Rachel motioned to Mateo, gaining everyone’s attention after the evacuation order was swiftly changed. Additional information soon reached Lt. Thompson from the new Florida OIC; escape was not an option. They were now telling people to barricade the facility and stay in rooms as the coast guard set up defensive zones.
“Lt. Herrero, I can help you identify where the threats will come from, but I need to upgrade my stats; we don’t have time to explain.”
“Do what you need to—everything goes through me, though.”
Rachel nodded as the man’s focus shot to her ears, still coming to terms with the murder of someone he probably knew very well on his team; it wasn’t as if he had much choice in the situation since they needed all the intel they could get.
“Anthony, Zoe…”
The Legend was already taking a sitting position. “Say no more. Uh, can one of your guys get my spear or sword? I’d rather have something to defend myself if we’re going to be under attack.”
Zoe’s ears pulled back; she was already kneeling and taking a few deep breaths to enter the mind-space where they could upgrade their Feats. “I don’t know what help I’ll be, but I’ll try.”
Scarlet still kept her back to the wall, refusing to look or come inside. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, Scarlet, I’ll explain later,” Rachel responded, sitting in one of the pulled out chairs and closing her eyes to enter the meditative state.
“Okay…”
Mateo ordered his men to set a perimeter inside the building, working with the coast guard; weapons and supplies checks were being issued through coms to identify what options the green beret special forces platoon had. Just as she went under, she heard those by their armored vehicles list Javelin missiles in their arsenal if they needed to hit anything big.
Entering the white space, Rachel swiftly got to work opening her status screen. Naturally, the first thing she did was throw points into her Stats—she was on a clock—Power, Speed, Agility, and Quickness each got a point.
However, something new popped up that snagged her eye; she’d apparently gained something called a Feat Extension that would expand upon one of her current Feats, yet of the three options, only one could be selected.
Mental Acceleration I: Rapid Mode - Allows the user to enter an advanced mode for two seconds; 5-minute cooldown.
Lunar Pool I: Overload - Allows Lunar Pool to go 5% beyond its cap.
Strategic Mind I: Split Focus - Allows the user to split their attention to multi-task better.
Rachel wanted to curse; all of them were great, and it wasn’t certain the same options would be available later. The decision could be critical in the long run, especially if it opened up further branches.
Rapid Mode sounded amazing—it could certainly be clutch in a fight—but its cooldown meant it could only be used once. Plus, if the Rapid Mode was an advanced form of the Feat itself, it would become less valuable as she increased the base—unless it grew with it, yet that wasn’t for certain; she struck that option for now. Split Focus and Overload were very tempting.
Split Focus would give her the ability to keep track of more conversations, which meant more secrets, building off of [Strategic Mind] itself to give her a wealth of information; although, there was a potential bottleneck that she had to consider—could she process it?
Sure, [Mental Acceleration] was giving her the edge right now, but that didn’t mean it would hold up if she doubled her workload.
Overload’s use was multiplicative, though; it allowed her to use [Lunar Burst] without losing [Lunar Cap] while also adding to [Divine Lunar Surge]. It was viable far into the future, as well, and possibly would provide cushion for other Feats she might obtain involving her Lunar Energy. From where she stood, it was the best option.
Glancing down her Feat advancements, she figured most of them had received minor improvements from the increased tiers, but [Divine Lunar Surge] snagged her attention; the 1.2% multiplier had increased to 1.25%, which was passive overall. Overload was the right choice.
Exiting the meditative state, she saw Anthony and Zoe still sitting cross-legged as the soldiers gave them looks; [Mental Acceleration] appeared to also apply to her meditative state. Scarlet remained outside, not wanting to come in to see her old teacher or the cultist symbols.
“Finished?” Mateo asked, still getting reports from his men. “It was quicker than I expected with how you phrased it. We’re trapped in a cracked dome of light—whatever that means—from what I’m hearing.”
“I didn’t have to think too hard on my decisions,” she replied, catching the clock as she took in more sound and flexed her fingers; her strength had increased dramatically with just a single point, which showed how effective the higher grade stats were. “I was gone for two minutes?”
Not happy with how time stretched from inside the space, Rachel got to her feet and scanned for any irregularities; it was exactly like the mist of the world Anthony took them to, utterly silent at the barrier. The cars, screams, and loud noises that traveled much further than speaking volume had vanished.
Cameron—their tech guy—sighed and shook his head, working on a laptop. “It’s no good, Lieutenant. We’re running on a generator and only a local network—no outside help—I expect it won’t last long either since the gas line seems to have been cut off, as well. The generator might have a diesel or bi-fuel option; I’m not sure.”
Mateo swapped a radio to the coast guard channel to listen to what they were doing as Rachel went to the hallway, noticing the far dimmer lighting, even if it didn’t bother her supernatural eyes.
“You doing okay?” she asked the raven-haired girl, spotting many of the green berets lining the hallway, one bringing Anthony’s weapons; there weren’t any windows nearby. “So, some big light shot into the sky and created a huge dome that looks similar to The Oscillation.”
“The Oscillation?” Scarlet asked, holding her arm and looking up at the sky. “Is that what they’re calling it?”
“Mhm Primarily because of how people are telling the military how it made them feel.”
“Hmm.” The girl’s pupilless red eyes had returned, wandering between various areas as if she were looking beyond the walls. “I’m not really doing okay. I’m questioning my entire life… my parents. I don’t know. Do you hear the monsters?” she redirected.
Some of the soldiers listened in, waiting for further orders while everyone tried to figure out what was happening; Rachel shook her head, large ears tilting left and right as she looked for anything out of the ordinary.
“There’s a lot of panicking people but nothing—wait…” Sitting straighter, her gaze darted down the corridor as she heard a coast guard soldier opening dorm rooms at the edge of the dome, looking for people to escort to the main facility.
“Anyone in here?” He paused, finding something he wasn’t expecting. “The hell—a… frog person—is that a Crystal? Hey, we’re, umm—put down the weap—”
His words died in his throat, and Rachel’s tail stiffened as a dull thump came from the location, followed by whistling wind; voices came from further down the hall as soldiers responded to his shouts, yet by the time Rachel spun away from Scarlet to inform Mateo, every coast guard man in the dorm hallway ceased making noise.
