SLISSHHH… SLOSH… SLISSHHH… SLOSH……

The once snarling growls that infested the bay were now replaced by the soft, sloshing waves of the receding tsunami. The aftermath resembled a flooded ant nest — half of the Sigbins were already devoured by the ocean, had been swallowed by the sea, while the rest lay gasping for breath, or already cold and lifeless.

Anchoring in the middle of the field of corpses was a Crystal Dome; the one that sheltered Triggs’ team during the tsunami crash.

KKK—CRAAAACK!!!

Like a chick breaking out of its eggshell, Otto kicked his way out of the Crystal Dome.

Setting his foot on the bay again, he was awed by the chaotic picture left by the tsunami. “Damn, that tsunami really annihilated those pests,” he murmured.

Shortly after, Zaine also left the Dome; he seemed safe and unhurt. With his eyesight enhanced again, he went to the field to finish off the remaining living Sigbins.

Otto followed Zaine, leaving Triggs, Monty, and Lae inside the Dome, still tending to the unconscious Calla.

“This idiot almost killed us,” Monty blabbered, referring to Calla.

“Welp, at least our problem is temporarily solved,” Triggs uttered as he peeked outside the Dome.

“Mhhmmm…”

“She’s waking up,” Lae said after noticing Calla moan and rub her eyes.

Suddenly, Calla sprang up like an excited child. "Did I do it!?" she asked energetically, as if she hadn’t just been unconscious moments before.

“Scared the living hell out of us? Yes, you fucking did!” Monty replied.

“Damn, Calla. I sometimes forget how scarily powerful your Words are,” Triggs said.

By then, Calla responded with a smile along with a cutesy, “Hehe…”

“Don’t just ‘Hehe’ us! You almost drowned us all!!!”

Like a puppy asking forgiveness from its owner, Calla leaned closer to Monty and grabbed his arms. “Oh, come on, Kuya Monty. I’m sorry now…”

“Psh!!! At least warn us next ti —”

“ZZZzzz…”

Just before Monty could finish his scolding, he noticed Calla had already fallen back asleep against his shoulder. "Ugh! I can’t with this woman!" he muttered with a sigh.

Shortly after, Triggs, Monty, and Lae exited the Dome, still supporting the half-awake Calla as she stumbled along.

Seeing Otto examining one of the dead bodies, Lae asked, “What did you find, Kuya Otto?”

“Seems all of them have the Mark. Same as all the monsters we contain in the arsenal,” the man replied while checking the other nearby corpses.

“Well, at least we confirmed that we are in the right place,” Triggs said.

Noticing the holes in his robes, Otto uttered, “Damn, my robe’s all torn up.” He unworn the tattered cloth and threw it away like a rag. He then questioned Lae, “So, what’s your plan now?”

“We need to keep moving forward,” Lae answered, there was no hint of indecisiveness in her voice.

Surprised and disappointed with the answer, Monty argued, “Are you serious!? We were just surrounded by thousands of murderous kangaroos a while ago! We don’t even know what kind of monstrosities we’ll encounter ahead. It’ll be smarter if we come back another time.”

“I know that, Monty. But… our time is limited,” Lae said. She now began to stutter.

“Come on, Lae! Can’t you just be a little flexible? Just this once, Lae! Please, just this time!”

Lae was firm with her decision. With her head bowed, she replied, “No. We don’t have much time. We shouldn’t fail the mission!”

“Gah!” Monty out of annoyance. “You know what!? Why don’t we just vote!?” he proposed. “I vote for being sane and retreating to come back better-prepared. And obviously, Lae here votes for being full-on suicidal and charging straight into a monster den.” He then turned to Otto and asked, “How about you?”

“We’re already here. Might as well continue moving!” Otto answered with a voice of bravado.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Well, that’s no surprise, considering you’ve got the brain of an ape yourself.” Then, he shifted his gaze to Triggs. “How about you, Boi? You’re the sharpest one here, so I expect you’ll side with me on this one.”

“The people in Mt. Iriga are counting on us. Lae is right, this is the only chance we have to fix everything. I also vote for moving forward,” Triggs answered.

“Fucking disappointment. Absolutely idiotic,” Monty murmured bitterly.

“You’re losing, Monty,” Otto teased.

Still in denial, he sought for more support. But after seeing Calla’s condition, and with his firm belief that Zaine was also an idiot, he now accepted defeat. “Tch! You guys are all stupid! Just don’t go crying for help when a monster tears your body in half. I won’t be wasting time stitching you back together — I’ll be saving myself!”

“You’re exaggerating, Monty,” Otto replied.

“Yep. As long as we look out for each other, I’m sure nothing will happen to any of us,” Triggs assured.

“Tch!”

Suddenly, Calla raised her hand. Still dreamy, she mumbled, “Uhm… Why are we voting again?”

“See! This lady couldn’t even think straight! You better rethink your decisions!” Monty pointed out. “And look at your robes — they’re all fucked up. How are we supposed to sneak in safely to the main boss!?”

However, Lae didn’t mind Monty’s tantrums. “We’re wasting time. Let’s move.”

The others nodded.

Without further ado, the others followed Lae toward the forest, leaving Monty behind, still in the middle of his tantrum.

"Gaahh!!! What a bunch of idiots!!!" he shouted, but followed them anyway.

…

The team ventured deeper into the forest. With each step, the grass and greenery became denser, and the canopies overhead thickened, blocking out even the brief flashes of lightning that had been their only source of light.

“Lae, can you please give me your Word again?” Triggs requested as his sight slowly dimmed.

“Sure. Just hold still,” Lae replied as she placed her palms on Triggs’ head.

But just before she could chant her Words, Otto, leading the way, suddenly stopped in his tracks, throwing his arms out to halt the others behind him.

