Priscilla's scream never had the chance to leave her lips.
The instant the orange glow spread beneath the behemoth bear's feet, the world shattered.
The endless forest fractured like glass.
Trees dissolved into emerald particles.
The sky cracked.
The rivers evaporated into streams of light.
One after another, everyone vanished.
...
Priscilla stumbled forward.
"...Huh?"
The familiar scent of polished wood replaced the smell of earth and pine.
Her knees buckled as she landed on the carpet of her bedroom.
The monitor mounted on the wall flickered violently before stabilizing once more.
Around her, groans echoed through the mansion.
Edward crashed into a bookshelf downstairs.
Mr. Esposito landed flat on his back in the hallway.
Servants who had been watching the battle suddenly found themselves piled on top of one another.
Everyone had been forcefully returned.
Everyone...
Except one.
Priscilla's eyes widened.
"...Mom?"
She hurried to the monitor.
The screen crackled with static before finally clearing.
The image that appeared made every drop of blood in her body run cold.
"...No..."
---
Elsewhere in the mansion...
Lucy blinked.
One second she had been standing on a thick tree branch.
The next—
Thud!
She landed on expensive marble flooring.
"Oww..."
Before she could complain, another body slammed into her.
"...Move."
"Carla?! Get off!"
"You landed first."
"So?"
"So you broke my fall."
Lucy pouted.
"...You're welcome?"
Carla ignored her and slowly stood.
The room around them was unfamiliar.
An expensive guest bedroom.
The curtains were drawn.
Moonlight seeped through the gaps.
And in the middle of the room...
Someone stood completely frozen.
Jack Marcel.
For a full second...
Neither side moved.
Jack's expression slowly shifted from confusion...
...to horror.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
Carla smiled.
It wasn't a friendly smile.
It was the smile of someone who had just found the person she'd been looking for.
"There you are."
Jack reacted instantly.
His body exploded into white steam—
Too slow.
WHAM!!
Carla's foot buried itself directly into his stomach before the transformation could finish.
The impact folded him in half.
His body slammed into the wall hard enough to crack the plaster.
"Gah—!"
He hadn't even hit the floor before Carla was already moving.
One step.
Then another.
Her fist cut through the air.
Jack barely completed his transformation.
His body dissolved into scalding vapor.
Carla's punch passed straight through it.
"Tch."
The steam hissed.
The heat burned the skin on her knuckles.
Several feet away, the mist condensed once more.
Jack reappeared, clutching his abdomen.
"...That damn woman..."
He grimaced.
"I was this close to escaping."
His eye twitched.
"Why did she have to pull me into her ridiculous Naturescape?"
Carla rolled her shoulders.
"You talk too much."
Jack let out a dry laugh.
"Perhaps."
He straightened his tie.
His usual smug smile slowly returned.
"No matter."
His eyes gleamed.
"You two have become quite the nuisance."
White mist curled around his fingertips.
"I suppose I should eliminate you now."
The temperature in the room began to rise.
"So tell me..."
His smile widened.
"Would you rather suffocate..."
The vapor turned an unhealthy green.
"...or should I become a poisonous gas and watch you die slowly—"
"SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR FUTURE GENERATIONS!"
"Hiyah!"
Lucy launched herself across the room like a missile.
Jack barely had time to look down.
"...Wha—"
THUD!!
Silence.
Complete...
Absolute...
Silence.
Jack's eyes bulged.
Every color drained from his face.
His knees gave out instantly.
He collapsed onto the floor, both hands desperately clutching the source of his unimaginable suffering.
His mouth opened.
No sound came out.
A single tear rolled down his cheek.
"...D..."
Another tear.
"...Damn..."
He curled into a ball.
"...you..."
Lucy landed gracefully beside him.
She dusted off her hands.
"Bullseye."
Even Carla blinked.
"...Remind me never to annoy you."
Lucy proudly puffed out her chest.
"My older brothers taught me."
"...I don't want to know."
Unfortunately...
Jack was still Jack.
His body dissolved once more into swirling white mist.
"Oh, come on!" Lucy shouted.
The vapor slipped beneath the bedroom door before either girl could react.
Lucy immediately reached into her pocket, pulling out a tranquilizer pistol.
"After him!"
Carla was already through the doorway.
"Right."
The two disappeared into the hallway in hot pursuit.
The white mist drifted through the mansion's corridors like a living ghost.
It slipped beneath doors, flowed around corners, and squeezed through the smallest cracks in the walls.
Jack gritted his teeth.
"That girl..."
Even in vapor form, phantom pain still lingered.
"What kind of lunatic opens a fight with that?!"
Behind him—
"Left!"
Lucy's voice echoed through the hallway.
Carla changed direction without hesitation.
The two moved with practiced coordination.
Jack frowned.
"They're herding me..."
The realization came a second too late.
The hallway ahead erupted with thick wooden roots.
CRACK!
They burst through the polished floor like giant serpents, sealing the corridor.
Jack immediately veered right.
Only to find another wall of roots blocking his escape.
"Tch."
The mist swirled upward.
"If I can't go around..."
He condensed into his human form midair.
"...I'll go through."
Steam exploded from his palms.
The roots blackened under the intense heat.
Just as he prepared to blast a path open—
THWIP!
A tranquilizer dart buried itself in his shoulder.
"...!"
He stared at it.
Then slowly turned around.
Lucy lowered the pistol with a smug grin.
"Gotcha."
Jack's eyebrow twitched.
"...Did you seriously shoot me with a dart?"
"It's industrial strength."
"..."
"..."
"It takes down rhinos."
Jack sighed.
"...I'm mildly offended."
Steam hissed from his skin.
The dart popped out before the drug had time to spread.
Lucy's smile immediately vanished.
"...That's cheating."
Jack adjusted his sleeve.
"I manipulate my own body."
He smiled politely.
"Removing foreign objects is surprisingly easy."
"Carla!"
"I'm already moving."
Before Jack could react—
BOOM!
The wall beside him exploded inward.
Carla came flying through it shoulder-first.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!"
Jack barely transformed into steam again before her kick shattered the marble where he'd been standing.
Chunks of stone flew everywhere.
Lucy blinked.
"...You know there was a door."
"I missed."
"There was literally only a wall."
"I know."
Lucy sighed.
"...Close enough."
Jack used the distraction to slip beneath another doorway.
"I'm beginning to understand why the Espositos survive everything."
His voice echoed through the corridor.
"They're surrounded by lunatics."
---
Meanwhile...
Inside the collapsing Naturescape...
The forest was gone.
Not damaged.
Gone.
Nothing remained except a wasteland of cracked earth.
Massive fissures split the land apart.
Molten lava flowed like rivers through the scars.
Columns of smoke climbed endlessly into the crimson sky.
Ash drifted through the air like black snow.
High above...
A gigantic eagle beat its wings.
Each flap scattered embers below.
Standing upon its back was Mrs. Esposito.
Her dress fluttered violently in the scorching wind.
Unlike before...
She wasn't smiling.
Her emerald eyes remained fixed on a single figure.
Or rather—
A single mountain.
The Behemoth Bear no longer resembled an animal.
Its back disappeared into the clouds.
Its breathing alone generated hurricane-force winds.
Every exhale carried sparks and volcanic ash.
Each heartbeat shook the dying landscape.
Mrs. Esposito narrowed her eyes.
"...You've completely lost yourself, haven't you?"
The only answer was a roar.
The sound split clouds apart.
The eagle beneath her cried out uneasily.
"It's alright."
She gently stroked its neck.
