【One moment.】 The Refuge couldn’t abandon his current situation instantly and heed Chorus’ call. First, he had to get his current host to safety. With one more mighty bound, the Mecha Pox hopped over to one of the corners, clearing out the few Rathe clones who were sniping from there with his devastating impact.
The orange light around the warbeasts body began to dissolve away, leaving the koala-fox suddenly up in midair with a decent drop down towards the ground. But Drimini swooped in quickly, snagging her brother out of the air and flying off with him out of any danger.
Tize then merged with Chorus’ battlesuit rather than turning into a pocket mirror when the host had no pockets. Nor did he try to stuff himself inside of the pre-existing armor and tailor the compressed clothes within. Instead, he turned into plated-yet-dainty frills that certainly would make the producer stand out more than the other suited-up fighters. Not that The Quick Changer ever needed such help. 『Synchronization Rate: 77%』
Chorus’ wardrobe briefly appeared in front of them before the producer flung it into open space, its tethered chain trailing behind. There, it vanished, only to multiply and reappear scattered across the room. The clothing storage took on various forms. Most were general wardrobes that comfortably fit a person.
But a few needed tailor made furnishings for their size. Itsy needed a bulkier armoire to fit her form. And for Pox and Drimini, something so big wouldn’t suit them, so they were encased in small suitcases. To account for Laurim’s monsterfied Ankylodillo form, they were swallowed up by what could only be described as a giant dresser sphere.
Then for a few others, Chorus had simply taken artistic license to spice things up a bit, likely for the camera orbs that had been floating around and recording the whole thing—smacking the hands of any of the Rathe clones that tried to attack them, though they were mostly left alone.
One at a time the Fiends were snatched away out of the room. The space was rapidly filled with furniture like a burgeoning boutique. And before Drim himself was grabbed, he had to shake his head to dismiss the sudden intrusive thought that all of his friends were being eaten alive by what looked like sentient coffins—praying that it wouldn’t become their ultimate fate.
The king found himself suddenly sitting comfortably on a pile of clothes. Normally when Chorus trapped someone in their wardrobe, they’d stick them somewhere in the middle of all garments, like being buried in an avalanche of fabric. But out of consideration to their fellow members, The Quick Changer had placed everyone at the top of the pile.
After a quick scan, the sea of clothing seemed to stretch endlessly, and Drim didn’t even want to realistically guess how many pieces that their producer must posess. Any fashionista would be seething with envy. But that wasn’t the only thing in the world of wearables.
Floating above the Fiends were giant mirrors in every direction in place of a traditional sky, giving them a glance at themselves from all possible angles, even the severely unflattering ones. And also up in the air like twinkling stars were globes of bright, near-blinding vanity lights. So despite it being an entirely enclosed space, it had surprisingly good visibility, perfect for a modelling exhibition if they got too bored while they rested.
But the mood was sadly too severe for such impromptu gallivanting in the strange new world. The medical team quickly got to work treating everyone who was still injured, able to make much faster progress now that everyone was together and out of harm’s way. But it did bring up a new worry.
“So we’re safe in here, right?” Kada had to ask.
“Well…” Chorus’ initial tone didn’t exactly sound the most promising. “The wardrobes are unbreakable and impenetrable. I can confirm that much at least. And while they are ridiculously unmoveable while under my control, I don’t doubt Rathe could exert enough effort to shove them around. She’d also have quite a few other options at her disposal. So if we don’t want to find ourselves entombed in stone or drowning in the sea when we leave, it’d likely be best that we don’t linger too long.”
“And…” the producer turned their attention to the small ball of fluff that was nearby, having immediately curled up and nestled into the clothing. “Sorry for taking your toy,” Chorus referred to Tize as such as they apologized while carefully petting Pox with the metallic gauntlet over their hand. “You can have it back when we leave here.”
