Chapter 20: Smile HD
It was a gloomy, rainy day with nothing much to do. A boy sat down on a couch, reading through a manga of him, while a girl much younger than him ran up and down the foyer with glee. The boy tuned out his sister, not wanting to hear the constant giggles from the little girl. But his ear perked up as he heard a loud crash and the cries that followed.
"Shelby!"
The boy exclaimed. Running over to his sister, he moved her away from the glass that used to be their coffee table.
"Oh geez, this is bad."
"WHAT WAS THAT!?"
"And it just got worse."
A woman came into the room, fury radiating in her eyes. She first spotted the broken coffee table, and then the victim, her legs bleeding with some shards still poking out. She walked over to the girl, her arms reaching out. But instead of receiving a helping hand, she was instead grabbed by her ponytail and dragged onto her feet.
"Shelby. What did I tell you about running in the house?"
The woman moved closer; her fist bawled up. The little girl continued to sob, failing to mutter out an apology. She always dreaded when her mother scolded her, fearing for what would come next. Bracing herself as her mother clenched her fist, she closed her eyes, only for the blow to not come.
Opening then, she saw her brother standing in front of her, his arms wide. The bandage on his cheek fell off, revealing a bruise that had just begun healing.
"Sylvester, don-"
Sylvester held his hand back, and Shelby kept quiet.
"S-s-sorry m-mom. I allowed her to run inside the house; it wasn't her fault.
The boy braced himself A young boy was punched in the head and then fell to the ground.
The boy began to sob, but he quickly tensed up, hiding his tears.
"Of course it was you again. You're setting a bad example for your sister! Now look at her; she's hurt because of you!"
"Y-y-yes, M-m-mom. Because of me, like always." The boy muttered, holding his head in pain.
"Now get up, you rotten bastard!"
"W-what?"
/~/
"I said get up, you bastard!"
Flores shot up, and an orange tail smacked him across the face. Despite it being fluffy, it hurt like hell. Like touching a hot pan after it comes out of the oven.
"Agh! What the hell, Cinder?"
"Who gave you permission to almost die!?"
"You say that like I want to be dead, which news flash isn't my cup of tea."
"I don't care!" Cinder exclaimed. Her fit was only stopped when Leo came into the room and picked her up by the neck.
"I understand that you're concerned for the safety of your master and all. But please refrain from shouting in the medical ward, or I'll be forced to kick you out." Leo smiled, an innocent smile still intimidating Cinder into complying.
"Leo, what's going on?"
"We're in the medical ward after the events from earlier. You do remember, right?"
"Uh yeah. I was stabbed; we fought some bandits and killed a paid intern."
"Good, no brain damage then." Tommy, who was standing next to Leo, crossed out a box on a clipboard.
"Speaking of damage..."
"Two dead, Thirty injured. The lightning caught them by surprise but after that, there wasn't much going for them. They also failed to find the three you brought, so they're undergoing interrogations as we speak."
"I see. And what about Ray?"
"I'm still alive, you idiot," Ray grumbled.
Sliding over the curtain next to him, Ray was lying down on a bed close to his, bandaged all over, and reading a magazine.
"How didn't I notice you?"
"I'm very quiet, unlike some people."
"Right… sorry." Flores scratched the back of his neck.
"Noise complaints aside, you must be a very crazy individual to not only attract the attention of the Dark Hydra. But to also beat one of its members. No mere person can do such a feat." Ray turned the page of the magazine he was reading and placed a bookmark inside.
"Not to sound pompous, but you do know who I am, right?" Flores asked.
"As far as I know, you somehow gained the favor and pardon of the omega, despite being her assassin. On one hand, a major red flag; on the other, if the Omega and Beta trust you for some reason, I have no place to question said trust."
"Wait, is that why you were cold to me when I got here? You thought I was an assassin?"
"Former assassin. It's not the first time it happened." Ray sighed. "The omega is lax when it comes to her safety, so if she lets you off, she sees you as a nonthreat."
"Right. We never released what happened during those events. And the only soldiers who would know would be the ones at the orc raid. Even then, he doesn't know your name. So the rumors would have gone over his head as well." Leo surmised.