“It’s in the dorms to our northeast—I think all the coast guard on the 3rd floor are dead—it killed them in seconds. The first soldier described it as a frog person, and for it to drop its weapon. Right now, I only hear… wind?”
Mateo swiftly relayed the information through the radio, repeating what Rachel had told him. The coast guard buzzed with activity, rushing to the location and lookouts, keeping an eye out for the description.
“No,” she further clarified, closing her eyes to focus on the location. “It’s the sound of sand hitting paper, I think? He also said there was a Crystal inside the dorm room. We need someone to check it out.”
Her mind was distracted by screams to her left, making her mouth tighten. “Another one of the creatures is to the west—in a suburb that was pulled into the dome with the university—they’re slaughtering people faster than I can follow them!”
Rachel’s frustration continued to mount as she scanned for the same strange noise that reminded her of the windy beach, and, to her alarm, she discovered more—worse, one was already in their building—it was practically a horror movie.
“The ventilation shafts—I don’t know how,” Rachel hissed, eyes opening to see Scarlet already scanning the building. “They can change their size, maybe?”
Anthony rose to his feet, and Zoe followed soon after, looking frightened and trying to catch up as the Legend listened. “Wait, what’s going on, Rachel?”
“It’s coming out… two hallways to our right!”
Mateo shifted his strapped weapon as he walked past her into the corridor, motioning for everyone to follow and speaking through his radio. “Hostiles in the recreational building and another to the west residential area—expect heavy casualties—they appear to be using ventilation shafts, and, reportedly, can transform into sand—Alpha and Beta Squad en route to engage in the recreational building. Standby.”
Rachel felt a spur to get there first—if she let them go, there would be a tragedy—[Bringer of Misfortune] said this creature was not to be underestimated.
Taking three steps, she shot through the doorway, pain flooding her overworked muscles, yet Rachel pushed past it; she was shocked at her sudden increase in her speed. The combination of having her Lunar Pool full with the increased stats pushed her to the same levels as she’d been under the double moons.
The soldiers shouted in surprise as she jumped over them, forcing the pain down like she did in many of her workout sessions. Her braided hair weaved behind her as she made it to the hallway; the world moved slightly slower than she recalled, given her increased Feat tiers.
“Rachel!”
“Clear!” one of the men yelled upon passing the junction.
Her focus was already on a mass of sand that burst out of the vents, swirling around to reveal a toad man with brownish-brick skin and dull yellow spots; standing, it was over two meters tall.
Rachel instinctively tilted right, a dull weight compressing her heart as a shimmering blue needle skated past her eyes—it reacted instantly—she hadn’t even seen the creature throw it. A pop of air sounded shortly after; it was somehow utilizing the sand to pressurize the needles woven into its vest to create projectiles.
Clothed in leather-like garments that left its spots open, the toad’s wrists had metal bracelets with strange designs etched into them, and there were several wooden spikes latched to its top; two illuminated blue metal knives were held in its hands.
Instantly, from that first attack, she knew this toad was far stronger than the hobgoblin; if she fought it in the same way, she would die.
Discarding all thought, eyes open and focused, she tried to map the trajectory of the next projectiles from the shifts in its body. Light on her feet, she danced around two more needles before the toad adjusted to her movements; the third carved a tiny hole through the flesh of her left arm.
It’s actually faster than me; there’s no way I survive like this!
Jaw locked, she dove past the junction to barrel into a door, breaking through; the recoil made her wince as she tumbled into some chairs, sending them crashing around her and displacing the long desk.
Coughing as she recovered, Rachel looked up to see the toad already in the doorway; it had used the walls as jump pads. Somehow the cobalt needles had returned to its vest, and it brandished its wicked, illuminated blue blade.
I’m dead…
Darkness came between them, a crimson wave exiting to meet the creature; Rachel didn’t blink as Scarlet appeared out of the haze, yet the toad’s tongue shot out in an instant, latching onto the ceiling and carrying the creature away from the jagged blood spears that sought to impale it.
They entered a high-speed dance, Scarlet clearly not knowing where the toad was or what was happening as the panicking girl ducked down beside her; her blood writhed around them, defending and attacking the nimble alien.
“Ack—are you stupid?!” Scarlet choked, trying unsuccessfully to see the blurred toad’s ping-ponging assault as a whirlwind of blood, sand, needles, and practically telekinetic daggers spun around them. “Why did you run ahead of—you’re bleeding?! No, no, no!”
By the time the soldier came to the doorway, she had heard the rush of sand as the alien retreated, entering the ventilation shaft again; Rachel was finding it hard to focus.
“W-Where is it?”
Rachel forced herself to breathe, mind a bit hazy as she coughed again; her body wasn’t doing well after pushing it to the limit while already strained. “It—ack, it went into the vents again… You can’t handle it—it’s way too fast… Scarlet?”
She lifted her arm, where a thin sliver of illuminated white blood was being pulled out to gather in front of the raven-haired girl.
“I’m not trying to! It just… does it,” she snarled. “It’s one reason why I didn’t want to go into that room—why did you attack it?! It almost killed you!”
Rachel chuckled, shifting to her side as a sudden wave of white noise came and went. “Because… I felt like if I stayed back, most of these guys would be dead right now. Its needles almost penetrated your blood, and it could dodge those dozens of attacks you made against it.”
“It’s not me,” Scarlet vehemently protested, showing a haughty side and glare that Rachel hadn’t yet seen in the girl. “The blood does its own thing,” she growled, gesturing at it as the pool collected inside her body again before Scarlet swatted the collecting white liquid away to splatter across the ground. “It just saw a threat and attacked—eh?!”
Reaching forward, she pulled Scarlet into a hug to calm her down before her deadly blood went out of control again. “Hehe. Thanks for coming to my rescue, Scarlet—Mateo, it went to another room three doors down the hall… I think Scarlet wounded it—I’m having weird gaps in my hearing.”
“I hurt it?” Scarlet mumbled, following her gaze to a small line of yellowish, sticky goo beside them. “Woah… Is that—he got so close to us past my blood?”
Groaning as she lifted herself up, Rachel saw the thin blood tether snap, and her wound started to congeal. Anthony was the first one to react to her next location, racing to confront the creature as soldiers ran behind him to intercept, despite Rachel’s warning that they’d die, and Zoe came into the doorway.
