The alterbeast scanned the room, sniffing the air for any beasts it could corrupt. After realizing there were none, it growled to itself and turned its focus on the group before it. Opening its mouth, it quickly unleashed barrage of seed pellets. The group leaped away from the incoming projectiles. The beast followed Sapphire as she continued to evade the pellet barrage by leaping away. While it focused on her, Pilot's sword manifested a red aura as he swung it, unleashing two air waves. The beast ceased its initial attack and jumped to avoid being hit. It retaliated by shifting its wilting bulb forward, shaking it briefly to launch a ball of goop. Unfortunately, the ball of goop only landed a foot from the monster and disintegrated upon contact, but not before making slight burn marks in the floor. The swordsman looked on with disdain and a little disappointed.

"Its slime adroit barely works, but we shouldn't touch it."

"It barely did anything!" Illuminary Onyx chuckled. "A pellet barrage and a slop attack. So far I am unimpressed."

"We better finish it off before it could use all of its arsenal." Illuminary Sapphire yelled as ran across the room while summoning twin chakrams. "An incomplete creation is still a threat!"

As if hearing it being called incomplete, the monster fired its pellet barrage again, forcing them to scatter. Jex twirled his sword as it began to coat in brown mana. Using the blunt side, he swung it like a stick at a broken table, sending it soar through the air toward the beast. The monster eyed the incoming furniture, and summoned a single vine from its bulb and smacked it away. Then more vines emerged, totalling in eight, each appearing wilting yet sturdy enough to cause damage. The monster roared and barreled across the room, swinging its vines and claws rapidly. The group moved away narrowly evading the vines, the claws, and debris as it barreled past.

However, the monster made a quick left turn and swung two of its vines at Onyx. Not wanting to test the durability of his armor, he summoned his axe and gathered a sphere of shadow energy into his hand. He hurled it at the vine, destroying it on impact and causing the monster to shriek. Another vine made a feint strike at him, causing the warrior to miss and curse himself for falling for the ploy. He felt another vine latch onto his leg, and swiftly launched him into the air. He hit the ceiling with a loud crash, then the vine yanked him down and slammed him on the ground.

The beast gazed smugly, before at its victim. However, Sapphire jumped between them, releasing a wall of bubbles as she flew. The beast collided with the bubbles and was and was knocked back across the room by their explosive burst. Growling in pain, the beast swiftly landed on its feet and searched around for the blue armored warrior. Jex raced at it with his sword radiating with brown mana while Pilot landed on a pile of debris with his sword also glowing. The beast sent four glowing vines at them. Jex shot forward, performing an upward arc with his sword. He carved up the ground while generating energy, and sent an energy spiral with rock shards encircling it.

Meanwhile, Pilot swiped his sword through the air, creating energy patterns that resembled the letter P, then thrust his sword forward into the P, sending it spiraling through air while it crackled with embers. The attacks overpowered the vines, flew past, and collided with the monster. Angered at being hit, It retaliated with another pellet barrage. The youngling winced as the pellets grazed his skin while evading. Unknowingly, a vine shot forward while his attention was on the barrage and struck him across the face, sending him into the wall.

Seeing his protege being struck, Pilot showed concern before switching his mood to anger. He sneered and jumped away as the beast ran at him while thrashing its claws and summoning more vines to strike at him. Pilot was on the defensive as he evaded being skewered by the claws and parried the vines. Pilot quickly reached into his bag and tossed two cylinders. One of the cylinders blinded the beast while the other exploded, causing the creature to hiss in pain. Pilot quickly leapt forward and sliced against the creature's head. The beast hissed in pain as it staggered back, a small trickle of blood poured from its face before a thorn manifested around the wound and covered it.

The canokian made a mental note, despite its skin appearing fragile, it held a decent amount of toughness. It didn't matter; he still drew blood, but not enough to carve a deeper wound. Pilot began to pour mana into his sword. If this beast was to be annihilated then he would need to make sure his blade broke the limit. However, he was interrupted when the beast launched the pellet barrage. He jumped, but unfortunately, one of the vines wrapped around his ankle and hung him in the air. Pilot quickly sliced the vine before the beast could attack, then threw smoke spheres on the ground, generating smoke around the area.

