CALAMITY CORE : FREE THE WORLD

CH.40 'THE RAT-KING'S HANDS'

The Shikoku warband, united under one cause, charged forth into the clear unknown. It was as the ground rumbled which led them on to something greater. Alpha stopped short, causing the rest of her party, and the leaders following them by proxy, to come to an abrupt halt, the soldiers forming a circle around the single-eyed android. "Contact. It's below us." She said, her tone cold as her sword flared up, hovering above her as her arms began to generate flames. "There's more to it this time."

Andrei's sword was at the ready, and by that time, tendrils of grafted flesh had already exploded from the ground. Scattering, the defensive formation had quickly broken when Alpha was taken from below by a tentacle, grabbed firm but quickly cut away by her own soaring blade. Saioinji remained at her friend's side, and Suzuko seemed to begin to panic. "The people... my family, everyone... they need to get out! I- We-!" The feline Beastkin stammered, shakily drawing her daggers.

Andrei looked back, and locked eyes with Saionji after getting a good look at Suzuko. "You're fast, Orio. Get them to the caravan, they'll be safe." He then prepared his combative stance, crimson-black flames beginning to radiate from his hands and into his blade. That human element to this mission. His eyes filtered out the blood-stained crimson red which came with his entry to the fight, and for a time, they remained his usual amber brown. "Saiji-..."

Both nodded to one another. Even if they had only put aside their differences a mere week ago, they now fought together. Companions in arms. In sync, they spoke. "We fight together?" They both questioned, leading to a small chuckle from Andrei.

"I've got your back." He told her, only to be nearly cut off by an incoming tendril of grafted bodies, one which he batted away with the flat end of his sword, then unleashed a burst of chimeric mana into, splitting the flesh from its bindings.

"And I'll watch yours. Now, Hyacinth...!" She called out, watching as the tendril writhed in pain. As the emerald green mana in her veins began to manifest around her arms, she lunged forward, passing Andrei up to follow up his attack. "... Gatling!" Saionji chanted, her sword moving on its own now as her arm unleashed a flurry of blows not even she herself could keep track of.

Inoshishi and Hattori, the twins, felt now as though they had the perfect technique to counter this foe. Their 'Twin Vortex,' it was a razor-sharp cutting attack... two attacks, to be specific. Both flew in quick succession. Fire, then wind, then fire once more, then another saw-like disc. Though they had the proper utilities, they were simply unable to keep up with the pure chaos which enveloped them. Tendrils swept and lashed and jabbed from all sides, and as soldiers clashed and fell around them, they were soon swept up. "Agh! Shit- Hattori!" Inoshishi shouted.

The younger of the two turned to see his brother caught part-way in a half-split tendril. Rogue teeth tore at his leathers, drawing blood, and as Hattori prepared to save his brother, a cleaving downwards strike cut the thing clean off. Alpha stepped through the chaos, nodding to both no longer occupied twins. "I'm going to take the half-beast. Together, we will find the source, and finish what was started."

Both twins turned to find where Andrei, Suzuko, and Saionji had once stood, only to find the two remaining kids fighting back-to-back, and Suzuko herself fleeing the scene. Inoshishi fired a burst of flame from his spear to repel encroaching tendrils, which had nearly cut off his view, and he broke into a sprint. "Save your energy then, we'll get you there, right bro?"

At Inoshi's side, Hattori's spear spun, unleashing half of a Twin Vortex and clearing the now softened, burnt flesh path. The two pressed through, with Alpha on their tails. While the two men fought their absolute hardest now, even with the injuries that Inoshishi had suffered, Alpha served a more defensive role, conserving her power just as she had been told, only sparing the time of day to bat away overhead tendrils, or cut low-lying ones clean off. "Thank you, both. I will need my full strength with the newly calculated mass I've predicted." Alpha spoke, her words not quite reassuring, but oddly almost serving that purpose. It wasn't often that either Inoshishi or Hattori were complimented, let alone by someone so strong.