Waves restlessly crashed against the eastern shore.Salt hung heavy.Standing tall, knee-deep into the waters, was the humanoid crocodile beast, teeth glistening like broken blades, and its greenish-red eyes locked onto the two humans before it.“I won’t ask another time.” Its eyes burned with a thinking cruelty. “Give me the box.”Its mouth was wide open, so it looked like it was smiling.“Why do you want the box?” Leo asked.“I need to fulfill my purpose,” the crocodile replied.“Your purpose? What is your purpose?”“My purpose,” the crocodile’s voice thickened. “I need to fulfill it. My hunger. My purpose.”“I don’t think you should converse with it,” Diane said. “Talking with a beast feels weird.”“You’re right,” Leo’s aura had already risen, quiet but dense, like the air before a collapse.“Are you fighting it again?” Diane blurted. “You’ve already done that and exhausted yourself.”“If I can’t kill it, I’ll just crush it,” Leo said, bumping his fists together, creating feathery

Catherine saw Novick, and her huffing stopped. “Y-You…”“Oh, you know me?” Novick’s eyebrow shot up.“You’re the advanced robot who joined Mickey’s side, aren’t you?” she said.Novick smirked in a bit of anger. “There’s only one person who called me that before. Did Green Fang tell you about me? That woman sure knows how to get on people’s nerves.”“...All the while chewing bubble gum,” Catherine finished his sentence. “Trust me. I know how it feels.”Novick paused for a moment and asked, “What is your name?”“Isn’t it manners to tell your name first? What kind of a knight are you?” Catherine snorted.Novick’s eyebrow twitched. “My name is Novick.”“Just Novick? Don’t you have a family name?”Novick’s face stiffened for a second.“Why do you look like you stepped on shit?” Catherine asked. “Did I ask a sensitive question?”“None of us knights have a last name,” Novick replied. “We have no family. We live and die for Hawkers.”“I see. Then you should just call yourself Novick Hawker.

Novick returned to where the knights gathered.They were all surprised to see the situation he was in.“Who did this to you?” one of the knights asked.Novick ignored them and stopped by Ingrid, then sent a mental message. “I heard Denver say that he’s planning to leave the organization. This time forever, I think.”Ingrid was surprised for a second, but then he squinted his eyes. “Did you tell this to anyone?”“No, but I’m going to Mickey now.” Novick walked away.Ingrid didn’t stop him. He just looked into the distance. (Denver returned, but his Majesty hasn’t… Something’s not right.)Just then, Ilene teleported over to that spot.Some of the knights got shy from seeing her beauty because she was very fair.Ingrid was the only one who noticed the bruises on her. “Can you tell me what happened?”“Do you know of the guy named Sanctus?” Ilene said.Ingrid’s eyes drew in more light. “Did he… attack His Majesty?”Ilene nodded. “He came with an entire army. They were impossible to kill.”

The laser sword sealing the abyssal portal was removed.Thousands of monsters poured out, but Mickey created a barrier around the portal and compressed it, forcing the monsters back into the portal.It wasn’t easy to do so as there were lots of them to deal with. Some of them were very powerful.While Mickey was stuck doing this, Lily was watching him from a distance. Serena was right next to her.“This would be the perfect time to cut him down,” Serena said, handing a weapon to Lily. A press of a button released a psionic-sonic blade.Lily gritted her teeth. “Not now.” She looked up at Sanctus. “He was easily able to use Nighlaser better than me. Ingrid didn’t even last two moves against that man… He’s not someone we can defeat alone. We might have to gang up on him. Even then, there’s no guarantee of victory.”Serena didn’t say anything.While this would be a good time to attack Mickey, what would happen after Mickey were to die? The monsters would pour out again. That wouldn’t do a

A few minutes earlier.Diane and Leo joined Jamie Adler not far from the council building.Jamie was staring at the box that Leo just opened. “Red pills? You said the crocodile shapeshifted into a humanoid beast after consuming one of these?”“Yeah, and it wasn’t dying no matter how much we hurt it,” Diane said.Jamie looked at Leo, and he nodded. “It wasn’t that strong, but its regenerative ability was a pain in the ass. I had to restrain it and leave it at the shore.”“Mm…” Jamie picked up one of the red balls.“Careful,” Diane quickly said.Jamie smiled. “It’s okay.” He used aura and crushed it between his fingers.The vapors that released from the pill entered their noses.All three of them suddenly felt like they were gripped by a ghost that seized their souls. They heard it screaming inside their heads.Diane was terrified.“Release your aura!” Jamie shouted.Leo was able to do that and freed himself from whatever power gripped him.Diane, however, was still terrified.Jamie put