---

Rachel cautiously followed behind Nora, Fiona by her side; they’d been close behind the 17-year-old girl as she was pulled out of her sister’s protective barriers, dragged into the silent fog beyond, and she prepared herself for the worst.

Whatever lurked in the impenetrable veil that came from the Crystal Break had to be dangerous, and the soundless nature of the threat made her skin crawl out of instinct—she feared the fate that might have befallen her friend’s younger sister.

In a panic, Fiona had extended her water and wind barriers as far as they’d go, burning through her Sugar Pool to find Nora within the ominous mist … They couldn’t have possibly been prepared for what they witnessed.

A nightmarish, parasitic creature thrashed into Fiona’s barrier, several dozen tentacle-like attachments writhing in every direction, extended vine-like feelers gaping wide to show countless fangs and jaws, whipping around in a feverish mess, terrifying clicks and gurgles exploding to life in Rachel’s mind.

Its long, turtle-like neck weaved left and right, split down the center to its mouth, revealing a flared, horrifying maw, several barbed tongues quivering as the invader shifted—a dark liquid mass wrapped around the unearthly thing.

Worse, Nora’s pulsating, malleable form released a sound utterly unheard by anyone that lacked Rachel’s acute hearing.  A humming resonated through the air, mania deep within the all-consuming black tide, emanating a wicked, scratching choirs of primal fear—a malevolent, reaching, ravaging hollow that wriggled bit by bit over the helpless prey—a festering, growing cancer.

With all the possibilities running through Rachel’s mind, she hadn’t pictured Fiona’s cute little sister as a black, crazed expanse the size of a bus, cloaking an alien creature in large influxes of overlapping waves to shroud the predatory organism within her fathomless pit, glowing red orbs opening inside the mass before welcoming the invader into an abyssal cavity.

Rachel wasn’t sure how she should feel because what transpired before her was something out of a horror story.

The most disturbing part was when the cute Cheetah Beastkin appeared out of the writhing mass, compressing into the small girl’s unassuming frame, a charming smile on her lips upon seeing them.  “Oh … You found me,” she chuckled, ending in a cheer.  “They taste like popcorn!”

Gisele seemed just as shocked as them, hiding a little behind Rachel’s leg, waiting for her orders, but Hayan was bouncing up and down with a baleful smile, cheering the Slime girl on.

Nora’s current form was nothing like it had been, making Rachel consider if the girl had some kind of hidden Madness State when pulled into a feeding frenzy.  Whatever it was, she had no clue how terrifying the scene had been, nor the sinister eulogy she’d sung for the creature while absorbing it.

 

* * *

 

The Slime currently tracking the remaining invaders was clear to Rachel’s eyes, without a hint of the blackness Nora released moments earlier.  The girl was barely traveling at walking speed, liquid form moving by crawling over herself in noticeable waves.

“Rachel…”  Fiona mumbled, floating near her straight ears.  “Was that just because Nora was eating—something like that?”

She shook her head.  “I don’t know … It’s possible, but it could just be a hungry state she enters, just like your Warpath State is when you see someone as an unforgivable enemy.”

“Mmh … I was afraid of that,” Fiona whispered, elf-like ears drooping a little while staring after her focused sister, tracking their foes.  “If that’s the case, then…”

Rachel sighed.  “I get it … If that’s what she gets like when starved, then she may need to take on a more active role in clearing the Crystals—I’ll have to bring it up with Tom because others might be suffering through similar trials as Nora.”

“At least she’s got the Hunger Control skill, but if it’s only 93% right now … If it drops below that, then that madness will consume her mind again once anything gets close to her that can satiate the State,” Fiona mumbled, rubbing her left arm as goosebumps broke out across her skin, and Rachel did the same.

“I know,” Rachel returned, keeping her focus on Fiona’s little sister.  “Did anything like that happen before?”

Fiona shook her head, pausing after a moment’s thought.  “No—wait … No, she talked about going into a feeding frenzy in the past, when she first changed.  She kept eating the wildlife around town, prioritizing animals that people wouldn’t miss.”

“Right … Probably subconsciously keeping enough food in stock to keep her Satiation Pool at 100 to 99% at all times after that first meal.”

