Without missing a beat, the team fell back into a fluid formation, instinctively working together as they faced the oncoming tide of monstrosities. Jacob's calming energy flickered, but he pushed through, sending out bursts of Primal Release to keep the horde at bay. Lynn darted through the fray, her knives slicing through the air, while Tessa's spheres danced ominously, seeking their next targets. Kira coordinated their attacks, directing the coins with precision to ensure maximum devastation.Gerald couldn't help but swell with pride at the sight of his family fighting valiantly, a testament to their resilience. But his pride was mixed with a fierce protectiveness. He could see the danger escalating, the hybrids closing in with a hunger that chilled him to the bone. It was time to act.

With a commanding presence, Gerald charged into the fray, his aura igniting the very atmosphere around him. He drew upon his own power, the sheer force of his will electrifying the battlefield. He unleashed a torrent of energy, striking down one of the hybrids with a single, devastating blow. The ground beneath them trembled in response, and the creature fell, its monstrous form crumbling as chaos erupted anew.

Ariane and the SCD were focused on eradicating the hybrids that swarmed the battlefield, but there was another mission at play. They needed to uncover the truth behind the grotesque experiments—the how and the why. Ariane had a sharp mind, and capturing one of the leading figures was her top priority. Gerald had already wiped out Luther, and Kira's team had eliminated the other, leaving only one left to capture.

Ariane, tall and powerful, moved with purpose. She was bonded with Helios, and her medium—a pair of golden earrings shaped like suns, hollow at the center—gleamed in the flickering light of the battlefield. The earrings swayed slightly as she zeroed in on her target. Her resolve hardened. She would capture this thing, and in doing so, unravel the mystery behind the horrific transformations.

She began channeling her Anima into the core of her earrings. A soft glow quickly intensified into a radiant light as she murmured, "Sunlit Passage." Instantly, beams of light burst from her earrings, forming ethereal tubes that spiraled through the battlefield. Ariane launched herself into them, moving at blinding speed, her form nearly dissolving into the brilliance of the light.

Her target—a towering, disfigured creature covered in grotesque markings—barely had time to react. It swung its massive arms wildly, attempting to fend off her assault, but Ariane was too fast, too precise. She didn't aim to kill, only to capture. Each time she struck, she planted small devices along the creature's form. Her blows were swift and calculated, each strike met with a shimmer of light as another trap took hold.

The creature roared in frustration, trying to keep up with her dizzying movements, but its clumsy attempts to counter her attacks only made it more vulnerable. Sunlit Passage gave her unparalleled speed and mobility, allowing her to dance around the hybrid's attacks with ease. The light tubes she traveled through shimmered with intensity, making her movements appear as if she was teleporting from point to point, always staying a step ahead.

In a final, graceful maneuver, Ariane darted past the creature, wrapping around its body in a streak of golden light. With a subtle flick of her wrist, the devices she'd planted activated. From them, thin, metallic cables shot out and wrapped themselves around the hybrid's limbs and torso. The cables tightened with each passing second, locking the creature in place as it struggled and thrashed helplessly.

The hybrid let out a guttural scream, but it was already too late. The cables constricted, binding the grotesque being until it was immobilized. Its deformed body twitched, but it could no longer move.

Ariane stood over her captured prey, the golden glow of her earrings dimming as her Anima settled. Her eyes, fierce and determined, were fixed on the monstrosity. She wasn't satisfied with the victory alone. She needed answers. This thing—this twisted abomination—held the key to the secrets of Sigdra's experiments. And she was going to make sure they got every piece of information they needed.

With a commanding nod, Ariane signaled the SCD agents to secure the hybrid. The fight was far from over, but this capture would help them understand the horrors they were up against.

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Meanwhile, Abigail finally reached the door on the third floor, her footsteps echoing lightly as she approached. She saw the door that Stray had mentioned, but something immediately felt off. It wasn't the usual kind of door; a strange mist curled around it, obscuring the interior from view. Now, she understood why Stray hadn't given her a more detailed description—it was impossible to see anything beyond the thick veil of mist.

