[Nightmare]

"We're here." Helix said with a mysterious smile.

"Wheeeew! Finally!" Charlotte cried.

"Now we get to do rigorous training… yay."

Everyone gave each other a wry smile.

"Well… at least it's what Master Tyrene would have wanted." Marie commented.

"We've been lazy now that we have official responsibilities."

The group burst into laughter.

"Yeah. Master Tyrene always said, [Just because we're going back doesn't mean that training's over.

If you start slacking because your life has measly ten-hour work days, I'll remind you what an eighteen-hour work day is. Brats]." Helix dramatized.

The group burst into laughter.

"Well… it's been less than a week, and we had a month off. I guess we can't complain." Marie giggled.

"Hell yeah we can complain!" Charlotte snapped.

Everyone looked at her with annoyed faces.

However, she was waiting for them with a devious expression.

"Once."

The group keeled over in laughter again.

"Okay, well let's get the complaining out of the way." Helix chuckled.

"The faster we master this, the faster we can prevent walls from collapsing, crops from being destroyed, and nobles developing osteomyelitis."

His partners started giggling.

"I have an [insane] spirit particle count now, so we can prevent brutal tolls on our bodies when we use our Nightmares at full force.

So don't hold back. We may never get training like this again."

"I'm ready when you are, boss." Charlotte said with an evil grin.

"Ready." Marie added with determination in her eyes.

"I'm looking forward to it." Riley remarked with a gentle smile.

"Alright. Let's do it." Helix said with a wicked smile.

…

"This… is seriously fucked up." Charlotte laughed in bewilderment.

"Yeah… this is terrifying." Marie commented with wide eyes.

"Well, we killed it and know it will work now." Riley giggled.

"Yeah…." Helix looked at his partners after a breathless chuckle.

"I think we should test to learn what happens if it gets out of control or our actions cause unnatural behavior."

"I think that's wise." Marie said with a nod.

"Gaaaaaaah. I'm so excited! Training is officially fun!" Charlotte cried.

"We still have the problems of keeping everyone alive." Riley commented with a worried expression.

"It's still lethal, and we can't forget that.

So perhaps we shouldn't get too excited."

"Yeah, yeah. You're right." Charlotte replied with a bitter frown.

Everyone's enthusiasm took a nosedive instantly.

"Okay. Let's continue. While we practice, please think of how we'll lead a third third-evolution monster close to the Capital without getting detected." Helix requested.

"If it's intercepted by the army ahead of time, it won't have the same effect.

It can't get too close, either. That will make it difficult to fight it with our Nightmares without seriously threatening others."

The group nodded with serious expressions.

"We also need to get our story straight if someone catches us chasing after it ahead of schedule or notices we're not intercepting sooner." Helix continued.

"We can't say we lured a monster there on purpose, so we need a solid story to explain why it was chasing us or how we found it."

His partners nodded in agreement.

"Charlotte. Work on communication with Tinker, and we'll start practicing with him." He continued.

"We haven't had the chance, but it's critical if he wants to fight.

We'll need to end the beast's life quickly if things get out of control, but we're handicapping ourselves."

Mmrrruhhh.

Tinker started whining, and he sent his nose to the ground.

Helix walked up and started patting his head.

"You'll be training with us regularly once I start with the immature otakus training." He chuckled.

"We'll take turns with training. So please have patience. Just a little longer."

Tinker whined again and started licking Helix's face.

Their connection allowed Tinker to understand him, even though Helix couldn't.

"Okay! Let's get started!"

…

"Gaaaaaah. It's too easy to kill a third-order monster as a team." Charlotte complained.

"Yeah… I never thought I'd be let down that we're too powerful as a group." Marie frowned.

"I think it's a wonderful problem to have in the long run." Riley commented with a smile.

"We need you, Riley." Charlotte chuckled.

"Yeah. You make the rational part of our brains sound beautiful." Helix laughed in bewilderment.

"Has anyone thought about how to explain why we're not intercepting a third-evolution monster long before it reaches the capital?" Helix asked.

"I'm not sure if it's a good option." Marie prefaced.

"But we can research and look for monsters that may be hiding underground.

If we can awaken one, it can happen anywhere."

Helix put a fist to his chin in thought.

"That's a great idea, but how do we explain why we're in the area?"

The group groaned again.

These were difficult questions.

"It's a great plan, but I doubt third-order beasts go into long-term hibernation." Riley commented.

"They're well documented and live in forests and areas humans avoid, right?"

"That's right. I learned that after researching following the Warpshire incident." Helix replied.

"Third-evolution beasts aren't known to go into hibernation for more than a year."

Marie frowned and thought about it some more.

"This won't help the question of power. But…" She prefaced.

"The Kingdom doesn't know where we are right now.

I'm sure they're looking for us, considering a liability.

Since the Kingdom hasn't sighed us in towns, it's rational to believe we're camping out and using invisibility circles."

"That's a good point." Helix pondered.

"That being the case, we can explain why it's close and why we're here, assuming we can find a hibernation area and it's coming from the west."

The group nodded in agreement.

"I think that's excellent. I don't like the idea of bringing a fourth-evolution beast or monster near the Capital, but…." Helix sighed.

His partners gave him playful smiles.

