Metal reverberated as a gauntleted fist smashed into one of Celanae's barriers. The guardsman behind it grew twice in size and charged like a mad bull. Instead of crashing into her barriers for a second time, she snapped, and the amethyst wall disappeared as the man rushed into the room.

I held out my spear, aiming for his legs, and willed it to bend. As he stepped forward, my spear wrapped around his ankle, and the guard fell face-first. He skidded along the ground for several feet, and Igas stomped on his back. Metal bent as the man cried out.

"Careful! He can adjust his size," Elanor shouted.

The guardsman smashed a fist onto the ground and then shrunk. He quickly slipped out of his chestpiece and launched himself at Elanor.

She didn't flinch as Teddy met the jump with his shield. Once more, the man crumpled to the ground. Four barriers encased his sides, and Igas gently stabbed his sword into his legs, freezing them solid.

Despite all this, the guardsman foamed at the mouth and clawed at the ground. His stare never left Elanor as she watched him with crossed arms.

"Look at his eyes."

I couldn't see from this angle, but Teddy nodded. "Isaac. More incoming?"

Isaac reappeared from under my shadow, and he shook his head. "No. The others are acting normal. This guy was the closest."

"Proximity reaction to waking up Elanor?" Celanae asked.

"Looks like it. Cyrus, can you try to expel this? My aura is too slow," Teddy said.

Mana rushed in, and Áine appeared in front of me. She hovered over as Teddy gripped the man's head and forced it to the floor.

I finally got sight of the man's eyes; they were black as the void.

Áine landed on the man, and he squirmed to break free. He didn't grow or shrink, so Áine began injecting mana into his skull.

As she forced her skill to activate, I closed my eyes and sunk into the memories, letting me feel what Áine felt.

Cold, insidious. Slither through. Sift the mind, bend the will.

"There's this disgusting mana inside his head; it's centered around the back of his neck," I called out.

Teddy adjusted and yanked the man's collar down. "I see it; looks like a poorly healed hole, about a coin wide."

The mana rampaging inside his head felt like heavy chains that constantly squeezed down as Áine's mana attacked its links. It brought a sweet taste to my mouth, akin to apples.

It makes me want to vomit.

If it had been just apples, it would have been fine, but the constant movement of the flowing mana felt like it tried to force its way into my throat and through my brain.

Thankfully, whatever it was that held sway in his head, Áine had plenty of mana to work with. She didn't brute force her way through but guided the mana to target each link's weak point and erode the chains, locking up his thoughts.

The mana fought back, but Áine held firm, and in one last rush, she snapped the mana into pieces that rapidly faded away under the tide of healing energy.

"Teddy."

"I see it."

I opened my eyes and watched as the wound on the guardsman's neck bulged out.

"Disgusting," Sereza muttered.

The flesh bubbled until it ripped open, and blood seeped down the guardsman's neck. In a rush, a shrill screech rang through the room as a small, tentacled creature squeezed its way out and slapped its tentacles along the back of his shirt.

It made it less than a foot before its screech died, and it began to shrivel into a blackened husk. As the last of its tentacles froze, it flaked away and poofed into dust that stained the guardsman's shirt.

Áine repaired the damage and undid his frozen legs while at it. Skin repaired itself and became healthy and whole.

Everyone in the room had grim faces as we stared at the blackened mess that mixed with the guardsman's blood.

Teddy released his head, and I felt his aura activate.

After a few seconds, the guardsman began to stir, and he released a groan. He clutched his head in his hands and twisted away from the light.

"Ouggwh."

"Ashton. Do you hear me?" Elanor asked, her voice steel as she kneeled beside the man.

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"Captain? Ow! What happened?" Ashton asked through clenched teeth.

"Give it a minute; you should start feeling better," Teddy instructed.

"I... okay."

Elanor didn't wait and instead turned to the fairy. "Check my neck. If it's there, I want you to remove it."

"Go on. But wait for the others to immobilize her if she has one."

Áine nodded and flew around to Elanor's back. She landed on her shoulder but shook her head.

"Nothing," Áine said.

Elanor let out a sigh, and her shoulders dropped. "Good. Ashton, do you recognize where you are?"

Ashton looked up, and his eyes widened as he took in the rest of us. "We're in your office, ma'am."

"What was the last thing you remember?"

His face scrunched up as he switched between staring at his captain and the rest of the room. "I finished listening to Felwin's terrible jokes and wanted to come see you about switching shifts. My youngest will be celebrating their eleventh next week, and I wanted to take the day off."

"Has anyone you know been acting weirdly at any point these past few weeks?" Elanor pressed.

His face scrunched, and he shook his head. "No weirder than usual, ma'am. Things have been surprisingly peaceful."

"I see."

"Captain? May I ask a question?"

Her eyes flicked down to meet his. "Proceed."

"What's going on?"

Instead of answering, she looked to Teddy, who sighed.

