“Shatter!”

“My Spatial Imaging has been destroyed?” Rankede couldn’t believe the strength of Kwaserah’s transformed energies. The surge of Krowqui that she released earlier was enough to send fear not only into Rankede but in his accomplices as well.

“That abnormal Krowqui that I’m sensing from her… what is she, a hybrid?” Naguk was not yet aware of Kwaserah’s special type of butterfly transformation which made her the strongest crow in Vultures Byte currently.

While the others were forming their hypothesis of Kwaserah’s transformed butterfly state, Gnihzur was regenerating the last bit of his former constitution. He looked refreshed again; no longer was he shrivelled like beaten wheat. Looking abreast him at the Amazon-Warrior Butterfly he asked, “Kwaserah, is this still you?”

She nodded her head followed by this speech, “It is still me. Uhm, I’ll explain later. For now, we need to deal with those hostile competitors.”

“Huh?” Gnihzur saw just how fixedly the surrounding fledglings were staring at his ribbons. “They’ve set their sights on us.”

“Earth Golem take her down!” Crokan was the first to launch an attack on them. “Who cares about what you are? I’m not afraid of you whether you’re a crow or a damn butterfly!”

Crokan’s golem was rushing towards Kwaserah a trice. Reaching within range of her it jumped ahead with clenched hostility waiting to be released on impact.

“Noule Defence!” Kwaserah gave her back to the incoming golem, moreover, spread her alluring butterfly wings. They captured the impact of the golem as well as absorbed its rocky structure completely.

Crokan was taken aback by this startling scenery. “What? My golem was sucked into her sparkly golden wings?”

Turning back around, Kwaserah stared directly at Crokan, reassuring him, “You should be afraid of me. Observe my power.” She flapped her wings repeatedly to shake off some of the radiant dust. These golden particles combined to form a variety of tiny golden fairies who began humming a tranquil tune.

“Mother’s Hum!” Kwaserah’s singing fairies increased their glorious decibels. “Hum! Hum! Hum!”

“Huh, what’s happening?” The crows were in shock as to what was currently taking place around them as well as within them.

“What are these golden things?”

“They are singing constantly.”

“Their voice is damn annoying! I think it is making me nauseous.”

“Me too. I feel dizzy.”

“I’m getting tired.”

After a few seconds of exposure to Mother’s Hum, all of the students in the vicinity who wanted to steal the ribbons for themselves became very sleepy. Their eyes eventually spun to the back of their sockets as they fell completely unconscious. Now no one was left in the area to oppose them. Soon after they all fell, Kwaserah’s transformation gradually became undone; she returned back to her normal crow state.

“Phew, that was troublesome.” Kwaserah seemed out of stamina as she said this while alighting her talons on the ground.

Gnihzur was astonished by how swiftly she had subdued 13 opponents in total! “Kwaserah that was amazing! You were amazing!”

“I know I am,” Kwaserah responded boastfully. “Continue to shower this fair maiden with praises, she deserves it. Fu-hu-hu.”

Gnihzur went around observing the unconscious bodies sprawled about the leafy ground. “So what did you do to them, are they all dead?”

“Gosh no. they’re only taking a little nap. My fairies don’t possess any killer moves as of yet.”

“Oh.” Gnihzur was still impressed. He wanted to find out more about Kwaserah’s butterfly transformation but she adeptly diverted the subject.

“We should hurry along to the Final Stage. Less than 20 minutes are remaining before this Guild Test elapsed.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Gnihzur searched all the crows lying unconscious in the vicinity for ribbons before he flew off into the woods with Kwaserah. “Neither of them had anything.”

“Well, that can’t be helped. Let’s just hope that we don’t run into another ambush along the way.”

Mou was flying in the direction of the Final Stage from an opposite angle of Kwaserah’s and Gnihzur’s position. As he continued flying, he occasionally sniffed the aromatic scent of his peculiar rose.

“I wonder how the girls are doing back there. Huh?” Mou suddenly noticed a vague presence approaching from the distance and thought, “Another beauty is on the way…?”

“I may not have a lot of ribbons but with this much, I should be able to pass the Guild Test in the top positions.” Doolbs was conversing with himself as he flew throughout the dreary forest, heading directly for the Final Stage. “Almost there… huh?”

“Crash!” Doolbs unexpectedly was caught in an invisible web trap that sliced off parts of his left wing. He rattled himself free which caused him to fall onto a big tree branch below.

“What the heck was that, a trap? Huh?”

The tree limb that Doolbs crashed onto started shooting out many tendril barks around him. Struggled as he did, it wasn’t enough to avoid getting captured by a fellow competitor’s technique.

Doolbs screamed in sheer fright, “Dammit, I’m pinned!”

“Yes, you are.” Said Riuk all of a sudden revealing her presence from within the tree’s stem. She gave a signal to the others who were in hiding, “Girls we caught one and look, he has ribbons.”

“Jackpot!” Okami celebrated as she came out of hiding to observe the number of ribbons poised on Doolbs’s body.

“I told you that this plan would work.” The sneaky ladies alighted their talons onto the wide tree branch where their prey was captured. “Doing it this way is much easier than having to waste ex-amount of time fighting.”

