Judith had watched as the Parabeast exploded out of the sand, only to fall back onto the sand's surface and began to convulse.
Before Judith's very eyes, she saw what was written in the pages of her favorite novel, unfold in reality.
Of course this was not supposed to happen. In the novel originally, the protagonist didn't possess the knowledge on how to defeat this Parabeast until about a hundred chapters later, when she uncovered her father's journal. A jornal which detailed the strength and weaknesses of not all, but a great number of Parabeasts.
Originally, this Parabeast - after killing more than three fourths of the people present - was defeated by Qui Lin, who had transformed into what was known as her Human Phoenix mode.
Except after she had defeated the Parabeast, she had received an enormous kickback from her Alkalis, which had almost killed her.
Judith, having known this would happen to Qui Lin, plus the great loss that would precede this outcome, couldn't bear to let it happen, so impulsively, she acted.
'It's not over yet.' Judith had thought, just before she turned to the Tethered and tossed him a small fancy bottle with a green glowing liquid inside, which she found in the treasure chest.
"This is a high grade recovery potion." The the Tethered had said, wondering why Judith didn't give him this potion to begin with.
As for the reason, Judith knew this Tethered -- had she given him the potion -- would have just jumped straight into battle, without listening to a word she said.
But even if he would, this was a chance she didn't want to take. A bit of a cold move, but Judith was thinking of the wellbeing of everyone when she decided upon this.
The Tethered, like a fool who didn't want to live, stared at Judith instead of gulping down the bottle.
The look on his face was obvious, and Judith knew what it was, but she didn't have time to explain anything to him or except herself from this sinister act.
"This isn't over, I still need your help."Judith turned to face the Parabeast, which was still convulsing. "Drink the potion and follow me." Judith had said, a sudden rush overwhelming her from the excess adrenaline pumping into her bloodstream.
Though the Tethered hesitated for a moment, he didn't linger on what Judith had done for much longer. Especially when he saw the Parabeast getting off the ground and slowly regaining itself.
He at once drank the potion, and in a matter of seconds, saw his legs regenerate before his very eyes.
After which, Judith had asked the Tethered to link his thoughts to hers. Without questioning her, he did as told.
The Tethered made his way into the foray of Tethereds, all of which were still pointlessly blasting fire and lightning at the Parabeast, in an attempt to break its armored scales.
'Listen to me very carefully,' Judith's voice had emanated into the Tethered's head. 'You have to tell them exactly what I tell you.' Judith commanded, as the urgency of the situation started to eat into her nerves.
On Judith's command, the Tethered had approached Qui Lin and the prince.
"What do you want?" The prince had asked.
"I know what to do." The Tethered had said like a madman to the prince, before turning to Qui Lin. "I know what to do." He had said to Qui Lin, who was still beyond confused as to what was even happening.
First, a slave had stolen a golden plate, which she temporarily expanded, and used to draw the Parabeast out of the ground, thereby successfully immobilizing the Parabeast, albeit also temporarily, but immobilized nonetheless.
And now, the same Tethered who had worked with the slave to achieve this amazing feat, is standing before her, saying he knows what to do, when even she doesn't.
Though this Tethered was the one who approached Qui Lin with a possible solution, she still felt something off about Judith.
"Qui Lin?" The prince had called her, but she didn't respond to him.
"Speak." She said to the Tethered.
"The Parabeast, if it returns to the sands, it will pick us off one at a time." The Tethered had spoken, saying exactly what Judith was telling him.
"I'm fully aware of this, you have a solution?" Qui Lin had asked, just so the Tethered - on Judith's command - turned and pointed a finger at the Parabeast.
"Do you see that sliding scale?" The Tethered had asked Qui Lin, who squinted her eyes so she could get a better view of the location the Tethered was pointing at.
And though the Parabeast's erratic movements made it difficult to get a good grasp of what he was pointing at, Qui Lin eventually laid eyes on the sliding scales.
"Yes?" Qui Lin responded.
"The holes the scales keep sliding over are its nostrils, if we keep them open, it won't dive under the surface." After the Tethered had said this, Qui Lin was left a little dazed as to how this Tethered knew of such information, with great curiosity overtaking her, she couldn't help herself from asking.
"How did you come across this information?" The prince had asked, taking the question right out of Qui Lin's mouth.
This question had caused the Tethered to freeze in place and in an act of instinct, shifted his gaze toward Judith for just a heartbeat, which, Qui Lin had noticed.
"I'm just speculating." The Tethered had lied, on Judith's command. "There could be a chance none of what I say will work."
"So this could all just be a waste of time then?" The prince had asked, which caused the Tethered to lower his head.
Qui Lin on the other hand, was lost in thought.
But as her thoughts ate into her, she saw the Parabeast was regaining itself.
"Qui Lin, our troops don't have enough Mana to be testing out theories that may or may not work, I say we surround the Parabeast with a wall of fire, and get away on our mounts before it gets free of the flames."
"We won't make it in time, the Parabeast is too fast." Qui Lin said, whilst fixating her gaze on Judith. But just for a moment, before turning to the rest of the Tethereds, who were still blasting away at the Parabeast.
"We're doing what he said." Qui Lin had said to the prince, then focused her attention on the Tethereds. "Stop wasting your Mana!" She screamed, halting all the Tethereds in place.
"Aim your attacks at the sliding scales on its body, use freezing spheres on my mark!" Qui Lin turned away from the Tethereds and toward the Parabeast, which was already snapping out of its daze.
By the time the Parabeast stopped moving erratically, Qui Lin had screamed "Now" and all the Tethereds began to blast freezing spheres at the sliding scale.
Several shots missed their marks, but several more hit their target, which was more than enough. Even if only three out of its twenty something nostrils were exposed, the Parabeast wouldn't descend into the sand.
Once the Parabeast had been trapped on land, it started attacking the Tethereds with its tail and ramming into them with its mouth wide open.
"Lady Qui Lin!" A Tethered had screamed, seeking guidance.
"Dammit, this isn't good." The prince had said, unsheathing his sword and preparing himself for anything.
"What do we do now?" Qui Lin had asked, pinning her gaze to the Tethered, while keeping Judith at the corner of her eye.
'Tell her to command all Tethereds to surround the Parabeast and…' Before Judith could finish her sentence, the Parabeast had made its way toward Qui Lin and the Tethered Judith was talking to, chomping him in half.