!"

Aja and her Monoblos were rushing through the building, frantically looking for any signs of the sniper.

Something shifted. A bullet slammed into her armour.

Without a word, she turned towards the location that shot had come from.

"Monster, this way. Charge right ahead."

DPSG was forced to put his all into just dodging the attacks directed at him, leaving no time for any kind of retaliation.

Without pause, without end, Sacred's attacks continued.

Going from claw swipe to fire breath to cannon shot to a cannon beign swung in his direction without any kind of reprieve, DPSG was quickly nearing his limit.

All the while, Lotus still struggled to get away from the man with the axe and his Duramboros.

DPSG's stamina gradually dropped as he dodged between the attacks.

They could both hear the sounds of the poachers charging through the building across from them, gradually coming closer to uncovering their hidden ally.

"Do you see this, Lotus? This is the result of your half-hearted nature. If you had been free of it, then your flame could have burned brightly enough to escape this situation."

She closed in on DPSG, who was powerless to resist.

He tried going up, to avoid the Teostra's claws.

She had expected that.

The barrel of Sacred's cannon was slammed into his chest, pinning him against the nearest wall.

With every shot fired, it had heated up. Now pressed to his chest, it could be heard burning through the armour he wore.

The armour was light. It had to be for optimal movement.
All the easier to burn.

"Lament your fate! Curse it! Only once you've come to resent it all, can you be set free!"

Her loud voice just barely managed to drown out DPSG's screams of pain.

In the building above them, a flash of bright light erupted from one of the windows.

"It seems that Mailwulf found your other member."

Lotus continued to struggle against the attacks pinning him down.

The minute, still, was not over. Those agonising seconds stretched out into an infinity each.

It was in those seconds stretched out to infinity that another flash of light broke out, almost half the building's length away from the original.

Sacred looked up in confusion. Mason's assault also paused as he looked up in confusion.

It was too far away from the initial flash of light. Several rooms away, and on a different floor to the original.

Even to those not intimately familiar with the movement speed of a Gypceros or the building's layout, it was easy to tell that it was an impossible distance for one to cross in the time it had been given.

Sacred finally relaxed her attack, setting DPSG free to slump against the ground.

"What is going on up there?"

Something rushed towards her, sticking just below her vision and stopping a short distance away to take aim.

Before Sacred could think to fire back, order any commands or dodge, the shot had already been fired.

A stake had pierced through Sacred's abdomen and embedded itself into the wall behind her, leaving her pinned to it.

"You do have my apologies. Those were just a few little tricks of mine. Setting up a few tripwires, rigging the spare gun I brought with me and a few bombs I brought to automatically fire off when they got a response.

Both traps were designed to bait any intruders into thinking I was there, only to automatically set off a flash bomb once they got too close. And while they were busy with that, I snuck out to set up for a chance at an attack like this."

He smirked.

"Sorry, really. It was all trickery."

Sacred looked down at the stake for a few seconds, before looking back to the new arrival.

A man in sharp looking armour, holding a heavy bowgun that was still cooling off after having fired a stake.

"Just who are you?"

"Ah, there's really so much to apologise for. For arriving late and for not introducing myself first, I'm sorry."

Saying that, the man freed his right hand to put it to his chin.

"Bal, the tactician of the Starward Diamonds. I've been watching this battle from afar for quite some time now, but I figured it was about time I intervened."

Sacred tried to struggle against the stake that had her pinned to the wall.

"Oh, young lady, I wouldn't advise moving too much right now. If that stake gets pulled out, it won't be long before you die from blood loss."

"Why would you tell me that? Are you not here to kill me?"

"Nah, I'd rather avoid that. Capturing gets us the same reward in the end, so I'm all for the more peaceful path."

The minute cooldown finally ended and Lotus regained use of his gunlance, blasting away to where Bal was standing.

"You're late."

Bal glanced over to DPSG.

"Don't tell me things I already know."

Mason started to run towards them to catch up.

"Now, now, I wouldn't recommend that. I know the others are listening too, the shock should've worn off for those two."

He paused.

"You care about your boss, don't you? If I'm right, then it'd be in your best interest to peacefully surrender. Your boss might just survive with things as they are, but she certainly wouldn't survive another shot. And I certainly think I'm quick enough to shoot her before you can reach me. I said that I'd rather not kill you. That doesn't mean I won't."

Sacred looked down.

"I see. So it must be that I'll die if I remove this?"

"That's right. If the shock doesn't kill you, I'm sure you'll bleed out."

"For someone that hides and tricks others, you're very honest. For someone that kills for a living, you seem hesitant to cause harm. Perhaps we could call that kindness."

She looked directly at him.

"That sort of half-heartedness is revolting. Perfectly befitting one without light."

"What? Hey, I just said not to move, didn't I?"

Without even the slightest trace of hesitation, Sacred tore herself free of the

"Are you crazy!?"

"Teostra, burn me for a few seconds."

Before the others could do anything, the Teostra bathed her in flames.

They engulfed her for only a few seconds, her outline could be seen standing back up through the flames.

The flames cleared away to reveal her standing tall, the same as she had been. With one key difference.

The blast of flames had cauterised her wound, causing the bleeding to stop.

"The first time I was graced by these flames, they took away my sense of pain. I no longer needed it. Even something like this… barely feels like anything to me. But you do have my thanks. As I am without pain, I may not have realised that I was bleeding out if you hadn't warned me. That's enough to make up for your lateness, I'll grant your forgiveness for that alone."

She picked up her bowgun again.

"That's enough talk. Shall we continue from where we left off?"

She reloaded her cannon, pointing it at them.

The destruction began once more.

---

"I think… we should be safe here, just for a minute."

They had just barely managed to escape.

They placed DPSG down, just barely able to move.

They'd carried him out of the path of danger, placing him here.

Bal looked at the Lotus before him and remembered.

The time when they had first met.

That uncertain, unstable boy.

One who could only destroy. One who looked like he would soon collapse in on himself.

"I think that we'd be best off retreating. I don't think that estimated hunter rank of hers was wrong. We're in over our heads. If anything, I'm even more scared of the three that had higher ranks than her."

Bal paused, glancing back at the poachers that were now searching for them.

"She can't be reasoned with, she can't be stopped with pain, she's always spouting off some nonsense. I can't see this as worth risking our lives for."

"If you're going to retreat, then leave me here."

DPSG's words made Lotus turn in shock.

"Are you insane? There's no chance of us abandoning you."

"I can barely move right now… Just that little bit of damage was enough to take me out. The odds of escaping successfully with myself in tow are incredibly low. I doubt that woman will let you go so easily."

"So what?"

"Captain… I know more than anyone how weak I am. I know that, I accept that. But the one thing I won't accept is being a burden."

He stared forwards.

"If you want to fight her, then fight. If you want to retreat, then retreat. But don't you dare let me influence that decision. You're the one leading. I'm only here to follow along. That's what we agreed on."

"You think I wouldn't? Don't order me to do something so obvious."

"You're right. That should be obvious. That's the sort of person you are. So what's with you now?"

"Since she started talking to you, something's been off with you. Why are you being shaken up by her? You're supposed to lead us without wavering. So why are you wavering now? Is she right?"

"Of course it isn't! She's just a fanatic! They're all delusional fanatics, drunk on weird beliefs about power. I'm honestly shocked that you'd even suspect that I'm seriously listening to her."

"Both of you, calm down. We're still surrounded by enemies, what good is arguing going to do us?"

Bal lowered his arms and took a breath before continuing.

"I think that your assessment that we won't be able to get away is right. But I'm not heartless enough to just leave you here. That magnet spike can get you away, so use that. Get somewhere safe."

Bal put his hand to his chin, lowering his voice to a murmur.

"Any attempts to signal us would just result in the poachers spotting it too, so that has to be out. Even if we agree on a meeting place, there's the risk of them following us. I think the best course of action would be for you to try making it out of the city on your own, but that's not safe."

He paused.

"Alright. We'll leave him behind while we go to stall the poachers. If you end up in danger, then send out a signal for us. If it's safe, then we'll hear nothing. In any case, we'll only be dealing with them for a few minutes before we retreat. How does that sound?"

"I can accept that. There's no more problems, are there?"

DPSG kept his mouth shut, but nodded.

The two of them walked away, leaving the scientist behind.

"Bal. What do you think?"

Bal turned.

There was no need for Bal to ask what Lotus was referring to. But he didn't know how to give a direct answer to that question, so he still twisted things away.

"I don't even know what she said to you. I can't read lips or anything."

"She said that I have the potential to be like her, but I'm being held back by something."

"...We've come a long way, haven't we?"

