Fuck! What is the password?! Why didn't the three of them warn us about this?! Were they trying to sabotage us? Or did they simply forget?
Shit, shit, shit! I can't lie my way out of this by saying 'I've forgotten, tee hee'. That'll raise even more suspicion, leading to the gatekeeper asking us to remove our hoods. Damn it, what is the password? What can I even think of?
I closed my eyes to think of anything. Absolutely anything that might help me figure out the password. What is it… what is it?!
Someone's face appeared before me, and her words came screaming back to me. I sure hope this is the password, or we're screwed.
"Fear— the new blood," I said aloud.
Moment of truth now. I no longer knew whether the water dripping from my forehead was from the rain or from my sweats.
"Geez, you had me worried when you paused. Don't make me scared like that," sighed the gatekeeper as he gestured for someone to open the gates. Thank you, Moi! You saved our asses once again!
The gate opened slightly, just enough for one of us to head in one at a time. We walked with a slow pace, careful not to raise any suspicion from anyone. We passed the food to one of the guards as instructed, and he told us to head back into the "stables". The stables being the place where the beasts are kept, and we're supposed to care for them. Oh, we'll take care of them alright.
Making sure we were completely out of sight, we leapt onto one of the shelters to get a read on our location and the den's layout. The cover of darkness is really helping us as there were barely any torches or braziers within the den. The beasts are highly dependent on using smell, and their hate for fire is apparent now. I'll be fine as I can use Conceal to hide my presence, but the two of them are gonna have a rough time navigating in this pure darkness.
"Zen—how did you know the password? Shit, my ass was sweating when the gatekeeper asked for it," whispered Rose.
"No shit, I was shitting bricks. That was the most intense few seconds I ever had. I thought we were done for," whispered Lily.
"Hey, language, you two. The audience aren't looking forward to the both of you cursing like this," I chuckled softly.
"You and your curse again. Leave us out of it, Zen. Focus on the task," sighed Rose.
"Right, you both stay here while I use Conceal to assassinate the leader. The complete darkness is perfect for my spell. I can make my way to the middle without gaining attention," I whispered to them.
"Perfect for your spell but not your eyes. None of us are suited to see in the dark. Which is why…" Rose trailed off and started chanting softly.
"Holy visions," she cast.
Since when had she learn this spell? I've never heard of such a spell before. My vision brightens to the point that I can see my surroundings clearly. While not exactly bright daylight, it was bright enough for me to understand my surroundings.
"I never knew you had this spell, Rose," I gave her a speechless look.
"It's not as good as Holy Light as the duration is about ten minutes. Make full use of it," she smiled.
"Zen, you do what you do best. We'll find our way. Don't worry about us," Lily placed her hand on my shoulder.
"Alright. Please, don't you dare die on me, the two of you," I leapt down from the shelter we were standing on and headed towards the large-looking shelter in the middle.
***
Hmm. No door. Just some cloth covering the entrance. Now I just need to… good, I'm in. I made the cloth move naturally as though the wind blew in. I made a quick check with my pocket watch; five minutes had passed since Rose cast Holy Vision. Five more minutes to assassinate the leader. Where is he, though?
I was surprised there was a ramp leading upstairs. Guess he had no use for stairs when his feet are larger than a human's. I cautiously made sure to take a peek out at each corner in case of any surprise. It was absolutely silent throughout the den andinside this shelter. You would think there would be howling with so many beasts around.
It was so quiet that I can practically hear the creaking sounds from where I put my weight on. Is the leader upstairs? Just where the hell is he? I heard something similar to a snore and peeped into the room.
There you are. Mothafu—he has a mattress! All the others were forced to sleep on some straws or the solid ground while this asshole is sleeping all comfortably here. Why I oughta—
"Sniff sniff, a human? How long has it been? Who sent you? Father?" the beast leader raised his head even though I was completely still and hidden.
"I smell you, but I don't see him? Ahh… a member of the Dark Guild using Conceal? Do you really think that is going to help you?" he raised his arm as it started growing larger.
SMAAASSSHHH!!
