Outside the collapsing church, Jiyu's voice piercingly sliced through the dust-filled air as he yelled, "Jenn!"
Jenn turned slowly to face him, his figure a gruesome spectacle of blood and determination. A weary, pain-stricken smile crept across his lips, "I'll be back..don't worry. Let me kill…these bastards first. Then…we can continue the shop..like always."
Tears streamed down Jiyu's cheeks as he cried out, "Don't say that..don't say that…you can come with—"
Jenn interrupted, his voice a mix of resignation and resolve, "Remember before…? We couldn't beat them. We got saved. The red flame…the All Mother…my people made a pact with her…I was able to have some of her power...but my fear as of now made me weaker…I hoped to never see so much violence like when I was a kid..but now I have... and now, I'm not scared anymore."
"Jenn..don't fucking do this."
"Can't run anymore…I'll face them here. And get my long awaited revenge. Take the princess back to Kalhalla, and I'll meet you soon."
"Jenn!" Jiyu's voice was a desperate, breaking echo.
Aria, clutching to Jiyu's side, managed to speak through her own shock, "Hey, brat..thank you. Please come back. I hate being sentimental and all that…I hate being connected to anyone or owing anyone anything, this isn't the first time I experienced this..where I believe it's my fault. Kill them all."
"I will."
Receiving their words, Jenn stomped hard against the muddied earth. His force was monstrous, splitting the ground, releasing a wave of power that sent Jiyu and Aria tumbling backward, their forms disappearing into the billowing clouds of dust.
Jiyu screamed, "Jenn!!!!!"
Jenn chuckled, "Stop screaming.."
Turning to the figures looming ominously above him, Jenn grinned, blood trickling from his mouth, mixing with the otherworldly flames that began to consume him, "I'll kill every last one of you…before I lose. I swear that pet shop will still be the best pet shop in the world. I'm from the All Mother as well, but we are not family."
The beings in the sky spoke in their cryptic, eerie language as they surged downward, "Kreasst.. Vilnok turash…"
Enveloped in red and black flames, Jenn watched as a third eye, blazing with red fire and a spiraling orange pupil, forcefully opened on his forehead. The environment shook violently, morphing dramatically. The sound of a massive bell tolled ominously, reverberating through the newly formed dark void. Above, a blood moon blazed, engulfed in red and black flames, while in the distance stood a large, menacing red tree.
'Heavenly Convergence..'
'Absolute Resonance…'
'Honored Divergence…'
Jenn's form expanded and contorted, grotesquely beautiful as seven arms ripped from his torso, each grasping a massive scythe burning with red and black flames. He charged ahead, his cries mixed with the clash of flames, slashing through the beings with brutal, swift strikes. He performed a spinning sideways slash that shredded a horde of beings into a bloody ethereal mess.
Each strike and brutal slash was a deadly dance of destruction; limbs and halos severed, scattering like broken dreams across the void. Blood, both crimson and ethereal, painted the surreal landscape as Jenn howled, his voice torn between agony and vengeance.
Wave after wave, they came, and he met them all, an unstoppable force driven by depths of pain and fury rarely seen. With each slash, his cries grew louder, filling the void with a cacophony of wrath and grief.
'Kenny…Gill…I don't know where you two went..I just hope you two are safe—.'
"Divine Jenn!"
Jenn turned around, seeing Gill soaring beside him. Parts of his crystal body was ruined, but he was clutching his crystal scythe.
Jenn said, "Gill…?! How did you get in here? This is not even half the power of the All Mother…"
"We'll fight together! Let's ruin them!"
"Where's Kenny…"
"I took him to safety. He's fine. Even though he wanted to come."
"…You all are the best employees…friends."
"Good! Let's finish this!"
Amidst the chaos, a figure, distinct in its calm and dark halo, drifted closer to Jenn. It laid its haunting hand upon his chest just as his scythe swung through another adversary. In a tender, sinister whisper, it said, "You did well. Now rot."
A sudden, explosive force burst forth, opening a grotesque hole in Jenn's chest. His scythes clattered to the ground as he stood, a shocked silence enveloping the void. Blood gushed as he staggered backward, his eyes wide with the betrayal of hope and the onset of darkness.
And Gill yelled, "Jenn-!"
SHIIING!
SHATTER!
The figure touched Gill on the head, and Gill shattered into tiny crystal pieces.
Slowly, Jenn fell slowly, his arms falling limp, his third eye dimming into the blackness. As his body kept falling, the echo of the figure's words filled the air, blending with the surreal, quiet horror of the blood moon.
'I did good..didn't I..mom? Dad…? Seiya..Hugh..Sapphire Shields..everyone..I'm sorry.'
