Rarely do battlefields look the glorious triumph of the stories of old. Where heroes and kings triumph in the field of glory, their plates shining brilliantly under the light of a setting sun after a lengthy battle against evil, reality is much more grim.

  Calli saw the bloodshed imposed by the Monarch Elite. The giant terrestrial creature, who reared its head up, elongating it. Spines protruded from its elongated neck, as it charged with hostility across the field of bodies which stood between it and the village. Warriors and hunters were stuck to the ground by the strange liquid which spewed from the Monarch’s mouth. Before they could free themselves, they were trampled on, and sliced open, by stampeding Enthipids.

  Slowly but surely, the lines were thinning, and at its forefront, a monster which even the most experienced hunters couldn’t face alone began to inch closer. She needed backup, dodging and weaving attacks on all sides from the Monarch, as well as a few stray attacks from the gathering force of Standard Enthipids around her.

  Gravel, who began to push through a small wave of Standard Enthipids, found backup in a few of the shaman’s personal guard, who used johrei spears of an ornate pattern. They cut their way through the oncoming storm, dodging bladed claws from the small creatures, which varied in shape and size, and soon found themselves closing in on the Monarch of the Deep itself.

  The Monarch reared its head and began to spew its strange green liquid at Gravel, who prepared to cut it, remembering the effectiveness of Lists’ Johrei blade in slicing through it earlier. However, there wasn’t any need as the shaman guards expanded their spearheads into a fan like pattern which acted as makeshift shields against the pinpoint attack of the Monarch.

  A moment later though, Gravel, the guards, and Calli, who caught up to the monster, found themselves in an unfavorable predicament. The acid which surrounded them ignited as the Monarch cried a horrible cry. The ring of fire which surrounded them and part of the fields prevented any easy escape. Even Johrei shielding would have trouble dealing with the heat which congregated around them.

  Calli, beginning to sweat, lifted up her shield, blocking another strike from the Monarch Elite. Gravel, who was nearby, extended his Johrei blade, bearing it down onto its limbs, only to find surprise in a smaller Enthipid jumping in between him and his target. The Standard Enthipid died on the spot, just as the Monarch kicked up its arms and dealt a direct blow to Gravel. It tore through his shielding and left a puncture wound which bled profusely.

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  He screamed, and Calli, unsure of what to do, began to panic.

  Should I help, should I attack? What’s my next course of action?

  Meanwhile, the shaman’s personal guards attempted to hold the creature off, dancing with their spears gracefully in synchronized motion as the creature attempted to break through. It spewed acidic liquid at them, which was deflected by the warriors. But they weren’t nearly as attentive as they could have been. Underestimating the creature’s intelligence, they found themselves flying from the swing of its large tail, defenses shattered, realizing the creature’s initial acidic attack was just a distraction. Laying quietly on the grass, they passed out, blood soaking around them.

  Resolving herself, Calli decided to sprint towards Gravel. She held up her shield, getting between the Monarch and Gravel clutching at his stomach where he was stabbed. The injury looked fatal.

  She deflected blow after blow, anticipating a surprise attack. However, she found herself surprised still when the creature raised its hind legs and turned to release a devastating blow whose pressure alone forced knocked Calli onto the ground. She grunted and struggled to get up, realizing that anticipation mattered little when that much force was invovled, and turned her dizzying head to see the creature lift its tail to finish off Gravel.

  Instead, Calli heard the creature screech as List, who had fully recovered from her injuries began stabbing at one of the creature’s weakened areas. Calli, standing up shakily, dropped her shattered sword and now broken shield, reaching into her pocket-space for her gatling gun. As the creature threw List off, swinging its tail, causing Lift to fly up into the air and land with a thud on the ground, breaking multiple bones, it turned its head to the sound of a revolving gun.

  Calli unleashed a hail of bullets of it which sounded like a storm in the battlefield. Sweating from the nearby fires, she continued to rain down hell upon the creature, which lifted its tail to block the seemingly never-ending trail of bullets, until the shielding gave way. The impact alone caused smoke to trail, obscuring the creature and when Calli ran out of bullets, she could only laugh as she saw the creature, with minor damage on its carapace, moved its tail out of the way, revealing that outside of a few Johrei shards broken here and there, it was mostly undamaged.

  It reared its head up again. This time, she didn’t have a working shield or weapon to defend with. Acid spew ejected at unparalleled speeds towards her body.

  This is it huh, she thought.

  Just then, the acid vanished as an arrow pierced straight through and hit the creature square in its eye. It screeched, shaking the cavern and looked at the cause of its plight.

  Aio stood between the Monarch and Calli, a faint Johrei shimmer surrounding his body. He was back, and very, very angry.