He destroyed his own shelter with a swing of his enlarged arm. I trusted my instincts, and it paid off. Seems like my red dragonhide was thick enough to negate the damage from the claws. But this leader is getting much, much larger now. I guess he didn't mind destroying his own home.
The pack leader crawled on all fours as his body grew to the size of the Chaplain Beast. What's with those skins dangling from his back and covering his head like some cloak? More and more sharp bony spikes protruded from his spines in a gruesome way, further piercing through those dangling skins. It released a shriek that was much sharper and ear-piercing than the Chaplain Beast, that it hurt my eardrums. Is it planning to call the other beasts over with that shriek?
"Ah… I longed for him to send someone to assassinate me. To think it would take him this long to finally send someone over. But I guess I've trained my beasts well. I commend you for actually finding this place," he slurred his words. I guess he had not spoken the human tongue for a long time.
"What makes you think Father sent me? Isn't there a more powerful being on this continent instead?" I asked him.
"The founder? Hmm—I guess my champion had failed then," he looked towards the direction of the city.
"You're referring to your Chaplain Beast? He's living his life in the South Pole now," I grinned at him.
So, he doesn't know what happened to his beasts, huh? So much for that blood pact nonsense. There's no way he's able to kill anyone who went rogue and fled. So much for inflicting fear on his followers.
"Well, well—it would seem that this human had decided to meet his death. Since you made it this far, I would like to know your name before you die," he growled.
"You don't need to know my name when you won't live long enough to remember it. Just know that the fourth won't be showing you any mercy," I spat.
"Fourth? Ooo—he's gonna love it when I inform him that I've slayed a member of the great powers," he licked his lips.
"Who? Your God?" I raised my eyebrow.
BOOOMM!!
It was quick, but I avoided his claws. He was causing a rampage that many of his followers started running towards the edge of the den areas. This leader doesn't give a damn about his lackeys at all. Hopefully, they're smart enough to take this opportunity to leave the den.
He's surprisingly nimble for his size. Perhaps it's due to his extremely slim body structure that he can move this fast. He looked as though he had not eaten in years. I dodged all of his attacks as it was predictable. This is the leader of the pack? I'm rather disappointed. No point in delaying the inevitable. I rushed closer to the giant four-legged beast and attempted to decapitate it, but my blade was stopped by—some spectral beast?
I leapt back, but the spectral beast refused to release my blade, biting into it as though its life depended on it. It followed me and eventually attempted to bite me. I summoned Tengu-kaze and immediately slashed the spectral beast, but it vanished, only to reappear at the side of the pack leader.
Two spectral beasts stood at his side, with distinctive features. The one who bit my blade was a six-legged beast with a sharp tail on its back. The other was bipedal, but its arms were located on its shoulders instead, making it incredibly disturbing to look at. The stuff of nightmares is what I would like to say.
"I'll enjoy flaying you alive," slurred the pack leader.
My five minutes were up. I quickly tossed some incendiary bombs towards some shelters to brighten the area. The leader assumed that he had the advantage just because he summoned some spectral beasts? Oh please, I have two celestial beings at my side. I grinned as I tapped on the hilt of both of my blades and they responded to my call. Both of them appeared as their spectral self at my side. Kind of wished I could have summoned them using a some spectral bell, like calling a receptionist for help.
The leader's eyes widen at the sight of Kirin and Byakko. I'm certain he's aware of how strong these two are and should not be trifled with. It would appear that I can kill this leader without the help of Rose or Lily. You have a lot to pay for wreaking havoc in both Continents.
I charged towards the beast with Kirin and Byakko at my side. The two spectral beasts responded the same and charged towards both of them, leaving me to fight with the pack leader directly. It tried to swat me aside and squish me, but I dodged all of its attacks. This beast is too weak to be a vessel or champion. Can't believe I had my hopes up for this rather disappointing fight.
I sliced through the leader's belly and was surprised by the amount of blood that spilled out of the wound. I avoided the blood splatter in the nick of time, realising something was wrong. Without notice, the leader started shrieking, clawing at his own body and spilling even more of his blood. What is this beast trying to do? Suicide?