"We'll bring her home."
The bear's body suddenly glowed.
Orange light spread beneath its skin like flowing magma.
Mrs. Esposito immediately recognized the signs.
"...Again?"
The ground answered before Veronica could.
BOOM!
A volcano erupted.
Then another.
And another.
Within seconds—
Hundreds of pillars of lava blasted toward the heavens.
The eagle banked sharply.
One eruption missed by only a few meters.
Another exploded beneath its wing.
The heat alone singed feathers.
Mrs. Esposito raised one hand.
The air shimmered.
Thousands of leaves appeared from nowhere.
They swirled together into a living shield.
The lava struck.
Hissss!
Steam exploded outward.
The leaves burned away instantly.
The blast still pushed the eagle backward through the sky.
Another eruption followed.
Then another.
The entire battlefield had become a volcanic sea.
Mrs. Esposito remained calm.
"...Nature."
She whispered the word almost lovingly.
The lava below suddenly slowed.
Crimson rivers diverted themselves.
The molten rock curved around the eagle instead of striking it.
Even the earth itself obeyed her command.
For a brief moment...
It looked as though the world itself had chosen her side.
Then...
Everything went dark.
A shadow swallowed the battlefield.
Mrs. Esposito slowly looked upward.
"...Oh..."
The Behemoth Bear had stood.
Fully.
Its colossal body now towered over the entire Naturescape.
Clouds wrapped around its shoulders.
Its eyes glowed like twin suns.
The eagle beneath her trembled.
Even nature itself seemed to hold its breath.
The bear slowly opened its mouth.
Deep inside...
Orange light gathered.
Not fire.
Not magma.
Something far denser.
Far more destructive.
Mrs. Esposito followed the glow...
Then looked down.
Every crater.
Every volcanic fissure.
Every river of lava.
They were all shining.
Her calm expression finally faltered.
"...I see."
She understood immediately.
Every eruption until now...
Had merely been preparation.
The entire battlefield had become one enormous weapon.
There was nowhere left to run.
The eagle screamed.
The Behemoth Bear inhaled.
And then...
It fired.
Meanwhile...
Back in the park.
Akumu exploded from his own shadow, coughing violently.
"...Persistent..."
He wiped blood from his beak and glared upward.
The Cerberus answered with three different expressions.
Chelsea looked concerned.
Bruce looked focused.
Ginger looked positively delighted.
"Haha! Birdie's still alive!"
Akumu growled.
"I preferred the cat."
"Oh?"
Chelsea tilted her head.
"You won't after this."
Bruce's horns crackled.
Blue-white lightning crawled across the massive Cerberus' body, illuminating every strand of fur.
Ginger stamped one enormous paw.
"MY TURN!"
The ground shattered.
The gigantic beast launched forward.
It wasn't running anymore.
It was charging like a collapsing mountain.
---
Akumu reacted instantly.
Black shadows erupted beneath his feet.
He dove into them just before three colossal jaws snapped shut where he'd been standing.
CRUNCH.
The sound echoed throughout the park.
Empty.
He'd escaped.
"...Behind you."
Chelsea's calm voice rang out.
Akumu's instincts screamed.
He twisted.
Too late.
WHAM!
The Cerberus' tail struck him square across the ribs.
The impact launched him across the river like a stone skipping across water.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four skips before he smashed through a cluster of trees.
Timber exploded in every direction.
---
"...Ow..."
Akumu staggered upright.
Several healing circles appeared beneath him.
Broken bones clicked back together.
Torn muscles regenerated.
Feathers regrew.
He barely had time to breathe.
The Cerberus was already charging again.
"...Seriously?"
---
From atop the center head, Chelsea watched him carefully.
"Bruce."
"Charging."
Blue arcs danced between his horns.
"Ginger."
"I know!"
The Cerberus lowered all three heads.
Its muscles coiled.
Then...
BOOM!
It accelerated so violently the river beneath it erupted into towering waves.
Akumu's pupils shrank.
"...That's ridiculous."
---
He spread all eight wings.
Mana exploded behind him.
He shot into the sky.
The Cerberus followed.
Running.
Across.
The water.
Every footstep detonated like artillery.
Huge geysers erupted behind it.
"What kind of dog runs on water?!"
Ginger laughed.
"A very good girl!"
Chelsea sighed.
"You're not helping."
Bruce simply kept charging lightning.
Perfect. This is the point where Nike enters the fight, so I'll focus on building anticipation instead of rushing straight into the transformation.
---
Akumu spread his wings wide, using every ounce of mana he could spare to propel himself through the air. Wind screamed past his ears as the Cerberus thundered after him, every footstep detonating against the river's surface.
Each stride sent walls of water crashing into the banks.
Each bound closed the distance.
"...You're kidding me..."
He had fought dragons that flew faster than this.
He had outrun griffins.
He had even escaped a phoenix once.
But this thing...
It wasn't chasing him.
It was hunting him.
Akumu suddenly spread his wings to their fullest.
The sudden increase in drag slowed him just enough for him to pivot almost ninety degrees in midair.
The Cerberus overshot him.
"Got you."
He folded his wings and dived beneath the creature's belly.
The massive paws slammed into the river one after another above his head.
Splash!
Splash!
Splash!
He emerged behind it with a smug grin.
"Too slow."
The grin lasted exactly one second.
WHAM!
The tail whipped around like it had a mind of its own.
Akumu's eyes bulged.
"...Again?!"
The impact folded him in half before launching him face-first into the river.
His outstretched wings slapped the water.
Once.
Twice.
Five times.
Like a pebble skipping across a lake, he ricocheted along the surface before finally crashing onto a tiny patch of land near the middle of the stream.
"...I hate dogs..."
He pushed himself upright, coughing up mouthfuls of water.
His feathers were soaked.
One wing hung at an awkward angle.
With an irritated sigh, he grabbed it and—
Crack.
"...Better."
The healing spell engraved into his grimoire activated immediately, green light knitting fractured bones together before disappearing.
He rolled his shoulders.
"I've had worse."
A deep growl answered him.
Akumu froze.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
He looked up.
The Cerberus stood less than twenty meters away.
Three pairs of glowing eyes stared directly into his soul.
Bruce sniffed the air.
"...Found him."
Chelsea smiled warmly.
"There you are."
Ginger's tails wagged excitedly.
"FOUND THE BIRDIE!"
The enormous beast lowered itself.
Its muscles tensed.
Akumu's instincts screamed.
Move.
He sprang sideways just as the Cerberus slammed into the island.
BOOOOOOM!!
The impact erased the patch of land entirely.
A wave taller than the surrounding trees exploded outward.
Akumu barely managed to dive beneath the water before the shockwave caught him.
The current seized his body like an angry hand.
He tumbled helplessly downstream.
Branches.
Rocks.
Tree trunks.
Everything blurred together.
When the current finally spat him onto shore, he lay there coughing violently.
"...Water..."
He hacked up another mouthful.
"...is officially my least favorite element."
His moment of relief didn't last.
The air crackled.
He felt the hairs along his neck stand on end.
Bruce's horns glowed a brilliant blue.
Between them, a sphere of condensed lightning rapidly expanded, humming louder with every passing second.
Akumu's eyes widened.
"...That's definitely coming this way."
The sphere fired.
It crossed the distance almost instantly.
Akumu threw himself sideways.
The lightning grazed him.
Even though he avoided a direct hit, the accompanying shockwave blasted him off his feet.
His body rolled several times before smashing through another tree.
The explosion of thunder left his ears ringing.
Then...
Nothing.