Bal turned his head towards the sky.

"Since I first met you… since we first formed this group… that all seems like it was so long ago now."

"That doesn't have anything to do with this."

"It does. I was just thinking about how different you were back when I first met you, compared to now. Even though you had all that talent, it's like you didn't have any life in you. But something shifted, didn't it? I think I have a hint as to why, but if I say it then you'll get embarrassed and lash out, so maybe it's for the best if I just don't say it. There's some things that are just better left unsaid."

"That's the exact same as just saying it, isn't it?"

"It's not at all. Anyway… Lotus. Generally speaking, I've learnt that it's not a good idea to ask about why someone became a hunter. It's another one of those things best left unsaid. They're all important, but not all of them are the sorts of things that other people are meant to hear about. It's like that for you, isn't it? It always felt that way. I might know about the reason you became like this after I met you, but I haven't got a clue what happened to you before then."

Lotus did not offer any kind of reply. Bal continued on speaking.

"But I don't need to know. I don't want to know. It doesn't matter to me. At all. I'm not saying that because I don't care, I'm saying that because I do. If it's something that you want to keep hidden, I think you should keep hiding it. I can't say whether she's right or not. The Lotus that I know, the Lotus that everyone else has come to know, isn't like what she's talking about. But we can't say whether she's wrong or not. Only you can. She certainly can't, either."

Upon receiving no answer again, Bal sighed.

"Urgh. I was hoping to at least get a rebuttal about how I shouldn't prattle on about obvious things, but you're too out of it for even something like that. I'll just say this. Back when we first met I decided that I'd follow you, wherever you ended up going. Even though you've changed a lot since then, I'm still here. Even if you change again, I'll still be there."

"And why is that?"

"That's because- damn it. Get back!"

A continuous blast of flames scorched through the space that they had just been occupying.

Wings flapped. A great, intimidating shape crashed into the ground. The flames gave way for their ruler.

Its claws dug into the ground. Its small wings ceased to flap.
Its mane, the same colour as the flames it spewed, was what caught their eyes first.

The Teostra stood over them, Sacred atop its back looking down on them.

Her cannon was already aimed at them.

"I found you. At last."

"You've got some horrible timing."

The fight began once more.

---

"Inside my head, something's ringing. Her words keep playing back. This guilt, these doubts, they all keep echoing back to me. This ringing static keeps on growing louder. No. Just push it back down. It doesn't matter. None of it matters. The only thing that does is the reality before me, so I just have to deal with that. Let's keep going."

---

Lotus was slammed into the ground by the Teostra's claws.

Bal turned, trying to take aim to get the target off him.

An axe slammed into the ground, blocking his path.

"The tactician… I've been interested in fighting you."

"Oh. The musclehead guy."

"That is incorrect. I am a man of both brawns and brain."

"Oh. My mistake. Can I go now?"

"Your captain's barbaric tactics failed to impress me. I'm hoping that you will be able to provide me with a more riveting match."

"If we're just comparing wits, then wouldn't a game be better? I'll play with you all you want if you just surrender now."

"Hmm. A bit disappointing. That's a disappointing answer, mister tactician."

"Did you already forget my name?"

"Strength without intelligence is barbaric. Intelligence without strength is pathetic. The truly powerful need both the mind to think of plans and the power to execute them!"

As he was yelling that, Bal shot sticky ammo at him.

The explosion engulfed his top half completely. But even so, Mason still stood there.

"Too straightforward. Too plain. Too unenlightened. Monster! Crush this man!"

The Rusted Duramboros whirred to life once more, swinging around with the aim of cleaving Bal in half. As it did, Mason brandished his axe and charged forward.

Dodging away from those two attacks, Bal thought to himself.

"This is exactly why I don't like fighting other people. Up close I'm as good as useless. And what's worse, they've realised that too."

He took a few more steps back, only stopping once he felt the ground tremble. He rolled back towards Mason.

A Monoblos burst out from the ground, missing him by a matter of centimeters.

Aja jumped off the monster's back, swinging her drill towards his face. Bal swerved back, narrowly avoiding each swing.

As he backed off, he felt something go through his side.

A knife. He realised a second later that a knife had cut through him.

Mailwulf was there as well, sticking to the sidelines.

"You shouldn't let your guard down like that. Someone might take advantage of it."

Those two are back for revenge, he silently noted.

"Wow, all three of you want a piece of me? It sure is nice being popular."

He took a breath, analysing the situation in further detail.

"They've realised I'm the weak link, so they're going all in on eliminating me first. Or is that just because their boss wants something special from Lotus? The reason doesn't matter that much, results are the same either way. All three of them are going to focus on me, to prevent us from meeting back. Tsk. I just said about following him anywhere, and now you're already going out of your way to prove me wrong?"

Even though speaking those words would have given everything away, he still needed to yell them within his mind. Just to reassure himself.

"Just hold out for a bit longer! Just a few more minutes, then we can pull back!"

---

Lotus took the full brunt of the Teostra's charge, having failed to raise his shield in time.

The full force of the elder dragon slammed into his chest, knocking any breath he had left out of him. He felt something crack, though he had no idea what and no time to care.

Lotus quickly made an attempt at retaliation, aiming his gunlance towards the Teostra's head and firing.

He managed to push it back enough to get free, next turning his aim towards Sacred.

As he fired, he was attacked from the side by Mailwulf. His aim went off course, the bullets barely grazing her.

Without giving him any chance to act further, Sacred fired towards him. The cannonball just missed him, but the blast caught him.

His vision blurred slightly. His body was growing sluggish.

The static was growing ever louder.

"Captain!"

Something broke through.

A familiar voice.

---

"This was pretty helpful, thank you."

Bal and Lotus had come there to find out more about the Frontier Grounds, having grown interested in reaching the end.

"I'm always happy to explain about the Frontier Grounds, no matter who asks. If you have any other inquiries, then I'd be happy to answer in the future."

Lotus looked back at him, cocking his head.

"Are you not going to come with us?"

The researcher pointed at himself in confusion.

"What, me?"

The researcher paused.

"I… I can't fight, or anything like that."

"But you said that it was

"That's not it. I mean, that's the rules, but generally everyone

"Then why don't you just learn?"

"You're really oversimplifying all this."

"But you want to see what lies out there, don't you?"

"You're the one who went on and on about everything that's lying there, all the rumours that have been carried back without any verification for them. About how it's so dangerous that it might still never be fully documented within our lifetimes."

"Yeah, but… it's a place for hunters. Someone like me wouldn't be able to survive it."

"Would you really be okay using that excuse for the rest of your life?"

"Lotus, lay off him. Don't be so rude to someone who agreed to help us out."

"I just don't get it. I couldn't resign myself to spend the rest of my life giving up like that

"Yeah. You wouldn't be able to get it, so just leave it."

"Wouldn't it be even more rude to leave him to waste away here?"

"Wa-waste!? Seriously, you need to learn how to talk to other people!

There's nothing wrong with being a guild researcher. If we didn't have them, do you even realise how much more difficult our jobs would be?"

"You're the ones who do all the physical work, I'll get uncomfortable if you act so humble towards someone like me. You don't have to be nice enough to invite me either. Really, people like you going out of your way for someone as ordinary as me is just-"

"You're meant to be ordinary? Don't lie to me."

"Huh?"

"You know more about the Frontier Grounds than anyone I've ever met. We've asked about ten researchers by now, but you're the first to be able to tell us anything useful. Isn't that exceptional?"

"Oh. is that so? But still-"

"Besides, you're clearly not getting something important here."

"I'm not interested in seeing what's there, unlike you. The reason I want to go to the end of the world is to see how far I can go. That doesn't mean that I'll just back down when something stands in my way. I'll keep on blasting through until I reach it."

"If you want to see what lies there, then you can just follow after me. It doesn't make a difference to me if you do or not. Does that not work for you?"

Lotus walked away without waiting for an answer.

"...Following his path, huh?"

The next day, as they were getting prepared to set out for their next destination, that same researcher ran towards the group.

"I've changed my mind! Let me join you!"

"There. I knew you weren't meant for this sort of life."

Lotus started to walk away.

"We won't throw you some big celebration. Just follow after us, like we agreed."

"Naturally."

He then paused for a few seconds before recalling something important.

"Also from now on I've decided to just go by Doctor! I think it'd be cool to be a hunter that's called that."

Lotus stopped his stride short to turn around with a look of unbridled disgust.

"There's absolutely zero chance of us ever calling you anything like that."

---

Doctor Professor Scientific Genius was standing there, now yelling to Lotus.

It was clear from a glance that he hadn't undergone any sort of miraculous recovery.
He was struggling to even stand.

