Thud

Thud

A dark shadow could be seen passing around different witches. The moment the dark shadow struck, the fate of the opponent would be sealed as they are destined to feel a lot of pain before passing out. 

Sigil's expression was stern as the situation was turning dire. The eggs inside his pockets were almost cracked and the Familiars threatened to emerge out of the eggs.

Thud 

Thud

Meanwhile, a grey elephant kept on chasing Sigil as it let out loud trumpets. Because of the obvious difference in strength and level, the elephant was quicker than Sigil and had almost caught up to him.

On the other hand, Ivan was shooting at the base of the huge egg to quicken the process and tame one of the Familiars. He had already pocketed the remaining small egg and protected the other three medium-sized egg with his life on the line.

Animals die for food while Humans die for treasures! 

Right now, the true nature of humanity was shown as all of them let put their beastial self and threw themselves at Sigil to push this monster of a witch back.

Slowly, Sigil was getting pushed back as his stamina was reaching the limit. 

Traaaammmmm

With a huge thud, the Familiar Elephant reached out at Sigil and suddenly picked him up with its trunk, lifting Sigil up.

'Damn!'

He didn't care if the Elephant wanted to familiarise with him or wanted to show its care. The fact remained that he was trying to block the group and buy as much time as possible.

As expected, the moment Sigil was lifted, the group immediately shot past him and left the Elephant alone. Right now, all of them had their eyes on unhatched Familiars. Of course, Ivan alone wasn't enough to protect all of them. 

The Huge egg still had some time before it hatched. After thinking for a bit, he bit his lips and picked up two medium-sized eggs and made a run for it.

The situation had turned out of control and Ivan's decisiveness allowed him to retreat safely with some profits. If he chose to stay stubbornly, he may have been crippled without getting any benefits.

"Jacob, take this, quick!" Sigil called out to the nearest teammate and passed him one of the small eggs.

Jacob nodded and caught the egg as he ran past Sigil, who was still being stared by the Elephant while lifted up to midair.

"Wait, where are the others?" Sigil frowned and looked around. He couldn't find Oliver, George, Annie or Bethany. According to their plan, they should be nearby as they fought against the enemy group.

"Put me down, NOW!" He didn't have any other choice as he stared at the elephant with wide eyes.

The poor Elephant seemed to have recognised the stare and put Sigil down meekly. It bowed its head and brought it near Sigil's face, as if asking for a pat.

Sigil sighed deeply. Even though they had planned, the situation still turned worse. This kind of uncomfortable feeling created a seed of anger inside Sigil as he ended up venting his frustration on the Elephant. 

This was normal human behaviour and Sigil adhered to this protocol since the situation is truly urgent. He recognised his mistake and started calming his breath.

"The four of them should be here, but now, things seem a little fishy." He immediately shot towards Alicia's location with the Elephant behind him. 

According to the previous agreement, he had to pursue the maximum benefits for their group, that meant that he had to fight the opposing group and protect the eggs. But looking at them attacking like rabid dogs, his motivation deflated and he chose to retreat as well. After all, his transformation wasn't eternal.

***

Near the Power Plant of the Chestcovia City, a blue-haired girl could be seen sitting near the base of an electrical tower. Beside her, a dark green crystal ball with various delicate dark-green inscriptions carved on the ball

Around the blue-haired girl, many shadow-like creatures could be seen. They were feeding on flesh. Human Flesh! Many members of Ivan's group, backup members left by Nox and others could be seen getting eaten. They were already dead and were feasted upon by the Shadowy Creatures.

Soon, all of them were eaten as a large pile of flesh and blood littered the area. 

"Alright, you have eaten your fill, now turn quickly. The evasion spell wouldn't last long." The girl spoke calmly. The shadows behind her started squirming and their shapes changed quickly.

Slowly, a layer of flesh started to form around their body as various set of hair emerged on their heads. 

George, Annie, Cathy, Gary.... many familiar faces could be seen as the shadows transformed into a number of witches.

Meanwhile, Bethany gazed at the strange situation. Her cute and appearance was replaced by a calm and cold demeanor. Her eyes were pure crimson and a black mist could be seen emerging from her palms. The black mist slowly entered the transformed Witches ears and drilled into their brain.

"This is my memory on their behaviours. You guys will act and change your nature accordingly. If you get caught, self destruct. You are only allowed to act after the plan has begun. Understood?" Her cold voice entered their ears.

Cathy had already opened her eyes as she looked around like a curious cat.

"Hmm? So wonderful. The upper continent is always fresh! Hooo? This body almost caught one of the important figures by her charms. Good!" Her cheerful voice sounded forced and strange. But slowly, her entire body language, expression and tone shifted and got closer to real Cathy's behaviour.

"Alright, move out. Remember, you guys should look tired enough." Bethany spoke as her eyes turned normal. She crushed the crystal ball and whispered lightly, causing a wisp of green smoke to latch onto them.

Meanwhile, she opened her mouth and inhaled deeply, causing all the flesh and blood that littered the street to fly inside her mouth. Strangely, the size of the remains got smaller and were able to enter Bethany's mouth without any problem.

"Go!" She spoke before rushing out. Her words caused all of them to rush out as well.

***

"Whatever, don't reject them right now! I can't find Bethany or others. You will take these two and these are for me." Sigil spoke as he passed on two small eggs to Alicia from outside the house.

He would've entered the house, but the elephant kept on following him and only started to show some signs on intelligence.

Alicia's heart felt heavy as she accepted the eggs. The eggs were full of cracks, evidently, the Familiar inside the eggs were ready to burst out.