Taking notice of their presence, Doolbs began to protest for his freedom. “Release me this instant, you vixens or all of you will regret it later!”

“Oh really?” Adusa kicked Doolbs’s head roughly. “Shut your trap! You’re in no position to threaten us. Hurry up and take his ribbons, Riuk.”

“Sure.” Riuk untangle a few of her tendril barks so she could better get at Doolbs’s ribbons. However, before she could unwrap one they noticed many trees getting knocked over from behind them.

“Girls watch out! Something hostile is coming our way!” As Nagoo warned the others, they immediately scattered their feathers from Doolbs’s proximity.

The intrusive presence that they all heard finally came into full view. Looking down at the branch where Doolbs was being held captive they identified multiple Shadow Doubles standing around him.

“Took you guys long enough. Now get me out of here quick!” Doolbs gave the command for his Shadow Doubles to release him from Riuk’s entangling bark technique. However, one of them reacted irregularly.

“Shut up, punk!” Not only did Doolbs’s Shadow Double curse expletives at him but it also ripped off his head after stealing the ribbons. This was a very unpredictable turn of events.

“Now I will become the original.” Said the cruel Shadow Double as it boasted with the Original’s head.

“EEEK!” Riuk gave an authentic scream of terror upon witnessing the brutality of Doolbs’s Shadow Doubles. “They ripped his head off!”

“Are you saying that he’s dead?” Adusa couldn’t believe her eyes. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Obviously he’s dead. He got his head ripped clean off by one of his minions.” Unlike her peers, Okami’s response to the shocking situation was more composed.

“No, I caused this.” Riuk started to blame herself for what happened. “It is all my fault. If I hadn’t captured him then none of this would have happened.”

“Riuk don’t blame yourself. None of this is your fault.” Said Baiera offering Riuk some comfort.

“Let’s just collect his ribbons and go to the Final Stage.” Suggested Lyra.

“Girls look!” Nagoo directed their attention at the cruel Shadow Double who had Doolbs severed head dangling in his hand.

“What is it going to do with his head?” The other ladies were interested to find out.

Staring at the frightened ladies whilst gripping the Original’s head, the Shadow Double spoke sinisterly, “You Idiots. Soon I will become complete.” It opened its mouth very wide in order to gulp down Doolbs’s head in one go.

“Chomp!” After absorbing the head, Doolbs body that was trapped by the captivating barks started to dissolve. The dark particles were flowing into the cruel Shadow Double which claimed the life of its Original.

“Eeek! His body is dissolving!” Scared Riuk hid her face further in Baiera’s thick metallic feathers.

“What is this? Could it be a genuine betrayal or just a part of his ruse?” Nagoo became suspicious after noticing a minute error of concern with her meticulous Aechos Vision. She observed the particular Shadow Double cricking its transforming neck.

“Ahm, much better.” Finished absorbing all of the Original’s dissolved essences, the cruel Shadow Double gained real-life likeness. Now, no one could tell the difference between the former original Doolbs and him; they were one and the same except for this one’s more sinister appeal.

The refreshed Doolbs glanced behind him at the ladies and spoke, “I don’t have time to play with you losers. See you!” Doolbs started fleeing through the densely populated forest with the ribbons.

“Don’t let him get away!” Nagoo warned her companions.

“I’ll stop him!” Lyra went ahead a trice. “Appear, Astral Mirror!”

A rectangular mirror abruptly manifested before Doolbs’s fleeing figure. Curiously staring into the reflective frame, he recognized himself as being strangled by his own reflection. A fitting payback for a Shadow Double who absorbed the Original. “What the hell?”

“Nice going Lyra.” The other ladies caught up swiftly to him. Out of all of them, Riuk was the most livid.

“You, I’m going to make you pay for letting me think that you were dead.” Riuk cricked her fingers menacingly as she started arousing the arcane powers of her emerald Krowqui Circles.

“Yeah, he deserves a big ass whipping.” Adusa vehemently agreed.

As they were about to carry out their revenge, they overheard Doolbs exuding diabolical laughter of resounding proportions. “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“What’s gotten into him?” Riuk was startled by Doolbs’s sinister appearance. “He looks so evil.”

Adusa mustered the courage to ask him, “What is so damn funny?”

Doolbs responded cockily, “You’re all idiots! So quick of you to forget about my Shadow Doubles.” Directing his focus toward the eerie woods, he shouted, “COME OUT!”

Many Shadow Doubles began approaching from within the dark corners of the forest.

“They are so many of them! Around 50 I think…?” Baiera became concerned by the sheer number of dark presences rushing toward her companions.

“Don’t let your guard down!” One of the Shadow Doubles launched an attack at Baiera from the rear. “Your fat ass is mine bitch!”

“Try and steal it if you dear.” Baiera counterattacked the Shadow Double with a fist and then expanded her metallic feathers in order to smash a few more of them.

“Dison Wolves Guillotine!” Okami commanded her dark feathery wolves to cut through a variety of Doolbs’s Shadow Doubles.

“You cocky bastards!” Adusa used her Poison Mallet to viciously slaughter a whole bunch of them on her side.

