“Hah… hah…” Plue’s heavy breaths signified how tired she was.

  Plue was barely standing, her legs almost gave away on the spot. She could still wield her scythe, but against the beast she was up against, she wasn’t sure if it would help.

  Still, Plue stayed standing. She slowly raised her scythe, ready to face the monster before her.

  “The Hellfire Devil Panther. A terrifying beast that can spew flames so painful it makes one experience hell. How do you like its taste?” Gloated a hooded man.

  The hooded man was riding astride a monstrous panther. It was a giant, black panther with numerous purple and grey scars, alongside a pair of menacing horns. Its claws were huge, capable of ripping a man in half. When it growled, fumes of smoke came out of its mouth.

  “Ah, if only you had kept your nose out of this one. Look at you, you can’t even stand in its presence without feeling the effects of the mana disparity,” the hooded man said.

  Plue’s eyes focused on his arm. He was wearing a bracelet with multiple magical gems embedded within them. Conspicuously, it had an empty slot.

  “Those damn kids. Stealing my gem. Well, it’s their fault for not listening to their parents and stealing a person’s belongings. Now, shall we end this?”

  “…Okay,” Plue responded.

  She lightly pointed her scythe at the beast. Within seconds, hundreds of bugs came crawling out of the grounds and walls. Cockroaches, ants, flies, mosquitos. Any and all insects in the vicinity rushed the Hellfire Devil Panther.

  “Didn’t I tell you before? Against this beast, any and all bugs are useless.”

  The panther roared, and crimson flames arose from its body. The flames burned any and all insects that dared come near. Alas, when it came to her Aspect, Plue’s nemesis was fire.

  “Fool. End her no- Where?”

  When the swarm of bugs disappeared from his vision, the man found no signs of the scythe-swinging girl.

  The man hurriedly looked behind him. Plue’s scythe was mid-swing, directed straight at his neck. He had no idea how she had managed to get around them so fast, nor how she could reach him so easily, but it was evident she was far more skilled than he thought. It was a perfectly executed killing move.

  The scythe grew ever closer to the man’s neck. It felt like everything moved in slow motion, as he made an attempt to dodge the attack.

  “Kh!” The man grasped his neck.

  Blood was seeping from it. But he survived. It was just a gash.

  “Kill her! Burn her to cinders!” He shouted.

  Plue backed away as soon as she could, as flames burnt away where she once was. However, she was not quick enough, and a few of them clung on to her. Plue gritted her teeth as she tried to quench the flames, holding back her desire to scream.

  “Hahaha! Burn her alive, panther! Show your new master your worth!” The hooded man screamed out.

  The man raised his hand forward, his bracelet glowing. His eyes were full of delirium. He could just see how the girl before him would be engulfed in those flames. That, or perhaps she would be shred to bits, mauled by the ferocious beast he rode.

  Suddenly, his eyes went wide open. His bracelet, there was something on it. And it was gnawing at the bracelet.

  “A stag beetle!? When did you!?” He screamed, hurriedly moving his hand to swat it away.

  However, it was too late. The stag beetle raised its mandibles and snapped at the bracelet, cutting it cleanly. The gems lost their lustre, and the bracelet’s parts fell from the man’s hand.

  The man did not panic, however. The bracelet’s powers could still be used. The Hellfire Devil Panther could still be controlled. He grabbed the broken pieces and clasped them tightly. The panther under him roared as it fell back under his control.

  ‘Stag beetles aren’t indigenous to these sewers. A premier monster tamer like me would know. So, where did she get it?’ The man thought quickly. It wasn’t long before he came to a conclusion.

  “You’re not a monster tamer like me! You’re a summoner!” The man yelled out. “There are no stag beetles in this sewer! You must have summoned it when you cut me!”

  “That’s right,” Plue said as she rolled up her sleeve. On it, there was a small tattoo of a rhinoceros beetle.

  Plue tapped the tattoo, and it began moving. The tattoo rushed into her palm and then jumped out of her skin. The shadowy ink quickly formulated into a giant beast. A gigantic rhinoceros beetle, almost the same size as the Hellfire Devil Panther.

  “Rrgh! A summon is no match for a real monster!”

  “We can see about that! Gregorino, charge!”

  Gregorino, the giant rhinoceros beetle, rushed headlong into its target, eyes gleaming with ferocity. Its massive horn belied its speed, as it was much faster than a typical creature its size.

