Erina wouldn’t stop screaming. Jazz and Ceres did everything they could to calm her down, their heads twisting around periodically to look at the shambling remains of a catgirl lurching toward us from out of the bushes. I moved to stand between them and the Defiled, my axe held in both hands. The shock was leaving faster than I imagined. Unbridled fury and a crazy-mad desire to put this beast to the blade were in its place.

I could hear Cannoli struggling to get free from Keke and Ravyn. I stole one quick glance over my shoulder. Jazz, Ceres, and Erina were behind me and to my left, with Keke, Cannoli, and Ravyn further behind them. There were at least a dozen strides between Jazz and me, which would give me enough room to focus on the monster by myself. What mattered most was putting the Defiled down.

“You won’t put another hand on them,” I growled, taking a step forward.

“My sister,” the Defiled screeched. “What have you done to my sisteerrr!”

“Your ‘sister’ is nothing more than goo in the soil,” Jazz replied with more emotion in her voice than I’d ever heard out of her. “And soon, you’ll look no different!”

Erina was beginning to quiet down due in no small part to Ceres and Jazz’s efforts. The muffled screams continued to haunt my very skin.

“Cannoli! Come back!” Keke cried.

“No! I’m going to help Erina!” Cannoli snapped.

Soon enough, I could hear the fast, light footsteps of our one and only [Acolyte].

There was nothing behind me that needed my attention. The only thing that could harm Cannoli and the others right now was the monster in front of me. So I took another few steps forward. The creature lurched toward me once more.

“What are you waiting for?” I asked. “Give me your worst!”

The body shambled forward. Muscle ripped open at the forearms, revealing a pair of bone-white blades attached to her arms. The very same bones of the girl this monster inhabited, twisted and malformed to suit its evil intents.

I watched carefully and held my ground for a time. The sisters had been full of surprises up until now. Last thing I wanted was to be caught flat-footed and gored. No move would be made until I was sure I could get closer.

The muscle and tissue re-enveloped the forearm blades at their base. Soon, the sounds of bones and muscles cracking and twisting made their unwelcome return, and, on a gamble, I stepped closer, stopped. Stepped closer still. Stopped again. The Defiled did not approach.

I see. This is starting to make more sense now.

“Matt, don’t!” Keke cried out. “You can’t fight it alone! You’ll be killed!”

I know that. I know. But I can buy time. Wound it a little, maybe play some tricks on it. Anything I can think of. I just need to buy time.

I thought of turning around to have Jazz distract it, maybe even Ceres. But I couldn’t bear the thought of willingly putting them in danger. Not that I could’ve been of any help anyway, I didn’t know a damn thing about bleeding, breaking bones—hell, not even first aid. I was useless to Erina. To run away now would be to admit how truly useless I was to everyone.

I can do something here. I know how to do this. Mostly.

My hands tightened around the grip of my axe. Whenever the bones and muscles moved, the creature adjusted. Maybe I was wrong, but it seemed it couldn’t do much while it worked to change things in the body. When the cavity on the conglomerate had opened before, none of the limbs had so much as twitched. That’s when it was most vulnerable. Unfortunately, that’s also when it was most dangerous.

The remaining sister screeched. Its legs were beginning to mend. It was now or never.

“Come on!” I bellowed. I ran at the Defiled with everything I had. I swung. The phrase, ‘how low can you go?’ came to mind when the Defiled bent backward to dodge. The bones and muscles cracked. With some momentum left in the attack, I used it to leverage some weight away from the Defiled during the backswing.

I was too slow. Dozens of white spines several feet in length shot from the skin of the catgirl like a sea urchin, scraping the front of my chest.

Shit!

The wounds were thin and long, spanning from one armpit to the other. I cupped a hand against my chest and gasped at the sting of my fingers grazing the freshly opened cuts.

Feels like a giant goddamn cat just scratched me.

I looked down briefly to see that the flesh was swelling at a concerning rate. It might not have been poison, but there was something lacing those spines.

I drew back, never taking my eyes off the Defiled, and reached for one of the many potions left in my [Cat Pack]. White bone flashed before my eyes, and soon after, the bottom half of the bottle and all of the precious fluid within it drained into the soil.

I gasped as I realized just how clean the cut had been on the bottle. Not an errant shard of glass to be found. At some point, the Defiled had slashed through the air, leaving me with the empty bottleneck and the stopper.

“Wee, hee hee hee hee!” The Defiled cried, swiping at me with its bladed arms. It moved closer with each slash, forcing me on the defensive.

I continued to step away as the Defiled approached, waiting and praying for any opening I could find. Something, anything! It was no use, though. All I could do was continue to evade and parry. I didn’t have the reach, the tools, or any utility that could push this monstrosity off of me.

“Matt!” I heard Jazz yell.

Don’t look! You look, and you’re dead!

And then a dagger found itself lodged into the side of the Defiled’s neck. Rapid footsteps approached, and I took the opportunity to swing my axe into the side opposite of Jazz’s dagger. I landed just above the Defiled’s collarbone, cutting at least a few inches into its flesh. Blood sprayed upon the blade, Jazz’s afterimage following with a swift kick in the ribs.

I’m not sure what happened, but suddenly I was being pulled by the momentum of Jazz’s attack. The sudden force caught me by surprise and ripped the still-lodged axe from my grip. The Defiled tumbled a few meters away from us, the axe’s handle clinking against the small pebbles and rocks on the way.

The monster lay motionless. I knew there was no way it could be dead. Not until the damn bug inside was ripped out and smashed to pieces. Could I risk retrieving my weapon?