"What rumors?"
"Well, better late than never. Delta Ray, I'd like to introduce you to the successor to Miguel. Sylvester Flores." Flores awkwardly waved, and Ray placed his magazine down. He looked Flores up and down and even rubbed his eyes. But his expression stayed the same nonetheless.
"That would explain a lot." Ray sighed.
"Sorry for not telling you."
"No need to apologize to me, Beta Leo. Warning or not wouldn't have changed the outcome of the fight. I failed to guard the gate, so I await thine punishment if you have any."
"Ray, you know we don't do that." Leo sighed, putting his hand across his face.
"Besides. It was my fault in the first place. They tracked me here and wanted to kill me specifically."
"But there were a lot of factors to it. Sure, Mister Flores poked the bull. But the combination of Miss Riala being away, along with a massive force being able to mobilize just an hour after Mister Flores arrived, means this attack was bound to happen sooner or later."
"But what would they even gain from that?" Ray asked.
"Not sure. It seems that they just went with it with Flores as an extra goal. No sane person would attack a city without much planning, after all."
"Still-"
"No, I agree with Tommy. The dark hydra still confuses us to this day. We did great handling the situation after all, unprepared as we were."
Leo grabbed Flores by the shoulder and smiled.
"You don't have to condemn yourself. We know this wasn't malicious in the slightest."
Flores hung his head low as he nodded his head.
"Say Flores. Why don't we go see Cadenza? Cinder and Fonhare have been waiting long enough for their human forms, after all."
"Damn right." Cinder jumped.
"Eh. It's about time I woke up anyway."
"Ooh, I get to see a transformation. Awesome!" Tommy cheered.
"Then let's get a move on; we have to prepare some things."
"Yay! Otherworldly phenomenon !" Tommy ran out of the room with Fonhare on his head.
Being yelled at by Cinder, Flores got up from the bed and followed. But before he could leave, Ray called out to him.
"Oh, and can you tell Melinda I won't be home for a few days?"
"Riala's maid?" Flores asked.
"The very same. She'll be pissed if I hurt myself and didn't tell her, so mind giving her the message?"
"No promises. I like to avoid family drama."
"W-what? Flores, don't ignore me!" Ricten yelled. But Flores had already left the room.
/~/
"I'll never get used to this ghost cassowary," Flores grumbled, wading his way through the room full of birds.
"I think they're pretty cool." Tommy giggled as he ran around with one.
After entering the castle and passing on the message to Melinda,. The group descended down the massive spiral staircase in their way. Not wanting his time wasted, Flores leapt off the railing, descending down with a platform of paper he had made.
Leo shrugged, leaping off the side as well. He then landed on the ground, his legs glowing brown as the impact shook the floor a bit. Tommy's eyes widen at the display, and in an attempt to one-up both of them, he tries teleporting himself down. But like before, he fell flat on his face once he reached the ground.
"Oww. Mister Leo! What am I doing wrong!?" Tommy whined.
"Well… I'm not sure. Whenever I teleport, I'm transported through the ground. So I have no experience landing." Leo explained. "What about you, Flores?"
"Well, I crash into the ground every time I teleport. So I have no idea what's up with him." Flores jumped off his platform and reformed the paper into his arm.
"I'll ask around. Until then, try to control how you fall, I guess." Leo grabbed onto the door, but when he opened it, he was blasted back by a bolt of lightning. Crashing into the wall, Flores pushed Tommy aside as he peeked his head through the door.
Inside was Cadenza, fighting a wolf wielding a sword in its mouth. Having it's blade easily parried by the fox, the wolf tossed it into the air. Leaping back, the wolf ran forward, grabbing the sword with it's tail before taking a wide swing. Cadenza, however, grabbed the sword with her tail and kicked the wolf to the floor.
Rolling on the ground, the wolf's fur began to rise. Getting back up, the wolf barks, firing off a blast of lightning at Candenza. Flores ran inside, ready to block the hit, but Cadenza pushed him aside and effortlessly caught and absorbed the bolt into her hand.