The beast jumped away, readying itself for retaliation. It produced more vines as well as glowing thorns manifesting on its skin. As soon as the smoke dispersed, the group was not present. Wonder where they are, the beast growled as it manifested more vines and thorns. It opened its mouth and shot a pellet barrage around the room. As soon as a pile was destroyed, Jex jumped out and unleashed a spiral slash wave at the fiend. The beast shifted to the right, letting it hit the wall, and launched its glowing thorns at him. The youngling managed to find cover before the thorns reached him, but his cover was destroyed with another pellet barrage, making him run away.

The monster caught sight of something, forcing it to jump in the air to avoid it, letting it hit the wall. It turned its attention to the blue-armored warrior and fired a combination of pellets and thorns. Sapphire evaded, and grunted when a piece of thorn pierced her armor but barely reached her skin. The beast raced forward, firing its projectiles at her and around the room, destroying the trash, hoping it would kill them. Suddenly, the beast felt something ensnare it, stopping its momentum, causing it to fall. The monster noticed its body was trapped by glowing water tendrils in the shape of a harness. Attached to the harness was a blue tendril of water that extended to the chakram embedded in the wall. Another tendril extended from the harness toward Sapphire, who stood holding her glowing chakram, her body radiating with blue mana.

Sapphire hissed. "It won't stay trapped for long! As long as I concentrate it will remain in place." She clenched her fist. "Put everything you've got and slay it."

Jarlon and Jex emerged and raced forward, their weapons radiating with energy. Jarlon's axe had morphed into a weapon with a bronze handle and a curved black blade, while Jex's weapon grew longer and thicker. Jarlon put his back into it and swung the axe, creating a huge spiral of shadow mana toward the beast. Jex on the other hand swung across the ground, carving up the floor, sending a stronger version of his previous attack. The two adroits collided with the beast, causing it to shriek as a mixture of Terra and shadow mana carved through its already decaying body. Once the attack ceased, the beast grunted, appearing worse than it initially looked, but still pushing itself to fight. A large gash appeared on its forehead and its bulb was shredded and purple blood leaked from it.

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Pilot stood before it, his sword morphed into its upgraded form, a red blade with a square guard and silver grip. The blade radiated with red mana. He raced forward as the mana on his sword shined bright with crimson energy. The blade grew twice its size and traces of small fiery embers encircled the blade as he ran. The monster roared in anger as it unleashed all it had on the warrior. Pilot swiftly maneuvered around the mixture of vines, pellets, and thorns. He hopped from pile to pile, slashing vines, evading pellets and thorns. The beast's assault was stopped when chakram embedded in its eye, causing it to scream in pain. Then a tendril of water poured on it and ensnared its mouth. That was all Pilot needed.

The Crimson Blade raised his blade in the air, then performed a 360 spin in the air before bringing down the blade, carving the monster in a flash of red manga. The blade sliced through its head, and red mana poured into the rest of the body, burning through it. Pilot jumped back quickly as light penetrated from the beast's skin, followed by an explosion, reducing it to glops of meat and dust. Pilot landed as he watched the smoke clear, revealing a brown wisp which further evaporated into nothing. The Crimson Blade glared at the spot, sneering at the rotten small. He turned his attention to the group.

"We can all agree it would have been more cumbersome if it was fully completed."

"Agreed," said the youngling.

"I don't doubt that." grumbled Onyx. "It would have been more of a pain in the ass than this."

Sapphire nodded. "If we were less resourceful we could have succumbed." She grimaced. "Once Jade learns of this she will surely put Brakt on our radar." She moved toward the doorway. "Brakt is after two territories. I know you will keep an eye on things in Chiara."

"We will send word to them." replied the crimson swordsman. "What they do with the information is up to them."

"Perhaps Jade will send us there, or she will head there herself." said Jarlon.

"No matter." Jex declared. "Brakt will be brought down."

Pilot snorted as he approached the doorway, then stopped as he noticed De-lan' body. "We have to be ready." He approached the body and knelt before it. "Jarlon."

"Fine," grumbled the black gemstone user. "What do you want to do?"

"... search."

"Search?" The onyx user was surprised. "You think he has something on him?"

"It never hurts to check." He sighed. "Especially if he swallowed it."

"I never thought you would be the type to desecrate a body." Sapphire looked on curiously.

"It... never hurts to be thorough."

Sapphire nodded. "Then I will watch from outside."

"So will I." Jex hollered. "I will help you have another pair of eyes."

