They had done it. They had completed their mission, as they always did. The cost had been worse than it had ever been, but their target was dead. Catherine could only hope and pray that it had been worth it. Worth the lives of worth the lives of five of her best friends, people she considered her brothers and sisters.

She still remembered how beautiful Samantha had looked at her wedding. Now she lay dead in the mud, her neck at an unnatural angle, her treasured daggers discarded, her body limp.

The entire battle had only lasted a few minutes. As Experts, they were used to battles lasting several hours, and yet they were all gasping for breath, completely exhausted. They were all powerful Experts and were used to be outnumbered and surrounded. They were used to fighting other Experts.

Yet their target, a single Expert no one had even heard of before this Siege had killed five of them. An Expert whose power lay primarily in the summoning of Minions. They had all been through countless scary situations together. They had risen through the ranks, ascending all the way from Novices together as childhood friends. Yet this man had driven the very fear of the Gods into them.

Catherine looked at the pile of rubble that had just previously been an imposing wall, where their target's remains lay buried. Ordinarily, they would have preferred to recover their target’s remains in order to verify the death. There was simply too many ways to avoid death, both enchanted items, magic, or even the Classes themselves. But there was no need in this situation.

Their target had been a Summoner. And Summoner's death forced their Minions to disappear into the void. Such an occurrence was more than a simple unsummoning. It was very distinct. Anyone that had seen it happen once would be able to tell the difference.

Their target was dead. Their mission complete.

Now came the worst part. Collecting their friend's bodies and returning them to their families. Ordinarily, a soldier's body would be mass cremated at the site of their death. But an Expert was treated with more respect and dignity.

As the unofficial leader of their Expert Team, it was Catherine's duty to ensure the return of her brothers' and sisters’ remains. Johnathan left behind a pregnant wife. How would she handle the news?

Catherine took solace in the knowledge that she had been the one to deal the final blow. The collaspe of the wall had been unintended, but would be a boon to the continued siege, not that it was of concern to her. As far as she and her team saw it, they were done. Whether the siege succeeded or not was not their concern.

They would stay with the army and ensure it returned to Tarvain lands safely. But they would spend their time mourning the loss of their friends. They had won, but they did not feel like victors.

The survivors stared humbly at the hill of rubble. The Soldiers, both Tarian and Onigarian, stared in disbelief. They could not believe that at single attack had managed to tear down a section of wall. A wall that had stood proudly against the sustained attacks of the Tarvain Mages for over a week with minimal damage. Downed in a single blow.

Several moments passed in silence and Catherine allowed herself to look away. She had to see to her friend's bodies before the battle resumed again. But a sound reached her ears. The sound of a small rock hitting stone.

Catherine watched in horror as the hill of rubble began to adjust. Slightly at first, until a massive chunk of stone was roughly shoved to the side, revealing the broken body and armor of their target. A single glowing red eye glared at her through a crack in the helmet where part of it had broken off.

Catherine fell to her knees as the entire battlefield watched the impossible happen.

The Monster before them clawed itself out of the rubble before it stood atop it. Like a puppet on strings, it stared up at the sky and roared. A roar of pure rage and pain. All who heard it felt their blood freeze.

Deep within the city, Iris looked through her window toward the battle with fear, but not for herself.

The Monster lunged forward, appearing behind Janice, yet still facing Catherine. Before she could bring her glaive around, her heart was pierced by a black tail.

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The Monster lifted its tail, lifting Janice’s body off the ground. It cocked its head almost a full ninety degrees, that glowing red eye staring into Catherine’s soul.

George roared with rage and jumped at the Monster, intent to bring his massive Warhammer down on its head, but it took a causal step forward, completely avoiding the devesting attack that Catherine had personally seen pop Expert Ranked Monsters’ heads like grapes. The earth around the Warhammer shattered.

The Monster’s hand flashed, followed by a spray of blood. George stumbled, clutching his throat as he collapsed to the ground, drowning in his own blood.

Arthur and Maxine appeared at either side of the Monster, their weapons already shooting forward faster than a crossbow bolt.