"Get in the damn furnace!" Grabbing the wolf by the snout, Cadenza tossed it into the furnace and locked it inside. With the flick of her finger, the small spark of fire she sent set the hole in the in the furnace ablaze, roasting the poor wolf inside. Cadenza then sighed, death staring at the other wolves in the cage as she closed it.
"What the hell was that?"
"A Charge Wolf. They gather static electricity from their fur and convert it into lightning-based attacks. That one, however, seemed to know how to use a weapon. Last time, I left random swords in the forest." Cadenza grumbled as she started cleaning up the mess made by the wolf.
"Wait a minute. The successor of Miguel!" Cadenza shoved Flores out of the room and slammed the door. On the other side, Flores suffered a series of crashes and explosions before the door opened again, and the room is now clean.
"Successor, great to see you again. Sorry for the mess; it's not usually like this, I swear." Cadenza fidgeted.
"Hello to you too, sis." Leo grumbled as he peeled himself out of the wall.
"Leo? What are you doing here?"
"We need lots of things. Specifically, armor repairs and clothing."
"Armor repairs? Oh god, what happened to Commando one!?" Cadenza grabbed the bag Flores was carrying and pulled out the armor. After taking a good look at it, she breathed a sigh of relief and put it on the anvil.
"Ahh, just some battle damage. I was scared that it would break again. From what I could tell,. 140 stabs, 125 slashes, 72 hits from a blunt object, and at least 34 hits of the magical variety. Wow, successor, you've been busy."
"Well, it has been three weeks since I last got it."
"No need to worry. Armor is meant to take damage in order to protect the user, and my armor can certainly take a beating. The issue I had before, was you breaking it five minutes after I gave it to you. Aka, why are you fighting something above your paygrade!?" Cadenza yelled. After she did, she covered her mouth and blushed.
"Ahem. Apologies for my outburst."
"Yeah, just ignore her. She's crazy when it comes to her creations."
"Shut up, Leo!" Cadenza grumbled. "Annoying brothers aside,. I can have this fixed in a week. Well, more like four days. I want to use the other three days to add some upgrades. What level are you now, by the way?"
"65. I've been abusing my sacrifice boost method and refused to go higher than that."
"Yeah. That is something Riala does too. Since you're high enough, I can start using some of the crazy materials. Ohhh, I wonder what I should try." Cadenza, giddy with excitement, tossed all her monster materials and medals on the workbench. "Man, if only you were at a higher level. I'd grab a chisel and start taking some materials from Leo!"
"We're not doing that, Cadence!" Leo exclaimed.
"Wait. Materials from Leo?"
"Well yeah, we're monsters after all. Even humans can give weapon forms. But they're not unique, so the materials they give are boring." Cadenza scoffed.
"Cadenza… have you made armor out of human materials?"
"...Anyways. We at the sanctuary came up with a tiering system for monsters to gauge how much of a threat they are to the world. At the top, which is the Extinction Class, we have the Harbingers of Destruction; they're currently immeasurable. The children made, from their materials, Apocalypse-class monsters. High levels, amazing stats, broken abilities—you know us. Because of that, any weapon materials you may gain from us are too high for you to use."
"Really now? What are the rest?"
"EEK!" Cadenza shrieked. Flores had just plucked a hair from one of her tails and dropped it into his weapon.
Storm Tenko Fur Flag
Locked: Level 85
"Huh, you were right. Level 85."
"Don't do that again!" Cadence blushed.
"Sorry about that."
Twin Inu Flag
Locked: Level 75
Huh. I'm actually pretty close to that one.
"Long or short version?"
"Short for now." Flores sat on the ground, transforming his flag to a violin to save space."
"Then that brings us to the Apocalypse Class. High-level, broken monsters that pose a threat to a nation. We, along with some other monsters like the Dawn Elephants, the Grand Unicorn, and the Greater Pegasus,. Not to mention, all wave bosses are classified under apocalypse. It doesn't matter how strong or weak they are. They are killed on sight." Leo explained.
"Um… noted." Flores adjusted his collar while Tommy listened intently.
