Before embarking on their hunt, Raksha, Lily and Autumn headed to the human district to get armor for Lily. They decided it was better to look for Dyle on the way, as there was no telling when he would actually show up at the Inn, but they left word with the owner to send Dyle to the fox district in case he does show up.

  At the armorer’s, Lily tried a few, compining about them being “heavy” or “restricting”, before finally settling on a light leather armor.

  “It looks good,” Raksha commented. “But are you sure you don’t need anything…thicker?”

  “Well, if I can’t move easily, then I’ll be an easy target! Which defeats the point of extra protection,” Lily answered. “I’ll probably move into heavier stuff when I feel more comfortable with it.”

  Raksha shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

  “You look great, miss Lily,” Autumn commented with a tiny smile.

  “Why, thank you!” As a final touch, Lily wore her usual hat and threw her green cloak around her shoulders. She gnced at Raksha again. “What about you?”

  “We…don’t have enough coins to buy me armor, too,” Raksha replied with a smile. “I’ll be fine with just my magic shields.”

  “Yer on a dangerous task, miss?” The armorer asked.

  Raksha turned to face the bearded man. “Monsters are dangerous, yes.”

  The man shook his head. “I can’t let ya go without protection! Here…” the man fetched another leather armor simir to Lily’s and handed it over to Raksha.

  Raksha raised her paws. “But I don’t have enough coins.”

  The man smiled. “‘Tis fine, miss. Ye can pay me ter. If ye stay alive, that is.”

  “But this armor is made for humans. Will it fit me?”

  “Well, without them boots, it’ll fit just fine. I’ll make a discount fer that.”

  Raksha accepted the armor hesitantly, eyeing both it and the armorer. “Why…thank you. That’s mighty generous.”

  The man dipped his head. “If yer going to rid us of monsters, then ‘tis the least I can do.”

  Raksha fit herself into the armor with retive ease. It felt slightly off due to being tailored for humans, but otherwise it was perfectly fine.

  Lily smiled and squeaked, wrapping an arm around Raksha. “We have matching armor, matching hair, matching eyes! We could practically pass for twins!”

  Autumn giggled for a while at Lily’s antics, prompting the other two to do the same.

  Led by Autumn’s directions, Raksha and Lily made their way to the fox district next. Along the way, they searched for Dyle, but there was no sign of him.

  “Where is that…doofus when you need him?” Raksha muttered, starting to run out of patience. She smelled something off and heard a step behind her, and before she could react…

  “Hey! That’s uncalled for!” Dyle excimed, standing right behind her and leaning down to be face-level with her.

  Raksha flinched and turned to face him. “Finally!”

  Dyle crossed his arms. “You should’ve shouted or something.”

  Raksha took a deep breath and exhaled.

  “What were you doing all that time?” Lily questioned, hands on her hips.

  Dyle smiled smugly. “I was gathering information! Did you know that ‘Yasei’ is not a na–”

  “We know,” Raksha and Lily interrupted in unison.

  Dyle’s shoulders slumped. “Dang.”

  “Did ‘gathering information’ have anything to do with the suspiciously shaped red paint on your cheek?” Raksha asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Dyle froze for a moment, then chuckled awkwardly while rubbing both of his cheeks clean. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” His eyes finally settled on Autumn, and he crouched before her. “And who’s the new dy?”

  Autumn seemed startled, fidgeting with her dress. “I..my name is Autumn.”

  Dyle smiled, extending his hand for the cat. “Pleasure to meet you!”

  Autumn hesitated, but she accepted the handshake, her paw looking tiny in Dyle’s hand.

  Then he leaned down and kissed her paw. Autumn looked highly flustered, her nose and ears reddening.

  Raksha brought her elbow down on the alligator’s neck, eliciting a yelp from him. “Focus, airhead,” she said with a groan. “As much as I hate to say it, we need your help.”

  Dyle stood up and faced Raksha while rubbing his head, eyes lighting up. “Really? With what?”

  “Some monster kidnapped Autumn’s master and we want to hunt it down.”

