“Who said I wanted to leave?” Cory asked and snorted as she flew into the air. The ceiling wasn’t high, but there was enough space for the harpy to fly. She sucked in a mouthful of air and let out a shriek. Red lightning shot out of her eyes, rushing towards the tattooed centaurs. A stray lightning bolt narrowly missed Cherri, but it was enough to frighten the crying centaur into silence. The rest of the lightning collided against the centaurs with a bang, but none of them let out a sound. A few of them collapsed to the ground, smoke wafting up from their bodies, while the ones that remained standing were on the verge of fainting.

“Filthy four-legged rats,” Cory said and spat. Her spittle flew towards the sapling growing in the room.

“Insolence!” one of the standing centaurs, the eldest, said. He was unhurt, but the staff he was holding was burnt and blackened on the ground beside him. Silver tribal tattoos decorated his red torso, stopping at his neck. He spread his arms towards the side, lifted his head towards the ceiling, and shouted, “Rise, my brethren!”

A milky white light floated out of his palms and rose into the air, forming a bubble of liquid-like light above himself. The bubble burst, liquid splashing over the group of centaurs but avoiding Palan’s party. The centaurs’ bodies stopped smoking, the collapsed centaurs began to stand, and every scorch mark dispersed. Even the grass that had been affected by Cory’s lightning was cured by the centaur’s ability, growing a bit longer than before.

“Strike back!” the eldest said. He closed his eyes as blue ropes flew out of his back and wrapped around his ally centaurs. The ropes melded into their bodies, leaving a faint transparent connection between himself and the others. Some of the centaurs clapped their hands together and closed their eyes. Blue ropes also flew out of their backs, wrapping around the three centaurs who still had their eyes opened.

The elder that had first confronted Palan’s party let out a roar. A thousand white chains burst out of his back and charged towards Cory. Her eyes widened as she attempted to maneuver past them, diving and rising while twisting her body. Despite her best efforts, a few chains wrapped around her, but she created a lightning aura around her body that allowed her to escape every time she was caught. “Why are you just watching!?” Cory shouted as she circled around and ended up back over Palan and Raea. Red lightning flew out of her eyes and snaked towards the centaur of patience, but before it could make contact with his body, another centaur snorted and waved his hand, dispersing the bolt.

Palan ignored Cory’s shouts and rubbed his chin, staring at the transparent blue connection between the centaurs. “Is this altruism?” he asked Justitia and Raea. A boost in powers—the words Akurel said to him came to mind.

“I don’t know,” Raea said and shook her head.

“It is,” Justitia said. “I’ve seen General Akurel do something similar to this. He could promote angels to greater angels and greater angels to pseudo-archangels. At least, that’s what I heard. I was part of General Michael’s army, not his, so I wasn’t qualified to experience it for myself. It looks like they’re stacking multiple boosts onto a few centaurs.” Her brow furrowed as a chain of patience wrapped around her waist. “But aren’t you a bit too calm about all of this?”

“Too calm!” Cory shouted as her body discharged another aura of lightning, knocking the chains away from herself. She dove and landed in front of Palan. She crouched and covered her head with her wings. Her lightning was ineffectual against the centaurs, and it didn’t seem like the centaur of patience would stop anytime soon. Her neck tilted as she looked up at Raea. “Help? A ruler should help their subjects when they’re in need, right?”

Raea sighed and scratched her head, her body moving fluidly despite the dozens of chains wrapped around her torso, ankles, and wrists. The patience centaur’s eyes widened as he ordered another hundreds of chains to wrap around Raea. She laughed as her body started to slow down before looking at Palan. “So this is what you felt when I bound you so long ago, huh?” she asked with a grin. “I’ll admit it’s a bit uncomfortable. Sorry about that.”

More and more chains wrapped around Raea’s body, covering her until she looked like a glowing mummy. An earthen hand rose out of the ground and grasped Palan. The surface of the hand rippled and started to glisten. Within seconds, the dirt had solidified into solid metal, leaving only his and his three tails’ heads sticking out of the block. Cherri was freed, but she didn’t dare move from the spot she was released. “Interesting,” Palan said and raised an eyebrow. “Altruism really is strange.”

Cory’s face paled. “Err, are you two stuck?” she asked. She was being held by a centaur, her wings pinned behind her back and legs held together. Lightning flickered over her body, but it dispersed before reaching the centaur.

The eldest centaur opened his eyes and dropped his hands. The blue rope continued to connect him to his subordinates. “Speak, stranger,” he said towards Palan. “Why have you come?”

“Why can’t we come?” Cory asked and spat towards the centaur. The eldest frowned and twirled his hand. The centaur holding Cory nodded, and there was a snapping sound. Cory screeched as she was released, her wings dangling by her sides. A layer of sweat formed on her forehead as she gritted her teeth. Before she could say anything, a hoof collided with the side of her head, knocking her out.

“I didn’t realize demons mixed with feathered vermin,” the eldest said, his gaze on Palan. His eyebrow raised as he glanced at Justitia. “Unless it was your idea? Do you think you have immunity because you’re an angel?” His tail swished as his eyes narrowed. “Even the commander is forbidden from entering this area.”

“I want to see your perverted tribe leader,” Palan said and snorted. The metal encasing cracked as his neck strained. The eldest’s eyes widened as dozens of cracks formed on the surface of the metal before splintering.

“What are you doing!?” the eldest asked the centaur by Cory. “Cancel his powers!”

The centaur narrowed his eyes and pointed at Palan. The air rippled, but the cracks continued to elongate until a chunk fell off, revealing Palan’s chest and stomach. The centaur’s face darkened. “He’s not using any powers,” he said.

“Admirable,” the eldest centaur said as he leaned over and picked up his blackened staff. He dusted off the tip until the surface of an orb appeared. An earthen spike protruded out of the staff. “But everything bleeds.” The eldest charged forward, thrusting the staff at Palan’s chest.

“You better act now, you stupid mouth,” Palan said. A sigh escaped from his torso as the line in his abdomen opened, a tongue shooting out and wrapping around the staff. Before the centaur could react, his weapon was ripped out of his hands and shattered in half. The rest of the metal trapping Palan’s body fragmented and fell to the ground as his arms, legs, and tails moved.

“Bind him!” the eldest said. The thousand chains wrapped around Raea’s body released her and snaked around Palan instead. He didn’t even try to resist, laughing instead.

Raea yawned and stretched her arms above her head. Her head tilted to one side as she cracked her neck. Her gaze landed on Cory, and her expression darkened. She glared at Palan. “Why didn’t you act?” she asked.

Black flames engulfed the chains on Palan’s body, burning them away and forcing the centaurs to take a step back. “I wanted to see what else altruism could do,” he said and shrugged as the chains melted away. The centaurs paled. “Watching them despair is also fun.”