Captain Tash:

"The trail ends here..."

Tash's search has found an inconvenient roadblock at the foot of some dense woods beyond the hills of Chikukei. It turned out the Knight's hunch was a lead, after all. She detected that hairy Yūrei's Saniya trail near Chikukei's playground, a result of using air magic to outsmart the authorities by not leaving footprints. Just to be safe, her Basan cousin and his troops were fiercely guarding the three Weasels in case those terrorists pulled off a misdirection tactic.

Argh, just thinking about her makes her blood boil. The memory of that wench's threads wrapping around her defenseless daughter taunted her constantly. The Wolf swore to herself to take care of that criminal personally. At least she could unleash all her anger onto her, unlike... them.

Speaking of her colleague, the captain was still unsure about her feelings towards him. He was competent, not to mention the countless times he assisted her with her pup, even though his eccentric antics irritated her to no end. However, he was not only a Human but also lied to them for a year. Regardless of good intentions, it was even more difficult to trust him now than when he hid his identity from them.

But what could she do? The queen directly supported his escapades, in complete contrast to the beginning of her rule, if the words of her elders were accurate. Even the captain had to admit his inventions largely benefitted their way of life in Sayama when it was not cheap entertainment.

She'd have to swallow her grievances for now, although that girl still hovered too close to her pup. Why was it always Lien? What crimes did she do in a past life to warrant such mockery from fate?

She sighed. "Pick yourself together, Tash... You got a job to do..."

Diving herself into her career was the best remedy for her dreary thoughts. Why think of anything else when she could limit herself to a mindless cog in a machine? Although she still worked close to her older brother... When would that lazy sack of fat going to retire, anyway?

Damn it! Focus! The Saniya trail was gone, with no footprints to be seen. The last rays of sunshine were manifested as tones of orange at the end of a captivating gradient of blues, but her vision was not much impaired. In fact, her ancestors and beastly counterparts thrive at dusk and dawn, Tizohi be blessed.

As a faint glimmer of hope, the guard's nose was picking up a foreign scent. A fundamental phase of a Wolf pup's education is to wander through Sayama and learn the smell of every tree, rock, mushroom, and animal that inhabits the queendom. When it came to other Monoke, it was trickier to pull off since not everyone was open-minded to their tradition. Hence, the hypothesis of the strange odor belonging to a Yūrei was an optimistic hunch at best.

Nonetheless, Tash carefully stepped forward, her ears twitching at the slightest noise, no matter if it was as faint and negligible as a leaf losing grip on its petiole by the act of the breeze or rogue sticks cracking under the pressure of her foot. Her heartbeat slightly accelerated, not out of fear but impatience to end this charade and send those Humans straight to the capital and out of her sight.

...

A strange feeling sent shivers down her spine. Confused and concerned, her decades of experience shouted at her to concentrate beyond what her eyes could perceive and start detecting any unusual Saniya again. Perhaps it was the same signature she was following all this time.

......

She was right. Thin strands slithered in the air like flying snakes. That could mean-

As if they could tell their stealthiness was for naught, the black tendrils wrapped around her wrists and ankles. Before she could howl for help, a thicker one coiled tightly around her maw. Her muscles bulged, adrenaline pumping through her veins while her aura seeped through her skin, emitting a faint glow.

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The captain was almost conjuring enough strength until her bindings pulled her with extreme force! She winced as her body was slammed through trees and rocks, and her face was dragged through the ground on occasion. The pain would be overwhelming for any low-level Saniya wielder, but it was manageable for her.

Finally, the ache ceased. On her skin, there were no wounds to take notice of. Unfortunately, a painfully familiar voice was heard soon after.

"Cattain... Dack for revenge?" Hari-onagu cackled as her pale, furless self slowly hovered away from the shadows, greeting the natural nightly spotlight.