Her hand hesitated for only a second before pushing the door open. As she stepped through, the full reality of the situation slammed into her senses.

The battlefield beyond was a maelstrom of blood, sweat, and terror. And at the center of it all was the Hekatonkheire—a nightmarish mass of limbs, eyes, and twisted flesh. The air was thick with tension, punctuated by the screams of combat and the sound of steel meeting flesh. It wasn't just the creature's size that was overwhelming; it was the sheer malevolence radiating from it, a force that made the ground tremble with every lurching movement.

Vas was airborne, his chakrams spinning in tight, controlled arcs as he tried to keep the titan at bay. The plan, it seemed, had worked—sort of. The Hekatonkheire was coming apart, its limbs no longer moving in perfect unison. It was weakening, but that only made it more dangerous. Now, it was attacking with reckless abandon, lashing out with a desperation that threatened to tear apart anything in its path.

Below him, Anya was weaving between the beast's massive legs, her twin kamas flashing in precise, deadly strikes. Her movements were fluid, calculated, as she aimed for the tendons and joints, trying to slow the titan's monstrous advances. Every swipe of her blades was a gamble, narrowly avoiding the crushing weight of the creature's flailing limbs. Yet even as her kamas bit into its flesh, the Hekatonkheire seemed unrelenting, each strike drawing little more than thick, black blood and a guttural snarl.

It was a brutal and bloody scene. Aleara, Beck, Kairo, Zola, Victor, Carmilla, Amy, and Anya were all engaged in the fight, each doing what they could to damage the towering abomination. But even their combined efforts weren't enough to fully bring it down.

Every step the creature took sent shockwaves through the ground, its many arms slamming down with the force of a collapsing mountain, scattering the fighters like leaves in a storm.

Vas continued to hurl his chakrams, the twin blades slicing through the air with precision. Each throw was aimed with deadly intent, the weapons cutting deep into the Hekatonkheire's rotting flesh before boomeranging back to his hands. But the monster's regeneration was formidable, and for every wound they inflicted, it seemed another limb sprouted from its twisted body.

Anya, meanwhile, was relentless. Her kamas danced in her hands, slicing at the creature's legs, but the beast was too large, too chaotic. No matter how many times she slashed, it kept advancing, pushing her and the others back with the sheer magnitude of its fury.And then Abigail moved.

She entered the fray without a word, her form slipping into the battlefield like a shadow, unnoticed at first by the others. From a distance, Vas saw her but didn't react—his focus still locked on the beast before him. Anya, too, barely spared a glance as Abigail approached, her concentration fully on keeping the Hekatonkheire off balance.In the next moment, something shifted.

The air around Abigail seemed to pulse, a ripple of energy that hummed low and quiet. And then, with no clear movement—no visible weapon or technique—the Hekatonkheire faltered. For a moment, it froze mid-attack, its many arms stuttering in place, as though its body had suddenly forgotten how to move.

In that moment of eerie stillness, the battlefield seemed to hold its breath.And then, in a blink, it was over.

The Hekatonkheire's massive upper half collapsed to the ground with a sickening thud, its grotesque form severed cleanly from the waist. Black ichor poured from the stump where its torso once connected to its legs, soaking the battlefield in a foul, steaming pool. The legs themselves twitched violently, still standing for a brief, unsettling moment before they, too, toppled over with a thunderous crash.

Abigail stood there, expression unreadable, her hands at her sides. No one had seen how she did it. No one had even seen her draw a weapon—if she had used one at all. But the results were undeniable. The Hekatonkheire, the monstrous abomination that had been terrorizing the battlefield, was now reduced to nothing more than twitching, blood-soaked pieces scattered across the ground.

Vas, still hovering in the air, exchanged a brief look with Anya. Both of them had been doing everything they could to wear the creature down, but whatever Abigail had done had ended it in mere moments. It was as though she had sliced through not just the creature's body, but the very essence that held it together.

The others—Aleara, Beck, Kairo, Zola, Victor, Carmilla, Amy, and Anya—paused for a moment, catching their breath as the beast's defeat sent a ripple of disbelief through the air.

But Abigail wasn't celebrating.