"Aurora.. what did you just do..?" Human Hunter's gums bled from how hard he was gritting his teeth.

Every step Aurora took as he paced back and forth, sent an echo throughout the room. The cane he used was heavier than it looked. "I have found you a powerful ally, that is what. Benson and Aria cannot sit and wait for us forever. When I first heard of the Sapient outbreak, I planned on getting assistance from my friends at Proel, but after seeing their overlord's strength, I came to realize that Proel simply.. would not be strong enough. So I went to seek out a different organization, one that would give us a fighting chance."

"I see.. so you're saying that killing Tigal was completely unnecessary."

"Now now, calm yourself down there Human Hunter. The Assassin Corps do not just work with anyone, it took me some mighty convincing to get to this point. All for Benson, Aria, and your sake. They consider Proel one of their enemies, so I was simply showing my devotion by taking care of the intruders I've been hearing smash up the place. Now I sincerely advise you to assist me with that, otherwise everything I've done will have been for nothing. Ah, not to mention, they're humans. You know, the species you used to hunt."

"I've been a little busy as of late, old man..."

"Understandably so, you weren't aware of what I was doing. But now that you are, I believe it is time for us to rejoin forces, take care of Proel, and go save your family."

Human Hunter just stood there for a while. Not saying a word, not moving. "They're Human Hunters, just like I am."

"Yes... and they will get you killed today if you decide to stand beside them."

"Nghh.."

"And keep in mind, whatever your next move is, I know. I have the crystal ball.. you do remember it don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. So you should already be aware that..."

Tilting his head, Aurora calmly asked. "Hm? That what exactly?"

"That whether or not you found a solution, threatening me with it was a big mistake..."

"Then it is as I thought.." Aurora closed his eyes. "You've most certainly been thrown off track."

"Maybe." The intimidating gaze of Human Hunter met Aurora. "So now what? Do you intend on becoming my enemy?"

"If that's what it takes to bring you back to your senses, then yes." Following this statement, Aurora turned to depart.

"I'll find a way to save Benson and Aria. One that doesn't require me to kill those who share our ideals. And then.. I'll take you and the rest of the entire Assassin Corps down. I promise."

Stopping for one final brief moment, Aurora separated his lips and said. "The Corps and I should be the least of your worries, Human Hunter." He then left through an opening in the wall that wasn't previously there. One that he seemed to have created himself somehow.

Again, there was silence for a while. Tigal's blood had trickled all the way over to Human Hunter's feet. Speaking of Human Hunter, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Flowe's.

"We now have an exit, I believe we should get going." Flowe said. "Staring further will only feed into any negative feelings you may have at the moment."

Human Hunter looked for a moment longer, taking in the site before him one last time. Engraving it into his memory. "Fine then, let's go." Not altering his gaze toward Flowe even once, he began walking to the exit. "Let's go kill the Assassin Corps."

Without moving, Flowe watched him leave.

A huge explosion of smoke erupted following an attack from Iron Charge. Along with Belfume, he was battling against the escaped Sapients. Since the Assassin Corps had only captured one of each kind, every single Sapient they were currently facing had its own unique abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and level of power.

One of the Sapients that was blasted to pieces by Iron Charge multiplied itself into several separate entities. Another took small bites of its own flesh, and spit it out as steaming acid.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Half of these damn things don't even seem killable!" With a swing of the hammer, Belfume crushed a sapient into the ground, only for it to turn into goo. "Seriously! The hell is this!?"

"It seems Vess inadequately assessed their capabilities." Iron Charge eliminated a few more, but revealed the strange abilities of some others.

"Damn right he did!"

Slate, a martial artist, slammed his leg against a massive Sapient grouping. "C'mon you guys, do you seriously not know Vess at all? Like he'd ever make a mistake."

"Bah, there ya are Slate." Belfume unsuccessfully attacked another Sapient that originally seemed to be somewhat normal. "I'll admit it's a shocker, but how else can you explain this? You're not tellin me Vess would hide this from us are you?!"

The toughness of Slate's skin made him nearly unable to suffer any physical harm. Tanking attack after attack, he pummeled multiple Sapients with his legs and fists. "Not a chance, basically what I'm saying is not to assume anything until we've heard from the man himself. For now though, focusing on these guys is probably the best course of action."

"Yeah yeah, no complaints here. Let's just hope we can figure out how to take the suckers down sooner rather than later. I'm tired of waiting to have some damn alcohol!"

Just then, a beam of light shot through the middle of the Assassin Corps HQ, creating a sphere shaped hole from the ceiling all the way to the floor. A Sapient stood where it shot, one that seemed to be far more powerful than the rest.

"The readings I acquired.. so they were from here." it said, looking at a strange screen displayed on its wrist. "I see. It'll certainly be interesting to see what the cause of such a large gathering actually was. Something tells me though, that the reasoning isn't positive."

Belfume, Iron Charge, and Slate looked on in shock. Human Hunter and Flowe stopped in their tracks, wondering what could have caused such a dramatic shockwave. The attention of all the other members of the Corps was caught as well.

"Just what we needed." Belfume groaned, he peered at the destructive mess created by the beam.

Just like Belfume, Iron Charge gazed at it. "Assessing...... whatever came from that beam, is several times stronger than what we're currently up against. Victory will require our full strength."