While the ladies were distracted with his Shadow Doubles, Doolbs slipped away from Lyra’s Astral Mirror’s reflective frame and recommenced his escape through the woods.

“Huh?” Nagoo noticed him trying to slip away and told her comrades, “Don’t let that one escape, he has the ribbons!”

“I’m on his trail. Astral Mirror!”

“No, you don’t!” A lot of Shadow Doubles appear suddenly in front of Lyra to prevent her Astral Mirror from having any effect on the sinister Original.

“Useless idiots!” The moment Doolbs started to boast, Riuk conjured a tree bark around him which tied him up.

“I won’t allow you to escape me again!” She said to the others, “I caught him!”

“Nice going Riuk.” Baiera and the others were close to getting rid of the remaining Shadow Doubles. They all thought that Riuk had captured the Original, however, it wasn’t so.

The original Doolbs was actually disguised as one of his dark Shadow Doubles who was long gone from that area and was currently making his way to the Final Stage.

Glancing back in the distance where he heard some faint explosions, Doolbs smirked sinisterly. “Keh-he-he, those morons. They were so easily tricked by me.”

Doolbs undid his dark shadowy appearance by ripping it away like old clothing. Soon after, he heard an unexpected voice.

“Going somewhere?”

“What?” Doolbs’s wings suddenly came to a halt when he looked ahead of him and saw Nagoo waiting for his arrival on a tree branch. He was in shock. “You, how did you know where I was?”

The frequency lines inside of Nagoo’s Aechos began to jolt as she responded, “You can’t deceive my eyes. I saw right through your sneaky plot.”

“Oh, but still… how did you know that I was the real one? My Shadow Doubles’ Krowqui Signature and my own are exactly alike.”

“Yes, you are correct about that. Your Krowqui Signatures are closely identical. I’m even more so impressed that you were able to mimic the exact array of your Krowarc to the finest detail throughout all of your shadow clones.”

Doolbs was still puzzled. “Then how did you know…?”

“You’ve missed something vital. It was very faint but I was able to detect it with my meticulous Aechos.”

“What did I miss?” Doolbs was genuinely eager to learn of the error that exposed him.

Nagoo conveyed to him, “What gave you away was your Pranne residual bleed signature. There was a lingering log vibration produced by your frontal consciousness when you duplicated yourself. The log vibration becomes weaker whenever a split is generated genetically, therefore, all I needed to do was locate the one with the strongest concentration of Mental Quanta.”

“Hoo?” Doolbs was very impressed by Nagoo’s intelligence. “Clever girl. I sincerely apologize for calling you an idiot back there. I was wrong. Among your peers, your intelligence is way more superior. I see that now.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Anytime. I like a girl who has her head screwed on properly. Now that I’m getting a closer look at you… you’re very beautiful aren’t you, similarly to an angel?”

“Oh, that’s so sweet of you to say.” Nagoo blushed briefly. She almost succumbed to Doolbs’s charms had it not been for a faint explosion that occurred afield which made her alert. “No, stop! Your flattering words won’t get you anywhere with me.”

“Well, it was worth a shot wasn’t it?” Doolbs flew closer to her. “What now, do you wish to stand in my way?”

“Yes!” Nagoo stood firmly in his path.

This forced Doolbs’s sinister tongue to unleash the harsh truth. “You are aware that there can only be one winner in this competition, correct? If I hand over the ribbons to you and your friends that will only cause a conflict to arise between you ladies, am I right? Or were you just planning to take the ribbons all for yourself, seeing how you haven’t notified your friends about me yet?”

“No, you’re wrong!” What Doolbs said was starting to trouble Nagoo’s convictions. “I don’t want to steal anything for myself. I just…”

“Just what? Ditch your friends and claim the win for yourself? Is that it?” Doolbs pressured her with his negative assumptions.

“No! I…”

“Listen…” Doolbs went in closer until he was able to place a hand on Nagoo’s shoulder. “You already know how this is going to end. Just let me go and pretend you didn’t see me.”

Finish speaking, Doolbs gave Nagoo one last glance before flying away.

“…” Nagoo turned around to try and stop him but something prevented her from doing so. She eventually rested her buttocks on the rough branch and sighed. “Girls, I’m sorry.”

Back where the other ladies were present, Doolbs’s remaining Shadow Doubles were all captured by Lyra’s Astral Mirror. Because of their link with the Original, they knew that he had gotten away with the ribbons so they all began laughing hysterically.

Riuk was startled as she stared at what she thought was the original Doolbs. “Why are you still grinning when I’ve taken the ribbons away from you?”

“He’s just delusional Riuk.” Said Adusa. “What he needs is a good slap to shut his mouth up.”

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! You idiots!” The fake Doolbs started to dissolve into nothingness including the ribbons that Riuk was so proud of stealing.

“What’s happening? The ribbons are also dissolving?”

Adusa cursed a few expletives when she found out what was going on. “That sly bastard! He tricked us again!”

“Goddammit!” The ladies became disappointed in themselves. At this rate, they knew that it was close to impossible for them to become the victor of the elapsing Guild Test. The timer had already fallen close to the singular digits.

Tic! Toc! Tic! Toc!