They fell silent as Nora reverted back to her Cheetah Beastkin transformation to talk to them, expression bright with anticipation.  “Right here!  Three split up, going, uh … That way—there, and … back the way we came.”

Rachel spotted a nearby storefront, vision narrowing.  “We’re near the club—it should be five buildings to our left, along the coastline.  So, we have two left on this side of town, and the one you faced could have been the weakest … Are there any humans that managed to escape and hide?”

Nora folded her arms underneath her small chest with a thoughtful hum; her tone turned regretful.  “On our way here, I wanted to know more about them, so I was able to grab a Simple Predatory Analysis I, which took the rest of my points—at least, I think it did,” she added with a forced smile.  “I couldn’t pick up another transformation slot, so I went with the next best thing—I don’t think we’ll find anything left of the people around this area.”

Fiona’s eyebrows lifted as she hovered a little closer to Nora, keeping eye-level.  “Wait—Does that mean you know more about them?”

“Kind of,” Nora yawned, rubbing her eyes, “Wow—I’m getting a bit tired, but I’ll be fine in a second—just need to eat a little more; it was so hard to get around!  Its wiggling, spreading sprouting limbs spread out so much—and it was trying to eat me back … Next time, it’ll be a lot easier when I sneak up on the rest—they can hear everything that interacts with the mist, including your shields.”

Rachel rubbed her arm again, feeling more goosebumps appear at how natural Nora merged into her new form, wondering if it was the same for Richard when he first met her.  “You know how to sneak up on them, then?”

Nora grinned, unfolding her arms to press a hand against her breast.  “I can expel a part of their hormones to mask myself as one of their own; they shouldn’t think twice about me, and I can work myself up to the proper size before reaching them to pounce.  As long as I make decent time and get more to replenish the limited stock of the identifier hormone I can extract, then it should be fine!”

Fiona groaned, running her hands through her glowing green and blue hair, vision shifting to the impenetrable swirling fog beyond her barriers.  “They’re adaptable and strong enough to find ways through my shields … You said it was trying to eat you back?”

“No, no, no!”  Nora protested.  “I can regenerate way faster than they can suck me up!  Well … at least if they don’t know what I am,” she forcefully added.  “I kind of took the first one by surprise…”

Rachel shook her head, sucking on her lower lip for a moment.  “... I think there’s more to it than that, Nora.  Can you ask the System what your hungry State is called and what it does?”

“Uh … Sure…”  Nora’s yellow eyes widened.  “Woah—what’s a State?”

Fiona sighed, quickly explaining Warpath to her sister.

Nora’s gaze fell to the asphalt.  “This is crazy … It’s called Devouring Hollow I—the combined and upgraded version of Frenzy III and Insanity III…”

 

Harrowing Disaster Branch:  A survival-based Branch subconsciously gained upon Nora’s distressing transformation, designed to keep her alive during her traumatic transition.

 

Devouring Hollow I:  (Cooldown: N/A; Cost: Sanity and Increased Consumption; Duration: Linked With Hunger Control; Range: N/A) Reactive, Eldritch-Type, Level Five, Novice Grade, Rank Seven.  Grants several buffs to Nora’s passive kit as a Slime.

• • Regeneration increased by 100%
  • Movement increased by 25%
  • Digestion Rate increased by 50%
  • Growth Rate increased by 200%
  • Stranglehold increased by 75%
  • Resistances increased by 25%
  • Added Effect - Debilitating Coat II: Corrodes the structural integrity of organic and inorganic organisms.
  • Added Effect - Impeding Coat II:  Slowly saps the prey’s physical strength, preventing it from escaping.

 

• Mental Effects Immunity

• Added Storage Area

• Energy Use (Consumption/Hunger) increased by 55%

 

 

Rachel was floored by the implication; it had taken her forever to get her hearing to the third rank, only recently reaching it, yet Nora managed to add two to this over the past two weeks and coming into contact with this entity allowed it to combine into a new, much stronger skill—although, at a horrible cost … Her sanity.

Fiona’s lips were pursed with concern.  “It’s a buff and debuff?  I just … It drains your Satiation Pool 55% faster while only increasing your digestion rate by 50% … How can you ever be satiated?”