Silence.
"...I..."
He blinked.
"...I can't hear..."
Blood trickled from beneath his feathers.
His hearing had vanished completely.
Only vibrations remained.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The ground was shaking again.
Akumu narrowed his eyes.
He couldn't hear the footsteps anymore...
But he could feel them.
The Cerberus was charging.
Fast.
Too fast.
He searched frantically.
Left.
Right.
Behind—
There.
Barely ten meters away.
The enormous beast burst through the trees.
Akumu didn't retreat.
Instead...
He sprinted straight toward it.
Chelsea blinked.
"Huh?"
Bruce tilted his head.
"...Why?"
Ginger grinned.
"He's finally accepted his fate!"
At the very last instant, Akumu dropped into a slide.
His body shot beneath the center head.
Then beneath one foreleg.
Then another.
The Cerberus thundered over him.
For a brief moment...
He smiled.
"...Too eas—"
WHACK!!
The tail caught him again.
"...WHY DOES THAT THING KEEP DOING THAT?!"
His scream disappeared into the sky as he flew once more.
Perfect, and thanks for clarifying the transformation rules. That changes how I'd write Nike's awakening. I wouldn't rewrite the entire scene, only the transformation itself to better reflect the Fairy Queen's blessing and the reason Nike accepts it.
Chelsea gently nudged Silver toward the frightened group of cats before stepping back. The little cats immediately surrounded the injured feline, rubbing against him with worried cries.
Nike let out a relieved sigh.
"He's going to be alright."
The smallest kitten slowly approached her. Its trembling legs almost gave out before it reached her feet.
"...Meow."
Nike blinked.
One by one, every cat turned toward her.
The fear in their eyes hadn't disappeared...
It had simply been replaced.
Hope.
To them, the cat standing before them wasn't another stray.
She had challenged the monster they couldn't even bear to look at.
She had protected them.
Without realizing it, every pair of eyes had begun looking at Nike with reverence.
A soft violet light shimmered around her.
A translucent screen silently appeared before her.
[Conditions fulfilled.]
[Recipient has been acknowledged by nearby felines.]
[Fairy Queen's Blessing has identified a compatible mythical manifestation.]
[Candidate: Nekogami.]
[Warning: This transformation carries immense risk.]
[Proceed?]
Nike's ears flattened.
Every instinct in her body screamed.
Run.
Reject it.
This wasn't power meant for ordinary creatures.
It was ancient.
Sacred.
Wrong.
She looked over her shoulder.
The frightened cats instinctively huddled closer together the moment Akumu's mana washed over the park.
Silver weakly lifted his head.
Their eyes met.
"...I understand."
Nike smiled.
"I'll protect all of you."
Without another moment of hesitation...
"Proceed."
Purple light erupted around her.
---
Then I'd continue from there instead of restarting anything.
---
Purple light spiraled toward the heavens.
Akumu had only enough time to glance in its direction before Ginger's jaws snapped shut inches from his head.
"Oi! Eyes on us, birdie!" Ginger barked.
Akumu twisted in midair, narrowly slipping between her teeth before diving beneath the Cerberus once more.
"So annoying..." Ginger groaned, skidding across the grass. "Why won't he stay still?"
"Because he enjoys living," Bruce answered dryly.
Chelsea's nose twitched.
"There!"
The Cerberus lunged again.
Its colossal body thundered across the park, uprooting benches and splitting the earth beneath every stride.
Akumu melted into his shadow just before three enormous paws crashed down, pulverizing the ground.
He resurfaced several meters away—
Only for a blur of violet to appear directly beside him.
"...!"
Instinct screamed.
He twisted.
Five razor-sharp claws sliced through empty air where his neck had been.
Unfortunately...
Two black wings drifted lazily to the ground.
Akumu stared at them in disbelief.
"...Again?"
He slowly turned.
Standing several paces away was a slender figure wrapped in flowing violet robes trimmed with gold.
Cat ears rested atop her head.
A long tail swayed lazily behind her.
Golden ornaments, reminiscent of those adorning ancient Egyptian deities, framed her face.
Yet despite her human appearance...
There was nothing human about her eyes.
They carried the quiet dignity of something worshipped.
Something divine.
Akumu frowned.
"...A cat?"
Nike tilted her head.
"I prefer Nekogami."
Before he could process those words...
She vanished.
Not fast.
Gone.
Akumu immediately dissolved into his own shadow.
A heartbeat later—
Both shadows collided.
The two emerged from separate pools of darkness, exchanging a flurry of strikes before disappearing once again.
Tree.
Shadow.
Lamp post.
Shadow.
Building.
Shadow.
To anyone watching, it looked less like a fight and more like two living shadows chasing one another across the battlefield.
Akumu finally created some distance.
"What exactly are you?"
Nike smiled.
"The one who's going to stop you."
She crouched.
"Shadow Step."
Both disappeared again.
Chelsea watched the exchange from afar before all three heads nodded simultaneously.
"She's herding him," Bruce observed.
"Toward us," Chelsea finished.
Ginger grinned from ear to ear.
"Hehehe... now that's teamwork."
Nike suddenly burst from the shadow of a tree.
Akumu instinctively followed.
The instant he emerged—
"Chelsea!"
Three horns crackled with blue-white lightning.
Three jaws opened.
A sphere of compressed lightning formed between them.
Bruce smiled.
"Locked on."
The Cerberus unleashed the blast.
The sphere of lightning tore through the air with a shriek loud enough to split the night.
Akumu's pupils contracted.
Too late.
He had only just emerged from the shadows when he found Nike standing directly opposite him.
She had expected him.
No...
She had led him here.
For the briefest instant, their eyes met.
Nike's golden eyes narrowed.
"Now."
She thrust both palms forward.
A tide of violet divine energy surged from her hands at the exact moment Chelsea's lightning reached its target.
Akumu instinctively crossed his arms over his face.
The two attacks collided with him from opposite directions.
A blinding explosion swallowed everything.
BOOM!
The shockwave ripped through the park, flattening flowerbeds and sending loose gravel spraying through the air.
When the smoke cleared...
Akumu was gone.
Then—
Crash!
His body burst through a row of trees, snapping trunks like dry twigs before slamming into the earth.
The ground split beneath him.
Momentum carried him another several dozen meters, carving a trench through the park until he finally rolled to a stop inside a smoking crater.
"...Ugh..."
His vision swam.
Almost every bone in his body screamed in protest.
Several ribs had collapsed inward.
His left arm bent at an unnatural angle.
His wings...
The few that remained had been shredded almost beyond recognition.
Without hesitation he flipped open the ancient tome.
Golden letters floated from its pages.
"Healing Arts..."
The magic circles surrounding him flared one after another.
Bones cracked back into place.
Muscles stitched themselves together.
Fresh feathers erupted from bloody stumps.
Within seconds he could stand again, albeit breathing heavily.
"...Persistent little monsters."
He spread his newly restored wings—
—and immediately froze.
The moon vanished.
Not because clouds covered it.
Something...
Something enormous had blocked it.
A shadow swallowed half the park.
Slowly...
Akumu looked up.
"..."
"...You've got to be kidding me."
Even Chelsea couldn't help staring.
The creature before them towered over nearby skyscrapers.
Its body was covered in magma-black fur streaked with glowing rivers of molten orange.
Each breath escaped like volcanic smoke.
Its roar shook windows miles away.
The Behemoth.
For a rare moment...
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Nike climbed onto the Cerberus' broad back for a better look.
Her ears flattened.
"...That's..."
Bruce swallowed.
