Rei sat in his ornate couch in the reserved section of the encampment watching the live feed with his personal artifacts. Unlike the feed the public had access to, he was able to change his feed freely.

Most of his time was spent spectating his son and the Fiends' positioning. After Kane had decided to lay low inside a rotting palace, he hadn't done anything noteworthy. Flickering through the feeds, he found that his underlings were more active than he was, planning the most optimal patrol routes and taking control of small sections of the city.

Changing the stream again, he could see the opposing team making their way through the city. There were two teams of two and their slow methodical movements suggested they didn't want to be seen.

'Smart.' Rei thought, stroking his chin.

Being outnumbered meant they were forced to rely on guerilla warfare. Since the Fiends were spread out to cover more ground, it was easier for Yakeru's team to slip past them. The only problem was once they reached Kane, wouldn't they cause a commotion loud enough to alert patrols nearby?

"What are your thoughts, Sentinel Sokuba?" Rei asked his temporary replacement while Kiyoshi was away.

Sokuba stood beside the councilman ramrod tall with his hands tucked by his back, watching the feed.

"Their plan seems to hinge on stealth. If they're discovered, it'll make their operation exponentially more difficult. Had the Fiends opted to seize control of a smaller area, they would've eliminated the gaps in their defenses."

"I agree. I just wish my son, gifted as he may be, would take this more seriously." Rei said as he switched the feed again. "Oh, what do we have here?"

The screen switched to an ensuing battle between an axe wielder, his two conjurers, and an endless wave of Fiends. He didn't bother learning the names of those on Yakeru's side so he wasn't sure who the axe wielder was, only that he was strong.

["Wow! Looks like this guy is a lot tougher than we initially thought!"] The announcer crackled to life. ["They just keep coming and he keeps plowing through them. Gotta give him credit where credit is due but how long can he keep this up for? Guess we'll find out!"]

The conjurers, in between scrambling to find more cover, would assist the brute either by restoring his vitality or by inhibiting the Fiends' movements. Rei watched, both intrigued and repulsed. Although the barbarian was without a doubt powerful, he lacked elegance.

Every swing was fueled by raw, unrefined strength that made him seem more monster than human, and he discarded strategy to satisfy his untamed passion for battle. What made it worse was the smile plastered on his face that implied he was actually proud of his style of fighting. If it weren't for his allies, he would've been defeated much sooner.

Not much could be said for his conjurers as they continued supporting him until the battle had reached its climax. Even after wave after wave, he had to admit that the small group of rangers held their own, though barely. The brute looked fatigued and the young lady appeared to be reaching her limit as well after her ally accumulated more wounds than she could mend.

It wasn't until another figure appeared that seemed to be giving the brute quite the challenge. The one controlling this particular drone artifact seemed to have taken an interest as well because it zoomed in. Once Rei got a better look at their opponent, his eyes widened in both confusion and concern.

Radiance seemed to be leaking out of the Fiend, manifesting into tendrils all over his body. Moments earlier, the boy seemed timid but now he had a look of malice in his eyes. It was then that he caught a glimpse of the empty vial.

["What an unexpected turn of events. Yowa has decided to risk disqualification!"]

He could hear concerned murmurs from outside. Sokuba looked at Rei. "Councilman?"

"Get down there and stop him," Rei said curtly.

With a quick bow, the Sentinel left the tent leaving Rei staring at the projection. He initially thought that he was using an enhancement elixir but they couldn't enable the user to cast without a conduit, nor would it cause seemingly involuntarily jerking. This was something else.

*****

Kenji shielded his eyes from the debris. Walls were shattered each time a tendril struck them as Kateshi, holding Aoi and Kenji in his arms, sprinted away.

It wasn't the kid who was blatantly trying to kill them that scared him. It was the fact that Kateshi was retreating. The man who he'd known to be a fearless freak of nature, who welcomed a challenge...was running away.

"Looks like the tables have turned!" Yowa exclaimed, commanding his tendrils to seek them out.

The fragile walls around them shattered and the ground beneath them fractured as the tendrils whipped violently to catch them. Fortunately, Kateshi was in better shape than the scrawny conjurer so outrunning him wasn't too much of an issue. The only problem was that Kateshi had been fighting for hours prior so his stamina was nearing its limit.

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Although Aoi could heal for longer stretches of time compared to their last dungeon raid, even she was showing signs of fatigue. Yowa whipped a tendril, smashing through the wall Kateshi had disappeared behind but when the smoke cleared he was gone.

"Hiding? And you call me the coward?!" Yowa seethed, his head twitching involuntarily.

Around the corner of what used to be a local shop, Kateshi set down his allies.

"My deepest...apologies," he heaved to catch his breath. "I am not accustomed...to carrying passengers. Are either of you injured?"

Kateshi worriedly inspected his teammates before they could answer, ignoring the pain from his bruises and throbbing legs.

"We're okay," Kenji assured, gesturing the two of them to get down as Aoi began healing their gentle giant.

"What should we do?" Aoi whispered, her voice trembling. "Elixirs are prohibited but he..."

"Do not fret. I will confront him." Kateshi said with determination.

"No, you're in no condition." Aoi tried to reason.

Lost on what they should do, Kenji clenched his fist. The announcer mentioned a Sentinel would intervene if things escalated, but there was no telling when they'd arrive.