“I don’t think that’s exactly how it works,” Rachel mumbled, drawing Nora’s brooding gaze.  “It’s probably calculating it off her original form; her mouth is increased by 200% with her growth, which is what we saw.”

“The black void-like thing you mentioned?”  Nora asked, glancing between them.

Fiona shook her head, multi-colored hair dancing around her.  “No … at first, it was like three bright red pulsating globes before the white centers darkened, expanding into this abyss, joining together to swallow that—that thing whole,” she said with a slight shiver.  “... There was this kind of … I don’t know—feeling when it opened up, too…”

“A noise for me,” Rachel mumbled.  “Anyway, I don’t quite know what Eldritch is, but it’s the same sensation I had of that nightmare creature in the labyrinth and the tree-thing underneath it.”

Fiona rubbed both of her arms with a forced smile.  “Umm … yeah, Eldritch basically means weird and sinister or … you know, kind of ghostly or unnatural—that describes that feeling, too.”

“It shouldn’t be a problem, though … Right?”  Nora asked, her expression strained.  “As long as I keep enough food to satisfy it.”

Rachel hummed, folding her arms while glaring down at the floor; her two pets were jumping and flying around Nora, studying her from their various angles.  “It is concerning because it has a Reaction-Type activator, and if for any reason, you don’t have enough food in your storage for the upkeep—the strange part is how you leveled the previous skills to such a high level…”

It didn’t make sense to Rachel; the two could have been linked, which might have helped boost the leveling process.

Nora puffed out a long breath.  “Hmm … I mean, all last week I was fighting myself—I’ve been having a hard time trying to balance between so many personalities inside of me that it’s been, well … maddening.  I wasn’t really lucid for most of last week, to be honest … I feel way better now, though.”

Fiona’s mixed shimmering sapphire and emerald eyes peered through the light green dust her wings generated to the swirling white mist outside.  “I’m kind of worried, Nora … I think the only reason you were able to eat that thing was because of that State…”

“Then I’ll force myself into it when I pounce on the next one!”  Nora stated, becoming a bit defensive at the implication her sister was making.  “I can do that—if I work really hard to rush to the next one, burning a lot of energy.”

Rachel’s gut tightened; she didn’t like it either, but they’d wasted a lot of time.  How fast had the mist had expanded since they’ve been fussing over Nora?  The girl was their only tracking hound to even get the catch on the otherworldly entities; it really was a mystery to her, though—how did they go from somewhat weak mushroom people to these fungal-like horrifying creatures?

I can’t let those things get to Grandpa and Mason.

“Jessy, too!”  Nia chimed in; the girl had been somewhat speechless herself after witnessing Nora’s nightmare-inducing transformation.

“We need to check the Crystal first—discovering how many came through is important,” Rachel swiftly took command.  “Let’s go … We’ll work things out along the way.”

Fiona wasn’t happy about it but knew that people were dying around them in utter silence—they could be only twenty meters away, alone and separated from the world in the fathomless veil that had fallen over Florida City.

In the end, the Fairy was forced to acknowledge that she had to have faith in her sister, and Rachel wasn’t 100% sure of her own chances, which excited her, yet the utter silence was surprisingly a massive mood dampener—mixed with the moon-hiding fog that hung over them.

She began to see ripped clothes, dresses, pants, skirts, and caps, among other outfits, all without a stain of blood.  Cars had smashed through buildings, and the chaotic mess that the fleeing crowds left only added to Rachel’s muscle tension—it was straight out of a horror flick.

The club entrance had been decimated by the creatures, ripping through the metal and stone to carve a pathway out, but not a single drop of blood or flesh could be spotted; they were definitely powerful, yet the mist that made them so dangerous to her—it was as if these creatures were specifically designed to counter her.

In fact, it was a distinct possibility after what she’d learned from the Legend’s Quest from Twilight.  Moongmor was trying to help her—in his own semi-perverted fashion.  There would be others looking to fulfill their own unknown desires, though; she was reminded of Fiona’s comment about Gisele’s story regarding the godly figure her pet had met.