“Rachel?! W-What was that? It just—it like—it was all woosh! How are you alive?!”
“Hehe. Lucky, I guess,” she muttered with an innocent smile as she leaned against the desk, ears tilting to listen to Anthony’s confrontation, but the toad retreated into the vents instead of fighting as he threw open the door. “I think there are only five of them, but if they’re as skilled and fast as that last one… we’re in real trouble.”
Mateo returned, receiving reports as his second lieutenant kept the coast guard updated on their progress. “Alright, Rachel, you’re the only one that’s seen these things up close; give us something.”
Scarlet stood up and crossed her arms. “She’s hurt! She needs a bandage or something.”
“I’m fine—eh, Scarlet… what are you doing now?”
The girl’s red eyes widened as she moved closer, and Rachel noticed she actually did have pupils; they were just deep maroon, almost blending in as she stared at her arm in horror. “It’s poison; it’s in your blood!”
“What? My head feels a little foggy, but…” Rachel rubbed her wounded arm with a small frown; the needle passed clean through her arm, missing the bone due to her precise movements. “You can see it, right; can you extract it?”
It made sense since she was a vampire, or had vampire characteristics.
Scarlet’s left fang poked out as she pressed it against her black bottom lip. “I-I don’t know… Maybe, but I’d have to bite you!”
“Okay,” Rachel instantly complied, holding up her arm. “Being bitten or losing an arm? Hehe. I’ll take the bite. It won’t hurt you?”
“I wish it would… Eh… are you sure?”
Zoe groaned. “You don’t have time—this isn’t a movie—she’s poisoned!”
“I… mmgm.” Scarlet hesitantly took her arm, looked at her one more time, and then bent down and sank her fangs into her flesh.
“Does it hurt?” the cat girl asked as Mateo kept a close eye on the exchange.
“Haha. Not as much as pulling a muscle, getting a sword slash to the side, or, I don’t know, having someone chop my arm off. What about you, Scarlet—doing good—Scarlet?”
“Oh, no,” Zoe cried, ears pulling back. “I think she’s gone full vamp!”
The vespertine reaper’s red eyes illuminated, and she bit down harder, making Rachel’s mouth tighten; just when Rachel started to worry, her irises mixed a milky white, and after a second, she blinked, pulling away and swallowing.
“Uh…”
“Woah!” Zoe darted forward to support her as she stumbled and almost fell backward. “Did the poison get you?”
Rachel accepted a medical kit from Mateo, waiting for further information on where the creature went; Anthony was returning. “Is it because I’m a Mythickin? Your eyes mixed with white… probably having to do with the Lunar Energy I absorbed… but there was no azure color. Was it my blood?”
Scarlet shook her head, normal bright blue eyes returning. “My mind… blanked; I just wanted to keep drinking—I’m sorry…” she whimpered, shoulders drooping and bloody tears sliding down her cheeks.
“I-I felt a strange thing… like when I changed—all of a sudden, I saw this red-haired goddess. She had elf ears and these scary, fiery eyes—there was this red moon behind her, and the way she looked at me told me to, eh… told me to back off? I think she saved you. I’m sorry…”
“No! Hehe. Scarlet, you’re fine,” Rachel said, not letting her back away since it would only further alienate the girl when she needed comfort. “You did get rid of the poison?”
She slowly nodded, and Anthony appeared in the doorway.
“Poison, huh? You never catch a break, do you, Rachel? Eh… what’s going on with her?”
Rachel sighed. “Mythickin troubles. Scarlet did great—most of us would probably be dead without her. Thank you, Scarlet,” she made a point of saying. “We can worry about everything else later, and… it’s not like we had a knight in shining armor to help us,” she dully responded, shooting a look at Anthony.
“Can’t be talking about me since I don’t have armor, but I guess that’s the point,” he laughed. “Plus, you can’t expect me to keep up with your speed, girl, c’mon! Be a little reasonable.”
Mateo drew their attention back to the matter at hand. “Rachel—the frog?”
“More of a toad,” she responded, letting one of the soldiers patch up her arm as Scarlet glared at the floor nearby, trapped inside her own self-doubt. “It uses five needles and can somehow retrieve them while firing them remotely; it uses daggers, as well, that can be thrown and recalled. It’s faster than me, meaning you’re going to want to use wide-ranged attacks… maybe a flamethrower due to it changing into sand.”
“Dammit!” he snarled. “Why does it have to be so complicated? You didn’t notice any gaps or weaknesses?”
“Afraid not,” she replied. “For the wound it got, I’m surprised it’s being this cautious; it’s trying to remain away from people while—wait?! I… What? I think it cut off its own arm?” she said in shock, head shifting to stare at the first level. She heard it rip a piece of a curtain to wrap into a tourniquet; the severed limb dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
Scarlet’s eyes turned red again, and she followed the direction Rachel was facing. “It did… Why is a red stem coming out of its arm—huh?! Since when could my blood do that?” she asked as Rachel heard the toad become sand and escape to the next room.
“What?” Zoe asked, practically holding her breath. “You have blood flower powers?”
Scarlet shook her head, hugging herself. “A rose… It’s growing out of its arm. I think I infected it with something—do I have seeds inside me—what am I?!”
Rachel reached over to take her hand and snap her out of the loop she was spiraling into as the toad broke the window in the next room, releasing a loud croaking noise.
“Scarlet! Scarlet! It’s okay… I’ll help you understand your powers after this is done. The toad sees you as a threat now and has called the others. They’re going to come for you.”
“That’s… a good thing. I can’t die, so… so… I should set an ambush!” she said, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. “Right? I’m immune to like… everything, so… yeah! I can do good. I can stop these monsters.”
Rachel nodded, trying to direct her in a more positive route. “You don’t have to be alone, though; we’re against really powerful, heh, toad people, so… let’s bring them to the pool.”
“The pool?” Anthony and Mateo asked in unison, but Zoe caught onto her plan.
“The sea dragon Mythickin! Yeah! We lure them into a place where all the S-tier changed people are. Scarlet’s our SS-tier. I love it!”
Scarlet blinked. “I’m the double-S—I feel like I’m totally F-tier?”
“Are you kidding me?” the cat girl scoffed. “Look at you—maybe more like triple-S-tier—every heroine in stories usually has some kind of dark power they have to keep in check! Don’t bash the power; you have super blood that auto-protects you! Talk about jealous!”