His mind scrambled for an answer to their predicament, weighing every option they were presented with. Kateshi's reserves were on the verge of being completely drained. He'd surely be overpowered even with Aoi's support. The Fiend wasn't very mobile, but he didn't need to be since his tendrils had range, so inhibiting his movements would accomplish nothing. It was impossible to determine how far the Fiend could extend his tendrils so running wasn't an option either.

'Come on. Think!'

"I'm not that scary, am I?" Yowa cackled as his tendrils rammed through a brick wall, reducing it to rubble.

"Kenji?" Aoi looked at him with pleading eyes.

"If you cannot formulate a plan of attack, I will fend him off," Kateshi suggested.

Aoi's desperate look, Kateshi's suicide plan, combined with the collapsing structures growing louder by the second only worsened the already crushing pressure on Kenji's shoulders.

While staring at the cracked ground, he noticed something that his brain had tuned out when they were being pursued. He sniffed the air a few times to confirm his mind wasn't playing tricks. Nodding in satisfaction, he found the key to their dire situation and formed a rough plan around it.

Turning to his teammates, he spoke confidently as he laid out his plan. It was simple enough for Kateshi to understand and sound enough to reignite Aoi's determination.

"Are you guys ready?" Kenji asked before his two teammates gave confirming nods. "Alright. Kateshi you're up!"

Without hesitation, the giant charged out with a battle cry and his axe in hand.

"Finally decided to show yourself?" Yowa grinned with pleasure as his tendrils whipped in the brute's direction.

He dodged to his left, evading a tendril that slammed into the pavement. Jerking his head right, he narrowly avoided another that obliterated a wall in his place. Winding up his axe, he leaped over a tendril attempting to sweep him and infused his weapon. Yowa's smile grew wider as he knew his opponent couldn't dodge in midair.

"You fool!" He swung another tendril at him only for Kateshi to drive his blade into it, redirecting it into the ground.

Kateshi's eyes went wide as his blade became wedged, realizing that the tendrils' mass was too thick to cut through, even for him. The tendril spasmed, thrashing violently before flinging the brute away.

Barely standing to his feet, he was struck in the side and launched through the side of a building. Yowa's smile faltered when Kateshi burst through the building from a different side and charged him again, a green aura embracing him before disappearing.

Like their previous strategy, Aoi sat behind cover and healed her ally whenever he'd been injured. However, Yowa knew it was only a matter of time before she exhausted herself.

"I have you now!" Kateshi exclaimed.

Yowa whipped his tendrils at the brute once more only for him to redirect them into the ground. Angered, Yowa unleashed a wave of tendrils towards the brute. Kateshi deflected many of his attacks but also suffered unnecessary hits that he could've otherwise dodged.

Something wasn't right. Yowa had seen Kateshi fight before. During his battle with the others, he'd mix and match but now it seemed like he was strictly deflecting every attack into the ground.

The longer this dragged on, the more strenuous it became for Aoi. Blood began trickling from the corners of her mouth and her healing started to slow. Pushing beyond his limit, Kateshi's movements had slowed. His strikes couldn't pack as much of a punch as before and his body accumulated more injuries.

Despite the one-sided battle, Yowa grew increasingly frustrated. Exhaustion bore down on Kateshi, his wounds ached, and his reserves were practically depleted. Yet he never relented. This battle only highlighted Kateshi's unshakable courage and determination without having to hide behind an elixir.

Even with a power boost, Yowa couldn't compete.

Yowa gnashed his teeth, infuriated as he slammed a tendril into Kateshi's side, eliciting a pained shriek from him. He soared through the air before crashing through the wall Aoi had been hiding behind, knocking her unconscious.

"Miss Aoi!" Kateshi shouted, cradling his teammate.

He tried to carry her out of harm's way but his sore, aching, and throbbing body protested and his legs gave out. Doing the only thing he could think of, he shielded her with his body as Yowa began his slow advance toward them. However, before he could get in striking distance, the ground beneath him began to glow as snakes of amber ran through the cracks.

With the ground weakened from taking repeated blows, Kenji moved on to the final phase of his plan. Using his skill to increase the weight of a target, the ground trembled underneath Yowa as veins split the pavement.

The cracks hissed around him as the sewer system spewed pent-up hydrogen sulfide into the air. Yowa erupted into a fit of coughs as he inhaled the toxic gas. His vision blurred and his tendrils, once wild and untamed, now swayed drunkenly. He tried waving away the gas but it had already filled his lungs, influencing his movements with each inhale. The world tilted and spun, his eyelids growing heavy as his consciousness began to slip.

In a last-ditch effort, he outstretched his hand, launching his tendrils toward the vulnerable Kateshi.

Before his attack could connect, strands of steel coiled around the tendrils and seized them in place. Kateshi looked behind him to find Sentinel Sokuba with shimmering wires extending from his fingertips. Sokuba snapped his hand shut, instantly aligning the delicate wires and dismembering the tendrils.

With his other hand, he commanded more wires to yank Yowa out of the gas that had already started to dissipate. Kenji ran out to check on his allies when he noticed the Sentinel had subdued the unconscious Fiend.

"Are you folks alright?" Sokuba asked.

"We appreciate your assistance. Our comrade is not responding." Kateshi worried, gently shaking Aoi in his arms but her eyes remained closed.

With Yowa detained, Sokub knelt down and placed his fingers on Aoi's neck, confirming a pulse. "Let's get her to the encampment."