Making a note of the ruined couches, Nora explained, returning to her Beastkin state, pointing between several articles nearby.  “Mhm … These things feast on organic material—bone, blood, saliva, fungus, plants, hair … even dead skin, as odd as that might sound since it’s … you know, dead,” she chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

It didn’t last long before she stopped them before entering the club.  “Ten … there are ten of them in all, and they’ve spread out—they’re solitary hunters, grouping once finished to split the organic material they’ve gathered.”

A stream of air hissed between Rachel’s teeth as she glanced back the way they’d come.  “Okay … Fiona, Nora … we’re going to have to handle this together…”

Nora looked excited as she nodded.  “Right—because you guys couldn’t find me again if we split up; I’d have to find you both!  So, we fight together?”

“It’ll be the fastest, and it shouldn’t require you to turn into your Devouring Hollow State—Fiona and I will keep it trimmed down for you to trap and smother.”

“Awesome!  Uh,” Nora scratched her left cat ear, “heh, I don’t know if I can grow big enough to do that without going into that state—They’re pretty big if we include the tail and arms.”

A smile finally brightened Fiona’s lips as she pumped her arm in the air.  “I got you, Sis!  Rachel and I will take off parts of it for you to swallow bit by bit.”

Rachel nodded.  “You need more sugar?  Focus on just the water shield—as big as you can make it to allow Gisele, Hayan, and I to dodge … in fact, my Rabbit Crew should be off cooldown,” she grinned, calling upon her Flush and Coral female Rabbits to join them.

Hayan and the other two jumped into each other, bouncing off one another as if high-fiving, and they looked up at her with big, expectant eyes; Gisele was less thrilled to see them, hovering a bit above the three.

“Aww, don’t get jealous—you’re cute, too!”  Fiona soothed, hovering near Gisele to pet her feathery neck.  Gisele turned to give her a happy chirp.  “Oh, and I think they want you to name them…”

Short on time, Rachel pointed at each—Hayan, Coral, and Rose … Okay, let’s run in real fast to check out the gate color to report it back and then get to work.  We gotta work as a unit!”

Rushing inside the VIP, leading to the stairs and 2nd-level Fight Club, Rachel noticed the clothes of the two Beastkin bouncers she’d embarrassed earlier on the way down, indicating the pair had been consumed by the nightmarish creatures—it was impressive how swiftly they’d overpowered everyone nearby, considering how many ruined clothing she noted.

Nia was pining over it all, demanding they suck up every bit for her to rework, and it wasn’t a horrible idea—it wasn’t like they needed it any longer.

Still, she’d have to take it up with Jim because they were the only identifiers they had of the deceased, which meant the city would likely call in multiple forensic teams from around the area to compile a list of casualties during the attack.

Nora didn’t pay the host of torn outfits any mind, though, focusing ahead of them.  “I don’t know if any waited behind … I can’t identify their hormone trail as a Beastkin—which is kind of crazy it’s invisible to my nose.  Oh, and I can’t hear you when I’m a Slime either…”

“That’s fine—just do your thing and keep trying to consume the parts we cut off until you can completely consume it.”

Passing by the steel cage and to the edge of the blasted-out hole in the concrete floor at its center that the creatures made to get out, Rachel got her first glimpse of a Crystal Break, which was much different than what she experienced in Montana with the Double Crystal Event.

Instead of a whole crystal, they found a fragmented Left-Angled Tetrahedron floating in the air in pieces.  The shattered expansion changed it from 2.3-meters to 4 … advancing it to Level 2; it explained the sharp increase in difficulty.

The gateway was now Level II, Grade III, and the purple shade of the shards indicated it was currently Rank III—worse, the blue glow meant the broken gemstone had passed the 50% mark before passing into the next stage, pink—Rank IV, which would introduce a new challenge.

“We need to go—now…”  Rachel growled.

The three of them rushed back upstairs, Nora transforming into a Slime as they made it outside.  They moved as fast as they were able, allowing their tracker to guide them.

Rachel hadn’t been sure how long it would take for them to reach the first alien entity, which was slightly smaller than the last, but the battle was hard, and without Nia’s protection, she would have left with multiple lacerations.

The issue came from its attacks against Fiona’s Water Shield, allowing the mist to enter before the tiny Fairy managed to push it back out with her wind.

Every new fight, they increased their teamwork, executing the entities, and Nora learned just how much of the creature’s identifying hormones that they could sense through the mist, having some form of connection to it—they were invisible to them by the 4th kill.