"Next is the Calamity Class: something like those orc mutants we face. They tend to pose a threat to a city or multiple if left unchecked. Others would include a pack of Adrenilions, a bundrill father, and a five-tailed Litsune. Cinder, Fonhare, you have some standards to live up to too." Leo chuckled. Fonhare laughed back, while Cinder scoffed at the joke.
"Next is the Debacle Class: pretty strong monsters, but only really a threat to, like, a few towns at most. They're the more common monsters you find in the forest, like the beserker and barbarian pigs, the rest of the Bundrill variants, Litsune with four tails or lower, and discharge wolves."
"You know. These guys." Cadenza tossed another one into the furnace, it's final wimpers being heard as the raging inferno was set ablaze.
It's been a bit. But she's now at the top of the don't fight ever list.
"And the last class are the Feeble Class: domesticated monsters, livestock, and other weak monsters a starting adventurer may fight. Yes, Tommy?"
"Ohh. Are there any ways to change the tier you're in? Perhaps by leveling, or somehow boosting stats?" Tommy asked.
"Sort of. The tiering system is for individual monsters, so any outliers of that species won't boost said species tiering unless the whole species, or at least multiple confirmed cases of said outlier, is seen throughout. That'll lead them to get their own placement on the chart as a variant monster. For example, the bundrill father is a rare set of bundrill that practice polygamy. Only one in a few thousand bundrill ever grows up to be a father, so they get a special tiering. On the other hand, the orc colossus you and Lizen faced is a mutant of an orc captain. It itself isn't a species or boost the tier placement of the captain. It instead gets a temporary tiering on the list." Leo explained with a diorama of earth.
Tommy and Leo were completely absorbed in the lecture, so much so that they didn't notice Cadenza and Flores wrestling down another escaped discharge wolf. The ensuing chaos led to a wellspring of information the boy wrote down in an unknown language and the second complete wreck of Cadenza's workspace.
"And that's how you incapacitate a unicorn."
"I see. Thank you, Mister Leo." Looking past the dog, Tommy spotted the soot-covered bodies of Cadenza and Flores and couldn't help but laugh.
"Shut up, kid. Anyway, we're completely off track. Cadenza, do you have the materials for humanfication?"
Discharge Wolf Fur Flag Unlocked
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: SPD +5, Lightning Resistance (Small)
Discharge Wolf Bone Flag Unlocked
Abilities Locked. Equip Bonus: SPD +2
Discharge Wolf Flag Unlocked
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: SPD +6, Lightning Resistance (Small), Skill: Electro Flourish.
A new flourishing skill? We'll have to test that later.
"Humanfication materials? You don't have materials for those."
"W-what? Then why are we here?" Flores asked.
"Because after the transformation is complete, you need clothes. Maybe even equipment if they want."
"Just the clothes would do."
"Of course. Fonhare like nothing." Cinder grumbled.
"Well, I can easily finish that in a couple of hours. Levels?"
"Forty. Stuck there."
"Then I'll make them the best I can!" Cadenza pumped up her chest. She then scribbled a bunch of stuff down on a sheet of paper and gave it to the two of them.
"Leo. You'll work with Cinder and Fonhare to find the best materials for them. I need a strong earth and fire beast and some magical thread. Bonus points if you can get me their souls as well."
"Why a soul?"
"Imbuing the soul of a monster into materials can give said material an aspect of said monster."
"Huh… cool."
"But you know I can't perceive soul Cadence."
"Then you obviously have to bring it alive. Or if your lucky, use the soul tongs." Cadenza tossed a pair of black tongs at Leo.
"I hate you." Leo walked off, brooding, with Cadenza teasing him along the way.
"Now for your successor. For some armor upgrades, we need some special materials. The magical dust from a unicorn. And the feather and
"When unicorns sleep, they sometimes have a magical discharge that produces a special dust. But only foals produce it on a regular basis; rarely is it seen in adults."
"So they're just wetting the bed but with magic?"
"...Well… probably."
"Gross."
"It's worth it, though. I can make some cracked effects if we get a bottle full."
Cadenza handed Flores two objects. A pint-sized jar labeled feathers, and a milk jug with hastily scribbled "magic piss" as the label. Flores only sighed, putting both containers into his bag.
"Why not send Leo though?"
