"X! What are you doing?!" Kimora yelled as she walked inside the governor's residence of Liberta, while the others followed her in respectful silence.
"Over here, stranger." a male voice answered from the upper floor, on a balcony between two wooden stairs that enveloped the entrance hall.
As soon as he spoke, everyone stared in his direction to discover what the owner of the voice looked like: a man covered in a black robe with a hood and gloves. His face was covered with a golden mask.
"X! Hope ya have some food ready for us, I'm starvin'!" Kimora yelled again.
"Ah! Human, this is a good thought!" Bromur exclaimed in agreement with the Titan.
"A savage Human, a Human boy, an Elf slave, and a noisy Dwarf.
What is this, a bloody comedy group?
The fuck are you doing, Silent Blade…" the masked man commented harshly.
"Ya asked for help X!
We will hunt down the Behemoth and the horns will be MINE!" Kimora screamed, staring at Cyn'Thia with distrust.
"Ah... I should have known that you would have been the one to answer my call...
Follow me to my office." The masked man replied as he went down the stairs.
Kimora and Bromur followed X, while Jorael seemed to have something on his mind.
"What is it, master?" Cyn'Thia asked after noticing this.
"That male voice... it sounds somehow familiar." Jorael whispered.
"Is it possible that you already know him?" she asked.
"I can't understand... anyway we go." he replied as he began following the others into the office.
When Jorael arrived, X was sitting in his comfy chair behind a wooden desk while everyone else sat in front of the desk.
"So, now that everyone is finally here, I'll go into detail on what's going on:
Looks like this fucking monster chose to migrate north to this bloody territory of mine.
I don't know why, but this asshole has made its lair at the edge of the Dark Forest, and from time to time it goes on a rampage by preying on anything that crosses its way.
Its harassment needs to fucking stop. It killed some fucking merchants and whatnot, but if the asshole decides to charge on Liberta's wall it will be a fucking nuisance ... and I will have to intervene in person.
The Magic Beasts began fleeing southwards en masse, invading the plains and making journeys to the Empire dangerous for the weak-ass merchants and pussy slavers.
I have a lot of these assholes with their breath on my neck to settle to sort out the matter as soon as possible, while I am balls deep in this fucking pile of shitty papers the merchants, the guild, and the Empire are asking me to fill out." X explained animatedly showing a huge pile of papers on his desk.
"Ah! So, Human, this is your excuse and the reason won't you face the beast directly?! Ah ah ah!" Bromur laughed.
"Dwarf, don't test my patience..." the masked man whispered threateningly.
"So much pressure...
Harassment?!
The beast killed many people…" Jorael whispered to himself.
"So, who got the contract?" X asked.
"I got it." Jorael replied.
"Boy come here and let me take a look ..." the masked man ordered the Traveler, who handed it to him.
The Governor began to read the paper, and then when he was finished, he passed it to Jorael. But suddenly X grabbed the Traveler's arm with his gloved hand, and as he stared directly into his eyes he said:
"Those eyes ... such a rare color."
Jorael was released almost instantly and replied:
"What is your problem?!"
"Nothing." the masked man whispered, and after a pause he said:
"I'll have you prepare a meal; I hope for you all it's not the last...
Go into the living room, my servants will come to feed you all.
Enjoy it while it lasts…"
"Aren't ya comin' to eat with us?" Kimora asked.
"No, I eat alone.
Now get out of my fucking sight and come back with those shit horns or whatever. "X said dismissing them.
Everyone but the governor left the office and headed for the living room, where they sat down at a large round dining table.
"Ah! I hope they know how to please a Dwarf! Ah ah ah!" Bromur said laughing.
"Meat of anything that moves and rotten alcohol..." Cyn'Thia whispered.
"Ah! Go eat your leaves and grass, Elf." the Dwarf answered harshly.
"Guys, come on.
We cannot continue like this, either our prey kills us or we kill ourselves.
I propose a truce: until the beast dies, we will act and help each other.
What do you all think?" Jorael asked.
"What do I gain out of it?" Kimora asked.
"You gain that I won't kill you for all the nonsense you spread around." he said in a way that she couldn't tell if it was a joke or if it was serious.
"Duh... Count me in, then." Kimora replied.
"What about you two?" Jorael said asking the Dwarf and the Elf.