Her response got a chuckle from Scarlet as the domestic cat continued her pep talk. It had gone beyond the point that Rachel understood when it hit anime and manga, so she got up to talk to Mateo.
“What did you think when it attacked me?”
Mateo and Anthony closed in tighter as some of his men reported that the monsters were converging onto their facility.
The officer grunted, working around his jaw. “It was fast. We couldn’t even respond in the time it went from the hallway to the classroom, and if one of my guys weren’t wearing body armor, he’d be dead; he got hit in the heart, and the plate looks like it was almost pierced.”
“I didn’t even notice he attacked you,” Rachel muttered, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s way stronger than the hobgoblin I fought, and the fact it also uses poison is an issue; one nick, and we’re done without Scarlet.”
A low rumble sounded in Anthony’s throat. “Is it really a good idea to consolidate all of us in one place for them to attack? Do we know if they have explosives or even gas?”
Rachel shook her head. “It’s our only option; there’s no way any of us survive out in the open if they’re faster than me, and I’m already pushing my body more than I should,” she admitted, rubbing her sore thighs.
It would probably be a good idea to add points to her toughness stat since her Feats thought it was important enough to include with power; it made sense due to recoil.
“Fair enough,” Mateo growled. “If they’re after Scarlet, then it means we can choose the battlefield, but what makes you think this sea dragon will help you?”
Rachel flashed her teeth. “Because she’s a ‘good sea dragon’ and wants to be seen as a heroine. What better way than to stop the bad guy?”
Mateo and Anthony gave her a look that said they weren’t following.
“In any case, it is an open area that we can exploit, and it has a lot of ventilation places they can use, but with my hearing,” she added, pointing to her twitching ears, “we’ll know exactly where they’ll attack.”
“Giving them a false sense of security,” Mateo nodded. “Huu-haaa. Alright, I believe they have a good number of men guarding the area anyway with equipment. It will do.”
Making the snap decision, and probably more inclined to this strategy due to Scarlet’s insane powers, Mateo called it in. Making their way to the pool, Rachel kept an eye on the vespertine reaper as she talked with Zoe, seemingly finding some common nerdy ground.
Her mind spun with the possibilities, and a single name came to the surface as she tracked the toad’s movements through the vents; the alien was keeping at a distance, somehow knowing where they were. The four others were getting close to infiltrating the buildings, creeping through the night as the wind.
Cerridwen… The goddess that is probably granting me my Divine Feats; she snapped Scarlet back to her senses after tasting my blood. There’s probably more to it that Scarlet will tell me later, but all of this can’t be a coincidence.
The Scarlet Hand woman said I wasn’t supposed to be here, and I’d ruin everything; were these toads supposed to massacre everyone and make Scarlet turn into a blood fiend or mentally crack under the pressure?
She pressed a hand against her chest as they entered the large swimming area. Rachel’s eyes widened as she saw the massive Mythickin in the pool, swimming in a lazy circle near the deep end. The men watching her hadn’t exaggerated—she was practically the size of a large tank. The soldiers had already told the girl that they’d be setting up an ambush in the area as they made their way to the facility, and she looked excited.
The girl was nearly as long as the Class 2 boat her dad owned, weaving back and forth through the water like a snake, and Rachel caught a glimpse of sleek but powerful webbed hands and feet on her body.
Her medium-length neck weaved with her tail, showing a vertical fin that looked sharp enough to cleave through stone, and her large aquamarine eyes shone with a glowing inner delight. The sea dragon’s monstrous sapphire fangs opened to reveal her slick black tongue, releasing a low rumble that traveled through the water and concrete to Rachel’s legs—possibly identifying movement through the reverberation like toothed whales.
Rachel’s head rose to the ceiling as the sand whipped into a frenzy in the vents. “It’s coming from the ceiling,” she yelled, accepting a shield one of the soldiers had brought from SWAT’s equipment; they weren’t sure it would defend against the needles, but it was better than nothing.
Guns rose, yet just as the toad materialized out of the haze that left the shaft, Rachel heard a shift in the water current, and she darted back as a wave the size of her waist jumped over the side of the pool; the giant sea dragon shot straight into the air, doing what seemed to be a barani—a front flip with a 180-degree twist—and the toad dispersed into dust to escape.
The dragon’s dark, azurite plates, ruby spikes, and glowing horn glistened in the light as the world slowed in Rachel’s mind—Rachel had not expected this reaction from the little girl—and the girl’s tail twisted with her momentum, flat end beating the dust cloud and forcing the alien out of its incorporeal form to be batted against the wall.
Zoe and Scarlet cried out in unison with a few of the soldiers as the wave threw them back, soaking them. The vespertine reaper sat on a blood disk that had scooped her up to keep her hovering above the mess.
“You okay?” she asked. “I think… the toad is dead—definitely dead—watch out for rain.”
“What the—d-did that just happen?” Zoe asked, coughing and sputtering as a second crash from the giant monster falling back into the pool sent more waves and water to soak them. “Ack—I swallowed salt water—stop!”
Rachel forced a laugh upon catching sight of the toad—yellow blood stained the wall from the force of impact—it was most certainly dead. Her gaze was on the little girl as she pulled herself out of the water, or, at least, she had been a little girl.
The sea dragon took on a naked, feminine form after her transformation, scales receding to show more skin while still keeping a sort of skin-tight black-plated bra and shorts. Her alabaster skin was smooth and glistening from the liquid falling off her as she casually left the water, and somehow, her soaked skin and hair seemed to absorb the moisture, leaving the woman completely dry.
She was a little taller than Scarlet, which wasn’t saying much, and the sea dragon’s proportions had increased dramatically from the tiny frame Rachel had heard described by the men to their superior as she showed off an alluring figure.
The most shocking part of the whole event to Rachel was the thumps that reverberated through the concrete that made her ears twitch; the woman may not have looked it, but she retained all the weight of her more monstrous form.
“Hello,” she greeted, wearing a gentle smile and speaking in a monotone voice that lacked the cute emotion she displayed. “I’m Selvaria, the invincible Mythickin Leviathan. That was a bad guy, right? I hope it was a bad guy because if not, heh, this will be so awkward.”