  “You want me to fight a monster? I’m in!” Dyle’s initial excitement suddenly faded as he gnced at Autumn. “Wait, ‘master’? Are you a sve?!”

  Lily poked his stomach with her elbow, which barely got a reaction from him. “Don’t…call her that ever again! She’s a maid! Huge difference!”

  Autumn frowned and turned her back to the alligator.

  Dyle grumbled. “Stop hitting me! I have feelings, you know!” He crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks.

  Raksha rubbed her face. “Just follow us, alright?”

  Dyle scoffed, then nodded. As they made their way to the city gate, he asked, “Say, where is Onyx?”

  “He’s hunting other monsters with Rolo,” Raksha replied.

  “What monsters?”

  “Most likely a thunderbird and a camazotz.”

  “That sounds exciting! What are we hunting?”

  “We don’t know yet. Something that looks like a spider.”

  Dyle’s shoulders slumped. “That doesn’t sound as exciting.”

  “Too bad,” Lily teased. “You’re stuck with us now.” She stuck out her tongue, and Dyle retorted by doing the same.

  “Wait, you’re coming with us without a weapon?” Raksha asked.

  “Hello?” Dyle waved his hand. “Your son broke my weapon, remember? I still don’t have enough coins to get a new one.”

  “Probably because you spent them all on ‘gathering information’,” Lily teased.

  “Shut it.”

  “Why did mister Onyx break your weapon?” Autumn asked.

  Lily answered before Dyle could. “Because they fought and Onyx won!”

  Autumn’s eyes widened slightly. “Really? Even though he’s a wolf and mister Dyle is an alligator?”

  “He’s no wolf!” Dyle excimed. Upon receiving disapproving looks from Raksha and Lily, he stammered. “I..I mean he’s not an…ordinary wolf.” He looked disgruntled beyond belief, eyeing Lily with disdain.

  Raksha’s eyes wandered around the whole way through the district. The sights, the smell of the foods, the clothing, it all piqued her interest. She wished she could stop by and enjoy something, but the task at hand was urgent.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Lily asked, snapping Raksha out of her thoughts. She was leaning toward her with a pyful smile.

  Raksha smiled back. “I haven’t been here in years. It looks familiar, but a lot has changed.”

  “Well, once we’re done with this monster, we can return here for some quality girls time. Deal?”

  Raksha smirked. “Deal.” She extended her paw, which Lily shook eagerly.

  Finally outside the city, Autumn led them down the road that led there, then off the path through the woods. They walked way past the point where the city gates were no longer visible, until Autumn stopped.

  “Here,” the calico said, pointing at the ground.

  Raksha crouched where Autumn had pointed, trying to clear her mind and focus on finding any clues. She quickly noticed the signs of the struggle that had happened there, as well as caught the smell of something strange.

  “So? What is it?” Dyle asked, tapping his foot.

  “I…don’t know,” Raksha said as she stood up. “I’ve never smelled something like this before. However, I did smell a human, and…a little bit of human blood.” She gnced at Autumn. “Don’t worry, I don’t smell much. It was probably a scratch. But there’s another scent; a wolf, and it’s fresh.” She gnced at Dyle, taking note of his changed demeanor and how he was practically hugging himself. She smirked. “Are you…scared?”

  Dyle widened his eyes. “D-Don’t be ridiculous! It’s just that my instincts are telling me this is bad. That’s totally different!”

  Lily stifled a giggle, which elicited a growl from Dyle.

  After following the trail for a while, they stopped in their tracks upon hearing something move ahead among the bushes.

  Dyle flinched and readied himself, emitting fire from his fists. “Sh-Show yourself!”

  Slowly, a wolf emerged from behind a tree, wearing unmistakable Yeager armour. “Who the hell are–” the wolf spoke with a raised eyebrow, but stopped once his eyes met Lily and Autumn. “You?!”

  “You?!” Lily repeated, pointing a finger at the wolf. She turned to Raksha. “This is the Yeager we told you about!”

  Raksha’s eyes widened, then narrowed once she faced the Yeager. “So, you are Eivor?” She spoke in a low tone, walking up to him.