"It's huge."
Ginger, meanwhile...
Her three tails wagged excitedly.
"LET'S GO FIGHT IT!"
Bruce's left head immediately whipped around.
"Absolutely not!"
"Aww, why not?"
"Because that's not courage!"
Bruce pointed one paw toward the mountain-sized bear.
"That's suicide wearing fur!"
Chelsea couldn't help laughing.
"I agree with Bruce."
Ginger puffed out her cheeks.
"You two worry too much."
Chelsea's expression became thoughtful.
"...Actually..."
A translucent screen appeared before her.
The familiar pop-up floated silently in front of all three heads.
Bruce blinked.
"Hm?"
Chelsea quickly read through it before smiling.
"...There might be a way."
"Really?" Ginger's ears perked up.
"That's what I'm talking about, Becky!"
Chelsea sighed.
"...It's Chelsea."
"Oh."
A beat passed.
"I knew that."
Bruce rolled his eyes so hard it almost looked painful.
"I genuinely don't know how you're this bad with names."
"I remember yours."
"It took you three years."
"Details."
Chelsea ignored them both and focused on the message.
"Listen carefully."
Both heads immediately quieted.
"Our mythical transformation has seven minutes remaining."
Bruce nodded.
"I know."
"But..." Chelsea continued, "...the Fairy Queen left us one final option."
She tapped the glowing screen.
[Mythical Authority Conversion.]
[Remaining transformation time may be exchanged for temporary physical growth.]
[Warning: Growth is proportional to remaining time consumed.]
Chelsea looked toward the colossal bear.
"If we want to match that thing..."
"...we'll have to spend almost everything."
Bruce understood immediately.
"...How much time would we have left?"
Chelsea took a slow breath.
"...About one minute."
Silence.
Then Ginger grinned so widely all three mouths copied her expression.
"One minute?"
She dug her paws into the earth.
"That's loads of time."
Bruce stared.
"...You're impossible."
"And you're overthinking again."
Chelsea smiled despite herself.
"...Ready?"
Bruce exhaled.
"...Ready."
Ginger slammed a paw into the ground.
"Let's show that oversized teddy bear what three good dogs can do!"
Chelsea pressed the confirmation button.
The moment her paw touched the glowing screen...
[Authority Conversion Accepted.]
[Remaining Time: 07:00 → 01:00]
[Growth Sequence Initiated.]
A violent pulse erupted from beneath the Cerberus' feet.
BOOOOOOM!!
The earth fractured.
Trees bent away from the pressure wave as an ocean of violet mana flooded outwards.
Akumu, who had only just regained his footing, instinctively shielded his face.
"...They're evolving again?"
The answer came immediately.
The Cerberus threw all three heads back and howled.
The howl wasn't simply loud—it resonated.
Clouds rolled across the sky.
Windows throughout the city rattled.
Lightning answered from above.
Crack!
Crack!!
Crack!!
Three bolts descended simultaneously, each striking one of the Cerberus' heads.
Instead of harming it, the lightning wrapped around its body like living chains.
Its muscles expanded.
Bones groaned.
The ground beneath its paws sank several meters under its increasing weight.
Nearby trees disappeared beneath its growing frame.
Its shoulders rose above the park.
Then above the surrounding buildings.
Still...
It kept growing.
Akumu's confident smile slowly disappeared.
"...No..."
The transformation finally stopped.
The Cerberus now stood eye-to-eye with the Behemoth.
Three enormous pairs of glowing eyes stared across the city.
One mountain...
Facing another.
Bruce blinked.
"...Well..."
"...We're officially enormous."
Ginger burst into laughter.
"I LOVE THIS!"
She experimentally lifted one paw.
The movement alone generated enough wind to flatten an entire grove of trees.
Chelsea quickly steadied the body before Ginger accidentally tripped.
"Careful!"
"Oh right."
Bruce looked down.
"...Please tell me that's a river..."
Chelsea followed his gaze.
"...No."
"...That's a highway."
"...Oops."
Far away...
Standing in the Esposito mansion, Priscilla could only stare through the broken wall.
The Behemoth had always looked impossibly large.
Now...
It finally had something standing opposite it.
"...They actually matched Veronica..."
Edward let out a low whistle.
"I've officially stopped questioning tonight."
Mr. Esposito folded his arms.
"I question everything."
Outside...
The two colossal beasts remained motionless.
Neither attacked.
Neither blinked.
The air itself seemed to hold its breath.
Even Akumu forgot to move.
For several long seconds...
The giants simply observed one another.
Ginger tilted her head.
"...So..."
"...Do we roar first?"
Bruce looked horrified.
"Why would you ask that?"
"Because it's cool."
Chelsea sighed.
"...Fine."
"One roar."
"No unnecessary destruction."
"Deal?"
"Deal!"
The Cerberus inhaled.
Three enormous chests expanded together.
Then—
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!!
The roar rolled across the city like thunder.
Streetlights shattered.
Clouds split apart.
Birds fled in every direction.
Not to be outdone...
The Behemoth answered.
GRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
The sound was deeper.
Older.
It carried the weight of erupting volcanoes and shifting continents.
The collision of their voices alone generated hurricane-force winds.
Back in the park...
Akumu slowly lowered his book.
"..."
"...Why..."
"...am I suddenly the weakest person here?"
He had come expecting to hunt a few magical animals.
Instead...
He was now standing between two kaiju.
His eyelid twitched.
"...This mission has gone catastrophically off schedule."
Without warning—
Ginger grinned.
"There he is!"
All three heads snapped downward simultaneously.
Akumu looked up.
"...Ah."
"...Right."
"I forgot."
Ginger crouched.
Bruce sighed.
"I almost feel sorry for him."
Chelsea lowered her stance.
"Target locked."
Lightning began dancing between all six horns.
Akumu's expression stiffened.
"...I remembered."
The colossal Cerberus kicked off the ground.
The explosion beneath its paws blasted apart half the park as thousands of tons of mythical beast accelerated toward one very unfortunate owl.
Akumu's pupils shrank.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
The ground where the Cerberus had stood exploded into a crater hundreds of meters wide.
Its sheer acceleration created a wall of compressed air that raced ahead of it, uprooting trees and shattering every remaining lamp post in the park.
Even before the beast reached him...
The pressure alone hit.
BOOOOM!
Akumu was blown backwards like a leaf in a hurricane.
He dug his talons into the ground, desperately trying to stop himself from tumbling, but the earth simply peeled away beneath his feet.
"So this is what happens when a mountain starts sprinting..."
Bruce's voice echoed from the left head.
"Target still alive."
Chelsea nodded.
"He'll dodge."
"He always does."
The right head grinned wickedly.
"So we'll just have to be faster!"
"Ginger—"
Too late.
The gigantic Cerberus disappeared.
Not literally.
It was simply moving so quickly that Akumu lost sight of it.
His instincts screamed.
Without thinking, he dove into his shadow.
Less than a heartbeat later—
CRAAAAAASH!!
An entire city block vanished beneath a colossal paw.
Buildings folded like cardboard.
The river beside the park split apart before rushing back together in a tidal wave.
Akumu resurfaced from another shadow several hundred meters away, breathing heavily.
"...That would've killed me."
He didn't even have time to catch his breath.
Chelsea's calm voice drifted across the battlefield.
"Bruce."
"I know."
The horns atop Bruce's head crackled.
Thousands of arcs of blue lightning condensed into a single sphere.
The ball continued growing.
Ten meters.
Twenty.
Fifty.