And then, all was silent but for the soft crackle of fading flames and the distant, ominous breeze rustling through the red tree. The beings slowly disappeared, leaving the void as a silent testament to the ferocity and fall of Jenn.
…
As the crest of Kalhalla appeared on the horizon, Jiyu and Aria pushed their mounts into a weary gallop, desperate to escape the shadows of Jenn's valiant stand. The heavy burden of leaving Jenn behind clawed at Jiyu's heart, his spirit a tempest of self-loathing and regret.
'What's wrong with me?! I said is never leave him, but he wanted me to leave! He's dead because of me! I promised him! I promised the All Mother I'd watch over him…I failed..he was such a good kid!'
As they neared the kingdom, a grim tapestry of devastation unrolled before them. The once vibrant villages encircling the capital were now nothing more than burning relics, their ashes twisting in the wind. Corpses lay scattered like discarded playthings, each telling a silent story of the chaos that had swept through.
Aria exclaimed, "What?! What's happening?!"
Arriving at the capital, the sight that met their eyes was heartbreakingly chaotic. The city was a cataclysm of horror and madness. Residents, once human, were now grotesque hybrids, forcibly merged with their familiars. The air was thick with the sounds of anguish as these new entities, wild and uncontrollable, wrecked havoc. A man merged with his hawk familiar swooped through the air, his screams merging with the bird's fierce cry. Another, now part-serpent, slithered and writhed on the cobblestone, his human eyes pleading for a mercy that would not come.
Above it all dominated the black moon, its ominous presence casting a sinister light over the city. Beneath this celestial menace floated a lone figure, his form ethereal and haunting. His white hair glowed against the dark sky, and though his face was impassive stone, the malevolence in his stance was palpable. He was dressed only in modesty by a black leaf, yet he seemed untouched by the chaos below.
Aria noticed him, and she said, "Who the hell is that?! What's he saying? I know you know what he's saying!"
As he spoke in the unknown tongue, the air vibrated with dark power. Jiyu, ears perked and senses heightened from his lineage as a Wolfhound, caught the meaning and repeated it in a hushed, urgent whisper to Aria. "He said…this is the moon of Absolute Resonance."
"Absolute Resonance…!"
'Absolute Resonance 'requires the master and familiar to merge their essences temporarily, combining their strengths and abilities into a single formidable entity. The result is a tremendous amplification of power, but it carries risks. The intense blending of essences can lead to lasting side effects, such as temporary loss of individual powers or severe magical exhaustion. The efficiency of this technique depends heavily on the compatibility and mutual understanding between the master and the familiar.'
Aria continued, "That moon is forcing those with familiars into Absolute Resonance, but it's out of control! Quick! Take me to the castle!"
"Got it! Don't you have a familiar? Why aren't you like them?"
"I don't know.."
With each word, the terror in the streets intensified. Beasts formed of half-human, half-mythic creatures tore through the alleys and homes. A woman, entwined with the scales and wings of her dragon familiar, breathed fire indiscriminately, her human cries lost in the guttural roars of the dragon.
They raced through the streets, dodging both the debris and the monstrous hybrids that now ruled them. Above, the sky seemed to pulse with a dark rhythm, the figure with the black halo overseeing his domain of chaos with a solid, unyielding gaze.
As they approached the castle gates, the epicenter of the upheaval, the air thickened with the smell of smoke and the sound of screams. The guards, themselves struggling with transformations, neither stopped nor aided them. The grand doors, usually a symbol of strength and protection, stood ajar, a silent invitation to the madness within.
"Don't kill them!"
"We have to! Or we're all goners!"
"Everyone into the castle!"
"We can't kill innocents!"
"That's the only way to save them! We can't force a master and their pet out of Absolute Resonance unless…they die."
"We can't…"
"It's the only way!"
As the gates to Kalhalla's castle swung violently open, the eerie silence shattered into the ear-piercing roars of merged beasts and the cries of warriors. In the thick of this chaos, two guilds, the Sapphire Shields and the Red Jaw, stood side by side confronting the horrific hybrids, ready to bring order or die trying.
Reginald said, "My goodness…everything is chaotic! Where's Jenn?! He should be the first one here!"
Cedric looked left and right, preparing his grimoire, "I haven't seen him at all! But if he doesn't show up soon…"
Elara panicked, trying to calm herself down, "Calm down Elara…calm down.."
Zealot of the Red Jaw said to Reginald, "We Have to hold back as many as we can from getting into the castle. The king and queen are held up there."
Cedric pointed out, "We can't just kill these people!"
Zalkyrie, usually the jokester, said seriously, "There's no other way. Killing them is saving them from this torment."
