"Interesting." He muttered, placing the chimera's entrails into a cube, preventing its complete crystallization. "That thing is powerful, at least it could be."

Like his creation, the owner of the disembodied voice, the master and creator of the Beast of Hills, was skeptical of the current state the Chimera found itself in.

"Are you a blood mage?" Reaching towards a green orb floating above a purple cube that he used to observe the fight, or lack thereof, between the two monsters, and rewind the footage. He scanned every minute second until he found the moment. He activated his admin rights, extracting the chimera's blood and spilt entrails just before the two were engulfed in flames.

He was gifted with several vials of her spilled blood. Attempting to find out if it was poisoned, it instead left him in awe. "Ozimuth? What is he doing in him?"

The parasite named Ozimuth, one of his mortal enemies, lived within this chimera. He braced himself, opting to take control of his creation and force it into level 1 unrestrained.

"Don't bother." Looking over his shoulder, his glazed over white eyes met the blue eyes of a familiar red-haired entity. "Killing her won't make him closer to death."

"How do you know, Daji?" The Creator scoffed, turning away from the puppet who was in the company of the elven swordsman wielding an obsidian blade and covered in blood red leather armor. "It's not like you can stop that insect if he takes that thing as a host."

"And you can?" the Creator scoffed again. "My point exactly. It's important not to drive her to a point of desperation where she'll embrace that parasite's power."

"And here I thought you stopped being a parent some years ago." He laughed, eliciting no response from the spirit. "So are you willing to do me a favor?"

"No, I'm not a prostitute." The spirit-possessed woman answered with a small grin crossing her face in preparation for the reaction.

"Oh my fucking god!" The man screamed, rising to his feet while kicking over the chair he was sitting on. "It was one time! ONE TIME! Give me a damn break already!"

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't know." The puppet said curtsying, while bowing its head. "Please forgive my transgressions, good sir."

"Quit talking like you're my king, it's hard to understand." He sighed, fixing his chair before reaching into his pitch black body and pulling out a chair. After unfolding it, he followed it with a bottle of ale and wooden mugs. "Take a seat, at least hear me out."

"fine." The red head nodded, taking a seat on the wooden folding chair and took a sip of the alcohol. "Apple cider?"

"My favorite." He shrugged refilling his mug as they watched the two monsters. They watched the chimera unleash spell after spell while the flesh beast fired back with its tattoo magic spells. "So I need you, or really your puppets, to go to Ulst's northern marsh and destroy everything in my laboratory over there."

Daji paused, taken aback by the odd request and the even stranger location. Reading his defenseless mind with her Wiseman trait's Mind Reading, the woman bore witness to countless inhumane experiments. The constant screams of children and women, the vats filled with disgusting monstrosities that were an affront to any living creature.

"Triplet: Dark Slash."

"Greater Carapace: Solid Iron Wall."

Unsheathing his black, soul-eating sword, the elven swordsman swung three times simultaneously. Simultaneously, the creator's skin was covered in several layers of a hard, lime green carapace coating. When the cursed sword struck the armor a loud cracking sound echoed through the dark area.

Both self-made martial arts were successfully executed; the sword broke through nine of the twelve carapace layers surrounding the Creator's neck.

"Greater carapace: Iron Wall Fist."

"Instant counter."

The Creator struck the elven swordsman's body with a fist while the elven swordsman executed a cut that broke three layers on his chest.

"Monster!" Daji screamed in disgusted rage through the elf while small drops of crimson fell from its mouth. "What is this? Cross-breeding? Demon summoning? What are you thinking?"

"Don't act like you're any better!" The man raged at her blatant hypocrisy. "You killed many, many more than us! And for the same goal no less!"

"At least I'm not violating children!"

"They are orphans, not like their parents care!"

"Is that your excuse?"

"They're all the same!" With a burst of mana, the underpass's roof was reduced to dust as fissures opened on the ground releasing a large wave of heat. The red glow from the lava from the cracks below and the sunlight from above only increased the sinisterness in the Creator's eyes. "ALL OF THEM!" THE CHILDREN! THE ELDERLY! THE MEN! WOMEN AND CHILDREN! ALL SINNERS WHO SERVE A FALSE GOD!"