"Well, one, it's your armor. And two, I'm pretty sure you don't want to fight what's the incarnation of fire.
"... Hey Tommy, are you ready to fight some unicorns?" Flores exclaimed as he bolted for the door.
"Oh, try not to fight them."
"Come again?"
"You're the Morale hero; they love you more than anything else. They are also responsible for handling certain waves, so we really shouldn't dwindle their numbers."
"Really?"
"Indeed."
"Huh. So where are these unicorns then?"
"Who knows? They're nowhere and everywhere, quite impossible to find. That's why we need to lure them out somehow."
"And how would I do that if they're nowhere?"
"Well, I recently heard from a friend of mine that she gave her prized alicorn to the successor of Miguel. Now I wonder how we can use her." Cadenza raised her eyebrows twice.
"Cadenza, that is a stupid idea that can get me killed."
/~/
"This is a stupid idea that can get me killed," Flores muttered to himself.
He trotted around the forest with Hollowtrix and Tommy, the former of whom didn't enjoy being away from him for so long. She had grown attached to the hero, and when he returned, he was immediately assaulted by two hooves to the face.
After some apologies and a few apples,. Hollowtrix went along with the plan and acted well to boot. Every now and then, she'd genuinely sound a painful neigh that echoed throughout the forest. She even smothered herself with tomatoes to make the "abuse" seem more realistic.
All of this, combined with Flores's plastic riding crop, got the attention of the horses immediately. And as soon as Floresraisede his fake riding crop, they struck.
"Yah. Move it pon- omph." A ball of fire crashed into him, knocking him off his horse.
Getting up and searching for his attacker, Flores locked eyes with the blur and narrowly dodged it as it came back around. Drawing his weapon, the flame landed in front of him, revealing it's form. A pegasus with a fiery mane and tail. It's coat was a light blue, and it's wings were massive, extending out the front of it's face like a fan.
So they finally showed themselves.
"Alright, let's relax here. It was all just a ruse."
"Fire Shield: Beta!" Tommy threw a charm, and surprisingly, it worked, forming a circle of flames that blocked a unicorn's horn mere inches away from Flores's back. Hollowtrix then used the opportunity to buck the unicorn in the snout, knocking it far away from them.
"IT ACTUALLY WORKED, YES! Mister Flores, where's my notepad!?"
"Not the time, Tommy, but thanks for the assist."
"Yeah. Sorry." Tommy blushed.
"It seems we can't get out of here without a scuffle. I'll handle the flying horse while you handle the narwhal with legs."
The unicorn let out an offended neigh and started charging it's horn. Hollowtrix, however, rammed into the unicorn, breaking his concentration.
Meanwhile, Flores deployed his defense order and blocked a charge from the pegasus. Leaping back, the horse slid across the ground as if it were slippery. It's wings then burst into flames, expanding outward as it came back for another attack.
Repeatedly slashing at Flores, the hero if forced to duck and weave the flamining onslaughter. He rarely uses his weapon, only pulling it out when he's backed into a position where he's forced to use it.
It was annoying to say the lease, and Flores quickly lost all patience he had and punched the unicorn in the snout. Grabbing it by the barrel, he spun and tossed it away. But it recovered mid-air, bringing itself to a complete halt. Flying high into the sky and doing a loop, the horse burst into flames.
Switching to his trumpet, Flores focused on the flaming horse. But a rainbow beam shot him in the back, knocking him to the ground.
"Tommy, Hollow! What the heck?" Flores shouted. He tried to get back up, but it had already been to late. In a massive gathering of flames, the pegasus descended from the sky, crashing into him, resulting in an explosion.
/~/
On the other side of the battlefield, Hollowtrix, with his unnatural athleticism, leaps from tree to tree. She carried Tommy, avoiding the rainbow blast trying so desperately to hit him, and not herself. It was easy to exploit, and every now and then, she would come down, delivering a power hit to the unicorn's body before running off.
The unicorn was soon getting frustrated and began tapping the ground. Light began converging upon the horse as the energy from it's horn grew and grew. Taking it's time to aim, the second Hollowtrix returned to the ground for an attack. It unleashed it's bountiful magic, firing off a massive rainbow orb that crashed into the horse.