By the time it stopped, it resembled a miniature moon made entirely of electricity.
Akumu's eye twitched.
"...Seriously?"
Bruce lowered his head.
"Fire."
The lightning sphere shot forward.
It wasn't especially fast—
Compared to the Cerberus itself.
But its sheer size made dodging almost impossible.
Akumu vanished into another shadow.
The sphere continued forward...
Then Chelsea smiled.
"Detonate."
The lightning moon exploded.
The night sky turned white.
Millions of electrical tendrils burst outward, swallowing nearly everything within sight.
Akumu was forced back into reality as the electricity flooded every nearby shadow.
"What?!"
Before he could react—
Ginger was already there.
The gigantic right head lunged down with jaws large enough to swallow a passenger jet.
Akumu crossed his arms.
A barrier of black mana appeared.
CHOMP!!
The bite never reached him.
Instead...
The impact alone shattered the barrier into glittering fragments.
Akumu was launched across the landscape like a cannonball.
He bounced across rooftops.
Skipped over a river.
Smashed through a warehouse.
Finally...
He came to rest buried inside the side of a hill.
Silence.
Dust drifted lazily into the air.
Bruce blinked.
"...Did..."
"...Did we overdo it?"
Ginger shrugged.
"He'll live."
Chelsea wasn't so sure.
All three noses twitched simultaneously.
"...No."
"He's moving."
A pulse of dark mana erupted from inside the hill.
BOOM!
The hillside exploded.
Akumu stepped out slowly.
His breathing had become ragged.
Most of his regenerated wings had disappeared again.
Feathers drifted around him like black snow.
His robe was torn nearly beyond recognition.
Blood trickled down one side of his face.
Yet...
He was smiling.
"Hehehe..."
Chelsea frowned.
"...He's laughing."
Akumu wiped the blood from his mouth.
"I was wondering..."
"Just how strong mythical creatures really were."
He slowly opened his spellbook.
Pages began flipping on their own.
One.
After another.
After another.
The speed increased until the pages became a blur.
Dark mana poured from the book in enormous quantities.
The cheerful expression vanished from Bruce's face.
"...Chelsea."
"I know."
Ginger's grin also faded.
"...That doesn't look fun."
The air itself became heavier.
Clouds overhead turned black.
The moon disappeared.
Akumu raised one claw toward the sky.
"I was hoping to save this..."
"...But you've earned it."
The pages stopped turning.
One spell glowed brighter than all the others.
A sinister smile spread across his beak.
"Let's see..."
"...whether mythical beasts..."
"...can survive forbidden magic."
The three heads of the Cerberus instinctively lowered themselves.
Even Ginger, who had been all smiles moments ago, wore an unusually serious expression.
The mana gathering around Akumu no longer felt like ordinary magic.
It felt...
Wrong.
The pages of the ancient grimoire fluttered violently despite the complete lack of wind. Black mist seeped from between them before wrapping around Akumu's body like living smoke.
Chelsea narrowed her eyes.
"...He's buying time."
Bruce nodded.
"And charging something."
Ginger cracked her neck.
"Then let's hit him before he finishes!"
Without waiting for an answer, Ginger seized control of the body once again.
The Cerberus exploded forward.
Each stride shook the park.
The river burst apart beneath its paws as it sprinted across the water, leaving towering curtains of spray behind it.
Akumu didn't move.
His attention remained fixed on the spellbook.
"...Almost."
Bruce's horns flashed.
Bolts of lightning rained from the sky one after another, each thick enough to split ancient trees in half.
BOOM!
BOOM!!
BOOM!!!
Akumu twisted around them with surprising precision, his feet barely touching the ground before melting into nearby shadows and emerging somewhere else.
The barrage never stopped.
Chelsea watched every movement carefully.
"There!"
The Cerberus suddenly changed direction.
Instead of chasing where Akumu was...
It charged toward where he would emerge.
Akumu surfaced from a shadow—
—and immediately froze.
The gigantic beast was already there.
"...Predictive hunting."
Chelsea gave a small smile.
"Cats aren't the only animals that hunt."
Ginger's massive paw descended.
Akumu crossed both arms.
A black barrier bloomed around him.
CRASH!!
The barrier shattered instantly.
The impact launched him across the park once again, carving a trench through the earth that stretched for hundreds of meters.
Before he could recover, Bruce unleashed another bolt of lightning.
The blast struck the ground directly beside Akumu.
Electricity raced through the soaked earth.
Akumu gritted his teeth as arcs crawled across his body.
"Tch..."
For the first time since the battle began...
His spellbook slipped from his grasp.
Chelsea's eyes widened.
"Now!"
The Cerberus lunged.
Its three jaws opened simultaneously.
Just before they could clamp shut—
Akumu slammed his palm against the ground.
His shadow spread in every direction.
It swallowed him...
His spellbook...
Even the lingering mana.
The jaws closed on nothing.
Ginger blinked.
"...He ran away?"
Bruce immediately shook his head.
"No."
Chelsea slowly lifted one of the three heads, scanning the battlefield.
"...He's hiding."
The park fell eerily silent.
Even the wind seemed to disappear.
The only sound came from the distant crackling of broken trees and the gentle splash of water flowing back into the river.
Then...
A voice echoed from everywhere at once.
"Heh..."
"I almost underestimated you three."
It came from every shadow.
Every tree.
Every ruined building.
Every puddle.
Akumu's laughter quietly spread across the battlefield.
Chelsea's ears flattened.
"Stay together."
Bruce lowered his horns, electricity already gathering between them.
Ginger looked around impatiently.
"Come out already, birdie!"
Silence.
Then—
A shadow beneath the Cerberus rippled.
Chelsea's eyes widened.
"Under us!"
The instant Chelsea shouted, all three heads snapped downward.
The shadow beneath the Cerberus rippled like disturbed water.
Without hesitation, Ginger slammed both front paws into the ground.
BOOM!!
The impact shattered the earth beneath them.
Cracks raced in every direction as the ground caved in, exposing nothing but broken stone and uprooted roots.
"...Missed," Bruce muttered.
The shadow had already vanished.
A dark ripple surfaced several hundred meters away.
Akumu rose from it slowly, brushing a speck of dust from his shoulder.
"You three are learning."
His breathing remained heavy, but the grin on his face had returned.
"I was hoping this would be a simple hunt."
He sighed dramatically.
"Instead, I'm getting bullied by a three-headed dog."
Ginger barked a laugh.
"Exactly!"
"We're awesome!"
Bruce sighed.
"Please don't encourage him."
Chelsea couldn't help smiling.
"At least he's in good spirits."
Akumu's eyebrow twitched.
"...Was that a joke?"
"No."
"...Good."
For a brief moment...
The battlefield grew strangely quiet.
Even enemies needed a second to breathe.
Akumu finally closed his spellbook with a soft snap.
"I've changed my mind."
Chelsea narrowed her eyes.
"Hm?"
"I'll deal with the bear later."
His gaze settled on the Cerberus.
"You three have become... troublesome."
Black mist drifted from beneath his feet once more.
Unlike before, it didn't surge violently.
Instead, it spread slowly across the ground, weaving between the shattered trees like living fog.
Bruce sniffed the air.
"...Poison?"
Akumu smiled.
"No."
"It's simply darkness."
The mist continued spreading.
Every shadow it touched deepened.
Chelsea immediately understood.
"He's expanding his territory."
"So?" Ginger shrugged.
"We'll just smash the whole place."
She reared back, preparing another earth-shaking charge.
Chelsea stopped her.
"Wait."
"What?"
"Look."