And yet, even as his body continuously shook and convulsed in a constant struggle to remain upright, he continued to yell.

"You said that you'd blaze a trail through whatever stood in your way, didn't you!?"

DPSG almost fell over, but kept going.

"Is this what you call blazing a path!? This isn't what I followed you all this way to see, Captain! Take responsibility! If you lose then you're just the same as everyone else!"

He slowed again, hurrying to catch his breath.

"The man that I followed here wouldn't stop! He wouldn't let the words of someone like this slow him down! The captain that I want to follow wouldn't lose a fight like this, and he wouldn't run either!"

His breathing accelerated, gathering everything up for the finale.

"YOU'RE GOING TO GO ALL THE WAY TO THE END, NO MATTER WHAT, AREN'T YOU!? SO SHOW ME THE WAY AHEAD!"

He stopped.

"If you can't advance right now… then I'll help clear the way for you."

He drew his magnet spike.

Mailwulf and his Gypceros were already running towards him.

"A rousing speech. But you would do best to remain silent when our leader is teaching someone."

DPSG smiled, just as much as he could in that state.

"Just who I wanted to see."

The two crossed each other, each launching their own attacks. Mailwulf's knife tore through DPSG's side, while the Gypceros headbutted him.

The magnet spike grazed against the Gypceros, doing comparatively little.

"Alright, that's a wrap."

"What? Have you lost your mind?"

"It hit. So now I've got you."

"You really have… monster, another attack."

The Gypceros didn't move.

Mailwulf was baffled, trying desperately to shift the monster he had been assigned. But no matter what he tried, it could not budge.

"It hit. You're so evasive, that we haven't had a chance to properly hit you. But now that's all changed. You won't be able to dodge anymore. Rather, it might be more accurate to say that it doesn't matter whether you want to dodge anymore. The result won't change."

"What have you done!?"

"The magnet spike's special ability… once enough hits have been landed, the target is paralysed. Then…"

An orb of what Mailwulf could only assume was magnetic energy appeared at the end of the magnet spike.

"That's cheating!"

"You're exactly right, it is practically cheating! I'm overjoyed that you've finally come to realise it! You should spend your last remaining seconds of consciousness cursing the disparity between us! This is the inequality that only science can bring about! From the very moment that your Gypceros was marked, the only question left was when you would fall!"

DPSG rambled in full force, allowing him to fit in all these words before the orb he had created finally made contact with the Gypceros and exploded.

So close to the center of the blast, DPSG's voice could barely be heard. He knew that there was no way his voice would carry out of that place.

His words were not meant to

Everything that he felt in that moment simply overflowed, spilling out of his mouth in the form of words.

"Science really is wonderful!"

---

"Even when I told you to retreat, even though this stalling was for your sake and your sake alone, you still went against it to interfere. Even though you're so weak, you continue to insist on deriding me for not being strong enough. Deciding everything so one-sidedly, not even giving me the chance to argue back. You really are a fool. A fool who can do nothing but make noise. But if you're going to be that loud, I won't be able to hear that static anymore."

---

Lotus watched the destruction before him.

"You really are a pain. If you're going to go all this way, yell all of that…"

He then turned around, facing Sacred. Even though she was unable to see his face, she became certain that her opponent was smiling.

"...then what choice is there but to win?"

Lotus blasted ahead, ever more fierce than before.

Sacred was knocked back, being pushed through the nearest wall.

Bal dropped down next to him.

"Welcome back."

"No more time left to waste. Let's get on with this."

Lotus aimed his gunlance forwards.

"It won't even take five minutes."

Bal lazily used his free hand to point in the general direction of the three remaining poachers.

"Well, you heard him. There was a bit of confusion and a bit of hope lost on the way, but here's where things get serious. We'll be carving a path right through you now. Feel free to surrender whenever you'd like."

"Do you truly believe that your words will change anything? Yelling encouragement at each other, empty boasts, just what will they accomplish? Where will they lead you?"

"Shall we find out?"

The two Starward Diamonds set into motion simultaneously.

Lotus used a wyvern's fire to launch himself in the midst of the group, striking the ground to split them up.

Mason tried to swing his axe down to interrupt him, but a bullet intercepted his axe mid-attack, knocking him off balance.

Bal grinned.

Not wasting the chance he'd been bestowed, Lotus quickly swung his gunlance around to fire another round of shells into Mason's chest. The off-guard giant had no chance of preparing himself.

Sacred abruptly swivelled around. Her intent became clear as she squeezed the trigger, unleashing a cannonball in Bal's direction.

Recognising the incoming danger, his mind accelerated.

Not allowing Lotus even a second to lose focus, Aja closed in with her drill, forcing him to block.

"If I need to dodge out of the way of that, then I won't be able to do anything for a few seconds. That was probably her intent. It's not supposed to hit, it's meant to slow me down so they can tear into him while I'm down. Alright. That leaves one correct answer. Though I don't like it."

Less than a second elapsed in the time it took for those thoughts. Finishing them up, Bal broke into a dash forwards, still holding onto his bowgun.

As the cannonball neared him, he dove to the ground. It passed over his head. Bal quickly looked through the scope and fired again, this time hitting Sacred's Teostra.

Lotus counterattacked. He pointed the gun portion of his weapon to the drill and fired. The bullets crashed into the still-spinning drill, pushing them both back.

As Aja skidded backwards, her attention was stolen by Bal firing while lying on the ground.

"He didn't die from that? What a pain. Alright. Monster, charge after that gunner."

The Monoblos began running with the intent of trembling Bal. Seeing this, he immediately recognised that he had no chance of survival if he stayed in his current position.

"Coming right for me… these monsters followed orders without question.

Even when the user's taken down or can't speak for some other reason, they'll just keep at the last instruction they were given. Can probably use that. Is there something wrong with my head today? I keep coming up with such dangerous ideas."

He took off running. Not away, not around, but directly towards the oncoming Monoblos.

The two drew closer to each other.

To those observing, it was baffling. Once again, he chose to put himself in more danger than necessary.

At the very last second he rolled to the side, going around the Monoblos' charge.

The Monoblos came to a skidding halt before eventually turning around to chase after him. But instead of going to the side again, the pursued hunter continued to run straight ahead. RIght towards the others.

But he kept on running ahead. Right towards the two poachers.

The Monoblos' charge would not stop, no matter the circumstance. No matter what was in front of it, it would continue so long as that way led to its target.

Aja had realised her mistake from the second he rolled past it,

"Monster, stop there!"

"Be reasonable. No way it can just stop so suddenly. It's physically impossible."

As he said, the Monoblos' attempts to slow down were futile, it slammed into Aja before it could come to a halt.

Lotus and Sacred continued on with their fight.
Flame was met with more flame in turn.

Lotus knew that he couldn't match her firepower, but he still did not falter.
Without any more hesitation, he continued down the path he had chosen, weaving through the mixture of attacks from the cannon and the Teostra.

Each attack that missed blasted through the surroundings, serving as a reminder of what would happen when they finally did overpower each other.

Bal took aim, watching the mutual demolition take place.

A roar caused his focus to quickly fall away.

Mason was back up, charging towards Bal with his axe at the ready.

Bal quickly raised his gun again and started firing, but that wasn't enough to deter the axe wielder.

Realising that there was little chance of stopping him in his tracks, Bal instead sheathed his gun and prepared to roll out of the way.

Sacred spared a glance over at those two.

"Are you not concerned for that tactician of yours?"

"No. My role is to blaze the path, so I can't afford to waste any time looking back. I already know, without any doubt, that a fool of that level won't be enough to slow him down."

After finishing his sentence he intended to attack once more, but he felt faint tremors growing more intense. Instead of attacking, he used a wyvern's fire to quickly get out of the way.

Aja had regained control of her Monoblos, which now burst out from the ground.

Silently, the driller resumed her attack.

---

A swing of the axe grazed through Bal's armour, just a few centimeters from inflicting serious damage.

"You know, I really don't want to have to kill any of you guys."

"You take the lives of monsters for a living. Do you not think it's strange to hesitate to take a person's life, when you take the lives of monsters without any thought."

"Hm… I guess you sort of have a point there. Maybe killing monsters isn't that different to killing people. But I'm not really interesting in finding out. I think I'd just end up feeling bad about it later."

"Don't worry about that. You won't get the chance, regardless. Because…"

"Yeah, I get it. Cause I can't beat you, cause I'm gonna die, one of those sorts of lines, right?"

"You're an irritating one."

"Yes, thank you. I know, I know. It's appreciated. Talking is really all that an ordinary guy like me is good for. I don't think there's any tricks I can pull that'll beat you."