Rachel motioned to Mateo, gaining everyone’s attention after the evacuation order was swiftly changed. Additional information soon reached Lt. Thompson from the new Florida OIC; escape was not an option. They were now telling people to barricade the facility and stay in rooms as the coast guard set up defensive zones.
“Lt. Herrero, I can help you identify where the threats will come from, but I need to upgrade my stats; we don’t have time to explain.”
“Do what you need to—everything goes through me, though.”
Rachel nodded as the man’s focus shot to her ears, still coming to terms with the murder of someone he probably knew very well on his team; it wasn’t as if he had much choice in the situation since they needed all the intel they could get.
“Anthony, Zoe…”
The Legend was already taking a sitting position. “Say no more. Uh, can one of your guys get my spear or sword? I’d rather have something to defend myself if we’re going to be under attack.”
Zoe’s ears pulled back; she was already kneeling and taking a few deep breaths to enter the mind-space where they could upgrade their Feats. “I don’t know what help I’ll be, but I’ll try.”
Scarlet still kept her back to the wall, refusing to look or come inside. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, Scarlet, I’ll explain later,” Rachel responded, sitting in one of the pulled out chairs and closing her eyes to enter the meditative state.
“Okay…”
Mateo ordered his men to set a perimeter inside the building, working with the coast guard; weapons and supplies checks were being issued through coms to identify what options the green beret special forces platoon had. Just as she went under, she heard those by their armored vehicles list Javelin missiles in their arsenal if they needed to hit anything big.
Entering the white space, Rachel swiftly got to work opening her status screen. Naturally, the first thing she did was throw points into her Stats—she was on a clock—Power, Speed, Agility, and Quickness each got a point.
However, something new popped up that snagged her eye; she’d apparently gained something called a Feat Extension that would expand upon one of her current Feats, yet of the three options, only one could be selected.
Mental Acceleration I: Rapid Mode - Allows the user to enter an advanced mode for two seconds; 5-minute cooldown.
Lunar Pool I: Overload - Allows Lunar Pool to go 5% beyond its cap.
Strategic Mind I: Split Focus - Allows the user to split their attention to multi-task better.
Rachel wanted to curse; all of them were great, and it wasn’t certain the same options would be available later. The decision could be critical in the long run, especially if it opened up further branches.
Rapid Mode sounded amazing—it could certainly be clutch in a fight—but its cooldown meant it could only be used once. Plus, if the Rapid Mode was an advanced form of the Feat itself, it would become less valuable as she increased the base—unless it grew with it, yet that wasn’t for certain; she struck that option for now. Split Focus and Overload were very tempting.
Split Focus would give her the ability to keep track of more conversations, which meant more secrets, building off of [Strategic Mind] itself to give her a wealth of information; although, there was a potential bottleneck that she had to consider—could she process it?
Sure, [Mental Acceleration] was giving her the edge right now, but that didn’t mean it would hold up if she doubled her workload.
Overload’s use was multiplicative, though; it allowed her to use [Lunar Burst] without losing [Lunar Cap] while also adding to [Divine Lunar Surge]. It was viable far into the future, as well, and possibly would provide cushion for other Feats she might obtain involving her Lunar Energy. From where she stood, it was the best option.
Glancing down her Feat advancements, she figured most of them had received minor improvements from the increased tiers, but [Divine Lunar Surge] snagged her attention; the 1.2% multiplier had increased to 1.25%, which was passive overall. Overload was the right choice.
Exiting the meditative state, she saw Anthony and Zoe still sitting cross-legged as the soldiers gave them looks; [Mental Acceleration] appeared to also apply to her meditative state. Scarlet remained outside, not wanting to come in to see her old teacher or the cultist symbols.
“Finished?” Mateo asked, still getting reports from his men. “It was quicker than I expected with how you phrased it. We’re trapped in a cracked dome of light—whatever that means—from what I’m hearing.”
“I didn’t have to think too hard on my decisions,” she replied, catching the clock as she took in more sound and flexed her fingers; her strength had increased dramatically with just a single point, which showed how effective the higher grade stats were. “I was gone for two minutes?”
Not happy with how time stretched from inside the space, Rachel got to her feet and scanned for any irregularities; it was exactly like the mist of the world Anthony took them to, utterly silent at the barrier. The cars, screams, and loud noises that traveled much further than speaking volume had vanished.
Cameron—their tech guy—sighed and shook his head, working on a laptop. “It’s no good, Lieutenant. We’re running on a generator and only a local network—no outside help—I expect it won’t last long either since the gas line seems to have been cut off, as well. The generator might have a diesel or bi-fuel option; I’m not sure.”
Mateo swapped a radio to the coast guard channel to listen to what they were doing as Rachel went to the hallway, noticing the far dimmer lighting, even if it didn’t bother her supernatural eyes.
“You doing okay?” she asked the raven-haired girl, spotting many of the green berets lining the hallway, one bringing Anthony’s weapons; there weren’t any windows nearby. “So, some big light shot into the sky and created a huge dome that looks similar to The Oscillation.”
“The Oscillation?” Scarlet asked, holding her arm and looking up at the sky. “Is that what they’re calling it?”
“Mhm Primarily because of how people are telling the military how it made them feel.”
“Hmm.” The girl’s pupilless red eyes had returned, wandering between various areas as if she were looking beyond the walls. “I’m not really doing okay. I’m questioning my entire life… my parents. I don’t know. Do you hear the monsters?” she redirected.
Some of the soldiers listened in, waiting for further orders while everyone tried to figure out what was happening; Rachel shook her head, large ears tilting left and right as she looked for anything out of the ordinary.
“There’s a lot of panicking people but nothing—wait…” Sitting straighter, her gaze darted down the corridor as she heard a coast guard soldier opening dorm rooms at the edge of the dome, looking for people to escort to the main facility.
“Anyone in here?” He paused, finding something he wasn’t expecting. “The hell—a… frog person—is that a Crystal? Hey, we’re, umm—put down the weap—”
His words died in his throat, and Rachel’s tail stiffened as a dull thump came from the location, followed by whistling wind; voices came from further down the hall as soldiers responded to his shouts, yet by the time Rachel spun away from Scarlet to inform Mateo, every coast guard man in the dorm hallway ceased making noise.