  The Hellfire Devil Panther met its charge head-on, swiping it with a claw attack. Its flames soared towards Gregorino, but it was not deterred. Its legs kept running forward, as if nothing could stop it.

  “Flame breath! Engulf it in all your might!” The hooded man commanded.

  The Hellfire Devil Panther obeyed its call and opened its jaws. From within its throat, scarlet flames spewed out, covering Gregorino. Gregorino’s charge began to falter and its legs began to slow down.

  “Hah, not this time!”

  The hooded man swiftly dodged Plue’s second attack. He held his bracelet aloft and flames pierced Plue’s position. However, this time, she was not fast enough to evade it. The flames engulfed her in her entirety, causing her to collapse and fall onto the ground.

  “Rrgh…!” Plue gritted her teeth as best she could.

  She had wrapped herself with mana beforehand, but the flames were too strong. They were rapidly eating away at her mana barrier.

  ‘Even though I copied papa’s as best I could!’

  Quickly, she began rolling on the ground as fast as she could. The flames just weren’t going out. She felt a wriggling on her skin as her summons came to her defence to protect her from the flames. Summon after summon were being burnt by the flames, but she didn’t have enough mana nor the energy to put it out. Plue was exhausted and too tired to move.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Hah, rolling around in the dirt like a bug. Finish her.”

  The Hellfire Devil Panther swiped Gregorino’s lifeless corpse away and turned to look at little Plue. It raised one of its paws, its shadow cast over the writhing Plue. She felt an intense wriggling on the skin of her body. In the midst of the flames, she looked up at it, and closed her eyes.

  But the impact did not come.

  “You did well, Plue. I’m happy we came for you.”

  Plue opened her eyes again, barely able to stay conscious. Machia was standing before her, blocking the paw from striking her down with one of his sister’s tonfas. He looked back at her with a gentle smile that reminded her of her papa’s. It was a kind smile that told her everything was gonna be okay.

  “I’ll handle everything from here,” Machia announced, pushing off the panther’s paw.

  Machia unleashed his mana in all of its force, wrapping Plue with it. The mana quickly quenched the flames.

  “Plu! Let’s get out of here.” Machua rushed up to Plue and helped her get up. Machua coughed a little bit as she did so, evident that she was affected by the purer mana.

  The two stumbled away from the fight. Plue could spot two little kids peeking from around the corner. She tried to smile as best as she could, but she was too tired for that.

  Machua and Plue took a brief look backwards before they turned around the corner. Machia was standing tall, with an air of confidence that felt like he would never lose the fight. He may have had less mana purity than the Hellfire Devil Panther and would suffer the effects of the disparity but for some reason, they felt like things were going to be okay.

  Soon after they left the scene, the sounds of roaring ceased.

  ———————————————————————

  “The rhinoceros beetle’s not yours, I assume?” Machia asked, pointing to the corpse of Gregorino.

  Gregorino’s corpse was charred and was slowly dissolving into mana. A sign that it was a summon. It would not leave anything behind once it had died.

  “Hah! Stop before I burn you too. Let’s end this, so I can be on my way.”

  “Well, I do want to listen to what you have to say before I take you out. I’d wager that I wouldn’t get a chance once I hand you to the EPG,” Machia coolly said.

  “You stand no chance against the Hellfire Devil Panther.”

  “Big words coming from you. You’re only barely controlling the thing now that your bracelet’s broken. Who’s to say I can’t steal the rest of what you have? Your beast would probably kill you first after that.”

  “Flame breath,” the hooded man, tired of the dialogue, commanded.

  Crimson flames came roiling on Machia’s position. He disappeared amidst the flames, much like the other girl did. The man kept a close look out for him, ready to engulf him in flames the moment he appeared.

  “Seems Plue’s used this too much against you,” a voice came from above.

  The hooded man immediately commanded flames to engulf the man above him. However, to his surprise, the voice continued speaking.

  “You’re wasting your monster’s mana at this point. How much longer do you really have until someone catches up to you?” Machia asked, from within the flaming pyre.

  Machia slowly walked down to the hooded man’s position, as if he was walking on an invisible staircase.

  “Flight!? You, your mana purity isn’t even past 50%!” He yelled incredulously.