Ginger blinked.
The shadows cast by the ruined buildings...
The trees...
Even the Cerberus itself...
Were all beginning to connect.
One giant web of darkness.
Akumu slowly raised one hand.
"There."
The entire network pulsed.
Then...
Dozens of Akumus stepped out simultaneously.
One from behind a tree.
Another from beneath a collapsed bridge.
Several from the river itself.
One even emerged from the Cerberus' own shadow.
Bruce stared.
"...Illusions?"
"They have mana," Chelsea answered immediately.
"They're solid."
Ginger looked from one owl to another.
"...Aw..."
"I only wanted one birdie."
The chorus of Akumus laughed together.
Their voices overlapped until it became impossible to tell which one was real.
"Come now."
"You wanted a hunt."
"So..."
"Hunt."
Without another word...
Every single Akumu lunged at once.
Chelsea inhaled sharply.
"Bruce!"
"Already charging!"
Lightning erupted from Bruce's horns, arcing wildly between the incoming figures.
Several dissolved into smoke the moment they were struck.
But others...
Didn't.
One clone reached Ginger's side.
She bit down.
The body burst into black feathers.
Another landed atop Bruce's head.
A swipe of his horn erased it instantly.
Yet more continued pouring from the shadows.
Chelsea's eyes darted across the battlefield.
"No..."
"These aren't all illusions."
Bruce realized it too.
"Some are real..."
"...and some aren't."
Ginger groaned loudly.
"I hate smart enemies."
The Cerberus spun, snapping in every direction as owl after owl descended upon them.
For the first time since the battle began...
The three-headed beast found itself on the defensive.
Akumu had barely managed to steady himself when instinct screamed again.
Left.
His body dissolved into shadow a heartbeat before a pair of claws carved through the place where his neck had been.
The attacker burst from the darkness like a hunting panther.
Nike.
No...
Not quite.
The familiar blue eyes were still there, but everything else had changed.
Long raven hair danced behind her as she moved with impossible grace. Black feline ears twitched atop her head while a sleek tail constantly shifted behind her, balancing every movement before she even made it. Gold ornaments circled her wrists and ankles, Egyptian-style jewelry rested upon her brow, and every step carried an eerie divinity.
She wasn't merely a cat anymore.
She was something cats themselves would worship.
Akumu narrowed his eyes.
"A... Nekogami?"
Nike didn't answer.
Her pupils narrowed into slits.
She vanished.
Shadow Step.
Akumu's own body melted into darkness almost simultaneously.
Two shadows raced beneath the battlefield.
Then—
CRACK!
Both emerged.
Their exchange lasted less than half a second.
Nike's claws flashed first.
Akumu leaned away.
The claws skimmed across his robes, slicing clean through enchanted fabric.
He retaliated with a knife-hand strike aimed for her throat.
Nike twisted like flowing water.
Instead of retreating she stepped inside his guard.
Her shoulder rammed into his chest.
Her knee struck his ribs.
Her claws slashed upward across his arm.
Akumu retaliated with a wing-assisted spin kick.
Nike caught his ankle with both hands.
For a split second they locked eyes.
She smiled.
Not a human smile.
The satisfied grin of a predator that had finally cornered prey.
Her jaws snapped shut.
"GAH!"
She bit directly into his ankle.
Akumu instinctively lashed out with all six wings.
Feathers exploded everywhere.
Nike released him willingly, flipping backward before the wings could skewer her.
Both fighters disappeared into their shadows again.
---
Across the battlefield the Cerberus was having far bigger problems.
Or rather...
The Behemoth was.
Chelsea's massive body thundered across the ruined park.
Bruce's head watched carefully.
Ginger's head barked impatiently.
Chelsea herself kept the creature moving.
"Incoming!"
The Behemoth swung a paw the size of a building.
Chelsea immediately ducked.
The claws passed overhead, tearing clouds apart.
"Bruce!"
"I see it!"
Lightning gathered between Bruce's horns.
The air crackled violently.
The instant the Behemoth overextended—
A pillar of blue lightning erupted.
BOOM!
It struck directly beneath the bear's foreleg.
The explosion staggered even that mountain-sized creature.
"Now!"
Ginger immediately seized control.
"Ohhh! My turn!"
Instead of retreating...
The Cerberus accelerated.
The earth shattered beneath every stride.
She slammed shoulder-first into the Behemoth.
The collision echoed for kilometers.
The giant bear actually stumbled backwards.
"Haha!"
"I moved it!"
Bruce sighed.
"You moved yourself just as much."
"We don't talk about that."
Chelsea couldn't help smiling despite the situation.
---
Elsewhere—
Two shadows burst from the ground once again.
Nike's claws collided with Akumu's talons.
Clang!
Mana exploded between them.
Akumu spun.
Nike spun with him.
Every movement resembled a dance.
A savage one.
Akumu thrust two fingers toward her eyes.
Nike tilted her head barely enough for them to miss.
She answered with three rapid claw strikes.
One.
Two.
Three.
Akumu avoided the first.
Blocked the second.
The third cut clean across two of his wings.
Feathers scattered through the air.
"Oh, for goodness' sake!"
He grimaced.
"Leave my wings alone!"
Nike answered by lunging again.
This time she fought lower.
Closer to the ground.
Every attack targeted joints.
Wrists.
Ankles.
Knees.
Occasionally she'd slash.
Occasionally she'd bite.
Occasionally she'd simply ram him with her shoulder before disappearing again.
It wasn't refined martial arts.
It was hunting.
Every movement resembled a leopard bringing down prey much larger than itself.
Akumu was slowly realizing something terrifying.
She wasn't trying to overpower him.
She was exhausting him.
Bleeding him.
Taking away his mobility piece by piece.
---
Above them—
The Cerberus and the Behemoth exchanged another earth-shaking clash.
The giant bear roared.
The sound alone bent nearby trees flat.
Ginger grinned.
"Oh?"
"You wanna roar?"
All three heads inhaled simultaneously.
The answering roar exploded across the battlefield.
Windows shattered.
Birds dropped from the sky.
Even Akumu instinctively looked toward the sound.
That single distraction...
Was enough.
Nike appeared directly behind him.
Palm.
Elbow.
Claw.
Palm again.
Four strikes landed almost too quickly to follow.
Akumu blinked.
"...That's all?"
Nothing happened.
Nike merely crouched.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then—
His vision blurred.
Blood poured from his nose.
His heartbeat skipped.
His legs nearly gave out beneath him.
He dropped to one knee, clutching his chest.
"...What..."
He coughed violently.
"...did you..."
Blood splattered the ground.
"...do to me?"
Nike lowered herself even further.
Like a cat preparing for one final pounce.
Far above them, Chelsea glanced toward the glowing timer floating before her eyes.
0:45
"...We've only got a minute left."
Bruce's ears flattened.
"So this next attack has to decide everything."
Ginger cracked the Cerberus's massive neck.
A grin spread across all three faces.
"Perfect."
Then all three heads turned toward the towering Behemoth together.
"Let's hunt a bear."
Bruce inhaled slowly.
Static danced across every strand of fur covering the Cerberus' colossal body. Blue-white arcs leapt from horn to horn before crawling down its legs and into the ground, turning every footstep into a miniature thunderstorm.
Chelsea glanced at the timer.
00:40
"Less than a minute."
Bruce nodded.
"We only get one chance."
Ginger grinned wide enough to show every fang.
"Then let's make it count."
The Behemoth answered with a deafening roar.
The earth beneath its feet glowed molten orange.