“Wa-wa-wait! Look! Do you see that?” he whispered, his voice strained and breathless, pointing toward something in the near distance.

Monty and Zaine leaned forward, squinting as they tried to make out what Otto was gesturing at.

Ahead of them, clumped in the thick bushes, there was a faint blue light. The glow was steady and also stationary. Though mysterious, the luminescence was not strenuous to the eye — almost alluring.

“Ugh! I have a bad feeling about this,” Monty blabbered. “This is exactly what I’m talking about! It’s a fucking monster that waits to lure us in. You know, like those damn deep-sea fish with the glowing shit on their heads!” he continued, waving his hands animatedly as he tried to describe the creature he had in mind.

"Wow, I didn’t know you were such an overthinker, Monty," Triggs teased with a soft chuckle.

“Shut up, Boi! It’s not my fault you don’t have any survival sense!” Monty argued.

“Well, if you’re that worried about it, might as well go check if it’s the real deal,” Otto suggested.

“The fuck!?” Monty’s reaction. “Then go ahead! I’m not risking my life for that.”

Lae let out a heavy, exasperated sigh. In a serious tone, she called out to Zaine, "Zaine, is your eyesight still good?"

Zaine nodded in response.

“Good. Please scout ahead and check out whatever that thing is,” she commanded firmly.

After another nod, Zaine used his Words to turn invisible, “VELUM!”

Monty stood with an amused smirk, throwing out his impish remark, “Oh, I see what you're doing, Lae — sending the weakest one to check it out first so if it is a monster, he gets sacrificed. Good call, I’ll give you that.”

“You know that it’s not my intention, right?”

“You know that I’m just joking, right?” Monty replied. “Jesus Christ! Isn’t there any humor in your body!?”

Before long, Zaine reemerged, standing right beside the glowing object. Otto observed Zaine's signaling gestures, as he was indicating that the thing posed no threat.

“I guess it’s safe to proceed now,” Otto assured.

“Huh!? Are you sure that he’s just not being an idiot?” Monty doubted. “Let him check again — scan the area further!”

“No point overthinking!” Otto uttered as he marched forward, ignoring Monty’s blabbering.

The others followed the muscular man’s lead.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Monty tailed the group.

As they moved closer to the light source, the object slowly became distinct to them.

“Is that a plant? A glowing one?” Triggs stated, describing the object.

A soft glow filled the area, emanating from a bioluminescent flower. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t just a single bloom but an entire cluster growing on what appeared to be a small tree. As the team moved forward, they realized the area was teeming with these plants, their soft light glowed like stars in the night sky, illuminating the dense forest.

“Woaaahhh!!! Am I still dreaming?” Calla exclaimed, her voice filled with awe. Though still half-dazed, her words perfectly captured the surreal beauty of the area, as if they had stepped into a dreamlike world illuminated by the gentle glow of the bioluminescent flowers.

“I don’t recognize these flowers,” Lae murmured, leaning in to examine them more closely. “They look like oversized kalachuchis [Plumeria flowers], but they’re bioluminescent,” she noted. “Could this be an entirely new, undiscovered species?” she pondered, her voice tinged with admiration.

SHIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!

Suddenly, a bright light illuminated the area, alerting the team — almost as if a powerful flashlight had been switched on without warning.

“What was that!?” Otto grunted, his stance alerted as he gripped tightly to his crystal sword.

“Calla, what the!? What did you do!?” Monty exclaimed, seeing the lady standing next to a flower that was glowing far brighter than the others.

Frantically, Calla tried to reason out, “Ah - eh… I thought it was cute, so I touched it. I didn’t know it could do that!”

“Great! With all that light, it’s easier for the monsters to spot us now,” Monty blabbered.

“Ooh… I’m sorry,” Calla apologized with her puppy eyes. “But wow! That light really woke me up!!!”

Ignoring Monty and Calla, Lae set her eyes on the ‘intensified’ glowing flower with fascination. “Hmm… That’s interesting,” she murmured as she walked to the said flower. “So, it’s also capable of Thigmomorphogenesis — it glows brighter if it is touched,” she assessed.

Seems like you're quite curious about the flower, eh, Lae?" Otto remarked with a teasing smirk.

“Of course! I’m a Biology Student — discoveries like this are very important to us!” Lae replied with passion. She then started foraging the ‘intensified’ glowing flower, particularly searching for the seeds.

Curious, Triggs asked, “Uhm… What are you doing, Lae?”

“Collecting specimens,” Lae answered.

"Oh! Isn't that what biologists do?" Otto questioned, raising an eyebrow. "They collect specimens of newly discovered species so they can claim the rights to name it?"

“Technically — Yes. But only if it's verified as a truly new species.”

Jolting with excitement, Calla sprung to the conversation as she suggested, “Oh! Oh! Oh! Name it ‘Star Flower’! Because look! They look like stars!”

“Good suggestion,” Triggs commented.

“Well… What can I say? ‘Stars’ really describe them well,” Lae approved.

Annoyed, Monty chimed in, “Why not name it ‘Let’s-get-the-fuck-out-here’ Flower? That glow is basically a neon sign for monsters, and we should definitely move now!”

“Well, Monty has a point. With all these lights, we’re practically sitting ducks here,” Otto affirmed.

Finally! Some human sense in that brain of yours!" Monty shot back sarcastically.

“I think I already collected enough specimens. Let’s mo—”

CHROOK!!!

“Agh!!! FffffUCK!!!!” Otto groaned in pain as an arrow suddenly pierced his massive shoulder. “GAAH!!” He gritted his teeth, yanking the arrow out forcefully, like pulling a candle from a cake.

"Ah, shit… We’re spotted. Now we’re fucked…" Monty mumbled under his breath, already bracing himself for yet another round of chaos.