The monster had no name, which entailed that it was a new breed of creature and most likely one of a kind. The monster was level seventy-two. Quite the level considering that it was confined to this pce. It only served to prove that it had sughtered countless prisoners. There was nearly ten levels of difference, but since it was a monster, Amyra could make up the difference in skill and techniques.

  Amyra had no weapons on her, but she did have her Fire Magic. She was quite adept at it. She manifested a sword moulded of fmes into her hands. It was not efficient, but she had to work with what she had. She sshed at the monster charging at her. Amyra sliced off the monster’s arm as it reached for her. The fming bde cut its limb off cleanly without any mess. The fmes were hot enough to cauterise the wound and inflict an intense searing pain on the monster that caused it to shriek and fil around in distress. Amyra moved in, dodging all of its erratic attacks, and sliced off its legs.

  The monster cried even louder, but Amyra immediately silenced it with a thrust into its head. The monster wailed, but the fmes burning its mouth and throat were distorting its voice. It shuddered intensely before its entire body fell limp. Amyra retracted her fming sword and backed away from the monster slowly. With her other hand, she set the monster alight, burning away the carcass.

  She did not turn her back on it as the monster burned. She kept her eyes on it. Her caution stemmed from the two Innate Talents the monster had: Shapeshift level three and Regeneration level eight. It also had a Magic Art called Predation. This ability, along with Regeneration, made her extremely wary of it. She had encountered monsters with the Regeneration ability at a lower level. Even then, they weren’t so easily killed, let alone one with a level eight Renegeration. Predation was also another cause for concern. It allowed the user to assimite anyone or anything to a certain degree, albeit with some limitations and restrictions.

  True to her premonition, the burning carcass of the monster began to squirm as it slowly rose from the ground. It was growing a new pair of legs while it was burning. Amyra lunged at the monster, hoping to cut it down before it could completely recover. However, the monster shed away the burning yer of its skin. A new body emerged from beneath, one that was devoid of wounds and injuries.

  “Interesting,” Amyra mused. “So this is what level eight Regeneration is capable of.”

  Though the monster had a new body that was without the damage it had suffered, it didn’t mean it was immortal or indestructible. It also didn’t mean it was stronger now. The monster growled and veered away from Amyra’s fming bde. It eyed the sword with fear and caution. It distanced itself from Amyra when it realised it couldn’t advance without being harmed by the sword.

  “Damn it,” Amyra cursed. She didn’t chase the monster down with persistence. This corridor was narrow. There was not much space for her to move. Furthermore, the monster had a regenerative ability. She could cut it down all day and wouldn’t make a difference unless she could find its weakness. It was easier said than done. One wrong move and she would become the monster’s next victim.

  The monster seemed to smirk and began backing away from Amyra.

  “What are you doing now?” Amyra asked, though she knew it wouldn’t answer her.

  The monster stopped when it reached a cell with a prisoner in it. The prisoner screamed when it saw the monster.

  “No… no… Get away! Get away from me! I didn’t do nothing!!” the prisoner shouted and pleaded.

  “No. It can’t be.”

  Then, the monster grabbed the cell door and yanked it off.

  “Fuck!” Amyra uttered and lunged at the monster.

  The monster chortled sinisterly and threw the door at Amyra.

  The Augur sidestepped the door, but in doing so, she slowed herself down in her haste.

  The monster bolted into the cell.

  “Noooo!!! Please! No!!!” the prisoner begged but to no avail. The sound of flesh being ripped and torn apart could be heard.

  Amyra reached the cell, but she was too te. The prisoner had been swallowed by the monster. She saw how the prisoner was being gulped down into its belly. She saw how the prisoner was being absorbed by the monster in its belly. She felt the shivers all over her body. Then, she saw the monster obtaining a new Arcane Art right in front of her eyes. In the Magic Arts tab, where it was supposed to be empty, there was now a Lightning Magic spell at level four. She didn’t get a good look at the prisoner before, but she vaguely recalled the prisoner having a Light Magic spell, and it was only level two.

  “So this is Predation…” Amyra muttered grimly.

  The monster grinned and enveloped itself with lightning.

  “Lightning Cd,” Amyra grumbled. The monster knew what spells it could use the moment it acquired Lightning Magic. That did not bode well with Amyra.

  The monster lurched at Amyra.

  She brought up her fming sword and swung high.

  The monster evaded the ssh without stopping its movements.

  “Bollocks!” Amyra uttered and twirled away from a sh from its elongated arm. She recovered her composure and countered with a thrust.

  The monster stepped away immediately in a jittery manner, just enough to be outside of Amyra’s reach.

  Amyra summoned fmes into her free and threw the fire at the monster.

  The monster sneered and plunged right through the ball of fmes. It wasn’t unharmed by the fmes, but it was not greatly bothered or burned by them. It would just heal all these minor wounds in seconds.

  “Bastard!” Amyra grunted. She brought her sword around and swung at the monster.

  The monster parried the sword with an arm, sacrificing it to the fmes. However, it broke the Augur’s posture at the same time. It then drove its fist into her torso, sending her sprawling across the ground. Its sacrificed arm was already growing back.