The pain in my chest flared. I grimaced, my fingers coiling close to the wounds. I had to make a conscious effort not to touch them. Something was definitely wrong.

“[Stabilize]!” I heard Cannoli cry. Was that the third time she’d said it so far? The fourth?

When I turned around to see how Erina was holding up, my breath caught. Jazz was in the grass, limp as a ragdoll, Cannoli at her side. Keke was right behind her, her attention on the Defiled, bow at-the-ready. Ravyn lifted Jazz’s head and fed her a potion of similar golden color to the ones I carried.

I turned further still, and there in the grass was Erina, unmoving and unresponsive. Tears poured down Ceres’ cheeks. They were very unlike the ones I saw Keke and Cannoli shed. Her teeth were gritted. She wrenched fistfuls of dirt into her hands, then punched at the earth. Her brow furrowed, and soon the polearm was back in her hands, her arm soaked with drying blood.

“Ceres, don’t!” I rushed over and held my arm out to pause her advance.

“Please excuse my insolence, my Lord. I humbly request that you allow me passage.” Her “request” was anything but. It was a growl, a warning that if I didn’t do as she said, then it wouldn’t be long before she forced me aside and took matters into her own hands.

This wasn’t something I could stop her from doing.

“I will exterminate this demon.” Ceres stood upright and swung the polearm to her side, chanting, “[Magic Armor].” A faint white glow enveloped Ceres for a brief moment before disappearing. “[Invoke Frost].” The icy-blue aura returned to her weapon, and as it did, I dropped my arm.

My head snapped around when I heard the Defiled readjust its anatomy once more. Disturbing crunches and snaps made their way to my ears as the creature lurched onto its feet, not once using its arms to do so. As I observed, I understood why the axe had escaped my grip—tendrils of flesh had wrapped around the head of the blade. At some point, it must’ve done that before Jazz kicked it. So now that left me without a weapon.

Keke pulled her bow back. “[Pinpoint Weakness]!” With an arrow held between each of her fingers, Keke fired one after another at the Defiled. They landed with a thud in the creature's body, blood dribbling out from the impact points.

The creature smiled wide. “Foolish, foolish, foolish!” The arrows struck flesh before the Defiled’s form contorted, re-aimed the projectiles, then launched them straight back in one smooth motion.

Keke threw herself on top of Cannoli and Jazz, taking two of the arrows into her arm. She screamed, and I felt a wave of furious blood rush through my muscles.

“You can have this back!” The Defiled said, taking hold of the embedded axe and throwing it in my direction.

There was no way I was going to try and catch it. I moved to my side as the axe whizzed by me into the forest. It vanished into the dark, then came the echo of a sickening crunch. A scream followed.

Fuck!

Ceres rushed past me in the confusion, swinging her weapon under-handed. The Defiled evaded her the same way someone performing drunken martial arts might, weaving and moving in such erratic and indiscernible fashions, each dodge appearing to the naked eye that it was just dumb luck.

The [Magic Knight] did not let up. She continued to wield her polearm with deadly skill, completing each swing in anticipation of a counterattack. It looked more like a dance and less like a hero and monster dueling to the death. Her actions were beginning to slow, and it was only a matter of time until the Defiled would catch her. Ceres’ movements were strategic and carried purpose. Not a single attack was without its reason.

And yet…

“Ahhh!” Ceres’ screams penetrated the woods, drawing the attention of all who were near. Seeping red streams traveled the length of her other arm. Her hands shook as she struggled to carry her weapon. Exhaustion painted her eyes. She was quickly turning pale, and her stance wavered.

“You will make a good host,” the Defiled whispered excitedly. Its ribcage had opened wide, ripping the skin and baring a gaping cavity. The front points had skewered the [Magic Knight]’s good arm and retracted. Blood dripped from the tips of the spines, a hollow laugh escaping the monstrosity’s lips. “My children will eat you from the inside out. Oh, how many children you will make for me.”

A chill traveled the length of my spine. What the hell were we supposed to do?

“Do you know [Two-Sided]?” Ravyn screamed out. Ceres nodded faintly. “Then use it!” Ravyn held out her hand and cried, “[Invigorate]!”

A golden glow surrounded Ceres. The Defiled approached, and, as the glow faded, Ceres’s eyes widened. “[Two-Sided].” A sensation like a shockwave shot from Ceres’ body, nearly knocking me off my feet. There was nothing fancy, no glow or aura around her outline. And yet, she lifted the polearm without issue.

“What in the hell?” I murmured.

The Defiled was quick. Ceres was quicker.

As the points of the ribcage launched from the Defiled’s body once more, Ceres made a long, horizontal sweep across the monster’s abdomen with her polearm, severing the torso in half. The beast’s motions stopped as if the puppet’s strings had been cut. As the blood of the Defiled tainted the soil, Ceres dug the tip of her polearm into the ground between its legs. She turned on her heels and used the strength of her upper body in an upward strike, cleaving the monster in quarters.

There was a pause as Ceres stared her opponent down. Tissue and sinew parted seamlessly, and like a game of Jenga, the Defiled fell to the ground in multiple pieces.

Somewhere among the mess, I could see the pieces of the insect’s carapace. Or, uh, what was left of it. It squirmed for a few seconds, then lay still.

Ceres whipped her weapon through the air, splattering a nearby tree with the blood of her fallen foe. “It is done.”

Now accessing system memory…

Hey, remember when the lule misris bloomed?

I remember the roly-poly bugs on the petals.

That’s what you remember?

What? I thought they were cute.

Fine. Next time, we’ll find more roly-polys for you.

Memory storage successful.