  Machia shrugged as he sat on the air and folded his legs. “Purity doesn’t necessarily correlate with strength. For example, I know I could crush both you and your beast right now.”

  Machia hopped off of his invisible air chair and phased through them until he was standing on the ground in front of them again.

  ‘He’s not kidding! If he really is that strong, then what the hell is he doing with those other two girls!? Training them!?’ The hooded man suddenly grew nervous.

  “I just want to know what it is you’re up to and who your boss is. After that, I can try and get a lighter…” Machia trailed off.

  “No, you burnt his daughter alive, Lemuel’ll kill you for that.”

  “SHE’S WHAT!?” The hooded mans screamed, louder than he had ever before. His brow suddenly grew sweaty and his legs quivered.

  “Her name’s Plue Salas, she’s ado-“

  “Kill him! Kill him now! Kill all of them! If Lemuel Salas catches me, I’m dead! Worse than dead!” The hooded man yelled, raising his bracelet pieces aloft.

  The panther lit itself on fire and pounced. This time, Machia was not about to dodge. He extended his index and middle finger in a semi sword-hand form and focused his mana into his arm. He felt the familiar sensation of multiple dimensions gushing into his arm, but instead of them colliding, resulting in a ripping and tearing attack, they instead fused into a long blade that shot out of his fingers.

  “Kaleid Blade.”

  Machia swung thrice, but to observers, it seemed as if he simply dashed through the beast and tore through it with one swift motion. The beast’s claws separated from its paws, and its paws separated from its body. Lastly, its head separated from its neck.

  Machia looked back and allowed the dimensions to flow out of him to dissolve. The hooded man collapsed on the ground, too afraid to say anything.

  “Tell me where you came from, who your boss is, what you were doing with the big panther thing, and all that other jazz. I can’t help you escape Lemuel’s wrath, but hey, help a guy out.”

  The man sputtered out several unintelligible sounds, before going quiet, seemingly giving up.

  “I was to smuggle the Hellfire Devil Panther from Tartarus to my boss. My boss likes collecting rare monsters you see, and is building up a small monster army,” he explained.

  “Tartarus, meaning Erelier’s secret blacklight district right?” Machia wanted to confirm.

  The man nodded glumly.

  Tartarus was an underground secret criminal district that laid deep below Erelier’s surface. While Erebus Squad did do their best to clear every monster and criminal out, it was impossible to do so completely. As a result, all they could do was maintain tight discretion and control over the underworld, leading to a small underworld blacklight district. This wasn’t known by the public however, but as Galas’ student, Machia knew that well.

  “Where is your boss’ headquarters?”

  “I-I don’t know. I only ever drop off the smuggled monsters to a designated area, so his other guys can pick it up.”

  “Then tell me where that is.”

  “It’s… in an abandoned City. City Folia.”

  City Folia. Machia recalled that City well. It was abandoned and now teeming with monsters, but it was also the location where Captain Galas held the Hunter examination for his squad. He simply let all 3 of them loose there and told them to climb up one of its buildings to claim a flag. He remembered he was scared out of his mind the entire mission through.

  “Okay, one last question. How’d you sneak into Tartarus? Tell me your route too.”

  “Understood.”

  The hooded man promptly began explaining his route to Tartarus. The route was full of twists and turns and ran into many dangerous areas. However, it was one that dodged the surveillance of the corporations who were busy mining in Erelier’s underground. The route seemed secure enough to Machia, so he was satisfied.

  “Alright then, nighty night. Next time you wake up will probably be in an interrogation room.”

  With that, Machia swiftly chopped the back of the guy’s neck, knocking him out. He carried him onto his back and collected his bracelet.

  ‘It seems like I might have to do some dirty work sooner than I thought.’

  ———————————————————————

  “Damn it, Sienna! How could you let that piece of shit go under your nose!” Yelled Lemuel.

  He had stormed into Tartarus the same day he heard the news, his other work be damned. Sure, Sienna’s guards attempted to stop him, but in the face of his wrath, there was no one that could. The only consideration he had for her was that he was hiding his identity. Otherwise, Tartarus would be in a total uproar to find Erelier’s protector down here.

  Sienna, formerly of Erebus Squad, held her hand to her forehead. Sienna was a glasses-wearing woman with black hair, who wore it in a ponytail. She was a goatkin, so she had horns growing out of her head. She wore a black suit, and almost always had a stern expression on her face. Now, she was facing the wrath of her long-time comrade, and her polar opposite. If he was the light of Erelier, protecting its surface, she was its darkness, controlling its underground.