The aviana smirked. "If you say so."

As the duo left the room. Pilot and Jarlon glanced at the body, solemn expressions etched on their faces.

"He was an idiot." said the onyx user.

"He was our idiot."

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-Present Day, Redwood village, Pilot's house-

Jin had his head in his hands as he groaned. "I hope you found something, I don't agree with what you did to his body."

"We did." responded Pilot. He reached into his satchel and placed down a blue gem. "In his stomach."

"Too bad you did not have the means to retrieve it without cutting open his stomach," said Selen-ja. "What did you do to the body?"

"We buried it, we can't transport it without raising suspicion." The crimson swordsman grimaced. "Sapphire did say Jade may make arrangements to transport the body through trusted contacts, but that depends on her mood. Especially if there is a traitor in House Greenbush."

The noble canokian nodded. "A traitor tarnishes a house's reputation. They need to handle it carefully."

Jin nodded, then stared at the gem. "Is that Mana Tech Memory Gem?"

"Yep." Jex nodded. "We scanned it here before we scanned it at HQ."

"No corruption." Pilot sighed. "But this does not provide much information. This is based on how much data De-lan is able to acquire. There is information about the monster, and some of his followers. He knows there are a few storage locations inside and around both territories. Not much."

Jin narrowed his eyes. "We have information, even if it's not much."

"And intended targets." Pilot narrowed his eyes. "The entire kingdom needs to be on high alert. Even though he is only after specific people, he will carve a bloody path to reach them. I already relayed what I know to Sir Zercakja and will present this to HQ."

"Luckily, Princess Rikari-mi has returned by now." the blonde knight breathed a sigh of relief.

Pilot nodded. "Right... until he makes his move, we will be ready and the Radiant will arrive sometime after the New Year."

Jex nodded. "What about the other three Radiant here? Shouldn't they be informed?"

"Zeena and the others can't stray from their mission." Pilot informed. "Not unless the situation requires them to return."

"Understood."

Jin nodded as he stood up. "Knowing the truth has changed my opinion. I think I'll get a drink or two... or maybe sit by Yojo's grave. Do both." He approached the door. "I'll return later."

"Wait, Jin." Pilot called out, pulling out another memory gem. "Jarlon gave me this." He tossed it to the blonde knight. "It's information about the girl you and the Radiant of Flora and Terra let slip through your grasp."

"They found her!" gasped the knight. "Wonderful! That's good news!"

"She's a member of the Gemstone Squad now."

A heavy silence filled the room as Jin processed the information. He had a grim expression as he glanced at the gem, then at Pilot. With a loud groan, he slipped the gem into his pocket, annoyance arose on his face as he opened the front door.

"Damn, now I need that drink."

He forcefully opened the door and marched outside.

Jex sighed as he stood up. "A human who is a member of the Gemstone Squad and human Radiant. How interesting." He moved toward the door. "I want to grab some sorbet. Sir?"

"We're on reprieve." said Pilot. "Relax before we return to HQ, you don't need to stick to me each second."

"Right." The youngling left the house.

Selen-ja stood up, then stared at the crimson haired man. "How are you feeling now?"

"Still... angry." He clasped his hand. "Angry that I let someone die in front of me again. De-lan may have killed Yojo, but Brakt took advantage of his desperation. As foolish as De-lan was, Brakt needs to be dealt with before things are irreversible."

She nodded. "While true, you are being dramatic." She approached on the other side of the table, then leaned in and hugged him. "I know we all drifted apart, physically and mentally, but we all need to remind ourselves we have to remain a single unit. We are comrades, Pilot. No matter how lonely you feel, no matter how much pressure you feel on yourself. We are all here."

"Thank you." He smiled.

She let go and clasped his face. "You can always talk to me, and I will lend an ear."

"Of course." He nodded.

She giggled. "I know you aren't the same person you once were, but you will be that optimistic youngling to me."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Selen-ja."

She stood up and smiled warmly at him, then she left the room. "I'll buy some ingredients for dinner tonight." She left the house.

After she left, the redhead breathed out whatever air he had. A small smile developed. "Optimistic youngling... hn. You always tease me about that." He stood up. "You once were a haughty maiden." His eyes caught sight of De-lan's memory gem, causing a frown to mar his face. "We all changed... or have we?" He pocketed the gem and moved toward the door. "All we can do is keep moving as time runs."