  Amyra endured the pain by biting on her lip. There was no time for her to weep. Her torso would be all bck and blue in the next hour or so. The monster tottered towards her briskly. Gripping her fming sword tight, she parried a blow and deflected a riposte. The monster keeled over her, but she moved out of the way. It picked itself back up without much trouble and continued with its flurry of attacks. Amyra dodged a bolt of lightning but not the second one. She staggered on her feet. She kept her stance. She countered with a torrent of fmes.

  The monster shrieked and charged through the fmes while cd in lightning.

  “Whoa!” Amyra dove out of the way, and the monster went plunging through the wall behind her. A chorus of screams and cries followed. There was another corridor of prison cells behind the wall. The prisoners there were also familiar with the monster. Amyra quickly chased after the monster. She couldn’t allow it to consume another prisoner and gain the prisoner’s ability.

  Thankfully, it was an empty cell that the monster plunged into. It looked around swiftly, searching for prey. It found only Amyra, who strode through the hole. It bellowed and hurtled towards her.

  “Fool, ”Amyra scoffed. She threw a ball of fmes at the monster’s face.

  The monster did not dodge the fme and let it hit its face. It shook it off with ease, but it was robbed of its vision for a mere moment, and that was all it took for Amyra to disappear from its sight. Before it could turn around to gnce behind, a fming bde streaked through the air and severed its head. Before its severed head could even fall off its neck, the rest of its body was being sliced into pieces.

  Amyra sliced the monster into fine chunks that were only as rge as her head. Without letting the chunks regenerate, she burned them all until they were cinders. It was a tactic she learned from Erin. She had told her how she killed a demon once before frying all of these chunks until they were mere burnt remains. When the monster had turned into cinders, smoke had swallowed the corridors.

  “This is what I was afraid of,” she groaned. The downside in fighting in an enclosed space. She stared at the burnt remains of the monster. To her surprise, it was still alive, though she was relieved to see that it had lost its Lightning Magic. That was the limitation of Predation. Among all the charred pieces, there was one that was still moving, throbbing.

  Upon a closer inspection, Amyra realised this was the heart of the monster. Despite being charred to a crisp, it was still beating. She shuddered to imagine what a level ten Regeneration would be capable of. All her strength in her foot, she stomped on the beating heart. As soon as the heart exploded under her foot, the rest of the chunks immediately crumbled into dust.

  “Hmm?” Amyra felt something solid and hard underneath her foot. She took her foot away and a clump of red crystal. It was a Mana Core. More precisely, it was the Mana Core of the monster. It was in rough shape, literally. The surface was coarse and it barely had a spherical shape. Whatever this monster was, it was quite recent that it became a Magic Beast. Though it wasn’t spherical, it did have a deep red hue. It would fetch quite a bit of gold. She pocketed the Mana Core and promptly left the corridor.

  Since the guardian monster was dead, the prisoners would most likely try to escape now. This way, Amyra didn’t need to worry so much about the prisoners getting suffocated by the smoke.

  ****

  “There are only three of us,” Lyra muttered as she looked at Siv and Erin. They were preparing themselves for their next task.

  “Kyu!” Ruri squealed angrily. As usual, she was perched on someone’s shoulder. This time, it was Siv’s.

  “Oh, sorry. Four of us.”

  “Kyu~” Ruri mewed happily.

  “Five, if Aera were here,” Siv remarked. “It's a loss of our party’s strength without her.”

  “She can barely tell a white lie, and her strength cks consistency. She will only be a burden if she comes with us. She will be safe with Iris. The Umbrum will fend off any half-hearted attempts from the authorities.”

  “It’s only four of us, then. Will this work?” Lyra asked.

  “We are proceeding to a mission that requires discretion and stealth,” said Erin. “It will be most optimal if we keep the count low.”

  “Mistress’ right. The fewer of us there are, the easier this would be.”

  “That’s not my worry. We are going to break into the estate of a High Lord. Not to mention, this High Lord is the friend of the crowned prince. If we are caught, it will be the end of us.”

  “Then, we just need to not get caught.”

  Lyra rolled her eyes. “Just so we’re clear, my experience with this kind of work is limited to tracking magic beasts without being noticed.”

  “Then, this should be a breeze.”

  “No, it won’t be. Unlike the wilderness, the entire estate is littered with spells meant to spot people like us! People who dare to sneak into the estate.”

  “We have the scrolls.”

  “Kyu~”

  “Scrolls that we have barely tested. This will not end well for us.”

  “Lyra, your pessimism is understandable, but it's not very helpful.”

  “Well, forgive me then, Siv, for trying to be realistic.”

  “If we are discussing reality here, allow me to make a few remarks and predictions.”

  Lyra narrowed her eyes at Siv.

  “If we don’t proceed with this, Marsh would eventually come for us too. He targeted Aedan and Amyra because there are witnesses who saw them at the scene. How long before something simir happened? Being at the wrong pce at the wrong time, and giving Marsh all the justification to apprehend us. If that happens, it will truly be the end of us. We must make hay while the sun still shines.”

  Lyra looked away, groaning. “I know that,” she grumbled. “But this is just expediting our end.”

  “At least we go down fighting,” Erin said with a smile. “But only if we fail. We can’t. We won’t. So, are you ready?”

  “I am ready, Mistress.”

  Lyra sighed. “I guess I am too. Let’s fucking do this.”