Rivers of magma spread like veins through the cracked ground, every step causing fresh volcanoes to erupt around it.
Without warning, it swung.
The paw alone displaced enough air to create hurricane-force winds.
"Dodge!"
Chelsea immediately twisted the Cerberus sideways. The gigantic claw skimmed across its fur, carving a trench hundreds of meters long where it struck the earth.
Before the bear could recover—
"Bruce!"
"Already charging."
The horns atop Bruce's head blazed.
A spear of lightning descended from the heavens.
BOOM!
It struck the Behemoth squarely across the shoulder.
The mountain-sized creature staggered.
Smoke rose from scorched fur.
It wasn't enough.
The Behemoth merely shook itself once before glaring back with burning amber eyes.
"...It barely noticed," Bruce muttered.
Ginger laughed.
"Good."
"I hate easy fights."
Taking control, Ginger lowered the Cerberus' body until its claws dug into the earth.
Every muscle tensed.
Then—
The ground exploded beneath them.
The Cerberus became a blur.
It slammed headfirst into the Behemoth's chest.
The collision echoed like two mountains crashing together.
The Behemoth slid backwards.
Only three steps...
But for something that size...
Three steps was unbelievable.
"Haha!"
"I moved it!"
Bruce sighed.
"And now it's angry."
"...Worth it."
---
Elsewhere...
Akumu wiped blood from his mouth.
His breathing had become noticeably heavier.
Every exchange with Nike lasted only an instant, yet somehow each one left another injury.
She appeared.
Claws flashed.
She vanished.
Again.
And again.
And again.
There was no rhythm to it.
No pattern.
Just relentless pressure.
Another shadow surged toward him.
"There!"
Akumu thrust his hand into the darkness.
A blast of mana erupted—
Nothing.
A feint.
"...Above."
He looked up just in time to see Nike descending feet first.
Her heel crashed into his shoulder.
CRACK!
The impact drove him into the ground.
Before the crater could even form she was already moving.
One hand planted itself against the earth.
Her body spun.
Her tail balanced every movement.
A sweeping kick caught Akumu beneath the chin.
His head snapped backward.
He retaliated immediately.
Shadow tendrils burst from beneath Nike.
She simply smiled.
Her own shadow swallowed her.
The tendrils grabbed nothing.
She reappeared behind him.
Slash.
Slash.
Bite.
Akumu hissed as fresh wounds opened across his back.
"Oh come on!"
"Do cats only know how to scratch and bite?!"
For the first time since transforming...
Nike answered.
Her voice carried an odd calmness.
"No."
She vanished again.
"We know how to hunt."
She emerged directly beneath him.
Open palm.
It struck the center of his chest.
Akumu frowned.
"...Again?"
There wasn't much force.
Barely enough to move him.
Nike disappeared once more.
Then again.
Another palm.
Another.
Another.
Each strike landed over his heart.
Over the same exact point.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Akumu's expression slowly changed.
"...You're..."
"...stacking damage?"
Nike's eyes widened ever so slightly.
He figured it out.
Unfortunately...
Too late.
His knees buckled.
Pain exploded throughout his entire body simultaneously.
Every precise strike she'd landed finally overlapped.
Blood burst from his mouth.
His vision doubled.
"What..."
He collapsed to one knee.
"...what kind of martial art..."
Nike slowly rose from her crouch.
"My instincts."
Then she disappeared once more.
---
High above the battlefield...
Chelsea glanced toward the timer again.
00:22
Bruce frowned.
"Time's almost up."
Below them...
The Behemoth suddenly stopped moving.
Orange light spread beneath its fur.
It flowed through its limbs...
Into its neck...
Into its jaws.
Chelsea's ears flattened.
"...It's charging."
Bruce immediately recognized the danger.
"If that attack fires..."
"...the city."
Ginger stopped smiling.
For once...
Even she looked serious.
Chelsea quietly opened the floating system window.
Her eyes scanned the remaining options.
Then...
She found one.
"...I think..."
"...we can still match it."
Bruce looked over.
Chelsea took a deep breath.
"We can convert every remaining second into raw power."
Ginger's grin immediately returned.
"So instead of twenty seconds..."
"We fight for one."
Chelsea nodded.
"If we do this..."
"...the transformation ends immediately afterward."
Bruce closed all six eyes for a moment.
"...Worth it."
Ginger slammed one massive paw into the ground.
"LET'S DO IT!"
The timer began falling rapidly.
00:21
00:18
00:15
Every second sacrificed became another surge of lightning pouring into the Cerberus' horns.
The sky darkened.
Thunder rolled endlessly overhead.
Across the battlefield, the Behemoth answered with an even brighter orange glow.
The air itself began to melt between them.
Far away, hidden inside the mansion, Priscilla looked through the window at the two colossal monsters preparing their final clash.
Her face lost all color.
"...Oh no..." she whispered.
"They're really going to do it..."
Priscilla stared out of the shattered window, her breathing becoming more frantic with every passing second.
The Behemoth stood like a mountain given life.
Across from it, the Cerberus lowered its massive body, blue lightning surging between its horns as thunder rolled overhead.
Neither monster moved.
Neither dared attack first.
The air between them distorted from the sheer amount of energy gathering on both sides.
The grass withered.
Nearby streetlights burst one after another.
Even the clouds overhead split apart as orange heat met blue lightning.
Priscilla felt her throat tighten.
"This is bad..."
No...
Bad didn't even begin to describe it.
If those two attacks collided...
The resulting explosion would dwarf everything that had happened tonight.
Worse still...
Veronica's colossal form towered high enough to be seen from neighboring districts.
It was already a miracle the Enforcers hadn't arrived.
If that clash happened...
There would be no hiding what they were anymore.
Tears welled in Priscilla's eyes.
"Is this... really the end?"
She lowered her head.
"Honestly..."
"I'd rather die to Veronica than be captured by the Enforcers..."
"Don't."
The voice was gentle.
Yet it carried enough certainty to silence the room.
Priscilla froze.
"...Mike?"
She turned.
Standing behind her was her brother.
But...
Not quite.
His clothes no longer resembled anything woven by human hands.
The dark fabric shimmered like the night sky itself, galaxies drifting lazily across it as though entire universes had been stitched together into a single cloak. Tiny stars glimmered with every movement, while faint constellations appeared and disappeared beneath the cloth.
Resting peacefully in his arms was Mrs. Esposito.
Her clothes were scorched.
Her cheeks carried burns and bruises.
She was unconscious...
But alive.
Mike walked into the room as casually as though he'd just returned from buying groceries.
He gently laid Veronica on Priscilla's bed.
She barely caused the mattress to sink.
He carefully adjusted the blanket beneath her head before brushing a loose strand of hair away from her face.
Only then did he look toward his little sister.
His expression softened.
"As long as I'm here..."
"No one is dying."
He reached over and gently patted her head.
"So stop making that face."
"You've got your big brother."
Priscilla's vision blurred.
For reasons she couldn't explain...
The fear she'd been desperately suppressing simply disappeared.
"...Okay."
She nodded.
"...I believe you."
At that moment, her tautara climbed onto her shoulder.
The tiny reptile puffed out its chest proudly.
Across the room, Haru instinctively took two cautious steps backward.
Priscilla couldn't help giggling.
"You still haven't gotten over him?"
Haru shuddered.
"I've fought dragons."
"I've stared down demon kings."
"I even looked directly at your brother."
He pointed a trembling finger toward the tiny creature perched on her shoulder.
"But that thing's third eye?"
"No."
"I'm drawing the line there."