But the koala fox didn’t seem too keen on the idea. He sat up for a moment while shaking his head and rubbed his stomach, acting as if was full and aching. The creature had eaten a full course rock buffet after all, so it wasn’t too surprising. At the very least, he’d need some time to digest.
Speaking of consumption, though, to aid in the recovery effort, Rishaki opened the chest that had come in with her and began passing around fatigue-removing drinks and just regular water. She also offered a few healthy snacks and energy bars to those who would want them, but few were feeling too hungry.
It did lead to a brief discussion though about her power working while inside of Chorus’ domain. Just how deep could they go with it—pocket dimension within pocket dimension. Valen could do versions of both, and Roque’s contracts possibly worked similarly if they could figure out how to get inside of them. Ultimately, it was a pointless conversation, but it served its purpose, a distraction from the turmoil they were facing.
“So what are we going to do?” Xard brought the conversation back to the topic at hand before too long. “If she keeps building speed, it won’t be too long before I can’t even escape her by flying, especially with how confined we are in her lair.”
“Wait, is she building up even more speed while we’re in here?” Kaizu shared her concern. “If so, delaying much further could be our end.”
“Actually, she mentioned leaving before,” Itsy suddenly brought up. “She might be using this chance tuh escape. Do you think she’d go out and try to hurt our families as retribution or sumthin?”
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
“No, I doubt that,” Drim attempted to ease the giantess’ worry. “Another thing you’ll just have to trust me on is that as we weaken her, the more tied to this place she becomes, and the less distance she can travel from here. Even if she did decide to leave, I think we’ve damaged her to the point that she wouldn’t be able to make landfall.”
“Or at least that’s just a rough guess based on how much power she’s seemed to have lost. It’s quite hard to say since I didn’t see her at the start, and I’m not really sure how to read it. Still getting used to this whole divine thing. But besides that, I doubt she’d leave us alone in her home—unprotected for us to do with it as we see fit.”
“More insight from your new friend, our dear creator of all things?” Roque asked with general intrigue, having always been interested in the machinations of the ancient world and the divine. To which Thorn just gave a light nod.
“I don’t suppose you have any speed abilities in your new arsenal, Drim,” Rusa suggested. “If we could boost ourselves in that way, from my examination, our combat ability is enough to handle Rathe. Frankly, she’s not that great in terms of actual fighting skill. Her actions are very crude. It’s only the amount of minions she can make and the speed at which she can attack that are real threats. If we can overcome that, then we will win. Though I can’t say too much for her main body, since she barely uses it to fight.”
“Sorry, but I don’t think I do,” Drim ran his fingers along his now-tangible crown, hoping for inspiration. “At least not that I’ve discovered yet.”
Out of nowhere, Chorus suddenly keeled over, catching their head in their hands. And then the entire clothing world reacted, shaking abruptly, with the mirrors wobbling and a few spots on the clothing pile shifting around, becoming a bit unstable. “I don’t know what our host is trying,” they reported. “But it seems she’s running out of patience.”
“Too bad we can’t all move as fast as Gatrim,” Niloy sighed once the commotion had passed for the moment. “If we could, then Rathe wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Rezin nodded in agreement. “Yeah, with a speedhack like that, we’d totally win.”
“Well, the demigod said it’s something we can all do if we’re taught how,” Ipucco reminded them. “Perhaps you can instruct us, Gatrim.”
“Erm, well, I’ve never taught anyone how to do it,” The Memory shied away for once when being put in the spotlight. “And I honestly wouldn’t know where to begin. Since I believed it was a Foilepe trait, I guess it more came down to knowing it was possible and trying to hone in on that feeling while watching my siblings, rather than any specific guidance they gave me. So I’m not sure how to put it into words.”
“Don’t forget Mallea can do it to,” Phon suddenly brought up. “If even our butler can learn it, then it definitely means it’d be possible for the rest of us to figure it out.”