"Did something happen to Bethany?" To Alicia, Bethany was different than others.

They both have been friends for many years and had an outstanding relationship. 

"I can't say much. If they were ambushed, all I can hope is that they are still alive." Sigil shook his head. He didn't know how to comfort Alicia. 

He looked at her and spoke softly.

"We have to do what we can perform right now. Go and tame these Familiars. It will be unfortunate if someone else disturbed you right now."

He looked towards a red piglet behind her. 

"I understand." She nodded. She understood their dilemma. Even if she wanted to go look for Bethany, it would be a very foolish thing to do. There was only a minute left before the barrier is removed and she had to tame these Familiars before anybody else can.

Sigil nodded and watched as she closed her door. After thinking for a moment, he decided to go near the cemetery. After all, it was near and he had already been in that place. 

With the following Elephant, he quickly ran towards the cemetery. Right now, his transformation had already been removed and his speed was reduced drastically.

Before he could actually reach the cemetery, he could hear a crisp sound that caused him to look towards the sky.

Crack

The barrier had a crack and was going to break apart.

His gaze flashed with helplessness and uncertainty. He took out one of the smaller eggs and crushed it in his hand. 

Thrsh

Before the palm-sized Familiar could leave, it was caught by Sigil's hand and he brought it near his face. 

It was a brown cub!

As he presented his facial features for the cub to examine, a low shout appeared behind his back.

"Look! There he is!" One of the witches pointed at Sigil, causing him to curse under his breath.

Immediately, a group of witches started pursuing him with all their efforts.

He quickly placed the cub inside his pocket and ran for his life. Right now, he was very weak. His entire stamina was drained and he could barely maintain his speed.

The Elephant kept on trumpeting as if it was having fun running around.

'Damn!' 

He bit his lips and took out the last egg.

Seeing the crack-filled egg in front of their eyes, the expression of all the witches turned crazy and they started shouting.

"Stop! Give us the Egg you thief!!"

"Sigil, don't think that you can digest all of the rewards!" 

"Just cripple him!" A low shout was heard followed by the sound of a gunshot.

Bang

Sigil immediately fell down on his knees as a bullet was lodged in his calf. His face had turned pale from the pain and cold sweat started to see.

Traaaaannnnnnnn

This time, the Elephant finally turned crazy as it saw blood in his parent's legs. Its big head turned towards the rushing group and it stomped on the ground loudly.

Immediately, the road was filled with cracks as long and pointed earth spears emerged from the cracks, piercing towards the incoming group.

The whole scene exploded in an instant as the witches started to shout in panic and fear.

"You should have thought before shooting me, dumbass!" Sigil cursed and laid still. He immediately crushed the last egg and caught the familiar, placing it in front of his eyes.

It was a palm-sized dragonfly.

Bzzt

In almost an instant, the dragonfly twisted its body and flew away from his hand, resting its body on Sigil's head peacefully.

Seeing this, Sigil finally let out a sigh of relief. He even forgot his pain and looked at the sky.

Trsh

Crack

It didn't take long before the barrier was removed.

The Ancestral Pool was closed and the treasures have been distributed, their event was complete.

Snort

The elephant snorted gently and bent its legs to sit on the ground. Its whole body was placed in between Sigil and the Witches that were groaning in pain from all the earth spears stabbed in them.

***

"Where were all if you?" Sigil asked calmly as he looked in front of him. Annie, Oliver, George and Bethany stood in front of him while Alicia and Jacob stood behind him.

Near them, a grey elephant stood like a statue with a dragonfly on its head and a brown cub near its feet. A red piglet remained still in Alicia's arm while a light green butterfly was perched on her head and a black rat moved near her feet.

Near Jacob was a flying Sparrow that was dark brown in colour. It kept on flying around him and tweeted happily, completely unaware of the surroundings.

Bethany and the others had haggard appearance and blood could be seen on various spots of their clothes.

"We- we were ambushed." Annie replied weakly. Her whole body looked pitiful and if it wasn't for the search team of the family, they wouldn't be able to find these four easily.

Sigil frowned as he looked at all of them. Annie, George and Oliver avoided his gaze and hung their heads low guiltily while Bethany simply smiled bitterly.

"What do you mean by ambushed?"

"The other party had predicted our moves and easily dealt with our scouts and moved out to trap us one by one and defeat us." Bethany replied. 

Sigil pondered a little and eventually sighed.

"Huff, I am sorry that I couldn't save the Familiars for you guys. The situation was chaotic and the eggs were already cracking." He could only apologise for their loss.

Bethany shook her head and smiled weakly.

"Don't worry, we are fortunate that we did not suffer any permanent injury."

Sigil nodded in agreement as the surroundings finally lost the tension. Alicia quickly made her way towards Bethany with the piglet in her arms as the black rat followed her pace.

Jacob also decided to chat with his friend.

Right now, they were still staying near the border of the city. The result is needed to be announced before this year's rite could be officially concluded. They were staying in a big camp prepared by their family.

"Young Master Sigil, Family head wants to speak with you." The old driver was acting as a temporary messenger and called for Sigil.

Sigil looked at him and his eyes flashed with various thoughts.

"Lead the way." He nodded and followed the driver, they were being followed by a big elephant with a small dragonfly perched on its wrinkly head while a small brown cub followed in short steps.

It would sometimes fall on the ground as its body wasn't mature. Every time it fell, the elephant would gently use its trunk to nudge the cub and support it, just like an elder brother.