“It’s in the dorms to our northeast—I think all the coast guard on the 3rd floor are dead—it killed them in seconds. The first soldier described it as a frog person, and for it to drop its weapon. Right now, I only hear… wind?”
Mateo swiftly relayed the information through the radio, repeating what Rachel had told him. The coast guard buzzed with activity, rushing to the location and lookouts, keeping an eye out for the description.
“No,” she further clarified, closing her eyes to focus on the location. “It’s the sound of sand hitting paper, I think? He also said there was a Crystal inside the dorm room. We need someone to check it out.”
Her mind was distracted by screams to her left, making her mouth tighten. “Another one of the creatures is to the west—in a suburb that was pulled into the dome with the university—they’re slaughtering people faster than I can follow them!”
Rachel’s frustration continued to mount as she scanned for the same strange noise that reminded her of the windy beach, and, to her alarm, she discovered more—worse, one was already in their building—it was practically a horror movie.
“The ventilation shafts—I don’t know how,” Rachel hissed, eyes opening to see Scarlet already scanning the building. “They can change their size, maybe?”
Anthony rose to his feet, and Zoe followed soon after, looking frightened and trying to catch up as the Legend listened. “Wait, what’s going on, Rachel?”
“It’s coming out… two hallways to our right!”
Mateo shifted his strapped weapon as he walked past her into the corridor, motioning for everyone to follow and speaking through his radio. “Hostiles in the recreational building and another to the west residential area—expect heavy casualties—they appear to be using ventilation shafts, and, reportedly, can transform into sand—Alpha and Beta Squad en route to engage in the recreational building. Standby.”
Rachel felt a spur to get there first—if she let them go, there would be a tragedy—[Bringer of Misfortune] said this creature was not to be underestimated.
Taking three steps, she shot through the doorway, pain flooding her overworked muscles, yet Rachel pushed past it; she was shocked at her sudden increase in her speed. The combination of having her Lunar Pool full with the increased stats pushed her to the same levels as she’d been under the double moons.
The soldiers shouted in surprise as she jumped over them, forcing the pain down like she did in many of her workout sessions. Her braided hair weaved behind her as she made it to the hallway; the world moved slightly slower than she recalled, given her increased Feat tiers.
“Rachel!”
“Clear!” one of the men yelled upon passing the junction.
Her focus was already on a mass of sand that burst out of the vents, swirling around to reveal a toad man with brownish-brick skin and dull yellow spots; standing, it was over two meters tall.
Rachel instinctively tilted right, a dull weight compressing her heart as a shimmering blue needle skated past her eyes—it reacted instantly—she hadn’t even seen the creature throw it. A pop of air sounded shortly after; it was somehow utilizing the sand to pressurize the needles woven into its vest to create projectiles.
Clothed in leather-like garments that left its spots open, the toad’s wrists had metal bracelets with strange designs etched into them, and there were several wooden spikes latched to its top; two illuminated blue metal knives were held in its hands.
Instantly, from that first attack, she knew this toad was far stronger than the hobgoblin; if she fought it in the same way, she would die.
Discarding all thought, eyes open and focused, she tried to map the trajectory of the next projectiles from the shifts in its body. Light on her feet, she danced around two more needles before the toad adjusted to her movements; the third carved a tiny hole through the flesh of her left arm.
It’s actually faster than me; there’s no way I survive like this!
Jaw locked, she dove past the junction to barrel into a door, breaking through; the recoil made her wince as she tumbled into some chairs, sending them crashing around her and displacing the long desk.
Coughing as she recovered, Rachel looked up to see the toad already in the doorway; it had used the walls as jump pads. Somehow the cobalt needles had returned to its vest, and it brandished its wicked, illuminated blue blade.
I’m dead…
Darkness came between them, a crimson wave exiting to meet the creature; Rachel didn’t blink as Scarlet appeared out of the haze, yet the toad’s tongue shot out in an instant, latching onto the ceiling and carrying the creature away from the jagged blood spears that sought to impale it.
They entered a high-speed dance, Scarlet clearly not knowing where the toad was or what was happening as the panicking girl ducked down beside her; her blood writhed around them, defending and attacking the nimble alien.
“Ack—are you stupid?!” Scarlet choked, trying unsuccessfully to see the blurred toad’s ping-ponging assault as a whirlwind of blood, sand, needles, and practically telekinetic daggers spun around them. “Why did you run ahead of—you’re bleeding?! No, no, no!”
By the time the soldier came to the doorway, she had heard the rush of sand as the alien retreated, entering the ventilation shaft again; Rachel was finding it hard to focus.
“W-Where is it?”
Rachel forced herself to breathe, mind a bit hazy as she coughed again; her body wasn’t doing well after pushing it to the limit while already strained. “It—ack, it went into the vents again… You can’t handle it—it’s way too fast… Scarlet?”
She lifted her arm, where a thin sliver of illuminated white blood was being pulled out to gather in front of the raven-haired girl.
“I’m not trying to! It just… does it,” she snarled. “It’s one reason why I didn’t want to go into that room—why did you attack it?! It almost killed you!”
Rachel chuckled, shifting to her side as a sudden wave of white noise came and went. “Because… I felt like if I stayed back, most of these guys would be dead right now. Its needles almost penetrated your blood, and it could dodge those dozens of attacks you made against it.”
“It’s not me,” Scarlet vehemently protested, showing a haughty side and glare that Rachel hadn’t yet seen in the girl. “The blood does its own thing,” she growled, gesturing at it as the pool collected inside her body again before Scarlet swatted the collecting white liquid away to splatter across the ground. “It just saw a threat and attacked—eh?!”
Reaching forward, she pulled Scarlet into a hug to calm her down before her deadly blood went out of control again. “Hehe. Thanks for coming to my rescue, Scarlet—Mateo, it went to another room three doors down the hall… I think Scarlet wounded it—I’m having weird gaps in my hearing.”
“I hurt it?” Scarlet mumbled, following her gaze to a small line of yellowish, sticky goo beside them. “Woah… Is that—he got so close to us past my blood?”
Groaning as she lifted herself up, Rachel saw the thin blood tether snap, and her wound started to congeal. Anthony was the first one to react to her next location, racing to confront the creature as soldiers ran behind him to intercept, despite Rachel’s warning that they’d die, and Zoe came into the doorway.