"Get your hair off me and find out," Tash growled through her teeth, her Saniya erupting with an ever-consuming rage. When she was on the cusp of freedom from her hairy bindings, her muscles... ceased. Almost like her will to fight back wasn't in tune with her body. But she was far from feeling fatigued! What magic-

Ah. The bard. His melodic tune tickled and dulled her senses, even though her anger made her too distracted to notice it. Her mind and body were slowly desynchronized by these specific air vibrations.

"What a good dog!" The Yūrei's grin widened, her bulged eyes filled with sadistic hunger. "You haven't net ny friend, did ya? You should hear him tlay the flute." Her hair caressed the captain's cheek. "It is... cattivating."

Damn it all. This skinny freak's voice grated Tash's ears like nails on a chalkboard. The way her slimy tongue had to compensate for the phonemes her lack of lips didn't allow clicked something inside her that fed her anger to new heights.

The skeletal Monoke pulled the captain closer, her face mere inches from hers. At least her breath had a pleasant smell. Chamomile, most likely. Her flickering senses made it harder and harder to discern.

...How long would he have kept her waiting?

"Now, we have dusiness to discuss-"

A barrage of golden flashes flew between the Wolf and the Yūrei! The subtle snap of her hair bindings was all Tash needed to hear before falling limp on the ground.

Unfortunately, his voice broke through the mental fog before unconsciousness could claim her. After his "LIGHTSPEED BARRAGE!" and the skinny Monoke's grunts, the "hero" knelt next to his colleague.

"Captain! Let me aid you!" The Human put... something in her ears, damping the Daien's cursed song.

Her members quickly regained their motion in a sharp burst of energy! The captain jumped back to her feet, claws unsheathed with the violent intent to shred the pale wench into tiny cubes.

The Knight flashed a thumbs-up, his visor presenting a warm and joyful "emote" or whatever it was called. Then, he pointed at the circular thing on the left of his helmet and made a negative sign by crossing his arms, forming an X. It meant he wasn't hearing anything either, so they shouldn't bother with verbal communication. Alas, it was such a shame to not hear his sweet voice...

It was an even bigger shame to see Hari-onagu still standing after the Knight's onslaught, flying toward them with eyes burning with malice and hair shaped like countless spikes pointed at them.

The Wolf's muscles crackled with electricity, preparing herself for an opening. Sure enough, it came when her target foolishly attacked in close distance, wielding her follicles to close in on them. However, Tash quickly weaved through their sloppy formation, entering the inside of the Yūrei's defenses.

In a split second, electric Saniya coalesced and weaved on her paw to the tip of her claws, forming a spear-like blade. The spell pierced through Hari-onagu's like a knife on butter! A crimson stream gushed from the terrorist's gut as her body violently jerked with the full force of lightning coursing through her muscles.

"NO!" The Yūrei shrieked. "NO! NO! NO!!!"

Tash looked back, swiftly pulled her paw out of her opponent's body, and jumped away from the incoming hair storm. The Wolf safely landed, watching in concern as her opponent coiled herself into a cocoon made of her own strands. She was practically invulnerable in this state.

The captain's fur bristled as the tree behind her suffered a noticeable change in its Saniya, followed by the ground beneath her feet slightly shaking. She sprinted on all fours, evading the roots that tried binding her. She wasn't going through none of that shit anymore, she swore.

The Silver Knight regrouped with her, squeezing her shoulder to reassure her. The Wolf leader was too shaken with adrenaline to be bothered by his touch.

Fortunately, her squad swiftly burst out of the trees, forming a circle with the two guards. All their eyes, ears, and noses were ready to detect and eliminate any trace of rogue vegetation. However, Tash's attention was still focused on the coiling Yūrei.

But, this would swiftly change as all trees, as far as their eyes could see, started convulsing unsettlingly at such a fast pace. The floor shook as more and more roots unearthed themselves and acted as feet for the shifting trees, new puppets for their Daien master.

As the forest turned into the bard's twisted hunting ground, Captain Tash knew this would be the roughest day in her career. But with the aid of her comrades and the Human, she trusted victory was within her grasp.

With a collective, booming, resounding war howl, the Lycan Squad and The Silver Knight faced the new threat head-on.