There was a rumor with beasts. And that was: the ones that exist could always become something that doesn't.
It was how we had lyconbears turn into Zonrogues, and dragonbulls turn into Behemoths—Behemoths to Great Behemoths, etc.
Graded monster encyclopedias were always outdated even after only a year of being produced. It was because of this constant transformation ecosystem that mages stopped recording them on paper, and just became a system that was mutually understood to expand at any given moment.
The situation Code and I were in right now was a prime example of that…
I watched as the three Grand Oculus Fiends faced one another, their large yellow eyes hypnotizing themselves in triad.
"What the hell?"
"For once, I'm with you there," Code said.
The Fiends then began closing into themselves, raising their large arms, and fusing with one another.
It was almost uncomfortable to watch…
"What in the freaky horror porno is this?"
"Please don't make this weirder than it already is," Code pleaded.
Their eyes swirled as their bodies contorted like they were being sucked in, becoming something hideous. Their arms placed evenly around the body with no purpose, and their legs combined into two larger ones, each looking like an uprooted trunk of oak. Its torso and head were one, and its now three eyes collected at its center as a massive mouth with endless bladed fangs tore open from its stomach, bellowing a dreadful, strident roar that made everyone grimace.
"Okay… This is gonna be the first for me," I commented.
"Likewise," Code replied.
I threw a hand out to the Arabella maids and Ophelia, followed by a thumbs up without ever looking in their direction or saying a word.
They understood instantly.
"I don't know what the fuck this thing is now, but I'm honored"—I readied myself and Code did the same—"to get dibs on killing this thing before anyone else."
"Aye" was all Code said; regardless of his calm demeanor, we shared a similar trait.
And that was the chance to fight and send off powerful monsters—especially ones we'd never faced before.
The beast unleashed another wicked roar, powerful enough to uproot earth toward us.
The two of us remained, jackets fluttering from the gust. Behind us, Kiki had created a toon oni wall to protect them from flying rubble.
Code then formed a hand sign, chanting,
"Space Manipulation Magic: Swap Roulette."
The pentagram below us, that had already been laid out upon his arrival, glowed white and rippled, spreading out even past the dead trees beyond this clearing. It was then that Code broke apart his hand sign—displaying two separate ones, and chanted a type of 'instalment' for the spell, "Permit."
After he spoke, the ground below me glowed, chiming as if completing some kind of ritual—I knew instantly.
"You know the drill," Code implied.
"Yeah, yeah," I responded as I rolled my arm and shoulder and cracked my neck. "Thanks for trusting me."
"Don't make me regret it… Keeper, what am I saying… I know I will."
"Love you too," I said lastly to him as I bolted toward the beast, gliding on the ground as if it were ice.
As I drew near, the beast threw out a large hand, arm stretching out, meeting me halfway before my course had completed.
It maneuvered into the air, casting a massive shadow that grew larger, letting gravity do the rest.
And as my eyes met it, I smirked and beat my chest with a fist.
Snap!
I was replaced by a rock before the giant hand landed, crushing the ground.
At the same time, Code slashed the air from where he was, creating a blade beam, and it sped over parallel to me as I continued to run where I was swapped.
The beast threw another arm, and it stretched, meeting me forward this time.
Again, as it arrived, I beat my chest and switched with the blade beam next to me.
It sliced through the beast's hand and coursed up its arm, cleaving it clean in half before disappearing.
On my new path, I picked up two stones as I ran, and threw them both toward the beast's 'head'.
Two more arms flanked me as I did, and I beat my chest just in time.
Where I had thrown the two rocks—snap! I appeared from one with a fist ready to unleash. And from the other…
Snap!
Code had appeared in quick succession right next to me, with both his blades ready for a swing.
His spell, 'Swap Roulette' authorized anyone or anything to be swapped with or without him snapping his fingers. However, it was called 'Roulette' for a reason. Without any perimeters, any and everything was at risk of swapping randomly within his pentagram without warning, if something were to tap against itself. Which was why he contained the spell right after casting it with an instalment cast called 'Permit', allowing me—and only me—temporary access to Code's ability for as long as he allowed.
As we drew closer with our strikes, one of the beast's eyes adjusted toward us. And just before our strikes landed, a condensed orb manifested atop its giant pupil…
"Shit! Move!" Code shouted as the orb burst, and a massive beam blasted through the air almost immediately.
We both appeared a distance away as the beam warped space, attracting anything unfortunate to be near into it—disappearing to Keeper knows where…
"Okay… this thing's magic ability is a bit different than your average Grand Oculus Fiend. What the fuck is it now?" I muttered.
Code stood there deducing the beast. From the arm his blade beam had sliced in half, it began mending together as the others stretched back to their original length around itself.
"Some kind of Regeneration? Or Output magic?"
"No," he finally replied. "It's something else… But I need to see more before I have a conclusion to what it is."
"That beam… I don't think I would have been able to withstand that," I added. "Well, withstand is the wrong word… I don't think I'd be here if I had chosen to take it head on. I can't properly reject what I don't understand."
"Precisely. Meaning, trying to strike its eyes doesn't seem like the best course of action against it. That spell seemed auto-cast."
"What a drag…"
"Unless we manage to strike it fast enough."
It was then that the ground by our sides had lifted, closing in on us.
The walls collided as we swapped away.
We dashed toward the beast again; this thing would not allow for any more idle time.
Wave after wave, it sent air pulses toward us by its mere stomping. Code and I ran parallel, dodging and ducking in sync as we switched places with each other relentlessly. The lag for a switch was always point-two-seconds per switch without a charge time limit. Meaning, for point-two-seconds, Code and I effectively disappeared in the event where we were not able to successfully dodge or duck in time.