“Rachel?! W-What was that? It just—it like—it was all woosh! How are you alive?!”
“Hehe. Lucky, I guess,” she muttered with an innocent smile as she leaned against the desk, ears tilting to listen to Anthony’s confrontation, but the toad retreated into the vents instead of fighting as he threw open the door. “I think there are only five of them, but if they’re as skilled and fast as that last one… we’re in real trouble.”
Mateo returned, receiving reports as his second lieutenant kept the coast guard updated on their progress. “Alright, Rachel, you’re the only one that’s seen these things up close; give us something.”
Scarlet stood up and crossed her arms. “She’s hurt! She needs a bandage or something.”
“I’m fine—eh, Scarlet… what are you doing now?”
The girl’s red eyes widened as she moved closer, and Rachel noticed she actually did have pupils; they were just deep maroon, almost blending in as she stared at her arm in horror. “It’s poison; it’s in your blood!”
“What? My head feels a little foggy, but…” Rachel rubbed her wounded arm with a small frown; the needle passed clean through her arm, missing the bone due to her precise movements. “You can see it, right; can you extract it?”
It made sense since she was a vampire, or had vampire characteristics.
Scarlet’s left fang poked out as she pressed it against her black bottom lip. “I-I don’t know… Maybe, but I’d have to bite you!”
“Okay,” Rachel instantly complied, holding up her arm. “Being bitten or losing an arm? Hehe. I’ll take the bite. It won’t hurt you?”
“I wish it would… Eh… are you sure?”
Zoe groaned. “You don’t have time—this isn’t a movie—she’s poisoned!”
“I… mmgm.” Scarlet hesitantly took her arm, looked at her one more time, and then bent down and sank her fangs into her flesh.
“Does it hurt?” the cat girl asked as Mateo kept a close eye on the exchange.
“Haha. Not as much as pulling a muscle, getting a sword slash to the side, or, I don’t know, having someone chop my arm off. What about you, Scarlet—doing good—Scarlet?”
“Oh, no,” Zoe cried, ears pulling back. “I think she’s gone full vamp!”
The vespertine reaper’s red eyes illuminated, and she bit down harder, making Rachel’s mouth tighten; just when Rachel started to worry, her irises mixed a milky white, and after a second, she blinked, pulling away and swallowing.
“Uh…”
“Woah!” Zoe darted forward to support her as she stumbled and almost fell backward. “Did the poison get you?”
Rachel accepted a medical kit from Mateo, waiting for further information on where the creature went; Anthony was returning. “Is it because I’m a Mythickin? Your eyes mixed with white… probably having to do with the Lunar Energy I absorbed… but there was no azure color. Was it my blood?”
Scarlet shook her head, normal bright blue eyes returning. “My mind… blanked; I just wanted to keep drinking—I’m sorry…” she whimpered, shoulders drooping and bloody tears sliding down her cheeks.
“I-I felt a strange thing… like when I changed—all of a sudden, I saw this red-haired goddess. She had elf ears and these scary, fiery eyes—there was this red moon behind her, and the way she looked at me told me to, eh… told me to back off? I think she saved you. I’m sorry…”
“No! Hehe. Scarlet, you’re fine,” Rachel said, not letting her back away since it would only further alienate the girl when she needed comfort. “You did get rid of the poison?”
She slowly nodded, and Anthony appeared in the doorway.
“Poison, huh? You never catch a break, do you, Rachel? Eh… what’s going on with her?”
Rachel sighed. “Mythickin troubles. Scarlet did great—most of us would probably be dead without her. Thank you, Scarlet,” she made a point of saying. “We can worry about everything else later, and… it’s not like we had a knight in shining armor to help us,” she dully responded, shooting a look at Anthony.
“Can’t be talking about me since I don’t have armor, but I guess that’s the point,” he laughed. “Plus, you can’t expect me to keep up with your speed, girl, c’mon! Be a little reasonable.”
Mateo drew their attention back to the matter at hand. “Rachel—the frog?”
“More of a toad,” she responded, letting one of the soldiers patch up her arm as Scarlet glared at the floor nearby, trapped inside her own self-doubt. “It uses five needles and can somehow retrieve them while firing them remotely; it uses daggers, as well, that can be thrown and recalled. It’s faster than me, meaning you’re going to want to use wide-ranged attacks… maybe a flamethrower due to it changing into sand.”
“Dammit!” he snarled. “Why does it have to be so complicated? You didn’t notice any gaps or weaknesses?”
“Afraid not,” she replied. “For the wound it got, I’m surprised it’s being this cautious; it’s trying to remain away from people while—wait?! I… What? I think it cut off its own arm?” she said in shock, head shifting to stare at the first level. She heard it rip a piece of a curtain to wrap into a tourniquet; the severed limb dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
Scarlet’s eyes turned red again, and she followed the direction Rachel was facing. “It did… Why is a red stem coming out of its arm—huh?! Since when could my blood do that?” she asked as Rachel heard the toad become sand and escape to the next room.
“What?” Zoe asked, practically holding her breath. “You have blood flower powers?”
Scarlet shook her head, hugging herself. “A rose… It’s growing out of its arm. I think I infected it with something—do I have seeds inside me—what am I?!”
Rachel reached over to take her hand and snap her out of the loop she was spiraling into as the toad broke the window in the next room, releasing a loud croaking noise.
“Scarlet! Scarlet! It’s okay… I’ll help you understand your powers after this is done. The toad sees you as a threat now and has called the others. They’re going to come for you.”
“That’s… a good thing. I can’t die, so… so… I should set an ambush!” she said, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. “Right? I’m immune to like… everything, so… yeah! I can do good. I can stop these monsters.”
Rachel nodded, trying to direct her in a more positive route. “You don’t have to be alone, though; we’re against really powerful, heh, toad people, so… let’s bring them to the pool.”
“The pool?” Anthony and Mateo asked in unison, but Zoe caught onto her plan.
“The sea dragon Mythickin! Yeah! We lure them into a place where all the S-tier changed people are. Scarlet’s our SS-tier. I love it!”
Scarlet blinked. “I’m the double-S—I feel like I’m totally F-tier?”
“Are you kidding me?” the cat girl scoffed. “Look at you—maybe more like triple-S-tier—every heroine in stories usually has some kind of dark power they have to keep in check! Don’t bash the power; you have super blood that auto-protects you! Talk about jealous!”