He sighed.

"I'd be more than willing to concede and run, but in this case… there's someone exceptional who I promised to follow after, and someone else on my team who just put on a hell of a good show. So I've got to put in a bit of extra effort here so I don't fall behind.."

He loaded his gun, pointing it forward.

"You're a tough guy, aren't you? I don't need an answer, the fact that you're still fighting is enough proof of that. So I'm trusting that you won't die from this."

Mason raised his axe, charging forward again.

The first round was fired directly into his kneecaps. He continued on, but once again Bal fired for the same spot.
Without any sign of ceasing, he continued to concentrate round upon round at that same point.

The disciple tried to push through the attacks, but this was to no avail. He soon fell down to one knee, leaving him open.

The rain of bullets did not let up.

It was wasteful. Uncharacteristically so, for someone who tried to make each shot count.

He'd abandoned all claims to thought, opting instead to overwhelm his opponent with sheer quantity attacks alone.

But this strategy proved effective.

Bullets repeatedly slammed into his helmet. His brain shook back and forth, disorienting

For just a second

Immediately he reached a conclusion. His attacker was reloading. This was his one chance

A bounce bomb slammed into him before his vision cleared up, knocking him back off guard.

"Can't let you escape this time."

"Monst-!"

A bullet slammed into his face, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"I won't let you call it over, either. You must've left it somewhere nearby thinking you could surprise me later, I'm afraid I can't give you the chance."

The rain resumed. Every slight opening given was only to bait leading into more damage.

Even a second of excessive deliberation would have run the risk of letting his prey change his destination, so Bal did not think about what he was firing.

What fuelled Bal could have been called determination or desperation. Regardless, the feeling pushed him to set new personal records for fire rate and reload speed.

"A plan this barbaric-" A hit to the face cut him off, pushing him back slightly. Mason continued to speak. "-won't ever-"

"You're right." Bal cut him off. "This is an idiot's way of winning."

Sticky ammo had hit his helmet. As bal said that, it detonated.
The blast knocked him backwards head-first, crashing directly into the ground.

"It's not always such a bad idea to go for the obvious solution. It's the most obvious for a reason, you understand? The reason that it springs to mind first for everyone is, generally, because it works most of the time. It might be nice in concept to come up with something graceful and unique, but if the situations call for it I think it's just as fine to win in a way that isn't at all graceful, like this show of brute force. But that's just my opinion on it. What are your thoughts? How was that for power? Feeling enlightened?"

Bal stared down at Mason, who hadn't so much as twitched.

"This guy loves to talk, so if he didn't respond to any of that that must mean he really is down."

He heard his name being called in the distance.

"Time to go."

---

"Bal! Get over here!"

Lotus was in the middle of dealing with Aja and her Monoblos.

Bal dropped down, running to join him.

At just a glance, from everything that he'd gathered about the situation, frome everything that he knew about his captain's fighting habits, Bal was able to figure out what to do next.

He began to charge up his heavy bowgun.

In sync, the two of them pointed their weapons forward.

Aja had already ordered her Monoblos to charge ahead, intent on crushing Lotus. The new arrival did nothing to deter her, it only doubled her resolve.

The two readied themselves and aimed their weapons forward, pressing them close enough that they were almost overlapping.

The second that the Monoblos was close enough, the attack scorched forth.

Hunter art: Quartet Apocalypse (50% power)

Two Wyvern's Fires shot forth, joining together into a blast of flame that engulfed the Monoblos.

Even though it had been an attack devised to be used by all four members of the group with explosive attacks, at half that power it was still devastating to behold.

Aja's drill failed to pierce the flames. She was swept away by the blast. The Monoblos too, was stopped dead in its tracks. It fell to the ground, unmoving.

The two hunters turned to the last poacher and monster team they had left to fight.

Bal reloaded his gun, speaking his thoughts aloud.

"That just leaves one."

"Don't falter now."

"I won't. But just to let you know, I haven't got many shots left. You'll have to be the one to finish this."

"Hmph. That was my plan from the start."

"The longer this goes on for, the worse it'll be for us. I don't think we've got the option of sparing her anymore. You get what I'm saying, right? I'll make sure you get an opening, so go all out."

"Don't fail, then."

"Cease your whispering. It doesn't matter if you've taken down my followers. They were unnecessary from the start. So long as I stand here, I will guide you down the correct path!"

"You won't be standing for long."

Saying that, Lotus hit the ground with a wyvern's fire to launch himself into the air.

"Monster, target the gunner."

The Teostra reared its head back, launching a blast of flames towards Bal.

Recognising the oncoming danger, he rolled out of the way of the rapidly advancing heat. But even faster than that, the Teostra set out to close the distance between them. The monster charged in a straight line.

Anything that was left in the path between Sacred and her target was trampled underfoot, cleanly demolished. But even seeing that straightforward demolition, Lotus still chose to intercept them.

He changed course, aiming for the path that the Teostra was following, flying close to the ground.

One flew through the air towards his target. The other rode on the back of a monster. As they drew close, the two's sense of time distorted to the point where each fraction of each second became painfully long.

Lotus was being pushed through the air by the gunlance. To switch to any attack other than a shield bash would require him to turn that gunlance around, ending his advance. No matter when he went to attack, Sacred would have the advantage. With the battle having dragged on for so long, he felt there was little chance that she had not also come to understand this.

A single well-placed cannon shot would blow him apart on the spot. Armour, shields, both of those mattered little. In a single hit, the fight would end. With the battle having dragged on for so long, she felt there was little chance that he had not also come to understand this.

Approaching straightforwardly, placing himself at risk of instant death, forfeiting his right to the first move. Lotus was on a suicide charge.

Both of them realised this.

And so-

The cannon fired.

Hearing it go off, Lotus flipped a switch on his gunlance to remove another limiter. The wyvern's fire pushing him forward redoubled, causing him to accelerate.

The difference in elevation between the two forced Sacred to adjust slightly by aiming for where he would have been. With the increase in speed, Lotus zipped through that space.

He slammed into the Teostra with enough force to stop it in its tracks, pushing it back.

Processing how he had escaped could wait. Without any hesitation, Sacred barked out new orders.

"Monster, change targets! Attack the one in front of you!"

In that time, Lotus' second attack had already begun, the blade of the gunlance was stabbed into the Teostra's side.

The monster regained the ability to focus on him, going for a claw swipe.

A bullet hit the Teostra from the side. The gunner was standing only a few meters away from Sacred and the Teostra, having snuck around behind them.

"You already forgot about me?"

Bal's irritating grin couldn't be seen through his helmet, but it could be felt.

"That stings."

He fired too more rounds.

"Monster. Blow them both away."

With the order left to his own discretion, the Teostra opted to destroy everything around it.

It slammed its head into the ground, tearing it up with a blast of flame.

Lotus launched himself backwards, while Bal was forced to roll out of the way. The monster aimed for the closer target, closing in on him with a charge.

Bal aimed his gun to fire a quick shot at the Teostra, before trying to dodge. He was just a second short of the timing needed.

The Teostra's claws cut into his armour as he tried to step back out of the way.

The monster faltered for just a second. The attackers aimed to seize that chance.

As he stumbled back, helpless to stop himself, Sacred spotted Bal lobbing something into the air directly above him. She was left without any time to react, only understanding what had been thrown.

A flash bomb. Bright light engulfed the entirety of her field of vision as it activated.

The blast of light cut off her vision completely. The world around her felt as though it simultaneously spinning and being shaken from side to side.

As she regained her ability to see, she realised the cause of that was her Teostra spinning around in confusion, presumably also having been hit by the flash bomb.

She reoriented herself and spun around to where Bal should have been, only to see Lotus flying towards her.

His shield bashed into her, almost knocking her off the Teostra. She pushed back, swinging her cannon at him. Lotus weaved through the attack and backed off.

The Teostra spit fire towards him, which Lotus boosted again to get clear of. Watching that blast tear away at the environment around them, Sacred thought to herself.

"The gunner is obviously better suited to fighting from a distance, but he continually refuses to fire unless he's close enough that he can't possibly miss. Conserving ammunition to this extent must mean that he barely has any left. Meaning… there's no need to chase after them. All I must do is stand my ground, and they will come to me. Now that we know that…"

She began to mutter out her orders.

"Monster…"

At the same time, Lotus was catching his breath.

"It's not enough. I won't be able to take her down like this. If I'm going to win, then I must…"

"Heat up!"

The Teostra opened its mouth to unleash a bellow of scorching flames towards Lotus.

Lotus flicked another switch, removing another limiter on his gunlance's flame. Just two remained.