  Eivor scoffed. “Aye? Got a problem with–”

  Raksha quickly silenced him by stomping on his paw with all her might. “This is for hitting my son!” She pointed at him, her eyes cold as ice and dark as night, speaking calmly. “If you ever come near him again, I’ll kill you.”

  Eivor rubbed his foot, then scowled at her. “You bit–” He grumbled, raising his fist at Raksha.

  Dyle intercepted the attack, holding Eivor’s fist inches away from Raksha. “Whoa, there!” He chuckled, before giving Eivor a raised eyebrow. “You really don’t want to do that, hunter boy.”

  Eivor growled, then withdrew his fist. He scoffed.

  “What are you doing here?” Lily inquired, arms crossed. “Don’t tell me you’ve had a change of heart and decided to help Autumn without payment.”

  Eivor ughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. A nobleman offered me a good price for clearing this spot of monsters because it affects the road. It just happens to include the Soul Spider that took the kitten’s owner.”

  “Soul Spider?” Raksha muttered. “So that’s what it is?”

  “A WHAT?!” Dyle excimed, turning to face the way back to the city. “Oh, hell no, I’m out of here!”

  “Hey!” Lily grabbed Dyle by the tail, getting dragged behind him as a result. “Where do you think you’re going?!”

  “I’ve heard stories about that thing! It’s extremely dangerous and…gross!” He shivered.

  Eivor guffawed. “You brought a chicken with you on a monster hunt?!”

  Dyle froze in his pce, then turned to face the Yeager with a gre and a growl.

  “You can all go home, let the professional handle the job,” Eivor said with a smug grin, facing away from the group.

  Dyle gritted his teeth. “He’s so annoying! Raksha, let’s beat him up!”

  Raksha raised her paw in Dyle’s direction, taking a deep breath. “As much as I like the idea, we’ll have to put it aside for now.” She looked at Eivor. “I don’t trust you can take down that monster and save Alphonse at the same time. Or any other prisoners the spider may have. So like it or not, we’re going the same way.”

  “No chance I’m working with that…that…narcissistic douche!”

  “Huh, reminds me of someone,” Lily commented, wiggling her eyebrows at Dyle.

  “Shut up,” Dyle retorted quickly.

  “Dyle, spare me the headache,” Raksha said through gritted teeth. “We just need to get this done. You don’t have to like him.”

  Dyle let out a long sigh. “Fffffine.”

  Eivor scoffed. “You will just get in my way.”

  “We’ll see about that,” Raksha responded.

  “Indeed. And if any of you gets in trouble for being an inconvenience, I’m not helping.”

  Raksha smirked defiantly. “Good, I was about to say the same thing to you.” She then turned to Lily. “Lily, we need you to make a purifying perfume. It’s useful against the undead type of monsters.”

  “Coming right up,” Lily replied.

  “After you’re done, escort Autumn back to the city,” Raksha instructed.

  “No, wait!” Autumn interrupted, raising her paw. “I can help. I…can use magic.”

  Raksha’s eyes widened slightly in curiosity, leaning down. “Really? What is it?”

  Autumn twiddled her fingers. “Spatial magic. But it’s nothing special. I can make a portal between two points, but it only fits an average-sized person, and the distance is sixty to seventy feet at most. M-Maybe this can help you escape once you save Alphonse.”

  Raksha smiled warmly. “Sweetheart, that is special.”

  Autumn smiled shyly, her nose deepening in color.

  Raksha straightened up. “I don’t want to involve you in this, but your magic may indeed prove useful. Just stay away from the monster and do as instructed.”

  With that, the group followed what they believed was the trail to the Soul Spider, begrudgingly sticking together.

  Folding her arms behind her back, Lily leaned towards Dyle as they walked, smirking. “I thought you liked facing strong opponents. Why run away from one?”

  Dyle gave her a side-eye, groaning. “Th-This is different! I don’t mind fighting any other creatures, but spirits, ghosts, and the undead, they’re just so…icky!” He shuddered. “Stop rubbing it in!”

  Lily giggled, stepping near Raksha instead. “So…what exactly is a Soul Spider?”

