"Rarggggh!!!"
Tyler suddenly appeared from behind the tree with his flaming fist drawn back. He used the tree as a distraction and he was planning to catch the calamity class off-guard so he could get a hit in, but the result of his hard work was so disappointing as the calamity class only raised its arm in the air once more and caught Tyler around the neck like a child!
"Urk!"
Tyler grabbed the Calamity class by the arm and tried to pry its hand off, but there was nothing that he could do as it was too strong! It felt impossible to even make the arm budge! What is this strength!?
On the other side of the clearing, Fiona had finally woken up and she held her head in shock as she gently sat up and looked around at the burning bush. Why was she on the ground? She didn't remember anything that happened after… oh yes, that monster attacked her and she used her blessing on it. But the blessing didn't work like she thought it would. Her blessing failed against a monster!?
That has never happened before!
Fiona quickly looked up and she was shocked when she saw Tyler being held by the calamity class. She immediately stood up and began to think! She didn't know how she got here, but that didn't matter right now. She just needed to come up with a way to get Tyler out of the Anima's grasp.
She knew that even though her blessing didn't work against the Anima like she expected it to, she was able to stall it for a few moments. Maybe she could use that to help Tylor!
Fiona focused all of her mana and she immediately spread out her blessing using everything she had to try and grab the Anima's attention. She might not be able to put it under her control, but she could distract it long enough to give Tyler a chance to escape.
But this turned out to be the wrong choice. The only reason why Fiona's blessing worked against the Anima the first time was that it had never felt it before and it was surprised by the feelings of love and protectiveness for Fiona that suddenly appeared in its head.
Now that the anima already knew what Fiona's blessing felt like and it knew what sort of effects the blessing had on it, the Anima was more resistant to the effects and its resolve didn't even shake for a moment as it glanced at Fiona. There was a small twitch on the Anima's face and Fiona stumbled back as she realized that the Anima was smiling.
Fiona's mind went blank with shock at the unusual sight. Fiona has never fought against an Anima this strong before and she has never heard of an Anima that was expressive in any way. Since when could they smile?
"Foolish human. Your species have grown inept in their own hubris. I shall show you the error of your ways. The way of the wild."
The Anima began to squeeze down on Tylor's throat as it continued to look Fiona right in the eyes. Fiona felt true helplessness at that moment as she realized that she really couldn't do anything to help Tylor. Tylor was going to die and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
She took a step back as she prepared to bolt back to the helicopter. There was nothing she could do for Tyler, but perhaps she could save herself and tell the others back in City A about what happened here. They cannot allow these monsters to reach the city. A monster like this would absolutely eradicate their city from the map.
"Now, what do we have here? Another Ant?"
"!"
Fiona turned to the side in shock as she heard a familiar voice and she could not contain the relief that spread across her entire body as she saw a figure strutting out from within the flames surrounding the forest. The black hair and muscular body immediately gave the identity away and Fiona released a bated breath that she didn't even know she had been holding when she saw Mark.
Mark was shirtless and there were various scars across his body from the fight he had just come from. He was dragging the body of a large monkey-based Anima behind him and he dropped it on the ground as he scanned over everything going on in the clearing.
Mark only took a moment to scan everything around him and he was able to deduce what had happened. Tylor was trying to protect Fiona and he ended up biting off more than he could chew. This is exactly why Mark told them that they should have brought more people.
The monsters here are far stronger than they predicted and Mark knew that if not for the fact that he was here, then all of them would have died.
The Ant-headed Anima immediately changed its focus once it saw Mark and its eyes gleamed in surprise as it saw its main prey standing before it! It screeched in anger as it squeezed down harder on Tylor's neck and Tylor screamed in pain as he felt his neck crack!
"Let go of him."
The Anima was stunned when Mark suddenly appeared beside it. Mark gripped its wrist and slowly twisted and the Anima started to loosen its grip around Tylor's neck involuntarily until it dropped Tylor to the ground. It immediately jumped back to get some distance between it and Mark as it felt its wrist throbbing in pain from Mark's grip.
It rubbed its wrist and glanced at Mark in shock, but Mark was not even paying attention to it as he looked down at Tylor and made sure that Tylor was still breathing.
"Come and take him away, Fiona."
Once Mark was sure that Tylor was alive, he turned to Fiona and called her over. Fiona jerked like she had just snapped out of a haze as she heard her name, but she managed to comport herself and slowly came forward till she was standing beside Tylor. Fiona kept glancing at the Anima in front of them and she was prepared to run in case there was any sign of an attack coming from the monster.
But the Anima did not move a muscle as it just kept looking at Mark.
"Don't worry about it. It's not going to attack you. Just take Tylor to the helicopter and try to get him some first aid before you guys leave. His neck is probably broken."
Fiona nodded and she grabbed Tylor. Fiona jumped off the ground and into the trees before disappearing into the forest. Once she was gone, Mark turned to the monster with a small smile.
"Now that they're gone, how about we talk? You can talk; can't you, Ant?"
"Do not call me an Ant. I am a proud Anima."
Mark folded his hands.
"Oh, but isn't that what you are? It's like telling me not to call a dog a dog, or a monkey a monkey. Regardless of how you look at it, you're nothing but an ant, Ant. But that is not what I wanted to talk about. I want to know where you take your prisoners. Are they kept in the tunnels below the island?"
The Anima began to trek forward as it released a low screech.
"The great Anima do not answer to mere humans."
Boom!
The Anima shot off the ground and charged for Mark and Mark could easily track its movement as it moved towards him. Mark's gaze was cold as he glared at the Anima and dared it to come towards him.
The Anima immediately felt a shiver go through its spine as it saw those eyes!