It allowed the group to turn the fights from fierce battles to straight assassinations, with Fiona’s Wind Cutter II cutting off its tail and arms, stopping the initial tentacle swarm.  Rachel’s frontal Lunar Burst II blew a quarter of its front shell apart while disabling the rest of its feelers, allowing Nora unimpeded access inside its defenses, slipping inside to dissolve vital organs.

Hayan, Coral, and Rose were wrecking balls, flanking their foe to shove it off their feet while Gisele screeched overhead, firing off Moonfire rays from her mouth, searing its unprotected, gaping tongues writhing out of its mouth.

Fiona separating them from the fog with her Water Shield II allowed them to block off its communication with its fellows, which Nora confirmed after the 9th kill when she finally got her 2nd transformation slot, dissecting the creature’s memories.  It would give them an inside look at the things after she had a few days to analyze them.

From the surface information she gained, they were dominant predators in the world they came from, and the fungal people were actually no different than human cornfields—these ten weren’t even warriors of their species.  It was like they were fighting farmers.

Knowing these entities had far more deadly elites lurking in the shadows just beyond the Gate made their feat far less epic and even more terrifying, but in the end, they managed to clear out the last invader before things could grow worse.

Still, they’d lost hundreds of people across the 2-mile radius the fog and creatures managed to spread—this wasn’t a victory but a tragedy.

Upon slaying the 10th one, the mist quickly dispersed, and a pulse ran through Rachel’s frame, indicating they’d succeeded.  The compressive atmosphere of soundlessness vanished like smoke, bringing clarity to her twitching ears, but the scene around her was sobering as the moon’s glow touched the streets, filling her with strength again—the multi-hued dome was gone.

Every ripped article of clothing the three of them passed was another person who would never see their family again—mothers who left their loved ones at home, men who would never see their wives and children again.  Animals weren’t spared, as Fiona noted, dog and cat collars littered across a nearby pet meet-up cafe.

Nora revealed another chilling fact—the alien creatures also consumed cotton products, which meant everything they were seeing was the synthetic remnants left over.  They would never truly know how many people died, and this Crystal Break wasn’t even at the Montana or New Mexico Gate level.

By the rate and volume these things feasted on the helpless people lost in the fathomless fog, even a military strike force might have been powerless to these entities.  A grenade would have little effect against it, and it targeted only organic material with pinpoint precision.

At the very least, it would take an RPG to break past its armored shell, and that wasn’t even the worst of it; the mist held other qualities that disrupted broadcast frequencies, among other feats that made these creatures a nightmare to deal with.

Rachel had to wonder if her relatives weren’t present in the area, would this event have even occurred at all—it was a possibility.  Outside forces were working with and against her that were unseen and unknown.  She doubted they would step into the light for a long while, which meant her troubles weren’t over.  At least they weren’t directly going after her family—so long as they kept their focus on her and Mythic’s members, then it was manageable.

No, the god-like entities weren’t her biggest threat … Relica and those like her, such as Carter, who had been very quiet since making his escape, were the bigger problems, with law enforcement having far too much to focus on instead of individuals that weren’t making a noise.

Nia chimed in her mind upon completing the event.   “I’m the coolest, most awesomest, and cutest outfit you’ve ever worn!  Right?  Right?!”  she urged.

Rachel released a tired chuckle; Lunar Deadening may be hiding her sore muscles as Fiona flew them back to the agents, but the damage was weighing down on her conscience with the implications of outside influence—they were also all reasonably exhausted, both Fiona and Nora complaining as they went.

The Fairy had gone through at least a pound of sugar to keep the Max Barrier up while doing damage and aiding in maneuverability; her tongue was somewhat raw after consuming so much—her stomach hurt, too.

Nora was in her Slime state, practically water as Fiona carried her with Levitate; she was too tired to keep up her Beastkin form, but her hunger would be good for at least three weeks.

Yes, Nia, you saved me dozens of times…

“Sixty-two cuts!  Sixty-two!  Four bad ones would have split your big bum, and I even took a hit on your left boob … It hurt!  Oh, and I got soooo scared when it almost wrapped around your tail!  Did you see?!  Did you hear it?!”