Zenn nodded.
Cedric continued to apply pressure, "But—!"
Reginald interrupted, "They're right. It's the only way to save them."
"What about their families?!"
"Their families would rather see them peaceful than see them in this horrible state. I know you know that."
Cedric looked down, he couldn't say anything. He looked forward, seeing other guilds and adventures battling and fighting off against the hybrids.
"There's too many of them!"
"Not all of them are merging with their familiar!"
"Cover me!"
"Watch behind you!"
Cedric thought, 'Jenn came and helped us in the woods earlier. Why isn't he here now?! He could find a way to save everyone. I'm pretty sure everyone is thinking the same thing as me. Where is Jenn?!'
Reginald of the Sapphire Shields led the initial charge, his golden sword gleaming even in the dim light of the black moon. His enemy, a man whose torso had gruesomely fused with a lion, bounded towards him. With a swift upward thrust, Reginald split the beast from mid-leap, golden sword meeting grotesque flesh with a sickening crunch. Blood sprayed, and the lion-man fell in two distinct halves.
"Forgive me." Reginald said.
Zalkyrie, eyes white and commanding, manipulated his familiar, a massive creature that was an abhorrent mix of alligator, dragon, and bear. It slammed its tail, scaled and tipped with razor-like dragon spines, into a group of bird-human hybrids. Feathers and blood filled the air as the hybrids were smashed against the stone walls of the capital.
Elara asked him, "Any idea why you're not merging with your familiar?"
"Don't know…good thing I'm not."
Cedric, the master of elemental magic within the Sapphire Shields, chanted quickly, opening his grimoire to unleash a devastating firestorm. The pages fluttered wildly as a pillar of flame erupted, incinerating a hybrid elephant-man charging towards him. The air filled with the acrid smell of burning flesh and hair.
Elara, her scepter and shield of ice at the ready, faced a serpent-woman whose elongated body whipped furiously. With a strategic swing of her scepter, Elara encased the serpent's head in ice. As the hybrid struggled, Elara shattered her icy prison with her shield, the creature's head shattering along with it.
Zenn of the Red Jaw twirled his staff, which extended rapidly to meet a rushing boar-man hybrid. The impact was brutal, breaking bones with an audible snap as the staff expanded in length and weight, sending the creature flying into a nearby wall with a dull thud.
Zealot merged seamlessly into the shadows, his form barely a whisper as he reappeared behind a tiger-woman. His shadow daggers gleamed darkly as he plunged them into her back, re-emerging coated in a viscous, steaming blood. The tiger-woman roared in agony, collapsing forward as Zealot faded back into the darkness.
"Whoever that bastard is in the sky, I'll ruin him! I need to get up there to him!"
Reginald faced a new adversary, a man merged with a bull, charging at him with formidable horns. Timing his move with precision, Reginald sidestepped and used the momentum to deliver a devastating slice across the beast's flank, opening a wide, bloody gash from which dark blood poured freely.
Cedric conjured a storm of hail, the ice stones sharp and deadly as they pelted a wolf-man hybrid. Amidst the howls and the storm's roar, the hybrid stumbled, his body accumulating ice, his movements slowing until he stood frozen, an ice statue that Cedric shattered with a simple, dismissive wave of his hand.
"I'm sorry!"
A centaur hybrid charged at Zalkyrie, hooves pounding the earth with fierce determination. Unfazed, Zalkyrie directed his alligator-dragon-bear to intercept. The familiar's powerful jaws clamped down on the centaur's torso, lifting and then slamming it down with such force that the ground cracked, and the centaur's spine snapped audibly.
Elara was next to face a duo; a pair of sisters merged with a snake and a hawk. As the hawk-sister swooped down, Elara raised her ice shield, freezing the hybrid mid-dive. The snake-sister lunged, fangs bared, only to meet the deadly end of Elara's scepter, impaled through the head.
Zenn, spinning his staff with artful precision, deflected a barrage of spikes shot by a porcupine-man. With a fluid motion, he reversed his grip and extended the staff, sweeping the hybrid's feet from under him. Before the creature hit the ground, Zenn's staff crashed down on its head, crushing it under its weight.
Zealot, his daggers now dripping with the blood of his foes, faced a more formidable hybrid, a union of human and armored rhinoceros. Dancing with the shadows, he appeared to the beast's front and back simultaneously, driving his shadow daggers deeply into the gaps of the armor and twisting cruelly.
Reginald, now tired but resolute, met a gargantuan bear-man. The hybrid swung powerfully, but Reginald's sword met the beast's paw, cleaving it off in a spray of blood that drenched him red. Then he grabbed him by giving him a bear hug, lifted him up with a loud roar, and slammed him to the ground, cracking the earth.