He stretched out his gunlance in the vague direction of the ground and held the trigger.
In seemingly an instant, the wyvern's fire was ready. It launched him clear of the flames.

From the air, Lotus angled himself back down. A second blast sent him hurtling towards the ground.

As he rapidly descended, he raised his gunlance over his head. With all the momentum that he gained went into the following strike, tearing through the Teostra.

The monster's claws swung with the aim of taking his head, but Lotus shot himself out of their range before closing the distance once more.

The Teostra charged forward, intent on trampling him. He dodged out of the way, causing the monster to dash past him instead.

As the monster she was riding on turned around, Sacred aimed her cannon at him and fired.
Instead of dodging this one, Lotus simply pointed his gunlance towards it. He pulled the trigger, a clump of bullets shot out. One of them pierced the cannonball, causing it to explode in mid-air.

Lotus burst through the cloud of smoke left behind to get closer.

The Teostra attempted to smother Lotus with more flame as Sacred reloaded her cannon. Before she could finish what she was doing, she heard a shot being fired from behind her.

Bal was there. Before she could turn around, two of those shots hit her.

As she twisted out of the way, Bal changed targets to the Teostra. Before she had noticed him, she had ended up wedged between her two enemies.

"Monster. To the air."

The Teostra's wings flapped, taking off the ground. As the two ascended, the Teostra turned his head down and unleashed more flames, bathing the ground below in them.

Bal hastily retreated. On the other side, without even a single moment's consideration, Lotus flipped another switch and shot himself into the sky to catch up to them.

The Teostra saw him approaching and immediately set about crushing him. The flames concentrated at the ground shifted upwards, trying to burn him away.

Lotus fired his gunlance again to change directions, rapidly zipping away.

In comparison to the size of the monster and its rider, Lotus' presence was miniscule.
One flew with proper wings, while the other could only launch himself around with frequent attacks. One controlling the space, the other was an invader.

He closed in. The claws of the Teostra, flames still around its mouth, surged towards him, attempting to ensnare him. It was as though he was advancing into the heart of a volcano.

Lotus pushed on ahead, blasting through it. As he slipped past the claws, the Teostra twisted around and hit him with a tail swipe. Lotus was sent hurtling towards the ground, crashing into it a second later and causing a large cloud of dust to rise upwards.

As it was blown away by the slight wind, Sacred realised that something was amiss.

Lotus wasn't there. No one was there.

Her eyes darted around frantically, desperately praying to catch even a single glimpse of anything that could indicate his presence.

If he wasn't there, then that meant he was somewhere else.

After enough rushed scanning, she spotted him. A small shape, zipping around, getting closer to them.

The Teostra hadn't yet noticed him. From the angle he was approaching at, his intent was clearly to land a surprise attack.

"Monster, tu-"

Something else caught her attention. Something had been chucked into the air, all the way up to them.

It was as though all other sound was crushed by the overwhelming power of its explosion of noise.

By itself, this didn't mean anything. A sonic bomb was known for having specific interactions, like knocking a burrowing monster above-ground, but in a battle like this it should have had no practical uses. The only thing that did matter was that all other noise was drowned out.

However. In that situation, under these specific conditions, in that single moment, it made all the difference.

Sacred's attempts at relaying orders to the Teostra that could only act when told made all the difference.
Just one second was enough for Lotus to close in and slam into the Teosra at top speed, sending them both flying towards the ground.

The Teostra landed, scraping his claws into the ground to prevent himself from going too far. Lotus landed a second later.

Both sides looked towards each other. After catching his breath, Lotus took a low stance and pointed his gunlance backwards once more.

As he had done so many times prior, he launched himself ahead. His body was no longer his own, but a missile dedicated to striking its target. The flames of the gunlance scorched the earth in his wake as he rapidly advanced.

"This is perfectly acceptable. Keep going."

Sacred thought that while aiming her cannon.

"The Teostra can swat you out of the air with no problem. If you try to go to the side, that's when I'll fire. You're rushing to nothing other than your own downfall."

Lotus continued to advance in a straight line, without diverging. The Teostra prepared to swat him out of the air.

Lotus continued forward. But there was no response. The Teostra did not move.

In confusion, Sacred looked down. The monster had frozen to the spot.

She tried to adjust her plans, to shift her aim to take the Teostra's place, but it was already far too late. Lotus slammed into the Teostra, knocking them both back.

"Monster, move! Fly away! What are you doing?"

She heard Bal's voice from the side.

"Looks like it's finally taking effect. The paralysis ammo, that is."

Lotus surged forth, his gunlance already ready with another blast of flame.

The Teostra helplessly fell to the ground. There were still a few seconds before the two would hit the ground. Being shaken and spun around, Sacred had no hope of firing any shots to deter his approach.

This was an opening. He seized it to its fullest potential.

He stepped in while swinging his gunlance to the sky, jamming it into the Teostra's stomach.

Flames surged forth, searing through the scales that protected the monster's hide.

The champion of the flames was being burnt. With that thrust, Lotus declared himself the enemy of all natural law.

That fire of rebellion tore through the Teostra for a few seconds longer before knocking it away. The monster crashed into the ground once more and kicked up a large cloud of dust.

No movement. The Teostra was down.

Without a single word between them to acknowledge the success of their plan, Lotus and Bal both took off running towards it.

"We can't miss this chance. Keep going!""

That was the thought that drove them both. This was their chance to turn the battle around.

"Keep going! Even if you're exhausted, even if you're about to collapse, it's just a few steps away!"

Mentally repeating that hundreds of times in a single second was the only thing carrying them through each step.

"PREPOSTEROUS!"

A booming voice resounded through the air. Following shortly after that, they heard the thundering sound of footsteps slamming into the ground.

Sacred burst out of the smoke, running with her arms wide open. Her two enemies were situated close together. She continued to advance, heading in-between them.

Bal attempted to retreat, while Lotus went to intercept her.
Both failed.

Her left arm grabbed Lotus' head, while the right grabbed Bal's head. Both of them were lifted off the ground, having their heads smashed together before she dropped them.

She raised her left leg, intent on crushing Bal beneath. But before it could land, the two rolled out of the way and stood back up.

Rather than attacking with her cannon, Sacred was fighting with her fists.
She had no unarmed combat training. But the immense difference in size between them was more than enough to compensate for that lack of experience.

As she thrashed around wildly, throwing devastating punch after destructive kick, she yelled at them.

"I won't allow your foolishness to go any further! A weak, pitiful candlelight like yours can't possibly challenge the emperor of flame! Don't be so insolent! Even if I am alone, I will guide you to the truth!"

Bal sighed.

"Bad guys that get mad and spout lines like that are always close to losing, just you know."

Lotus launched himself through the air with a wyvern's fire, but Sacred caught his leg and slammed him into the ground.

He stood back up, pulling the trigger to fire as he rose.

Sacred was hit by the clump of bullets, but she did not lose any speed. She punched Lotus in the stomach, before kicking him away.

The sheer blunt force of her punches could be felt clearly, even through his armour. It was almost comparable to a monster's strength.

Sacred turned back towards Bal, wasting no time before dashing towards him.

Bal hurriedly aimed his heavy bowgun, fixing his view around her head. Sacred didn't slow down.

He pulled the trigger. The gun clicked.

It was empty.

"Damn. Called my bluff."

Sacred tore the gun out of his hands before grabbing him by the throat with her free arm. She chucked the gun away and wrapped both her hands around his throat, lifting off the ground.

Sacred's grip on his throat tightened, causing him to begin to choke. Bal gasped, struggling for the air that was rapidly escaping from him.

Those ragged, hopeless breaths were only drowned out by the sound of something being cut through. She heard it like it was right next to her but naturally, felt nothing wrong.

Not understanding what had happened, she rolled her eyes towards what seemed to be the origin of the noise.

A carving knife was embedded in her right arm.

Bal had used the last of his strength to stab her with it.

Her grip loosened involuntarily. As his ability to breathe returned to him, Bal uttered some words.

"I thought that'd take your arm off. You sure you're not a monster?"

Calmly, Sacred looked upon him with disdain.

"I could ask likewise. Are you sure that you're a human, and not just a cockroach imitating one? To the very end, you've proven to be nothing but irritating and resilient. In recognition of that…"

Sacred threw him to the ground and stomped on his chest to keep him pinned down. She drew her cannon, aiming it directly downwards.

"I suppose I must ensure there's nothing left of you."

She'd seemingly abandoned all concern for what would happen to herself if she fired that cannon at her own feet.

But she never pulled the trigger. She was stuck in place. Paralysed.