  Raksha gnced at Lily, one paw holding the other arm. “They are vengeful spirits that manifest in our world. Usually they're the result of a terrible tragedy or crime. They take form and then grow stronger by kidnapping people, consuming their life force slowly, and then merging with the corpses of only the strongest of their victims. Some–”

  “Enough!” Dyle replied, covering his ears. “I know what they do! I don’t need to hear the details again!”

  Lily giggled.

  “To be fair, I don't bme him,” Raksha added. “They are terrifying beings. Let’s hope the one we’re facing hasn’t grown strong yet.”

  Lily nodded, her smile fading.

  “How is the perfume coming along?”

  “It’s a complex composition. I can replicate it, but the quantity won’t be much.”

  Raksha hummed. “We’ll use what we can.”

  “Can normal weapons hurt it without the perfume?”

  “They can, but it won’t be much. The best way to hurt them is by magic and weapons sprayed with the perfume.”

  Despite the danger ahead of them, Raksha’s mind was constantly wandering back to Onyx, wondering if he could handle the monsters, if he was in trouble, if he was injured. She had to keep bringing herself back to the moment; she couldn’t face such a monster while distracted; she would put herself and others in danger.

  At some point, Eivor motioned for them to stop, and Raksha agreed; the stench was strong. Enough for even Lily to smell it. In the distance, there was a massive cave poorly illuminated by moonlight.

  “It’s close,” Eivor whispered. “Or shall I say…they are close. I don’t think this smell is coming from just one spider.”

  Dyle gulped, then shook his head. “Alright, time for a pn!” He grabbed a stick and began drawing on the soil. Soon there was a drawing of a cave, all of them, and a spider.

  He really knows how to draw, Raksha mused.

  Dyle pointed at the soil with the stick. “Eivor and Raksha will go in. The mix of attack and defense should be perfect. Me and Lily will stand guard outside, ready to assist and rescue, while Autumn stands ready to open portals. Sounds good?” He grinned.

  “No it doesn’t!” Lily objected, grabbing Dyle’s arm. “You just want to avoid fighting the monster! You go in!”

  Raksha rubbed her chin. “I will stay outside with Lily and Autumn in case something else comes their way. Like it or not, Dyle, your strength and fire magic are needed inside.”

  Eivor scoffed angrily. “As long as he stays out of my way. I use dark magic, so his fire may get annoying.”

  One of Dyle’s eyes twitched. “You’re the st person who should talk about being ‘annoying’!”

  “Dyle, please, focus,” Raksha commanded, a tinge of anger in her tone. “Make sure to save any survivors. If you need my help, call out for me. Try to draw the monster out so that you’ll have more space and so I can join the fight.”

  Dyle sighed and nodded. “Sounds good.”

  “Here, take this,” Lily said, spraying the substance from her palm at Dyle’s right hand.

  The wolf Yeager and the alligator marched into the dark cave, while Raksha, Lily and Autumn waited near the entrance. Meanwhile, Lily sprayed Raksha’s sword with the perfume, then grabbed a thick stick off the ground, wrapped the head in cloth and then soaked it in a liquid, creating a makeshift torch.

  “How about warming up in case we need your magic?” Raksha said to Autumn.

  Autumn nodded. She extended her paws and drew a deep breath, then a sky-blue light twinkled in her palms, and soon two circur portals manifested on each of her sides.

  Raksha watched in awe. Hesitantly, she stuck her paw in one circle and, sure enough, it came out the other one.

  “Me! Me!” Lily hopped towards the magical dispy, sticking her arm in and out several times. “I’ve heard of this type of magic, but I’ve never seen it in person before!”

  “Please, stand back,” Autumn warned, and then the portals vanished. “You must be careful. Things stuck in the portal when it closes bounce back sometimes, but other times they get severed. I still don’t know how to control it.”

  Lily’s eyes widened, looking at her own hand. “Thanks for the heads up.” She then eyed Autumn with a curious look. “Say, does that mean you can use your magic to fight?”

