Kass noticed the three people didn't intend to help. It was a reasonable reaction after witnessing such a devastatingly violent attack. However, the Demonic Beast didn't want the trespassers to leave. It wanted to kill them all. "Watch out!" Kass urgently warned. [Vincent, the Demonic Beast about to throw a rock, but there's no cover to hide behind.] "Overheat." Vincent had no choice but to protect the two girls. He swiftly stood in front of them and raised his guard, placing his full trust on the mutated skin not to break on impact. [Overheat activated.] [Mutation starting to alter the host...] [Mutation process finished.] [Race altered to mutated human for its duration.] Vincent quickly formed a pair of hardened green arms. Exactly when his forearms got encased by mutated skin, a fast-moving spinning rock projectile headed in their direction, resembling a deadly cannonball. Ester "Vincent!" Lupa "Vincent!" *Clang! Both shouted, filled with worry after helplessly watching Vincent receiving the deadly rock throw head-on. He did his best to twist his body and change its trajectory, but his feet soon left the ground. Vincent ended up getting knocked back a few meters in mid-air while the rock had its trajectory altered enough not to hit anyone. [H...] [hey...] [Wake up.] [Oh, you have become conscious again. You fainted for five seconds.] Kazumi notified while Ester and Lupa lifted him, intending to drag him and leave this dangerous area. Kass turned his gaze back at the Demonic Beast. He was surprised after witnessing Vincent taking a powerful shot and surviving, unlike the other soldiers that were with him. "I will stall this Demonic Beast with all I have. Could you check on the other soldier? She is my niece, and I would gladly sacrifice my life to save hers." Kass spoke with raging determination for revenge. He had a glimmer of hope for Tula to be alive in his heart, even if the chances were slim to none. "We promise." Vincent accepted his offer of sacrifice. He felt a bit surprised by this caring action after meeting terrible people apart from Ester and Lupa in this new world. *Clang "Wild Blow!" Kass shouted. His swing became stronger as the blade approached the Demonic Beast tail. He intended to chop it off. The sword however chipped and broke in multiple pieces at such hard rocks. The Demonic Beast retaliated with a strong crushing blow pushing Kass a few meters. He grit his teeth and swiftly shoved his broken sword in the ground, not to get pushed very far. Kass wanted to keep the attention focused only on him. He had to stall as much as he possibly could. But while he was trying to stop his body from dragging, the Demonic Beast switched targets to Vincent, Ester, and Lupa. [It's about to charge at us! We have no choice but to fight. This is why curiosity killed the cat. Now we need to fight somehow and run when it gets distracted by that soldier.] "Ester, Lupa, run away. I will try to stall for some time and follow afterwords. I will not let you die." Vincent stood strong with a firm resolve. He didn't want to lose anyone dear to him anymore. This time he had the power to make a difference. Ester stayed silent. She didn't know how to respond, yet his words felt selfish, making her frown. 'Why is it fine for you to die and not us?' A thought crossed her mind. "No! I won't let my mate die! We live or die together!" Lupa exclaimed. She quickly extended her sharp claws, ready to join Vincent. However, her claws were useless as the Demonic Beast's rocks were tough enough to break a sword. The fight against the mudcrab's hard carapace and shell seemed impossible to fight by normal means. Now they had to fight against rocks with the same kind of toughness or more. Ester knew she was the trio's weakest link. A lability that would die on the first hit. Her body sent signals of fear to run away, but she didn't want to lose the new family she gained. [That Kass soldier appears to have a plan. I'm feeling violent bursts of mana surrounding him. I hope its an ability to become stronger.] [It looks like Ester knows she's the weakest link and that she can distract you if we decide to fight. But it seems she made her mind not to escape alone since she's attentively staring at you for an order.] [On the other hand, the impatient Lupa could prove a problem to hold back.] Kazumi guided Vincent by telling him what transpired in his surroundings, like a game avatar and a player working together as one. A being with two thought processes and eyes everywhere from her third person's view. "Ester, go check on the other soldier. We will follow after you reach a safe distance." Vincent instructed. "We need to buy time. That soldier seems to be preparing a powerful move, so I hope it can help to create a distraction." Vincent noticed Lupa prepping her claw at the approaching Demonic Beast and continued, "Your claws can't hurt its rocks, only its flesh in the front might." "We have a maximum time limit of nine minutes here; then we run away. That's when my ability ends since around a minute has passed." Vincent added. Vincent took a few steps forward. He steeled himself for the impending collision, grit his