Cedric, chanting faster than ever, summoned an elemental barrier as a scorpion-woman launched a flurry of venomous stings. The barrier absorbed the deadly attack, then pulsed brightly, sending a wave of electricity back that left the hybrid convulsing on the ground. Cedric retreated, knowing he was a mage, he knew creating distance was his best bet.
Zalkyrie's familiar roared, a guttural sound that shook the very air. It lunged, its composite parts working in eerie unison, snapping and clawing at a panther-man who fought back with tooth and nail until both fell in a heap—life slowly seeping out of their entwined bodies.
Zalkyrie's familiar was dead, and he said, "No…Zilly.."
Elara, battling fatigue, faced a cheetah-woman, her movements a blur. With a desperate cry, Elara thrust her scepter forward just as the hybrid closed in, impaling it through the heart. But the hybrid flipped upward and slash Elara across the face. The impact sent them both skidding across the rough cobbles, wounded but alive, and Elara went bashing through multiple walls.
Finally, as both guilds, bloody and battered, stood amid the carnage together,, they faced the last of their grotesque enemies—a grotesquely twisted amalgamation of human and dragon. Together, spearheaded by Zenn's staff and followed by a collective onslaught of magic, steel, and beastly rage, they brought it down.
Reginald yelled, "This Is for Kalhalla!"
Almost falling over due to weakness, Cedric, with blood rushing down his face, said, "For Kalhalla…"
In the ravaged outskirts of the capital, where the clash of guilds and monstrous hybrids shook the very foundation of the lands, a new and unexpected force emerged. Seiya, the baker known for her quiet demeanor and sweet confections, charged into the fray atop her formidable familiar, Astro—her majestic dark blue bear with a singular horn adorning its forehead.
"Head to the castle, Astro!"
"Going.."
As they barreled through the wreckage, Seiya's hands worked deftly, pulling strands of Astro's thick fur, which magically transformed into a glowing blue bow with matching arrows. With each stretch of the bowstring, she unleashed powerful, mythical arrows that exploded upon impact, dispersing clusters of hybrids that dared to block her path.
"Whatever that being is in the sky…he's controlling all of this…and that damn moon too!"
"I'm worried about Jenn, he would be here."
"Jenn..I hope he's okay. That poor kid..if something happened to him.."
Astro roared, a sound that was both thunderous and reassuring, effectively communicating with Seiya in the language of long-time companions. Each instruction from Seiya was met with an instinctual understanding by Astro, whose massive paws crushed debris and foe alike.
"Left! Right! Slide under! Good stuff, Astro!"
The desperate mission became a rescue as they veered sharply to scoop up Hugh, the florist barely able to keep his footing amid the chaos. His assistant, Sullin, with fierce determination in her eyes, leaped on Astro's back behind Seiya, clutching a small cache of seeds—her only armament.
"Get on! Hugh! Thank goodness your both alive!"
"Get him to safety," Sullin yelled over the roar, pushing Hugh towards Seiya before jumping down. Her face set, eyes bright with a golden fire, she faced the latest monstrous emergence—a hulking dragon-hybrid mixed with a Griffith and a human, bursting from the ground and splintering the earth.
Hugh said to Sullin, "No, you can't…your beast taming.."
"It's not perfect, I know. But I just need it for a few seconds. My spiritual familiars will guide me. If not handled, this beast will take us down as we run. It's already started to hunt us. Look at its eyes."
"…You better meet us at the castle!"
Seiya darted away fast.
Sullin stood her ground, her body igniting with glowing golden flames, mirroring the fiery intensity that blazed in her eyes. She raised her arms, her hands moving through precise, intricate gestures. Behind her, ethereal and fierce, large golden falcons formed, their wings beating with the heat of her wrath.
'Spiritual familiars are harder to tame…seems they aren't affected by the moon in the sky either. I got this. Yeah I got this. I can do this. I'll fight as if Jenn was watching me. Which I hope Jenn is here..if he's dead, I wasted time trying to talk to him, too nervous to approach him. My own family.'
With a mighty battle cry, she launched herself at the hybrid Griffith. The creature's massive claws swiped at the air, barely missing her as she spiraled in an evasive aerial dance. Timing her attack, Sullin twisted mid-air, delivering a powerful spinning roundhouse kick. Just at the moment of impact, the golden falcons surged forward, merging with her flaming foot, sending a cataclysmic blast towards the beast.
The Griffith roared in pain and anger, tumbling back with the force of the assault but was far from defeated. It shook its massive head, regaining its posture as Sullin landed gracefully, poised for the next move.