  Autumn looked at Lily with wide eyes, ears twitching. “I’m…not sure. I’m afraid of what may happen if I do that. Besides, I can’t create a portal through an object; I have to create it in an empty space and then have the object pass through it. So it could be tricky.”

  Raksha smiled. “There you go, already thinking of the possibilities. It’s tricky, but possible.”

  Autumn averted her gaze, scratching at her neck. “I don’t know. It sounds scary.”

  “Pushing your limits can be scary, but it’s worth it.”

  Suddenly a scream echoed through the cave, startling the three women. It was unmistakably Dyle’s voice. Raksha prepared herself, ready to head inside, until she saw a spot of light approaching her. Soon it became visible that it was Eivor and Dyle running towards the exit, the light being Dyle’s fist on fire.

  “Angry abominations coming your way!” Dyle shouted.

  Raksha, Lily and Autumn backed away from the cave. Raksha stood in front of the other two, her sword raised. She could sense slight tremors coming from the cave.

  Eivor and Dyle sprinted out of the cave, and close behind them were two Soul Spiders. They were ghastly creatures; grey in color, they had human heads and torsos on top of the massive body of a spider, their limbs were elongated limbs of various races, and their faces had massive mandibles.

  Lily took another step back. “Now I feel bad for teasing Dyle.”

  Raksha rushed to Dyle’s side. “Were there no survivors?”

  “I don’t know!” Dyle shouted back, throwing a fireball at one of the spiders. “I noticed cocoons inside but we couldn’t get near them!”

  “Why?”

  “You will see why very soon! Now we must focus on killing these two as fast as possible!”

  Sensing the tremors again, Raksha dreaded the meaning of Dyle’s words. She quickly dodged as one of the spiders stretched a limb towards them at the speed of an arrow, cutting into a tree. Raksha proceeded to sever the limb before it could be retracted, earning a repulsive screech from the spider.

  Dyle clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “I really wish I had a weapon right now. I don’t want to touch these things with my bare hands!” He charged at a spider while shouting, then punched it in the face with a fiery fist.

  Eivor brought his hammer to the ground behind him, then dragged it forward at high speed and swung it in the direction of the spiders, flinging multiple clumps of rock fused with purple magic at the spiders. Some of them hit the targets, and some narrowly missed Raksha and the others.

  “Hey!” Raksha excimed, growling. “Watch your aim!”

  Eivor scoffed. As the spiders targeted him, he dodged a couple of their attacks, then the head of his hammer detached, connected to the handle by a string of dark magic. He then swung the head around, striking the monsters with it from a distance, then retracted it back to its pce on the handle.

  “Damn, that bastard has moves!” Dyle admitted angrily. “But I shall not be bested!” He charged at one of the spiders and delivered another fire magic punch, but incidentally, Eivor’s extended hammer was about to strike that same monster. Dyle’s fire magic struck the dark magic link, causing the hammer’s head to fly and hit the ground. The spider was sent rolling on the ground by Dyle’s punch.

  “You imbecile!” Eivor growled. “I told you to keep your magic out of my way!”

  Dyle turned to face Eivor, gring and pointing a thumb at his own chest and a finger at Eivor. “Me?! It’s your fault for targeting the same spider as I am!”

  “I was attacking both spiders,” Eivor replied through gritted teeth, conjuring more dark magic to retrieve his hammer’s head. “I had this under control. I don’t need your interference!”

  “That’s it!” Dyle bumped his fists into each other, setting them both afme as he stomped towards Eivor. “I’ve had enough of your attitude. It’s about time someone gave you a spanking!”

  Noticing the spider’s movement behind Dyle, Raksha quickly sprung to action. Conjuring up a shield, she blocked two limbs that were targeting Dyle, then cut them with her sword. The spider lunged at her at extraordinary speed. Raksha couldn’t create another shield in time, but instead stuck her sword forward, causing it to sink into the creature upon impact. However, the monster had her pinned to the ground. The other spider was approaching as well, but Lily tossed a bomb at it, knocking it back and setting parts of it afme. The spider writhed and rolled to extinguish the fmes.

  “Raksha!” Dyle excimed, before punching the spider off Raksha and stomping on it.