teeth, and clenched his fist while holding up his guard. Vincent intended to block for Ester to run away, and Lupa step aside. However, when the Demonic Beast arrived at a striking distance, the strong rocky arm on its shoulder swung with deadly force packing more power than he thought. *CLANG! A loud booming sound like an iron hammer hitting a large rock echoed in their surroundings. Vincent flew a few meters in the air as a result. Most of the mutated skin on his forearms crumbled under the devastating blow while it sprinkled on the ground. The thing Vincent thought could hold, didn't. The mutated skin got severely damaged with multiple cavities and cracks forming, displaying the inability to block another blow. Ester was running when she heard a loud booming sound. She however didn't look back and placed all her trust in Vincent, that he was still okay. The fight against the adult mudcrab gave her the impression of how the resourceful Vincent was hard to kill. Lupa angrily lept sharp claws first, ready to tear the raised arm of the Demonic Beast apart. The anger she felt clouded the warning of being a useless attack. Lupa swung her claws with all her strength. However, nothing but sparks flew on the ground, achieving a similar result when Kass swung his sword. It was like practicing swordsmanship against a rock. Only the light dented scratches were left on the large arm full of tough rocks. Sparks fell on the red-painted grass and on the Mutated Ash lying on the ground. Suddenly, a small green wildfire burst into flames following the trail made by the flying Vincent's crumbling mutated skin. It was like a long fuse leading to a dynamite called Vincent, but fortunately, the fuse stopped halfway, saving him from catching on fire. Kass soon finished the preparations for his ultimate ability and shouted, "Upper Zerk Mode!" A sudden sound of something breaking accompanied with pieces of armor falling made the Demonic Beast turn its gaze on Kass. Lupa used this opportunity to make some distance. The veins on Kass began bulging. His muscles rapidly increased in size, ripping his shirt off and breaking the straps holding the armor pieces in place simultaneously. Helmet, chest plate, shoulder guards, gauntlets, and even the cape fell on the ground one after the other. His biceps, shoulder, and neck tripled their previous size. Kass became wider and thick veins surrounded his entire body. A faintly visible cloud of steam exited from all this buffed body. The veins had a similar resemblance to the ability Overload, which forced the limits of what the user's body could withstand. Kass now had his face revealed. He appeared to be a man of seventy years or older. He gave the impression he was prepared to fight with all he had and without caring what happens afterward. Kass rushed forward and quickly grabbed the rocky tail. With a mighty grip filled with overwhelming strength, he pulled the tail as hard as possible, lifting and throwing the Demonic Beast behind him. *Thud The Demonic Beast lay on the ground, surprised by what just occurred. It seemed as this was the first time it was forced to fall. Lupa approached Vincent and nudged him enough to awake. He had fallen unconscious for the second time, but something was different this time. His eyes picked a hulking swole old man glaring at the Demonic Beast lying on the red grass. [You woke up again.] [Hey, tell Kass to use the two shields lying next to him. He can use the shields to attack with his size increase. They should be like iron knuckles in his hands.] Vincent stood up with help from Lupa. He momentarily stared at the buffed Kass, who had a similar appearance to a Hero in a comic he once read. Then he shouted, "If swords don't work, then fight with the two shields near you! Our companion went to check on the other soldier!" Kazumi was right about using the shields. Kass unhesitantly picked the two shields near him. Momentarily, the massive swole seven-foot old man had a pair of iron shields as iron knuckles. 'He looks so big. Just what happened while I was knocked out?' Vincent thought while watching Kass bang both shields together as if they were feathers in his hands. The Demonic Beast didn't wait for their conversation to end. It pulled itself up with its knuckles. Then withdrew its arm and plucked a rock from its back. The rock in its hand shot from its mighty grip in seconds and headed it towards Kass. The rock speeded forward like a cannonball at a tremendous speed. Kass noticed the quick attack and stood firm with his newly gained strength, massive weight, and a pair of iron shields. *Clang Kass took a few steps back by the recoil. He would've been knocked a few meters and tumbled on the ground if he wasn't using Upper Zerk Mode. Like what previously happened to Vincent. Vincent, Lupa, and Kazumi took note of its attack patterns. A devastating rock throw, a devastating tail swing, and the terrifying arm swing. The experience of fighting for their lives caused them to become cautions and quickly adapt to any dangerous situation they might face. The Demonic Beast wasn't the speedy type, but the tough rocks made it deadly to approach.