The first was a green extra-muscular walrus-looking creature, except that its arms and legs were ape-like, foregoing flippers altogether.

[The Verdant Breaker, Nemesis First Stage]

Danger Level: Certain Death

The second looked like a dragon with two heads, one black and one white, they both swayed from side to side as they sang in tandem.

[The Immaculate Duet, Nemesis First Stage]

Danger Level: Certain Death

The third looked like someone slammed a shark and a bull together and then injected it with two million CCs of unadulterated rage.

[The Envious Hunger, Nemesis First Stage]

Danger Level: Certain Death

I just wanted to curl up into a ball and scream until my voice went out.

Instead I shook my fist at the sky. "Whoever's up there listening, damn you for this!" Then I smacked my face cheeks. "Alright! Sydui, your [Berserk] is about to run out, so you should go to the back line! Polyu and Rahyu, focus on the enemy Nemeses! Everyone else take on the metalcorns! I'll be switching tasks as needed! Break!"

Everyone nodded in unison and the combat began again.

Rahyu was the first one to move, using [Photon Gaze] on The Breaker.

The enemy champion deftly swung its body through the treetops, going just above Rahyu.

"[Capture]!"

"Oh no you don't!" I fired Hole Puncher at Tutu.

Tutu was forced to dodge, screwing up their shot and causing them to miss Rahyu with the gross ink.

I ran up to Rahyu and clumsily threw The Great Stabbinsky at Tutu as I pushed Rahyu out of the way.

Tutu caught The Great Stabbinky, chittering a laugh at me.

That ended when I shot another bolt at them, and they were forced to dodge again.

"Sit still so I can kill you damn it!" I yelled.

I looked around to see how the rest of the battle was going.

It wasn't going well to say the least...

The non-Nemeses were having a hell of a time trying to fight the metalcorns, the only reason they weren't overrun already is because Hund was stemming the tide somewhat.

Polyu and Rahyu weren't faring much better, being too new as Nemeses and outnumbered.

"[Capture]!"

I ran toward the direction I heard it said in, bringing up my hand to block it inches before impact with Hund.

Tutu made another tisk.

This was getting annoying, but I had an edge and I knew it.

I watched Tutu as they swung back and forth, alternating arms as they did so.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Tutu chitter some sort of command.

I looked behind me and dodged moments before The Breaker landed where I had just been.

"[Capture]!"

I didn't have the time to react as Sydui was covered in ink.

Instead of screaming out like I wanted to do with every fiber of my being, I ran over to Tutu.

"Hole Puncher! Max speed!"

'Understood.'

Tutu had been laughing at my despair, chittering away happily in the canopy above us.

And then I blew off two of their arms.

"I hope when you're sent to hell, they drown you in acid for the rest of eternity!" I revealed the gem in my hand. "[Capture]!"

You see, I found out that if the gem comes in contact with the [Skill], it absorbs significantly more than it does passively, even if it's not as much as if it was from a willing participant.

During the time I had pushed Rahyu out of the way, and the time I had blocked the ink with my hand, I had used the gem to absorb a bit of his [Skill] for just this moment.

The ink sailed over Tutu, who laughed at me for my poor accuracy and apparent misunderstanding of their [Skill].

That was until it hit The Envious Hunger.

The ink already on The Hunger roiled as it and the newly added ink fought for a moment. Finally, both inks were destroyed and The Hunger regained its senses.

The shark-bull turned and got even angrier somehow.

Tutu turned to The Breaker. "[Ascen-"

It was too late, and Tutu was bitten in half.

As Tutu disintegrated, but I found that the ink didn't disappear.

I looked over to where Sydui last was and I didn't see her.

In a frenzy I looked around and saw something horrifying.

Sydui was just about to rip Polyu in half.

I ran and tackled Sydui, pushing Polyu away from us both.

Sydui looked like she was in [Berserk], her mental faculties were unlikely to be enough to hear me.

Sydui pushed me off of her, and got to a stand.