Her response got a chuckle from Scarlet as the domestic cat continued her pep talk. It had gone beyond the point that Rachel understood when it hit anime and manga, so she got up to talk to Mateo.
“What did you think when it attacked me?”
Mateo and Anthony closed in tighter as some of his men reported that the monsters were converging onto their facility.
The officer grunted, working around his jaw. “It was fast. We couldn’t even respond in the time it went from the hallway to the classroom, and if one of my guys weren’t wearing body armor, he’d be dead; he got hit in the heart, and the plate looks like it was almost pierced.”
“I didn’t even notice he attacked you,” Rachel muttered, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s way stronger than the hobgoblin I fought, and the fact it also uses poison is an issue; one nick, and we’re done without Scarlet.”
A low rumble sounded in Anthony’s throat. “Is it really a good idea to consolidate all of us in one place for them to attack? Do we know if they have explosives or even gas?”
Rachel shook her head. “It’s our only option; there’s no way any of us survive out in the open if they’re faster than me, and I’m already pushing my body more than I should,” she admitted, rubbing her sore thighs.
It would probably be a good idea to add points to her toughness stat since her Feats thought it was important enough to include with power; it made sense due to recoil.
“Fair enough,” Mateo growled. “If they’re after Scarlet, then it means we can choose the battlefield, but what makes you think this sea dragon will help you?”
Rachel flashed her teeth. “Because she’s a ‘good sea dragon’ and wants to be seen as a heroine. What better way than to stop the bad guy?”
Mateo and Anthony gave her a look that said they weren’t following.
“In any case, it is an open area that we can exploit, and it has a lot of ventilation places they can use, but with my hearing,” she added, pointing to her twitching ears, “we’ll know exactly where they’ll attack.”
“Giving them a false sense of security,” Mateo nodded. “Huu-haaa. Alright, I believe they have a good number of men guarding the area anyway with equipment. It will do.”
Making the snap decision, and probably more inclined to this strategy due to Scarlet’s insane powers, Mateo called it in. Making their way to the pool, Rachel kept an eye on the vespertine reaper as she talked with Zoe, seemingly finding some common nerdy ground.
Her mind spun with the possibilities, and a single name came to the surface as she tracked the toad’s movements through the vents; the alien was keeping at a distance, somehow knowing where they were. The four others were getting close to infiltrating the buildings, creeping through the night as the wind.
Cerridwen… The goddess that is probably granting me my Divine Feats; she snapped Scarlet back to her senses after tasting my blood. There’s probably more to it that Scarlet will tell me later, but all of this can’t be a coincidence.
The Scarlet Hand woman said I wasn’t supposed to be here, and I’d ruin everything; were these toads supposed to massacre everyone and make Scarlet turn into a blood fiend or mentally crack under the pressure?
She pressed a hand against her chest as they entered the large swimming area. Rachel’s eyes widened as she saw the massive Mythickin in the pool, swimming in a lazy circle near the deep end. The men watching her hadn’t exaggerated—she was practically the size of a large tank. The soldiers had already told the girl that they’d be setting up an ambush in the area as they made their way to the facility, and she looked excited.
The girl was nearly as long as the Class 2 boat her dad owned, weaving back and forth through the water like a snake, and Rachel caught a glimpse of sleek but powerful webbed hands and feet on her body.
Her medium-length neck weaved with her tail, showing a vertical fin that looked sharp enough to cleave through stone, and her large aquamarine eyes shone with a glowing inner delight. The sea dragon’s monstrous sapphire fangs opened to reveal her slick black tongue, releasing a low rumble that traveled through the water and concrete to Rachel’s legs—possibly identifying movement through the reverberation like toothed whales.
Rachel’s head rose to the ceiling as the sand whipped into a frenzy in the vents. “It’s coming from the ceiling,” she yelled, accepting a shield one of the soldiers had brought from SWAT’s equipment; they weren’t sure it would defend against the needles, but it was better than nothing.
Guns rose, yet just as the toad materialized out of the haze that left the shaft, Rachel heard a shift in the water current, and she darted back as a wave the size of her waist jumped over the side of the pool; the giant sea dragon shot straight into the air, doing what seemed to be a barani—a front flip with a 180-degree twist—and the toad dispersed into dust to escape.
The dragon’s dark, azurite plates, ruby spikes, and glowing horn glistened in the light as the world slowed in Rachel’s mind—Rachel had not expected this reaction from the little girl—and the girl’s tail twisted with her momentum, flat end beating the dust cloud and forcing the alien out of its incorporeal form to be batted against the wall.
Zoe and Scarlet cried out in unison with a few of the soldiers as the wave threw them back, soaking them. The vespertine reaper sat on a blood disk that had scooped her up to keep her hovering above the mess.
“You okay?” she asked. “I think… the toad is dead—definitely dead—watch out for rain.”
“What the—d-did that just happen?” Zoe asked, coughing and sputtering as a second crash from the giant monster falling back into the pool sent more waves and water to soak them. “Ack—I swallowed salt water—stop!”
Rachel forced a laugh upon catching sight of the toad—yellow blood stained the wall from the force of impact—it was most certainly dead. Her gaze was on the little girl as she pulled herself out of the water, or, at least, she had been a little girl.
The sea dragon took on a naked, feminine form after her transformation, scales receding to show more skin while still keeping a sort of skin-tight black-plated bra and shorts. Her alabaster skin was smooth and glistening from the liquid falling off her as she casually left the water, and somehow, her soaked skin and hair seemed to absorb the moisture, leaving the woman completely dry.
She was a little taller than Scarlet, which wasn’t saying much, and the sea dragon’s proportions had increased dramatically from the tiny frame Rachel had heard described by the men to their superior as she showed off an alluring figure.
The most shocking part of the whole event to Rachel was the thumps that reverberated through the concrete that made her ears twitch; the woman may not have looked it, but she retained all the weight of her more monstrous form.
“Hello,” she greeted, wearing a gentle smile and speaking in a monotone voice that lacked the cute emotion she displayed. “I’m Selvaria, the invincible Mythickin Leviathan. That was a bad guy, right? I hope it was a bad guy because if not, heh, this will be so awkward.”