Knocked onto the ground, the horse readied it's laser, aiming for Tommy's heart as the boy lied on the ground. But hearing a cry from it's partner, it turned around, shooting Flores in the back.
/~/
"As a unicorn lives it's life, it naturally charges light in their horn, which flows in a counterclockwise rotation. If this rotation is blocked or hindered in some way, the magic from their horn can be slowed down or negated entirely. And that's how you incapacitate a unicorn."
/~/
"I only have one shot at this."
With this moment, Tommy hastfully pulled out a disc from his bag. It was a blue metallic disc, inscribed with an unknown language. Its edges were charmed and cracked, but these went unnoticed as the boy tossed it forward. Even with the throw being pretty sloppy, it landed on the unicorn's horn, the magic flowing from it being blocked by the metal plate. The unicorn was annoyed and tried to remove it with his hooves. But the second he touched it, there was a flash of white as it exploded, launching the unicorn into a nearby tree.
"That was close." Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. "I wonder which one I thre- of."
Tommy picked up the charme, it's base is now cracked and brittle. Its center glowed red as it contained the explosive energy, but it also made the disc deform in the process.
"I see, you can't take another. Sorry, I had to use you again." Tommy hugged the charme, with hollowtrix snapping him out of the moment by tapping him on the shoulder.
"Right, Mister Flores!"
/~/
Rolling out the way of the pegasus stomp. Flores rolled himself back up to his feet and jumped back. His clothes were burned, slowly reweaving themselves from the previous attack. He had also suffered a few bruises and burns, but that did little damage to his overall health.
By now, however, his patience has run thin. Activating his strength order, Flores stood his ground as the pegasus charged up another assault.
"My patience has run thin, Rainbow Dash! Last chance to stand down or I will kill your ass!"
The pegasus burst into flames, letting out a neigh that shot fire into the sky. Ignoring every warning, the pegasus swooped down, gunning for Flores's position.
"Bet then."
Flores didn't plan on dodging. Just like Hollowtrix, Flores took the hit head-on, holding back the burning pegasus with his raw strength alone. Bringing the attack to a halt, Flores He then wrapped his arms under both of the horse's elbows and fell back. Despite the intense heat, it didn't bother him in the slightest. He effortlessly slammed the pegasus to the ground with a devastating suplex.
"I have plenty of ways to make this more painful for a human. Don't make me test the methods for a horse on you.
"Get your hands away from my kin!"
"See, was it that hard to... wait, that wasn't you?"
Another fiery ball flew towards Flores, hitting him in the face and sending him flying. When the hero landed, in a flash of light, the flame appeared under him, then hit him with an uppercut that sent him to the sky.
Flores barely got a glimps of his attacker as it flew up too him. It was another pegasus, a very muscular one at that. It was very different from the other pegasus by a mile. Both it's mane and tail were not on fire, instead being black in color. Her coat was also white, with a scar that ran across her left eye.
"[Electro Flourish!'] Flores called out. The attack, similar to that of Blazing Flourish, had a conduction as well. As Blazing Flourish needed constant motion to be active, all Electro Flourish needed was to be in the air. After the conditions are met, it'll deal a single powerful lightning attack to whatever he hits His target now is the pegasus, swinging at it with the blunt end of his flag.
The pegasus, though, halted itself midair, making Flores miss the attack. Then, in a swift motion, it wrapped its tail around Flores's neck, swinging and tossing the hero to the ground. The crash, however, did negligible damage and was nothing compared to the drop the Roc put him through. So after the smoke cleared, the pegasus was quite surprised to see Flores walk away with minor damage.
"This situation is getting out of hand. Stand down and we'll let you leave. " The pegasus spoke in a raspy voice.
"I'm not trying to leave; I just want to-"
"Flores, look out!" Tommy called from afar, but it was already too late.
Turning around, Flores stomach impaled the horn of a unicorn. This one was also different. It had a white coat similar to the new pegasus, along with a golden mane that shone in the sunlight. It's horn was much larger than the other unicorn, and said horn had a sharp tip that made stabbing trivially easy.