She growled at me as I did the same.

"I'll apologize later Sydui." I ran over and punched her directly in the face.

She stumbled backward, frothing at the mouth.

She roared at me and then lunged.

Her fist connected with my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

I grabbed her arm out of instinct, trying to hold myself upright.

She clumsily countered from her now very awkward position, missing by a mile.

I attempted to put her into an arm-lock, but she didn't even seem to feel it.

I barely dodged as Sydui almost tore out my throat with her teeth.

I looked at the palm of my hand.

Hurry up damn you!

Sydui managed to get an angle on me and got me with a kidney punch.

I dropped my grip and cried out in pain.

She punched me in the face and knocked me to the ground.

I hope this is good enough. "[Capture]!"

Another gout of ink sprayed from the gem, hitting Sydui point-blank.

I held my breath as the ink roiled on her fur.

Luckily, it had been just enough and she came back to her senses.

"What's going on? Why does my face and arm hurt so much?" She asked.

"I'll explain later, but for now, we need to kill the Nemeses and get out of here!"

Sydui looked around, and saw the other enemy combatants, snapping back to the fight.

It had become an all-out brawl, everyone just hitting any enemy who came in range, in order to get them that much closer to death.

Several Fifskae were trying to hold down The Duet, trying to keep it out of the fight for as long as possible.

I took out Hole Puncher. "Everybody off the two header!"

It took a moment for them to get the message, but as soon as someone saw me aiming, it went through.

I blew off both heads with a single shot, but even then it tried to fight back.

I ended that notion with another shot to center of mass.

All that was left was The Breaker and The Hunger, both of which were fighting each other.

I took some time to reload and order some to the back line to rest, I was perfectly ready for a kill-steal.

...That was until The Hunger began to glow...

[Nemesis Promoted Nearby]

The Breaker was suddenly overtaken in mere moments, as a bunch of phantom bite-marks appeared all over its body and it disintegrated.

The Hunger then turned to us.

[The Envious Hunger, Nemesis Second Stage]

Danger Level: Certain Death

I looked at our roster, everyone was clearly exhausted, including myself.

"Alright everyone, up for one more round?!" I asked.

Sydui stretched out her shoulder. "[Berserk]'s about to come off of cooldown."

"And I've got a bit more fight in me." Hund added.

Rahyu stood up straight and put on a false energy. "Don't count me out either!"

I lifted up Hole Puncher. "Alright, one more before we go home!"

"Yeah!" The Fifskae yelled in unison.

The Hunger's shark-bull-like form roared at us as we mobbed it.

Sydui yelped in pain as she got a bite mark on her leg.

To compensate, she used [Berserk] and charged as though it wasn't even there anymore.

I aimed at The Hunger, but I suddenly felt the sensation of teeth digging into my arm.

I screamed in pain as my new wound trickled with blood.

That was one nasty [Skill] The Hunger had.

I fought through the tears, aiming once again at The Hunger, but Rahyu and Hund were in the way.

Rahyu shot his [Photon Gaze] into The Hunger's eyes, causing them to boil in their sockets.

Hund peppered The Hunger with poisonous needles, which seemed to slow down its movements.

Finally, Sydui tackled The Hunger over and both of them fought on the ground.

Sydui was riddled with bite marks, and The Hunger reared up, maw opening to clamp on Sydui.

I didn't have a shot.

Sydui placed her hands between The Hunger's jaws, holding them apart.

And then suddenly, the bites stopped appearing.

[Nemesis Demoted Nearby, as a Skill's duration has ended]

The Hunger's mouth grew wider and wider, until Sydui simply tore the two halves apart.

The Hunger screamed in fear as she ripped it the rest of the way in half.

Sydui roared in victory.

[Nemesis Promoted Nearby]

I looked around for a moment in a frenzy, that is until I paid slightly more attention.

A smile then crept onto my face.

[Sydui The Night Ripper, Nemesis Second Stage]