  “People always slip through the cracks. That’s why Tartarus exists,” Sienna calmly replied.

  “Plue could have died!” Lemuel yelled. He took a deep breath and calmed down. “Two other children could have died.”

  Sienna closed her eyes and massaged her forehead.

  “Do you even know their names? The names of the people who could have died because of your negligence?”

  “Ri and Kon. They’re the children of convenience shop owners. You know me, Lemuel. I don’t forget names. I know exactly the worth of every life I deal with here.”

  Sienna opened her eyes and glared straight into Lemuel’s. After a second of heated glaring, he turned away.

  “Hah… I got heated. Forgive me.”

  Lemuel sat in one of the chairs of Sienna’s office and took a drink from the tea he was served. He gulped down the whole thing like it was nothing.

  “Plue isn’t a child anymore, Lem. She’s a Hunter now, so injuries like these are expected. You can’t get as angry as you are now when she gets hurt anymore. She chose this life to support you. So you have to respect her choice.” Sienna sat down in the chair opposite his.

  “I know. I…” Lemuel trailed off.

  “When I look at her, I can only think of the day I first picked her up. It was the most impulsive decision of my life. I had too many things going on, but when I saw her who was trying to keep a smile on her face despite her life, I knew I had to do something for her. It was being her father that let me keep going. It was because of her I’m here now.”

  “I get it. I had the same reaction when Gal joined up with us. That little shit just couldn’t listen to what I said and had to come trailing behind me,” Sienna said while refilling Lemuel’s teacup.

  “You say that but you’re only 2 years older than us.”

  “I don’t get to choose how I feel about him. He’s my little brother, and that’s that. I decided long ago I’d protect him, and look at him now,” Sienna said.

  The two of them then collectively sighed about Galas. It was almost an instinctual reaction to sigh whenever he was brought up. There was always something to sigh about with him.

  Lemuel asked, “How’s it going with Reina? I know you’re always busy and she has to worry about raising her own kid now.”

  “Rei? We both knew from the beginning we were gonna be too busy to see each other, so we’re dealing with it. The only one of us four that has any free time is Gal,” she answered.

  “Speaking of,” Sienna allowed herself to grin, “heard ya stole his newest hunter.”

  “Machua Purin. She awakened her Aspect recently, so I think that’s why he wanted her. And I did not steal her. I submitted the application first.”

  “She’s the one who saved Plue’s life, right?”Sienna pointed out.

  “It was mostly her twin brother. He ripped the Hellfire Devil Panther to shreds. If I didn’t know better, I’d thought his Aspect was Severance. It still surprises me Dimension’s only his Minor and not his Major.”

  “Machia Purin… Twin brother, raised by their father in another City. A hidden child. This has Elize’s hands all over it,” conjectured Sienna.

  “If it is because of her, then I have faith in her and her choice of personnel. For now, I believe his background.”

  “Just like Galas. You have to be less trusting of people.”

  “Perhaps. But he did save my daughter’s life. And I think he has good reasons to be here.”

  “Well, he’s gonna be a part of your squad now, so that’s your problem.”

  “Sienna,” Lemuel suddenly spoke. “I’ll destroy that beast taming organisation. So you don’t need to worry about it.”

  “I’ll have to once it’s done and over with. I’m cleaning up the aftermath for you. That’s fine with me, but I have to ask. What about your squad? You have to teach them, don’t you?”

  “I’ll,” Lemuel paused, “figure something out.”

  “Hah… You can lean on me and your EPG more, you know? You have a squad, you have to carve out time to train them,” Sienna advised.

  “I know. I’ll finish this case and then I’ll take it slower. I promise.”

  “Good. You’re a lot more like Gal than you should be, you know?”

  “I’ll work on it.”

  Suddenly, Sienna’s phone rang. She quickly answered it and nodded along to the information she was given. She quickly stood up and headed for the door.

  “Don’t stay too long. And take care of my disciple, you hear?”

  “You of all people shouldn’t have to tell me that.”

  “Hah. You need to send her down here again one of these days. I’m not satisfied with her progress.”

  “Never. You come up to the surface.”

  “We’ll see next time I get some free time. See ya, Lemuel.”

  “Have a good day, captain.”