  Raksha quickly rose to her feet and brought her sword down on the spider’s neck, chopping its head in three strikes. With that done, she fell on one knee and used her sword as a cane, panting.

  “Are you alright?” Dyle said in a softer tone, leaning down and offering her a hand. “You…saved me.”

  Raksha gnced up at the alligator, accepting the help. Rising to her feet, she winced, one paw clutching her waist. “I’m…fine. Just bruised.” She then shot Dyle and Eivor a gre. “Could you two please stop fighting until we’re out of this mess?!”

  The tremors returned in full force, and out of the dark cave came massive limbs of another soul spider, except this one was vastly rger. The limbs clung to the exterior of the cave, then the body emerged from the darkness. It had the head of a wolf, but it was decayed and mostly just bones. The monster was so massive that it covered the whole entrance to the cave and most of the area around it.

  “So that’s why you couldn’t get near the cocoons…” Raksha said, gazing in dread at the monstrosity before her.

  Dyle’s hands trembled slightly, before he clenched them. “I understand. Me and Eivor will draw it away from the cave. You sneak inside and look for survivors.”

  In the distance, Eivor smmed the head of his hammer on the back of the smaller spider, then stepped on it, pinning the spider down. He then lifted his hammer and brought it down on the monster’s head, smashing it.

  “Are you sure you got this?” Raksha asked.

  “No,” Dyle said pinly, rubbing his nose. “But I sure as hell am going to try. Now go!” Dyle ran in front of the massive spider, shouting. “Oy! Eat this!” He swung his fist in its direction, unching a fast fire projectile that exploded upon colliding with its head. The monster screeched deafeningly loud, taking a few steps away from the cave’s entrance and towards Dyle.

  Before rushing to the cave, Raksha gnced behind her. Lily was still staring at the monster, and Autumn was visibly shaking. Raksha sighed. “Lily, stay with Autumn. I will–”

  “No!” Autumn interrupted. “It’s…terrifying. But…I must save Alphonse. And it’s…way too dangerous for you to go in alone.”

  Lily swallowed and nodded. “She’s right.”

  The three of them sprinted towards the cave’s entrance, keeping an eye out for the spider. One limb stomped dangerously close to them, but they kept their stride. Once inside the cave, Raksha conjured a small light shield that shone a bright light and struck the head of the torch Lily had, igniting it and illuminating their path and surroundings.

  The path ahead was filthy, the smell almost unbearable, and it only got worse the further they delved in. Every step forward made Raksha’s stomach churn, and it seemed like Autumn was suffering the same fate, if not worse.

  “Are you alright?” Lily asked, covering her nose with her clothes.

  Raksha fshed her a tiny smile. “I’m fine. Smell won’t kill me. It’s one of those rare occasions I envy you humans’ weak sense of smell.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Lily responded, pointing at Raksha’s body. “You’re injured.”

  “Oh…” Raksha gnced down at her waist, where her armor was torn and a rge red stain was. “It’s nothing serious.”

  “I disagree!” Lily handed the torch to Autumn then rubbed her hands together, producing a fluid. “This will hurt.” She then proceeded to rub her palms over Raksha’s wounds.

  Raksha gasped sharply and bit her lower lip. It stung fiercely. “You…weren’t kidding.”

  Lily snorted.

  Finally, they reached the end of the cave. Massive slimy webs covered the walls, and multiple cocoons lined the pce.

  Raksha gulped, stepping towards a cocoon and raising her sword. “Alright, let’s hope for the best.” Carefully, she sliced through the yers of the cocoon, then widened the gap, only for a corpse to drop out of it.

  Lily and Autumn gasped and flinched.

  Raksha flinched slightly at the sight, then shook her head. “Unfortunately, this was to be expected.” She gnced at Autumn. “Is this…Alphonse?”

  Autumn shook her head.

  Raksha sighed in relief. “Alright.” She proceeded to slice open another cocoon, and a fox dropped out of it. He looked unharmed, but he y still like a corpse. Raksha checked him carefully, when he suddenly sprung back to life and gasped for air, startling her. “Calm down, we’re here to help.”