"If the Master has said this, I will try not to disappoint him." Cyn'Thia said a little annoyed.
"No." Bromur said solemnly.
"Oh, come on, why?" Jorael asked exasperated.
"I will not make a deal with a traitorous Elf." pointed out the Dwarf.
"What are you trying to say?" Jorael asked confused.
"They... ceased trading with us!
…and with that, I NEVER got to smoke Thundering weed.
Ahhhh... my Grandfather always told me it was the best pipeweed ever...
Well, now we have the northern Kronidonie algae, but…" Bromur explained before being interrupted by Jorael who exclaimed:
"Are you sane or what?!"
"He's a Dwarf, Master..." Cyn'Thia pointed out.
"Sigh...
Can't you just let the bygones be bygones for a moment and join us in the fight?" Jorael asked.
"What do I get out of it?" this time Bromur asked.
"Er... Behemoth steak?" Jorael replied.
"Count me in." the Dwarf finally nodded, as X's servants entered the room with plenty of dishes ready for the newly formed party, which threw themselves headlong to eat.
...
After a satisfying meal, the party of four left Liberta and headed southwest towards the Dark Forest. As X told them, there were no Magical Beasts on the horizon, as they all appear to have fled to a safer region. As they were walking Jorael asked:
"Kimora, who is X really?"
"Who knows about dat...
His real name and his identity are a mystery." she explained.
"He behaved strangely with Master..." remarked Cyn'Thia.
"He always acts weird ...
Besides he maybe knows that the Dark Prince is... being a... secret lover... " she was holding back saying.
"You couldn't resist being delusional, huh?" Jorael said.
"Damn ya..." she replied annoyed as she made her way, walking alone in front of the others.
"WAIT!
There's something over there... Ghouls!
Lured by mangled rotting bodies!" shouted Jorael noticing from a distance.
"Ah! A little action after eating is good for you! Ah ah ah!" shouted Bromur excitedly.
"See ya..." Kimora whispered as she pulled out her daggers and ran towards the monsters with a smirk on her face.
"Son of a Brutynrnmandyrm!
That Human is too fast and will kill all the prey..." the Dwarf whispered as he drew his double ax and started running awkwardly.
"Master, I hate Ghouls.
They're so ugly…" Cyn'Thia said as she grabbed the bow.
"Yeah... Necrophage creatures are like that... let's go!" Jorael said as he and his aide started running after the other two.
Soon after they arrived at the clearing where decaying humanoid bodies had attracted a large group of Ghouls:
They are creepy creatures about one and a half mel in size and humanoid in appearance, scavengers of battlefields, smelling death from long distances living in the dark depths of caves and caverns. Interrupting their meal of rotting meat angers them, and if in a group they can become lethal opponents with their infected claws.
"DIE!" Kimora yelled as she neatly cut off a head from a ghoul gorging himself on corpse pieces.
"Huff... Leave someone for me too!" Bromur yelled from afar, swinging his weapon furiously.
The Dwarf, Jorael, and Cyn'Thia arrived at the clearing together, while their companion had already killed three of the monsters that had stopped eating to attack the invaders.
"Take this son of Brutynrnmandyrm!" Bromur yelled as he brandished his ax and mortally slammed a Ghoul on the back.
"For the glory of her who created it all, Firebolt charm!" Jorael said, falsely enchanting Red Magic to hit two Ghouls with a ball of fire, instantly incinerating them.
"Hurry up Dwarf! The prey is running out by the minute..." Kimora said as she killed a Ghoul in front of her, but suddenly Cyn'Thia shot an arrow in her direction.
"Duh..." the black-haired woman whispered as the arrow flew near her head but hit a ghoul on her back who was almost biting her neck.
"I HIT IT FIRST!" Kimora yelled showing the Elf that she had stealthily hit the monster with her dagger without looking back.
"Sigh ... it was to help you." Cyn'Thia whispered in disappointment.
"The last one! Mine! Hahaha! Shouted Bromur throwing his heavy ax, piercing the chest of the last Ghoul, but at the same time, he was hit in the head by one of Kimora's daggers.
"What have you done, Human!?" exclaimed the Dwarf taking his weapon back from the corpse.
"It was to make sure he was dead.
Ya'll never know…" Kimora explained.