Mhm!  You swapped to your original outfit to slap it back with the back ribbon.  It was really smart, Nia.

“Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!  Yes, I fought, too!  I hit it right in the tentacle—it was gross … But a worthy sacrifice to dirty my pretty body.  It felt the dark glare of the abyss when it saw my glowing eyes!  I put the fear of Nia in him!”

Heh, I don’t know if it was a ‘he,’ but you were certainly screaming at times.

“W-Was not!  I was laughing in its face, daring it to even try to slap that big ass of yours!”

Mhm … I remember you shrieking like a total girl the moment the feeler grazed your earring.

“Uh, duh!  I was just … I was worried about your ears!  Yeah, didn’t think about that one!  I was soooo brave!”

Yeah—it was our real first combat experience together.  Can’t wait for the next one!

“I … I did good?”

Amazing!

“Yeah!  Let’s tell Mom, and Jessy, and Scarlet, and Alexa…”

Right, right!  I’ll let them know how brave you were protecting me; you took some good hits.  Are you okay?

“Umm … yeah, yeah, I’m fine … I’ll heal…”

Rachel frowned at her tone, looking down at her bust to see a bit of damage on the fabric covering her left breast.  You did get hurt, girl … You should have told me.

“Pfft!  I’m no wuss … I’m a Rabbit Denier Warrior!”

… Heh, yeah, you are … Thanks, Nia.  We’ll have a good story to tell the family.

“In a veil of white, Nia, Living Denier legend, covered the villainous Hare’s delicate, bulky-butt form, defiant of the disgusting slippery tentacle whipper!  Nia protected the poof ball Hare’s tail with her life and was stricken by poison, but Nia is immune!  Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!  The fool!”

Hehe…

Nia continued to make comments about how awesome they were together while playfully poking fun at her, transforming back to their casual outfit; she was still hopeful for all the fabric left behind, but Rachel was doubtful.

Jim’s regretful expression told Rachel everything she needed to know about the man; he felt the loss of human life and was likely beating himself up, thinking they could have saved even a few more lives if they’d just left sooner.

Bree and Serah felt the same, happy they’d been able to close the gateway but knowing another tragedy had occurred, even with two Mythickin handling the situation.  They’d managed to coordinate and organize the local law enforcement, prepared groups, and volunteers with the information Rachel initially gave them, all to try and prevent an even greater disaster, though.

The mist and creatures had moved to cut off a large section of the escaping populace, but through the efforts of the police, they saved thousands that would have remained in their homes—prey for the entities.

Tom was informed, and a follow-up presidential address regarding three more Crystal Events over the past week would be touched on in the morning with aid.  Florida City’s Mayor had declared a State of Emergency the moment he’d become aware of the situation and was currently talking to the State Governor to seek support for those he represented.

The remains of the nightmarish invaders came up in the discussion, but it was soon dropped once they discovered Nora consumed them as food.  However, she offered to release one to them to study if they liked, and Tom agreed, thanking her since he understood she needed to eat and had been the one to do a majority of the work in preventing another crisis, which caused her chest to puff up.

Fiona was starting to recognize her little sister was more capable than she thought, but she’d never stop worrying about her—the Slime girl liked that, too.

Once finishing their report, they returned to her grandfather’s home, Fiona translating Gisele’s experience with Moongmor—all starting with a fish that had the little seal jumping into the water to get, much to Gisele’s horror and exasperation.

It was a story right out of a fable, yet Rachel saw his power herself—he’d been the only reason they were able to complete the Legend’s Quest, making her wonder how far these godly creatures could go to interfere with them.

The fact another divine being had attacked Moongmor drew her attention, and it also concerned her that he enjoyed the life-threatening experience—the odd rabbit certainly seemed to be an unabashed pervert, through and through.  The Warden he’d talked about had been killed by another, not necessarily the woman that attacked him.

There was just so much she didn’t know.

Making it back home, she explained things to her grandfather, cousin, and his new girlfriend before heading to bed, Nora and Fiona staying the night.  Tomorrow, her grandfather had something he wished to show her.

He had the Instructor skill, granting him the means to pass on his abilities, and there was one he wished to teach her—a technique that might help her control the mixture of her lunar energies.

---