  The fox’s eyes darted around frantically, finally settling on Raksha. “Oh…thank goodness!” The fox cried out, hugging himself while shuddering. “It was…awful! I couldn’t…I thought I…”

  “I know,” Raksha said, patting the fox on his back. “Catch your breath. We’ll free the others and get you out of–” Hearing a faint noise and catching movement in her peripheral vision, Raksha quickly rose back to her feet, turned around and conjured a shield, which further illuminated the cave and revealed the spider on the wall. When the spider lunged at her, she dodged and blew the shield up on its side, pushing it away from the cocoons.

  The fox cowered and screamed upon seeing the spider.

  “I can’t fight near the cocoons,” Raksha said. “Lily, open the rest of them while I distract the spider!”

  She dodged an attack and then blocked the next, the spider pushing against her with its body while filing its limbs. Raksha removed a third of her shield and stabbed the spider through it, forcing it to retreat. The spider then shot slimy webs at her, which she blocked with the shield. However, she noticed that the substance was weakening the shield, and it would break soon. At the same time, her wounds were stinging her under the weight of the fight. Behind her, she could hear Lily and Autumn rescuing and comforting more survivors, and she was sure Autumn had just shouted Alphonse’s name.

  “I don’t have time for this,” Raksha muttered to herself. Switching to an orange shield, she charged at the spider and struck it, and the shield exploded on impact, sending the monster crashing against the cave wall. The explosion was mostly on the front side of the shield, but the force still affected Raksha, pushing her back and bruising her arm. While the spider was stunned, she rushed towards it again, pinned it down with another shield, but the spider kept struggling and managed to hit her with a limb, pushing her off him.

  “Look out!” Lily shouted, running towards the spider with the torch raised in front of her. She then opened her other palm behind the torch. “I hate doing this but…screw it!” She threw the torch at the spider and immediately sprayed something out of her palm. Once the substance hit the torch, it exploded violently and brightly, striking the spider and setting it on fire.

  Shaking her head, Raksha took the opportunity, rushing towards the writhing spider and striking its neck with her sword until it was severed.

  Breathing heavily, Raksha approached Lily, who was holding her affected hand. She took a closer look at her palm, which was bloodied, but intact. “Will you be alright?”

  Biting her lower lip and visibly holding back tears, Lily nodded with a faint smile. “It…looks worse than it actually is, trust me.” She then proceeded to wrap a piece of cloth around it.

  The two of them walked back to Autumn and the cocoons. Several corpses y on the ground, but Lily and Autumn had freed three more survivors: a hyena and two humans. Autumn was sobbing and hugging one of the humans, which she assumed was Alphonse. He was still covered in slime and webs, but Raksha could see his long bck hair and his silver armor, adorned by red furs.

  “We have to get out of here,” Raksha said. Before something else shows up.

  Autumn nodded, wiping away her tears and rising to her feet. “I-I’ll transport us to a spot near the entrance. I won’t take us further until we’re sure it’s safe.”

  Raksha nodded. “Let’s.”

  Taking a shaky deep breath, Autumn raised her glowing paws, opening a portal in front of her. “Hurry, the distance is too much. It won’t stay open for long.”

  Raksha and Lily wasted no time, assisting the survivors to walk through the portal, then walking through it themselves, followed shortly by Autumn right before the portal closed.

  Raksha turned her attention to where the sound of battle was coming from. Eivor, Dyle and the giant soul spider were further from the cave, still fighting, and the duo were clearly struggling.

  “We…We’re still in danger!” The hyena cried out, holding his head between his paws and trembling. “We’re doomed! Doomed!”

  Alphonse groaned, holding the hyena’s shoulder and giving him a shake. “Please…shut up!” He commanded with a weak yet stern voice. “I have enough headache already!”

  “How can you be so calm?!” The fox questioned, lying against the cave’s wall. “Look at that thing!”

  Alphonse groaned again, frowning. “Do I look calm to you?!”

  “Enough!” Lily shouted. “We will be fine! There’s a Yeager fighting that thing!”