"Full strength huh? Pfft, c'mon tin can, if you couldn't tell, I've been giving it my all already. That'll just have to be enough for a victory."

"It will be!" Slate yelled from nearby. "We're the Assassin Corps, a team built of the strongest there is! No way I'll let a bunch of aliens we captured ourselves take us down."

"Heh." A faint smirk grew on Belfume's face. "Well said. Alright then, for the hundredth time, are you guys ready to kill the freaks in front of us? I think these conversations we keep havin have overstayed their welcome."

"Same here."

"Agreed."

The Sapients had all gathered close to each other, having recuperated during the commotion.

"If you both agree.." Belfume resumed. "Then shut your mouths already and help me take these bastards down. They've also overstayed their welcome. A welcome they never even got!" This initiated the onslaught. All three Corps members charged at the army of Sapients, throwing everything they had at them.

Explosions from Iron Charge erupted all around. He landed, and generated blades on his wrists for close range combat. Belfume did what he would usually do, smashing his hammers left and right, flattening Sapients whether it killed them or not. As for Slate... he still used his arms and legs for battle, but they now were completely different.

"A bunch of Sapients?" The arms of Slate tightened, and grew in size ever so slightly as he powered up. "Nice try, but it'll take more than you guys to bring the Corps to their knees. I've gotta hand it to you though, you did manage to hide all your neat abilities from Vess. At least I think that's what happened. That alone is an accomplishment, but it ends here. This is where it all comes crashing down for you." he narrowed his eyes. "I'm not ranked number six for no reason."

One swing. All Slate started off with was a single swing. His fist landed against the chest of the Sapient that turned to goo, and disintegrated it into nothingness. The power behind this one blow sent an incredibly forceful burst of air in all directions, and developed a large crater around his feet.

As was said though... that was only the first swing. After this, Slate began unleashing this level of power at a rapid rate. Every single attack wouldn't leave a trace of its target left.

Even with all of this strength, soon enough, the remaining Sapients... the strongest Sapients... began gaining the upper hand. The fist of Slate crashed into a Sapient that stood at fifteen feet tall. Much to his shock, it had no affect.

"What's the matter? Exerted yourself already?" The Sapient asked with clear confidence.

Slate's body vibrated. "That's not it at all, I just need a bit more strength for you, and a better angle." He shifted the positioning of his legs, and launched himself into the air. Once near the Sapients head, he took a swing. It attempted to block, but it was pointless. Slate's fist obliterated it's hand, and rammed into the head.

The Sapient staggered backward, and fell to the floor. It was finished off with a slam from Belfume's hammer. "There's around sixty left, but they're damn tough ones! Nothing we can't handle but... bah, who am I kiddin. Who the hell knows what kind of crap these guys have in store for us!"

"Nothing that my systems are able to comprehend." Yet again, Iron Charge had taken the time to scan the remaining targets. Normally this would result in a complete analysis on every single detail of an opponent, comrade, or anything else he may have used this ability on. While he could still use it on these high level Sapients to measure their level of power, the feedback he received on their abilities was extremely strange.

Luckily, they wouldn't be needing to eliminate the remaining Sapients themselves. Fifteen of them dropped dead moments after Iron Charge finished speaking. Black mist rose from their corpses. The third ranked member of the Assassin Corps, Kensin, was somewhere in the nearby area.

Startled that so many of their powerful comrades had instantly fallen, the forty five Sapients that remained looked around frantically. "Gisto, Blentura, Wrak.... gone so quickly. What could have-..."

A sudden knee to the chin from Kensin was enough to rocket a Sapient thousands of miles across the planet. The rest were beaten to the ground, or killed by his mist seconds later.

Kensin screeched, looking at his hand while Belfume and the others came over to greet him.

The first to speak was Iron Charge. "Per usual, the combat skills displayed by Kensin were inconceivably efficient. I only hope that one day I am able to reach such heights."

"You're the lucky one." Belfume firmly patted the glistening silver back of Iron Charge. "Unlike the rest of us, your shiny ass can get upgrades. Your dream's got a damn good chance of happening someday."

Slate tapped Kensin's arm. "Hey, Kensin. Do you know what came out of the beam that seriously messed up base, it'd-.. well... you don't exactly talk I guess, do you?"

Kensin screamed awkwardly in response.

"Heh.. right."

Arms crossed, Belfume's attention was drawn to the Corps HQ. "Oh yeah, that's right the beam. Almost forgot about it after the adrenaline rush I just went through. Bahah! I suppose we better check out what the deal with that thing is, huh?"

"That decision is the obvious choice, considering the beam catastrophe occurred within our living quarters. Otherwise we will be unable to return to our previous way of life." A variety of mechanisms were at work on Iron Charges body as he spoke. "But, as I warned you before, the life form that emerged from the beam is several times the strength of even the strongest we've ever faced, though at this moment in time I'm unable to measure how it would perform against the likes of someone such as Kensin."

"Yeah? Ya don't say. Well, crazy strong or not, we'll be taking the thing on sooner or later so why bother with the details. Let's go." Belfume slung a hammer over his shoulder, and walked toward the Corps HQ entrance.

"I suppose that's an accurate assessment." Iron Charge hovered forward, following Belfume into base. "I just sincerely hope whatever we're up against is able to be defeated by the combined efforts of us all. A loss against such an entity would be fatal to our project."