“Well, I’m afraid I’d be no help in teaching it either,” The Temp delivered the disappointing news. “I can only do it because I saw it and committed it to memory. Honestly, I have no rathely idea how it works.”
Nachi then stood up and held out her polearm. She mimicked the stance she’d seen Gatrim take numerous times with his rapier, trying to use her weapon as a focal point, honing in on her own sense of speed. And then…
“I’ve got nothing,” The Trainer suddenly collapsed back down onto her butt with a disappointed grunt. “I was hoping if I could figure it out then I could beat it into the rest of you. Seems like we’ll need a proper teacher. Don’t suppose we could reach out to anyone in your family somehow who could walk us through it.”
“Hold on a second,” Drim interrupted, his eyes lighting up with remembrance. “I might actually have an ability for this. None of you would have seen it, I guess, but it’s when I was teaching at the monster hunting academy. I used a power that let me transfer some of my own skill into one of my students so that they could beat a monster.”
“In theory…” Thorn thought on it more, trying to get in tune with his divine side. “Yes, this should work. Alright, I have a plan!”
Just as the man jumped up with enthusiasm, the entire clothing realm shook again. This time, it was with so much force that it nearly knocked him off his feet, and one of the mirrors in the sky cracked from the sheer reverberations.
“Alright, let’s do this quick then,” the king reaffirmed his aim and urgency. “Once this is done, we’ll head back out immediately. We don’t want to give Rathe any more time to build her speed. This will be our last effort, and we have to win, or else everything we’d have worked for will be worthless. But I believe in you all.”
“When we get out there, Phon, I’ll be relying on you to oversee it all and move people as needed. I’ll be facing Rathe head-on, but I’ll be asking for everyone’s support. Now to get this done, Gatrim, if you’d join me.”
“Of course,” the man stood up to attention. Though he was a bit surprised when Drim plopped Pox down into his hands.
“Hold him close to your chest,” The Slayer instructed. “Now then, before I start, Victori, I’ll need your help too.”
“Erm, you will? Okay,” she got up despite her own insecurities and walked over to him and then leaned in close when Drim whispered words into her ear. “Alright, got it,” she was ready to follow his instructions.
“Then let’s begin,” The Slayer pressed his unnocked bow against Gatrim’s back and then pulled the vine string. The Memory tensed as gilded light pulled away from him, like Drim was siphoning away his very essence, and it extended as far back as the bow would allow, creating a long, thin, headless arrow.
❝Divine Deviation: Skill Link!❞ Thorn let the arrow loose and it flew through the man’s body, out the other side, and passed through Pox as well. The glowing projectile then changed course entirely, flying straight up into the sigh into the sea of glowing lights.
Victori began reciting the rumor that she’d been asked to spread. “Word has it that the arrow above will give us great speed. Accept that you know the ability, and utilize it to its vast potential. The power is already inside of you, just grab hold of it, and let it drive you forward, back into battle.”
“This will be the final fight, and together, we can win this. Through the years, you have proven your might and skill as Fiends time and time again. It is time to prove it once more, on the biggest stage there is. Prove to this enemy that there is nothing we can’t overcome.”
“And as you fight, listen well. Your leader will call upon your name. Know that he understands you, understands what you’re capable of. When you hear him, lend him your aid. Don’t think too hard about it. You already know what he expects of you. So the best thing you can do in the moment is whatever feels right. Trust in him and in yourself. Through that trust, we will beat her, we will save this world from our tyrannical demigod and at last, make our dreams come true!”
The arrow exploded in the sky, splintering into dozens more like it. Then they changed course once more, beginning to fall like a terrifying rain that in any other situation would mean death. But the Fiends waited for it, welcomed it, and all braced themselves. Each and every one of them was struck with the light. And then they felt it, the knowledge leaking into their minds, temporarily imbued with all of Gatrims skills and techniques.
With it, they also felt the inhuman speed ironically gifted by Rathe herself, the key to defeating her, to overcoming her own haste.