The beast's body began glowing an unholy red colour and started catching fire. However, this was no normal flame at all. Instead of the usual orange-looking fire, this one was blood red. It engulfed his entire body, brightening the entire den even further with its blood flame. I glanced at Kirin and Byakko, both of whom had easily beaten the spectral beasts and were either sitting or standing on top of them, preventing them from escaping. Alright, at least I don't have to worry about getting backstabbed.
The pack leader lifted his left arm, dug into his own flesh, and tossed some blood at me, which immediately burst into flames. Oh boy, I need to dodge this!
FROOM!
Phew, barely dodged that blood attack as it covered a huge area. With his height, he can spray his blood literally anywhere within this den. The good news is, the blood flame doesn't spread like typical fire, only burning from where the blood splattered.
Seriously though, how am I going to fight this thing? It is drenched completely in blood flame, and I have only two ranged attacks. Tengu-kaze's wind pressure is not going to help me here aside from fanning the flames. Maybe a sharp wind pressure might help. Lightning Strike is limited to five charges, and I don't think it's gonna be enough to kill it. Kirin's Thunderbolt is out of the question as it takes too long to get ready. These beasts seem to be quite resistant to lightning based on my previous experience aside from a point-blank blast. What else can I do? C'mon, think, you idiot. There must be a way for me to fight this thing.
As I maximised the processor in my head, the unexpected happened. The pack leader leapt directly at me, attempting to use his entire flamed body to crush me. Fuck, I'm toast! How am I to escape far enough to avoid this? Will Rend even help me against this fire? I really need to do something now!
Something impacted the side of the beast, changing its trajectory away from me. But the solid punch to the beast's face slammed it to the ground for good. I was wondering where she went and thought they were eating popcorn and watching me from a distance.
"About time you showed up. Almost got squashed here," I chuckled.
"Well, sorry, princess, we were busy killing beasts inside the cave. There were plenty of them, and I thought you needed some help when I started hearing the sound of fires around the den," she explained.
"Will Rose be fine on her own? I hate for her to be outnumbered in there," I asked with a worried tone.
"She'll be fine. Kirin and Byakko came to help us out, and they stuck close to her," she watched as the pack leader stood up.
"W… what? I thought they were... never mind," I gave up on asking when I noticed both of them were missing from my sight. Gee, you would think that MY Celestial Beasts would consider protecting their host instead.
"What am I looking at here? A flamed beast? No wonder you have difficulty fighting up close," we watched as the beast lifted both of its front legs.
"It uses some sort of blood flame; it uses blood to continuously fuel the flames that it coated itself with. It also uses its blood as flame projectiles, so be careful. Fighting close combat with it is suicide," I warned her.
SLAM!
The beast slammed its two front legs in an attempt to squash us. We dodged the attack, but the beast threw its blood towards our direction. Will Tengu-kaze's wind pressure enough to blow those blood away?
"Zen, stick close to me! Here, you know what to do!" she extended one of her gauntlet which glowed with bright blue.
I placed Tengu-kaze on her gauntlet and Byakko got to work. Wind particles started swirling around the blade along with ice particles. To think that Byakko is able to syphon Frozen Lightning from Lily's gauntlet. Who knew Tengu-kaze had this kind of power.
I swung horizontally towards the blood that was falling towards our direction. It froze the blood flames and turned most of it into frozen blood droplets. I am loving Tengu-kaze's ability to syphon elements with his wind capabilities. Okay, okay, stop hitting me, Inazuma. You're still my main weapon, dammit.
The pack leader shrieked once more after my successful attempt at nullifying his blood flame projectiles. What else is up your sleeves, Mister Leader? I can't wait to destroy whatever you have.
"I can fight him up close; my frozen lightning armour will protect me. I trust Byakko can maintain that? You just need to cover my six, Zen. I'm going in," said Lily as she slammed her gauntlets together.
Guess she's the star of the show now. I'm really glad Lily came along to help us. Can't imagine how Rose and I would fare fighting these beasts ourselves. Probably, we might end up dead with all these fire abilities that they have. Protecting Lily is my priority now. Let's fucking go.