"You guys are all mad." Daji said through the red haired girl "I am glad I cut ties with you demons."

"Hahahahaha! Yeah, right?" The man laughed before saying "Aren't you the one who made a contract? Defying the laws of the Octagram? You have no right to disavow me!"

Daji remained silent, remembering all the dark deeds she had committed, all she had to atone for.

"But hey that was all in the past let's talk about something more pressing: my request" the creator sighed "That explosion five months ago? It reanimated one of my test subjects and he took over the lab and the place around it."

"And?" Seeing the smile cross his face, she read his mind, her eyes widening at the particular subject and his abilities. "No way. How can anyone have-"

"If you care about these insects you'll take my deal." Daji fell silent, assessing the risks of such a task.

"There is an evil god worshiping tribe there." the elf muttered, spitting blood with every word as he raised a finger then two more. "Along with the High Priest of those druids and warrior princesses of the allied Arachne tribes that reside there." the elf hummed before raising a fourth finger "And the dungeon."

Before the Creator could answer his left hand glowed red. The beast of hills requested access to the additional powers of level 4 unrestricted.

"Request accepted. Recognition of situation B."

XXXXX

Kali stared at her opponent, emitting a red hue from his once purple, now green tattoos. Each breath the beast took invoked death in her mind, while each step was magnified to that of an earthquake.

Inhaling deeply, Kali took a step forward, then two then three. Her pace rose in speed until she was running at full speed at the transformed foe. In response, the Beast of hills took to the air flying high before sharply diving down.

The two beasts roared as they made a fist, one to push away her trepidation and the other to triumph. The two attacks, one black and the other green clashed, smashing the ground beneath as they were pushed back.

Kali tumbled back, cracking the ground until she stopped on her feet. Falling to one knee she growled in pain while clutching her right hand "My hand! Crushed."

"C'mon Chimera!" The Beast of Hills yelled. Roaring she leapt forward, meeting the flesh beast with a punch. Altering her body, her muscles grew larger and denser as the beast charged more mana into his wings.

"!" Using her broken right hand she caught the fist approaching from the side.

"Great! Great! Keep it up!" The beast of hills laughed "To think you can still contend? So great!"

Pushing herself, Kali shifted her body, allowing the beast to fall forward. Hoisting her right arm around his neck, she redirected the force and smashed him to the ground. Locking him in a clumsy headlock, she punched frantically with all her might while struggling to keep him on the ground.

Using his pincer claws, he grabbed Kali, attempting to melt the meat on her left thigh, but she successfully resisted with the power of 'Survivor'.

"My acid-"

"-won't work on a survivor."

The two tumbled and rolled, shifting their positions trying to keep each other on the ground.

Until-

Gripping her leg, the beast violently swung Kali into the air where the two clashed once again. Across the orb explosions raged as two lines ran across its surface. The black, though slow, held firm against the green who shone brilliantly like a star. They flew through the sky, they ran across the surface, they clashed with their fists, feet, traits and spells, leaving behind ravaging craters in their wake.

1 minute left

With each hit Kali felt something growing. Though her body slowed, growing weaker with every step, she felt something pushing her to move and fight.

"Burning each others lives." She laughed in her head as she dealt a punch to the beast's chest while receiving a powerful impact on her back. "I'm cant take these. I'm gonna die."

Great wiseman said something, but its voice was so muted that she couldn't process it. All it processed was the foot hitting her face.

The beast of hills began to glow with red particles covering his skin.

She was pushed back by the attack, but didn't collapse. Her arms were limp and her breath was haggard, unable to even get out a groan as her body was hit with acidic shards. Each crystal, no greater than a grain of sand, cut through her skin, penetrated her resistance and burned her skin from a distance.

"He's too strong." She couldn't win; her mana was at its end, she could regenerate no further, unable to cast a spell, she couldn't even raise a fist anymore, she was defenseless. Her opponent was overflowing with mana, hadn't been hurt throughout the match, was pelting her with burning crystals from a distance. He was unstoppable! "Why do I feel so invigorated?"