Realisation spread through her mind, but she continuously failed to show any visible signs of recognising this. She couldn't even so much as twitch a muscle.

"I knew that you'd be wary of the paralysis ammo after what happened to the Teostra. Which also meant that you'd lower your guard once you thought it was out of the way. That's why I went ahead and coated my carving knife in some paralysis coating I happened to bring with me. But there's no time for me to explain all that to you out loud."

The paralysis had caused her to lose the force she was applying to Bal to keep him down. He scrambled out, getting a safe distance away.

Sacred heard someone stepping closer.

"You seem to have a few misunderstandings, so I might as well clear them up."

She heard Lotus stop.

"You seem to be misunderstanding something. This gunlance is a bit special, I had it custom made."

She heard a switch flip behind her. Unbeknownst to her, this was the sound of the fifth and final limiter being removed. The voice continued.

"This shield isn't for guarding against enemy attacks."

He slammed the shield into the ground at an angle, placing the gunlance

He pulled the trigger.

The gunlance began charging, the timer was set.

"I'm not one for any kind of defence. It's just that with all the limiters off, the flames run out of control. This shield is only to protect myself from my own attacks. But you shouldn't need me to tell you that, you're about to feel it for yourself."

Sacred continued to struggle against her paralysis, to break out and do anything. But these attempts were in vain.

The gunlance roared, as though it were whirring to life.

The weapon had been custom made for excessive use of the wyvern's fire above all else, and yet this was still at a level it was not yet ready to handle. As the flames stewing inside of it continued to heat up, reaching a point beyond what any human was ever meant to wield.

A few more seconds passed by, building in tension. Until at last magnificent, overwhelming flames spewed forth from its maw.

The ground itself cracked from the sheer force of the recoil. The shield that Lotus had rested it on just barely held the weapon in place and kept it aimed forward. The mouth of the gunlance began to melt away, unable to resist the scorching heat.

The light brought about by the attack could only be compared to the sun itself. Had there been any onlookers left to observe, then they surely would have been blinded.

Bal covered his eyes, while the most Lotus could do was close them.

The flames swallowed up everything caught in their path, reducing it to nothing but ash in an instant. Sacred too, was swallowed up by the flames.

The light that signalled the end of all things.

Hunter art: Celestial Fire.

---

I wonder when I ended up like this.

Maybe I was this way from the start. Maybe it was because of that time, or maybe it was because of that other time. I've narrowed it down to just those three.

I couldn't become a single thing I was ever meant to be. My only talent is destruction.

Writhing with jealousy, I destroyed my old life in a single move.

I heard that becoming a hunter was a chance to get a new start in life, so that's why I became one. There wasn't any other meaning behind it.

All that occupied my mind was surviving. All of that fighting was so that I could live to see the next day, and nothing more.

I'd failed at the purpose I was born for. I failed to become his reflection.

I simply followed Bal around everywhere, doing whatever he suggested we do.

That's how I met you. My opposite in every way.

I remember it very well. I could never possibly forget.

We joined each other on a hunt. I can perfectly remember how you didn't stand out in any way, despite your size.

I perfectly remember my mistakes, placing me right in front of the rampaging monster. The reason that I could never forget is because of what happened after.

The sight of you valiantly leaping in to save me, weathering the monster's attacks with that towering shield.

It's not like I was particularly impressed to be saved, or anything of the sort. I'm not that easy to please.

But watching you guard, I finally became able to see the

I can't fully understand what it is. But at that moment, more than anything, I got the feeling that we were similar beings. And just as much as that, I got the feeling that we couldn't be more dissimilar.

With each hit taken, you continued to stand. I could see it.

It's not like you're just protecting others out of the good of your heart. There's something deeper. Such acts of good are something you can't live without.

Maybe I was envious. Just a bit.

I, who was lost, blindly trying to escape from everything, clinging to my own life, came across you, with such a perfectly realised purpose.

My words always end up getting twisted.

I can only ever give criticism to those I like. Straightforward words just won't emit from me.

I thought that was how things were meant to work, but after spending more time in the outside world I've come to realise just how abnormal it is.

Even though I know now, I must have been broken somewhere. Because no matter how I try, it won't leave me alone.

But I I must have been broken somewhere along the way, because I can't seem to shake it off.

For you, especially, all those words ended up twisted by then.

Perhaps it's just the work of a curse.

Perhaps you've never realised any of this. It shouldn't be surprising. How would you know if I can't tell you?

But I can't just accept that.

I can't just give up on a feeling like this. I've never felt this way for anyone else, before or after.

Something shifted in me when I saw you. As though I were lost in the sea, only to finally see a light. It was almost intoxicating.

That's why I set out to lead them. If I can keep those behind me safe, then maybe I can get that much closer to you.

I want to know what drives you. I want to know how to stand with you.

Even if the words that exit my mouth end up twisted beyond recognition,
Even if I'm meant for nothing but destruction,
Even carrying all these curses,

I want to keep striving to be closer to you, Judah.

Until the day that I can finally tell you that I…

---

"THAT IS FALSE."

His vision was still blurry, having been unable to properly shield his eyes from his own attack.

"Your words do not match your fire. They're meaningless. Convenient deceptions that were only made to weigh you down."

His vision cleared up slightly. He could see the outline of Sacred clawing out of the smouldering ruins that had been left behind by the star.

"It's not true that you've given up on defence. You still cling to it, hopelessly and half-heartedly. I fully understand now. I can finally see the shape of what's weighing you down. You're confused, misguided and still lost."

The attack had burnt through her armour, and the bandages that tightly wrapped up her burns even below that.

Her right arm had been completely lost from below the elbow, while the hand of the remaining arm that she dragged her body forward with was missing half of its fingers.
Patches of her skin had burnt away, revealing the bones beneath. Her skin was no exception to this damage, but her eyes still burnt with a fierce determination.

The cannon her back was still intact.

"Just how are you still going?"

"This is bad…" Bal thought. "I'm out of ammo, my carving knife probably got burnt away, and his gunlance is completely overheated. That's the tradeoff for Celestial Fire's ridiculous power."

He spoke up.

"Lotus, don't bother replying! She can't have that much left in her, so we have to quickly-"

"Let the flames guide you. Let them break you down, expel the falsehoods from you, and then finally… you will be reborn!"

As she declared that, something in the air shifted.

Since the fight began, perhaps even earlier, it had been looming over them.

It shouldn't have been a surprise to them. There was no way that anyone there could have been ignorant of the threat.

It was there at all times, staring them down.

If there was any reason they may have not been expecting it, it was simply that so many other threats had piled up that they had grown adjusted to its presence.

But regardless of their feelings on the matter, that which had been slowly creeping up on them finally arrived.

It was like a bell could be heard tolling in the distance.

At last, the promised time arrived.

12:15

The time at which Judah knocked out the king. All monsters under his control were released simultaneously.

Consequently.

The Teostra stood back up, now awake.

---

One hundred and forty seconds.

In every single recorded instance, without fail, a Teostra's rage would last for that long before ending.

Explosive powder created from the elder dragon's broken down scales would be spread around, then ignited by a click of the jaws.

The most commonly accepted explanation was that becoming enraged would cause the Teostra's body temperature to rise.

The Teostra's scales would break down into explosive powder i

There is a direct correlation between the Teostra's body heat and the rate at which scales break down into powder. Therefore, becoming enraged greatly increases the amount of powder naturally produced.

As the amount of powder increases, the heat becomes more trapped. In this way, the Teostra is locked into a spiral that continually causes its body temperature to increase.

After two minutes and twenty seconds, it expels all of the excess powder at once and detonates, so that its temperature can finally return to normal.

That is believed to be the true nature of what lies at the end of a Teostra's rage.

Unmatched devastation, certifying it as an elder dragon.
That ensured doom waiting at the end of the path of flame acquired a certain name.

The one to come up with the name was the sole survivor of a hunting that unexpectedly encountered one, when giving her account to the Guild, compared the sight of the blast to one natural phenomenon.

She had never seen what she compared to it with her own eyes. To date, no one alive ever has.

But from that name, people perfectly understood the nature of the attack. Comparing it to something so unfathomable, far beyond any human's power to observe, was the only way that its power could be understood.

With little exception, all those who had once borne witness and those who would later come to bear witness, seemed to agree that was the only name that could fit such and attack.

What she named it after was-

---

Fera Gladius arc part 12: End Of The Stars

---

A supernova.

The explosion that signified the end of a star's life.

Something that had only ever been discussed as a theory, and never once observed. Seeing the attack for the first time and last time, the hunter thought that it could only be called that.