"We can handle one, right?" Helix asked with a hopeless smile.

"Ab~so~lutely!" Charlotte sang.

"As a group, we can do so." Riley followed.

"It'll be difficult keeping the soldiers and otakus alive, but I'm confident we can." Marie affirmed.

"Ruuurrr Ruff!"

Tinker barked with enthusiasm.

Helix nodded with satisfaction at his team's response.

"Okay. Riley, your job is to keep the soldiers out of the fight and safe." He commanded.

"Anything coming out of hibernation will be seriously dangerous, and we probably won't have options.

You can provide defense until they arrive, but you'll need to keep them safe and prevent them from leaving.

It will slaughter the troops, and the idiots won't take our warning to keep away so we can use our spells seriously.

So convincing them to hold back is critical."

"I can do that." Riley nodded.

"Good. I'll research our potential enemies to center our training around elemental attacks." Helix continued.

"We'll need that to test defensive capabilities and find what works best."

—

"YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A battle cry rang out in the distance.

The soldiers were lined up on the north side of the battlefield in heavy lines.

The mages were out in front, preparing long-range fire spells.

Ballistas were being wheeled into the area to prepare precision attacks with arrows.

The soldiers were in the back, awaiting orders from the charge to finish the beast once the magic attacks were exhausted.

General Masov did take Helix's warning seriously.

His strategy was purely supportive and was meant to provide support when the group was exhausted or decided to pull back.

However, the fourth-order beast made every monster the army had ever faced look like a joke.

He didn't think anyone had faced third-order beasts, as they controlled avoided territories and rarely left.

So they didn't understand the defensive capabilities or firepower above the second evolution.

If they fought blind, they would all die.

That's what Masov didn't understand.

"Those idiots!" Helix yelled.

"Riley! Make contact with Masov and tell him we can handle this alone!"

"On it!" Riley yelled before running away at lightning speed.

BOOOOOOOM!

"Gahhhhhhh!"

Charlotte flung thirty feet back.

"Charlotte!" Helix cried out while laying the second set of circles.

Boom!

Boom!

Helix jolted back as the monster stood up.

It was forty feet tall, so every step cracked the earth.

He hadn't activated the reinforce spell yet, so he was blown away.

Riley ran full speed to where the soldiers were preparing to head out.

Masov had just been given a battle harangue, and they were preparing to move the mages and support artillery to the back lines.

"GOOOOOOOOOOORRRRN!"

—

"So let's practice defensive spells that can keep an army safe." Helix suggested.

"I'll research the potential enemies we might face so that we can strategize ahead of time."

Riley nodded in agreement.

"I'll do my best. I understand that failure may result in casualties."

Helix gave her a grateful smile.

"I'm so glad you understand that.

Charlotte and I will warn you of an attack and hold it back as much as possible until we know you're ready to protect people."

—

"Riley! Protect the soldiers!" Helix screamed.

Riley turned around fifty meters away from the troops.

"[Wind Wall]!" Riley screamed.

Huge gusting winds tore through the earth at a lightning pace.

Massive boulders were ripped from the earth and shot across the battlefield.

A massive wind wall spanning fifty meters spread out in front of the troops.

It was milky white like a tornado, but it was created in a straight line.

"CAAAAAN!"

The troops watched the scene in confusion.

However, a massive sun turned the center of the wall yellow.

Then the entire wall became orange.

Finally, it became dark red.

BOOOOOOOOM!

A massive flame shot across the battlefield, scorching over 200 feet over earth.

When the fire collided with the air, it whipped into a frenzy.

"What the fuck is she doing!?" Manson cried.

He was the same Lieutenant kicked out of Helix's meeting with Major Oakley for the funeral preparations.

"Stand back, Lieutenant!" Masov roared.

"[Cyclone]!" Riley yelled.

A massive ball of water materialized in the air directly above the fire.

Powerful wind gusts hit the soldiers from the back, causing many to fall.

As soon as the water and wind met, it exploded violently, causing massive tornado-like winds.

The area turned white, and the soldiers reflexively turned around.

If they were closer, they would have received third-degree burns from the steam alone.

Riley didn't use [Water Windwall] for that reason.

Had she done that, it would have instantly turned the area into steam that would have killed her.

She separated the fire across the battlefield and then used winds coming from the soldiers' backs to prevent the steam from killing anyone.

It was a bold move that is hard to think of in battle.

Wind fuels fire.

However, a [Cyclone] wouldn't have stopped the massive hyper-compressed fireball, and she couldn't use [Water Windwall] and another spell simultaneously.

It was strong battle prowess that greatly impressed Masov.

—

[A/N: What do you think about the gamble to purposely lead a monster to the Capital? Let me know. ;)

Please don't skip the past content in the upcoming chapters.

Each scene is heavily laced with new content [and new scenes]. Some are also quite massive to make up for pre-written content.

Contrary to expectations, these chapters are exponentially more difficult to write than normal chapters.

They must connect information from multiple sources as rejoinders and provide new information.

Each chapter unveils the mask behind the mysterious scenes; things get crazier by the chapter.

This section was torture to write, but I'm very proud of it.

Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying this mystery unfolding.]

—

Power stones and grammatical errors = more content. :)