While those two were arguing, Jorael approached the decaying corpses to examine them:
"Humans… and some Demons. Slavers... and slaves.
Kidnapped, and then, they met their brutal demise here."
…
They walked for a few days until they could finally see the Dark Forest on the horizon, and soon enough they reached it.
"Stop!" Kimora suddenly yelled, checking the ground. She then whispered:
"These steps are unmistakably those of our prey. It passed this way not long ago."
"Ah! Steak, here I come!" Bromur exclaimed fervently as he picked up his weapon.
"Did you realize you were inside one of its footprints?" Jorael asked.
The Dwarf stared straight at the ground, and to his surprise, he finally noticed that he was inside a giant footprint.
"Ah! May Flemest lend me the same strength He used to mold us under his hammer and anvil..." Bromur wished, holding his dear Forseti in his hands.
"The footprints go straight into the forest, and there at the horizon, you can clearly see the beast's passage as all the trees in its path have been uprooted and broken." Jorael explained by recounting what his eyes saw on the horizon.
"Such keen eyesight..." Kimora whispered first, then she warned:
"Now we will dive into this territory of the filthy beast. There will be time for you to wonder if the beast is the prey... or we are.
We will follow in the footsteps, but let's raise our alert to the maximum."
They began to walk slowly, and as they entered the Dark Forest, their eyes began to scan every direction and nook for every possible movement.
"It appears that the beast has used this path several times as if it were enterin' and exitin' the forest.
Who knows if at the end there is its lair... "Kimora whispered.
After walking for a long time, they could no longer see the light of the Red Sun coming from their backs, but only from above their heads, as many trees had been destroyed by the Behemoth. Eventually, they came to the end of the path, where a huge cavern awaited them in which only darkness could be seen from the outside.
"Well, I don't know what is worse: if the beast is already home, or if we go in and then come back..." Jorael commented.
"There's only one way to know... let's go!" was saying Kimora before Jorael blocked her with one arm and said:
"Wait...
How will we do it?" He asked.
"What are ya doin'?!
We go in and kill it, as simple as dat..." she replied nonchalantly.
"Yes, like with Rose in The Gif ..." he pointed out.
"Dat was... a bitch move." she said trying to defend herself.
"Sigh...
We are a team. We should act like one.
Let's see...
I can increase your speed and, given your high agility, I think you can avoid its attack and act as a decoy." Jorael explained.
"Me!? A bait?!" Kimora replied annoyed.
"Listen to me please:
While avoiding the attacks, you can land a few blows with your daggers.
I know you can do it." He explained.
"Oh, that's fair then..." she whispered.
"Thia, when you get the chance aim for the eyes of the beasts to blind it and if the situation calls for it, please support us with your White Magic." Jorael explained.
"Count on me, Master!" Cyn'Thia replied.
"Bromur, try to find a good timing to deliver a critical hit with your ax, and watch out for Cyn'Thia and protect her if she's using Magic or she's in trouble." Jorael explained.
"Forseti is her name... I got this. Ah ah ah!" the Dwarf laughed.
"What will ya do, Dark Prince?" Kimora asked.
"I will empower you and try to attack with my Magic." he replied as he launched Haste on the Titan, falsely enchanting with the Red Magic formula, boosting her movement speed. Then he said to her:
"Now you can enter the cave.
Lure him out, so we can help you and fight better here."
Silent Blade left immediately, running almost fast as the wind, disappearing into the shadows of the cave.
"Are we ready?" Jorael asked.
"Ah! A Dwarf is born ready!" Bromur replied.
Suddenly, a loud roar was heard coming from the cave such that it could have awakened the dead as all the forest around them shook. Soon after, a female figure ran out of the cave entrance screaming:
"IT'S AT HOME !!!"
When Kimora returned to her companions, noisy footsteps followed by the tremor of the ground rhythmically accompanied the monster to reveal itself: two giant bright yellow eyes appeared from the darkness of the cave, staring at the four people standing in front of the cave.
The gaze of an apex predator looking directly at them sent shivers down their spine, but soon after, a pair of long, huge, shiny black horns appeared from the darkness as the beast was slowly revealing itself.
First its horns, then its bull-like face with its deadly jaws, then the lizard-like massive purple-skinned body with its muscular legs that could have easily crushed a person.