Priscilla laughed despite herself.
"You really are hopeless."
A deafening roar interrupted them.
The room shook violently.
Everyone turned toward the window.
Outside...
The Cerberus and the Behemoth had finished charging.
Blue lightning condensed into a sphere between the Cerberus' three sets of horns.
Molten orange light overflowed from the Behemoth's jaws, dripping onto the streets below like liquid suns.
Priscilla's smile disappeared instantly.
"Oh no..."
"They're about to fire!"
"We have to stop them!"
Mike, however...
Didn't even look outside.
Instead, his eyes wandered around the room almost absent-mindedly.
A bookshelf.
A family portrait.
A stack of school notebooks.
His gaze drifted lazily until it landed on the calendar hanging beside the window.
He stopped.
The page showed a bright summer evening.
Children laughed beneath exploding fireworks.
Food stalls lined crowded streets.
A festival.
Mike tilted his head slightly.
Mike's gaze drifted across Priscilla's bedroom until it landed on the calendar hanging beside her desk.
His eyes lingered on a date circled several months ahead.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Hey, Priscilla."
She was still staring out the window, watching the two colossal beasts preparing to annihilate each other.
"Hm?"
"You like fireworks, don't you?"
Priscilla blinked.
"What? Yeah... but why are you asking now?"
Mike didn't answer.
Outside, the mountain-sized bear lowered its body, molten orange light flowing through the cracks in its rocky hide like rivers of lava. Across from it, the Cerberus planted its six paws firmly into the earth. All three heads lowered in unison as brilliant violet lightning gathered between Chelsea's horns, Bruce's crackling mane and Ginger's jaws.
The air itself trembled.
Every instinct in Priscilla screamed that if those attacks collided...
...there wouldn't be a mansion left.
"There has to be a way to stop them!"
Mike simply looked toward the window.
"...Fireworks are prettier."
Snap.
It wasn't loud.
In fact, it sounded almost lazy.
Yet reality answered as though it had been waiting for permission.
---
Priscilla heard an explosion.
Not one of destruction...
One of celebration.
She instinctively shut her eyes.
When she opened them again...
...her bedroom was gone.
Warm lantern light stretched endlessly through bustling streets.
Rows of colorful stalls lined both sides of a wide avenue. Children laughed as they chased one another between festival games while merchants called out to passing visitors.
The scent of grilled meat, sweet pastries and caramelized sugar drifted lazily through the summer air.
Priscilla looked down.
"...A yukata?"
She was wearing one.
In one hand rested a stick of cotton candy.
She stared blankly for several seconds before turning around.
"...Brother?"
Mike was standing at a shooting gallery, completely focused on knocking down tiny wooden prizes with an air rifle.
"...Seriously?"
A few metres away...
Her parents walked side by side as though nothing had happened.
Mrs. Esposito smiled while holding her husband's arm.
"I told you we'd have time to come eventually."
Mr. Esposito chuckled.
"I still think those goldfish are rigged."
Then...
Both of them stopped.
"...Honey."
Mrs. Esposito slowly turned toward him.
"I could be mistaken..."
"...but weren't we at the mansion a second ago?"
Her husband frowned.
"...The last thing I remember..."
"...was fighting Veronica."
Silence.
Another boom echoed overhead.
Everyone instinctively looked up.
A brilliant flower of red and gold spread across the night sky.
Then another.
And another.
Fireworks.
Dozens of them.
Priscilla's eyes widened.
"...The summer festival..."
She looked around frantically.
"...That's impossible."
"It's months away."
"It's not even summer."
Realization slowly dawned on her.
She turned toward Mike.
"...No way..."
"Did..."
"Did he rewrite time and space just because..."
She looked back toward the fireworks.
"...because I said I liked fireworks?"
She covered her mouth.
"But if we're all here..."
"...does that mean Veronica and the Cerberus are still fighting somewhere else?"
"Incredible..."
---
Far beyond the boundaries of the festival...
Where no ordinary eyes could witness it...
The battle continued.
The Behemoth Bear towered like a living mountain.
Across from it stood an equally colossal Cerberus, lightning dancing across every strand of its black fur.
The two monsters charged.
Neither hesitated.
Both rose onto their hind legs before crashing into one another.
The impact split the clouds.
The Cerberus slid backwards, carving six enormous trenches through the earth.
The bear staggered several steps before slamming both feet down to steady itself.
Chelsea panted.
"We're almost out of time!"
Bruce's breathing had grown ragged.
"Ten seconds!"
Ginger grinned despite the exhaustion.
"Ten seconds is plenty!"
Lightning erupted from all three heads.
The bear answered with a roar that shook the heavens.
Molten light flooded its throat.
The ground beneath both creatures cracked apart.
Chelsea took one final breath.
"Everyone..."
"Together!"
Bruce nodded.
"Fully charged."
Ginger laughed.
"LET'S FINISH THIS!"
Three horns shone like miniature suns.
The bear opened its jaws.
Both attacks erupted simultaneously.
At that exact instant—
A massive firework exploded above the festival.
To everyone attending...
It was merely another beautiful burst of colour.
To those hidden beyond reality...
The explosion became the collision of lightning and magma.
The resulting flash swallowed the battlefield.
When the light finally faded...
The Cerberus was gone.
Chelsea, Bruce and Ginger lay scattered across the ground once more in their normal forms, breathing heavily.
"...Worth it..." Ginger muttered weakly.
Bruce flopped onto his back.
"I never want... three heads again..."
Chelsea simply smiled before exhaustion overtook her.
The Behemoth Bear remained standing...
...for exactly three more seconds.
Then its knees buckled.
The enormous body crashed backwards with enough force to flatten hills.
It growled stubbornly and forced one trembling paw beneath itself.
It refused to stay down.
Before it could rise...
Someone appeared.
Not with a flash.
Not with a burst of light.
Mike was simply...
...there.
Standing in the air directly above the bear's enormous head with both hands tucked casually into his pockets.
He looked almost bored.
"Veronica."
His voice wasn't loud.
Yet the furious beast immediately froze.
"...That's enough."
The bear answered with a roar and swung a paw large enough to crush a city block.
The claws passed straight through Mike.
Not because he dodged...
Because the attack simply...
...ceased to exist.
The bear blinked.
Confused.
Frustrated.
It inhaled deeply.
Molten lava gathered inside its throat once again.
Mike sighed.
"No."
He casually pointed upward.
"...Look."
Against all logic...
The bear obeyed.
Its enormous head tilted toward the night sky.
Unable to resist whatever authority compelled it.
The blast fired.
Instead of destroying everything above...
The stream of magma exploded into hundreds of dazzling fireworks.
Golden chrysanthemums.
Blue peonies.
Crimson comets.
Every burst painted the heavens in breathtaking colour.
Mike smiled faintly.
"See?"
"Much prettier."
The bear slowly lowered its gaze again.
Mike was already standing directly in front of its nose.
He reached forward...
...and gently poked it.
Boop.
The impossible body dissolved instantly.
Mountains of stone...
Rivers of magma...
The overwhelming pressure...
All disappeared like mist beneath the morning sun.
Standing where the Behemoth had been...
...was Veronica.
She stared blankly at her own hands.
Then at Mike.
The memories came flooding back.
Her knees gave way.
Mike caught her before she could fall.
"I'm sorry..."
Her voice trembled.
"I..."
She couldn't finish.
Instead she buried her face against his chest.
Tears streamed silently down her cheeks as she clung to him with both arms.
Mike simply smiled and gently patted her head.
"Welcome back."