"We don't know. We were given vague instructions to come to Helio. When we arrived, the gates were closed, and only one had a service entrance open. The city looks normal, but nobody noticed our presence. You're the first person we came into contact with."

"Elanor, where's Commander Graves? We'll need him."

Elanor looked up, her piercing blue eyes narrowing. "My father is in Solara. An emergency missive called him away."

"When was this?"

"A month ago," she said as she stood up. "There might be other tier threes in the city, but the others were adventurers who were pulled away for some guild expedition shortly after you left."

"This is a mental effect, right? Is this the same creature as the last time we were here? The one that made the guard attack Arturous?"

"As far as reports go, the sightings stopped, and there were no further suspicious outbursts. We assumed the monster was killed off or moved somewhere else."

"We need to go to the adventurer's guild," Teddy said.

"Ashton!"

The guardsman stood up and saluted. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Grab the rest of your gear and follow me." She turned to face me. "You, felkin. Will you help remove the control from my men?"

"Ask Áine. I'm just the mana battery."

To my surprise, the captain held out her hands, and Áine hopped in. Lifting her so that they both met eye to eye, she bowed her head. "Will you help me save my men?"

Áine reached out a hand and booped her nose. She raised her head and stared.

"That means yes."

"Good."

Áine hopped off and flew to my shoulder. "How are we doing this? Do we discreetly search for who has the same mark as he did?"

"Let's assume anyone with one of those creatures inside them will react the same way," Celanae replied.

"Creature? Mam?" Ashton asked hesitantly.

She ignored him and moved to the wardrobe in the back corner. When she opened it, her silver armor caught the light, and she lifted the metal chestplate and pauldrons off the stand.

The armor moved like liquid and melted around her body while silver chains grew from the shoulders and wrapped themselves around her arms. More chains sprouted from her lower back, forming a belt around her waist.

Last to go on were knee-high metal boots that tightened like a second skin over her calves. With her armor donned, she slid open a drawer built into the bottom shelf and pulled out a sword.

A single chain branched off and wrapped around her weapon, securing it in place around her hip.

"I'm ready. Let us proceed."

Elanor led the way back into the main room while busting down the sideroom doors. More guards hid inside and we noted who was doing what as we began to systematically clear the building.

It took nearly half an hour, but we found over three dozen guards total. There were smaller guard buildings throughout the city, small outposts near the walls where they usually stayed, so it wasn't the full guard force.

Most of the guardsmen had the back of their necks covered, so it was nearly impossible to tell who had the parasite. Of the ones who did have their neck exposed, all but one were clean.

Not good numbers, we're in for a fight.

We reconvened in Elanor's office. The captain tapped her desk as Teddy and Celanae formulated a strategy.

"We don't know if this will pull people from outside. Ashton was in the hallway when Elanor woke up, so the range may not be long-reaching," Celanae explained.

"We can funnel them in pairs or one by one. Since they react to things around them while ignoring us, we can test the range and free the rest afterward," Teddy added.

"How much mana did Áine use?" Eodyne asked.

"Less than ten percent."

"Good. It shouldn't take long to clear out the building."

"We can begin then?" Elanor spoke up.

"Yes," Celanae nodded. "We can begin."

"Sereza and Igas, you begin leading people apart. Try to get only two near the hallway, then lead one toward this room. Eodyne, focus on blocking out noise, while Isaac guards the perimeter. Celanae and Elanor will immobilize the guards, and Cyrus and I will get the mind parasite out."

Everyone nodded, and we got into position. I didn't have much of a role, but I was to watch and learn what I could. If Áine could cut down on the mana consumption, we'd be able to get through more guards before we needed to rest.

It took less than two minutes, and the first batch of guards was in place. Sereza slowly led the first guard toward the room by constantly dropping small objects in his path.

It's like leading a puppy with treats. This is ridiculous.

The first guard entered.

"Careful, he has a close-range fire burst," Elanor instructed.

Celanae created barriers behind him while Elanor's chains snaked through the air. Sereza counted to three and then tapped his shoulder.

We waited, but the guard only turned in her direction and stared past her. After a second, he shrugged and began to walk out of the room.

Sereza then gripped his shoulder, and the man exploded into action. A wave of flames erupted outwards, and Magnus stepped forward. Like a vacuum, the flames brushed against his crystal fur and began to suck into the cub's body.

The guardsman didn't wait, and his hands lit up with orange flames as he charged at Sereza. Before he could make it more than two steps, iron chains slapped around his waist and tugged him backward.

They began to wrap up his body and dragged him to the ground, where Celanae then sectioned him off with her barriers, leaving only a small patch of skin above his nose exposed.

Teddy and Áine began the process, and I closed my eyes to watch the battle.

Like the last time, chains constricted, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up as it tried to invade my senses. Áine ignored it and forced her way in, engulfing the chains with her mana, as Teddy injected his aura to suppress the mental effect.

I resisted the urge to spit and gripped my spear.

Just what did you send us into, Cal?