He trusted little to no one with this spell, except, of course, for me, Raeyn, and Asura. Not even 1st Exec had his permission… His unpredictability puts a strain on my mana… I'd rather not, he once said. I was lucky to be on that short list. My battle prowess was on par with his, after all.
When we made it to the beast, the thing was at least twenty meters tall. We finally split into opposite sides of the thing. A massive beam shot down the moment we did, splitting in two and following us.
But on Code's side, an earth wall had shot out, hindering his momentum—unable to stop in time.
He snapped his fingers, replacing himself with me, and I burst through it effortlessly.
On the other side of the beast, he threw one of this blades upward toward its blind spot and snapped his fingers, replacing it with me again as the blade pierced the ground after the rubble of the wall I shattered.
I spin kicked the beast on the side, making it stagger upon contact from my appearance.
One of its eyes found me, and it threw an arm to counter.
I beat my chest, swapping with Code's sword, and then the sword swapped with a grenade—snap—snap!
As the beast's arm met, it detonated at its eye-level.
Smoke from the blast shrouded it temporarily as I ran a path around it, tossing up another two rocks, switching myself with one of them in consecutive motion.
With the beast faced the other way, I was at its blind spot once again, ready for another disorienting strike.
But—quicker than I anticipated—it twisted its body, as if dislocating its spine just to meet me there, with two arms and a massive yellow eye, charging another of those devastating blasts through the smoke.
From Code's side, he locked both his swords to their hilts, creating a bow, and charged a shot. He held it sideways from himself as he aimed, and a blue aura emitted as his arrow.
He blew out a quick breath just before letting it loose, cigarette smoke exiting as if he had been holding it in this whole time, shooting the arrow toward the beast as the ground shattered upon his release.
I kept my fist going as its arms and the beam it was charging drew closer… trusting in my Vice Captain.
Code withdrew his stance and positioned his hand in a snapping gesture ahead of himself. A dead calm enveloped him as he took his time; his jitters becoming silent for the action, like he had told them to hold out until his next smoke.
Then, like he had somehow gained control of stillness itself, his fingers moved first while the rest of the world waited.
Snap!
The arrow and I traded places.
The beast grabbed the arrow, expecting me, and its arms exploded upon contact.
It had shot so fast, that it even beat the charging blast from the beast's eye before it could unleash it, stabbing—perforating through without mercy.
And, of course, from behind…
"Hey, fucker," I said like a haunting whisper as my fist rammed into its back, sending it further into Code's powerful arrow.
But it wasn't over yet.
I switched places with the second rock I had tossed up earlier, high up above us all, appearing in the sky just over the beast and the horizon of the dead trees.
The wind fluttered my clothes and hair as I hauled my fist back, readying the final blow.
At last, I shrouded my body in vantablack from the neck down, and attempted Capitulation once again.
The air swirled around my fist, drawing everything to it—this beast was no exception…
It lifted off the ground—weight and gravity irrelevant to the equation—as its last two eyes found me and charged two beams. Its arms shot up as well, and from each one, a different element had formed from all six of its palms: Flame, Earth, Gale, Hydro, Ice, and Dark, joining them with the two beams.
What a crazy attack… I thought as I released my Capitulation and repositioned my legs above me, using the air pressure I collected as a platform. Too bad I won't get to see it.
My boots pushed off the air like it were a wall, and I bolted down like heavenly judgment. A spear tossed by the fucking Keeper.
In a blink, I coursed through the beast, disintegrating it, and leaving only its oak trunks of legs standing without a body to support.
It utterly obliterated as I cratered the ground upon my fist's impact, and I remained in a crouch. Its scattered remains decorated this entire clearing as showers of yellow blood glittered the gray sky.
All the while, Code had somehow kept the poor excuse of a bud in his mouth, standing there, eyes closed, as he had drained it dry of nicotine.
"I finally know what the ability is. It's Illusion Reality magic. Like Alice's—almost—except without the Room." He then clicked his tongue and then said, "This brand tastes like shit."
"Wow… Thanks for finally deducing it after it's already dead." I slowly rose from where I had landed; the monster remains fading ever slowly with my rising. "Aw, boohoo… you don't have anything better to suck on," I teased.
"I SHOULD HAVE SHOT THAT ARROW AT YOU, FUCKHEAD!"
I turned back around and witnessed Kiki and Ophelia cheering while Milo and Ulrich stood there awestruck.
Another member collected. What a fucking day this has been…
***
**Yet another section of this unknown, lifeless forest**
Through the gray bark, a mechanical man passed through. Even the skies in this place seemed lifeless with gray and shaded night as it reflected off his blank, faceless mask. He was like a cyborg—though, more borg than man.
He strolled the place like he had no fear, unafraid of the creatures that lurked within. The Oculus Fiends even stayed clear away from him as he perused the scene, and entered a clearing.
With him, far across, there stood an unknown figure—back facing him as he arrived. When he noticed the cyborg, he whipped his head as if he had been startled.
"You there," the cyborg said.
"Huh? You can see me? And how are you not affected by the Fiends!?"
The masked mechanical man remained silent as he observed the area. It was empty and void, with the trees that surrounded far beyond.
"Answer me, you faceless fuck!"
When he looked back at the figure in the center, his mask only shone a black reflection. Thunder sounded above as the clouds rolled and gathered.
"What the hell are you?" The figure asked, never receiving an answer from his previous questions.
"I'll tell you what I'm not," the masked cyborg answered at last.
"I'm not an idiot."