The hero brought his elbow down onto the unicorn, but in a flash of light, it disappeared, leaving the pegasus in its place, who blocked the hit. The mare then leapt back, hovering right next to the unicorn.
"Seriously Atorie. This is the first time we've convened in months, and you're talking to a rider of all beings. Have you gotten soft since the last time we met?"
"Shove it, Azriel." Atorie scoffed.
"Likewise." Azriel shook his blood off his horn while also showing off his dazzling mane. The pegasus there was mesmerised by the stallion and began to cheer.
Ahh fuck. Getting stabbed by a unicorn was not on my to-do list.
"Mister Flores. Here, take some bandages!"
"Back off, kid." A rainbow laser came from Azriel's horn, blasting the healing bandage out of Tommy's hand.
"Azriel, please stop."
"Why now? We're just getting star-"
"Ha, you're distracted! [Overload: Mega]"
Tommy tossed two charme, both of which landed on Azriel's horn, much to his surprise. As both of them activated, the sparks of electricity and fire slowly burned themselves out, instead exploding in a white flash once again.
Once the smoke cleared, Azriel's face was full of soot, while his mane had suffered many burns. The pegasus watching gasped in horror and even shed a tear for the poor stallion.
"M-my hair."
"Hahaha." Atorie laughed. "You look like a nightmare!" Atorie laughed even harder.
"Shut up." Azriel whimpered. That whimpering turned into anger, and he began to glow with a rainbow aura. That's it, killing the child!"
"Azriel."
"Mortally Wound"
"Not any better."
"Fine. Mildly injured." From his horn, a massive fist of rainbow sprouted out.
/~/
"Ca-captain. Am I going to die?"
/~/
"Mister Flores, how do we even dod-"
"Get out of here now." Almost immediately, Flores grabbed Tommy by the collar and tossed him as hard as he could. Crashing into Hollowtrix, the two stumble out of the attack range before the giant fist crashes into him.
"Mister Flores!"
"Hello kid."
"Uh." Turning around, Azriel was standing right behind him.
"Uhh… Hi?" Tommy nervously waved.
"Nice talk." The unicorn decked Tommy in the face, launching him through a tree a few feet away. Tommy was immediately knocked out, while Flores lay motionless on the ground as well.
"Are your feelings better now?"
"He deserved it. This mane is not easy to maintain."
"Oh, it'll grow back, you pompous fuck." Atorie walked over to Flores, but Hollowtrix blocked her path.
"Stay away from me, master, or I'll promptly put my hooves up your flank!" Hollowtrix yelled in a serene voice. "Oh wow… is this what it's like to speak in the human tongue?"
"You've awakened? Now that I think about it, I do sense a strange aura from you. A unicorn? No… I feel pegasus in you as well."
Atorie cleared her thoughts for now, not wanting anything to lengthen this debacle. She took another step towards Flores, but Hollowtrix blocked her again.
"What I just said!" Hollowtrix roared.
"Relax, young pegasus... unicorn... horse thing. We aren't going to kill your master."
"We arent!?" Exclaimed Azriel. On his back, he carried the knocked-out unicorn and pegasus, the latter of whom was giddy with excitement.
"No, we aren't. If you took a second to think, you should know that this is the man we should kill." Atorie scoffed. Tossing Flores and Tommy on her back, she gestured for Hollowtrix to follow. After some hesitation, the horse reluctantly agreed and followed two supreme horses.
"What do you mean "should kill"? They're not theomega, and they certainly aren't Lizen. What makes him think he's so important that he can just break all the treaties of the sanctuary?"
"It's because he is important. The man you just impaled and blood-thirsty punched into the ground is our hero. The successor of Miguel."
Azriel's head shot up, a rainbow beam suddenly shooting from his head.
"Apologies, reflexive magical attack. Also sorry, what!"
"Indeed. How does it feel to stab our master's heir?"
"Shut up! Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried, then you got angry. Use this as a moment to learn how to think before you act."
"Oh, I have a few thoughts for you right now!" Azriel leapt at Atorie, and a small scuffle began between the two. Hollowtrix sighed, dragging everyone to some shade as she watched the fight unfold.
"What a fucked-up afternoon."