The Monster spun around, launching Janice’s body off its tail into Maxine’s side and cutting deep into Arthur’s torso with the now freed tail. Maxine flew, landing heavily only a few feet in front of Catherine.

Gideon slid to his knees along Catherine, “Cast your spell!” He shouted in her ears, jolting her from her shock.

Catherine’s training finally kicked in and she began casting her spell. It would not be as powerful as before. She did not have the time to do so, but she focused it more, intent to not crush the Monster’s body, but pierce it.

Maxine rushed to her feet with a groan and an obviously broken arm. Despite the pain, kept her sword. Together, Maxine and Gideon charged the Monster.

Maxine ducked under the tail flick and parried the sharp claws thrust her way, launching her away from the second set of claws coming from the side.

Gideon attempted to ram into the Monster with his heavy shield, but it simply sidestepped, swinging its hand in a backhand, which Gideon blocked with his shield. He was knocked back two steps from the force, his shield dented.

The three engaged in a frantic duel. But for Maxine and Gideon, they were doing everything they could to simply remain alive. Gideon’s shield took blow after blow, becoming more deformed with each second that passed. It would not last for much longer, and once it did, Gideon would not last long.

Behind them, Catherine forced as much Mana as she could into the spell, it was wasteful, crude. Something she would usually never do, but she didn’t have the time to do it right. And it was working. The spell was already nearly complete. No where nearly as powerful as her first attack, but more focused.

The seven Magic Circles glowed brightly and sharp from the amount of Mana pumped into them.

Just as Catherine looked up to shout to her friends that she was ready, she saw the Monster’s tail flick, reflecting the sunlight for a moment, blinding her. A moment later, when she could see, she saw the crumpled body of Maxine, her friend’s head a mere two feet away from her.

Gideon roared in rage, charging the Monster. But his shield had finally reached its limit. With a final uppercut of its pointed claws, the Monster pierced through the shield and into the chest and heart of Gideon.

Gideon grunted in pain as his breath was expelled, but he was not yet done. With his final breath, Gideon thrust the point of his mace into the Monster’s chest, piercing its heart.

The Monster stared at the large man on its clawed hand, its head turned slightly in curiosity, before it removed its hand, dropping Gideon into the mud his mace falling with him. Despite an attack that would have killed any other Human, the Monster did not even bleed.

Tears ran down Catherine’s face, obscuring her vision. With fear, grief, and anger, she cast her spell.

A sharp beam of light shot out of the first circle, further refined and sharpened with each subsequent circle. Until it passed the seventh and became sharp enough to piece a mountain. But the beat was no longer pointed towards the Monster before her.

Just as she unleashed her spell, the Monster had appeared behind her, cutting her in half at the waist with its tail and spinning her around towards the Tarian army. The beam followed, cutting through entire ranks of her comrades.

Catherine saw all of this knowing that she had been the cause before she bled out, dying with regret.

Twelve Experts had been sent to kill just one Expert Summoner. Twelve Experts had died, not one to a Minion.

Without hesitation, the Monster charged the Tarian army, its Tail splitting into four, each one with a mind of its own. The Monster soared through the Tarian ranks without pause. None could fight back except the few Experts within, but even they could not resist the Horror that decimated them.

The army broke that day. Those brave, or foolish, enough to stand their ground died. Few did. The General in charge of the Tarian Army took note of everything, intent on reporting it so that the Strategists of the Tarian capital, Ceross, could formulate a way to defeat this Horror.

He did not even make it to the forest before his head was separated from his body.

The Onigarians watched in horror at the scene. Unsure of what to do, they stood there, horrified, but unable to look away.

Keylan and Elliot, having sensed the powerful Magic had shown up at the wall only to find the wall over the Main Gate nothing but rubble and the boy dead. They had seen his Minions vanish.

Now they watched as that same boy massacre the enemy. They watched him carve through the Tarian forces without pause or struggle. They watched him slaughter the enemy, unsure of what they could do.

Finally as the enemies became scarce, having either fled or been killed, blood flowing in rivers, dying the ground red, the Monster stood atop of mountain of the dead and roared to the sky, screaming its challenge to any that would dare face it.

None did.