Having suddenly awoken in an unfamiliar place with little memory of how he arrived there, the lord of flame's immediate reaction was to fly into a rage.

Had this been under normal circumstances, then they would have had two minutes to get out of the monster's range of attack.

However. These were far from normal circumstances.

The Teostra had already been fighting for some time, spewing flames and destroying everything that Sacred ordered him to.

It wasn't that Sacred feared his flames. But having struck down everyone knowledgeable on monsters that she had encountered since coming to this country, she was completely unaware of the necessity of the attack.

To her, an elder dragon was a divine miracle that defied all understanding. She had never even once considered the need for any kind of explanation. It was only there so that she could worship it.

Since she didn't understand it, she had never ordered it directly. From the start of the battle, no heat at all had been expelled. The Teostra's internal temperature had continued to rise, to the point where he was on the verge of spontaneous combustion.

Therefore-

Glittering scales rapidly fanned out in all directions from the monster.

Lotus and Bal did not need any convincing to run. Finding out why this was happening was something that could wait until they were out of their range.

They had no idea what had happened, but the scales filling the area were all that they were focused on.

Neither of them had ever fought a Teostra before, only having heard reports of them. They recognised that something dangerous was coming. The same scales the Teostra had been detonating during the fight were now filling the area. Just by using that small piece of information, they knew that their lives were at risk. But as they'd never witnessed a supernova before, they were unaware of one key difference. The scales spread far further than they should have.

The Teostra's temperature increased as it used fire to attack.

The heat acquired in the battle had been far greater than what would normally be worked up. Naturally, there were now more scales to use up.

Sacred alone remained in place. She made no attempt to escape, or to prevent the escape of the others. Neither thought crossed her mind.

It was like she had forgotten about everything else in the world save for one experience, entranced by the lights flowing around the air.

The Teostra's upper and lower jaws clashed together, creating a spark. The scales ignited.

The explosion started from the Teostra's mouth, rapidly expanding outwards.

Lying on the ground right next to the origin, Sacred never stood

The flames engulfed her in an instant.

"Ah… I can finally feel it… after all this time. This is what I've been longing for."

Feeling returned to her. She smiled as, once more, she felt that burning sensation she'd longed for.

"You must have broken free on your own… even his power could never contain you forever. If you broke free just to cause this destruction, then I must have been right. I can feel it. Something great is coming. Once the flames shape him, he will be complete. I see… this must have been the reason I was spared on that day. To help create this."

The temperature exceeded a thousand degrees. All the oxygen within that place was used up almost immediately. Her body, already heavily burnt, would shortly be reduced to ash.
Even so, she still attempted to give praise.

"These flames truly are… magnificent"

Her eyelids could no longer be closed. Despite that, she felt herself peacefully drifting off into a deep sleep.

---

Bal and Lotus were sprinting at top speed. The blast radius was rapidly expanding outwards.

Each scale that exploded would set off the next in a chain reaction. They were trying to outrun that.

The gunlance had overheated, becoming unusable. That prevented Lotus from using his wyvern's fire to escape more quickly.

There was no time left to exchange words between them.

With a glance, they immediately understood what had to be done. They dashed in the direction of where DPSG had fallen to the ground.

They both knew well what the magnet spike could do. It had been drilled

"It should still be locked onto the Gypceros. So if we set it to repel and point it away from the center, then it should get us away from the blast."

Thinking that as he ran, Bal pulled ahead. Not to leave Lotus behind, but to gain a bit of distance with which to execute his plan.

Without hesitation, they both threw their weapons aside to lighten the load.

Lotus picked DPSG off the ground, while Bal grabbed the magnet spike and flipped some switches with urgency.

Both Lotus and Bal grabbed onto the magnet spike.

They were still yet within the cage of floating scales, far from any freedom.

The magnet spike carried them forwards, faster than they possibly could have run.

And yet. The rate of expansion continued to accelerate.

Bal looked back at the flames encroaching on them.

The end still was not in their sights.

Words from before played back in Lotus' mind.

DPSG's reminder that the magnet spike was slower when carrying multiple people.

He could tell that he wasn't the only one who recognised that.

The flames were outpacing them. It was as though the inferno was breathing down their necks.

The end was right there, catching up to them.

He knew what would happen. He tried to speak. The words wouldn't form. He knew he had to stop it.

All in the space of less than a second, thousands of ideas flowed through his mind and were each shot down, sorted into the realm of impossibility.

There had to be some perfect words he could say, or some perfect action that he could take, that would save them all. Believing that, Lotus continued to search for what would let them all leave this place alive.

He couldn't accept an ending like this.

But the decision was not in his hands.

---

Really, what a strange turn of events.

Fighting elder dragons.

Fanatics who would kill for their beliefs.

Monsters controlled under unexplained circumstances.

It's too much. It's all too out there.

I don't think that an ordinary guy like myself was ever meant for something like this.

Other than survival, there wasn't any meaning behind my life back then.

I didn't have anything else, so becoming a hunter was all that I could do. It wasn't out of any delusions of grandeur, that I could be like those I'd heard of in legends. I wasn't out to become a legend, or encounter any.

I wasn't a dreamer like that. It was pure survival. Doing just enough to survive, and nothing more.

I was content to live on the ground, never gazing up, for it was all that I knew. I had no hope for anything more. I'd resolved myself to not even dream. That was my sole source of pride, to be content with clinging to life in that way.

Until that day.

What I had met was a legend, the type that I should've only ever heard about. Seeing that innocent, destructive power of his must have cracked something within me, too.

The crack that had been created in my pride as an ordinary hunter in a world that was only ordinary caused my resolve to fail. That must be why, without even thinking about it, I asked to form a group.

Having met something so unfathomable, so unexpected, that

I watched you go from that fragile, wavering existence, into what you are now. Watched the group

And really, what a pain they all ended up being. Each and every single one of them was dazzling. And because they were dazzling, each and every single one of them was a handful of their own.

It didn't take long before I stopped being able to think of Lotus as anything legendary.
He's more like an annoying little brother. Full of himself, stuck up.
Someone that I always have to apologise on the behalf of, someone that I always have to lead onto the right path. But always so dazzling, once he finally does shine.

So even despite all of that, we continued to head upwards. Seeing sights I never could've dreamed of, fighting monsters I'd only heard spoken of in legends, and meeting people that I couldn't believe.

They were always the amazing ones. All I did was just follow after them, nudging them back onto the right track when they needed it.

My defence had cracked and fallen away long ago.
Now that I've come to know warmth, I know that I'll freeze without it. It's that sort of thing, you know?

So in the end, this is all I can do.

---

Even though both of them were wearing helmets that covered their faces, at that moment Lotus was convinced that he saw a warm smile.

"Keep on going, Lotus. All the way up to the stars."

As he finished saying that, Bal's grip on the magnet spike loosened. He dropped backwards into the flames. The sudden decrease in weight caused the magnet spike to pick up speed, leaving the explosion behind.

Any yells, screams or cries of desperation, anguish or despair were lost within the deafening roars of the devastation.

---

All that was left behind was ash.

The magnet spike crashed into the ground, dropping off Lotus and DPSG.

They hadn't managed to fully escape from the flames. But as it spread outwards, the heat gradually died down.
The two of them had made it out with some burns. But they were still alive.

Lotus found himself struggling to breathe. He pulled his helmet off.

A part of his head still felt like it was burning. He reached out to touch it, but he couldn't find any fire up there.

He shifted his hands away. This was not what he had to focus on.

"Bal!"

At the top of his lungs, he yelled out the name of the one he had left behind.

There was no answer.

Lotus paused for a few seconds, glancing back at DPSG. he was still breathing, but didn't move.

Lotus walked towards the center of the devastation.

"Bal! Are you out there!? If you can hear me, then say something back!"

The city had already been a ruin. But that was still a stark contrast to its current, scorched state.

The further inwards Lotus travelled, the more that was destroyed.

But he paid it no mind. There was only one priority in his mind at that moment, proven by his repeated yelling.

"Bal!"

His stride was irregular. Each word was yelled with enough force that the recoil nearly knocked him over. He continued to persist.

The further he progressed, the more the area around him lost any kind of definition. Closer to the origin of the blast, there was almost nothing left.

He was struggling to walk in a straight line and the world around was without anything that could have been used to orient himself. Wandering off the track was a matter of course.
But once again, his mind was in no state to realise that this should have concerned him.

The world felt as though it was warping around him. He blindly stumbled through the ruins, yelling tirelessly.

Lotus tripped over something, barely aware enough of his surroundings to save himself as he fell.

While lying on the ground, he turned backwards and realised that he'd tripped over his gunlance, the weapon still partially buried in the ash.