"K-Kimora...it's yours..." Jorael whispered.
"Ya don't have to say it... YAAAA!" she screamed as she began charging the monster.
"Lure it out completely!
Let's back off and keep our distance!
Thia, be ready for a chance!" yelled Jorael as he backed off with the others.
The black-haired woman approached the monster, who tried to repel her with his horns and tried to bite her.
"Ahhhh such weak attacks won't faze me..." she commented as she acrobatically dodged all the beast attacks, backing away a bit to lure the monster out.
"Master, he's moving his head too frantically, I can't shoot!" Cyn'Thia said worriedly.
"Wait..." Jorael replied as he observed the monster which was almost completely out of its lair.
"Ah! Now is Forseti's time!" Bromur yelled as he started running towards the Behemoth.
"No! Not now!
Wait until it's completely out so Kimora can turn around it, and then you can hit the monster in its blind spot..." Jorael was explaining, but the Dwarf was not listening to him and furiously charged the beast, which promptly responded to the threat by swinging its horn against Bromur.
"Shit... Protect!" Jorael immediately cast on the Dwarf without him and Kimora noticing, buffing him with an advanced Magic spell that increased his physical defense.
Bromur was hit by a horn blow that sent him flying off for some mels, hitting a tree and knocking him unconscious for a while.
"Master, let me take care of this idiot...
By the grace of Him who awakened us, I enchant Heal!" Cyn'Thia enchanted as she approached the Dwarf.
Bromur regained consciousness and shouted:
"Did we win?!"
"Do I really have to respect this truce..." she commented annoyed.
"Good, now the Behemoth is completely out of its lair...
Thia, remember to aim its eyes!" Jorael shouted, then he whispered to himself:
"I should do something too... Firebolt!" he launched instantly while no one was watching.
The huge ball of fire hit the side of the beast still busy chasing Kimora, but the monster barely felt the attack and its hard skin barely burned.
"What a monstrous defense ..." Jorael commented.
However, the magical attack was not in vain, as it served as an additional distraction for the Behemoth who seemed surprised by the explosion on his smoking flank, and just then the Elf fired an arrow.
"I got you." Cyn'Thia whispered as his arrow flew straight into the beast's eye, piercing and blinding him. Blood began to gush out of its wound, making it furious.
The creature roared in pain, wriggling furiously and causing such tremors that knocked the Elf to the ground. As soon as the beast noticed that Cyn'Thia had fallen, it suddenly charged at top speed in her direction.
"Thia, get out of there!
Shit, I'll have to activate the Eye already!" shouted Jorael fearing for his companion, but Bromur quickly recovered from his daze and pushed the Elf away from the path of the beast and shouted:
"Don't mess with a Dwarf!"
At the last second, he made sure to evade the bull's charge by flattening himself to the ground, passing through the Behemoth's leg.
As the beast passed over him, he thrust his ax straight up so that the blade sliced through the monster, chest to tail, and finally, a flash was seen as the Rune embedded in his weapon discharged a thunder.
"Ah ah ah! Forseti did not disappoint!" Bromur commented as he stood up as the beast passed over him and was agonizing with pain, trembling from the shock it had received.
However, its skin had not been badly injured by the ax, but blood continued to gush from the wound in its eye, driving the beast mad.
"YAAAA!" Kimora yelled as she resumed her bait game, while the Dwarf had time to escape the monster's reach with Cyn'Thia.
"Thia, find another chance to aim for the other eye!" shouted Jorael as he thought:
"I could make another attempt trying to attack with Magic, to create another chance but...
I also need to save Magic."
The Behemoth began wagging its long tail and using it as a weapon, so the bait had to evade all attacks unleashed against her by its horns, fangs, legs, and tail. The dance of the mighty beast and the agile black-haired girl was so fascinating that everyone watched in silence.
"Uh, guys?!" Kimora cried.
"Fine. Let's try this.
For the glory of Her who created everything, I enchant Blizzard!" Jorael enchanted using the Red Magic formula, as she was watching him.
Ice spears appeared from the red heptagram and were thrown at the beast's side, penetrating its hard skin and finally piercing its flesh.
The Behemoth roared in pain as Jorael shouted:
"Thia, now!"