  Raksha sighed, then breathed deeply. “I must help them.”

  Lily quickly gave the she-wolf her attention. “Wait! You’ve fought enough, you’re injured. You can’t fight that…thing!”

  “I have to.” Raksha took a step in the direction of the fight. “They…need my magic.”

  “Lady Raksha…” Autumn muttered, catching the she-wolf’s attention. “How…How can you keep fighting? You’re in no shape to fight! Please, listen!”

  Raksha paused, then smiled warmly at the cat. “As long as someone needs a shield, I will be theirs.”

  Autumn stared at the wolf in awe, speechless, as if struggling to come up with something to say. Trembling, she clenched her paws and nodded. She raised her paws once more, conjuring a portal right in front of Raksha.

  Raksha looked at the portal, then gnced back at Autumn, smiling and nodding, before stepping through the rift in space.

  The portal sent her close to the battle, and she proceeded to run towards Dyle and Eivor. Before she could reach them, the spider parted its jaws and released a green beam, striking a massive distance on the forest floor below. Raksha stared in horror, hesitating, before quickening her pace to reach the two men. To her relief, they were alive, although heavily injured and visibly exhausted.

  Dyle’s eyes widened upon seeing her. “Why did you come here?! This thing…it’s not normal, even for a soul spider!”

  The spider screeched and parted its jaws once more, preparing to release another devastating attack.

  “Damn you!” Eivor cursed aloud, crouched on one knee. “We barely escaped the st one!”

  Raksha stood before the two of them, drawing a deep breath and steeling herself before summoning a massive green shield in front of her. The spider unleashed the beam with a thundering sound, striking the shield. The ground and trees around them were leveled and Raksha was being pushed back, the shield cracking under the force of the attack. Keeping the shield standing and weathering that much damage proved massively draining on her. Her entire body ached and begged for mercy, and she could feel blood trickling from her nose, but she persevered. When the attack was finally over, she colpsed to the ground, coughing, vision in a haze and ears ringing.

  “Thank you,” Raksha heard Eivor say. She gnced back to see the Yeager spinning the head of his hammer with a string of dark magic, so fast that it was creating fierce wind around it and making a loud noise. As soon as the shield was down, he flung the hammer’s head at the spider. The hammer went into the monster’s mouth and came out the back of its head, the speed and force so great that they created a shockwave and a thundering sound, the spider pushed back and off its limbs by the sheer force of the impact.

  That was it, Raksha thought. But the spider recovered from the impact, screeching and filing despite the hole in its head.

  “Are you serious?!” Dyle excimed. He gnced at Raksha, then at the spider, his expression fierce. “No…I won’t let…” He groaned and shook his head. “I won’t be bested by a woman!”

  Despite her current state, Raksha chuckled. If this was a different situation, she probably would’ve given his head a good bump, but at that moment she found it genuinely funny.

  “You’re going down!” Dyle shouted as he charged at the spider, his hands, feet and tail afme. He punched one limb that was headed his way and dodged another, then hopped on it and climbed. The spider tried to strike him with another limb, only for Dyle to dodge it as well and jump on it, but his foot slipped.

  Seeing that, Raksha thought it was over. However, a portal opened beneath Dyle, and when he fell through it, he was teleported to be level with the monster’s torso. Raksha gnced around, and spotted Autumn in the distance.

  Now facing the spider’s torso, Dyle pulled back his fiery fist, and multiple fists made of fire magic manifested around him, striking the spider repeatedly before his actual fist struck, pushing the spider back. He then spun around, his tail ready to strike. Once again, a portal teleported him higher, to be face level with the spider. He smmed his fming tail into the monster’s mouth, targeting where Eivor’s hammer had stuck, then the fme on his tail grew brighter and bigger, until he cut the head in half. The spider colpsed to the ground, and Dyle came crashing down ungracefully.

  Raksha almost couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed, and she didn’t rule out the possibility that she was hallucinating due to her injuries. She wanted to check on Dyle, but her vision was slowly fading. The st thing she saw was the alligator limping his way towards her, before her body went limp and the world around her faded to bck.