Her heart rushed with each punch, each missed attack made her blood pump harder. Her stomach didn't hurt or churn, her mouth was lifted and pulled into a smile by some unseen force. She let out a small giggle that grew into a laughter, "Why am I laughing?" She shouldn't be laughing! She should be fighting, punching, casting a spell! Not laughing!

"Am I really enjoying this?"

45 seconds.

"DON'T GO JUST YET!" Kali caught a glimpse of the beast of hills who's laughing fit had yet to fault throughout the entire ordeal. "C'mon! Don't let me down here! Dig deep, go further!"

Those words made her heart beat faster. She felt her mind slowly ache as she saw an image flash before her mind. A person wielding a blade, ushering her on with a vague cheer of "Let's Fight! It's fun mom! Fight me!"

"Fight me!"

"I'm happy because I'm fighting? Is fighting for my life fun? Why?" Her mind couldn't cope with this strange thought. Battle is deadly! Victory equals survival! Pain is bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad!

PAIN IS ONLY BAD!

30 seconds.

With her hands raised, she conjured three great heat orbs out of what little mana she could gather. "One final time, one last attack. I will, I will kill this thing! I WILL NOT DIE!"

"That's great!" The Beast of Hills laughed, happy that this fight wouldn't be over. His wings began to vibrate, growing brighter as mana filled them beyond his normal limit. "This is the end!"

15 seconds.

"Scorching release!" Kali coughed, as blood leaked from her mouth, activating the three-finger fire-wind spell.

"Sonic Wave Barrage!" The Beast of Hills laughed as he activated the trait dwelling within his wings.

Explosive sound waves flew across the air, distorting space and reducing the ground to glistening powder. The waves obliterated Kali's final spell, appearing to teleport into the chimera's torso with its speed. A wet gushing sound echoed alongside the sounds of porcelain breaking.

0 seconds.

XXXXX

Light poured down from above, casting the area in a warm hue. Laying in this light was an area of pure darkness that was gazed at by a young red-haired girl. Placing two fingers on the black thing the girl felt a faint pulse under the skin of its neck.

"You're alive?" the girl thought as she looked at the being with cuts deep enough to expose organs littering its body. "Perhaps...perhaps you do have potential, not dumb luck."

"Is he alive?" The man behind the girl asked, his voice echoing off the walls despite being quite a distance away. Pointing at his glowing purple beast. "We had a deal. He eats him if he dies."

"Her heart is beating!" the girl answered, earning a scoff from the man.

"Mystic eyes: Death Discern." He intoned looking at the ripped remains of the black chimera with pitch black eyes. He saw the large cloud of darkness hang over the body but was not touching it, not yet at least. "Yup, you're right."

She rolled her eyes before taking several feathers from her dress without responding to the man's words. Rubbing them together, she mixed her sweat that dissolved the feathers to form a red-golden liquid that fell onto the near-dead monster engulfing her in bright blue flames that pushed the shadows away.

The creator sighed, letting go of the knife in his pocket. He couldn't take back that subject, she was won fair and square, just like that chimera, as much as he hated to admit it. By technicality, the chimera survived ten minutes with its flesh beast, earning his reward.

"Three-o-seven return to neutral setting." the creator muttered, dispelling his transformation. Obeying his master the beast of hills returned to a large cylinder entering a non-combative mode. Absorbed into his black skin, the Creator replaced the sealed Beast of Hills with an item that looked like a ball made of dozens of orange hexagons.

Tossing the item over the newly created chasm, it landed on the ground next to the girl.

"I've held up my end of the deal with him." The Creator said, before moving a finger between himself and the girl. "What about our deal, Daji? This is a one-time offer. Take it or leave it."

"One month." the elven swordsman answered, sheathing his blade. "One month. We'll talk about the specifics."

"Stars Shaved Plateau." The creator answered

"Sun set. Don't be late"

"Agreeable."

With the last conditions agreed upon, no further words spoken, the two parted ways silently. Leaving the area poised to be swarmed by knights of the kingdom,priests of the church and hidden migrating heroes in the coming days.