"I got this, Master!" the Elf yelled as she fired another arrow, hitting the other creature's eye perfectly.
The monster roared even more than before, wriggling its body in pain and hitting the ground so hard with its legs that it felt like an earthquake.
"t's goin' crazy!" Kimora yelled when she noticed that the Behemoth was enraged and ready to attack. The beast, even though it was blinded, suddenly turned in the direction of the Elf and the Dwarf and prepared for something.
"What is doing?!
Don't tell me... Shit!
THIA! BROMUR! GET OUT OF THERE!
Shell-for-all!" Jorael yelled, casting a magical defensive barrier over Cyn'Thia and Bromur just in time as the beast roared fiercely, and soon after a giant reversed Black Magic heptagram appeared in front of the monster.
Soon enough, a giant multicolored sphere about six mels in size engulfed the Elf and the Dwarf without a trace. It was a powerful advanced Magic spell that combined the elements of fire, ice, and thunder into one dense, destructive magical sphere called, Blast.
The sphere exploded in a powerful burst that left two unconscious bodies on a newly formed crater on the ground.
"W-what in the flyin' fuck just happened?!
H-how did you instantly cast Magic!?" Kimora screamed in confusion.
However, the beast was still not satisfied as it began to hastily run towards the two unconscious companions.
"Shit, not again..." Jorael thought as he braced himself for the worst, ready to activate the Eye.
"YAAA!" Kimora yelled as she leapt onto the Behemoth's head, rapidly piercing the creature with her daggers.
The beast stopped its run, but began its rampage, leaping and kicking fervently, until the Titan slipped and was blown away by a horn of the beast that made her crash violently into a tree.
"Ughhh..." Kimora moaned in pain, but it wasn't enough for the mad beast that ran with its horns straight at the woman.
"NOOO!
Eye of Gaia!" yelled the Traveler as his eye was gold, but grey the rest of the world.
Time stopped, only to find that the beast had impaled Kimora with its horn in her abdomen against the tree.
"Shit... I promised Catherine, and I'll keep my promise.
Ugh the headache…" Jorael thought as he slowly approached painfully towards the Behemoth.
"I won't be able to move more than this...
Ughhh my head is exploding!
Hope this is enough to bring it down...
COLLAPSE!" He screamed instantly casting the most powerful Black Magic spell he knew, a superior one.
As soon as the inverted black heptagram was formed, a bright white ray about the diameter of a mel began to come out like a ray.
"Ughhhhh!" Jorael suffered as time resumed its normal flow and the powerful beam mortally pierced Behemoth's head, leaving a hole.
The creature collapsed to the ground, tearing apart Kimora's flesh, as her blood began to flow out too quickly.
"W-what, blurgh..." she screamed as blood came out of her mouth as well.
"Shit, now I'm dizzy...
Huff... Huff..." Jorael exclaimed as he collapsed to his knee because he consumed great amounts of Magic.
"Master! What happened?!" Cyn'Thia shouted as she ran towards Jorael after regaining consciousness.
"Not me! Heal Kimora!
Huff... Huff ..." he yelled panting.
When the Elf looked up at the Human, she shrieked in fear, but then immediately reached Kimora and said:
"By the grace of Him who awakened us, I enchant Heal!"
The woman's wound began to heal, but she continued to lose too much blood. The Dwarf regained consciousness and arrived on the spot.
"Human! I don't know what happened but we have to eat Behemoth steak together!" Bromur shouted.
"Cough!
Eat it for me…" Kimora said weakly coughing up blood.
"No human, you will make it!" said the Dwarf, while Cyn'Thia constantly healed her.
"Cough!
I wish I could...
I still have to go home...
I have yet to find him...
Cough!" Said Kimora even more weakly, with a pale face as she still coughed blood.
"Master! I can't do it! She is dying!" cried the panicked Elf as Jorael stood up.
"Huff... Huff...
Here I am..." he panted, very distressed by the use of too much magic.
"Cough!
Here is the Dark Prince...
Thanks for...
the last...
hunt…" Kimora said as she let out her last breath.
"NOOO!" Cyn'Thia and Bromur cried out in tears as Jorael prepared to cast a spell:
"Huff... huff...
Damn, her wounds healed, but she lost too much blood.
This is our last chance...
RISE!"