The flames had burnt it, but it was still mostly intact. A weapon that spewed flame needed to be somewhat resistant to heat.

The memories of dropping his weapon before grabbing onto the magnet spike made everything seamlessly click together within his mind.

An answer that had been looming over his head, suppressing with all the might he had left within him, could be held back no longer.

The weight crashed into him, bringing him down to his knees. Looking down, Lotus muttered to himself.

"Bal… Bal…" His voice slightly picked up "Bal! Answer me!"

There was no answer. While still looking down, Lotus continued to yell.

"Why won't you answer me, Bal!? Where are you!? I won't accept that you're not here!"

There was no answer. He continued to grip at the ash in his fingers, unable to grasp onto anything.

"You can't do this to me! Didn't you say that you were going to follow me wherever I went!? Was that a lie!?"

There was no answer. The ash slipped through his fingers

"I won't accept it! I refuse to accept an ending like this! If it ends like this… then I'm no better than I was back then! You can't make it end this way!"

He punched the ground, scattering the fallen ash.

"Bal! Someone, anyone! Just say something! Is there no one there!?"

"How pitifully lost you are."

An answer. Lotus' eyes widened.

The voice was familiar to him. It was one that he hadn't heard in years. One that he shouldn't ever have heard again.

"Since you're in need of guidance, I'll clearly tell you. What you see here, all around you. What you've lost. All of it is the result of your weakness."

"Who… are you?"

"You should know, shouldn't you?"

He slowly turned his head upwards, tracing the origin of the voice.

Then, Lotus finally laid eyes upon the gate.

Turning his head up towards the origin of the sound, Lotus finally laid eyes upon the gate.

---

Once again, he was looking at the river.

The murky waters, that his reflection had been swallowed up by.

With the reflection gone, he could live freely.

But he knew that it wouldn't suffice anymore.

He'd freely walked in the wrong direction. He'd sheltered himself with empty pride, pursuing something other than what was ideal, and had lost it all as a result. If he'd just stayed a reflection, he wouldn't have had to feel this pain.

It was too late to go back. He'd known that the entire time. But still, he reached out for the water's surface.

Kneeling down next to the flowing river, he found the surface surprisingly calm to touch with his open palm. As he looked closer, he came to realise that he could partially see through what obscured his view.

He could see his own arm, as though it were below the water's surface. Almost linked, with only the thin barrier of the water's surface between them.

Before he could think of a reason to justify why, he reached out with his other arm.

Both hands were now against the water. He stayed there, fixed to the spot.

Until his hands suddenly tightened into a grip.

Panic filled his mind.

He was grabbing onto something. No. Something had grabbed onto him. Two sets of hands were linked, crossing between the border of the surface.

Before he could understand just what this sensation was, the hands below the water's surface fell backwards. No, he went forwards.

He sank into the river's depths. Underneath, it was surprisingly clear. As though the water was not raging at all.

Under there, he could see everything.

He finally realised that he was not the one in control of these actions. That he was no longer the one being reflected.

That this was the path he should have been walking all this time.

He didn't need anything else. He would discard at all.

His only talent was for destruction. To deny that was to embrace his own weakness.

Everything that had left him off the path was to be discarded and forgotten.
A reflection didn't need human emotions. It didn't need love.

All of it was melted away to form a perfect self once more.

Things were back as they should have been.

Lotus sank into the depths.

---

"Do you understand now?"

"Ah…"

He began to shake, emitting a strange noise, until tears flowed down his face.

"I get it now. I understand it perfectly. So please show me the way, dear brother."

Heavy footsteps were slowly getting closer to them.

They were not the only ones in this world.

The ruler of the flame stepped into view. Having heard all of the yelling, he had come to investigate the source of the noise.

"Look there. Your enemy is before you. Now fight."

Still looking up, the one marked by flames continued to murmur to himself.

"Bal… I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you had to burn away for me, all because I wasn't ideal. I know that it's all my fault. From the start, it was always all my fault. I've matured enough to accept that now."

He began standing back up.

"You've already given me your life. Asking any more would be absurdly selfish and unreasonable of me. Though I've already accepted that I'm nothing but a destroyer. What does it matter anyway? I might as well act in a way that fits."

He finally rose to his feet.

"I ask you to haunt me. After giving me your life, give me your afterlife too. In exchange, I won't ever lose my way again. This time, I'll be properly guided ahead. Every single step in the way will be crushed, decimated and utterly annihilated."

He picked up his gunlance, getting ready to fight once more.

"Just watch. I'll keep on going."

As he looked ahead, blue flames began to surround him.

"We'll go all the way up to the stars."

---

A lone poacher wandered through the world of ash.

Gleton had been soundly unconscious until the supernova woke her up.

She'd been knocked out by Bal far away enough that she wasn't at any risk of being burnt, but the noise and the heat that filled the air was enough to bring her back to reality.

Escaping from her restraints was relatively easy.

Her first thoughts upon seeing the destruction went to Sacred. The one she had joined this group just to follow.

With her in mind, Gleton unhesitatingly set out into the devastation. She wandered without any clue of where to head, until she heard the sounds of fighting nearby.

"What… is that?"

The Teostra, that weapon of mass destruction that served under her lady, was fighting on its own.

For just a second, she thought of it as a fight. Upon further viewing, she changed her mind.
The monster was being overwhelmed

She had forgotten his name. It was that hunter that her lady had taken an interest in.

But it wasn't just him. She could've sworn there were two of him there.

The two of him fiercely tore into the monster, dashing around and blasting it to pieces.

The sight of the blue flames left her frozen to the spot. She stayed there, watching in a daze.

For just a second, there was a lull in the battle.

Not even once had he glanced in her direction. With how occupied he had been by the monster, she assumed that he couldn't have possibly noticed anything else.

But even so, he turned to look at her. Even though he had never looked, he came to know of her presence.

To say that she merely witnessed the sight before her would not have accurately described it.

She did not just see it. She felt it piercing through her. The gaze in itself was an attack.

The trance she was under was shattered in an instant. She understood immediately that simply being in his line of sight provided an immediate threat to her life.

It was familiar. She couldn't recognise it. She knew it well.

The dread exuded by those eyes overwhelmed her.

They were the eyes of one who was no longer lost.
The eyes of one who would burn down everything that took from him.
The eyes of one who would demolish everything on his path upwards
The eyes of one who carried the flames.
The eyes of the living ideal.

---

Griffin. Burnt to ashes by the supernova.

Mailwulf. Burnt to ashes by the supernova.

Aja. Burnt to ashes by the supernova.

Mason. Burnt to ashes by the supernova.

Bort. Burnt to ashes by the supernova.

Gleton. Retreated from the battlefield.

Sacred, the Preacher of the Inferno. Burnt to ashes by the supernova.

Doctor Professor Scientific Genius, the scientist of the Starward Diamonds. Unable to continue fighting.

Bal, tactician of the Starward Diamonds. Burnt to ashes by the supernova.

Lotus, captain of the Starward Diamonds. Awakened.

Hunter side: 12 hunters, 7 monsters

Poacher side: 19 hunters, 20 monsters.

TO BE CONTINUED

---

I'm in despair! Excessively long chapters have left me in despair!

That's about all I have to say this time. It took a really long time because of things happening in real life and also because the chapter ended up being really really long. So long that I ended up feeling like writing another author's comment to explain my absence, even though I already said I wouldn't do that in the author's notes of the last chapter.

Maybe it would be better for both the readers and myself if I split it into multiple parts, but I decided that it had to be chapter 35. So you get the long chapter 35.
Why 35, you may ask? Because it's a good number for this sort of chapter. If I split it in half, then everything would be thrown off.

The same goes for quite a few chapters coming up, so we're going to be locked into ending chapters based on story progress rather than length for a while to come.

But still, it took so long that Jujutsu Kaisen went and ended. It's taken so long that in the time between when this fight started (chapter 28) the Bleach anime had just ended and now it's back again.

This whole arc has lasted longer than the most recent Hunter x Hunter hiatus. Recently I've been loving life because Hunter x Hunter is back. How am I meant to write anything when I'm happy?

In the end it all comes back to the fact that it's taking too long! Saying that, I will now continue to work on dragging this arc out for even longer. We're moving back to focusing on the DBA next time, at least.

Also if you're confused by what happened after the supernova it may help to read (or reread) G. Or at the very least, the explanations of the setting in chapter 21.
It mattered for a bit at the start of this story then didn't matter again for a very long time, but going forward the plot points introduced in G will start to matter more.
Not right away, but soon.

Oh, but if you did read it and it still doesn't make sense, then just don't worry about it.